We must embrace the good that is our God!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.
Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
Hate evil, love good;
maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy
on the remnant of Joseph.
(Amos 5:14-15 (NIV))

Is it just me, or has society lost any understanding of what is good and what is evil? I hate to say this, but I have even seen it in the churches in this country as well.

I know that I am going to get some people mad at me. When you have denominations voting to allow things that God calls an abomination, I can’t sit by and accept it. I would prefer to have people mad at me instead of God.

With that said, we are to hate evil. What is evil in the eyes of God? What causes the heart of God to break? Do you truly know the heart of God? Do you earnestly seek to know the heart of God?

If you know the heart of God, then you know what He calls evil and what He calls good. It is not as the world calls things. The world sees a rich man and wants to be like him. God sees a rich man and sees someone who, in most cases, worships their riches. The world sees things as a choice and that we have a right to make that choice. God sees a person who chooses to sin and step even further away from His grace.

Perhaps the best way to define evil in the eyes of God is anything that keeps a person from His redeeming gift of grace and mercy and goes against the fruits of the Spirit. If that is the case, then we, as the Body of Christ, must pray. We must seek God’s face. We must desire to turn from evil.

We must embrace the good that is our God!

We must embrace our God who is our good!

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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This promise WILL come to pass!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
(Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV))

This promise WILL come to pass! Man has made a shambles of all forms of government since the fall from grace. Satan sold Adam and Eve a lie and the world has paid the price ever since.

Only once Jesus returns and establishes His authority over the world will there be true justice. All government will be God’s. We will know the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit intimately and will do what is righteous in God’s eyes. This will not be done out of fear, but out of love. All things are God’s and that includes us.

He is the creator. He created us to be in relationship with Him. A relationship is built on love. There will be no deception, but truth. God will be the ultimate Father. Jesus will be the ultimate big brother, and the Holy Spirit will be the ultimate comforter. Three in One. Just as a man can be husband, father and friend, God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Do you look forward to relinquishing control to Jesus?

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

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

For days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.
(Nehemiah 1:4 (NLT))

Nehemiah did something that we seem to ignore today!

It is the first two words of this passage – for days.

We have become such an instant gratification society that if something does not happen immediately, too many of us simply give up.

We mourn. We fast. We pray to God, but when God doesn’t answer on our time table, we assume that the answer is no. Nehemiah knew differently. He knew that God is like the judge in the following parable.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, `Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, `Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ ”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
(Luke 18:1-8 (NIV))

We must be persistent in our prayers. God answers every prayer, but He takes great joy in granting justice for those who call upon His name.

Do you call out for days or do you utter a few words and give up?

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