December 2

Daniel 9:1-11:1,1 John 2:18-3:6, Psalm 121:1-8, Proverbs 28:27-28

Pray: Dear Lord, I pray today that I will yield my spirit completely to You, that You may use me as You please. I pray that You will provide me opportunities to show people how much You mean to me. Give me discretion to know what to say and how to say it. Make me bold enough, that I may proclaim salvation cheerfully and joyfully. I pray that the seeds You allow me to plant will grow and mature. I pray that You, Father, will water the seeds that You allow me to plant today. I am forever grateful for the cross; may I proclaim it in a contagious way today. Amen.

Read: John continues his affirmation of the Christian people but also gives a stern warning about living the last days. John likens some of those who have left the church and been about teaching false doctrines as anti-christs that never belonged to the Christian family. He reminds the readers that they are called children of God because they belong to Him. John is careful to remind the Christians that being a follower of Christ is a process of becoming more and more like Jesus every day… a process that will not be completed until we see Jesus face to face. 

Edify: Daniel pleaded to God for forgiveness through prayer and fasting. Daniel knew that the sins of the nation were great, but he also knew that before he could pray for their forgiveness he needed to look at himself and the sin in his own life first. All too often, we look for someone else to blame when things go wrong. When we lose the game, it was someone else’s fault. When we don’t get the promotion, it’s the boss’ fault. When our kids start acting out, it's society’s fault. You get the idea. Why are we so quick to cast blame when we should first look to ourselves as the creator of our own issues? Rather than looking for someone else to blame when things go wrong, maybe we should take a moment to consider our role in why things turned out the way they did. 

Practice: Do some self-reflection today. Where are you with your relationship with God? Do you need to, like Daniel, repent of some sin that is holding you back from being able to live into the God-sized purposes that are planned for you? Do you need to reclaim your position as a child of God? Take steps today to continue (or maybe start) the journey of being more like Jesus each day.