What is the condition of your heart?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

The LORD detests men of perverse heart
but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.
(Proverbs 11:20 (NIV))

Have we become a people of perverse hearts? Do we accept what the world calls okay even though God’s Word tells us that it is not okay? Do we have a desire to intentionally disobey God’s Word? How can we truly call ourselves part of the Body of Christ when we do not do what He tells us to do? Basically, how can we ignore the fact that we are not obeying His command to go and sin no more as He told the woman caught in adultery?

When we have perverse hearts, we think that we can do whatever we want. We think that God will overlook what we do. Sadly, many in today’s church and in the non-believing world think this is how God works. Proverbs 11:20 tells us differently.

But wait!

Didn’t Jesus come to forgive our sins?

Jesus did come to offer us grace and mercy. The key word is offer. We have to accept that offer and accept the terms that go with that offer. We are to repent. Just like what Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, we are to go and sin no more. He did not tell us that to get salvation we turn to Him and beg for forgiveness and then keep on deliberately sinning. Too many people falsely believe that believing in Jesus will earn them salvation no matter what they do from that point on. Jesus told us that He would tell these type of people to get away from Him because He never knew them.

With so many passages telling us that we are to turn away from our sin, how can anyone honestly believe that Jesus condones a perverse heart? How can we believe that people who simply give lip service to Jesus will actually see the salvation and grace that they think they will get?

Jesus did not come into this world, live as one of us, teach us, and die on the cross so that we can continue in our sin. We have to have a change of heart. We have to accept all conditions of the offer of grace.

What is the condition of your heart?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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How is your heart of wisdom?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

The length of our days is seventy years–
or eighty, if we have the strength;
yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Who knows the power of your anger?
For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
(Psalms 90:10-12 (NIV))

How many people do you know, or maybe you, yourself, who feel that they are immortal. Many people feel that they have all the time in the world. We are as grass in the eyes of God. We are fleeting in the grand scheme of things. Yet, God still wishes for us the things that He has promised. This life is but a short time when compared to eternity. How can we compare this brief existence with the eternal life that God has promised through His grace and mercy? We must realize that this brief time that we have is not the important part of our existence. It is only a small grain of sand on the beach of time. It is how we spend our “sand” that determines where we will spend our “beach!”

Our days our limited. We must act as they really are, and not let the rush of everyday life blind us from the fact that in one hundred years from now, will it really matter if we had a big house, a fancy car, or a big bank account? What will matter is the account that we have invested in in God’s eternal “bank.”

How is that account doing? How is your heart of wisdom?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Pray from the heart for God knows what you need!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
(Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV))

Do you babble?

Do you ramble on and on when you pray?

We are all guilty of opening our mouths way too much when we talk, why would it be any different when we pray? It is human nature to want to be heard and we feel that the more we say the better our chances are of getting our point across. Do you have a memory of a time that you wouldn’t stop trying to get your point across? How did that turn out for you? Did you sway your audience to your side? Did you convince anyone besides yourself that you were right?

Excessive words do not mean sincerity. Excessive words often mean a prideful spirit.

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
(Proverbs 11:2 (NIV))

Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.
(Proverbs 22:4 (NIV))

I have heard someone define humility as not thinking less of yourself, but rather, it is thinking of yourself less. I like this definition. How do we put this into practice? Can we start with closing our mouths and stop trying to convince everyone, including God, that we know best? Can we let our hearts and our actions speak for us? Is it humanly possible to keep things short and sweat?

When we humble ourselves before God, we turn our hearts to Him. We seek after His heart and not our own. When we truly seek His heart, we don’t need to spend our time babbling. We don’t need to spend our time trying to convince Him of what we want, for He knows what we need. I honestly believe that when we babble, we are actually trying to convince ourselves.

Pray from the heart for God knows what you need!

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Is God warning you about sin?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.
(Genesis 4:6-7 (NIV))

Could God use these words if He had a conversation with you?

If only Cain had heeded these words and taken a different direction.

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
(Genesis 4:8 (NIV))

I take this as proof that God truly does know what is in our hearts. He knew what Cain had within him. He even warned Cain to change his course and to not let his anger turn to sin. I also take this passage to reaffirm the fact that God loves everyone and desires for no one to perish. He reached out to Cain before he killed his brother in an effort to turn him away from sin. It was up to Cain to respond. It was his choice. He chose to ignore God and we all know what happened as the consequences of this action.

If God speaks to you in this manner, take heed of what He has to say, for it is being said out of love. Perhaps we should remember another passage before we think that God is not speaking to us.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
(Romans 3:23 (NIV))

God is calling out to us in much the same way that He called out to Cain, for we, too, are sinners prone to anger. Sin is crouching at our door. Have you mastered it?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you desire the things of God or the things of man?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
(Luke 11:39-43 (NIV))

What do you love?

Do you long for the adulation of man? Do you do all within your power to make sure that the things you do are seen by man?

Think about these last two questions.

What does man see?

What does God see?

All too often, when we try to look good in the eyes of man, we only present a false facade. It is this facade that we use to hide the filth that is inside of us. What happens when this false facade springs a leak? What happens when what is truly on the inside becomes visible to those on the outside? It is this that causes fear in people. They are afraid that others will find out how they truly are.

God sees us from the inside. He knows our hearts. He knows our thoughts. If we clean up the inside, we don’t have to be afraid of what will show when we allow it to be seen. Also, when the inside is clean, the outside is easier to clean. We spend less time worrying about what others will find out about us and we spend more time focused on God.

Do you desire the things of God or the things of man?

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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