fast day seven: Daniel 4

Sometime after the other stories, God sends King Nebuchadnezzar another dream. He summons his go-to guy Daniel and tells him what it was. Daniel tells him, it comes true almost immediately, the end. That's the basic plot of this chapter. But the interesting part to me comes from this being a first person announcement the king makes to all his subjects. It's not normal for a politician to air his dirty laundry, so what happened? The key is in verses 2 and 3. Nebuchadnezzar has just been schooled by God.

Back in chapter two, after God told Daniel his dream and its meaning, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged God's great wisdom. He sounded pretty impressed in 2:47. In chapter three, after God rescued Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the flames, he praised God's great power in 3:28-29. But up until this chapter, he stopped short exactly where most people do. He acknowledged who God is and what He's done but refused to make Him his Lord. He had no intention of sharing his crown.

Many of us go to church and speak Christianese and read the Bible and claim to know who God is. But that fell short for Nebuchadnezzar, and it will fall short for us too. God has to be number one. And, really, I have to say, there isn't much biblical evidence for someone actually having a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ outside of making Him your Lord. The big-talkers who continue to live out their own plan, who are often so pleased with all "they" have accomplished on their own, who stay king of their world, will not be with us in heaven. Of course I say "us" because I hope any of us are taking seriously the goal of humbling ourselves to God's ultimate authority in every area of our lives.

It took seven years of "being humbled" for Nebuchadnezzar to learn the lesson of humility. I would like to say I have always taken 1 Peter 5:6 to heart and humbled myself under the mighty hand of God, but I've probably had my seasons of eating grass and growing bird claws over the years. (Not literally obviously, that would just be silly.) But I do struggle in some ways, with trying to take back the Lordship I've given Jesus over my life. I pray that I, and all of you, have truly made God our Lord. That we submit our will to His. That we can say, like Nebuchadnezzar, "praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble."

are you hanging in there?

Today my husband was on the ropes. He was jonesing for some "real food" real bad. Tonight we even took our kids to Baskin Robbins for a treat they had earned. Ice cream is his favorite. But to be honest, for me, the worst temptation there was the Li'l Jon song on their radio. For him, my sister Scotti bailed him out with some of her ninja-sneaky raw gourmet food.

I wonder how you are doing. I hope that if you have moments of weakness that you don't allow that to be an excuse for quitting altogether. Even if you slip up a few times, you can still continue your fast for the rest of the time. 20 days out of a 21 day fast still ain't too shabby for a rookie. Using some of my quick teacher math, you can actually mess up five times and still make an A- in my book. So hang in there. Get some help with creative food (or juice) options from others on the list. But don't give up.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will eat a steak if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 KGV

fast day six: Daniel 3

This is officially my favorite story in the Bible. I love it from start to finish. The first half sets the stage right up to when Nebuchadnezzar lays it out, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue... But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?” What a throw down.

But the best part comes next. “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” Wow. They threw down too.

So what was the difference? Everything the king said was a fact.
Fact: He was the most powerful man in the world.
Fact: They were guilty of breaking his law.
Fact: The punishment was death.
Fact: The fire was hot enough to kill a nearby guard.
Fact: There were plenty more guards to make sure they went in.
Fact: They were either going to bow, or they were going to burn.
Period.

But, everything that the three Hebrews said was the truth. And Sometimes the facts don't line up with the truth.

Sometimes the fact is your marriage is on the ropes, but the truth is Christ makes all things new.

Sometimes the fact is that your wayward friend won't return your phone calls, but the truth is a sparrow doesn't fall to the ground without His notice.

Sometimes the fact is the test came back positive, but the truth is Jesus carried your disease to the cross on his blood-striped back.

Sometimes the money will run out before the bills stop coming this month, but the truth is your Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

Sometimes the truth is, if you won't bow, you won't burn.

I will always love the picture of the three friends rejoicing, unbound and unsinged, in the flames with the fourth man, the Son of God, there with them. Lord, when I am faced with hard facts, let me brashly trust you to be there with me. Let me always remember what Nebuchadnezzar finally realized, "There is no other god who can rescue like this!”

fast day five: Daniel 2, verse 24 on

OK, so my initial reaction to how Daniel handles himself in this section is just awe at his humility and extraordinary tact. If I had just pulled off what Daniel did, I would have wanted to end my speech with a holla' to all of the failed wise men whose lives I had just saved, "How you like me now?" with my hands up like some sort of cocky rapper. The personal application of this part of the chapter for me comes from that. Daniel did the impossible giving all the glory to God and, which I also like, making sure to take care of his three boys.

For the rest of it, you just see an intro into the fabulous futuristic snapshots this book contains. This one contains a clear portrayal of the Messiah as the rock that crushes all earthly kingdoms and continues throughout the remainder of earthly histories to dominate and expand. But be forewarned, as we go through some of the others, you can either get yourself more confused than ever by reading everything about Daniel you find online, or you can become more resolved than ever that God is in control in Daniel's life, in our lives, and in the writing, assembly, translation, preservation, and ultimate authority of this book we call the Bible.

So for today, think about where you stand on the issue of the authority and accuracy of God's Word. Do you believe in its truth 100% even against charges of factual errors? Do you make exceptions for historical context or some things just not being literal? Or do you think it's got authority over your life but isn't necessarily accurate as a historical document? I'm curious.

If you are in the 100% category with me, welcome to a very small percentage of the Christian population. Even though believing flies in the face of my logical tendencies, I've already chosen to believe in the virgin birth, the resurrection, and any number of other miracles. So why would I let a few clay fragments and atheist archaeologists sway me at this point? I may be in the minority, but I just might get a chance in eternity to stand next to Daniel and say to all of the nay-sayers, "How you like me now?"

welcome Sunday fasters

A few of my friends are starting their fast today. A few more will join us later this week. Whenever you start, you can go back and look at the devos for the day you're on. I hope you are all taking advantage of getting a buddy to help you reach your fasting goal and to pray with you. My neighbor Hilda is praying for me from across the street and I hope my accountability partner Toni will get in my grill if I try to cheat. I'm also fortunate to have my husband Brannon in on this too. I really feel great and am doing pretty well. (Except for the few minutes of preparing my kids' lunch. Even $1 frozen pizzas can smell pretty enticing.) Be sure to go add your prayer requests and share what you're fasting from down in the older posts.

fast day four: Daniel 2, verses 1-23

The most powerful man in the world demands the impossible. "Tell me my dream and the interpretation." Evidently, Nebuchadnezzar had had it with the useless Chaldeans (the sorcerer, magician, astrologer, wise guys who had been giving him fluffy advice). Verses 10 and 11 set the stage. "There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men." This time, the posers were telling the truth. No man alive could do what Nebuchadnezzar asked. Only God can reveal dreams. And the false Babylonian gods certainly did not live among men.

But Daniel's God did. And he knew it. He found out what was going on tactfully instead of freaking out when the executioner knocked on his door. He calmly went to see this ruthless, raging, beheader king and asked for some time to hear from God. Then he went home, got his three friends and they spent the night on their knees praying for the words from God that would spare their lives.

I love it when God puts me in impossible situations because on ordinary days, I can be quick to rely on myself. My solutions, my resources, my ideas, whatever. I love it when I'm in situations where only God can come through. I want to consistently respond to crises with the confident assurance Daniel had. He knew God could handle it, and he believed He would. But I think Daniel got there by trusting God to handle things on ordinary days. He didn't wait until he was standing in the shadow of the gallows to trust God to spare his life. He entrusted God with his life every day.

A John Maxwell book I read last month had a great quote. You can tell how much people trust you by how much they entrust to you. That goes both ways. How much of my life have I entrusted to God? To be really blunt, there's only one right answer to that question. Unless my answer is,"All of it!" then I'm fooling myself. My control of the situation is a delusion. I'm pretending I know what I'm doing just like the helpless Chaldeans.

Daniel's prayer of praise is my favorite part though by far. Just meditate on it. Know it to be true. Thank God for being who He is and loving who you are. And I believe that we can sing this song for answered prayer at the end of our 21 days.

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.

fast day three: Daniel 1

The first part of this chapter that sticks out to me is the Babylonians changing Daniel and his friends' names. To us, naming a child may involve honoring a family member or just picking something cool or cute. But to Hebrews, names actually meant something. Daniel's meant, "God is my judge." And his friends were literally "the Lord shows grace," "who is like God?," and "the Lord helps." Each name was altered to honor the pagan gods they were being pressed to convert to. I wonder if they ever got used to being called a name that must have seemed like an insult to their God.

I've thought a lot about how I've allowed what others say about me to define me or limit the scope of God's vision for my life. I imagine I'm not the only one. I bet most of you can think of some words of a boss, a parent, a friend, a co-worker, or a complete stranger that have made you rethink who you were. I love it that in the very next verse we see how Daniel responds.

Daniel "resolved" not to cave. He didn't make a scene or tell anyone off. He quietly but persistently worked out a way to live out the plan God had for him instead of allowing the king's command to break down who he knew he was.

Now as far as the fasting goes, some of you may have thought after reading this first chapter, "21 days! Daniel only asked for 10 days! So can I quit on the 11th?" However, as you see, since of course the ten day trial was successful, Daniel and his boys kept eating that way for the rest of their three years in training. (It is possible though, that once the training was over and they were living more on their own, they might have begun to prepare foods with the legal "kosher" methods. I know I would have.)

Yesterday I marveled at how well Daniel knew God. But I'm also pretty impressed with a kid who knew who he was. Not only is that an important goal for kids, I need to work on that too. I need to "resolve" to only allow God's Word to matter. Not let a person's opinion to hold me back or change me or limit who I am and what I'm called to. If Daniel didn't allow the most powerful man in the world to faze him, then I probably don't need to worry about a flippant comment by Joe Blow or Jane Doe. How about you?

fast day two: opening the book of Daniel

The best and the brightest young men were taken from their homes in Jerusalem and put into a civil service training program in faraway Babylon. Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were among them. They were likely in their early to mid teens, but whatever faith training had occurred in those pre-exile years somehow stuck. Somehow their faith in the God of Israel survived after being re-educated to worship a cast of false Babylonian gods and practice sorcery and astrology. Somehow they continued to pray to a God daily that allowed them to remain separated from their home and families for the rest of their life. Somehow their adherence to the eating code commanded by the laws of Moses persevered even at a table of the finest foods on the planet. Somehow after being stripped of their Hebrew language and name, they never forgot who they were.

Before I can even begin to read the marvelous stories and fantastic prophetic visions contained in Daniel's book, I have to sit in awe at Daniel's deep personal relationship with God. One that had already been set in stone before kids today get a driver's license. As a children's minister and a mom, I long for nothing more than to instill that same kind of zealous faith in kids. And really, for anyone who has taken on the mission of "leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ," you need to wonder how you can deepen your own faith to Daniel's level and learn to share your faith with others in a way that sets the same foundation.

As we read Daniel together, don't forget how this amazing man of faith, author of God's written word, and hero given for us to pattern our lives by, learned everything he knew about God as a child.

fast day one: 1 Chronicles 21

Happy 2009! I'm starting today with a story about David, but I'll get to Daniel next.

This is a bizarre little chapter. First of all, it starts with King David asking his commander Joab to count all of the fighting men in his kingdom. Joab is repulsed. He knows that God is always the deciding factor in a victory, not the number of men. To him it was an obvious and serious sin. Seeking definite knowledge of the exact size of your power, your limits, your worth. Needing a tangible defininition of your value.

Man, we do this every day in all kinds of ways. We seek to know our exact limits: my bank balance, my credit limit, my square footage, my 401K balance, my Facebook friends, my salary, my (insert your number here). Exactly how insulated have I made myself from simply trusting that I am reliant on an unlimited God?

But then, God sends Gad with news of a multiple choice punishment for the sin. To me, this is just zany. Seriously, stop and read it now. I can't make it any weirder than it already reads. "David, choose punishment A, B, or C for what you did." David wisely asks God to choose for him. God picked C: a plague.

David goes to build an altar to make sacrifices to end the plague. A man named Araunah generously offers to give David the land, the materials, and the animals to sacrifice. But David says something that really seems to apply to me starting this 21-day fast. "No way. I won't make a sacrifice to the Lord that costs me nothing."

Today, I will build an altar and lay a sacrifice on it that I hope honors God. It will cost me my convenience, my comfort, and take some serious willpower and commitment. I'm glad I have my friends to worship God with me by fasting.

final fling

For my last movie before the '09 cut-off date, I just watched Quantum of Solace with Brannon. Loved it. Going cold turkey on movies will be hard. But like so many other things, it's just one more layer of distraction that I need to scrape off. It reminds me of that graphic description of Job sitting there with his body covered with sores having lost everything precious to him and scraping at his wounds with a sharp rock. Now that's geting down to nothing but trust between you and God. My favorite Job quote: "Though He slay me, still will I trust in Him." Plus, it only takes a quick glance at the photos of my five Burkinabe kids to think of how silly the concept of "giving up movies for 21 days" really is.

For the day of the 31st, in addition to a nice long look at our budget and hopefully some resolution setting with my accountability partner, I plan to eat a few yummy things that will be off the menu in January. What will be your final fling?