"Then he said to me, 'Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words....Then he said, 'Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come.'" (Daniel 10:12 & 20)
Derek Prince once said of our text, "The angel did not get Daniel through; Daniel got the angel through." Sounds pretty heady, but the passage is clear on the primacy of, "humble yourself before God," intercession. Instead of a self-promoting, hence, false humility, the Church needs, "set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself...."
On October 10, while praying in Washington, DC., I was reading Daniel 10. There were shouts of, "Death to America," being hurled into the air from a nearby rally. That rally was sponsored by the assigned prince of America. As I was looking at the Washington Monument, I read our text. Every nation/people group, my friend, has a "the prince of the kingdom," assigned to it. Moreover, I do not believe that "warfare" is always what we think it to be, nor do I always know what it should be. But there is warfare. We do, "....wrestle...against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this age (literally, 'the cosmic powers of the darkness'), against spiritual hosts of wickedness ('evil') in the heavenly realm." Every day, every moment we are under attack, whether we realize it nor not. We can say of the Luther's "Prince of Darkness grim," he will not give up in the battle until chained in darkness forever. The Princes of the nations and their forces are on duty 24/7/365, no break, no weekends, no vacations, just endless, untiring pursuit of humanity to keep us from our intended purpose in Jesus Christ, and the Biblically stated "purpose" of Father for the Son, Jesus, "Rule in the midst of Your enemies." This decree of the Godhead was issued, "from days of eternity," in time/space terms, from before, "He laid the foundations of the earth."
Jesus told Jeremiah, "A noise will come to the ends of the earth-- for the Lord has a controversy with the nations; He will plead His case with all flesh." And the Living Triune God always wins the, "controversy with the nations;...His case...." The current political "season" in the United States reveals a confused, frustrated people, desperately looking for anything, anyone to make the citizenry happy and content; won't happen. I read the words of Jesus this past Sunday, "Come to Me, all you who labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest"; as Augustine said, "....our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee," and America as well as the nations of the earth are characterized by "restless." I have no doubt that our Lord Jesus Christ is allowing all of this chaotic restlessness in order to give Americans another chance to give up on their selfish pursuit of "the American dream," and pursue, "The Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ." It is in seeking, "first ('before all, primacy') the Kingdom of God and the righteousness of Him," who is Jesus Christ, and not "the American dream," that all for which man longs, all he needs is only then, and only then, "added to you."
This has been a tiring yet refreshing 5 days in DC. All kinds of people showed up in the Tent and around it, a literal "sea of humanity." I want to determine to be a pray-er in the "spirit" of Daniel, "....set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God...." Could it be then, dear lover of Jesus, that we could "get the angel through?"
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray for a, "from the first day," thinking, and a, "heart to understand, and to humble [my] self before [my] God...." Amen.
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Thanks for all the prayers and to those who made the DC Mission financially possible.
Jesus told Jeremiah, "A noise will come to the ends of the earth-- for the Lord has a controversy with the nations; He will plead His case with all flesh." And the Living Triune God always wins the, "controversy with the nations;...His case...." The current political "season" in the United States reveals a confused, frustrated people, desperately looking for anything, anyone to make the citizenry happy and content; won't happen. I read the words of Jesus this past Sunday, "Come to Me, all you who labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest"; as Augustine said, "....our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee," and America as well as the nations of the earth are characterized by "restless." I have no doubt that our Lord Jesus Christ is allowing all of this chaotic restlessness in order to give Americans another chance to give up on their selfish pursuit of "the American dream," and pursue, "The Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ." It is in seeking, "first ('before all, primacy') the Kingdom of God and the righteousness of Him," who is Jesus Christ, and not "the American dream," that all for which man longs, all he needs is only then, and only then, "added to you."
This has been a tiring yet refreshing 5 days in DC. All kinds of people showed up in the Tent and around it, a literal "sea of humanity." I want to determine to be a pray-er in the "spirit" of Daniel, "....set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God...." Could it be then, dear lover of Jesus, that we could "get the angel through?"
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray for a, "from the first day," thinking, and a, "heart to understand, and to humble [my] self before [my] God...." Amen.
*******************
Thanks for all the prayers and to those who made the DC Mission financially possible.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
