Daniel prayed [ Chapter 6]

I purchased a DVD, simply called Daniel, I have not viewed it yet, what a wonderful man he was. A  man in exile away from his beloved Israel. He had three wonderful friends, friends who did not drag him down, like Daniel they were also in exile, they were all bound together by their faith in God. They had to take a stand and that stand put their very lives in danger, Daniels three friends were thrown into a fiery furnace, Daniel was thrown into a lions den. They all survived, it does not always happen like that, but it can, miracles happen now and again Most of the apostles were martyred, our Saviour was murdered, likewise Stephen[  Acts 7].But then we have those who survived, God is sovereign, and our Lord knows what is best. remember He has a plan, for all our lives. Daniel was a man of godly habits, habits he would not surrender to anyone. Prayer was one of the  his key habits, and it got him into difficulties. His enemies sought to stop him from praying, we need to follow his example. How important is prayer  to us?, is  it, our vital daily breath. In Daniel 6,a law was passed forbidding anyone to pray except to the king, if they disobeyed,they would be thrown into the lions den. I wonder what you and I would do in that situation?. How important is prayer, Bible study, attending your local church ?.  It was important to Daniel, he risked his very life, left everything to God, the challenge for all of us is to make the right chooses

                                   Standing by a purpose true,
                                   Heeding God's command,
                                   Honour them, the faithful few,
                                   All hail to Daniel's band

                                   Many mighty men are lost,
                                   Daring not to stand,
                                   Who for God had been a host,
                                   By joining Daniel's band.
                                  
                                   Many giants, great and tall,
                                   Stalking through the land,
                                   Headlong to the earth would fall,
                                   If met by Daniel's band.

                                   Hold the gospel banner high,
                                   On to victory grand,
                                   Satan and his host defy,
                                   And shout for Daniels band.

                                   Dare to be a Daniel,
                                   Dare to stand alone,
                                   Dare to have a purpose firm,
                                   Dare to make it known.

Sinless perfection. [Romans 7v 24-25]

In 1 John v 8,we read,' If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.'. A person who says they are sinless, is deluded, and as David Jackson writes,' a self deluded person is the saddest of all'. I once knew a person who believed he was Jesus, no amount of pointing out
this obviously wrong thinking could change what he believed. We all desire
to be free from our sinful nature, but it will only take place after we die.[1
John 3 v 2]in the mean time,we seek to be holy, as God is holy, John writes about purifying one self[1 John 3 v3].Charles Haddon Spurgeon,  a great
minister of God,was faced by a man who claimed to be 'without sin'. He invited the man home for a meal. He listened to what the man had to say, then he picked up a glass of water, and threw it into his face. The man became indignant and expressed very forcefully Spurgeon's lack of courtesy. Spurgeon replied,' Ah, you see, the old man within you is not dead. He had simply fainted and could be revived with a glass of water.

                                           A  prayer.
Dear Lord you alone are holy, I acknowledge that I am but a sinner saved by your grace, but one day, sin will be no more, praise your name Amen.

The Word of God [ Jeremiah 6 v 16]

Let us continue on as we consider ,a recall to fundamentals, now it is a fact that we tire easily ,as to so many things, we see this in the entertainment world. We also see it in the fashion world, we do not wear bell bottom trousers, change, change, change is the cry. One of my sons has a  knack of
picking lovely clothes, in the charity shops, people just get tired of them even though they cost a lot new.  Israel as seen in the OT, appeared to love  change, not of fashion, but of their religion, it would be interesting to count how many times they did this, it was a regular occurrence. Let us consider one of the most crucial times in their history. just before the 70year captivity in Babylon. God has raised up a prophet , Jeremiah, he spoke Gods word to the people for over 40 arduous years, pleading with the people to turn back to God. Consider the following,'' Stand in the way and see. And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls''. This is their reply,'' We will not walk in it'' It was a cry from God to return to Him, and walk in His ways, but they refused, to them the old paths were obsolete. The church more than ever needs to return to the old paths of their forefathers. Mankind for all its desire for change, fail to see that we do not change, we are still sinners,and the only one who can meet  our need is Jesus the same yesterday ,today and forever. [Hebrews  13 v 8 ]
                                             A prayer.
Dear God ,dark is the hour ,dark is the condition of humanity, help our nation to turn back to the old paths in Jesus name''

Fundamentalism [Ephesians 2 v20]

The NEB ,entitles 1 John,' Recall to fundamentals', as a Christian ,the fundamentals ,are the foundation on which I build my faith. What I believe as a Christian, is of vital importance, the fundamentals, the foundation of the Christians faith, we are told in Ephesians 2 v20, is built on,the apostles,
and prophets, and Jesus Christ who is the cornerstone, the cornerstone holds everything together, take that away and everything  will collapse. There is a tendency for some Christians to ignore the Old Testament, I recently preached on the book of Zechariah, and I said ,how I have never heard many sermons from that wonderful book. That goes for many of the OT books, a brother told me that he avoided the OT because of the violence in it. There is awful violence in it, but there are valid reasons,why God dealt with people,in such a way. In 2 Timothy 3 v16,we read,' All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,thoroughly equipped for every good work.' John Stott wrote,'[All]Scripture is God breathed and profitable. Even in the midst of these grievous times in which evil men and impostors go from bad to worse. It can make you complete and it can equip you for your work. Let the word of God make you a man of God, remain loyal to it and it will lead you on into Christian maturity'.
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God we thank you for all your word ,grant that we may not stray from it, in Jesus name Amen.

Who knows best?..[ Matthew 6 v25-34 ]

One the responsibilities of being a parent is guiding them, and helping them,
and trying to equip them for adulthood. We by our example, and words seek to help them to develop as they grow up. Often we do know what is best for
our children, although not always, but we love them and try our best. The fact is, there are no perfect parents, but one thing for sure, as Gods children we have a loving heavenly Father, who always knows what is best for His children. God always knows what is best for His children. We can fully trust his judgement, He is perfect in knowledge and wisdom,and He always
acts from a heart of love, always. Unlike us, our knowledge as a parent is imperfect ,He knows us fully, there is nothing hidden from Him,our knowledge of our children is imperfect, not so Gods. No matter how drastic and incomprehensible His dealing with His children, it is always best. Simple put ,our loving heavenly Father always knows what is best for His children. God our heavenly Father makes no mistakes,

                                   Said the Robin to the Sparrow;
                                   ''I should really like to know
                                   Why these anxious human beings
                                    Rush about and worry so''

                                   Said the Sparrow to the Robin;
                                   ''Friend, I think that it must be
                                    That they have no Heavenly Father
                                    Such as cares for you and me''.
                                       [ Words,, E. Cheney]

Dont run away. [Psalm 40]

In the movie Lord of the Rings, two of the characters are talking, they are faced with an army of hawks, and one asks the other,'' What does one do when faced with such evil?'', his companion replied,'' You ride out to meet it''. There was great monster of a man called Goliath, everybody was afraid
of  him, well not everyone ,there was young lad called David,he volunteered
to fight that giant, and so out he went and faced him with his little sling and five smooth stones. The fool ,many must have thought, even among his own people, and of course not forgetting the giant,who mocked him. Well what did that young man do? did he run away?, no, he ran towards him, for he
looked beyond this giant, to his great God, When we are faced with fearful whatever ,we can run away and hide, or like David we can by faith face our fears. And cry out ,thanks be to God who gives me the victory through Jesus
Christ my Lord.

                                Blessed is the man,who makes
                                the Lord his trust, who does not
                                 look to the proud , .
                                        [Psalm 40 v 4 ]    

The old Bill. [ 1 Corinthians 15]

Why did Christ die, for me?, well in case I forget ,the old Bill comes to the surface, and that old Bill is not very nice. Yes not very nice, ,yes but its true
.instead of thinking pure thoughts, or loving thoughts, or forgiving thoughts, I do the opposite. It was John Stott who spoke of the two aspects of salvation, [A] Saved from Gods judgement, when Christ become our Saviour, we are saved from wrath to come[1 Thessalonians 1 v10,Acts 16 v31 ],I am saved, from Gods righteous judgement, because Christ on the cross bore Gods wrath for me. Hell is no longer my destination, but Heaven . [B] The next aspect of salvation is being saved from our sinful condition, Stott speak of not yet saved from all those sinful tendencies, which plague us continually. John writes in 1John 1v8,that if we think that we are without sin ,we are deluded ,'' We deceive ourselves-but probably no one else''[ JS]'. Yes we are still in the body of flesh and all that this means, still a citizen of planet earth ,and all that this means. It was 53years ago that I came back to the Lord, I need to remind myself that this has been a work of God, That means I have experienced Gods enabling grace, and His assurance, that He has and will continue to help me, that applies to every child of God. The resurrection is coming, and on that day, the old Bill will cease to exist, all things will be made new.

                                         A  prayer.
Dear  God for the wonder of the resurrection we praise You, help us to press on by your grace, towards that time when all things will be made new, in Jesus name we ask this Amen.

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