What will you have to say for yourself?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
(Romans 14:12 (NIV))

If you have ever written a resume or a bio, you have had to tell others about yourself. Perhaps you have found yourself in a conversation and you felt that you had to tell about your exploits. Perhaps you have had a work related situation that didn’t go as it should and you had to elevate yourself. In any of these situations, do you ever find yourself stretching the truth to make yourself sound better? Do you select words in such a way that they can be interpreted in your favor? It is human nature to “toot our own horn.” We have a tendency to embellish ourselves in such a way that we appear to be better than others at just about anything and everything.

Most of us don’t actually lie, but rather, we say things that drop hints without coming right out and saying something that isn’t true.

Is this lying? Is this aspect of human nature something that we just can’t overcome? In doing these things, we are actually judging others as not as important as we are. This even implies that we place ourselves above others in the eyes of God!

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.'”
(Romans 14:10-11 (NIV))

God sees the truth because He sees the heart. Our words can be used to deceive, but our heart tells the truth. We need to make sure our words reflect the fact that we have invited Jesus into our hearts. If our words and actions reflect this in our daily lives, then our accounting of ourselves to God will reflect that as well.

What will you have to say for yourself?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you truly desire to follow Jesus?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
(Luke 9:23 (NIV))

Do you claim to follow Jesus? Do you consider yourself to be His disciple?

If you answered “Yes” to these two questions, then I have some more questions to ask. Do you still do the same things that you did before professing Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Do you still indulge in your personal favorite sins or have you given those up as a result of your relationship with Jesus? Do you still have the same friends as before you accepted Jesus? Has your vocabulary changed and you thought process changed or do you still spout off foul language? Have you lost friends because you no longer desire to associate with your old ways?

Following Jesus is not an easy thing to do, especially when you start realizing all of the things that you no longer desire to do. I want to stress one important aspect of following Jesus, and that is that too many people think being a follower of Jesus is about all the things that you can’t do. It is not about what you can’t do. It is about a change of heart and the realization that you no longer want to do these things. Jesus isn’t stopping anyone from sinning. He is simply pointing to a life where you lose your desire to sin. He is pointing to grace and mercy. He is pointing to redemption. He is pointing to a life that doesn’t end in death.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23 (NIV))

Following Jesus is not easy, but when you consider the consequences of the alternative, it is the only choice I would ever make.

Do you truly desire to follow Jesus?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you seek His righteousness?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
(Matthew 6:33 (NIV))

What do you seek first in life?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
(Matthew 5:6 (NIV))

Based on just these two passages, we have it all backwards! Our society tells us to seek after everything that we want as our primary objective and goal in life. How is that going for our society? How is that going for each of us that have to live in our society?

Do we live in a state of being in which we act in accordance with God’s divine or moral laws? If we do, then we are truly seeking His righteousness and we are answering God’s call to live according to His purpose.

There are numerous passages that talk about righteousness and what it means to be righteous in the eyes of God. All of us who profess a faith in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior long to be righteous in the eyes of God for we are called to be righteous. We are told to take up our cross and follow Jesus. Jesus showed us what it takes to be righteous. He also showed us a way to be righteous even in our humanity. We can accept the grace and mercy that was freely given on the cross. We can be made righteous by a simple proclamation of faith in Jesus!

When we seek His righteousness, we repent of our sinful ways and walk with Jesus. We will falter along the way, but, if our heart is true, then Jesus will pick us up, dust us off and continue on the journey with us.

Perhaps that is the best way to think of yourself when you seek His righteousness. It is not something that will happen over night. It is a journey. It is a life long commitment to walking with Jesus in all things.

We are called to walk in righteousness!

Does your life show that you have answered the call?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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