Day 4 Daniel 9-12

Bula friends!
I wanted to first start by saying I totally lied about attempting a one page summary of so many chapters. However, I did make a concerted effort to trim what I needed to reflect on. Hope you enjoy this lengthy read as much as I did.

I was reading Daniel 9 after just completing some reading on fasting and nutritional tips concerning fasting for 3-40 days. A clear and concise reference for all fasting questions and concerns (http://www.ccci.org/training-and-growth/devotional-life/7-steps-to-fasting/index.htm ). I highly recommend this site to you. My pastor actually sent this link out in a church email and I found it really encouraging and helpful.

In reading Daniel 9, I felt encouraged to pray about fasting and to get serious about crying out to God, lifting up my sins and confessing them to Him. I felt urged to truly seek to repent from my behaviors, thoughts and spiritual plagues that I have not allowed myself to focus on crushing with Christ. I have never succeeded in fasting for the time I wanted to fast. Ever. So I really want to do it right when the time is right. The link above gave tips on what types of drinks to make and vitamins to take so you are healthy and able to really focus on God.

So in Daniel 9, I took away the cries and open communication that Daniel had with God. I really want to be intimiately close and more connected with God. I want to take my faith and dedication to repent and glorify the Lord to the next level—fasting.
These verses were really encouraging and allowed me to see the closeness of Daniel and God in a time of need:
15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
The best part was when God responded:

20 “While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill- 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision”
Daniel 10 My favorite portion to meditate on is verse 10-21. It talks about God meeting Daniel and he being in a deep sleep on his face listening to God. Then he is given strength and can stand to listen to God. It is so refreshing to see God meet a man tangibly. It is so cool when God meets us in incomprehensible ways. I had never known God so intimately and in a tangible way until I truly dedicated my life to Him and His work while in college. I now know God in a deeper and more intimate way than ever before. I would urge you to look deeper into what you believe. God is not Sunday morning and God is not just about words on a page. He is so beautiful and merciful.

For Daniel 11, you really should draw a picture. This is definitely a chapter I need to revisit after I complete my 8-month study. It is very detailed and speaks about the end of a great battle of kings.

Daniel 12 has very interesting lines such as: 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise [a] will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge." It makes me wonder if nobody goes to Heaven until the end times. Do our souls wait in limbo between Earth and Heaven and then when the rapture comes, those who have died and are brought to eternal life will go to Heaven? After reading Daniel 12 I am a unsure.
This was insightful:
8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, "My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?"
9 He replied, "Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.
13 "As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance."