Thought for January 31, 2024

  • 1747: First venereal disease clinic opens in London 
  • 1865: Congress passes the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery
  • 1865: Robert E. Lee named Commander-in Chief of the Confederate Armies
  • 1949: First TV daytime soap opera--"These are My Children" [NBC Chicago]
  • 1950: Truman announces his support for the development of the hydrogen bomb
  • 1957: Elizabeth Taylor's second divorce--Michael Wilding
  • 2015: Lydia Ko becomes youngest golfer [men or women] to be ranked #1
  • Born: Franz Schubert, Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, Nolan Ryan, Justin Timberlake, 
  • Died: Guy Fawkes, A.A. Milne, Samuel Goldwyn,  Charles Spurgeon
Thought:
Last week I was studying the Book of Daniel in preparation for leading a study in April. I noticed something that I had missed before. In chapter 9, Daniel speaks of the 70 years for the desolation of Jerusalem revealed to the prophet Jeremiah by the Lord. Daniel is writing about 539-538 BC, the year of the writing on the wall described in Daniel 5.  Jerusalem had been destroyed in 586 BC, so about 50 years had passed. Daniel 9 contains Daniel's prayer of confession for his people and a prayer for compassion by the Lord to take action and restorre Jerusalem. His prayer will be answered with the decree of Cyrus allow the people to return and build the Temple.

What I saw for the first time was back in Jeremiah where God reveals that after 70 years Jerusalem will be restored. Read Jeremiah 29:10 where God says that after 70 years He will bring His people back to Jerusalem. This is likely the passage that stirred Daniel's prayer in Daniel 9. Now read the next verse in Jeremiah---I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Many have this verse as a life verse. As I read, I wondered if Daniel read this verse too. 

Sometimes when things seem to have been bad for a while---health not good, relationships suffering, worried about personal or national affairs-----like Daniel we pray for God's compassion and restoration. What I need to remember is that God has a plan for me--a plan for my welfare. And I need to believe that His plan gives me a future, a future filled with good and not calamity. That gives me hope. So I wondered if Daniel read that verse, claimed its promise, trusted God to make it so. Then I asked myself--do I trust God's promise that He has a plan, a plan for my ultimate good and His glory, a plan that is a bright future. If I believe, then my hope is fixed and secure. Christ is me, my hope of glory. 

God was faithful to His word in Jeremiah. 70 years after the first Babylonian exile, Cyrus issues the decree to return. 70 years after the destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple is dedicated. Now God is working on the plans for you and me and He will keep His promises. So we have hope and a future. God is so good.

Blessings
Larry

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