Ah some more readings- Wed 28 Nov
Luke 21: 12-19
"...But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will be a time for you to serve as witnesses. Therefore be resolved not to rehearse ahead of time how to make your defense. For I will give you the words along with the wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will have some of you put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of my name. Yet not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives."
Daniel 5
King Belshazzar prepared a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of them all. While under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels– the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father had confiscated from the temple in Jerusalem– so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them. So they brought the gold and silver vessels that had been confiscated from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, together with his wives and concubines, drank from them. As they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand. As the king watched the back of the hand that was writing, all the color drained from his face and he became alarmed. The joints of his hips gave way, and his knees began knocking together.
...So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives of Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard about you, how there is a spirit of the gods in you, and how you have insight, discernment, and extraordinary wisdom.
...However, I have heard that you are able to provide interpretations and to decipher knotty problems. Now if you are able to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, you will wear purple and have a golden collar around your neck and be third ruler in the kingdom.” But Daniel replied to the king, “Keep your gifts, and give your rewards to someone else! However, I will read the writing for the king and make known its interpretation."
...Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways! Therefore the palm of a hand was sent from him, and this writing was inscribed.
“This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEQEL, and PHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the words: As for mene – God has numbered your kingdom’s days and brought it to an end. As for teqel– you are weighed on the balances and found to be lacking. As for peres– your kingdom is divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”
Wednesday, 28 November 2007
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
Today's Readings
Some more of today's readings below (Tue 27 Nov):
Luke 21: 5-11
While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here– the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying,‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come." Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”
My Reflection: Isn't the above reading a very clear warning against people who proclaim the exact time of Judgment Day? And also against those who proclaim that the world is coming to the end beause of this calamity or that war? Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 tells us that only God the Father knows when Judgment Day will come- and I doubt He shares or will share this information with us common mortals. Judgment Day will come, though- and all the worrying and the preparing (either material or spiritual) in the world will not change its hour by a milisecond. So let's not fear Judgment Day. Instead let's live every day in a manner that ensures that when that day comes, we can present Jesus with a truthfully beautiful account of our spiritual and temporal life.
Daniel 2: 31-45
“You, O king, were watching as a great statue – one of impressive size and extraordinary brightness – was standing before you. Its appearance caused alarm. As for that statue, its head was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of bronze. Its legs were of iron; its feet were partly of iron and partly of clay. You were watching as a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its iron and clay feet, breaking them in pieces. Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were broken in pieces without distinction and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors that the wind carries away. Not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a large mountain that filled the entire earth. This was the dream. Now we will set forth before the king its interpretation.
“You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has granted you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. Wherever human beings, wild animals, and birds of the sky live – he has given them into your power. He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold. Now after you another kingdom will arise, one inferior to yours. Then a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule in all the earth. Then there will be a fourth kingdom, one strong like iron. Just like iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and as iron breaks in pieces all of these metals, so it will break in pieces and crush the others. In that you were seeing feet and toes partly of wet clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom. Some of the strength of iron will be in it, for you saw iron mixed with wet clay. In that the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, the latter stages of this kingdom will be partly strong and partly fragile. And in that you saw iron mixed with wet clay, so people will be mixed with one another without adhering to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand forever. You saw that a stone was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands; it smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold into pieces. The great God has made known to the king what will occur in the future. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is reliable.”
MyReflection: King Nebuchadnezzar's reaction to his prophetic dream is typical of people's reaction to such prophecies. Instead of repenting of his sins and becoming righteous in God's eyes, he sought to prevent the prophecy from coming true by building the statue of his dream and worshipping it. Did Daniel tell him the statue was that of a god? No. Did Daniel tell him that this is a way which the prophecy can be adverted. I extremely doubt it. Then why did he do it? Probabaly it's easier to do that than repent and seek forgiveness. Especially if you consider his opinion of him being the most powerful person around. So lesson of the story: pride can lead one into strange places. It's easier in the long run to let go of one's pride and come before God as a nobody begging for forgiveness.
Luke 21: 5-11
While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here– the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying,‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come." Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”
My Reflection: Isn't the above reading a very clear warning against people who proclaim the exact time of Judgment Day? And also against those who proclaim that the world is coming to the end beause of this calamity or that war? Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 tells us that only God the Father knows when Judgment Day will come- and I doubt He shares or will share this information with us common mortals. Judgment Day will come, though- and all the worrying and the preparing (either material or spiritual) in the world will not change its hour by a milisecond. So let's not fear Judgment Day. Instead let's live every day in a manner that ensures that when that day comes, we can present Jesus with a truthfully beautiful account of our spiritual and temporal life.
Daniel 2: 31-45
“You, O king, were watching as a great statue – one of impressive size and extraordinary brightness – was standing before you. Its appearance caused alarm. As for that statue, its head was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of bronze. Its legs were of iron; its feet were partly of iron and partly of clay. You were watching as a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its iron and clay feet, breaking them in pieces. Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were broken in pieces without distinction and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors that the wind carries away. Not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a large mountain that filled the entire earth. This was the dream. Now we will set forth before the king its interpretation.
“You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has granted you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. Wherever human beings, wild animals, and birds of the sky live – he has given them into your power. He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold. Now after you another kingdom will arise, one inferior to yours. Then a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule in all the earth. Then there will be a fourth kingdom, one strong like iron. Just like iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and as iron breaks in pieces all of these metals, so it will break in pieces and crush the others. In that you were seeing feet and toes partly of wet clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom. Some of the strength of iron will be in it, for you saw iron mixed with wet clay. In that the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, the latter stages of this kingdom will be partly strong and partly fragile. And in that you saw iron mixed with wet clay, so people will be mixed with one another without adhering to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand forever. You saw that a stone was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands; it smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold into pieces. The great God has made known to the king what will occur in the future. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is reliable.”
MyReflection: King Nebuchadnezzar's reaction to his prophetic dream is typical of people's reaction to such prophecies. Instead of repenting of his sins and becoming righteous in God's eyes, he sought to prevent the prophecy from coming true by building the statue of his dream and worshipping it. Did Daniel tell him the statue was that of a god? No. Did Daniel tell him that this is a way which the prophecy can be adverted. I extremely doubt it. Then why did he do it? Probabaly it's easier to do that than repent and seek forgiveness. Especially if you consider his opinion of him being the most powerful person around. So lesson of the story: pride can lead one into strange places. It's easier in the long run to let go of one's pride and come before God as a nobody begging for forgiveness.
Monday, 26 November 2007
Today's Readings
Yet more readings- today's, that is (Mon 26 Nov):
Luke 21: 1-4
Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. He also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. But she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had to live on.”
MyReflection: True love doesn't calculate- it spends lavishly. It's not the value of the gift that matters, but the generous and loving sacrifice that goes into and along with it. It's easy to give when one has a lot, but try giving one's all, especially when that 'all' is of gigantic cost to the giver. The poor widow's offering (which I bet she could use to buy food for herself) is reckless and foolish in the eyes of the world, but in Jesus' eyes (and thus God's eyes) is of immesurable value to her and others.
Daniel 1: 1-20
In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem and laid it under siege. Now the Lord delivered King Jehoiakim of Judah into his power, along with some of the vessels of the temple of God. He brought them to the land of Babylonia to the temple of his god and put the vessels in the treasury of his god. The king commanded Ashpenaz, who was in charge of his court officials, to choose some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent – young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated and having keen insight, and who were capable of entering the king’s royal service – and to teach them the literature and language of the Babylonians. So the king assigned them a daily ration from his royal delicacies and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king’s service. As it turned out, among these young men were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself. Then God made the overseer of the court officials sympathetic to Daniel. But he responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? If that happened, you would endanger my life with the king!” Daniel then spoke to the warden whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: “Please test your servants for ten days by providing us with some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who are eating the royal delicacies; deal with us in light of what you see.” So the warden agreed to their proposal and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days their appearance was better and their bodies were healthier than all the young men who had been eating the royal delicacies. So the warden removed the delicacies and the wine from their diet and gave them a diet of vegetables instead.
Now as for these four young men, God endowed them with knowledge and skill in all sorts of literature and wisdom – and Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams. When the time appointed by the king arrived the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence. When the king spoke with them, he did not find among the entire group anyone like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, or Azariah. So they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and insight the king asked them about, he found them to be ten times better than any of the magicians and astrologers that were in his entire empire.
MyRelection: How many of us, when life gets easy, start to take life easy? It's easy to turn to God and His laws when the going gets tough, but do we do so or stay so when the going gets easier? Daniel didn't. He didn't put the king's favour or his personal ambition above the laws of his God. Neither did he pretend to eat the king's food just to not offend the king or refuse totally to eat the food and thus court the king's anger. Do we often take these roads in our life? Either we break God's laws, or lie our way out of breaking God's laws, or simply get angry with whoever or whatever seems to put us in the way of breaking God's laws. None of these ways help God's plan for us and for others. What Daniel did in this reading is worth emulating- stand up for God's laws, but not in a in-your-face way.
Luke 21: 1-4
Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. He also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. But she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had to live on.”
MyReflection: True love doesn't calculate- it spends lavishly. It's not the value of the gift that matters, but the generous and loving sacrifice that goes into and along with it. It's easy to give when one has a lot, but try giving one's all, especially when that 'all' is of gigantic cost to the giver. The poor widow's offering (which I bet she could use to buy food for herself) is reckless and foolish in the eyes of the world, but in Jesus' eyes (and thus God's eyes) is of immesurable value to her and others.
Daniel 1: 1-20
In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem and laid it under siege. Now the Lord delivered King Jehoiakim of Judah into his power, along with some of the vessels of the temple of God. He brought them to the land of Babylonia to the temple of his god and put the vessels in the treasury of his god. The king commanded Ashpenaz, who was in charge of his court officials, to choose some of the Israelites who were of royal and noble descent – young men in whom there was no physical defect and who were handsome, well versed in all kinds of wisdom, well educated and having keen insight, and who were capable of entering the king’s royal service – and to teach them the literature and language of the Babylonians. So the king assigned them a daily ration from his royal delicacies and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king’s service. As it turned out, among these young men were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself. Then God made the overseer of the court officials sympathetic to Daniel. But he responded to Daniel, “I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? If that happened, you would endanger my life with the king!” Daniel then spoke to the warden whom the overseer of the court officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: “Please test your servants for ten days by providing us with some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who are eating the royal delicacies; deal with us in light of what you see.” So the warden agreed to their proposal and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days their appearance was better and their bodies were healthier than all the young men who had been eating the royal delicacies. So the warden removed the delicacies and the wine from their diet and gave them a diet of vegetables instead.
Now as for these four young men, God endowed them with knowledge and skill in all sorts of literature and wisdom – and Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams. When the time appointed by the king arrived the overseer of the court officials brought them into Nebuchadnezzar’s presence. When the king spoke with them, he did not find among the entire group anyone like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, or Azariah. So they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and insight the king asked them about, he found them to be ten times better than any of the magicians and astrologers that were in his entire empire.
MyRelection: How many of us, when life gets easy, start to take life easy? It's easy to turn to God and His laws when the going gets tough, but do we do so or stay so when the going gets easier? Daniel didn't. He didn't put the king's favour or his personal ambition above the laws of his God. Neither did he pretend to eat the king's food just to not offend the king or refuse totally to eat the food and thus court the king's anger. Do we often take these roads in our life? Either we break God's laws, or lie our way out of breaking God's laws, or simply get angry with whoever or whatever seems to put us in the way of breaking God's laws. None of these ways help God's plan for us and for others. What Daniel did in this reading is worth emulating- stand up for God's laws, but not in a in-your-face way.
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