January 28, 2020
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
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook
Like this:
Like Loading...
Leave a Comment » | 
a pure heart, after God's own heart, backwards priorities, create in me a pure heart, desires of the heart, God knows our hearts, God looks at the heart, God sees the heart, Godly priorities, guard your heart, have a change of heart, heart, it is a matter of priorities, lip service, priorities, Uncategorized, what are your priorities | Tagged: accept, adultery, Be still, beg, believe, blameless, Body of Christ, caught, change, command, condition, conditions, condones, continue, delights, desire, detests, disobey, fact, forgive, Forgiveness, go, God, God's Word, grace, heart, honestly, ignore, Jesus, lip service, Lord, mercy, obeying, offer, okay, overlook, people, perverse, repent, salvation, sin, sinning, sins, terms, think, truly, ways, woman, world | 
Permalink
Posted by dailylivingministries
October 2, 2018
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
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook
Like this:
Like Loading...
Leave a Comment » | a pure heart, after God's own heart, change of heart, God can change a heart, God knows our hearts, God looks at the heart, God sees the heart, God's wisdom, Godly wisdom, guard your heart, heart of the wise, true wisdom, Uncategorized, wisdom and grace, wisdom of God | Tagged: account, anger, Be still, brief, days, eternal, Fear, fleeting, fly, gain, God, grace, grand, grass, heart, immortal, invested, length, life, limited, mercy, number, power, promised, quickly, scheme, sorrow, span, strength, teach, time, trouble, wisdom, wrath | Permalink
Posted by dailylivingministries
March 16, 2018
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 4:7 (NAS))
No matter what you may face in this life, there is one constant that you can always count on. This constant can provide a peace of mind when all around you is falling apart.
What can possibly give you peace when everything is going to the dogs?
The assurance that God is in control, and that salvation is yours through Jesus Christ, His only Son.
Do you have a peace about you at all times? Do you honestly want that peace? It is yours for the asking. Simply admit that you are a sinner and ask Jesus into your heart.
Some people experience the peace quicker than others, however, it is attainable. Focus on Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and the rest will come. The key word is to FOCUS! Do not take your eyes off of Him, for it is through His redemptive blood that we are saved and given this peace.
Does the peace of God guard your heart and mind?
Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook
Like this:
Like Loading...
Leave a Comment » | assurance, focus on Jesus, guard your heart, guard your hearts and minds, peace that passes all understanding, priorities, the peace of God, Uncategorized, what are your priorities | Tagged: admit, assurance, Be still, blood, Christ, comprehension, constant, control, focus, given, God, guard, heart, honestly, Jesus, key, Lord, mind, peace, personal, provide, redemptive, salvation, saved, Savior, sinner, son, surpasses, want | Permalink
Posted by dailylivingministries
August 11, 2016
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©
But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.
(Numbers 20:12 (NIV))
It only takes one slip; one sin to throw away a whole body of Godly service.
Moses and Aaron had been faithful to God in all aspects of their service to Him, from confronting Pharaoh to leading the people of Israel through the desert, yet, because Moses did one thing that misdirected the glory from God to himself, he had to pay the price. It is true that God forgives us of our sins if we earnestly and sincerely ask through the power of the blood of Jesus, yet, we still must suffer the consequences of our actions. We live in a physical world where for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
We must always watch and guard our thoughts, words and actions, for it only takes a single, little sin to break down our guard and allow a multitude of sin in. That one little sin may be just what keeps us from receiving the rewards that God has for us.
We are only human. We sin every day. Even so, we can live a life after God’s own heart if we choose to focus on the things that are of Him. We must put ego and selfish pride aside and let righteousness indwell us. We must not let one little thing keep us from God. We must keep on our toes and stay alert so that it does not invade our lives.
What is your one little thing?
Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Like this:
Like Loading...
Leave a Comment » | beware the consequences of your actions, don't fall short, guard your heart, trust God, What in your life does not honor God? | Tagged: Aaron, actions, ask, Be still, blood, break, consequences, day, desert, earnestly, ego, faithful, focus, forgives, glory, God, guard, human, indwell, Israel, Jesus, leading, Lord, Moses, people, Pharaoh, power, price, pride, righteousness, selfish, service, sin, sincerely, sins, thoughts, words | Permalink
Posted by dailylivingministries
February 20, 2014
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©
Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.
Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.
Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
(Proverbs 4:23-27 (NIV))
Do not swerve to the right or the left!
What happens when we swerve? We miss the gate!
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
(Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV))
Think of that from a physical perspective. What happens when you get behind the wheel of a car? You have a destination in mind and you have a plan for getting to that destination. Now consider that, for whatever the reason may be, you are distracted and begin swerving. A small deviation can be corrected if caught in time, but left unchecked, the deviation becomes a major problem. This problem is amplified the longer it is left uncorrected. Soon, you find yourself either lost, in a wreck, in the back of an ambulance, in the back of a police car, or dead.
All of this simply because you were not able to stay on course.
You swerved!
Your spiritual walk is no different than your physical life. Things will distract you. Things will make you swerve. What happens is up to you. If you make corrections when you swerve – repent – and turn back to the correct path, you will reach your destination. If you lose focus of where you are going and allow the distractions to become your focus, then you will miss your destination.
This requires faith. It requires commitment. It requires the ability to admit that you are not perfect and need a savior.
“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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
(John 3:16-21 (NIV))
Keep your eyes on Jesus and do not swerve!
Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Like this:
Like Loading...
Leave a Comment » | commitment, do not swerve, enter through the narrow gate, faith, God, guard your heart, Jesus, John 3:16, put away perversity, spiritual walk, Uncategorized | Tagged: amplified, Be still, commitment, destination, distract, do not swerve, enter through the narrow gate, faith, God, guard your heart, Jesus, John 3:16, physical life, put away perversity, small deviation, spiritual walk, stay on course, wellspring of life | Permalink
Posted by dailylivingministries
Daily Living Ministries 