Daniel Bible Study: Daniel 7: The Ancient of Days and The Little Horn

The seventh chapter of Daniel begins the
long hard road toward the end of the world!
The rise and fall of four worldly kingdoms
are telescoped across time and eclipsed by
the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ!

It is a fearsome vision which leaves
Daniel troubled and reeling because
he sees just how intense things will
become and just how much warfare will
happen before Israel is saved and
the Ancient of Days is victorious
in the earth.

Daniel sees the four great kingdoms of
world history. Babylon (the Lion); the
Medo-Persian Empire (the Bear); Greece
(the Leopard); and a terrible ten-horned beast
(a revived Roman Empire) are these kingdoms.

The first three kingdoms go the way of
all flesh and are superseded by the next
as dynasty gives way to dynasty. The
fourth is a fearsome beast and a latter
day formation of the old Roman Empire is
empowered by the "little horn" (vs 8) to
such an evil extent that God steps in.

The "little horn" is the Antichrist,
and to allow us to see the immensity of the
situation, the vision cuts to a scene
in heaven where the "Ancient of Days,"
even God Himself, is ruling and reigning
in glory.

The little horn blasphemes God and persecutes
His saints and it is God who steps in to avenge them.
The Antichrist (the little horn) continues to
unrelentingly persecute the saints even
until the coming of the Lord when they
possess the kingdom (vs 21 & 22). This gives
us pause in any thinking about "premature escape."

Has there not always been persecution against
the saints of God by the powers of Satan and
every antichrist spirit? Yes, and yet this is
a specific persecution speaking of a specific
time YET TO COME. When Jesus speaks of
"'the Abomination of Desolation' spoken of by
the prophet Daniel," He did not refer to it as
something already made manifest or consider it
a parable with no earthly manifestation
(Matthew 24: 15ff).

There are many antichrists that have gone
out into the world, John tells us (1 John 4:
1-3). And yet, Daniel went pale and weak
at what he was seeing: the final war
between the saints of God and the forces
of darkness. What God allows Him to see,
on our behalf, is the calm certainty
of our God reigning in heaven and
of His, and our, ultimate victory.

This is our hope! He that endures to
the end will be saved. Whether we
live unto the Lord, or die unto Him,
WE ARE THE LORD'S! No weapon formed
against us will ultimately prosper,
and yet we cannot underestimate the
magnitude of the persecution still
in front of the saints.

There is much we do not understand,
but there is much written here that
we can understand: that our allegiance
to God must be total and that we
can expect to bear persecution so
that His purposes might come to
pass and that Israel might be saved.
But more of that in lessons to
come.

Questions to ask: Have I actually
studied the bible for myself with
regard to those events and prophecies
related to the end times?

Do I think that others know better
and that I cannot "figure out"
what these prophecies mean?

Take time to study God's word
and to ask Him to teach you and
to reveal to you His perspective.
This does not come easily but
it will not come at all unless
you start!

To be forwarned is to be ready.
We need great humility in
approaching the Scriptures,
but we dare not be as the 5
foolish virgins who have not
prepared. Perilous days lay
ahead, there is no doubt about
that. Trust God. Prepare your heart.


Other installments of the Daniel
Bible study are in the archives of
this blog.

Bible study Book of Daniel
Book of Daniel
Daniel 7
the Ancient of Days
The Antichrist
war on the saints
the four beasts
Christ and Antichrist

Waiting for That Day: Pray for Israel

And there shall come forth a rod out
of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall
grow out of his roots:

2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest
upon him, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and
might, the spirit of knowledge and of the
fear of the LORD;

3 And shall make him of quick understanding
in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not
judge after the sight of his eyes, neither
reprove after the hearing of his ears:

4 But with righteousness shall he judge the
poor, and reprove with equity for the meek
of the earth: and he shall smite the earth:
with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath
of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his
loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and
the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the
calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
and a little child shall lead them.

7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young
ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox.

8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole
of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his
hand on the cockatrice' den.

9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountain: for the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse,
which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it
shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
Lord shall set his hand again the second time to
recover the remnant of his people, which shall be
left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros,
and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and
from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations,
and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and
gather together the dispersed of Judah from the
four corners of the earth. --Isaiah 11

photo taken near Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, Israel

--this image may not be reproduced or shared without
consent of the photographer.

Isaiah 11
knowledge of God
the Messiah
the Day of the Lord
Israel

Devotions From the Heart: You Shall Live Also

by Derek Gitsham

"Yet a little while and the world
seeth me no more, but ye see me:
because I live, ye shall live also.
At that day ye shall know that I am
in My Father, and you in Me, and I
in you." John 14:19-20

From the thirteenth chapter of John, to the
seventeenth, Jesus and His apostles were
alone. The atmosphere was intimate. Jesus had
chosen this time to reveal their need to
receive the Holy Ghost.

Much was spoken concerning the Holy Ghost
that was not spoken before by Jesus. It takes
an intimate meeting to reveal what was to
become a living intimacy with God. They had
known Jesus after the flesh, now they were to
know Him after the Spirit. The Holy Ghost
would be the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,
indwelling them. The long awaited miracle of
the New Birth, promised by Jesus in John
chapter 3 was now going to be enacted in all
those waiting for the Holy Ghost on the Day
of Pentecost.

The day He is referring to is Pentecost and
clearly He says "you will know I am in My Father,
and you in Me, and I in you." Paul says if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Truly
this would be the day when the dead bones would
live (Ezekiel 38). As God asked Ezekiel, can
these bones live? Surely they would live being
indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit.

We live because He lives. He lives inside of
our hearts and if we, by obedience to His word,
walk the walk, He will live in us. We live
because He lives not vice-versa. What a wonder
it is to know that the Holy Ghost is in us to
live Jesus in us. If He lives, we live.

He will live your life for you if you step
aside, and believe His Word. He that loseth
his life for My sake shall find it. Your
life will be Another’s, the Lord's Himself.
What a wonder! Jesus has come to be our life.
He was saying to the Apostles, I will be in
heaven, but by My Spirit I will be in you
alive, living in you and continuing my work
of salvation. There can be no greater intimacy
than this. How much we have to thank the Holy
Ghost for. He is Jesus’ life in us.

Mercy & Patience: Love Others as God Has Loved You

When Abraham sat at his tent door,
according to his custom, waiting to
entertain strangers, he espied an old man,
stooping and leaning on his staff, weary
with age and travail, coming towards him,
who was a hundred years of age.

He received him kindly, washed his feet,
provided supper, caused him to sit down;
but observing that the old man ate and prayed
not, nor begged a blessing on his meat,
he asked him why he did not worship the
God of heaven.

The old man told him that he worshipped the
fire only, and acknowledged no other God. At
which answer Abraham grew so zealously angry,
that he threw the old man out of his tent,
and exposed him to all the evils of the
night and an unguarded condition.

When the old man was gone, God called to
Abraham, and asked him where the stranger
was. He replied, "I thrust him away, because
he did not worship thee." God answered him,
"I have suffered him these hundred years,
though he dishonored me; and wouldst thou not
endure him one night?"

... Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667),
The Liberty of Prophesying
[1647]

photo taken in the Wyre forest near Hanbury Hall,
Worcestershire, England

Hanbury Hall
Worcestershire, England
Wyre Forest
Jeremy Taylor
mercy
patience
photography Worcester, England

Even Shrek Needs to Relax

It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind
that we make use, from time to time, of playful
deeds and jokes.--Thomas Aquinas

photo taken in Weekapaug, Rhode Island

Devotions from the Heart: From Faith to Faith

by Derek Gitsham

"For therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith, as it is
written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’" (Romans 1:17)

Living by faith and exercising our faith
are two of the greatest challenges to the
believer in his walk with the Lord. Obstacles
abound to try and prevent the saint increasing
in faith. "From faith to faith" is a beautiful
phrase.

The phrase “the just shall live by faith”
points also to the fact that faith must
maintain us. Everything is by faith in our
relationship to Jesus faith from the
beginning and to the end. How glorified
Jesus will be to see faith when He comes.
Faith is the manner of how we progress;
we go on by faith, from faith to faith.

Paul, in the previous verse, is saying
“he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation.
To everyone who believeth, to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek.” For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed, from faith to
faith.

There is nothing that gladdens the heart of
the Lord’s people more than to see how right
God is in all His dealings with mankind. He
says the gospel reveals the righteousness of
God from faith to faith. As the saints
continue their walk with God, by continually
believing Him, so the revelation of His
righteousness is revealed.

How wonderful and great is the marvelous
wisdom of God. His plan of salvation hangs on
this very thing from faith to faith. It is by
faith to more faith, and more faith and more
faith. God is not asking for us to reason Him
out, but go on believing, keep trusting Him,
and behold the power of the gospel being
enacted before your eyes. There will be
results if you believe, as Jesus said, “These
signs shall follow them that believe.”

We started by faith, by simply believing, we
continue by faith, we finish by faith. Herein
will all be revealed.

Bearing the Burden's of Others

A Monarch of long ago had twin sons. As they
grew to young manhood, the king sought a fair
way to designate one of them as crown prince.
All who knew the young men thought them equal
in intelligence, wit, personal charm, health,
and physical strength. Being a keenly observant
king, he thought he detected a trait in one
which was not shared by the other.

Calling them to his council chamber one day,
he said, "My sons, the day will come when one
of you must succeed me as king. The weight of
sovereignty is very heavy. To find out which
of you is better able to bear them cheerfully,
I am sending you together to a far corner of
the kingdom.

One of my advisors there will place equal
burdens on your shoulders. My crown will one
day go to the one who first returns bearing
his yoke like a king should." In a spirit of
friendly competition, the brothers set out
together. Soon they overtook an aged woman
struggling under a burden that seemed far too
heavy for her frail body. One of the boys
suggested that they stop to help her. The
other protested: "We have a saddle of our
own to worry about. Let us be on our way."

The objector hurried on while the other
stayed behind to give aid to the aged woman.
Along the road, from day to day, he found
others who also needed help. A blind man
took him miles out of his way, and a lame
man slowed him to a cripple's walk.

Eventually he did reach his father's advisor,
where he secured his own yoke and started home
with it safely on his shoulders. When he
arrived at the palace, his brother met him
at the gate, and greeted him with dismay.
He said, "I don't understand. I told our father
the weight was too heavy to carry. However
did you do it?"

The future king replied thoughtfully, "I
suppose when I helped others carry their yoke,
I found the strength to carry my own."
--author unknown

photo taken in Leuven, Belgium

What I Don't Yet Know About God

"O the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and the knowledge of
God! How unsearchable are his
judgments, and his ways past finding out!"
--Romans 11:33

Even as a young person I wanted to
know God. My early years with God
were robust beyond measure. There
was so much to learn about God,
and yet, He seemed so close,
so knowable, everything made
perfect sense.

I would sit and think about what
I would know about God if I lived
to be quite old. I wondered how
it would be different from what
I now knew of Him. The thing is
I could never seem to make a good
guess about what I might know
about God after a long life that
I didn't know about God already as a
fervent God-pursuing young person.
Oh, dear Lord!

What I certainly did not know is this:
"I... saw under the sun, that the race
is not to the swift, nor the battle to
the strong, neither yet bread to the wise,
nor yet riches to men of understanding,
nor yet favour to men of skill; but time
and chance happeneth to them all" (Ecc. 9:11).
I did not know that life batters everyone around
and how things turn out are not, perhaps,
as we think they should.

I am now a bit older and, as I think about
what I might know about God up the road
that I don't know now, I suddenly feel very
low to the ground.

You see, one thing for sure, knowing God
is not about book knowledge or facts or just
correct doctrine, but about knowing God
as He is: knowing His character. Our
character produces our actions. If we
know someone's character we will know
how they will act. The more we know
God, the more we will understand His ways,
and know how He will act.

You may think this is self-evident,
even boring, but it is actually
one of our greatest guards against
falling into error and heresy.

How many times have we thought
that God was going to act a
certain way and didn't?

How many times have we thought
something was God and it
wasn't?

How many times have we failed
to apprehend how God was
working in our individual or
collective midst's?

Then comes the collision.

Often these collisions with
divine reality press our souls
to the very limit and can even
cause us to question God or to
turn away from Him. Disappointment.
Disillusionment. Confusion. All
these are common feelings when
how we think God is collides with
how God really is!

These collisions come to all our
lives and are divine appointments
to help us to know God better.

I started this article with that
wonderful verse from Romans where
Paul is overwhelmed with the mind-
boggling ways of our wise and good
God. This verse is his reaction to
the seemingly difficult dealings
of God with Israel. Surely if God
was the kind of person who drew
predictably straight lines in His
dealing with Israel it would have
been different.

But He is the kind of God who
draws straight lines with crooked
people, allowing His very own
to stumble so that a greater grace
and a more magnificent salvation
could be accomplished.

If this He did with the nation of
Israel, who are we to expect anything
less in the outworking of our
individual lives?

And so Paul writes, "For God had
concluded them all in unbelief
so that He might have mercy upon
all" (vs. 32). Here is a large
clue for us all as to what we
don't yet know about God!

Because He is in covenant with us,
because He is who He is, God has
promised to use even our ignorance
and unbelief to enact and pour forth
a greater mercy. To catch a glimpse
of this is to have your life changed.

"While we were yet sinners Christ
died for us." Even at our best
point our knowledge of God is
limited while we are still in
the flesh. We see "through a
glass darkly." This is not to
say that we cannot know God.
Thank God that we can! Yet it
is with the humility that
produces mercy that we seek Him.

Something about the process of
not knowing God as we would like,
and finding even in the most
solid of hearts, unbelief,
can produce in us, if we are
rightly disposed, a great humility.
This humility can lead to a great mercy
in our dealings with others.
May we seek a great understanding of
the mercy of God in the history
of both Israel, and our own lives.

In Israel's case it is a severe
mercy, but it leads ultimately to
salvation. Again, if Israel is the
showcase of God's covenant and His
ability to keep His Word, can we
expect anything else in our own
lives? For we are to be a showcase
not only to the nations but
to Israel of the mercy
of God. The mercy He shows the
gentiles is meant to woo
Israel back to Himself.

Ah, but how does this make me
feel better in my little life in
my small neighborhood? How do I
cope with my ignorance of God
without becoming cynical and
hardened? How do I live as I
am, full of imperfection, yet
still seeking God, knowing that
I haven't crossed all my t's or
dotted all my i's in the arena
of knowing God?

Let the humility of knowing that
we have only begun to know God work
the mercy of God within your heart.
"..Blindness, IN PART, happened to
Israel so that the fullness of
the Gentiles be come in" (11:25).
God did not want Israel to fall
into sin and ignorance, just as He
does not want us to. But God, being
who He is, is able to redeem it
all so that it allows a greater and
wider salvation! This happens on
a grand scale, and on a individual
scale. Allow Him to do a work of
mercy in your heart so that others
might be saved.

Willful blindness is something to
repent of and seek God for healing
of. But some of my blindness is
just plain ignorance. Even the best of
us is being healed progressively of
spiritual blindness. A pure vision of
God, even for those who diligently
seek Him, is a work in progress.

As my heart becomes more pure, and as I
see God more clearly, much of what
I think about God today will tomorrow
show itself to be embarrassingly
inadequate. Accept God's mercy in
this, and that mercy shall pour through you
to others. In those moments when
your realize you have misapprehended
God, pray for Israel. On that Day
when she finally sees what she does
not yet know about God, even Jesus
Christ, she will appreciate mercy in
a new way. Consider yourself to be no
better and blessedly allowed to
see because of her blindness.

Imparting the knowledge of God
with a merciful spirit is something
I did not know when I was young.
It is a lesson worth learning even
if it comes through walking through
some severe landscapes.

I don't know what I will know about God
in the future that I yet do not know.
I suspect it will be more along these
lines, lines filled with mercy and
grace, with the unsearchable wisdom
and knowledge of God. So my best advice
is to stay low to the ground and
allow mercy to lead us forth.

mercy
knowledge of God
Romans 11:33
spiritual blindness

Rely Upon Christ

To have faith is to rely upon Christ,
the Person, with the whole heart. It
is not the understanding of the mind,
not the theological opinion, not creed,
not organization, not ritual. It is the
koinonia of the whole personality with
God and Christ, ... This experience of
communion with Christ is itself the
continual attitude of dependence on
the Savior which we call faith.
... Kokichi Kurosaki (1886-1970),
One Body in Christ 1954]

photo taken on the path to St. Anne's Well,
Malvern, England.

St. Anne's Well
photography Malvern, England

A Pending Storm

So what to do? Two things, it seems
to me. At least two. Use up each day.
Fill it overflowing with good.
Deliberately enjoy it.

Two, begin now. Mend a fractured
friendship, mail an overdue letter,
repair a broken heart, lay aside a
griveance, act on a noble impulse.
As we all know, The night cometh.
- Lanny Henninger

Night indeed cometh. But the Light
overcomes the darkness.


photo taken near the English/Welsh border

Be Willing to Change

"Unless we change direction, we are likely to
end up where we are going."
- Chinese Proverb

photo taken in Worcester, England
on the banks of the River Severn.

Worcester, England
change

Devotions From the Heart: Losing What We Have

by Derek Gitsham

Losing What We Have

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest
heed to the things which we have heard, lest
at any times we should let them slip" (Hebrews 2:1)

In the Greek the words for “let them slip” are
literally translated “run out as from leaking vessels.”
So many are suffering this malady in the Church due to
this one reason not taking heed. Another rendering
reads, “less we should slip.” How apt is that? If we
do let the words that the Lord is speaking to us not
take a hold, we shall be liable to slip.

Our minds and memories, because they have been
twisted by the corruption of our nature, have to
be diligently harnessed to lay hold of what we are
hearing and reading from God’s word. We are told the
birds of the air, in the parable of the sower, (birds
are types of demonic spirits) sweep down upon the
seed and steal it away, the fowls of the air
devouring it (Luke 8:5).

Hearing the word once is not enough for most of
us, we need to hear it again and again, our
memories and minds being so leaky. The work of
the enemy, if he cannot steal the word away, will
try and distract us and he will work hard at it
to obtain his purpose. The word fell by the way
side, some upon a rock, some among thorns. All
were places to be avoided if the word is to be
fruitful in our lives. The final place was the
good ground which Luke says is a man who in
a good and honest heart, having heard the word,
keeps it, and brings forth fruit with patience
(Luke 8:15).

The word “keep” in Greek is "to keep in memory,
possess, seize on, and take." A good exercise for
all of us is when we hear God’s word and know it
is for us, we need to say, and “That’s mine!".
We need to take it, seize it, snatch it out of
the air, and claim it for ourselves. So serious
is this word, to take heed, that failure to do
so could have terrible repercussions, as Hebrews
begins to unfold. God makes us serious as we
listen to His Word.

Inoculated or On Fire?

We have all been inoculated with Christianity, and
are never likely to take it seriously now! You put
some of the virus of some dreadful illness into a
man's arm, and there is a little itchiness, some
scratchiness, a slight discomfort--disagreeable,
no doubt, but not the fever of the real disease,
the turning and the tossing, and the ebbing strength.

And we have all been inoculated with Christianity,
more or less. We are on Christ's side, we wish him
well, we hope that He will win, and we are even
prepared to do something for Him, provided, of
course, that He is reasonable, and does not make
too much of an upset among our cozy comforts and
our customary ways.

But there is not the passion of zeal, and the burning
enthusiasm, and the eagerness of self-sacrifice, of
the real faith that changes character and wins the world.
... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), From the Edge of the Crowd
[1924]



photo: summer's night thunderstorm,
Feeding Hills, MA

Devotions From the Heart: Come & See

by Derek Gitsham

Then Jesus turned and saw them following
and saith unto them, what seek ye? They
said unto him, Rabbi (which is to say being
interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
He saith unto them, “Come and see.” John 1:38-39

Jesus turning around and seeing his disciples
following surprised them by asking them what
they were seeking. Impulsively they responded,
“Where do you live?” It was a strange response
but they did not know what to say, as they were
not expecting that question from Jesus.

The Lord’s response is beautiful. It is totally
uncomplicated, void of anything intellectual,
come and see. It is possibly the most simple of
responses that they could have heard from Jesus.
They were not put off, they were not rebuked for
being silly, just told to “come and see.”

So uncomplicated does the Lord intend our walk
to be with Him, that literally all the believer
has to do is come to Jesus, and “look around.”
Take it all in boys, everything you see. See
where I live in my heart, who preoccupies me,
where I go when I need help, just come and see.

Jesus is making the same response to us today,
“come and see.” Look upon Me, gaze upon Me with
the eye of your heart, seek My face, “behold in
a glass the glory of the Lord, look unto Me all
you ends of the earth and be ye saved.”

Look for Jesus in everything, see Him in all,
He is there. As the Hebrew writer beautifully
writes, but now we see not yet all things put
under him but we see Jesus who was made a
little lower than the angels.

Come and see. Two great things to do. Come, just
do it, stop procrastinating, simply come, and see
what happens when you do. Come unto me all you
that labor and see the change.

Jesus & Peter: Redeeming the Failures of Others...John 21:1-19

There's no doubt about it:life comes at you hard.
Failure, abysmal failure, no doubt, is somewhat
inevitable. God has to bring us to the end of
our long, hard selves in order to get us into
any shape at all that can be called holy and healthy.

Thank God that we have a Savior who knows
how to lift us up out of the miry clay and
set our feet on the Rock without unnecessary
comment. Our God leads and teaches and corrects
with the utmost humility.

There is much talk about spiritual leadership,
but what really is a godly leader like? If you
were going to be fall into your worst failure,
who would you want to gather your sadly shattered
pieces and help you put them back together?
Implicit in that answer is a lot of what it means
to lead like God leads.

Have you ever broken something that is precious
to someone else? There is nothing worse than
the feeling of horrible helplessness when you
realize that you have dropped something that
cannot be easily or at all fixed, or acted, or
been acted upon, in such a way that trust has
been broken. This can happen to us as a child
with our mom's favorite collectable or it can
happen relationally to us as adults with each
other. It can happen, and many times does happen,
between us and God. Or any mixture of all of the
above.

We are hurt often, we hurt others often:
that part we get. But how do we respond as
Jesus would? For how we respond to the
failure of another, especially if the
failure has caused us great hurt, is a test of
our ability to lead as Jesus does. In these
situations we have much more to lose than
the one who appears to have failed.

Again, when you fail, who would you like to
come and help you up? Wouldn't you
want someone to come and get you
as gently but as effectively as Jesus
got Peter when he denied Him? Jesus did
not mock Peter, or shame him, but
gently shows him the path to restoration
and, therefore, to freedom.

Peter denied Jesus at the worst
possible time. In Jesus' hour
of need, Peter not only was
not there, he turned his back
on Jesus. Peter failed--royally
failed. If we think that Jesus
did not feel the pain of that,
I think we misunderstand
completely.

Christ was hurt by his fellows,
have no doubt about that.
Betrayal is the nastiest of things.
Yet He kept on doing the will of
God to the very end. He plunged
into death so that we might be
plunged into life. He was pulling
all of humanity out of the pit
on His very back. Alone.

And yet, without fanfare, at the
first possible moment, he heads
back for the one hurting, lost
sheep: Peter.

With Christ there was no posing for
paparazzi. No grand talk of beating
the devil's butt singlehanded. No
victory swagger. Not even
any reading of "the Riot Act"
to Peter for cracking under
pressure at the most crucial moment.
Jesus is back to basics: cooking
breakfast on the beach. Serving.
Low of heart. Looking to take
Peter back in and get him back on track.

If Jesus comes in too high,
even though He certainly could,
Peter might not, probably would
not, take the extended hand up.
True leaders are not focused on
themselves, but on reaching
the last lost sheep. They do not
say, "99 is good enough, let the
last one go, they deserved it."
They do not count whether the
fallen one has money or not, or
talent, or beauty, or brains or
anything this world calls "worth"
--they go out and get them.

Jesus does not say much to Peter,
but He keeps saying the same
thing until Peter gets it.
"Peter, do you love Me? Feed
My sheep." No direct mention is made
of Peter's denial. Peter must get
that Jesus asks him three times,
"Do you love me?" because Peter
denied him three times. Kind of
a cancelling out of the denial
with love. Love is like that.

Peter says, "Lord, you know that I
love You." He understands, in a new
way, that the Lord does know--knows
everything about Peter, knows his depths,
and knows his failures and definitely
knows his weakness. Its all out there.
Jesus in not horrified, not surprised,
not out to embarrass Peter, but to give
him what he needs to get back on the path.

The setting reflects the moral of the
story. Jesus, as always, has prepared
what they need as a good leader always
does. Peter has decided to go fishing,
because that is what we do when we fail:
revert to our old life, but that old life
produces no fruit, and in this case, no fish.

Jesus already has fish cooking on the shore.
This is his third appearance to his
disciples since He has risen. He invites
them to eat of what He has, but He also
invites them to bring forth out of the
share He miraculously provides for them.
They have been fishing all night and caught
nothing. Now they have more than they could
imagine once they take His playful advice.

Jesus tells them, "put your net on the other
side of the boat." Yea, right. The truth is,
with God, the impossible, amazing answer is near
at hand, right under our noses, if we but
believe God. He brings a little miracle,
an ironic little miracle, to the beach
that morning to take the morose tone
off things. Jesus always seems to be
doing that. "Just letting you guys know
that its the same old Me."

"It's no big deal. Just get back to business."
Do you love Me? Feed my sheep. Love
them the way I love you. Love them
just like this. No fanfare. Breakfast
prepared, a little straight talk,
communion shared, life given. Off to
work. Radical acceptance and radical
forgiveness are like that.

When you experience radical acceptance
and radical forgiveness you have a
better chance of becoming the kind
of person that will go and pull
people out of their failures without
the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" lecture.
You have a better chance of being
like Jesus: the answer comes to the 'just
on the other side of the boat' kind
of person, a love God and take care
of others kind of person. And by the way,
breakfast is waiting. Don't be late.
Make the road back as easy as possible
for others.

Be like Christ. He leads best who bows
his knee to lift others up. That is
rarer than hen's teeth, and infinitely
more valuable. Happy fishing.

restoration
forgiveness
humility
godly character
dealing with failure
John 21;1-19
Peter's denial
godly leadership
mercy
lost sheep

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for
the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for
the blue dream of sky and for everything which
is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. ~e.e. cummings

photo taken in Worcester, England

Daniel Bible Study-- Like Daniel & Jesus: Cultivating a Quiet & Obedient Spirit

The sixth chapter of Daniel reveals to us
some similarities between the life of Daniel
and the life of Jesus. Daniel had a quiet
spirit. He, like Jesus, did not try to
make himself the center of attention. Both
men quietly went about doing good, and
obeying what God had asked of them.

Yet, envy and jealousy rose up in people's
hearts against Daniel, as it did against
Jesus. Those that plotted against Daniel
knew that they could not find anything
wrong in what he was doing "unless they
find it against him concerning the law
of his God" (vs. 5); for they knew that
he served God alone and would not compromise,
even with the king. May we strive for
such a pure place, for sadly, there can be
much that antagonizes others in us that
is not of God.

Nonetheless,envy and jealousy provoke evil
deeds more than we know. We need to guard
against the mad thrashings of envy in our
own lives. Envy provokes Daniel's contemporaries
to devise a plot to bring him down. The
same was true of Jesus. In Matthew 27:18
Pilate knew that "it was for envy that they
delivered him" [to the Roman authorities].

What is amazing about both Jesus and Daniel
is how, when continually and violently
opposed, they just remained in the place that
God called them to and "did not raise their
voice" in the streets. They did nothing to
promote their "ministry" nor defend themselves.
They were simply faithful to God.

In Daniel 6, those that were envious of Daniel
observe that he is not falling down to worship
the king but is still, blessedly, worshipping
God alone. Here is how they hope to trap him
and take him down. Daniel's response to this is to
go home, open his windows, and pray three times
a day to God AS HE HAD ALWAYS DONE! (vs. 10).

When things are arrayed against us let us
quietly but visibly continue to obey God.
Consider the life of Jesus, for in it we
see this same quiet, visible obedience
in action.

Isaiah writes about what the coming
Messiah will be like: "he shall not cry,
nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be
heard in the street. A bruised reed he
shall not break and a smoldering wick he
shall not quench." (Is. 42:2-3).

He also writes:"he was oppressed and
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth:
he is brought as lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is
dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Is. 53:7).

Jesus, and Daniel, did not fight to
defend themselves but trusted in God,
leaving their defence to God.

In Matthew 21 Jesus tells the parable
of the wicked vineyard keepers. The
parable exposes the envy and hatred
of the Pharisees toward God and His Son.
Jesus concludes that He is as the son
of the husbandman who was killed and like
the rejected cornerstone. Then He says
"whoever falls on the Stone shall be broken,
but on whomever it falls it shall grind
him to powder" (Mat 21:44). Even this coming
judgment is without words yet sure and
effective.

The chief priests and elders constantly
plot to get Jesus, yet Jesus just goes
along quietly obeying the Father. They bring
false witnesses to speak against Jesus but
"Jesus held His peace" (Mat. 26:63).

Jesus only does what He sees His Father
doing, He does nothing from Himself (John
5:19). Even then, He is persecuted, but
God is His defender, just as God is
Daniel's defender and the defender of
anyone who obeys God and does not
fight in his own strength to defend
himself for doing what God bids.

Defending ourselves becomes noisome.
We choose to lift up our voice, to
take up our weapons, to defend
our way; in doing so we lose quiet
obedience to God. Our voice is heard
in the street, we call attention to
ourselves. We lose the quiet and
meek spirit displayed by Daniel and
by Jesus. The spirit of Antichrist
is a noisy spirit that chatters
and clatters and pushes itself
to the front, gleefully breaking
bruised reeds and pompously snuffing
out smoldering wicks.

Let us seek to walk quietly and
humbly with God, not raising our
voice, putting ourselves in God's
hands, even when we are threatened
at the hands of men.

God's ways are not like ours.
We find Him in quietness and in
confident trust. We find His favor
in obedience. Let us trust ourselves
into His hands, and leave our defence
to Him. Whether we live we live unto
Lord, or whether we die, we die
unto the Lord, whether we live
or die, WE ARE THE LORD'S (Rom 14:8).


Other installments of this bible study
are filed under "Daniel Bible Studies" in
the archives.

Bible study Book of Daniel
Book of Daniel
Daniel 6
Daniel and Jesus
Isaiah 42:2-3
Isaiah 53:7
envy
trusting God
quietness
humility
godly character
Christ and Antichrist

I will charge my soul to believe and
wait for Him, and will follow His
providence, and not go before it,
nor stay behind it. - Samuel Rutherford

Devotions From the Heart: A Man's Calling

by Pastor Derek Gitsham

"God is faithful by whom you were called
unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ
our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:9)

Paul was perfectly chosen to bring our hearts
and minds to the most significant phrase in
scripture. You were called unto the fellowship
of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. He did not
launch out and say our calling was our work
for God but our fellowship with God. A man’s
work was to be an overflow of his relationship
with God, not vice-versa.

This is probably the reason why so many in the
work of the Lord have suffered so much, by being
burned out; given to despair, depression and many
other symptoms which are all the result of putting
the cart before the horse.

Mark 3:14 Jesus ordained twelve that they should
be with him and that he might send them forth to
preach. Notice the phrase, “ordained to be with Him.”
How true this is. Far be it for us to think anything
less of this verse. It means exactly what it says,
“Ordained to be with Him.”

Everything starts with our relationship to Jesus.
All must come out of our fellowship with the Lord
else all is dead. He is the life, there is no other
life but in Him, and as we commune and partake of
Him so His life becomes our life. He that hath the
Son, goes on having the Son, has life. Everything is
Jesus. He is first, second, third, fourth, and so on.
He is Alpha and Omega, and all that is in between.

Jesus’ words to Peter were, “Do you love me, Peter,
more than these?” Spoken three times, Peter gave the
same response. Jesus’ answer was, “Feed My sheep.”
Loving Him is our relationship with Him, then we have
food for sheep. How crucial is it for God’s servants
to be in a vital relationship with Jesus, if they are
to feed the flock. “Love Me, Peter, fellowship with
Me, know Me, feed the sheep.” We can know what we
need to know by loving Him. Called into fellowship
with Jesus, make your calling and election sure.

I love to think of nature as an unlimited
broadcasting station, through which God
speaks to us every hour, if we will only
tune in. ~George Washington Carver

photo taken in Catskill, New York

God writes the gospel not in the Bible
alone, but on trees and flowers and
clouds and stars. ~Martin Luther

photo taken in Hudson, New York :)

The Grace of Wonder

"Dear Lord, grant me the grace of wonder.
Surprise me, amaze me, awe me in every crevice
of Your universe. Delight me to see how Your
Christ plays in ten thousand places. . .to the
Father through the features of men's faces. Each
day enrapture me with your marvelous things
without number. I do not ask to see the reason for
it all; I ask only to share the wonder of it all."

-- Joshua Abraham Heschel


photo taken in Abergavenny, Wales

Joshua Abraham Heschel
wonder

Considering the Beam

"And why beholdest the splinter that is
in thy brother's eye, but considerest
not the beam that is in thine own eye?"
(Matthew 7:3).

I like the fact that when you read the
words of Jesus, you often find a penetrating
irony there. At the heart of Jesus'
teaching we see that Christ most
assuredly tell us not to judge others,
not because things don't need
judging, but because our eye condition,
mainly the fact that something quite
large is clouding our vision, causes
us to be unable to see clearly.

Jesus teaches us to put the shortcomings
of others in their proper perspective.
How is it that we notice the smallest
problem in another but do not see the
very large problem in ourself?

We see the speck in our neighbor's eye,
but fail to consider that there is a
massive beam in our own. He gently
reminds us that we fail to "consider"
what is wrong in our own heart. "Consider"
has that well pondered, well acknowledged
kind of feel to it. The kind of consider
that those who wanted to cast the first
stone at the woman caught in adultery were
forced to do when Jesus started
writing their sins down for them.

They had "forgotten" to consider and
Jesus was just "helping" them along
in that regard. Dear Lord, there is
so much we need to consider. 70 x 7
times a day kind of consider. Danger
of hellfire kind of consider. Standing
before the judgment seat of Christ
kind of consider. Making an absolute
fool out of myself kind of consider.

I don't mean rehearsing your sins
and falsely lamenting about how
bad you are. I don't mean dwelling
on things that God has forgiven you
for. Just a good healthy consider
to put things in their proper perspective.
It shouldn't take too long before
you slip into a well-considered silence.

We are all helplessly, hopelessly weak
without God. We are all, even at our
strongest points, genuinely broken. No
matter how much healing the Lord has done
in us, the door still squeaks. At best
we are wounded healers. Jesus is trying to bring
us together under one roof as children of
God; children who love each other no matter
what, children who know how to love
much because they have been forgiven
much.

The really embarrassing truth is
that our shortcomings are out
there for everyone to see. We are
the ones, the embarrassingly last ones,
who usually fail to see our greatest
flaws. But what if we were meant
to help each other instead of
judge each other?


A graceful community knows
how to help each of its members, from the
alleged small to the alleged great, clear both
speck and log from their eyes. We are meant to
do that as a community of the forgiven, knowing
that, for better or for worse, how you deal with
me, is probably how I'm going to deal with you,
with God watching the whole time.

There is balance and healing and a whole
eye in the community of God when she is
healthy. Not one of us can see everything,
we must look and see and discern together,
with each bringing what he has. If you
haven't been hit by this revelation in
its practical chaotic working, let me
inform you that God has made each of us
wildly different!

Paul says, "For who has made you to differ
from another? and what do you have that you
did not receive? now if it was received,
why do you glory, as if it had not been
received?" (1 Cor. 4:7). All that we are
is a gift given by God. We cannot then
use it to judge others, we must use it
to help others.

There is the old story of the Emperor who
Had No Clothes. Everyone could see his
nakedness, but pretended that he was royally
dressed because it would have been too chancy, too
politically incorrect, too dangerous, to say
otherwise.

The truth is, we are all naked emperors,
and our job, to each other, is to help
cover our individual and corporate nakedness,
not with dysfunctional lies of false pretense, nor
with the deceitfulness of sin's false cloak,
but with the righteous robes of healing, love,
and the fear of God.

How sad we will all feel when we see how
much healing was out there for all of us
that we failed to avail ourselves of or
failed to work together toward. We cannot
get there by ourselves.

It is very hard to "consider the beam"
outside a healthy community of faith.
Self-deceit is too greatly embedded in
us all. It is too easy to let ourselves
off the hook if we are doing the self-inspecting.

We must allow God into the consideration
process, but we must also consider that
the Body of Christ is meant to be a place
where you can LOVINGLY help me see my
reflection and urge me to make those necessary
changes that will make me look more
like Christ. If the body is sick,
then that process is not possible,
and much is lost. Sadly, much has
been lost, so much so that there is
often more dis-ease than healing in the
church.

I'm not saying that there are easy
answers or that any of us
will ever get there, but I still
hold it up as God's best way.
If this kind of healing and
accountability is not available to you
on a large scale, then ask God
to make it available to you on a
small scale. Start with one person
you trust.

Let us not lose sight of the fact
that mutual healing, the wisdom born
out of diverse people choosing to give
what they have, choosing to love, and
be loved, to change and be changed, is
what God wants for us. Feeling that
is an impossible task does not let
me off the hook, for here I stand,
broken, weak, bleeding, and in need
of one of the passersby on the road
to be as a good Samaritan to me. Feeling
that it is too risky does not negate
my charge to stop and aid others that are
likewise bleeding and broken.

The Word and call of God stand no matter
what. What we do with them determines
our individual and corporate destiny.
Consider the beam. Consider love.
Consider change. Consider the glory of God.
Oh, if only we could see what we could
be together.

forgiveness
covenant relationship
community
the Body of Christ
Matthew 7:3
reconciliation
judgment
grace

Devotions from the Heart: Girding Up the Loins of Your Mind

by Pastor Derek Gitsham

"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind,
be sober and hope to the end for the grace
that is to be brought to you at the revelation
of Jesus Christ" (I Peter 1:13).

Peter is thinking possibly of the last words of
Moses to Israel as they were exiting Egypt. In
Exodus 12:11 it speaks of eating the sacrifice,
whose blood was placed on the lintel and doorposts
of the houses they lived in, so that the angel of
the Lord, when seeing the blood, might pass over
them.

While eating the sacrifice, they had to have their
loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their
staff in their hand, and they shall eat it in haste
for it is the Lord’s Passover.

They were to eat the sacrifice in departure mode,
having the loins girded. Peter says we are to be
thinking in the same way. This is not our home here;
we will one day be gone to our heavenly home. We
have to live in departure mode in our thinking, not
allowing our minds to dwell on things of the earth,
and be caught up with the world and its distractions.

They were to eat it in haste. They had to be quick.
Leaving the world and sin needs to be done quickly.
The word labor, in “labor to enter into His rest”
means be quick. If you delay over things in the world,
procrastinating, before long it will have you. Paul,
to the Corinthians, says, “Flee fornication, escape it.”

Our mindset must be in departure mode. Unfortunately,
Israel left Egypt (the world) but Egypt did not leave
them. We must progressively be leaving Egypt whilst here,
leaving sin, having nothing to do with it if we are to
obtain the prize, and reserve our crown.

Speaking of the faith witnesses in Hebrews 11:15 says
“Truly if they had been mindful of that country from
whence they came out, they might have had opportunity
to have returned." Let us gird up the loins of our mind,
and live in departure mode.

Bible Study: Book of Daniel, Chapter 5-- The Folly of Pride

Throughout the book of Daniel we continue
to see the stark contrast between Daniel,
who fears God and walks with Him, compared
with the prideful and foolish Babylonian kings.

In Chapter 5 of Daniel, Belshazzar,who is in
Nebuchadnezzar's bloodline, perhaps the grandson,
is introduced. What we see immediately is
that wanting to make yourself look good,
plus an excess of wine, will push you to
do things that you should not do.

Belshazzar was giving a great feast and the
wine flowed freely. In order to further
impress his guests he decides, against
all good judgment, to bring out the gold and
silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had
taken from the temple of Jerusalem and
allow people drink wine from them.

Proverbs 16:18&19 says, "Pride goes before
destruction, and a haughty spirit before
a fall. Better it is to be of a humble