I’ve been studying the Book of Daniel (again) in my weekly women’s Bible Study.

In the very first chapter we find Daniel, a young teenager who has been uprooted from his family and his homeland and brought to a foreign country with foreign people who speak a foreign language and exist in a foreign culture, standing firm. He “resolves” not to eat the king’s food.

This teenager takes His God seriously and believes wholeheartedly that His God is who He says He is and will do what He said He would do. He said He was a jealous God, and Daniel took Him at His word and refused to eat any foods that might have been used in idol worship. That’s a serious stance to take–at any age. But what else does he do? He then seeks permission for him and his three young friends to eat nothing but vegetables and drink only water for the next ten days. If they, indeed, do not get sick or suffer any ill-effects, that will be their menu of choice from them on.

So, of course, by now, I, with my perforated faith, am thoroughly chastened. Daniel and I, though centuries apart, know, love and serve the same God. Therefore, for the next week, I plan to eat only vegetables and drink only water. I bought a steamer and loaded up on fresh and frozen vegetables at the grocery store.

Vegetables and water—healing and health for my body, soul and spirit.

Here we are on January 24—a week away from the end of the first month of this new year. For many people those resolutions they were so gung-ho about three weeks ago are already a distant memory. (If you will recall, I do not make New Year’s Resolutions for this very reason. By now, I’d be wracked in guilt and already feeling like a failure–and we’re still in the first month!)

No, I wasn’t among those who valiantly joined the gym, signed up for diet plans, or received exercise equipment for Christmas (ugh!)  with the goal of losing unwanted pounds and inches–although I definitely possess some pounds and inches that seem to serve no other purpose than to force me to exercise through trying to bring buttons and zip closures together on my clothes. I can burn quite a few calories just zipping up my pants!

I know my body is a temple of God. And I know I haven’t been a very good caretaker. I was walking three miles a day–until the temperatures plummeted. I was eliminating meat from my diet and dining on fruits and vegetables–until my boss made BBQ for the staff yesterday. It does not take much to derail me.

I just had a 45 minute conversation with a new friend–a woman who introduced me to the benefits of nutritional cleansing, cleansing our bodies by removing the toxins and re-establishing the alkaline balance–all without having to take up residence in the bathroom for the next few weeks. Added bonuses? increased energy, a new mindset, weight loss, reduced inches around the waist, balanced hormones. So yes, I’m excited. I’m ready to do all I can to help my body do its job, the way God originally intended it to. It’s a two-step process: cleansing the unwanteds while flooding the body with nutrients. I’m all about removing impurities and toxins from my body so it can function at optimal levels. I’m on board for nourishing my body with all-natural vitamins and minerals for my best health ever.

I am already visualizing myself–cleansed, revitalized, slim, energized and healthy with a body that can use its own natural defense systems to fight off bacteria, virus, and any toxins in the air. And I’m viewing all my family and friends that way, too–at their ideal weights, with renewed energy, needing new wardrobes because their clothes are too baggy—and, most importantly, completely and totally healthy!!!

Oh yes, I’m ready to clean out this temple. Jesus threw out the money changers. I’m throwing out the health-robbers and longevity-stealers. I’m cleaning out the temple and preparing it for God’s presence. Only the best for Him because He provides only the best for me. I thank Him for  my new friend, who closed our conversation with prayer over the telephone because we both realize that it’s all about HIM.

I gave up reading newspapers, news magazines and watching news broadcasts quite a few years ago. At first, I just found it all too depressing. After 30 minutes of seeing mankind at its worst, I would be almost shell-shocked. I felt as if I were being robbed of hope so I concluded that news programs weren’t good for me, and I quit subscribing , watching or listening.

Of course, I can’t totally avoid “the news”. Current events are bursting out all over and all around me, whether I subscribe, watch, listen or not. Therefore, I have a smidgen of awareness that the Israeli’s have been bombing the Gaza Strip and the Palestians living there. I even followed several posts on a discussion post where people all over the world were chiming in with their opinions and taking sides.

The Christian viewpoint on that board seemed to center around the fact that God had given this land to His chosen people, the Hebrew nation, tellling them to drive out the foreigners and the pagans, and that’s what was happening. The “other-than-Christian” camp took the position that the Israeli’s had no right to go around acting like the Palestians didn’t exist, whether God gave them the land or not.

I don’t begin to know what the answer is. However, I believe that one day this world as we know it will no  longer be the world we know at all. One day God is going to rule and reign over this world. He is going to settle all disputes once and for all. For all of us who have our own opinions and our own take on what the right answer is, we can rest assured that God will give us the definite, right answer for all time. And that will be His final answer.

So what do we do in the  meantime while we still have a chance to use our lifelines and save ourselves?

OK, I know I said that I didn’t make New Year’s resolutions, and it’s true. I don’t. It would be  hard enough to think of which resolutions I needed to make; but then to go to all that trouble for something I know I wasn’t going to do? Senseless. I just don’t start, so I don’t have to worry or feel guilty about stopping.

For the next 12 weeks my Bible Study group will be studying the  Book of Daniel. As I worked on my first week’s assignment, verse 8 of Daniel 1 jumped out at me: But  Daniel resolved not to defile himself….”

The Babylonian king–that same king (Nebuchadnezzar) who had just conquered his people and taken him captive–had issued a command to those he had taken hostage, but  Daniel said “no way.” And I thought, “Wow.   I need to pay attention.”

Here young Daniel (barely a teen-ager) had been carried off from Jerusalem to pagan Babylon and told to forego his kosher meals to eat the rich cuisine of the Babylonian culture, from the king’s own table no less. And this young boy, brought up in the Jewish faith and traditions, was so sure of himself and his God that he defied the king and resolved to stay true to his faith.

Maybe I need to take another look at making resolutions. Maybe I should give some thought to keeping them.

So I resolve to walk my talk. I am a Christian, and I say so here publicly with no reservations and no shame. You have free will. God gave it to you, so who am I to try to take it from you? You may believe whatever you want. You may serve any god or gods you choose, or none at all. That is your choice and your decision to make. But I, Charlotte, resolve to live for, bring glory to, worship, serve and honor the one true living God of all Creation. And I make no apologies.

Daniel didn’t compromise when he found himself in ancient Babylon. I shall not compromise living  here in “modern Babylon.” I don’t care what pop culture says, what the TV commercials sell, what the song lyrics push, what the world says is right. I resolve to live by God’s Word.  At whatever cost.

What about you? Where do you stand? Are you standing? What are you standing on? Will it take you into His eternal presence?

What do you resolve?

Yesterday I set up a corner in my living room, designated as my Sacred Space: a visually appealing oasis to draw me in with magnetic energy so that I would want to spend quiet time there. At the time I thought that would be a private place for me to go to alone to meet and spend quality time with God.

Apparently I was wrong. As I sat in my comfortable chair, meditating on the Word this morning and taking notes, I suddenly heard a moaning sound and a fluttering and scampering—coming from my kitchen! Since I was home alone at the time, I knew something was going on that was out of the ordinary. I jumped up and flew into the kitchen. The noise was coming from one of the cabinets over the stove, closest to the window. Looking out, I saw several squirrels climbing up the side of my house.

I opened the back door and peeped out, startling them enough that they scampered off in all directions; but I noticed the hose to my dryer came out right above that window–and it appeared that the squirrels were using that opening as their private entrance to  my kitchen.

I should have expected an attack of some sort.  Spending time alone with God, voluntarily, every day—being drawn into His presence? Oh, I knew the enemy wasn’t going to like that. But I never expected squirrels to invade my home.

So I freaked. There went any semblance of serenity I had garnered during my quiet time. I’m not big on ‘wild” animals, but I can take them as long as they stay in their natural habitat. By my definition, the walls of my kitchen are not their natural habitat!  As my heart  pounded, and my eyes morphed tiny moons,  I lost it. I didn’t know what to do. Such a racket. Such a commotion. I fully expected a cabinet door to open revealing a furry little tail or a pair of beady little eyes at any second.

What to do? Who to call? Where to go? I was frantic. When there are live animals running around in your wall, who you gonna call? “God–the One who created the things in the first place.  So I prayed. Out loud. Urgently. Fervently. “Jesus, please get these animals out of my house.” I didn’t know what else to do, and when I get to the end of me and all my brilliance, I often turn to God.

Today was no exception. I ran from room to room in a frenzy, praying aloud: “Father, I know You are in control. You made those birds, squirrels, whatever it is in my cabinets. They’re part of Your creation, too. But, God, I know You did not create them to live in my house. Please lead them out and keep them out.” I prayed hard because I knew it was a cold, rainy day and that if these animals had found a warm, dry place to hang out in, they weren’t going to just abandon their oasis–their sacred space–because I said so. It was going to take a supernatural act of God.

Within five minutes of flinging these frantic prayers to God’s ear, my phone rang. I ended up having an impromptu devotional session with a deaer friend right then and there on the telephone. We read today’s chapter of With Christ in the School of Prayer .  The chief lesson is that when we pray, we “may and must expect an answer.” I took that teaching to heart. I had been praying, not to just hear myself talk, but because I fully expected God to take care of me. He knew how fearful I was. He knew I didn’t like animals in my living quarters. He knew I didn’t know how to get rid of them (and probably wouldn’t have attempted to even had I been armed with such knowledge). He knew I needed Him. So He answered me…with a phone call from a friend at the proper time.

My friend and I chatted for a few more minutes. When I hung up, I returned downstairs….to calmness, to quiet. The scurrying and rustling were gone. My kitchen was mine again. “Oh, thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers. Even in the small things, You are faithful, so I know I can trust You with the big things in my life.”

My Sacred Space has been reclaimed. My faith renewed. My prayers answered.

I’m reading With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray. Today’s lesson was “Alone With God.” In this lesson Murray encouraged me to find a secret place, an inner chamber, a place in my home where I can shut out the world and get shut up with God. This place should be beautifully appointed and visually appealing, and also warm, welcoming and inviting because it is, after all, the place where I am going to meet God in person!

Then I turned my attention to Day 1 of the 90 Day Jumpstart to Becoming the Woman God Wants You to Be by Donna Partow. This is a book based on Proverbs 31:10-31 where the famous/infamous Proverbs 31 woman is encountered and described. We’re taking a Jumpstart because there’s no way any of us will come close to emulating this paragon of virtue in a mere 90 days, yet we all have to start someplace, right? Today we’re challenged to write a Personal Vision Statement. Tomorrow we set up a Prayer Place.

Wow! Twice in less than an hour God has told me I need a special place set aside in my home where I can meet with Him every single day.  It doesn’t have to be a huge space–a corner of a room, a closet–but it has to be special. It is there to that place that I will fly every day for the great joy and high privilege of meeting with my Father, just being with Him, soaking in His presence. And I don’t have to come with a list of requests or demands. He already knows. I am free to just sit in the Secret Space, the Inner Chamber, the Prayer Place and listen to what He has to say to me.

I’m rather stoked about that. I’ve already scoped out the place. Now I want to add candles, scented ones, some pictures, my prayer shawl, a comforter/afghan– and my Prayer Basket. I will be all set. Maybe I won’t mind jumping out of bed on these cold winter mornings if I have another comfy place to run to. The hardest part for me of getting up every day is leaving the warm, snuggly cocoon that is my bed–where I feel so safe, so secure, so serene.

But for the pleasure of meeting Him face to face? Being in the Holy Place with the Holy Presence? Oh yeah, I’m so there.