Daniel's Done...

Well, we watched the last DVD of Daniel last night. It was sad. I cried, a bit. (I am such a girl!) It is one of the best studies that I have ever done. She told us that we had learned a lot, and we have. Quite a bit. A lot of history. A lot of prophecies fulfilled. A lot of prophecies yet to come true. I have a few things that I think will stand out most about the study, that I would like to share.

1) We are living in "Babylon". This society, this place we live in has the mentality of Babylon. "It is I and there is none besides me" is our way of thinking. As a Christian we have to be resolved to stand against this. We NEED to stand out. That goes against many churches philosophies these days. Really makes you think.

2) We need to set our minds on God. By setting our minds on God, we will fulfill that mind set with our actions. Set minds lead to action. We want our action to be in line with God, not the world.

3) God will use whatever necessary to humble you. (Even making you like a wild animal, in Nebeccanezzar's case!) (or Neb as he will forever be called in my mind!) It is better to learn our lessons from the Bible than to have to learn them in real life. I hope that I can learn and have learned some of the tougher ones this year during this study. Otherwise...

4) Pride really does come before the fall.

5) God is Faithful!! (this one is so important) Even when we are being thrown into a fiery furnace. Even when there are lions who will devour us. Even when God lets a "vile king" rule over us. Even in the end when Satan is allowed to be loosed for a time. In all of those things, God is Faithful. He never leaves us. He's right there with us the whole time. And He's coming back for us... (Which brings me to a final point!)

6) When God says He is going to do something, He will do it! Have no fear! After studying all the prophecies that He gave to Daniel, and seeing the history that fulfilled those prophecies, I am reassured that God will do what He says He will do. Even though we may not understand everything about the end times, they ARE going to happen. We can rest assured that God is going to end this life and bring us into a New Life. Eternity is coming. God is a Planner and He has planned it all out. There is no need to worry. Rest in that!

I will leave you with a poem that Beth Moore wrote to remind us of all we have studied in Daniel. Thanks for letting me share my journey with you. It has been an amazing time!

Daniel

Daniel One - Carried off to Babylon

Daniel Two - Neb's Dream Statue

Daniel Three - From the Fiery Furnace Freed

Daniel Four - I'll humble Neb some more

Daniel Five - Handwriting says, "You die!"

Daniel Six - Lion's Jaws Fixed

Daniel Seven - There's a Judge in Heaven

Daniel Eight - Antioches spreads hate

Daniel Nine - Seventy Sevens in Time

Daniel Ten - Where's the Angel been?

Daniel Eleven - A Vile King's Succession

Daniel Twelve - Shine bright till all is well

Daniel's Done - Now didn't we have fun?

Daniel Study: Pride

(Sorry - No Top Ten today! Perhaps one this weekend!)

I am not going to say much. I feel as though God is trying to teach me that less is more. So, all I will say is that I am feeling like a person who has been cut down. I feel like God has been doing some pruning of some not very pretty branches that needed cutting. I continue to get 'pruned'. It is not over yet. I know that God just wants the best for me.

I have been full of pride that I didn't even recognize was pride. I apologize to anyone who I might have offended by this pridefulness. It was not my intention. In any case, God has shown me through Beth's teachings and a dream, that I have a few areas that I need to deal with or else! I am going to deal with these and will let you know how they are going.

In the meantime, please read my blog over here: Room to Write. This is the blog that I use to compose poetry. There are a few entries there, but the one for today speaks volumes about this issue.

I hope that you enjoy it and have a wonderful day!

Daniel: The Fire

I thought I would write a bit about the study that I have been doing in my Monday night class. We are doing Beth Moore's Daniel study. It has been eye opening in many ways, but I would specifically like to talk to you about one thing that keeps coming up this week.

We just finished studying the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If you don't know the story, you can read in here in Daniel 3. Basically, the three men get thrown into the fiery furnace because they will not bow down to the idol King Nebecanezzar has made. They survive the furnace, with a little help from "the son of the gods". (i.e. there was a 4th person in the fire with them!!) They came out and King Neb. worshipped God because he had saved them.

Anyway, Beth Moore pointed out that we all may end up in 3 situations, pertaining to fire. (Fire=trials, sicknesses, etc.) The first is that God may deliver us from the fire. In this case He saves us before we are in the fire. In this way, our faith is built up. An example of this would be if we find a lump and the tests come back without it being cancerous.

The second situation could be that God may deliver us through the fire. That is what He does in the story of the three men. He lets them get in, but He does not let the fire kill them. They come out on the other side refined by the fire. Our faith will be refined because of this. An example of this for me was when I worked up north in McLennan. I came out of that refined with a stronger belief in God and His amazing strength.

The last situation could be that God may deliver us to Him by the fire. This is the one that no one likes to talk about. The one that we as humans have a hard time facing, understanding, comprehending. Sometimes God uses the fire to take us to His arms. We want to stay here on earth, our human selves do, because we forget or do not fully comprehend what lies beyond this life.

We shouldn't. As Christians we should rejoice when it is our time, when God decides to take us home. But, it is hard. Hard to let go.

I just wanted to share this with you all because I feel like there is a lot of death, fire and despair going around. The economy (a fire) is bad. Friends of family are facing tough times and my dad goes back for a check-up next week to see if the cancer is gone or is still around. Things seem out of our control, and that's because they are. We are not in control. God is. Whether you believe in Him or not, He doesn't need you to believe in Him for Him to be in control....

I guess I find this comforting and even hopeful. If I let God be in control of my own life and follow Him, then my life will turn out better than anything else I could ever imagine or do on my own.

In the end, if it is my time to be delivered to His arms, then I will remember what awaits me: a big hug from my Heavenly Father. In that moment my faith will be perfected. I can never reach perfection here, but I know I will be made perfect there! What an awesome thought!!

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

-Daniel 3: 16-18

The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

- 2 Timothy 4:18