We were going out to lunch on Sunday, and she yells at me as I pass by her bed (which is in the living room now), “Britt!  Are you dead?”

Strange question, but I walked up to her and said, “No, ma’am.  I’m right here.”

Grandmother settled in and very calmly stated, “You have to teach yourself how to be small.”

I answered, “Yes, ma’am.  You’re right, I do.”

Some might write off her statements as the ravings of an old senile woman.  I thought her statements quite profound.  So I’ll repeat them to you …

Are you dead?

If your answer is no, then you must teach yourself how to be small.

Peace.

give it a look and wait until the end to really judge it … maybe the world needs a more international Spiderman where he fights big robots …

Or maybe go to the link here if video doesn’t play …

Peace.

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing … (we are now the Word made flesh … that same Word from the foundation of creation resides within His people)

And although it’s been said, many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you.

May we not see the Babe in a manger, but in His rightful place, the hearts of men.

Peace on earth, good will to all.  Amen.

Let’s recap the principles:

1.  Daniel would not defile himself with the king’s delicacies.

2.  Daniel and his friends refused to worship another man’s image and reserved their worship for God alone.

3.  Daniel speaks truth, even harsh judgment, upon kings who hold his physical life in their hands, trusting himself to God alone.

4.  They could find no charge to bring against Daniel.  He was without error and fault.

5.  Daniel intentionally disobeyed, openly and without compromise, when laws were passed against the Kingdom of God.

6.  Daniel read scripture and received revelation about the coming Kingdom of God.

7.  Based on the revelation of restoration, Daniel took the responsibility to become an intercessor for the Kingdom of God, not an earthly kingdom.

Some of you may rightly observe, this has little to do with earthly governments.  My point is, exactly.  The Church should be, as Daniel was, way more interested in the Kingdom of God than any earthly nation.

But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved.  Daniel held one of the highest offices in the land, as a former slave, and had daily responsibilities for the administration of two empires, but we can see that his focus was on another nation entirely.  Which means that although he was deeply involved in these empires, he wasn’t invested.

God wants a Church that is IN this world but not OF it.  He wants His Bride to be invested in an eternal, invisible Kingdom that possesses true reality, even while involved in the things of this world.

While Daniel proved and testified to his independence of these empires, he did not rouse a rebellion and force the restoration of Israel.  He didn’t play Spartacus.  Daniel served where God had him but continually looked forward to and set his hope upon the restoration GOD would bring, not what Daniel could work out on his own.  Daniel didn’t go off by himself and become a hermit and separate himself from the world, either.  He was deeply involved, as God placed him in that circumstance.  But again, he was not personally invested in the success, nor was he personally shaken by the fall, of two great empires, Babylon and Persia.

If you haven’t read the comments, go back through and read them.  There’s some good stuff in there.  Leave some of your own, too!  You can click on the subject link on the right of this page to just see these posts.

Peace.

So Daniel gets this great revelation about the restoration of Israel, even a specific time.  So what does he do with this revelation?

He immediately begins to intercede on behalf of Israel before God.

He didn’t preach on it.  He prayed about it.

But intercession is not just a simple prayer (although it can be).  Intercession is standing in the place of a person or a group of people and asking God for things from that place.

Some believe that intercession is a specific gift, as if some are called to intercede while others are not.  You, like me, have probably heard the term “prayer warriors” from a young person if you grew up in the institutional church.  But the Bible never speaks of such a thing.  In every listing of spiritual gifts, we never get one for prayer or intercession.  Why?  Because intercession and prayer are the place of the whole Body.

Jesus, in his sermon on the mount, says “when you pray” and “when you fast.”  No “if’s” there.  Some people are more effective in their prayers because they’re more comitted and disciplined about it.  People who say, “I’m just not good at prayer” or feel inadequate in prayer don’t do it very often.  I know because I’ve been one of them.  I didn’t feel like prayer was “my gift” and just never really prayed.  But as I began to commit myself more to prayer and fasting, I realized it was a gift to me … and the whole Body.

Think on it.  What is part of Jesus’ position right now before the Father?  He stands, as the only true High Priest, to make intercession for His people.  If that same Christ is in you, how is intercession not part of your call?

Despite teaching to the contrary, it is.  And Daniel took the revelation about Israel’s restoration and began to intercede.  Let’s look at what he said before God:

First, Daniel exalted God for what He had done and His very being.

Second, Daniel admitted the sin of the whole nation, confessed the sin of the nation before God as if it were his own.  Some might say that, “wasn’t Daniel without error and without fault”?  Absolutely.  It takes a righteous and holy vessel to stand before God and intercede for sin, which is why principle number 4 was before number 7.  Didn’t it always take a lamb without spot to be the sacrifice?  The prayers of a righteous man avail much.

Third, Daniel admits the righteous consequence for their sin (from the words of Moses).

Fourth, Daniel calls upon the love and mercy of God to restore Israel to glorify Himself.

Daniel begs God on behalf of others, to restore and act.

As a result of Daniel’s intercession, the angel Gabriel came and gave him even more revelation on things to come.  The last three chapters of Daniel are full of great revelation and specific vision.

I don’t want people to come away with only the idea that we are to be individual intercessors only, but I believe that God desires a PEOPLE who collectively intercede before Him, a Body of Christ that intercedes as Christ does for the Kingdom of God and the revelation of the New Jerusalem.  All creation groans and waits for the sons of God to be revealed (that’s us!).  Do we groan and wait for it?

Thoughts?

Peace.

Daniel reads the law and the prophets and begins to truly understand.  Daniel gives us a time of when he began to have this understanding, the first year of Darius’ reign.  This was later in his life, after decades of living under not one, but two, foreign powers, living a life completely dedicated to the Lord and looking towards the restoration of Israel.

He reads the law and the prophets, more specifically Jeremiah, and God gives him revelation of what Jeremiah was saying.  The exile would be for 70 years, then the exiles would return to Jerusalem.

While this seems simple, I believe two main principles are evident here.  First, Daniel dedicated himself to the reading of the scriptures and to meditate upon what the prophets were saying, seeking God’s heart on what they meant for his time.

Do we do this?  Do we read the scriptures dilligently, seeking to know what God is saying to us?  Being involved in open meetings as I have for years, the lack of individual study and meditation in the scriptures becomes evident in some people.  Some people don’t have anything to bring to the Body or the meeting because they haven’t been disciplined enough with their own time to hear God teach them through his anointing within them.

But we also have people who never have anything of their own to say.  Some people speak in a meeting, but they are only repeating what someone else has said, not what God has specifically told them.  Of course repeating someone else’s teaching or heart has its place in the Spirit, but there is a problem if that’s ALL you do … because that means you, conscious or no, see another as your mediator and priest, and therefore a danger exists that you place that other believer on a pedestal they do not belong.

One of the main foundations of the New Covenant includes the ability to personally, individually and collectively, hear the voice of God without another mediator.  Yes, some are gifted as teachers and prophets and have those responsibilities and functions within the Body, so they will naturally say more, but that doesn’t negate your responsiblity to hear the voice of God by yourself.  In fact, a true teacher or prophet will only be satisfied if they can lead a congregation to the point where they hear God independently from a professional or designated leader or minister.

So much to say about that, but I’ll leave it there.

Second principle here is that, while Daniel was one of only three governors in the most powerful nation at the time, the Persian Empire, his mind was focused on the restoration and position of Israel.  At this point, Israel had no king, no borders, no army, no officials; Jerusalem was broken down, burned, looted.  But Daniel didn’t allow that to discourage him or dissuade him from setting his heart on Israel and Jerusalem.

And so God gave him revelation on THAT.

And Daniel’s revelation was not just knowledge, but revelation that was timely and specific to his call and what he was about.

Are we more concerned with the future of the Kingdom of God, the Church, the Body of Christ, the spiritual Israel, than with the future of America or other worldly nations?  Do we read the scriptures with a heart to know what the Kingdom of God is all about and the promises entailed within?  Do we really seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and believe He will add everything else we may need?  Is our focus on restoring the Old Jerusalem or do we put our hope in the New Jerusalem being revealed in the earth, the Jerusalem from above?

When that’s your heart, God will give you revelation about it.  I guarantee it.

Thoughts?

Peace.

Those jealous of Daniel could not find any fault in him, to charge him or accuse him, so they had to find a way to get him.  So they convinced Darius to sign this decree that for 30 days, no one could pray or petition any god but Darius the king; or be thrown into the Lion’s den, a sure death sentence.

Daniel hears about the decree (which is irrevocable under Persian law once signed by the king), and IMMEDIATELY goes home, opens his windows so all can see, turns to JERUSALEM and prays to the Lord.

This is willful disobedience.  Knowing the law and the consequences, Daniel openly brok the king’s law and prayed to the Lord.

His facing towards Jerusalem is key, because in that he made a statement that he knew who he belonged to, what nation he was truly a citizen of despite his current circumstances, and he had to obey THAT law, regardless of the laws of men.

If you can bear to hear it, let me share something.  Under the next president of American and congressional majority, the amount of rules and regulations will exponentially increase.  While I might concede some good motivations, the increasingly socialistic mentality necessitates more rule and regulation.

The heart of man is basically selfish, which requires being “born again,” made into a new creation by the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore the Church can be expected to give out of extreme compassion.

Without the Holy Spirit and the eternal collective perspective and organic anointing of the Church, man must be forced to share, at least long term.  Therefore, the need for rules and regulation.  (If you don’t believe me, read Marx.  While he saw this time of control and dictatorship as a transition, no nation has ever moved past it.  None ever will.)

And as the rules and regulations increase, the likelihood that God will lead you to break man’s law will increase.

Wait a minute, you might say, doesn’t the scripture tell us that we are to obey earthly masters?  Yes, it does; but we also have examples from Jesus (healing on the Sabbath) and the twelve (picking and eating grain on the Sabbath; and preaching the gospel) where, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, they broke man’s sacred rules and traditions, willing to suffer whatever consequences the world deemed to dish out.

Who should we obey, God or man?

They are not the same and may come into conflict.  I’m telling you the time is coming, perhaps is already here, where it will.  Obey God.  Realize your true hope of redemption is the New Jerusalem and your citizenship is in Heaven, not safety and security in this life.

Daniel wasn’t looking to break laws or be rebellious.  He was interested in keeping God’s law.

In my historical studies, I’m amazed and inspired by MLK and Gandhi, men who felt it was their duty to disobey unjust laws.  They did it for largely political reasons (although they truly acknowledged the spiritual).  Will we do it for the eternal alone?

Thoughts?

Peace.

While the title says Nebby, we are now under a new kingdom and king, Persia and Darius.

Daniel, a former slave and current Jew, a non-Persian, distinguished himself and maintained a high position in the Persian empire even after nobly serving under Babylon.

Because of the favor shown him, Daniel was one of three governors over the whole Persian empire, accountable to the king only.  This engendered some jealously from the other governors and satraps (Persian regional rulers).

But Daniel’s enemies could “find no charge or fault because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him.”

It is part of the Church’s call, especially in this hour, to be a complete testimony of righteousness.

This does not mean the world will not bring accusation and charges and investigate you.  Biblically, we’re promised they will.  But they should find no evil or error.

Too often they easily find the error.  And excusing ourselves by throwing up our hands and saying “Christ is my righteousness” while we sin away is not being His Body on the earth.

Jesus was greatly persecuted and hated by the world, especially the religious.  Then He tells those who would follow Him, “they hated Me, they’ll hate you.  In this world you’ll have trouble.”  But Jesus did nothing wrong, despite the charges and accusations against Him.

If we are to be Christians, little Christs, we should have the same testimony.  Jesus said we are blessed if persecuted for “righteousness’ sake.”

“Surely this is not for the whole Church,” you may say.

Peter, writing to the whole Church (1 Peter 3:14-16) says this: “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed … But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evil doers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.”

The assumption, again, is that the world will defame you, but they should have no reason to do so.

This totally flies in the face of many who claim no difference between the saved and the unsaved besides a mental acknowledgement of certain doctrinal truths.

If all God wanted was a people He had to continually forgive, He had that under the Old Covenant.  He gave the New Covenant, the resulting grace and indwelling Spirit, to have a people that, once forgiven, would live righteous.

Thoughts?

Peace.

While many may not initially see the connection, the first two principles I discussed are foundational to be the vessel and voice for truth that the Lord desires us to be.

First, live a life of complete dependency upon God, living a testimony where the Lord is your only provision.  This is real and practical.  To live your life your way and say, “The Lord is my provision,” doesn’t express the testimony God desires for us to have.

Second, refuse to bow to the things of this world; to give anything God’s place is idolatry.

Now Daniel was free to speak truth, even difficult truth, to Nebuchadnezzar, the king.

Nebby had a vision and specifically asked Daniel to interpret it.  Daniel’s interpretation was that Nebby would be humbled by God for taking pride in Babylon “’till you know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men and gives it to whomever He chooses.”  This humbling would take the form of Nebby being driven into the wilderness to act like a mindless beast.

It happened as Daniel interpreted by the Spirit. 

(Daniel also responded similarly in another situation with Belshazzar … even to Belshazzar’s death and Babylon’s destruction!  If his hope had been, in any way, tied to Babylon or the king, could he have given the same word?)

When living under the first two principles, we are free from this world’s control so we may clearly address this world as the Lord opens doors and gives opportunity.

Daniel wasn’t eager to criticize, but he was free to speak the truth as the Lord gave opportunity.

The Church needs to be this voice.  Not a constant voice of criticism or taking the freedom of speech as a right, but obediently following God and giving this world His word as He gives opportunity.

This could be judgment or encouragement or whatever the Lord wills, but in order to speak Truth to this world while in it, we must not be of it.

Jesus often had harsh words for Herod and the religious leaders while in the flesh.  But He also made it clear He acted doing His Father’s will, not His own.

This means God’s word might challenge our own notions of conservative, liberal, moderate, free, slave or American.  The things of the Spirit will conflict with the philosophies of this world.  Be careful when you marry them.

Thoughts?

Peace.

Peace.