“O king, live for ever, My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths.” Daniel 6:22
Dear Ones:
If ever there was a time when the reality of God’s presence and intervention was manifested, it was when Daniel was alone in the den of lions with only an angel between him and certain death. We might ask ourselves the question, “What does God’s calling, and the persistence of that calling, have to do with Daniel, Darius the King, and the host of men and women, boys and girls, who have read this account to this very day? Let us first look at Daniel who is a captive, a stranger in a foreign land. He is also, to some great extent, alone in his worship and devotion to God. What he has learned, as it assumed that he is an elderly man at this time, is that there is absolutely NO substitute for personal worship of God. This he did three times a day, with his windows opened towards Jerusalem, the symbol, and location, of God’s intervention to save mankind. We then need to ask the question, “How is it that Daniel can be so alone, and yet, be so faithful?” Also, “How can he ‘show forth’ the reality of God in such a heathen, antagonistic atmosphere to his faith?” It is first of all because God IS a reality…He is literally REAL to Daniel. How? God is ever revealing Himself to him, ever speaking to him. We might say, He is ever calling to him…calling him to ever deepening fellowship with the Eternal. It is as Daniel continues to kneel before God, a symbol of his submission to Him, and worship Him in faith and truth, that God, by the Spirit reveals Himself to the heart and mind of Daniel. How does this apply to us?
Jesus, when addressing his disciples, told them: “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, that you should go and bring forth fruit.” (John 15:16) He goes on to tell them the nature of this fruit…” (It)…will remain.” In other words, it has its origin in the Spirit of God, and will thus, always remain, for it is as eternal as God Himself. What is the key to this fruitfulness? It is the same as in the example of Daniel. “…The Spirit of truth…He shall testify of Me…and you also shall bear witness.” (Jn. 16:26,27) Jesus had told the disciples that the Father would give them the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth. This they received at Pentecost. He is that same Spirit that we have received, the very Spirit of Christ, whose “witness” and testimony is exhibited by the fruit of His blessed Life. What then are we to do to know the reality of such blessing?
Just before the departure of Elijah, Elisha asked of him for one thing: “…a double portion of his spirit.” Elisha had come to understand, and be convinced of, the necessity of the fullness and power of the Spirit, essential if he would be faithful. Jesus, in giving to His disciples a parable concerning the priority in the life of the believer, said: “If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how MUCH MORE will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13) Daniel was a man who received from God all that he needed, and this in the context of a life of worship, and faithful obedience. As we see in his book, he RECEIVED the reality of the revelation of God to his heart. We are called to do the same, to not only receive OF the Spirit, but to receive HIM for all, for everything. If we are to be filled with the Spirit of Christ, then we need to ask God for His fullness, and trust Him for it. Then we shall know that “God is still calling today…calling us to fellowship with Himself,” so that through Christ by the Spirit, we should know Him and make Him known, and everlasting fruit will be born to His glory.
Dear Father, The cross of Christ declares to us the intensity of Thy desire, not only to wash away all of our sin, but to introduce us into a fellowship with Thee that traverses culture, time, and even opposition. Grant us the fullness of Thy Spirit, and accomplish in and through us the witness, and testimony, that indeed, You are God, the true and living God. We thank and praise Thee, in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Love, Dad