Where have you placed the Lord in your life?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

I have set the LORD always before me.
    Because he is at my right hand,
    I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the grave,
    nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
(Psalms 16:8-11 (NIV))

God has no secrets. He has given EVERYONE the truth. It is up to each person, individually, to accept that truth and place it as their guide. God is that Truth. Do not abandon Him and He will not abandon you.

How can someone abandon God? By placing someone or something else at the center of your life. It becomes your focus, your guide. Do not place your trust in a “guide” that cannot guide you to the ultimate truth. Place your faith in God and let Him guide you in all things.

God is the same yesterday, today and forever. The strength and consistency of God are what you need to place your faith in. Do not look to anything else, and He will give you rest.

Where have you placed the Lord in your life?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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It is better to place our trust in the Lord!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”
(Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV))

We have all heard the instructions to follow our heart, but based on this passage, is that truly wise counsel?

Do you truly desire to follow your heart when it will always lead you astray?

For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
(Mark 7:21-23 (NIV))

Sadly, we think that we know what is best for us. We think that we know what will make us happy, but is worldly happiness what we truly desire when we can have eternal joy through one simple redirection of our priorities? Worldly happiness is fleeting. It is here today and gone tomorrow. It doesn’t last. Placing your faith in Jesus and following Him brings joy in all circumstances, even when everything around you is falling apart!

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 4:7 (NIV))

I don’t know about you, but it sounds like we are being told that when we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, He actually protects us from our deceitful heart! In other words, He guards us from ourselves and our sinful nature.

It is better to place our trust in the Lord!

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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In whom do you trust?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight
(Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV))

It is so hard to place your trust in what can’t be seen. The world has a way of catching our attention and side-tracking us from this trust. It is easier to trust in what can be seen. Yet, this trust is what God wants us to build with Him. He calls it faith. If you place your faith in God, He WILL make your paths straight, for He will be walking with you and guiding you in all that you do.

How is your faith?

What do you lean on?

In whom do you trust?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you claim all the power in God’s Word?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.
(Psalms 119:114 (NIV))

I want to ask a very telling question if I may.

In which part of God’s Word do you place you hope? Is it Genesis? Perhaps it is Proverbs or Psalms. Is it Matthew or Mark? Is it Revelation? Perhaps it is a different book where you find your hope is firmly grounded. Perhaps you like to pick and choose exactly what you claim as truth and then discard what you don’t like.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
(Ephesians 6:10-17 (NIV))

How can anyone claim that God is their refuge and shield if they don’t accept all of God’s Word as truth and power? It is like someone putting on armor for protection during battle and saying that they don’t like the way the breastplate makes them feel, so they refuse to wear it. It is like someone refusing to put on the helmet because it would mess up their hair. Every page of God’s Word is power. It is life!

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV))

Do you claim all the power in God’s Word?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you focused on the future or His presence?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
(Psalms 91:2 (NIV))

Far too many of us say that we trust the Lord, but we still want signs. We still want to know what is going to happen in this world as God unfolds His plans.

We look at the news and see things unfolding that bear a striking resemblance to things written about the end times. We see things that go against God’s Word as they are accepted as truth by the world and we wonder how long this will go on before we see things unfold as prophesied. We look at the state of the world and we long to see righteousness. We long to see the truth proclaimed and every knee to bow and every tongue confess. Sometimes we get carried away with our desires to see Jesus that we focus more on the events that are transpiring than we do on spending time in God’s presence.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
(Luke 10:38-42 (NIV))

It is so easy to become like Martha in our preparations for the coming of Jesus and miss the fact that we can sit at the feet of Jesus at this very moment. I, like many people, like to study prophesy because it is the hope to which we hold. It is the truth that hasn’t come to be. It is the fulfillment of God’s promises. Even though this is all true, we need to be careful that we don’t focus so much on what is to come that we miss out on what God is doing in this moment. Perhaps it is best stated by what a friend said has become her daily prayer.

Lord, I just want to know what you want me to know when you want me to know it!

I would just like to add the following.

Lord, it is not my world. It is yours. I love you and I trust you. You are my refuge in times of trouble. You are my fortress in this world that has turned away from you. I praise you for your goodness and mercy!

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