Contemplative Bible Reading

Daniel 10:4-7 (New Living Translation)

4 On April 23, as I was standing on the bank of the great Tigris River, 5 I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist. 6 His body looked like a precious gem. His face flashed like lightning, and his eyes flamed like torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice roared like a vast multitude of people.

7 Only I, Daniel, saw this vision. The men with me saw nothing, but they were suddenly terrified and ran away to hide.

The first few verses here set the stage for what I want to note in verse 7.

1. Daniel saw a vision
2. The other men did not see the vision
3. Nevertheless, the other men were terrified

Consider items 1. and 2. Daniel saw what I believe was an angel. It was a terrifying and wonderful sight. A face like lightening and a body on fire. And Daniel heard the roaring voice of the angel. The other men didn’t see or hear anything.

Don’t discount what other people claim to see and hear, even if we are standing right next to one another.

Now to item 3. The other men were so scared they ran away and hid. What frightened them? Did they somehow sense something that they couldn’t understand and couldn’t explain? Can angels affect persons in ways that we can’t understand?

I think the answer to the last question is, “Yes.” How does this happen? As the question states, we can’t understand it. God and His angels are beyond us. I hate that; I love that.

1 John 4:12 (New Living Translation)

No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

The second sentence of this verse is a bit unsettling. For God to live in me, I have to love those about me. It doesn’t say anything about me sort of liking all those people about me. Perhaps this is a translation error or some excuse I can grasp.

A sobering thought is that God wants me to love those about me. That will be the full expression of His love in me. That doesn’t seem to be an arduous command. It doesn’t seem to be a command at all. It seems to be a “here is something that is really good for you, so stop being an idiot and bless yourself.”

God, please help me in my unbelief.

Daniel 10:1-3 (New Living Translation)

1 In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) had another vision. He understood that the vision concerned events certain to happen in the future—times of war and great hardship.

2 When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks. 3 All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.

Daniel had another vision from God. Daniel didn’t understand the vision, so he mourned. A later verse in this chapter tells us that Daniel had also prayed for these three weeks of mourning. Let’s take that one in:

Daniel prayed constantly for three weeks.

His prayer was steadfast to the point that he at no “rich food.” In today’s terms, I believe Daniel nibbled on this and that instead of sitting at the dinner table for a real meal. The part about the “rich lotions” means to me that he didn’t shower.

Three weeks folks, three weeks where nothing meant anything to Daniel but agonizing over what God had to say to him. Sometimes I grumble when something bothers me for…well, you know, a period of time that is insignificant.

God thank you for showing me the example of Daniel and others. Thank you for showing me how easy a life I have and how you have blessed me beyond comprehension. Thank you for your grace. Help me in my unbelief.

Daniel 1:8 (New International Version)

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

Tis the season for New Year’s resolutions. I never understood that, but it seems that it is important for many people. The resolutions remind me on of instance of a resolution in the Bible, and that is what we have above from Daniel.

Other versions use the phrase “was determined” instead of “resolved” as in the above translation. I guess that is all the same.

Any resolutions? How about resolving not to defile myself with royal goodies (whatever they may be)? How about resolving to enjoy the countless blessings God has given me? How about stop asking questions and moving forward with my life in the grace of God no matter what date is on the calendar?

1 John 4:18 (New Living Translation)

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

A little research shows that I blogged about this verse back in 2009. Time flies, and I read the verse new and something presses on my heart.

The phrase that strikes me this time is fear of punishment. Fear comes from a fear of punishment. Someone is going to strike me down or sideways or something I don’t want.

In my current job, there is a phrase, “wait until your first fail.” I haven’t been here long and haven’t had my “first fail” so I don’t know what that means. Perhaps I should flub on purpose to learn what a first fail is and what happens to persons on that occasion. I guess I’m not afraid—perhaps that is a sign of age or something.

Then the fear-of-punishment phrase is followed by something about experiencing God’s perfect love. If I really believe that God is on my side in the eternal and important, so what about the “first fail” and other stuff around me. What do those things matter?

A friend of mine—20 years my senior—would use the phrase “growing old in the grace of God.” I think what he meant was that as the years pass, we slowly, very slowly sometimes, learn about the grace of God and what it really means to us R I G H T   N O W.

Thank you God for your perfect love that drives out the fear of punishment. Help me to live a life that shows others this love and your grace.

Yesterday was Christmas Day. I suppose I should write something about that.

I am older than I used to be. One of the things about that is that persons who were always part of Christmas are not here anymore. They have died. My wife’s mother and grandmother died in the last 18 months. My mother is still alive in body, but her mind has pretty much failed her.

Nevertheless, we spent Christmas Eve and day with our extended families.

For Christians, Christmas should be like all days. Perhaps the best way to say it is that all days should be like Christmas. Spend the day with people who are dear to you. More important, love the people who you are around during the day—every day.

God wants us to love one another and love Him. That is a 24/7/365 or something type of thing. Sometimes we have a “special” day like Christmas to remind us of these things.

Matthew 4:12-16 (New Living Translation)

12 When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. 13 He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah:

15  “In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali,
beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River,
in Galilee where so many Gentiles live,
16  the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light.
And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow,
a light has shined.”

How many hometowns did Jesus have?

• Bethlehem
• Egypt
• Nazareth
• Capernaum

Do all these count?

In the above verses we learn that Jesus moved from Nazareth to Capernaum. This fulfilled a prophecy about how “a light” would come from that area.

If we go back and review all the prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus, we find that many don’t make any sense. How could the Messiah be from here and there and that other place as well? The New Testament reveals the answer. It was a bad riddle or something like that.

Funny that this all works. I suppose we should “think out of the box” concerning prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled.

Matthew 2:1-3 (New Living Translation)

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.

This is about the earthly birth of Jesus. Some wise mean from the eastern lands had come to worship the “newborn king of the Jews.”

King Herod was disturbed by these far-fetched stories. That is to be expected as he was the king and wouldn’t be happy about a new king being born. Note also that everyone in Jerusalem was involved.

It is a bit difficult to interpret how this is translated. Was it that everyone had heard the stories? Was it that everyone was disturbed by the stories? Was it that everyone was hoping the stories were true?

Micah 4:3 (New Living Translation)

The Lord will mediate between peoples
and will settle disputes between strong nations far away.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
nor train for war anymore.

At first, I thought this was the famous phrase that is at the United Nations and all that. Everyone quotes this when they want a handy cliche about the world’s nations living in peace even for just a short time.

All those quotes, however, point to Isaiah chapter 2. The Isaiah passage is identical in at least this one verse.

The Old Testament prophets were told by Jehovah God the Creator that there would be a time when He would rule the nations and they would all live at peace with one another. These poetic lines described the situation as mankind no longer needing any weapons of war. The metal, that precious item, would be changed into implements for farming.

Well, we aren’t there yet. God’s promise remains for us to come to pass one day.

1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 (New Living Translation)

4 We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people. 5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you.

There is much more here than I can address. It seems that is often the case, so let’s discuss a few things.

God loves some people and has chosen some to be His. Who are these people? Does this apply just to those in Thessalonica at the time? Let’s answer yes for now. What a blessing to those people who received this letter. God chose them; God blessed them.

The next verse assures them of well being. The Holy Spirit assured them that the things Paul said were true. What a blessing. I don’t know that I can describe the magnitude of that.

Then to the title of the post. Fanny J. Crosby wrote a poem that became a song with this title. I always liked that song. It was soothing and held promise. Whatever was happening at the moment was not the end. There is an assurance of something beyond.

Thank you God for the letter to the Thessalonians and for people like Crosby through the ages who have praised you in song.