December 3

Daniel 11:2-35, 1 John 3:7-24, Psalm 122:1-9, Proverbs 29:1

Pray: Dear Glorious Father, I pray that I will stay focused on You today. I pray that You will constantly remind me to be content in all of my circumstances. I pray that You will fill me up that I may be joyful all day, even if stress creeps in. I know that through my contentment, You will be glorified. I want to honor You, Father, in all that I do. I praise Your Holy Name! Amen.

Read: The psalmist continues the songs of the pilgrimage by writing one about going to church. For some it is an absolute chore… getting up early, getting dressed, getting the kids dressed, feeding everyone… arguing about who is going to sit where in the car. It can be a bit chaotic. For others, it is a delight. In both cases, it is a matter of perspective. Church attendance becomes a chore when we have unconfessed sin or if our fire for God has cooled a bit. However, if we are close to God and enjoy His presence then we will be eager to worship and praise Him. Attitude is everything. How’s your attitude toward God this morning?

Edify: What are your dirty little secrets? Those vices that we would prefer for no one to ever know about? Maybe your vices are not really that secret at all. Nevertheless, those are the very places that John says are the footholds for the devil. John is specifically talking to those who sin and do so on an ongoing basis and then try and find a way to justify it to make themselves feel better about their sin. John says that these people never really belonged to God. Now, to be true, all people sin, those who belong to God and those who don’t, but John differentiates between the two in verse 9 where he says that those who belong to God can’t keep on sinning. Here he recognizes that the sins of those who have been saved by the grace of God simply do not make a practice of sinning. Do you make a practice of sinning? Do you continue to do things that you know are not pleasing to God yet you do them anyway? 

Practice: Let’s choose to be eager to worship today! Even if the preparation and the getting to church doesn’t go perfectly, that doesn’t mean that it has to impact our ability to give God the praise that He is due. Let’s get out there and worship!