Daniel Archives – Sonshine's Journal

September 13, 2023September 13, 2023

Children’s Decisions and God’s Protection

Daniel 1-3 Today, our children are bombarded with the enormity of decisions. As it is true today, it was in Daniel’s time. Our arch-enemy seeks their souls, but God’s ways are not our ways, they are higher and superior. [Is 55:8-9]

Century after century, God has sent His prophets and men to speak to His children about being obedient to Him and the Law. Yet, the Jews have continued to be disobedient to the Lord, and thus He has brought out what the prophets have said, You will go into exile. God raised up King Nebuchadnezzar, who, like many despots, wanted the riches his men had been shown by King Hezekiah, and he also wanted the brightest and most easy to sway intellectually and spiritually. What he was not aware of was the impact that the word of God had had on the minds and actions of four young men, as we shall see. We have no idea the teaching or examples they had had in Israel, but we do know this principle: We are to raise our children so that if confronted with the ways of our arch-enemy, they will choose God’s way. Prov 22:6 tells us to train our children in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not turn from it. Daniel and his three friends proved this principle when confronted with choosing the royal delicacies and wine.

Will our children make the right choices or not? Will we train our children for such a time as this? Will we pray for God to place a hedge of protection over them for when we are not with them?

Over and over, I pray Zechariah 2:5 over my grandchild: ‘I will be a wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem and the source of glory in her midst.’” If God can do that for his most precious city, can He not do that for our children?

September 22, 2022September 22, 2022

The Mystery is Revealed…or is it?

Daniel 10-12 Daniel’s Vision

Daniel receives a vision and is troubled. Would I be the same? How often do I read something in the Word and am troubled because I do not understand? God, in His graciousness, sends relief and help to Daniel, but others with him are so frightened they fade away, and only Daniel is left to see and hear. The vision is clear: there will be wars and rumors of wars, but the end is not yet. Evil men will arise to do damage to the Holy Land but only for a time. God will protect His people and His land.

More than once, Daniel is assured that he is beloved and blessed. Even though he has lived in a foreign land for over 70 yrs., he has remained faithful, and God is pleased. God was willing to send an angel to assure him that his time here on earth was ending. Soon, he will stand before the God he loves and has served these many years. Daniel’s words will be left to us now and in the future so that we might see and understand that God has a plan and will fulfill it.

When I am in a quandary, I turn to the Holy Spirit, my resident teacher, to explain what I do not understand. Sometimes He explains, and other times He allows me to be disturbed until I search out the answer.

How about you?

May 5, 2022May 2, 2022

Are you Prepared to go?

Ezra 1-4 God’s Servant

What does a servant look like and act like? Ezra was a Jewish scribe living in Babylon during the 70 yr. captivity that God ordered to discipline his errant children. Jeremiah prophesied about it, Daniel read about it, and Isaiah prophesied about a king named Cyrus who would release them. Ezra was that person prepared to go when Cyrus released them!

Cyrus knew these facts: The Lord, God of heaven, had blessed him with the rulership over all the kingdoms of the earth.[Ezra 1:2] Secondly, he knew that this God of the Hebrews had enlisted him to build a house for Him in Jerusalem. So thirdly, he set about to carry out those orders by opening the storehouses in Babylon, where Nebuchadnezzar had placed the wealth of the Jewish Temple for over 70 yrs. ago! [Is. 44:28] Just think, God’s prophets had set the wheels in motion for all of this to happen, and King Nebuchadnezzar had willingly placed all the riches for 70 yrs. in safekeeping in the Babylonian temples.

Application for us: Long ago, in eternity past, God preserved us as His treasure and, at His appointed time, revealed us to the world for one purpose: “so that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called [us] out of darkness into His marvelous light;” [1Pet 2:9]

Cyrus willingly served the God of heaven, do we?

September 21, 2019

To Yahweh, I pray…

daniel 9 prayer2q

Daniel 9 The bronze man in Ezekiel 40 told him to “see with your eyes, hear with your ears and pay attention to all I am going to everything I show you…” Now place yourself with Daniel in the mode of prayer and your heart is heavy for the sins of your people and in a flash the man Gabriel approaches you in your state of weariness to say “I have come now to impart understanding to you.” Could it be that Daniel had prayed: help me, Father, to see with your eyes, hear with my ears and give me a heart to understand? Is this how we pray? And just like that, Gabriel says you are of great value in God’s sight.

Does God so treasure us that he says we are highly esteemed? Jesus told a parable about a nobleman who trusted three of his servants with his wealth while he was away on a journey. Upon his return he had each come to him and give an account. To two of them he said “well done, thou good servant but to the third, he said: you are wicked.

When we stand before God will we hear those same words: you are highly esteemed, you have been faithful or will we hear depart from me, I never knew you? Dare to be a Daniel today! Pray for eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to understand so you may be found faithful.

January 17, 2014

Storing up God’s Word

The idea of “storing up” is found both in Prov vs 1 “ My child, if you receive my words, and store up my commands within you,” and in Prov vs 7 “He stores up effective counsel for the upright,”

What might be some reasons that we would need to store up God’s Word and when would God take from his storehouse to counsel his own? Some ideas come to mind: keeping us in strong in times of spiritual famine, keeping us alert and ready to fend off the evil one just as Jesus did in his temptation.

David wrote: Psa 119:11 In my heart I store up your words, so I might not sin against you.

God prepared Amos for such a time of spiritual famine: Amo 8:11 Be certain of this, the time is coming,” says the sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land – not a shortage of food or water but an end to divine revelation!

Joseph is a prime example of someone who faced a “famine” of the Word. Sold into slavery, unjustly imprisoned all Joseph had to glean was his faith in God at a time when he had nothing else. Listen to his words: “So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” It was then that Joseph drew out of his storehouse of knowledge, his understanding of God, the words he had been taught and was able to withstand the temptation of Potiphar’s wife. Joseph drew out of his storehouse of counsel that he had learned in a time of plenty at the feet of Jacob.

Think of Daniel and his three friends, taken captive to Babylon. Surely the words of Amos were true. There was no temple, no priests to teach them, and it was a time of spiritual famine. But, listen to Daniel: “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself” and “We won’t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is in connection with the law of his God.” Both times Daniel drew out of God’s storehouse the counsel he needed because he had stored it up in a time of plenty.

Both Joseph and Daniel are examples of men who stored up God’s Word and when the trial came God took from his storehouse and brought it to their minds just as Jesus promised Mat 10:19 Whenever they hand you over for trial, do not worry about how to speak or what to say, for what you should say will be given to you at that time. And Joh 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, …will cause you to remember everything I said to you.

This would be a perfect time as we are just 17 days into the New Year to start memorizing God’s Word so that you are prepared. We never know when we may enter a time of spiritual famine, or be tempted by the evil one. We need to store up God’s Word so we are armored for the battle: “And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” [Eph 6]

December 6, 2013

“We Say What Happens Happens but God says—What Must Happen”

Join me for your ringside seat to what “must” (that is what is necessitated) happen after these things. As I was reading I stopped and asked: “after what things?” The scholars say after seeing Christ in all of His glory, after hearing and telling about the 7 churches. Now the clock starts ticking down to the judgment of the earth and the sin that envelops it—he who has ears had better hear what the Spirit says. Before John can share the events ahead he asks us to join him in viewing the contrast to the horror of sin here on earth as he lives on the barren island of Patmos to the awesome, marvelous incredible beauty of the throne room in heaven. John is not the only one to have had a vision of the Godhead but also the prophet Micaiah, Isaiah and Daniel. These too were transported in some way to see and thus to behold what we who are earthlings have yet to view. What must it have been like to see with earthly eyes that have been transformed so that one can see with heavenly eyes? How does one describe a holy God?

Micaiah says he saw the entourage of heaven—all of the assembly of heaven both on God’s right and left. Isaiah said: “I saw the sovereign master seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple.” Ezekiel’s vision included “Above the platform over their heads was something like a sapphire shaped like a throne. High above on the throne was a form that appeared to be a man.” And Daniel said “thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His attire was white like snow; the hair of his head was like lamb’s wool. His throne was ablaze with fire and its wheels were all aflame.” And now John writes: “a throne was standing in heaven with someone seated on it that gleamed as jasper and carnelian with a rainbow encircling it. Around the throne were those who would worship without ceasing with white gleaming clothes and crowns about their heads. Beloved, are you ready to enter the expanse of heaven and see this too?

First John heard the sounds of roaring and crashes of thunder and flashes of lightning. In the midst of this power he heard worshipers. They were never in the mode of rest but over and over they say: “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God, the All-Powerful, Who was and who is, and who is still to come!” You alone are worthy to be praised for you are “THE” Creator of all that was and is to come. Beloved is this our mode, do we worship without ceasing?

As we move from Revelation 4 to Revelation 5 we will now see what “must” happen. Are we prepared? Jesus said in Matt 13 ““You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven…For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance.” But, Jesus also said that if we reject what has been given “even what he has will be taken from him.” Again Jesus explained that if our hearts are dull, hard of hearing, and blind, we will never see, never hear, and never understand the spiritual truths that he has for us. May we today have soft heavenly hearts, soft heavenly ears, soft heavenly eyes to see and behold the One who sits enthroned in the heavens.