Shalom,


Psalm 116:1-2:


1 I LOVE the LORD, because He has heard [and now hears] my voice and my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.


This Psalm is an extremely personal one. The words I, my, or me appear over 30 times. It is very important to make the Word of God personal to YOU! We know from 2 Corinthians 1:20 that all of the promises of God are "Yes and Amen", but unless we can get the reality of the Truth that it means ME, then the Word will have no real affect on our lives! Go through the New Testament and find all of the Scriptures that speak of being "In Him", "In Christ", and other personal verses like that. Meditate on those until the Holy Spirit is able to bring you to a place of realization that this is who YOU are! Then, when you pray, or give praise, thanksgiving and worship, you can make it a personal petition or declaration based on what you KNOW of the Word of God concerning YOU! God LOVES when we do that! Then verses 12-13 say this:


12 What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me? [How can I repay Him for all His bountiful dealings?] 13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and deliverance and call on the Name of the LORD.


To lift up the cup of salvation is a very unselfish thing to do! Now we are speaking of making known and available to the world all of the blessings and benefits that we enjoy as children of the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible! Keep lifting HIM up and HE will draw all men unto Himself (John 12:32)!


Here is Hillsong with "Yes and Amen". To see the lyrics, click through to You Tube!

2 Peter 3:3:


3 To begin with, you must know and understand this, that scoffers (mockers) will come in the last days with scoffing, [people who] walk after their own fleshly desires


We are most definitely living in those days! Not only do we have people putting aside the Word of God for their own lives, but trying to get rid of any reference to God and His Word from every aspect of life. There has never been a greater need for the Church of Jesus of Nazareth to be about preaching the Good News than there is right now! Don't assume that anyone you know is born again unless you actually hear them proclaim that Jesus is their Lord! If they are believers, then they will rejoice to hear the Gospel. If they are not, then you will plant a seed of Truth in them that the Holy Spirit can work with to convict them of their need for the Saviour! Time is running out for them to receive eternal, everlasting LIFE! (Zoe, life as God has in Himself!) Verse 9 shows us the Father's heart:


9 The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people's conception of slowness, but he is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance. 


He is patient, BUT, there will come the day, soon and very soon, when the Father will say, "It is time" and Jesus will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,  and with the sound of the trumpet and will appear for us in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16). We are running head long into our blessed eternity! The unbelievers are running head long towards hell! We need to do as much as we can, for as long as we have left, in order to be doing OUR part in bringing joy to the Father's heart with all of those we will help lead into the Kingdom! Amen!


Daniel 11-12 involve prophecy. Some that is now history and some yet to come. I am posting an introduction from the Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament that gives an outline. If you are interested in further study, I would encourage you to do so! Here is the introduction to these last two chapters:


The prophecy given in chapters 11 and 12 is long and complex. The first thirty-five verses of Dan 11 were prophecy in Daniel's day but are now history. They deal with important but, for the most part, forgotten historical characters with difficult names and complicated relationships. The chapters may be outlined as follows:


1. Prophecies already fulfilled (11:1-35)
a. About Persia — 11:1-2
b. About Greece — 11:3-4
c. About Egypt and Syria — 11:5-20


d. About Antiochus Epiphanes and Syria — 11:21-35
2. Prophecies yet to be fulfilled (11:36-12:3)
a. About the Tribulation and Antichrist — 11:36-12:1
b. About the promised kingdom — 12:2-3
c. Final instructions to Daniel (12:4-13)


These prophecies fill in the details of previous prophecies the Lord had given to Daniel and were the answer to his prayer for greater understanding of God's plans for Israel. The focus is on Israel in the last days. 

Shalom in Him!