Do your words and deeds bring glory to the Lord?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
(Colossians 3:17 (NIV))

If you dedicate something to someone, what type of effort do you put into the task?

If you are like most people, then you want the dedicated task to be the best that you can offer. Think about that and then answer this question. Have you ever seen someone dedicate a book that they have written to their children and then the book is so bad that it isn’t even legible? Chances are extremely high that much effort is put into anything that is dedicated to someone. You don’t want to offend the person with less than your best effort.

Have you dedicated your life to Jesus?

Did that last question make you stop mid thought? I honestly hope that it did, for when we profess a faith in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we are dedicating our life to Jesus. We are saying that we repent of our sins and will follow Jesus every day of our life. Are you thankful for the grace that you have been freely given? Are you thankful that the debt of your sin is no longer expected to be paid by you? Are you so thankful that you will leave behind your life of sin and follow Jesus? When we accept this grace, we are saying that whatever we do from that day forward is to the greater glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Many cultures have a tradition that when someone saves your life, you are indebted to them and must serve them out of gratitude. If they do this for someone who has saved their physical life, how much more should we do for Jesus, who has saved our eternal, spiritual life? We should be so thankful that we glorify the Lord in all that we do.

Do your words and deeds bring glory to the Lord?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you do all things so that God may be praised?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
(1 Peter 4:11 (NIV))

Have you ever stopped to truly reflect upon your motives?

Knowing human nature, I would venture to say that each of us think that we have pure motives for our thoughts and actions, but human nature is deceitful! According to this passage, everything that we do should glorify the Lord. Are you able to say that all of your thoughts and actions glorify God? There is one sure way to see if this is true. Simply have someone cut you off in traffic and see how you react! Do your words praise God? Do your actions bring glory to the Lord? There is a very good chance that even those of us who are able to spend most of our days praising the Lord will think or say or do things that are less than glorifying.

Is this your intent, or do you feel remorse when these situations bring out the sinful human nature that resides in all of us? Even if you repent of these thoughts, words and actions, what do your actions convey to the world? We know that if we repent, we will be forgiven by the Lord, but the world sees us and immediately calls us hypocrites because our actions don’t always match what we profess. Perhaps this is why we are told to think, speak and act as if we are glorifying the Lord. How we present the Lord through our personal conduct is sometimes all that the world will see. We are called to reflect His light, but if we aren’t careful, we reflect the wrong thing.

Please don’t misunderstand me on this. We are called to mature in Christ and become more and more like Jesus. This is what the Lord wants of us, but we must also recognize that we do not live in this world by ourselves. Everything that we do, especially if we profess a faith in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, is under constant scrutiny by the world. We don’t want to give the world anything that they can claim as falsehoods and hypocrisy when it comes to our Lord. I believe that I can safely say that too many people look to those who profess a faith in Jesus expecting them to be perfect. They have a wrong understanding of those who follow Jesus.

We aren’t perfect, but we have a Lord and Savior who is!

We should always strive to reflect Jesus in all that we do, even when we are less than perfect ourselves. We should have the desire to do all things so that God may be praised!

Do you do all things so that God may be praised?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you fully charged?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,
(Luke 9:1 (NIV))

It is human nature to seek power. It seems that everyone wants to be in charge. If you don’t believe this simple truth, just look at a family with more than one child. There will always be bickering between the children as to which child has the final say. If you had brothers or sisters, you know how true this can be. If you have more than one child, if you haven’t experienced this yet, you will!

Even the disciples who walked with Jesus tried to play the power game with each other. If you simply look at the details of the Passover meal in the upper room, you see that there was a power play to see who would sit at the highest place. Sadly, they got it all wrong. Fortunately, they soon realized that the power they truly were seeking was equally theirs through the power and authority that was given to them by the Holy Spirit. They grew up Jewish and could recite the Torah. They knew God’s Word. They recognized the power of God’s Word. They walked with Jesus. They had seen firsthand the miracles that the power of God was able to do. All that they needed was the power of the Holy Spirit to fill them and enable them.

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
(John 14:12 (NIV))

Jesus knew from the very first time that He called each of the disciples that He would need to equip them for the time when He returned to the Father. He opened up their eyes and their hearts to the Father. He gave them true insight into the Word. He taught them how to utilize the power of God. He prepared them for the Holy Spirit. Once the power of the Holy Spirit descended upon them, they were fully equipped, they were fully charged in the power of God. They changed the world!

We may not be able to physically walk with Jesus, but we still have God’s Word. We still have the redeeming power of the blood of Jesus and we have access to the power of the Holy Spirit if we will only embrace it. It takes all three to truly embrace the Lord, for God is three in One – God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you think about it, you could even look at them as God the Creator, Jesus the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as the empowerer. You are alive because of God the Father. You are redeemed because of Jesus. Have you fully embraced the power that is yours through the Holy Spirit? Are you ready to change your part of the world?

Are you fully charged?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Lord, enlarge my territory so that you may be glorified!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.
(1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NIV))

Oh, that you would bless me!

This is something that we all think, and probably most of us actually pray it as well. Many sermons have been taught on the principle that God wants to bless us. The good thing is that He does want to bless us!

He wants to bless us so that we can be a blessing to others. He does not want to bless those who will hoard his blessings and keep them for themselves. He wishes to bless those who will, in turn, bless others through what He has blessed them with. A pastor once put it in a way that tells it well. He said that he did not want to be a jar for God to pour His blessings into. He wanted to be a teapot or a pitcher that was designed to pour out for others. He wished to received the blessings so that he could pour out the blessings to others.

Perhaps this is why God granted the prayers of Jabez, for he did not simply ask to be blessed. He asked to have his territory enlarged. Jabez honored God by asking for God to be with him. If God is with you, He will use you to spread the news of what He has done. If you are used by God to spread His Gospel, then you will be blessed. Your circle of influence will increase so that God can be glorified.

Look at the men and women of today who glorify God in all that they do. God has increased their circle of influence so that more people can be blessed through them.

Be careful in your heart when asking God to bless you. Do not let human nature take control and simply ask to be a blessing to others so that you will be blessed, after all, God knows what is in your heart.

It is my prayer for all who fervently seek the Lord to have their territory enlarged so that they may be His witness in all that they do. I also seek to enlarge my territory. Perhaps I should rephrase that. I desire to enlarge the territory that God has granted me so that I can tell more people about the Lord.

Lord, enlarge my territory so that you may be glorified!

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Our world has enough darkness. Shine the light of Jesus!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“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))

Jesus brought the “Light” into this world. We, as believers, have accepted His Light and have been blessed to shine so that others may see His Light. Do not be ashamed to shine His Light for others to see.

That is the most important task that we are to do. If we fail at this task, then we fail Jesus. We have not done the thing that Jesus came into this world to do.

He did not hide His Light, nor did He only let it shine when it was safe for Him to do so. He let it shine so that all could see. He also did not select when it would shine. The Light of God shone through Jesus at all times.

It is easy to let the Light shine through us when we are around other believers. How are you at shining when those around you are not believers? Do you still shine as bright, or do you have a spiritual dimmer switch?

Our society has enough darkness. Don’t add to it!

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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