Day 255

Jul 13: Daniel 1-3

Reading the first few chapters of Daniel reminds me of the identity we should have in Christ. If we truly believe ourselves to be liberated servants of Christ, we will always be exalting his name and proclaiming his glory. We will not miss a chance to witness about His goodness or evangelize about his nature.

In chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar is growing impatient trying to interpret his dream and no one can help him out. Daniel prays about this and the dream is revealed to him. When the king asks Daniel if he can interpret it, Daniel states: "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries."

Before Daniel even interprets the dream, he sets it up, he plants the seed to make sure the king knows that this power is from God in heaven. Once the interpretation is explained, King Nebuchadnezzar replies, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries."

Are we setting up our God like this? Do we plant seeds wherever we can? Do we truly have the mentality that we are servants of Christ? If we really analyze our day to day lives, there are probably many opportunities for us to at least plant seeds into the hearts of our friends, our co-workers, and random strangers. As servants of Christ, this is our job. This is a challenging chapter but a necessary one. I pray that God would give me boldness everyday, that He would help me look at these opportunities as a means of worship and praise, as a way to bear fruits for his kingdom.

Day 254

Jul 12: Ezekiel 36-38

Chapter 37 is the chapter that has the story of the Valley of Dry Bones. I love this story because it shows the hope that God gives us, that even when we are super dry in our spiritual lives, we can be revived through God's Word and Spirit.

What is needed for this revival to happen though, is honest assessment about our current state, and the realities of that present life. If we are struggling with lots of things and are in a dry spell in our lives, but don't realize it, there will be no healing and renewal that can occur. We need to come before God, knowing that we are totally depraved and expose ourselves to our sins as ugly as they might be. When we realize this and we are true to ourselves and more importantly true to God, he will bring the healing and revival that we need so much.

Vs 4 says, "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!" and vs 14 says "I will put my Spirit in you and you will live"

It's important to see that God's word and Spirit are so necessary in this revival. God is the one that is bringing us this transformation, not ourselves. We need to cling and love his Word passionately and allow the Spirit to enter and move in our lives.

I pray that we would we learn to be honest with God. What can we really hide from him? Does he not know us more intimately than even we do? Although we want to feel like we are in control of our lives, we need to realize that being dishonest about our current state only makes us suffer more in the end. Bringing our total depravity before God shows great humility; we trust that He will be the one that renews us as our power comes directly from the eternal strength that He has.