Are you headed for destruction and a fall?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
(Proverbs 16:18 (NIV))

Have you been able to overcome these attitudes?

Human nature is such a strange thing. It is so easy to slip into a state of pride and arrogance. We do it so often that many of us probably don’t ever realize that we are doing it! If you find this difficult to believe, simply look at the last time you experienced something like one of the following at work and how you reacted.

You finish up a large project of which 90% of the project was your contribution, and then someone else gets the credit.

You now the business and the job so well that everyone comes to you for answer, yet, someone else gets the promotion or the raise.

Did you find yourself responding with an attitude like, “How dare they do that. This company wouldn’t even be able to do what we do if it weren’t for me!”

I could go on and on with examples and responses, but the overall idea is that all of us can easily slip into attitudes that are far less than what we know we should do. We slip into pride and arrogance!

We need to keep our eyes on Jesus and recognize our sinful nature when it raises its ugly head. We need to turn away from our sinful nature and turn toward Jesus so that we don’t find ourselves headed for destruction and a fall.

Are you headed for destruction and a fall?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What is your heart like?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.
The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;
they imagine it an unscalable wall.
Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud,
but humility comes before honor.
(Proverbs 18:10-12 (NIV))

All throughout history, man’s pride has lead countless people to destruction, even when they had a way to “escape” the destruction. The Bible is full of stories of people who have accepted the “strong tower” that God has offered, even when they were not the perfect people that they should have been.

David is a good example. He was far from perfect in all that he did, yet because he humbled himself before God, he had a place to run to under the grace of God. David was not a proud person, yet, due to his earthly position and accomplishments, he could have easily become proud and strayed from God’s own heart. David, in all of his earthly frailties, kept his eyes on God and when he did stray, he humbled himself to the point of seeking forgiveness from God. Many times, this included a public display that today would be considered demeaning. Yet, even though he was a king, he humbled himself to the point of a slave.

What is your heart like? Is it like David’s.

Copyright 1998 – 2013 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Stand firm and shine our light

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God– having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
(2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV))

Having a form of godliness but denying its power!

What do you think could be traits that do this? Could it be acknowledging that God exists but not allowing Him into you life? Perhaps it is making money so that you can stockpile it in the bank. Perhaps it is even something else. Whatever it is, we all potentially have at least one of these traits. It could only take a very subtle nudge in that direction to make us fall into the category of people that deny God’s power.

Perhaps it is our busy schedules that keep us on this very edge. We think that everything that we have is by our own hand and that if we do not keep moving, we will lose everything that “WE” have spent our efforts building. Even our very existence seem to deny God’s power in today’s world. Too few of us stop to praise God and to thank Him for our blessings. We have become a society very much like what is written. Perhaps we are too like what is written.

We allow certain aspects of our society to remove God from anything and everything, then we complain about the shape that our society is in.

“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))

No matter what the times may hold, we are to remain constant in our faith. We must share our faith with a dark world. We must be willing to shine our light as a beacon for those who may still be searching. If the last days begin soon, we must be willing to stand firm and shine our light – the light of Jesus that shines within each of us.

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

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
(Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV))

How many know-it-alls do we have in this circulation?

Have you ever attempted to tell God how He should do things? I think that we are all guilty of it from time to time. It is a common occurrence throughout the Bible. Some of the stories you may be aware of. Stories such as Abraham and Sarah who had heard God’s promise and tried to make it come true on their terms. There are many others, but the issue is not the ones who have done it, but the ones who are still doing it.

We are all infants in our faith, and as infants, we do not fully understand the work of God. Just as an infant will attempt to show his or her physical parents how they can do things, we, as spiritual infants, are also guilty of trying to show God what we can do.

As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
(Isaiah 55:9 (NIV))

We must learn, as the infant learns, that we are not the one in charge. God is in control. We do not understand, nor do we have the capacity to understand, all that God can do.

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
(Genesis 1:9-10 (NIV))

God can create with a word and it is good. All that we can do is utter words of destruction if we do not watch our tongue.

What do you profess to tell God?

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