Praying as Daniel prayed. Can we do this? Can we understand the fullness of our unworthiness? We do not deserve God's love. We are wretched sinners and if anyone shakes their head to this and denies it, all the more reason for them to fall to their knees and pray for enlightenment to man's state before God. Too often people focus on their self-worth, they'll even say that God loves them and that makes THEM worthy. God loves us all- sinner and saint - but He does hate the sin we commit.
'For God so loved the world…'
It's Christ's worth that matters not our own. God loves us and that love gave us Christ Jesus. We find worth only as HE is worthy. Our dependence upon the Lord is all we are called to, not to dependence upon ourselves. If we are good at all it is Christ in us that is good. Our good actions will not mean a thing. Sinners have a lot of good actions. The stereotype for a sinner is someone committing outward acts of evil. But I think it's safe to say that there are many, many, many sinners that don't seemingly sin at all. In fact we are all sinners aren't we? That person we look up to as an example of one leading a Christian life- that person is a sinner too. That pastor we listen to who speaks amazingly, that singer singing such a heart felt, touching, life changing song, they are sinners. We aren't to look to each other for an example in holiness because we will forever be disappointed. We have to look to our Savior and in Him alone we find the PERFECT example, in Him alone we find forgiveness.
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
Only Jesus is sinless. Only Jesus has worth. By His grace we are forgiven. Only because of HIS worth are we saved. If we had to rely upon our own worth we'd have nothing to rely on. Only by faith in HIM, in HIS worth are we saved. If we wait to be transformed into one worthy, we'll forever be waiting. We must learn dependence now because without that dependence upon Christ we will never be His, fully His.
Daniel prayed earnestly.
'And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession,'
Daniel made his confession - to who? The LORD his God. The confession--
'and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments'
Obey and live. Disobey and die. Mankind was created and given this command. A simple command really. That choice given to the first parents is given to every one of us- daily, hourly, minutely. We might be quick to say that we would never had taken that bite from the forbidden fruit, but in truth we don't really know what we'd have done, do we? God keeps the covenant and gives mercy to those who love Him, and to those who keep His commandments. This is truth. Love and obey.
'We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments'
We are sinners. ALL are sinners. ALL have committed iniquity. ALL have done wickedly. ALL have rebelled. ALL have departed from God's precepts. All have departed from God's judgments. When we sin we do all that. The sin we've committed isn't just a non-consequential act, harming only us, but it's wicked. That little tiny sin is WICKED. That little tiny sin is REBELLION. That little tiny sin is us DEPARTING from God's precepts, and God's judgments. That one bite, that one tiny, delicate bite that barely took the tiniest nibble from the fruit, that first touch of teeth piercing the flesh of the fruit, the touch of lips pressed briefly against the pleasing fruit, that was WICKEDNESS, REBELLION, DISOBEYING. It was a tiny sin- in our perception. It wasn't murder. Yet it was the worst of all sins- the first. And that's all it took. God didn't give us three strikes and we're out. God didn't need to give us three strikes. One strike was enough. Introducing sin, that first inclination to disobey God was all that was necessary to bring the flood of sin into the world, to put SELF first, to put SELF before God came in that tiniest of seemingly harmlessness of sins. We CANNOT let Satan deceive us into believing the tiny sins don't matter. We HAVE sinned and whether small or great any sin at all is wicked, is rebelling, is leaving God's precepts, leaving God's judgment. We are guilty.
'Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.'
Prophets warned- Jeremiah, Daniel couldn't help but recall Jeremiah's prophesying because Daniel's own captivity was proof of Jeremiah's prophecy coming to pass. Daniel KNEW that God's people chose NOT to listen to God's prophets. Daniel knew that God's prophets had spoke to all- warning all from greatest to the least in the land and still they chose not to heed the prophets.
'O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.'
We deserve to be confused, to be shamed because of our guilt!
'To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him'
God alone can give mercy and forgiveness- even though we have rebelled. God can STILL forgive! God's mercy can STILL be felt. We are sinners and God alone has the power of mercy and forgiveness, it is HIS to give or not give. But no where else is mercy of forgiveness found, no where.
'Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.'
Even when the results of the sinning was made manifest and the punishment begun- there was NO turning from the sinning- no prayer- no REAL sincere prayer of repentance being prayed. There was no TURNING from the sin, no forgiveness sought- no forgiveness given. No understanding God's truth because of the refuse to truly repent.
'Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.'
No blaming God for what transpires as a result of sinning. The guilt lies with the SINNER! God is righteous in ALL His works! We are the ones who refuse to obey Him. Too many want to blame God. Too many want to point at the innocent ones affected by the wrath of God and then blame God. Too many do NOT want to take any responsibility for the innocent ones affected by their sinning and their forefathers sinning. It's easier for people to blame God than themselves. People don't want to believe that the innocent blood spilled under the various punishments enacted by God are the fault of anyone but God. They want God to be a fictional persona who doesn't hold any accountable, who won't allow any innocents to perish. The truth is, our actions bring about results that affect all. Adam and Eve's sin brought about the death of their second son. Abel was innocent in that he fully obeyed God, yet he was allowed to die. Many are the innocent youth too young to even be accountable, many are those who have sincerely accepted Christ as their Savior and they died in that forgiven state, yet they did die and some in very torturous ways- ways we call inhumane. Their deaths, their agonies, their abuse isn't God's fault- it's a result of sin.
'And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.'
According to God's righteousness!
According to God!
God forgives, God leads out of captivity, God's anger and fury can subside by HIS righteousness. For the sake of having a people that are His, sinners though they are, the need for God's anger and fury to be turned away is desperately desired, and here Daniel is pleading for that very thing. As we need to plead.
Dan 9:17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
Hear the prayer.
Hear the supplication.
Cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate, for Your sake.
'O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.'
Incline Thine ear!
Open Thine eyes!
Behold our desolations!
Not for OUR righteousness.
FOR THY GREAT MERCIES!
'O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.'
Lord hear!
Lord forgive!
Lord harken!
Lord do not defer!
God for YOUR name!
God for YOU!
God for YOUR righteousness!
This is our prayer too, Lord! This is our supplication! For Your righteousness Lord! For Your people- people called by Your name! For Your city, the heavenly new Jerusalem! Please LORD! We are sinners, we are in need of Your mercy, Your forgiveness, help us Lord to understand Your will, Your word, Your prophecies for us. Open our eyes, open our understanding! By Your righteousness, by Your grace!
This is our prayer!
We need understanding.
We are to watch, and we need to know what we are to watch for. It does a watchmen no good to watch if he hasn't a clue what He is to watch for, right? Jesus would have us watch and pray. Jesus gave us many a sign to watch for. Jesus gave us prophecies that had yet to be fulfilled- to watch for. If we close our eyes and ears to all this and just hope God will understand that we love Him and that's enough, then are we truly loving Him by refusing to study to shew ourselves approved unto God…
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
…rightly dividing the word of truth! No need to be ashamed at all. But we should be ashamed, just as Daniel prayed-
'O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.'
Confusion of face- shame! Shame belonged to the people - kings, princes, fathers- shame belongs to us for sinning against God and we DARE not add to that shame by refusing to study God's word.
We can spend a lifetime studying the soothing words of the Bible, we could. We could soothe our consciences with the Bible and study only that which pleases our ears. But is that what we are supposed to do? Pick bits and pieces that suit us? No. We are to study as God would have us study. We are to study as the Holy Spirit guides us. We are told to WATCH and PRAY and the Bible tells us what to watch and how to pray. If we neglect the parts we don't want to hear because they take a bit of mental wrestling to truly understand we are only hurting ourselves. This is the meat of the Bible, the meat we have to chew and chew before we swallow. This isn't the milk of a newborn we are forever wanting to suckle on because then we don't have to chew, this is the meat. Chewing meat takes a lot more effort than merely sucking and swallowing. And everyone who has ever chewed meat knows that some meat is tender but other meat is tough and the tough meat takes even more effort to chew. The meat of the Bible needs to be eaten by us, because we cannot allow ourselves to remain babes not if we are wanting to follow God's will. God wants us to get to the meat and no longer be fed milk.
By the grace and mercy of our Savior we will feast on His word and by the Holy Spirit's enlightenment may our understanding be opened and may we full see what we are to watch for as the time of the end grows closer and closer and ever closer.
In the most amazing love of our Savior now and forever!!!!
Amen.
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