Thursday, November 14, 2024

Daniel 9:3-7 Love fulfills all of the commandments

Jesus, in his teachings, conveyed the message of God’s love for  all of His creation.  He emphasized the importance of loving God above all else and loving others as the only way to follow Him. In keeping them, by our words and our actions, Jesus said that we would fulfill all the laws and commandments.


God is love, and our love for others pleases Him. He hates pride and arrogance.


Isaiah 24:4-6 The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish. 5 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men are left.


Isaiah shared that the testing of humanity will affect everyone. Our money won’t protect us from anything. God will let humanity destroy itself. 


Matthew 24:14 and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.


God so loves the world that He created that He will give every opportunity for all mankind to accept Him. He is long suffering and merciful and wants no one to perish. There will be believers from all nations and dialect who will be touched by the Jewish Kingdom messengers of Jesus the Christ. Carla


Daniel 9:3-7 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.


Here, Daniel is confronted by the reality of Israel’s sin; his actions preface the prayer that follows. In contrast to rebellious Israel—for whom Daniel seeks forgiveness and restoration—God keeps His covenant and is faithful concerning His promises. It is this sense of faithfulness to which Daniel can confidently appeal. 


The Hebrew word chesed is used throughout the Old Testament to describe God’s loyal love to His people and His covenant. Daniel identifies with his people. Israel rebelled against God’s proscription on idolatry and also failed to observe the Sabbath rest for the land. A common theme in Jeremiah, the book that prompts Daniel’s prayer. God acted within His covenant stipulations and is therefore justified in punishing Israel for disobedience.  Daniel recognizes this and juxtaposes God’s righteousness with Israel’s shame. Because of God’s identification with His people, the misdeeds committed against them are likewise committed against Him. Those who identify themselves with Israel are shamed because their God has been disgraced. Faithlife Study Bible


This is a prayer of repentance for Israel’s past sinfulness, but it is also a prayer of confidence because God was about to overthrow the Babylonians and allow the Jews to return to their homeland to rebuild it. The 70 years of captivity were almost up, and glorious things lay ahead. Daniel confessed that Israel had departed from the Word of God, had disregarded the prophets of God, and had despised the Lord Himself. The NKJV Study Bible


Deuteronomy 7:9 “Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 


Psalm 106:6 

We have sinned with our fathers,

We have committed iniquity,

We have done wickedly.


Nehemiah 9:32–34 

Now therefore, our God,

The great, the mighty, and awesome God,

Who keeps covenant and mercy:

Do not let all the trouble seem small before You

That has come upon us,

Our kings and our princes,

Our priests and our prophets,

Our fathers and on all Your people,

From the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

However You are just in all that has befallen us;

For You have dealt faithfully,

But we have done wickedly…


2 Chronicles 36:15–16 And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy.


Nehemiah 1:4–7 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.And I said: “I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments…


Let This Be Our Prayer For The World...

Let the rain come and wash away

the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds

held and nurtured over generations.

Let the rain wash away the memory

of the hurt, the neglect.

Then let the sun come out and

fill the sky with rainbows.

Let the warmth of the sun heal us

wherever we are broken.

Let it burn away the fog so that

we can see each other clearly.

So that we can see beyond labels,

beyond accents, gender or skin color.

Let the warmth and brightness

of the sun melt our selfishness.

So that we can share the joys and

feel the sorrows of our neighbors.

And let the light of the sun

be so strong that we will see all

people as our neighbors.

Let the earth, nourished by rain,

bring forth flowers

to surround us with beauty.

And let the mountains teach our hearts

to reach upward to heaven.

Amen.

Rabbi Harold Kushner


Timothy 1:7 (ESV) "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Paul asserted that the Holy Spirit gives love, power and self-control to followers of Christ. Because God has given all believers in Christ the gift of the Holy Spirit who lives within us (also known as "indwelling"), we don't have to be afraid to obey His calling on our lives. And this Spirit lives within all followers of Christ (Romans 8:10-11), so Paul's encouragement applies to us too! We have power to persevere in serving others, we are filled with supernatural and sacrificial love to proclaim the gospel, and we have self-control to resist sin and make wise choices.

In contrast, fear is not from the Spirit; it's a lie from the enemy, Satan. Fear makes us question God's love and believe we will fail if we step out in obedience to Him. But the truth is that Jesus is right here next to us, equipping us for the journey and giving us strength to live out the gospel and share His grace. His perfect love can drive out any fear living in our hearts (1 John 4:18). First5


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