Have you been caught in your foolishness?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”
(1 Corinthians 3:19 (NIV))

Can you imagine what God thinks of our attempts at solving the world’s current problems?

In all honesty, I could probably stop after asking that one question and let your imagination run wild. You can probably paint a very vivid mental picture quite easily of God’s reaction to everything that is going on in the world today. Do you envision the Lord doing a face palm and shaking His head? Do you envision Him shedding a tear because of our so called wisdom? I am sure that what we have done and what we are doing breaks the very heart of God!

Where do you stand with respect to the wisdom of the world?

Perhaps I should ask a different question.

Do you believe that there is any wisdom to be seen in this world?

I pray that you haven’t fallen into the prideful human characteristic that thinks, “If they would only listen to me!” Far too many people can claim this arrogant attitude when they should be prayerful and seek the Lord for His wisdom.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
(Proverbs 9:10 (NIV))

If our righteousness is as filthy rags, and we see as if through a dark window, then how can we truly possess any real wisdom? What we call wisdom is merely a series of glimpses of the infinite picture and we have the arrogance to believe that we know everything about the infinite picture! Now I understand why the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.

We must turn to the Lord and seek His wisdom. We must be willing to abandon our wisdom and recognize it as foolishness, for our wisdom will soon be recognized for what it truly is.

Have you been caught in your foolishness?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Don’t fall for ungodly deception!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.
(Mark 13:5 (NIV))

Jesus knew that strange times would come and that people would potentially be deceived by what would be happening. He told His disciples point blank to be on their guard so that they, and we, would not be deceived when situations arise. We must stand firm in our faith and be firmly rooted in God’s Word so that we can recognize false teachings when they are presented to us. It is my prayer that we will be so firmly grounded in God’s Word that we will instantly know the enemy’s attempts to deceive us when we see them. You have to realize that the enemy knows God’s Word and can twist it in ways that are designed to confuse those who are not totally immersed in God’s truth. Consider that the serpent tricked Adam and Eve by twisting the truth in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve walked with God. They knew Him in a way that we can’t possibly know God today. Still, they fell for the deception that the serpent used, and humanity has been paying the price ever since that day!

The enemy uses things out of context, or just a partial quote of scripture. He will twist just enough of God’s Word so that it still sounds right, but with the subtle change, it is now a lie. Consider what happens if he leaves out the last instructions from Jesus to the woman caught in adultery.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 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 8:9-11 (NIV))

If you twist this passage by removing “Go now and leave your life of sin,” it takes on a whole new meaning. It takes on a meaning completely opposite of what Jesus truly said and meant. Without those eight words, it sounds as if Jesus is telling the woman that whatever she does is okay, when what He is really saying is that she must repent and change her ways. The whole passage, when twisted like this, is now able to be a lie from the mouth of the enemy.

We must not take things at face value. We must know God’s Word. We must search God’s Word for verification and not for our sinful gratification. We must be Bereans!

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
(Acts 17:11 (NIV))

When someone is not educated in certain aspects of life, it is easy for them to be deceived in those areas. With everything that is going on in the world, be very careful with respect to what you embrace as truth. When you are firmly grounded in God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will be in communication with your spirit. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you through the subtle lies of the enemy.

Don’t fall for ungodly deception!

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Is there anything that you are still trying to hide?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:9 (NIV))

What is it about human nature that makes us want to keep secrets?

We keep them from those we love. We keep them from our friends. We keep them from those we work with, and we keep them from those whom we call brothers and sisters in Christ. We may be able to fool others for a while, but our secrets are usually uncovered in one way or another.

What type of things do we feel that we need to keep secret from others?

Most of our secrets are attempts to keep our shortcomings, our embarrassments and our sins from public scrutiny. We feel that we can continue to do things if we just act as if we aren’t doing them. Why do we think that we can act in this manner? Why do we feel that we can continue in our behaviors indefinitely? Too many people simply won’t admit that one day they will have to be held accountable for everything that they have ever done. They will have to stand, not in front of others, but in front of the Lord where they will be judged based on a standard that no one can attain on their own. If you have repented and placed your faith in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you will be judged righteous. Still, we are only human. We are a sinful, fallen creation. We must repent of our sin and turn away from our nature continually. We must search our hearts, for the Lord knows our hearts. We must seek to uncover things that we attempt to keep hidden from ourselves. We must seek to replace what we desire to keep hidden with things that are of the Lord.

Think of the sinful, hidden things in your life and think about the old saying, “Garbage in. Garbage out!” It is time to replace the garbage of sin with the grace and mercy offered to us through the cross. Allow the Lord to cleanse the garbage and to purify our hearts. Ask the Lord to remove any hidden sin!

Is there anything that you are still trying to hide?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you following the Lord’s plans or your own?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
(Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV))

What is it about human nature that makes us want to reject something proven and try to reinvent the proverbial wheel so that we can say that we did it our way?

I realize that was a very lengthy question, but in all honesty, the question is not as lengthy as our actual feeble attempts to thwart God’s plans for us. Some of us never learn and fight God’s plans until the day we die. What is it about surrendering to the Lord’s will that makes us want to rebel? For some people, surrendering to anyone else’s will besides their own is something that will never happen. Their hearts are hardened and pride has control.

If you were presented with a plan that would make you prosperous and hopeful for a better future, it looks like it would be an easy choice to make. That is exactly what has happened with the promises that the Lord has made to us, yet, so many people choose to follow their own plans. They think that they know what is best for them. This often has catastrophic consequences. Think of it in this way. Suppose a light bulb has the ability to think and reason. It was made to shine light, but in its own mind, it wants to be used as a heat source for baking. The goals that the light bulb creates for itself will lead to its own demise, for the amount of energy required to be used as a heat source will destroy the light bulb. It was not made for such a task. The planned task that it was created for is something that only it can fulfill. It was designed to share light for countless others. It will be made prosperous. It will help others to prosper. It will have hope as well as bring hope to others. This sounds like a future worth following.

Are you following the Lord’s plans or your own?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you believe man or God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
(Genesis 15:18-21 (NIV))

I just have to laugh at all of the feeble attempts today to strip Israel of the land and their right to exist!

I find it sadly funny that people will twist history, both Biblically recorded and external, humanly recorded history, to try to convince the world that there never was an Israel and that the Palestinians were there long before Israel returned to their land. Biblical accounts, as well as Roman historical accounts, tell a far different story than what the enemy is trying to convince the world of today.

To be honest with you, this doesn’t surprise me. All that you have to do is look at anything that has a Biblical foundation, and you see that the enemy is trying to turn it on its head. The enemy is vehemently attacking anything that is Godly and righteous and loudly proclaiming that God’s truth no longer applies. The enemy claims that because it was written several thousand years ago it no longer applies to today’s “modern” world. Unfortunately, those who do not know history are easily swayed into believing the lies.

Humanity is under attack! It is under attack from the enemy, and from those among us who have listened to the enemy. People are spreading lies and leading others to follow them.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
(Romans 8:31 (NIV))

I know that it is all too easy to simply turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to what is going on, after all, I have accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. I know the truth! That is a dangerous attitude to have. The enemy knows God’s Word and he twists it to his advantage. The words that come forth may sound good, but are they one hundred percent accurate? God’s truth cannot be ninety-nine percent true. It must be one hundred percent true, or it is not God’s Word! Man, with the help of the enemy, will twist things. Be careful who and what you believe.

Do you believe man or God?

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