Today I was reading Daniel 2-3 (note the public domain pic of Old Nebuchadnezzar) with my Quaker Instant Oatmeal and thought about some nuggets I'd like to see mentioned in sermons....that was at 7:30am E.S.T....known as "God's Time" to members of my family's earlier generations! ;) Anyhow...One missionary family I know in Haiti asks that we pray for patience for folks rebuilding their lives. Well, for Christians, patience is part of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23, so we don't really need to ask for it; we've already got it. What folks who 'pray for patience' are REALLY requesting are the trials James 1:2-5 talks about as being something to be received joyfully. SO... when you 'pray for patience' you might ask something like, "Hit me with a hammer, Lord!" ;p
Also, getting back to Daniel. Have you ever noticed that three Jewish guys (that would be Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of Fiery Furnace fame) end up running Babylon Province as a result of their stand for their faith AND Old Danny Boy gets to be third ruler of the Babylonian Kingdom after he tells Belshazzar his number's up...that very night!! Since Babylon is talked about so negatively throughout the Bible, just what exact influence on the place did those four guys have in God's Providence?!!
That got me thinking about Joseph of Genesis fame (the Bible book, not the singing group). He, as a Jewish guy, after he interpreted Pharaoh's Seven Fat/Seven Lean Years dream, was elevated to run the Egyptian empire and actually set up the political machinery that enslaved his own people for the next 400+ years! What an ironic twist of God's Providence...HA! you thought I'd write 'Fate'...that turned out so that God could be glorified down the road by trashing Egypt and engineering The Exodus!
My last thought for this post has to do with The Word in Hebrews 4:12-13, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Didja notice that 'the word of God' is NOT referring to the written word in the Bible, but to the Lord Jesus, based on the follow up sentence in vs. 13?!! I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard teachers/preachers use 4:12 to illustrate the efficacy of Scripture in breaking hearts! Would all 3 of you reading this please start getting it right?!! But I rant...
Speaking of breaking hearts...I get a little weary of hearing Christians ask that I pray for 'God to soften hearts' of non-Christians to get them converted. He's in the stone heart SMASHING business, not the softening line of work! Check out Ezekiel 36:26, 27 or Jeremiah 23:29 as examples of this rant of mine...
Well, thus endeth the lesson for the day.
Got Amazing Grace as the next hymn?
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