What have you seen?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

“And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
(Joel 2:28 (NKJV))

I have a list of sites and people that I monitor in addition to reading and studying, and all of the sites seem to be exploding with content about people who are having dreams and visions. I have not seen anything like this in the twenty plus years that I have been reading, studying and writing. It is as if the flood gates have opened!

I am seeing things from very well known individuals in the Body of Christ who are talking about recent experiences and dreams that they have had. I also see countless ones from people who are not well known, but have been given a glimpse of something that is beyond their understanding.

What do you think about dreams and visions?

Do you believe that the Lord will do, and possibly is doing at this time, things written of in Joel?

We have evidence all throughout the Bible that God uses dreams to communicate with people. If we say that we believe the Bible, then why do so many people laugh at the idea that God uses dreams today? Why do so many people who profess a faith in Jesus ridicule those who have the faith to step forward and share what they have seen?

Have you ever had a dream or a vision that you feel was from the Lord?

What have you seen?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you clothed as a new born?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
(John 3:5-6 (NIV))

When we were born of flesh, we were born of this world and of the things in it.

Unfortunately, being born of this world and the things in it meant that we were born into sin. Not a single one of us was born into this world without the power and the consequences of sin looming over us.

Satan is the god of this world and all of its fleshly sins. We are born of flesh. God cannot associate with Satan, so we must be “born again” of the Spirit.

In order to escape sin, we must be born of the Spirit to be of God. The Spirit is of God. Jesus came into this world to offer us a way to be clothed in the things of God. He offered us a way to become a new creation in the eyes of God! Jesus provided a way for each of us to be born anew. In order to enter into God’s kingdom, we must “shake off” the world and put on the Spirit and clothe ourselves in things that are of God and not of this earth.

Through inheritance, we become just as pure as the new born infant that we celebrate. We think of becoming more and more like Jesus, but have you ever stopped to think that we have to truly become a new creation for all that we know was of this world. All that we cling to as good was of this world. We must leave all of the behind and start anew. We must be clothed in the innocence of a new born baby.

Are you clothed as a new born?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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What does your spirit say about Jesus?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
(1 John 4:2-3 (NIV))

What does your spirit say about Jesus?

I know that most people don’t read this passage and draw the conclusion that it could be talking about them. They forget that each person is multifaceted and many consider us to be body, mind and spirit. Some people refer to these aspects as physical, mental and spiritual. No matter how you label them, each person has a spiritual side and it is that spiritual side that is the part of us that must come to the full realization that Jesus has come in the flesh from God. We can come to a mental conclusion of this truth. We can surrender our bodies to the works of God, but unless our spirit acknowledges Jesus as the only begotten Son of God, our mental and physical actions are just that. They are merely actions. They have no meaning. They are only works.

For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
(Romans 3:28 (NIV))

Where does faith originate within each of us?

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
(Hebrews 11:1 (NIV))

Can the physical be confident in what is unseen?

Can the mind be confident in what cannot be comprehended?

I honestly believe that faith originates in the part of us that was designed by God to understand the unseen, the part of us that was designed to be confident in what we cannot comprehend. Faith originates in our spirits.

In closing, I want to ask this question one more time.

What does your spirit say about Jesus?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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In case that you forgot, Jesus is the bread of life!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
(Matthew 4:1-4 (NIV))

I realize that we live in a physical world and that we need physical nourishment for our bodies, but our society has removed a vital aspect of what it takes to sustain us in a healthy manner. We need God. We need a close relationship with God.

It is this close relationship with God that enabled Jesus to rebuke the devil. If Jesus had not been the Son of God, then the close relationship with God the Father would not have been in place, and the temptation could have been too strong to avoid. Before you explode at that last statement, I want you to think about what I just said. Perhaps I should phrase it like this? If you had been in the situation that Jesus was in, would you have been able to resist the devil? Do you have a close and strong relationship with God the Father so that you can lean on Him for strength when the devil tempts you?

How do you strengthen your relationship with God?

Read and study His Word! The books of the Bible are often referred to as God’s love letters to humanity. They tell of His desires and His love at the same time that they tell of the history of God’s creation, the fall from grace, and God’s plan for redemption.

I want to ask a rhetorical question.

Are you ever tempted?

If you are honest with yourself, then the answer is going to be yes.

How do you resist temptation?

God has a plan for that. He has a plan for anything and everything that we can and will go through in life. That plan calls for us to rely on Him and His Word. We need to feed ourselves spiritually on the very heart of God!

In case that you forgot, Jesus is the bread of life!

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Jesus has overcome the world!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
(Isaiah 41:10 (NIV))

If you are like me, you have seen countless posts and news articles about how we need to stop allowing refugees at this time. We must remember what we profess and why we profess it.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
(Romans 8:15-17 (NIV))

What is your reaction to what is happening in the world?

Are you living in fear?

Are you changing plans that you may have had because of recent events?

I have a question for you and I hope that this doesn’t come across as macabre.

Why do you fear death?

If you belong to Jesus, then we have nothing to fear. The enemy may kill the body, but the body is not what we are. It is only a vessel.

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
(Matthew 10:28 (NIV))

I know that it is human nature to fear what we do not know, including death, but as the Body of Christ, we should not live in fear. Please don’t take me wrong and think that I am saying that we should welcome death. That is far from the truth. God gave us life. He did not create us death. He created us for life. However, this life is not the life that God intended when He created everything. Sin entered into the picture and now it is raising its ugly head like never before. If you study God’s Word and study the prophecies and promises that have been made, you know that God has already defeated sin when Jesus died on the cross.

Jesus arose from death!

He is with us if we call upon Him as our personal Lord and Savior.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
(John 16:33 (NIV))

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you ready to offer the sacrifice that God seeks?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise.
(Psalms 51:17 (NLT))

Have you ever found yourself asking why God would want us to have a broken spirit?

Think about that question for a minute. It may come to you.

Most of the time, a person’s spirit is driven be ego and pride. It is always about them. It is about what they can get and what they can do.

Does this sound like an attitude that God wants us to have?

To God, a broken spirit means that the individual realizes that they can do nothing without God’s guidance and grace.

I can hear the thoughts, Many of you are thinking things like, “What about my career? God has had nothing to do with that.” Or you may be thinking something like, “I pulled myself out of poverty by hard work. God had nothing to do with that.”

In other words, many of you are thinking that you accomplished these things.

Who gave you the talents?

Who gave you the personality?

Who gave you the determination?

And, who gave you life?

We, as part of creation, have no control over many things. In fact, we have control of far fewer things than we may like to admit. When we come to realize that whatever we have in this life could be gone in an instant, that our very lives could be gone in an instant, it puts a whole new perspective on things.

When we stop trying to place ourselves at the center of the universe we quickly realize just how small and insignificant we are. Once we realize this, our hearts are ripe for the harvest. We become a part of God’s plan and not the center of our own.

Are you ready to offer the sacrifice that God seeks?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Satan condemns. Jesus saves!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
(Romans 8:34 (NIV))

All too often I encounter people who feel that God is the one who is condemning them. They take a look at the lives that they have created for themselves and blame God for all of their shortcomings. They see God as an angry old man who is bent on giving them the very things that they have brought upon themselves. They blame their problems on the very one who desires to save them.

Unfortunately, they do not understand God or even have an accurate picture of Him. All that they know is what they may have been subjected to by people who erroneously claim to be doing God’s work. These are the people who shout at everybody telling them that they are going to hell. To be honest with you, I have seen these type of people shout at people who desire only to do God’s will in all that they do. These type of people are more interested in condemning than in reaching out to rescue. Perhaps they feel that they can scare people into salvation.

Scaring people into salvation and condemning people has never worked. Jesus did just the opposite.

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
(John 8:10-11 (NIV))

Jesus never condemns. He came to save. The next time that you meet someone who thinks that God is condemning them, tell them of God’s love. Tell them of the prostitute that Jesus saved from being stoned. Perhaps it is you who will have an urge to blame God for your problems. Remember the prostitute.

Satan is the one who condemns. He clings to the letter of the law.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
(Romans 8:1-4 (NIV))

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Be on your guard against false teaching!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
(Matthew 16:6 (NIV))

The Pharisees and the Sadducees were the two different schools of thought about the interpretation of the scriptures. It is interesting that neither group had been able to interpret the scriptures the way that they should. They had introduced different teachings that had their origins from man and these teachings had spread through the temple and the nation like yeast through bread.

Jesus warned his disciples to watch out for these teachings and to not allow them to enter into their lives again. It is so easy to replace God’s Word with human interpretation of it. Humanity has been taking God’s Word and twisting it for their own reasons for as long as history has been recorded. The sad part is that we can all fall prey to this. Even those who proclaim to desire to know God’s Word are susceptible to twisting it for their own selfish desires. Take a long look at your life in faith. Has there ever been a person or group of people that you know who have twisted God’s Word? Now comes the hardest question of all. Have you been guilty of this yourself?

I hate to say this, but I would venture to say that all of us have done that at one point or another. We are sinful and selfish in nature. Even though we claim grace through the blood of Jesus, we are not instantly perfect. We are, however, instantly forgiven. We are being made perfect.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
(2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV))

Even as we are being transformed into His likeness, we can also stumble and fail because of false teaching. We must be on our guard and test what we hear and see against God’s Word. We must not allow anything to make us falter in our course. We must not fall for the false teachings of today’s Pharisees and Sadducees.

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are your walls strong?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.
(Proverbs 25:28 (NKJV))

In Biblical days, a city relied heavily on its walls for protection from its enemies. Today, nations rely on military strength and other means for security and protection, yet, the idea is the same. This idea consists of being prepared for whatever the enemy may throw at you at any time of the day or night. Many times, the enemy is unknown until it is too late.

The same thing is true of our spiritual lives and spiritual enemies that we may encounter. Our spirit, when guided by the Holy Spirit, is our primary defense against the attacks of the enemy, Satan. We must keep our spirit in top condition just as a city’s walls had to be maintained. If a city’s walls deteriorated, then the city was vulnerable to attack and defeat by an enemy. If we allow our spirit to become weak and “deteriorated,” then we are also vulnerable to attack by the enemy.

Strengthen your spirit daily by feeding on the Word of God. Test all things against God’s unwavering standards. Do not be deceived by false appearances as the residents of Troy were with the “gift” of the Trojan Horse. Satan is a master at deception and lies. Arm your spirit with the proper implements of battle.

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What does freedom mean to you?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
(Galatians 5:13 (NIV))

What does freedom mean to you?

To many people, it means that they have the right to do whatever they want to do. They look upon freedom as a blank ticket to indulge in anything and everything. They see freedom as a right that cannot be taken away from them. They see freedom as something that they are due.

Is this your definition of freedom? It isn’t God’s definition of freedom.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
(Romans 8:1-2 (NIV))

God defines freedom as escaping the just condemnation that is a result of our sins. God gave us a way to become free. Jesus came into this world to free us from the power of sin and death. When we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we accept this freedom. Does that mean that we are free to sin without suffering the consequences of our sin? Contrary to what many believe, we cannot accept the freedom that God has given to us and still desire to sin. When we do, we reject God’s grace.

Freedom has a price. Not many people today are willing to admit this. Jesus paid the price for us to be free from sin and death. We must pay the price to accept it. That price is to leave the old ways behind. We must repent and turn away from our sin.

Have you paid the price for accepting God’s grace and mercy?

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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