THERE IS ALWAYS MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!

"In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.” Daniel 1:1-2 ESV

Today the school where our church is located has made a decision that has put allot of pressure on the church that I pastor. The beginning of the book of Daniel brought me comfort today in regard to this trial. Perhaps it will bring you comfort as well.

The beginning of the Book of Daniel describes a historical situation. "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it." Daniel begins by relating the events of the book to the deliverance of King Jehoiakim into Nebuchadnezzar's hands. The interesting thing about this beginning of the book of the book of Daniel is as in so many other historical situations, appearances were deceiving.

We read in verse 2, “And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.” There is something stupendous here. Actually, God Himself was as in charge of the overthrow of Jerusalem. In fact, it was Jehovah who had brought on the destruction, sending it as a punishment for his people's sins. It says that "the Lord gave Jehoiakim into his [Nebuchadnezzar's] hand." Behind all that is happening in verses 1-2 is the Lord who “gave.” Or to say it another way, the Lord was controlling all the events that took place. It was not so much Nebuchadnezzar took as the Lord gave.

The opening verses, you see, give us a picture of history from two perspectives. There is history and there is HIS STORY. There what is going on in the horizontal level of time and space and there is what is going on in the vertical level in eternity. There is man working and there is God working. The first verse gives you a blow-by-blow account of the event, but the first words of the second verse explains to you the meaning behind and under the events. The first verse may look like the God of Israel has fallen prey to the false gods of Babylon. The second verse makes it clear that even the exile itself has been done by the determinant counsel of God. Nebuchadnezzar really wanted to take over Jerusalem. God determined from the very beginning of the world that Nebuchadnezzar would take over Jerusalem. There is a God in heaven and He is in complete control. We read in Daniel 4:17, 25,32 that “the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will”

The name of God used here is the name “Adonai” which speaks of God being master, owner, and in control. That revelation should cause us to change our views about how we see people, circumstances, governments, environments, and how God does things through us. We tend to focus on cultural, environmental, political, personal barriers to be able to get anything done. God is still in control even when everything around us seems to argue otherwise! Whenever events look bleak and hopeless it's always important to remember that two stories are being told at the same time in any set of circumstances. There's the story in front of the curtain. And there's the story behind the curtain. There's what I see and feel right now in the trial over our church's use of the school where we meet. Then there is what God has yet to unfold in this situation. There is more than meets the eye!

Dear friend, who you see in control of your life has everything to do with how you respond to the circumstances of life. When you see God behind the curtain ruling over your circumstances it becomes, as John Piper puts it, “The strong wood of the tree that keeps our lives from being blown over by the winds of adversity. It is the rock that rises for us out of the flood of uncertainty and confusion. It is the eye of the hurricane where we stand with God and look up into the blue sky of his mastery when everything is being destroyed. ‘When all around gives my soul gives sway, this is all my hope and my stay’.”

IMPORTANT LESSONS FROM DANIEL 1:1-2

1. There are no interruptions for God. The Westminster Confession says in its opening lines of Chapter III: “God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass.” Since that is true, Daniel will see that there is opportunity in what we think are interruptions that is all part of the plan of God. No matter how big the problem God's power, grace and sovereignty are bigger. Daniel moved out of the realm of interruption and walked through the door of opportunity. Read on in Daniel and you will see how God uses this captivity to work thin and through this young man named Daniel. We can too! The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:16 to be “making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Jonathan Edwards asked the question frequently in his resolutions that he would see every situation and circumstance as an opportunity to glorify God. The God of Daniel 1 teaches us that there is nothing incidental in human life and there is nothing accidental in human life. As Warren Wiersbe said, “There are no accidents, only appointments.”

2. God provides the supernatural environment For Daniel and for us, our life situation is not too big for God’s power. They do not paralyze him. He is available for every situation from Babylonian captivity to schools restricting you.

3. Your circumstances have great potential The question of my life is not how difficult things are, how many barriers there are, or how many things or forces seem to be working against us. Life’s problems and detours are God’s interstate highways. He is using your present to glorify and show Himself even as He did in Daniels time. .

4. Look beyond your limitations The real question is “Are you willing to be used of God where He has planted you?” “Are you willing to believe him and depend upon him?” "There is a God in heaven..."Daniel tells King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:28, and it was that God in heaven who sustained Daniel and the people while in captivity that He planned and purposed. Daniel could not have imagined the plans God had for him: from prime minister of the court; to interpreter of dreams; to prophet, teacher; and a lifelong voice for God among pagan people.

My Prayer In Response to my trial and the God of Daniel 1:
Oh sovereign God. You rule the heavens, the earth, time, and eternity. There is nothing that happens that You don’t turn for Your glory and our good. Thank You that no matter how bad things are, no matter how foolish my choices, You can turn them all for good. Thank You that You have plans and purposes far beyond my comprehension for my good and Your exceeding glory. Help us to see behind the most frowning providence's your smiling face. Enable us to trust that nothing will thwart Your purposes. So we pray, Father, let Your kingdom come, May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus Christ’s sovereign name. Amen!

Pastor Bill

THE HAPPY DUTY OF THE CHRISTIAN

“Delight yourself in the Lord" (Psalm 37:4); “Serve the Lord with gladness" (Psalm 100:2);
“Rejoice in the Lord always" (Philippians 4:4)

My favorite place in the whole world is the tropical island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands. I was fortunate to have lived there for a year from 1972-1973 and have been a regular visitor ever since. I never get tired of the sights, smells, and sounds of this little island paradise. When the plane approaches the airport, I cannot help but notice the deep greens (my favorite color) and the amazing contours of Kauai’s landscape. Then there is cool breeze of the trade winds that bring the tropical smell of Plumeria flowers greeting me as I step off of the airplane. The ocean is so warm and deep blue bursting with sea life. I can never get enough of surfing Hanalei Bay, sitting on my surfboard letting my eyes survey its breathtaking beauty and grandeur. Drive to the end of the road on the North Shore and you cannot help but be captivated by what is known as “Bali Hai” and the majestic Napali Coast.

But my favorite thing of all about Kauai is to watch the glory of the Hawaiian sunset at the end of the day. When the sun goes down and reaches the horizon you can for a split second see a green flash of light before the sun disappears. The after sunset is amazing with its palette of color and beauty that goes on until the darkness steals its glory. I have witnessed many sunsets alone but my greatest joy has been when I have been able to watch the sunset at Tunnels Beach with my wife. As we sit together on the white sand beach surrounded by palm trees overlooking the blue ocean stretching out to the horizon, the sun begins its descent at the end of a wonderful day spent together. As the sun sets over the horizon we say to one another, “Wow! Isn’t this awesome? This is so beautiful. Can you believe the colors? Look, it’s getting more colorful by the minute. Praise God!” Somehow the joy of our experience is enriched and completed by expressing it one to another.

In our sharing the experience of that sunset, neither of us had to talk or coach or persuade ourselves into appreciating the view. We have never once said, “We ought to enjoy this" or "Shouldn't we appreciate this and say something about it?” There was absolutely no sense of duty in our enjoyment and communicating its worth to one another. All we had to do is see it and savor it for what a Kauai sunset is: beautiful, breathtaking, and glorious! And the greatest joy was expressing our joy one to another!

How much more joyful is a life lived before the face of the beautiful living God! To see Him is to savor Him and to savor Him is enjoy him by glorifying and praising Him. That is why the key to Christian living is being happy in God. It is God’s aim and it is my duty to be supremely happy in God! Psalm 144:15 says, “Happy are the people who are in such a state; Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!”

The duty of Christian living is a “peculiar” duty. Webster’s dictionary describes “duty” as “obligatory tasks, conduct, service, or functions that arise from ones position as in life or a group. The service required or a moral or legal obligation”. But God looks at duty in a different way. Tragically most of us have been taught that duty, not delight, is the way that we serve and honor God. But we have not been taught that delight in God is our duty! John Piper calls it “the dangerous duty of delight”. Being satisfied in God is not an optional add-on to the real stuff of Christian duty. It is the most basic demand of all. It is the foundation of living in God’s world.

"Delight yourself in the Lord" (Psalm 37:4) is not a suggestion but a command. So are: "Serve the Lord with gladness" (Psalm 100:2); and "Rejoice in the Lord always" (Phil. 4:4).

Jonathan Edwards taught that the essence of glorifying God is when He is shown to be most beautiful and valuable by His people enjoying him above all things. “True religion, in great part, consists of holy affections.”

Loving and cherishing and honoring and delighting in God come alive when our affections are fully engaged. The heart of man is a desire factory where the battle rages for joy in all God has for us in Christ. So the peculiar duty of the believer is to pursue maximum joy in God alone.

C. S. Lewis said that "it is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can." The peculiar duty of the Christian is an inward duty to “delight yourself in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4) and to “be glad in the Lord, and rejoice” (Psalm 32:11).

Consider the analogy of a wedding anniversary. Mine is on June 1. Suppose on this day I bring home my wife Debi’s favorite country bouquet. When she meets me at the door I hand her the flowers, and she says, "O Bill, they're beautiful, thank you," and gives me a big hug. Then suppose I hold up my hand and say matter-of-fact, "Don't mention it Deb; it's our anniversary, I’m supposed to do this, it is required of me, it’s my duty." What happens? I'm sleeping in another bedroom that night! How does my wife feel? Perhaps she feels like dumping the bouquet on my head! Is this exercise of duty a noble thing? Does my wife feel loved and valued by me? Hardly! Not if my heart’s not in it. Flowers given by duty are a contradiction in terms. If I am not moved by a spontaneous affection for my precious wife as a person, the flowers do not honor her. In fact they belittle and demean her. They are a very thin covering for the fact that she does not have the worth or beauty in my eyes to kindle affection. All I can muster is a calculated expression of marital duty.

But when I bring my wife that bouquet of country flowers, and she asks me why I gave them to her, the answer that honors her most is, “Because nothing makes me happier than to do this for you, I love you so much!” “It is my duty” dishonors her. “It is my joy” honors her. If I take my wife out for the evening on our anniversary and she asks me, "Why do you do this?" the answer that honors her most is, "Because nothing makes me happier tonight than to be with you."

There it is! A peculiar duty. How shall we honor God in worship? By saying, "It's my duty"? Or by saying, "It's my joy"? But for some people -- most people -- the word "duty" is not a happy word. It tends to sound oppressive and burdensome. So it doesn't sound then that God is very loving. That he doesn't have our best interest at heart. How do God’s glory and our duty to delight in Him work together? How do you bring glory to an all-sufficient, perfect, infinitely beautiful, infinitely wise, infinitely powerful, overflowing God? Let me give you illustrations from ordinary life.

At the beginning I discussed the experience of my wife and myself observing a Hawaiian sunset. If you want to glorify a beautiful sunset, you don't feel a burden to work to improve it. You simply enjoy it. You love it. You talk about it excitedly to your friends. Or suppose you are hiking at Yosemite in the winter time and arrive at Summit Meadow, a huge, breathtaking, snow covered meadow surrounded by a conifer forest. How do you glorify the excellence of the meadow? By looking intently all around you, taking it all in, by enjoying the view, and by thinking and saying “wow this is awesome!”

In other words if it is your duty to glorify something infinitely beautiful and wonderful, that is no burden. It is a joy and a pleasure. In fact when you take from it pleasure, you demonstrate that it's a treasure. Or suppose your duty was to glorify someones generosity. I recently had someone take me all expenses paid to the Mentawai Islands off of Sumatra in Indonesia. The generosity of this person was overwhelming. How have I glorified that quality in him? Not by trying to pay him back. That would turn his kindness into a business transaction. It would treat his free gift like a trade. Tit for tat. That would not glorify the wealth of his generosity. No, the way to glorify their generosity and their kindness is to be lavish and genuine in my appreciation, gratitude, and thanksgiving. And that is no burden. When I received this generous gift I did not groan under the duty to feel thankful. It was a pleasure not a hardship to profusely thank him and feel such gratitude towards him.

God created us for His glory. Therefore the peculiar duty of every man and woman and child is to live for the glory of God. What a wonderfully peculiar duty it is! And the wonderful thing is that this duty is not a burden. It is freedom and joy. You glorify God's beauty and excellence by loving it and delighting in it. You glorify God's provision for your thirsty souls by drinking and being satisfied in Him alone. You glorify God's bounty and generosity and kindness and grace by overflowing with gratitude. It is there spontaneously. It is not consciously willed. It is not analyzed in terms of an appropriate response. It is not decided upon. It comes from deep within, from a place beneath the conscious will.

Eric Liddell, the great Christian missionary and Olympic athlete, was once asked why he ran. He said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure." What an amazing duty God has given us! “Delight yourself in the Lord.” Our duty is our very delight! When we fulfill our “peculiar” duty, God gets much glory and we get much joy. We come into His presence with joyful singing from the heart and if someone asks us why we can say like Eric Liddell, “I run to give God pleasure and worship God my treasure because it gives me so much pleasure.”

Pastor Bill