Where is your treasure?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(Luke 12:33-34 (NIV))

Now is a fantastic time to seriously take a look at what you are thankful for. What is the treasure that you hide in your heart? What single thing in your life would devastate you if it were suddenly taken away from you?

I know that these are hard questions. I look around at what I have and it is not my physical possessions. They will decay with time. It is not my work, for it is only a means by which God has blessed me to support myself and my family.

To me, my earthly treasures are my family – my parents, my wife and my children. I can’t imagine facing a single day without them. Even this treasure will fade. However, there is a treasure far greater than anything that this world has to offer. Through this treasure, my heart rejoices for I know that Jesus is that treasure. He is the hope. He is the salvation. Through Him, nothing the world sends my way will devastate me. I have the hope that only Jesus can bring. I have the hope of seeing my family.

I know that any time is a time of reflection upon the things that you have been blessed with. Don’t forget to take a look at all of your blessings and then thank the one who blessed you.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
(1 Chronicles 16:34 (NIV))

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
(Psalm 100:4 (NIV))

Where is your treasure?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Would you be of the world, or would you be of God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
(1 John 3:1 (NIV))

The world will not recognize us, for it did not recognize Jesus when He came.

In much the same way a mother recognizes her young, the world recognizes those who belong to it. Does a mother cow accept a puppy? Does a kitten find a home with a dog? The same is true of those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. They will not be accepted by the world! They may face rejection and tribulation for they have, in essence, turned their backs on the ways of the world and have focused on the ways of God.

Take a serious look at where you would be accepted. Do you find yourself still partaking of the world in such a way that it is impossible for anyone to know that you are a child of God? The old saying “You are what you eat” is true in the spiritual world as well. If you “eat” of the world, then the world is a part of you and you cannot leave it behind. If you “eat” of the things of God, then righteousness is a part of you, and the world is only something that you are passing through.

It has been said that it takes a thief to know a thief. If that implies that only those with similar thoughts can be recognized and accepted, then where would you be recognized and accepted? Would you be of the world, or would you be of God?

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

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.
(2 Timothy 4:2 (NIV))

Did you catch the three words in the middle of this passage? Chances are that most people tend to ignore them and focus on the first part where we are told to “Preach the Word,” yet many of us fail at this as well.

What three words do we want to ignore?

Correct, rebuke and encourage.

Why are these three words so hard for us to take to heart? Why do we shudder at the thought of actually doing anything related to these words? Why do we find it so difficult to offer correction when we know what is truth? Are we afraid that they will point out the correction that we need? Why do we hesitate to rebuke when we know the One who has all power and authority? Are we afraid that we might end up rebuking ourselves and be shamed in the process? Why do we find it so difficult to encourage others to walk in faith? Is it because we are secretly struggling with our own walk?

Human nature is a funny thing. We tend to avoid things that will actually give us away or things that we feel uncomfortable doing. How many criminals do you know who will report a crime? How many alcoholics will admit they need help? How many sinners will admit that they need a Savior?

Ah, hah!

I played that card.

Even though we may admit that we are in need of a Savior, do we fully embrace it and fully surrender to it? Do we simply try to do the least that we can do to get by? Plus, we feel that we are no better than others so what gives us the right to correct, rebuke and encourage?

Jesus gives us that right!

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
(John 14:12 (NIV))

Jesus did these very things when He walked the earth. He did them out of love. He did them to show people the way to the Father. He did them so that they would have a full life.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
(John 10:10 (NIV))

Are you ready to do what Jesus did? Are you willing to show love? Are you willing to help open the eyes of those who are in darkness? Go forth in love.

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.
(2 Timothy 4:2 (NIV))

Copyright 1998 – 2012 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do we listen to His voice?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
(John 10:1-3 (NIV))

Whom do you follow?

Whom do you trust?

All throughout history humanity has been deceived by one lie after another. Why do we look for something and expect it to be as promised when we can’t verify the credibility of the source? There is only one source that is credible. There is only one source that knows us by name. There is only one source that enters through the gate.

Why must people make it so difficult?

Why do people take a look at what Jesus teaches and tell themselves that it cannot be that simple? Why do they think that it will work for everyone else except them? Why do they listen to those who have come into their lives through something other than the “gate?” Why do we, as humanity, prefer to listen to the thief and the robber? Is this the same desire or gullibility that has allowed con men and the proverbial snake oil salesmen?

What is it about human nature that makes us want to look for an alternative when we are told that there is only one way? Why do we want to test the warning signs that boldly proclaim danger, yet ignore the wisdom and direction that leads to life?

With Christmas Day a very fresh memory in our minds, why do so many ignore the gift that God gave to His creation? Why do we look for alternatives to what God has given?

Perhaps it is due to the old saying, “It is too good to be true.”

Think about that. Our society has been telling us for a while that we must beware of things that are too good to be true, because they are not true. I honestly believe that our society has become jaded by this and now, too many apply this to faith in Jesus.

Jesus is not too good to be true! He is the truth.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
(John 14:6-7 (NIV))

Jesus is the shepherd. He enters through the gate. He knows our names. He calls us out.

Do we listen to His voice?

Copyright 1998 – 2011 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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