Do you long to conform to Jesus?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
(Romans 12:2 (NIV))

I don’t know about you, but I want to have nothing to do with the world as it is!

There is absolutely nothing in what is happening that is patterned after what God desires. It may be in His plans, but He does not desire to see any perish. He knows that evil will make one last stand against His plans. Even so, the Lord desires righteousness. He does not desire good being called evil and evil being called good. He does not desire sin to be tolerated, yet it is openly embraced. He does not desire to see the persecution of His church. He does not desire to see people who profess a faith in Jesus distort His teachings. He does not desire to hear His name profaned, yet that is where we are in history. It is true that things have been happening all throughout history, but there is an acceleration, there is a convergence of events like never before.

Do you feel it?

Do you understand that something is not status quo?

The whole world is seeing things like never before. Do you recognize these events?

Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
(Luke 21:11-12 (NIV))

If this is what conforming to the world looks like, I don’t want any part of it!

I only want Jesus!

I want to conform to Jesus. I want to mature in my faith to be like Jesus even if it means persecution.

“But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.
(Luke 21:12 (NIV))

Now is the time to immerse yourself in His Word. Renew your mind so that it desires His righteousness and detests the evils of this world. Renew your mind so that you can recognize God’s will and run from the lies of the enemy.

Do you long to conform to Jesus?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Support Daily Living Ministries
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

Can you hide your heart from the Lord?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.
(Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV))

It is human nature to try to hide what is really in your heart. People put up facades that they use to hide what they truly are. We may have each other fooled, but there is no way that we can fool God!

What is in your heart will surface when you are all alone, or when you think that those who know you will not see your actions. God sees everything! He also knows what is in your heart. He knows your thoughts before you can finish thinking them. We cannot fool God into thinking we are what our facade presents. He knows us better than we know ourselves!

Carefully consider this concept. Imagine having someone with you 24/7. What would your actions be like? What would you focus on if you knew that someone could read your mind? Now, accept that reality in the presence of God. He knows our every thought. He knows our innermost desires.

Can you honestly say that your heart does not entice you into unrighteousness when you are not around others? Would you think, say or do these things if someone were with you? Remember when you asked Jesus into your heart. You invited Him in to take up a full-time residence and to guide you. He sent the Holy Spirit to be your counselor.

Can you hide your heart from the Lord?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Support Daily Living Ministries
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

If you don’t turn to Jesus, there is no other option!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
(Hebrews 10:26-27 (NIV))

I recently heard this passage explained in a way that I had never thought of, and it makes perfect sense!

When we read this passage, we come to the conclusion that if we continue to sin after accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we will have no recourse, no way to redeem ourselves. Is that truly what this passage means? If we choose to follow Jesus, we will still sin because we are only human. We will still make mistakes. We will still sin. The key to this is that we have professed a faith in Jesus and we are striving to walk in His ways. We have not only received the knowledge of the truth, but we have accepted it as well. We can repent and return to what is right.

Perhaps the easiest way to explain this is to clarify that there is a difference between receiving the knowledge of the truth and accepting the knowledge of the truth. To use an example, if someone gives you a Bible, you have received the knowledge of the truth, but until you open it and understand that we are all sinners in need of a Savior, you have not personally accepted the life giving message that it contains. If you go so far as to make a proclamation that the message of the cross is foolishness and that it could never be how God plans on offering grace, then you have rejected the knowledge of the truth. God has established one way to receive salvation and if you reject that one way that He created, there is absolutely nothing else that you can do. We can’t tell God that our way is better!

The old covenant required continual sacrifices. We could never be made eternally clean by these sacrifices. The new covenant requires us to accept the perfect sacrifice of Jesus as our single and eternal way to redemption.

If we reject God’s plan of redemption that replaced the continual sacrifices with a single, perfect Lamb, then nothing can ever be used to replace Jesus. Nothing more can ever be used redeem us. Jesus is the only way to the Father!

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(John 14:6 (NIV))

If you don’t turn to Jesus, there is no other option!

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Support Daily Living Ministries
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

Have you truly turned to Jesus?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
(Matthew 11:28 (NIV))

I don’t know a single person who professes a faith in Jesus that does not know and love this passage. In fact, we rely on the truth of these words when the world gets us down. We love the fact that we can turn to Jesus and He will not forsake us, but most people stop there. They don’t connect the proverbial dots with what is written in the next two sentences.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:29-30 (NIV))

The rest that we seek is not a transitory rest. It is not a pit stop where we get recharged and then go do our own thing. We are to take His yoke and learn from it. I started to say that we are to take His yoke as a way of life, but in all honesty, we are to take His yoke as the way of life!

I have read in the past that a rabbi’s teachings were called a yoke. The Pharisees and the Sadducees created a heavy burden, a heavy yoke, for their followers to carry. They were burdened with legalism and teachings that were of man’s traditions instead of God’s Word. Jesus never placed this type of burden, this type of yoke, on those who follow Him. He simply calls us to repent and acknowledge Him as your personal Lord and Savior. Instead of a vast number of man’s traditions, He calls us to love the Lord your God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. If we are able to do this, everything else falls into place.

In essence, when you look at Matthew 11:28-30 in context, we are invited to come to Jesus and abandon man’s religious traditions, accept the grace and mercy that is freely given at the cross, and follow His teachings that call us to love God and each other. We don’t have to worry about sacrifices, for He has paid the price as the perfect Lamb of God!

I realize that Isaiah lived hundreds of years before Matthew recorded these words, but I see a direct relationship, a direct result of taking the yoke of Jesus as our own.

But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
(Isaiah 40:31 (NIV))

We will find rest. We will have the joy of carrying the burden that Jesus spoke of. We will rejoice in the Lord. We will renew our strength, for our strength will be found in Him. We will learn to soar above the sins of this world because He has overcome this world, and we will walk through this world knowing that our strength comes from Jesus!

Have you truly turned to Jesus?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Support Daily Living Ministries
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

There is nothing better!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
(Psalms 34:8a (NIV))

What is your favorite food?

What is it about that food that you like so much?

Is it the sweetness, the texture, the combination of ingredients, or is it all of these and more?

It is said that eating and drinking are the most intimate of our senses. Most of our other senses are external to us, but taste requires us to take something into our mouth and eventually into our body. We can touch something and immediately determine if it is hot or cold, smooth or rough, and many other possible options. We can look at something and know if it is still or moving, big or small or a number of other possible options. Many times, our external senses deceive us when we look at food. It may look strange, but once we take it into our body, we can and often have a different conclusion.

I am sure that you have heard the saying, “Garbage in. Garbage out.” This applies to so many areas of our lives. Habits, relationships, work ethic and many more all suffer when we put something into them that is garbage. The same can be said for our spiritual life. If we associate with sin, then we will increase in our sins. If we associate with righteousness, our sins will hopefully decrease. If we turn to the Lord and taste of His goodness, we can put the garbage behind us and partake only of the sweetness of the salvation freely given to us at the cross. What the Lord offers is far better than anything the world has to offer. What the Lord offers is an intimacy that changes us from the inside out. In order for this to happen, we must taste of His goodness and accept His goodness through the atoning blood of Jesus.

Salvation is a personal matter. It is a very intimate matter. You have to trust the Lord enough to invite Him into your heart. You have to be willing to take that first taste of His goodness and mercy.

Have you taken that first taste?

There is nothing better!

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Support Daily Living Ministries
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

Have you taken the time to know God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

“Be still, and know that I am God;
(Psalms 46:10a (NIV))

Are you able to be still?

Does the sound of silence become so overwhelming that you get up to do something? Perhaps you turn on the television to distract your mind. What does this say about your ability to sit in silence? Are you afraid of what you will hear? Perhaps you are afraid of who you will hear it from? Something deep inside of us knows that God comes to us in the quiet moments.

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
(1 Kings 19:11-12 (NIV))

Elijah did not ignore the gentle whisper. He had waited through all of the things that the world recognizes as symbols of power and authority, but he knew that is not how God speaks to us. Elijah answered the gentle whisper.

Are you afraid of the gentle whisper that you may hear when all of the world has been turned off and tuned out? Are you afraid to be still and listen for that gentle whisper? Do you try to drown out the gentle whisper with the distractions of the world?

A gentle whisper is the voice of intimacy. It is the voice that is used when someone tells you something that is only meant for you. God has something that He wants to tell you and it is only meant for you. He has other intimate whispers for each of us. He is not going to shout to the world what He wants to tell you and only you. He is going to whisper. You must be willing to be still in His presence so that you can hear and understand the gentle whisper. Are you willing to overcome the fear of the gentle whisper from God?

Turn off the television. Tune out the world. Open up your Bible and dive deeply into the pages of His Word. When you make this a daily habit, you will be able to be still in His presence. You will know Him as your God and Father. You will know Him as your redeemer!

Have you taken the time to know God?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Support Daily Living Ministries
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

How sharp do you want to be?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

As iron sharpens iron,
     so one person sharpens another.
(Proverbs 27:17 (NIV))

There is an old saying that you are what you eat. I can hear your thoughts now as you ask what does this have to do with this passage. To put it concisely, who you associate with is who is being used as the sharpening tool for your life.

Who are the people that you surround yourself with?

Are they sharpening and maturing your faith or are they making you dull and immature? Are you sharpening others?

I realize that not everyone in our lives will profess a faith in Jesus. There will be family who are not believers. There will be people whom you work with who will not be believers. There will definitely be people you encounter in the public spaces of this world who are not believers. The key to these interactions is that we must realize that sometimes we are being sharpened and at other times we are being used by God to sharpen others. We must pray for discernment so that we can identify which is which. Perhaps the easiest way to address this issue is to pray that we can be consistent in our thoughts, words and actions no matter who we are around. We must pray for the strength to keep our eyes on Jesus no matter where we are and who we are with!

Can you make that claim?

We may never know how our words and actions will impact others. We may be the only one in someone’s life who attempts to show them Jesus by the simple things that we say and do. We may add a little sharpness into a dull life and that glimpse of sharpness may be just the thing that makes someone want more. We should also strive to sharpen each other so that our faith, our knowledge and our understanding is continually being honed.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
(Romans 10:17 (NKJV))

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
(Hebrews 4:12 (NIV))

To clarify, it is our use of God’s Word that sharpens us. It is our desire to learn and mature and discuss our thoughts with those who also desire to learn and mature in and through God’s word.

How sharp do you want to be?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Support Daily Living Ministries
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

We need each other!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
(Hebrews 3:13 (NIV))

There is an old saying that no man is an island. We do not, nor are we supposed to live in a total vacuum devoid of all contact with anyone else. We need each other. We find strength from the encouragement of others and we are to give encouragement to others so that they can find strength through us. In this process, we must not falsely believe that it is we who have the strength to give. We must realize that the source of our strength in in the Lord.

Be still, and know that I am God;
(Psalm 46:10a (NIV))

We must spend time daily in His presence, but we are not supposed to stay there isolated from other believers. We are to spend time in His presence and then spend time with other members of the Body of Christ so that we can encourage each other, so that we can lift up each other as we face the sinful, fallen world that we find ourselves traveling through. We are to reinforce, we are to encourage each other as we seek to follow in His footsteps.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
(Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV))

To put it simply, we cannot encourage others if we don’t spend time with them. We are designed for fellowship with other believers. We know what we are to do, but do we truly understand when we are to do this?

What is your definition of “Today?”

It is difficult to define this word without using the word in our efforts, but basically it means that we are to encourage each other at the present time and on this day. We are not to wait! We are not to deny the need! We are not to take the attitude that we will deal with it tomorrow, for tomorrow will never truly come. Tomorrow will turn into today and a new tomorrow will be waiting for us. We can’t do anything tomorrow, but we can do so much “Today!” When we are alone, we wallow in self pity. We don’t have other brothers and sisters to remind us of the glorious promises that are all yes through Jesus. When we are alone, we begin to believe the lies of the enemy. I know that Jesus had the disciples so that they could share the Gospel, but have you ever thought about it from a different perspective? When Jesus walked the earth, He was not alone!

As members of the Body of Christ, there is one thing that we must remember. We need each other!

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Support Daily Living Ministries
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

What do you believe?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
(1 John 4:1-3 (NIV))

In today’s world, deceit is everywhere. The prince of this world tries to deceive the faithful by wrapping his deception in a cloak that imitates the Truth.

Be careful in what you allow into your heart. Test everything. Satan can also appear as an angel of Light. If something does not acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, run from it.

All of God’s Truth throughout the history of the Bible has pointed to one man through many prophecies. If something professes to be from God, yet does not acknowledge that Jesus is the only begotten Son, it is not from God.

Jesus foretold of this and left us a warning.

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect–if that were possible. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
(Mark 13:22-23 (NIV))

Do not be deceived, but keep your eyes focused on God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

What do you believe?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Support Daily Living Ministries
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

When the Lord returns, will He find you faithful?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
(Zechariah 14:9 (NIV))

Do you look forward to this day?

Did you answer with an emphatic and enthusiastic “Yes” or did you find yourself thinking that there are things that you want to do and see in this world before this happens? What did your answer tell you about your priorities?

I realize that I just asked a string of questions, but these questions are designed to get you to take an honest look at your life, your faith, and your relationship to the Lord. If you find yourself hoping that the day spoken of in Zechariah doesn’t happen anytime soon, what does that say about your priorities? Do you love the world more than you love the Lord? Are you holding out hope that things will get better in this sinful, fallen world, or do you truly desire to see the Lord?

It is time to commit! It is time to stand firm in your faith. It is time to focus on the Lord. Don’t be lukewarm!

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
(Revelation 3:15-17 (NIV))

Stop looking to the world!

Start looking only to Jesus!

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
(Revelation 3:21-22 (NIV))

When the Lord returns, will He find you faithful?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Support Daily Living Ministries
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook