Author: naesnotes

Daniel 2 gives an encounter between Daniel and King Nebuchadnezzar. The King had a dream that disturbed him, and he wanted someone to tell him what it meant. He first calls upon all the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers in verse 2 (NIV). The king considered these people to be the wisest in his kingdom. They wanted the king to tell them the dream so they could interpret it for him, but the king had another idea. He somehow knew they might not be entirely honest with him about the interpretation and instructed them to tell him the dream and interpret it or face death (v.5-9). The interesting part about this exchange is what the wise men say in verse 11, “No one can reveal it to the king except gods, and they do not live among men,” (NIV). Even they knew what the king asked could only be done by gods. The king didn’t like that answer and ordered all the “wise men” killed.

Enter Daniel. He asked the king for time to interpret the dream. He didn’t go to his other friends. He went to God. God revealed the dream to Daniel in a vision and took it to the king. Daniel again tells the king that no wise man can explain the dream to him but the God in heaven revealed the mystery to him (v. 27-28). The king recognized that Daniel’s God is the God of gods and Lord of kings and promoted Daniel.

Daniel not only helped the king, but he also saved himself and all the other “wise men” in the kingdom by seeking the right source of direction. The king didn’t want to tell the wise men first because he knew that when you ask people for advice, their advice can be influenced by their own thoughts and feelings. They can accidentally lead us astray based on what they think and feel. God is the only one who sees all the things and won’t steer us toward the wrong thing with feelings. He is the only one who knows our hearts and what purpose we have on this Earth. It is important to have wise people around you. Make sure those people ultimately tell you to seek God and His direction. You can survive taking advice from people. Why not thrive and seek the advice of God who sees everything?

What do we have to give to a God who created the universe? What does he expect from us? We ask so much from Him, almost without even thinking about what we are really saying.

He wants us to seek Him. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…” (NIV). What does that look like? It can be different things for different people depending on the situations. There are some basics that are included in that.

Psalm 37 outlines some specific things God wants from us. Going through the chapter we see the following instructions: do not fret, trust, delight, commit, be still, refrain from anger, wait, keep His way. That seems like a lot and some people get overwhelmed by just thinking about trying to do all these things, especially when faced with the trials of each day. Each instruction, though, comes with a promise. Instead of thinking about it as a laundry list of things to do, think of it as a way to get to the promises of God.

Do not fret. This is mentioned a few times within the chapter concerning when evil people succeed and Godly people are overlooked. Think of it more as when you experience a disappointment when someone else gets something you thought you deserved or you are hurt by someone. At those times we often spiral into thoughts of inadequacy and question our abilities. God knew what was going to happen and still has a good plan for you no matter happens in that situation. He will bring about the good things to you.

Trust. The basis of our relationship with God has to be clothed in trust. The trust needs to overflow into all areas of our lives, not just the ones that we let go easily. This is referenced in verses 3 and 5. In verse 5 it’s paired with “commit”. The promise at the end of verse 5 is that God will help you (GNT).

Be still. This is the hardest one for many people. We want to help God, so we can control the outcome and not wait for results. The key to this is in verse 7 where it says, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for the Lord,” (NIV emphasis mine). Patiently is not a word we like to hear. What does it look like to wait patiently? Quietly; doing nothing to help move the situation forward. This is the hardest part because we want things now and in our way. God sees what is best for us and doesn’t need our help getting it to us.

Refrain from anger. Anger at a situation is not wrong. That’s a normal human reaction when something bad happens that we didn’t expect. However, we don’t have to stay in anger. Don’t harbor anger or seek to harm someone out of anger. Let God take care of bringing justice on your behalf. You will be much happier if you let it go, and let God take care of it. When we harbor anger and resentment we can’t do the last instruction…keep His way.

When we keep His way we are seeking him first-above all the things we see. When we keep his way, he delights in us. Verses 23 and 24 tell us why that is important. “The Lord guides us in the way we should go and protects those who please him. If they fall, they will not stay down, because the Lord will help them up.” (GNT). What a great promise! The God of the universe will help us up when we seek Him. We can survive our disappointments and stumbles. We will thrive when seek God first because He will help us back up!

Driving serves a purpose-to get us from one point to another. We know our destination when we get in the car. Thanks to map apps, we know the route to take and how long it will take to get there. We are confident, comfortable, and in control. What could possibly go wrong?

There’s an accident-you get delayed. There’s road construction-you get delayed. You miss a turn-you get rerouted. Even when we plan and have it mapped out, situations arise that delay our arrival. The nice thing about the map app is that it sees what is ahead. It makes adjustments to our route and lists the new arrival time so we are not completely surprised by the delay. This keeps the passengers in the car with us from trying to give their opinions on which way to go and getting us further off course.

Unfortunately, life is not like that. We plan. We prepare. We map out what we what to go and what we want from life. It’s impossible for us, even with the most meticulous planning, to see everything that stands in the way of where we are currently and what we want to accomplish. When we try to “drive” our own lives, there are opportunities for us to be blindsided by things we cannot see or predict. This can get us off course with no direction or guidance about the next step when we try to drive ourselves. This is where other people in our lives can also cause problems. Without a map, the opinions and advice of others can steer us in the wrong direction and take us further away from our destination.

That’s why we need God to be our driver. He acts as our map app. He doesn’t always remove the roadblocks-construction and traffic delays. He can prepare us for the detour and tell us what the next steps are to keep us on track to our destination. Isaiah 30:21 says, “If you stray to the right or the left, you will hear a word that comes from behind you: “This is the way; walk in it.” CEB. The key to hearing God’s voice is to stay connected by reading the Bible and praying. This will put God in the driver’s seat for your life so you can thrive, not just survive!

“Put on the armor of God.” Something we hear from the time we are small if we grow up in church. Who doesn’t remember the funny graphic they would put up to show the different pieces of armor? After that, though, we tend to forget about the individual pieces and the purpose of each piece in how it works to protect us.

It starts with a introduction in Ephesians 6:10, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power,” (NIV, emphasis mine). We are not expected to be strong in the Lord in our own power. It is His power that gives us the strength we need to stand against our enemy. This is highlighted in verse 11 where the FULL armor of God is first mentioned.

Let’s review the pieces of the armor. Verse 14 mentions the belt of truth first. It’s interesting that the “belt of truth” is the first piece mentioned. It doesn’t start at the top of the body and go down. It starts with truth. Why is that? Lies are the enemy’s best weapon against us. Getting us to buy into the lies of the world and what we see or hear around us is the best way to get our eyes off the good God who loves us and is always championing what is best for us. If we don’t have God’s truth present everyday then we fall prey to whatever our eyes see and our ears hear.

Verse 14 also mentions the “breastplate of righteousness”. This is also listed in Isaish something God does in Isaiah 59:17. What is that exactly? The definition of righteousness from Webster’s 1828 dictionary adds some light the verse. Some of the phrases listed are “equivalent to holiness”, “honesty and virtue”. So we are to make sure we are walking in holiness, honesty, and virtue. Doing this keeps us out of some of the stuff in the world that is not good for us.

The part of the armor in verse 15 is the “shoes of peace”. We should make every effort to walk in peace with those around us. If we are not in peace, our thoughts and actions don’t follow the righteousness of God and that brings turmoil and doubt.

Next is the “shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one,” (verse 16, NIV). This is one of the most crucial pieces as the enemy wants our hearts. Faith in God no matter the circumstances is the only thing that can combat the attacks the enemy brings to get our hearts to turn from God. Without faith we will crumble under the attacks and lose what God has for us, good things!

Verse 17 mentions the “helmet of salvation” and “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” (NIV). At first I thought of these as being separate from one another. Let’s look at them together. The “helmet of salvation” is remembering that God sent Jesus to save us. That knowledge is what brings us into the initial relationship with God, keeping our thoughts on the fact we are saved. Then the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”. This also deals with our thoughts. We can’t stand if we don’t know the truth of scripture and fight the enemy with the words of God instead of our own words. The word of God is the ultimate truth and the enemy knows that. When we fix our thoughts on our gift of salvation and the word of God, we can come against anything that is thrown at us.

The final instruction isn’t really a piece of armor but the last piece needed to make it all work together. “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions,” (NIV). When we put on all the armor and cover it in prayer we are protected on all levels.

The cracks in the armor are revealed when we have a trial that causes us to lose focus. When that happens, take some time to look at each piece and see where it is necessary to readjust your armor because God doesn’t want us to merely survive. He wants us to thrive!

I’ve heard about people who say, “I opened my Bible right to exactly what I needed to read,”. While I always find comfort and direction in God’s word, I did not personally experience instantly finding a scripture until recently. The verse was Isaiah 41:10, which has so much to unpack. In the Message version it reads, “I’ve picked you. I haven’t dropped you. Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I am your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.”

First it says God picked you. We’ve all been in situations where we didn’t get picked for something, ranging from elementary school and picking for recess games to adulthood and getting picked for a job. We feel excitement and validation of our worth when we are picked. We experience dejection and disappointment when we aren’t picked. This scripture reminds us that the God who created the universe picked us, picked you, to be His child and experience all the benefits of believing and trusting in Him even when our eyes see something different.

Next it gives instructions on what to do if we don’t get picked. “Don’t panic,”. I wish I could say I always get that one right! When the world throws us a curve ball, when the enemy comes to try to distract and destroy us, it’s easy to panic because that is what we see right in front of us and what we feel in the moment. It’s hard to remember that God has a plan for us regardless of what the world throws at us.

Finally it highlights God’s promises.

• I AM with you
• I WILL give you strength
• I WILL help you
• I WILL hold you steady
• I WILL keep a firm grip on you

When you live your life for God, you have these promises that He is with you-strengthening you, helping you, holding you with His firm grip. That doesn’t mean that things won’t come that momentarily shake you, and you just survive. God is there to help you steady again, so you can live in the good things He has for you and thrive!

Ephesians 5:20 says, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Always and for everything. That sounds like an impossible task. Things happen everyday that we don’t want to give thanks for because we encounter interrupters to our plan for the day. Some are good and some are not. The truth is, if it’s something we don’t expect it’s hard to give thanks. We have our thoughts about how each day or task should proceed.

When we look at another verse in that chapter, we get some further instructions that will help us to give thanks in those situations. Back up to verse 17. It says, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is”. Our instant human reaction is to grumble or complain. Those actions happen because we don’t understand the will of the Lord. He can bring about things to interrupt us to help him do His will. That may sound unusual, but God sees things we don’t see and may need us to follow His will for our day in order to serve Him. Verse 16 reminds us to make the most of every opportunity. We need to understand our day in light of what God wants us to do and where He places us to do it. When we are actively seeking God, He is the master of our day. Don’t just survive the next time you encounter an interruption to your day. Give thanks to God for His will in your life and thrive!

Have you ever looked endlessly for something with no success, only to move one thing seemingly unrelated and find what you were trying to find? This happens often in life and there are usually a series of frustrations that happen in the search. This happened a few weeks ago as I was cleaning up broken glass. I carefully searched and swept to make sure there were no pieces left that could cause harm. Sometime later I noticed a piece that did not get removed. I walked by that area multiple times in between and never saw anything. I happened to shift something in that area and then noticed the glass.

That happens often in life. We search tirelessly for something and end up disappointed because we cannot find it, whether it is an object we need or a different situation than the one where we find ourselves. I was reminded when I saw the glass how suddenly God can bring about the things we are looking for when we submit to Him. He is not bound by what we can see-He sees so much more! When we put our faith and trust in Him, He will direct our steps on the right path to the right thing for us. We spend so much time trying to change our own circumstances when all we have to do is put our faith in Him, and He will move us in the right direction. How much time and energy do we waste trying to do it ourselves? Hebrews 11 highlights many times acts of faith brought about changes to circumstances. Take some time today to read Hebrews 11 to remind yourself that you don’t just have to survive. You can thrive when you act on your faith!

“Through him we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ!” Romans 1:5 (the Message version)

It is obvious God gave us the gift of Jesus to save us and provide the opportunity to have eternal life. Why? This verse reminds us that God wanted to save us, but He also wanted us to pass this gift on to others. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in what is going on in our lives that we forget to let others know of the love, peace, and life we found in Jesus. As things in the world get crazier, people will look for something that is stable to give them hope. That hope is Jesus! We are not merely here to live good lives. We are here to help others see the benefits of a life in Christ. That doesn’t mean every day is going to be perfect because we live in a fallen world. What do you do when things aren’t perfect? Those are the spaces where we have opportunities to demonstrate hope in God as we let Him direct our steps. He is the author and finisher of our faith, and He wants to do the same for others. He will be with you and give you the words to say as you thrive through your day and look to help others who are just surviving theirs!

Ephesians 1 starting in verse 3 outlines how God has already blessed us through Christ. Verse 4 says that he chose us before the creation of the world. So God blessed us and mapped out a plan for our lives before He did anything else! Yet so often we toil and wrestle over what to do and what purpose He has for us. Isaiah 55:9 reminds us that His ways are higher than ours: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts higher than your thoughts”. The verse right before that says that our thoughts and ways are not God’s thoughts and ways. It makes sense, then, that God would be able to see and do things for us that we cannot do for ourselves. It’s frustrating to not be able to see how something is going to work out or work through a disappointment, but God sees things that we don’t. He mapped out the blessings for our lives before He did anything else! Even though we can’t always see His ways or know His thoughts, we can live in His blessings by spending time with Him and submitting to His will even when it seems like the opposite of what we want. We will survive if we try to figure out what is going on or how to fix something. We will thrive when we draw close to Him and let His thoughts and ways become our own!

Heed. Hearken. Obey. All these are words used in different versions of Deuteronomy 28:2. Most versions of the verse read something like the following, “All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God,” (NIV). The overall idea is that you will be blessed when you pay attention to what God says to you and then do what He says. The Message version says, “All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of GOD, your God,”. That sounds so simple. “Because you responded to your God”. That makes it personal for each person. The Bible contains the instructions for our lives. Some people tend to think there are parts that are not meant for them or that God does not understand their lives, and they have a free pass to live however they want. This version of the Deuteronomy 28:2 reminds us that God is our God-a personal God to each one of us and does not group us in with others when giving instructions. Sure, there are general guidelines that all Christians follow, but how many have actually made it personal? This verse states that when you not only listen but respond to the voice of the God who knows you well, He will send blessings upon you. Take some time today to respond to the voice of God, so you can thrive-not just survive!