Do you desire to exalt God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
(Psalms 46:10 (NIV))

Many of you know that the first part of this passage is one that I refer to often, and rightly so. There is so much wisdom contained in the eight words of the first line. It instructs us to be patient, to be still and wait, to cease striving in our own efforts, and realize that He is God and we are not. It prompts us to recognize our rightful place as creation and His rightful place as Creator. It instructs us to put all of our trust and hope in Him, for we are not capable of doing anything on our own. I could go on with several different reflections on these eight words, and every single reflection would come to the same conclusion and that is that no matter how hard we try, we are an imperfect, fallen and sinful creation and God is the perfect Creator.

Have you ever truly thought about the next two lines of this passage?

I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
(Psalms 46:10b (NIV))

Has it ever occurred to you that once we truly stop to know God, we will see Him for all of His majesty and splendor and we will desire to exalt Him?

Take another look at this passage from a different perspective. Look at it from an end times point of view. Was the psalmist telling us to know and to trust in God no matter what we may face, for when God’s timeline unfolds, He will be exalted and those who know Him will be by His side?

No matter what perspective you choose to use to understand this passage, there is one very clear message that we must never forget. We are to take the time to get to know God in all of His glory. We are to spend time in prayer. We are to spend time in God’s Word. We are to commit to knowing God the way that we commit to knowing anyone that we love. We should desire to know God’s very heart. We should desire to seek His presence. We should desire to see His will be done.

What do you desire?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

Do you have a daily time to spend with God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“Be still, and know that I am God;
(Psalms 46:10a (NIV))

As I sit here exhausted, I realize just how easy it is to become so engrossed in the things of the world that we call our lives. It is so easy to let God slip to a second, third or even a fourth priority. The sad part about this when it happens is that we don’t realize that it is happening until it has already happened.

We need to establish something that becomes a constant in our lives. Something that we do on a daily basis that forces us to be still in the presence of God. This must be something that we do no matter whether we want to or not, no matter whether we feel that we can take a day off because no one will notice.

If you are reading this, then you are a part of my daily routine. I know that to many people the word routine signifies that you do something over and over again and get stuck in a rut. When you are studying and sharing God’s Word, you may be in a routine, but it is never a rut.

God’s Word is alive!

God shares His heart through His Word.

The trick is to be open and to not take things out of context. You must dive deep and explore the mysteries that God has in store for you. The Bible is called the Living Word for a reason. No matter where you are in your walk with God, there is something for you to learn. What I find so intriguing is that you can learn something from one passage and as you mature, you can learn something different from the same passage. This knowledge does not replace what you have learned before. It expands, it builds upon the previous knowledge to give you a deeper understanding.

I have been writing and sharing these devotionals since 1998. It is my routine. It is not my rut. I learn so much as I explore God’s Word and share it with you. It is my daily time to be still in the presence of God.

It is my prayer that each of you develop a routine in which you set aside time each day to spend in God’s presence.

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery

Have you put forth the effort?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“Be still, and know that I am God;
(Psalms 46:10a (NIV))

What are the things in life that you feel that you know so well that you can correct someone if they say something wrong? What did it take for you to come to this knowledge of this subject? Did it just come to you naturally? Were you born with the understanding that you possess? Did you wake up one morning to find that you had become the recognized expert in that topic?

If you are like me, none of these things have happened to you. You may possess a God given talent or understanding , but you still do not possess a complete knowledge of the subject. Where God has planted the seed of talent or understanding, you must work to expand that knowledge. If you love mathematics, you cannot become a college calculus teacher without expending the effort to further your knowledge and understanding. If you love football and can quote stats of each team and player, what drove that knowledge? Even if you have a so-called photographic memory, it requires an effort to place things in your memory. It requires an effort – a decision to pursue the very thing that you love.

Do you love God? Do you put forth the effort to get to know Him and come to a fuller understanding of Him?

Think about those questions in relation to the concepts previously introduced.

Have you put forth the effort, have you made a conscious decision to pursue God and to know Him and His Word? The sad thing about this is that you do not need to pursue Him, for He is pursuing you. He is always there waiting for you to turn to Him. He is waiting for you to ask if you can sit at His feet and get to know Him.

I still love the New American Standard Bible translation of this passage:

Cease striving, and know that I am God:
(Psalms 46:10a (NASB))

All of our lives we strive to possess something. We even feel that we need to strive to possess God. To some extent, we do, but not in the same way that we strive for other things in our lives. When we seek God, He gives us rest. When we strive for things of this world, we have no rest. When we cease striving, we find God in all of His glory because we find the time to simply sit in His presence. The work that we are called to do in order to know God is to stop and listen. The definition of work is an activity in which one exerts strength or faculties. Too many of us make knowing God a major work task. It is much easier than we make it. All we need to do is to “Be still” or “Cease striving” and allow God to open our hearts and our minds.

Do you need to cease striving in the worldly sense so that you may know that He is God?

Copyright 1998 – 2013 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery