Impossible Commands

ALL – Psalm 122::1-9
ALL – Proverbs 29:1
OT – Daniel 11:1-34
NT – 1 John 3:7-24

Interesting passage for the day: And this is what God says we must do: Believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another. – 1 John 3:23, The Living Bible

Thought: Easier said than done. That’s what I think anyway. Believing in Jesus. Loving people. Both are definitely easier said than done. In fact, apart from God’s gracious intervention in our lives, they’re both impossible for any of us.

Humanity will not easily believe in the true God. He insists on His own sovereignty, not just in outward behaviors but inwards. He cannot be manipulated. If it is His will that we learn patience through suffering, then even though He fully intends to end all suffering for His people one day, He will not end it for His pleading child until patience sprouts like a lily from the suffering-tilled heart. We may willingly believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but believing in Him is another matter entirely. That requires submitting our rights, choices and desires to our Lord without bitterness. Believing in requires unconditional trust. And our hearts will not give anyone, even the Creator of the world, our unconditional trust unless the Holy Spirit has first given them the supernatural gift of faith.

Nor will our hearts love one another easily. We will shower love upon attractive people—at least, until they scorn us. We will devote ourselves to those who have blessed us—at least, until they harm us. We will commit ourselves to our families and friends—at least, until they betray us. We will serve those who pay us—at least, until they ask us to shoulder more of a burden than we think their pennies are worth. But to love one another unconditionally is hard. In fact, it is pretty much impossible. We do not easily love the unattractive. We shudder at the thought of doing a kind deed to our enemies. We boil with rage against those who have betrayed our close relationships. And we view our employment as a mere business transaction rather than as an opportunity to love; in business, love always has a price. But to love one another truly and unconditionally, regardless of seeing “what’s in it for me”—there is no human love that achieves this goal apart from the Holy Spirit’s gentle, strong re-creation of our hearts.

Believing in the name of God’s Son Jesus Christ. Loving one another. Do you hear these commands and think, “No problem!” If so, I pray that your life is soaring along on the Holy Spirit’s wings. Because otherwise, you are grossly misunderstanding the nature of true faith and the nature of true love. And if so, you are swiftly approaching the greatest failure of your existence.

Question: Has Jesus asked you to do something the risks of which you’re not sure you can trust your Lord to handle for you? Will you call on the Holy Spirit for help and believe in Jesus? Has Jesus commanded you to love someone you simply cannot love? Will you call on the Holy Spirit for help and love that someone?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Life and Death and Dreams

Daniel 1:1-2:23; Psalm 119:121-144; Proverbs 28:21-22

Have you ever tried to dunk a basketball? Run a 5K in 16 minutes or less? Explain quantum physics? Pretty hard. But not impossible. People—at least some people—can do these things.

Have you ever tried to interpret a language you’ve never learned? Communicate via telepathy? Interpret someone’s dream without their having told you what it was? Impossible.

Now imagine being asked to do the impossible, but told that if you can’t perform you will be killed. That’s the situation Daniel faced. King Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed something one night, and he wanted to know what it meant. But he wouldn’t tell anyone the dream:

The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble.” – Daniel 2:5

Of course, no one could tell him what his dream was. So all his wise men were facing the execution block. Daniel couldn’t tell the king his dream, either, but he asked for time and prayed to God, along with his three friends.

During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. – Daniel 2:19a

Daniel couldn’t do the impossible any more than you or I can. But God is not a man. What is impossible for men is possible for God. And God revealed to Daniel, a mere man, the things that only God could know. Even the king’s dreams.

Father, may we remember that what is impossible for us is easy for You. May we stop trying to do what we can’t do, and instead remember to ask for Your help.