Are you fulfilling your duties?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.
(Ezekiel 33:9 (NIV))

Do you consider yourself a watchman? Do you think that you are accountable for others?

If you are like most people, then your answer is probably a resounding no!

I want to ask you a few questions based on the following passages that hopefully will get you to change your mind.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16 (NIV))

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
(Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV))

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
(Mark 16:15-16 (NIV))

Now that I have established a baseline, time for the questions.

Do you believe that Jesus is God’s one and only Son? Have you accepted Him as your personal Lord and Savior?

Are you preaching the Gospel? Do you keep Jesus all to yourself or do you tell others about the grace and mercy that can be theirs if they believe? What happens to those whom you have not been willing to tell about Jesus? Are you thinking that someone else will step up and tell them? What happens if you are the last person whom they ever see? Are you willing to allow them to not be told about God’s love for them? Are you willing to accept the personal consequences of your inaction, not to mention the anguish of knowing that they are spending an eternity in hell because you didn’t want to be bothered?

If you profess a faith in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, then you are called to be a watchman. You are called to let people know of the dangers, the wages of sin. You are called to let people know that they can escape the wages of sin. You are called to tell them of the good news of Jesus Christ!

You are called to be a watchman. Are you fulfilling your duties?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Live as if He means something to us

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
(Psalms 95:6-7a (NIV))

Does this sound familiar?

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
(Matthew 2:11 (NIV))

The Magi, who were kings in their own right, bowed down to Jesus. They kneeled before Him. They recognized just who it was that they had found. They worshipped Jesus and gave Him honor. They had been seeking Him and recognized the star that guided them to Jesus. They went out of their way to find Jesus and to worship Him.

Do we do that?

Do we go out of our way to find Jesus? Do we go out of our way to worship Him?

Think about those questions.

Would we travel across deserts to find Jesus? Would we face harsh conditions in order to see His face and to be in His presence? Would we bring gifts of great worth to lay at His feet?

Would we, do we, kneel before Him? Do we even give Jesus the honor and glory that is due to the Son of God?

Have we become complacent in our worship? Have we become jaded by the world? Have we been led to believe that Jesus is not worthy of our praise and worship?

It has been the custom for centuries to bow before royalty. We have a tendency to focus on the savior part of Jesus and ignore the Lord part. Do we treat Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords, or do we simply treat Him as an acquaintance that we give lip service to for an hour a week?

If Jesus is our Savior and our Lord, then we must live as if He means something to us.

Copyright 1998 – 2012 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What good will we be if our light is going out?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
(Acts 17:30 (NIV))

There are many types of things that we can be ignorant of. We can be ignorant of the Law. We can be ignorant of our sin. We can be ignorant of our need for a savior, and we can be ignorant of God’s calling upon our lives.

We can also be ignorant of our need to repent!

This applies individually and as a society.

As I look around, I see evil being called good and good being called evil. Our world is turned upside down. I recently saw that only 49% of our country profess to a belief in Jesus. Sadly enough, in the age range of young adults, that is only about 25%. We, as a society, are rapidly turning and are greatly in need of repentance. How can we, as a society, repent, when the people who feel the need to repent are now in the minority?

There is an old Jewish saying that if the whole world repents, then the Messiah will come. One man sat out to bring the world to repentance. However, he found that the world was too big, so he decided to focus on his country. This, too, was too big, so he decided to focus on his town. He soon found that this, too, was too big. He decided to start with his street. Then his house. He finally decided that he needed to start with himself.

Start with yourself!

We all have things that we tend to push under the rug, so to speak. These things are the sins that we have become familiar with and tend to ignore. In God’s eyes, these sins are no different from the ones that we have a tendency to point our fingers at.

We have become ignorant of our own sins. Have we been focusing so much on the sins that we see in the world that we ignore our own? We need to stop and take a look at our own lives in context. We need to pray that we are following God’s will. We need to pray that we can be that light that the world will see and not a spent candle slowly devouring itself.

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
(Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV))

What good will we be if our light is going out?

Copyright 1998 – 2012 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you fully embrace His grace?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.
(Psalms 86:5 (NIV))

In this day and time when certain aspects of our society and our nation have made it “unconstitutional” to call upon the name of God, it is imperative that the Body of Jesus not forget why this nation was founded.

Several hundred years ago, many people gave their lives so that they could come to a land where they were free to worship God as they say fit, and not how the government said that they had to. This nation was founded on that principle, the principle of freedom of religion and not freedom from religion. Today, we have let a very vocal minority rewrite history to the point where they now say this country was founded on diversity. Exactly what is their idea of diversity? Perhaps we have let these people become the type of people that the early settlers came here to escape. They came here to escape people who tried to control their lives by saying where, when and how they could worship God. This sounds exactly like the vocal minority that we have today. They, too, wish to control our lives by saying where, when and how we can worship God.

The spirit of this nation is one that worships God. We chose then to call upon the name of God. We must not allow people today to keep us from calling upon the name of God. We must choose the same as our ancestors.

Based on the words of Psalms 86:5, we have a loving God who will help those who call upon Him. Think about the people who deny Him or who try to make us deny him. What do they have? What can they expect to have? We must pray for them!

But, above all else, we must call out to God for His Will to be done in our lives, in the lives of those who deny Him, in the life of our nation, and in the life of the nations of the world, for He will be sending His Son, Jesus to return for those who call upon His name. Perhaps this is the greatest forgiveness and love that God has for us.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9 (NIV))

Repentance simply means turning to God, His desires, and calling upon His forgiveness. It is a single instance that saves us and a continual process that matures us.

Do you truthfully call upon God in all that you do? Do you fully embrace His grace?

Copyright 1998 – 2012 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Actions and Words

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell
(Mark 9:42-47 (NIV))

Today’s society seems to have forgotten these simple yet profound statements that Jesus made. In both cases, He was referring to innocence. The innocence of children and the judgment that awaits those who cause children to sin and the innocence of the whole person with respect to a part of them that causes them to sin.

Perhaps Jesus was drawing the distinction between the innocence of children and the innocence that we should have as children of God. In either case, sin should not be allowed in to corrupt what God has created. Sin must be removed so that it cannot cause the person to pay the ultimate price – eternal separation from God. Do not allow sin into your life and do not introduce sin into another person’s life.

We should remember that God demands more from those who teach and preach His Word. Perhaps we should also associate the fact that He demands more from those who cause others to sin. I would not want to be one who God demands more because of sin. I would rather be held accountable for preaching and teaching His Word than for causing others to sin.

Remember that people are watching everything that you do. Would your actions and words be held accountable for God or for sin?

Copyright 1998 – 2012 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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