Boundary of Arrogance

The Holy Bible is full of stories of arrogance and self reliance, but one of the most arrogant rulers, I believe was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Like most ancient rulers, they believed that the sun and moon were at their command, but there is only One Lord, God and King of the Universe. Fortunately these earthly rulers learned a painful lesson of who really is in charge.

Similar to Pharaoh Ramses, the Lord had used a powerful earthly kingdom to prove His authority. Through Pharaoh, the Lord revealed His power to keep His word and through King Nebuchadnezzar He revealed His power to discipline those He loves. Through scripture the Almighty God reminds us that He will use many sources of correction to wake us up, like He did the Israelites, who had slipped away from believing the Lord.

As the story of King Nebuchadnezzar unfolds, he is allowed to besiege Jerusalem and take the Israelites away as captives. (Daniel 1:1-2). While the Israelites were captive, the King knew they were a special people and wanted the finest in his palace.

The king had already witness the power of God to protect those who honored him, when he protected Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace (Daniel 3: 26-30), but his praise of the Eternal God was short lived because of arrogance.Soon the king was back to self-worship.

King Nebuchadnezzar became quite enamored by a young Israelite named Daniel who could interpret dreams (Daniel 3:46-49). The Lord wanted the King to know, who was the real authority on earth once and for all, and so he sent the king a dream. Daniel again was given the ability to interpret this terrible dream and had the unpleasant job of informing the king what God was going to do with his arrogance.

In the book of Daniel, the prophet described the dream to the King, ‘This is what the dream means, Your Majesty, and what the Most High has declared will happen to you. You will be driven from human society, and you will live in the fields with the wild animals. You will eat grass like a cow and be drenched by dew from heaven. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses” (Daniel 4:24-26 NLT).

King Nebuchadnezzar was humbled when the dream came true. The king learned that the Lord keeps his word and supplies all needs according to his grace.

“For God can use sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek salvation. We will never regret that kind of sorrow. But sorrow without repentance is the kind that results in death” (2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT)

Boundaries of Time

Welcome friends,

This post is part of the Christian Writers Blog Chain for August and the topic is Memory. I incorporated this topic with a series on Boundaries. I hope you enjoy my take and please visit the rest of the gang listed on the right side bar. Peace and Blessings!

“There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). We live in the confines of time, we remember our past, but we cannot see the future the way God does. Time is part of God’s creation whose purpose defines the physical realm.

Outside of time, God is everywhere at any moment without restraint in another dimension known as the spiritual realm. God sees everything as if it has already occurred. Having this understanding, we can know that the future prophecy's given to us in the Holy Bible are reliable because only God controls time.

The scripture frequently uses the phrase, “at the appointed time,” meaning  things occur on time and on schedule according to God’s plan. When the disciples questioned Jesus about the time of His return, He replied, “The Father sets those dates” (Acts 1:7). Even the time and place of our birth has a significant purpose. We may never know how intricately our lives are intertwine with the rest of creation, but God is multifaceted and glorious beyond our comprehension.

The Lord also brings comfort to us in the confines of time, when he said, “For I know the plans I have for you” declare the Lord. “Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). We should rejoice in the knowledge He has good plans for us, but with triumph also comes hardship and trials.

We live in a fallen world with evil all around. It's not easy to believe for goodness and prosperity when all we see is trouble. People who we trust betray us, lives are ended much too soon and evil seems to get the upper hand. Thankfully we have the future promise of a new heaven and new earth.

When our memory is overwhelmed by loss and lack, remember the promise. “Be strong and courageous! Don't be afraid of them! The Lord your God will go ahead of you. He will neither fail you or forsake you” Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT

There is nothing in all creation that does not exist without purpose. Time has its purpose and it will bring glory to God.