Are you ashamed of the power of the Gospel?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
(Romans 1:16 (NIV))

How strong is your faith?

I realize that this sounds like a strange question to be asking someone who is reading something that is based on scripture. I have found that the simpler the questions are concerning spiritual matters, the more difficult that they seem to be to answer. The simple questions seem to require an in-depth look at yourself and most people are afraid of what they will see within themselves. So, with this stated, I want to ask once again, how strong is your faith? What do you see within yourself?

If you were told to deny Jesus or die, what would you do?

If you were told to bow down and worship a statue, what would you do?

If you were told to lie in order to preserve your life, what would you do?

If you were told to take a mark or lose your head, what would you do?

All of us see things going on in the world and we wonder if we are drawing closer to the time of the end when everything that God calls good is called evil and everything that God calls evil is called good. Do you have the strength of faith to hold fast to the goodness and truth that is the Lord even when all around you is proclaiming evil? Think about that for a moment. Consider how rapidly things have changed. Are you prepared to stand firm?

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
(Ephesians 6:13 (NIV))

Is your armor on?

We have been basically told that we cannot go to church. We have been told that we must wear a mask in public. We have been told that we must maintain social distancing. Now, we are being told that there is a plan to require a traceable vaccine in order to be able to resume “normal” life. I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sound like the freedom that we have through the Blood of Jesus. In fact, it sounds like it is an attempt to control those who don’t know Jesus. Myself and countless others may be wrong, but do you want to gamble your eternity if what is happening is as it appears? Some may call this conspiracy theory, but for those who know God’s Word, it is all laid out. Study God’s Word. Look around you!

We must choose!

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
(Joshua 24:15 (NIV))

Now is not the time to be timid!

Now is not the time to be ashamed of the Gospel.

Are you ashamed of the power of the Gospel?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you glow with the glory of the Lord?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.
(Exodus 34:29 (NIV))

Very few people have been able to do what Moses did on Mount Sinai. Adam and Eve walked with God before the fall from grace. Abraham heard God call him to a new land. Moses spoke with God on Mount Sinai. The prophets relayed God’s messages to the people and the disciples spoke face to face with Jesus. Even in these examples, only Moses is recorded as being radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. Moses was the only person since the fall from grace to have been in God’s glorious presence. It makes me wonder what Adam and Eve looked like since they walked with God. Were they radiant in their appearance?

Do you long to radiate with the presence of the Lord?

Do you long to spend time in His glorious presence?

Do you long to hear His Word and have it become such a part of you that your very countenance glows with His righteousness?

Do you want others to see this radiance on you and in you and know that you love the Lord?

I realize that I ask a lot of questions, but a relationship with the Lord is a personal matter and the only way to truly build that relationship is to know what you truly desire on a personal level. It is not based on what your parents did. It is not based on what I write. It is not based on what your children do. It is not based on what your preacher says. It is entirely based on your personal desire to spend time in the presence of the Lord. I honestly believe that this is why I love the following verse so much. It reminds me that I am nothing if I do not spend time in God’s presence, if I do not allow the Lord’s grace to overflow onto me, into me and through me.

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

Is it obvious to others that the Lord’s radiance is upon you?

Do you glow with the glory of the Lord?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Don’t wait to answer God’s call!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

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

In this world in which we live, it is so easy to find something to place as your priority, as your god. We see it all around us. People are hungry for an intimacy and they try to feed that hunger with whatever they choose. Some people will try to feed the hunger with fame. Some with power and some with fortune. Others will try to feed the hunger with things such as sex, drugs, and alcohol.

The thought came to mind that the worst of us will choose to feed the hunger with multiple carnal pleasures, but then I realized that for those who are lost, everyone is in the same boat. There is no worst or best of a sinful nature. We are all simply caught up in the lies of the enemy. Lies that are designed to keep our focus on what is directly in front of us and off of the source of all things good. We focus on the things that we place as our personal gods while we miss out on the blessings that are ours from the one true God.

I often wonder what we look like from a spiritual perspective? Do we look like the proverbial rat in a maze, always scurrying along looking for the morsels that will be our next reward? I honestly think that the enemy tries to keep us in that mindset so that he can keep us from the intimacy that God desires with each of us.

No matter what we do in life, anything that we place as a priority requires that we focus on that one thing. We have to take the time to learn, to grow and to mature in our understanding of our priority.

This is exactly what we should be doing with out relationship with our God and Father!

I want you to think back on some of your favorite “older” relatives when you were growing up. What made them your favorites? I would safely wager that it was the fact that you took the time to spend time with them. You got to know them. You got to know what they liked and what they didn’t like. It might have been something as simple as sitting with them on a front porch swing watching the world pass by. If you are like me, those memories are some of the most endearing memories that you have, and it all comes down to one simple reality. You took the time to stop your life and sit with someone else and truly get to know them.

That is exactly what God is calling us to do!

Don’t wait to answer God’s call!

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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