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December 4

Scripture for today: Daniel 11:36-12:13; 1 John 4:1-21; Psalm 123:1-4; Proverbs 29:2-4

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“All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.” (1 John 4:15 NLT).

From: December 4, 2018

THREE PROOFS OF SALVATION GIVEN BY JOHN
The apostle John gave several “proofs” of new birth for the believer’s assurance. The first proof he gave is that we love each other. For love comes from God. If we don’t love, we don’t know God. The second proof is that God has given us His Holy Spirit “as proof that we live in him and he in us” (1 Jn. 4:13). And the third proof, is that “we declare that Jesus is the Son of God.”
 
John’s purpose for writing his first epistle was clearly given: “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life” (1 Jn. 5:13). He wanted us to “know,” to be sure that we are saved.
 
Do you have this assurance of salvation today?

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10 NKJV).

From: December 4, 2017

If we have any claim to love, it originates with God, who first loved us. This love is most fully demonstrated in the sending of His Son as the “propitiation for our sins,” dying on the cross for us. For in the cross we see the intersection of God’s love demonstrated and God’s justice satisfied. Our sin called for death, but God’s love answered the call, sending Jesus to die in our place. That God sent Jesus shows His love. That He offered Jesus as the “propitiation for our sins” shows His righteousness. As the apostle Paul wrote of Christ, “whom God set forth as a propitiation… to demonstrate His righteousness” (Rom. 3:25).
 
Propitiation is about covering and satisfaction. Christ’s sacrifice both covers our sin and satisfies the proper demands of a righteous God for judgment on sin. God’s righteousness required that He judge sin. God’s love moved Him to send His Son to pay the price for our sin.

“But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.” (Daniel 12:13 ESV)

From: December 4, 2016

God gave Daniel great insight into the future, yet his understanding was only partial. No matter how much he studied these future prophecies, much was left cloudy for him. So, the Lord gave Daniel three insights on how to respond to His end times prophecies:
1) “Go your way.” In other words, get busy doing what I’ve called you to do in the present. 
2) “You shall rest.” Physical death would come for Daniel long before the end. Death for the believer is not the end, but merely rest from physical labor. Daniel would not see all that God had revealed. He would rest (“sabbath”).
3) “You shall stand at the end.” God told Daniel that he would rise again at the end of days. This speaks of the bodily resurrection of the saints.
This instruction is good for today’s reader of prophecy too. We may not know all that the future holds, but we can know the One who holds the future.

“And he said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end'” (Daniel 12:9 NKJV)

From: December 4, 2015

God revealed many details about Israel’s future to Daniel. Some of what was revealed pointed to Christ’s first coming and has already been fulfilled. But there is much that remains in Daniel’s prophecy that still awaits the “time of the end.” Daniel, like many of the other prophets, wrote of things that he himself didn’t fully understand. We can study these “end times” prophecies, but must admit, as Daniel did (Dan. 12:8), our lack of comprehension. Yet, as the “time of the end” draws closer, the opaqueness of these prophecies will grow steadily more clear to those who have the wisdom to understand (Dan. 12:10). In the meantime, Daniel was to “go his own way.” In other words, he wouldn’t see the fulfillment of this prophecy in his lifetime, so he should get back to living for today.

“And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us” (1 John 4:13 NLT)

From: December 4, 2014

What the apostle John here calls “proof,” the apostle Paul calls a “guarantee (deposit, earnest, pledge)” (Eph. 1:14). Paul spoke of how the Holy Spirit seals our salvation, giving us inward assurance of salvation. But John is more concerned with what this mutual abiding looks like outwardly. He says that the one who lives in the Spirit and has the Spirit living in him, will testify that Jesus is the Son of God with his lips and have the love of God for others in his actions. The outworking of the Spirit living in us is evidenced by our testimony about Jesus and our love of others.

“Go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days” (Daniel 12:13)

From: December 4, 2013

After Daniel received a vision of the end of days, he was greatly troubled and asked for more detail. But the angel replied that the words were sealed until the end. The comfort that Daniel was given wasn’t the details of the outcome, but the promise that he would “rest” and then “stand” at the end. In the meantime, Daniel was to keep going the way he was going. In other words, “Don’t worry Dan, God has the end of things all worked out. Just keep being faithful during your days. He’ll make sure you stand with Him at the end of days.”