THURSDAY, 7 January, 2021 “Times like These”

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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

Do you ever wake up singing a song? It happened to me today! The song is a Christmas Carol I haven’t heard in a long time: “Good Christian Men Rejoice”.

Already in only 7 days, 2021 is off to a raucous start around the world isn’t it? Maybe that’s why this verse, of this rarely sung song, was in my head this morning. The lyrics are these. . .

Good Christian men, rejoice,
With heart and soul, and voice;
Now ye hear of endless bliss:
Jesus Christ was born for this!
He has opened heaven’s door,
And man is blessed evermore. Christ was born for this!

This early morning, I found myself repeating over and over “Jesus Christ was born for this“, as I considered the times in which you and I are living! Hold on to that truth my friends! God is on His Sovereign throne and Jesus Christ came into our world, taught God’s truth, lived a God honoring sinless life, performed great miracles and finally gave His life on the cross and rose victoriously SO THAT people like you and me could have HOPE “in times like these”! The times in which we are living, today, everywhere in the world. Do you agree?

Yesterday we considered the great cosmic war raging between Jesus and Satan and how that affects everyday real life all over our world…in the marketplace, the courtrooms, the presidential palaces, the classrooms, hospital rooms and even our homes! There is NO place, not even church, where we can escape this war! Would you join me again today looking into God’s Word, for lessons we can learn which will help us live God honoring lives “in times like these”?

As we reflect on the chaotic, tumultuous year of 2020 all around our world, I wonder what words you would choose to describe this past year? For me here are four of them… DECEITFUL, BLAME, CHAOS, ANARCHY.

DECEITFUL, because throughout the year most of us felt those responsible to tell us the truth, often did not.

Governments, Media, Health organizations, Scientists and leaders in all spheres of society, even sometimes those we love and trust, am I right? Truth was hard to find in 2020!

BLAME was rampant everywhere wasn’t it? And with blame came slander and malicious talk about others and even lawsuits and riots.

Few people seemed ready to assume responsibility either for societal situations in their cities or neighborhoods or even their own actions. It was always someone else’s fault and failure… did you hear that a great deal in 2020? Do you see the damage BLAME did all around us?

CHAOS seemed to prevail in almost every setting, from the halls of government to the halls of education to hospital rooms and even churches.

Few people seemed to know what the right course of action was for themselves or those they served or led. And even fewer seemed to know where to find wisdom, and so a huge percentage of the world scurried about chaotically making unwise choices everyday in 2020.

ANARCHY is a word we have sometimes used to describe ‘those far away crazy places’, places where we think people let things get out of control, they lose their own sense of right and wrong, and there seems to be no law or order.

Have you thought about places far away from where you live like that? In their mindless behavior they destroy business and government offices and police stations and schools. We shake our heads when hearing those reports in the past, and often have said… ‘we’re sure glad we don’t live in a place like that‘ or ‘that will never happen in my city‘. But in 2020 anarchy happened in America and other places where we thought it never could, did you see it? Did you experience it? Not just one or two times but day after day, night after night!

My friends, ALL of this is the evidence of the war between Jesus and Satan; holy and wicked; good and evil; right and wrong, which we looked at yesterday. And guess what? It will not end until the ultimate end when Jesus Christ returns to reign here on earth and His Holy Justice finally prevails and Satan is bound and all evil is thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, as described in Revelation 20:10.

In recent days we’ve been looking at Daniel and thousands of Jewish captives in Babylon who I’m sure felt much the same as they reflected on how these four big words, in the previous years, had ended them in captivity!

Today would you consider with me some key lessons we see in the life of Daniel as he lived a strategic life, a great example of how you and I can make a difference, in a crazy world described by those four words?

In Daniel chapter 1 we remember Daniel was taken captive at a young age, but his “resolve to not defile himself’ (Daniel 1:8) set the course and high standard for his life, and God poured out a great blessing of wisdom upon Daniel and he was elevated from captive to advisor to the emperor and remained in roles of high influence for more than 70 years in Babylon! (Daniel 1:21)

Can we link Paul’s words of advice to Timothy with what Daniel did and can make it our life objective this new year? “Don’t let anyone look down on you… but set an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity…”. (1 Tim. 4:12)

In Daniel chapter 2, the emperor had a dream, but he refused to tell the dream to his advisors. Instead, he demanded that they both tell him what he dreamed and interpret it for him or he’d kill them all! Of course his demand was absurd… yet Daniel called his friends to prayer, and he took the situation to God, and God miraculously responded to Daniel’s desperate faith and God did in fact tell Daniel the dream of the king and its explanation. When Daniel took the God given dream insight to the king, he made sure he took no credit for himself but said “…no wise man or magician can do what the king has asked of us, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries…“.(Daniel 2:28) The king’s response is powerful: “Surely your God is the God of gods and the LORD of kings…”! (Daniel 2:47)

Now ponder that a moment my friends. How have you and I pointed our skeptical, confused, chaotic world to the truth of WHO God is, and WHAT Jesus accomplished in His life and death and resurrection, and HOW God reigns sovereign over all, even in chaotic times of anarchy?

Daniel chapter 3 is of course that remarkable story of Daniel’s three friends who refuse to bow and worship a golden statue made in the image of the king, even when they are threatened with being thrown into a fiery furnace! And do you remember what happened? The king looked into the fire and exclaimed “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire? Look, I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed and the fourth looks like a god!” (Daniel 3:24) Most Bible scholars believe that fourth person in the fire may well have been an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ, Himself!

So what courage have you lived this year when panic, fear, mindless behavior and blame has swirled all around you? How have you seen your God given courage bring calm and wisdom to situations which were nearly out of control? Fear can paralyze us, right? And Fear can lead us to radical, crazy words and actions. Oh how 2020 provided DAILY need for God courage like these three men lived.

Daniel chapters 4 & 5 are powerful examples of God dealing with wicked, arrogant, evil leaders who refuse to acknowledge God. I wonder how we might see God pour out His judgment like that in 2021?

In Daniel 6 we find Daniel’s courage and faithfulness in daily prayer, even when a ridiculous law is passed preventing prayer to anything or anyone other than the king himself! How many of us have grown our prayer lives during 2020 and are now ready to be men and women of powerful prayer in 2021, even if it costs us persecution from God defying people? Daniel’s unwavering commitment to prayer landed him in the lion’s den, remember? But once again God proved His faithfulness and power by protecting Daniel from those hungry lions, and then that emperor did as others before him had done when he saw Daniel’s faith. He declared “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel, for HE is the living God, and He endures forever. His kingdom will not be destroyed. He rescues and He saves; He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth…” (Daniel 6:25-27)

Finally today, may I add one more? Daniel 9 is a remarkable account of two vital aspects of Daniel’s life long effectiveness in times so similar to ours. Daniel writes: “I Daniel understood from the Scriptures…that the desolation of Jerusalem would last 70 years.” (Daniel 9:2,3) For Daniel the Word of God was essential to his living a life that makes a difference in his tumultuous times. He read and studied and prayed over God’s Word, seeking to understand what God was doing in his historical time.

Are you and I prioritizing DAILY time in God’s Word, seeking to hear the Holy Spirit of God teach us from God’s Word, what God wants us to understand about how to live God honoring lives in these times? What has God been telling you and what have you done in response?

Finally, Daniel then writes: “So I turned to the LORD God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting…” (Daniel 9:3) Do you see the intensity with which Daniel prayed? As he looked back over his life he could see how God had placed him in strategic situations many times. His study of God’s Word led him to believe he was in another ‘defining moment’ so his passion became to seek God and hear a fresh word of direction from God! Tomorrow, we’ll look at that powerful prayer.

Today, I’m urging you to consider the times in which you are living, in the place in our world where you live, and then look at these key lessons we learn from Daniel. Do you see that they all apply to you and me and our times?

What will it take for us to be men and women like Daniel in 2021?

Today’s Scripture is Daniel 9.

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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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