December 3

Daniel 11:2-35

1 John 3:7-24

Psalm 122:1-9

Proverbs 29:1

These came to mind as I was reading today:

(1) God knows everything, which is more than I know. 

We all know this is true, but it became abundantly clear to me through the passage in Daniel. Over the past few days, we have been reading about Daniel's visions. God was giving him a glimpse of the future and of His plan. Now I must be honest and say that I don't know the meaning of a lot of these visions. But what I do know is that God does. God revealed just a microscopic portion of knowledge to Daniel. If this is beyond my own ability to understand, then how much greater still is the sum of God's knowledge? I'll tell you: it's infinite.

(2) God loves us. 

The reading from 1 John tells us that love is God's way. The only way to please God, the only way to follow His law, the only way to do His will is to love Him and to love others. God loved us first and paid the price for our sin  by sending His Son to die in our place. The only correct response to this love is to show it to others. If we love God and love others, then following His way will come naturally.

(3) God wants to show us the right way.

Proverbs 29:1 says "Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery."

God has many ways of showing us what we should do and He has many ways of showing us when we are doing something wrong. He can speak to you through a friend, through His Word, or He may even speak to you directly. The important thing is to be receptive to His correction. If we are stubborn and proud and defensive (all things I am really good at), then how can we know His direction and plan? All we do is set ourselves up to fall when we refuse to listen.