His ways are perfect!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
      neither are your ways my ways,”
         declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
      so are my ways higher than your ways
      and my thoughts than your thoughts.
(Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV))

Have you ever found yourself asking, “What is God doing?”

If you are like a vast number of people, this has probably come to mind quite often in recent history. To be honest with you, if you aren’t asking this, then it means that you aren’t paying attention to the world and what is unfolding right before our eyes. If you stop to consider that there are two ways that this question can be asked, then it opens up a complete new perspective on this question and how that you view God’s authority.

If you ask this question sarcastically, then it shows your contempt and disdain for how God is handling things. In essence, you are fed up with what is unfolding and are frustrated with God for not fixing it according to your desires. Be careful with this, for this is pride and has caused many to stumble and fall harshly.

What if you are asking this question with a curiosity and an eye to God’s Word? Are you searching God’s Word for insight and understanding?

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))

Are you excited to think that you get to be alive during this time as God unfolds His plans? Do you ask this question in awe and wonder of God’s eternal plan and where we might be in His timing?

The next time that you find yourself looking around and asking “What is God doing?”, I pray that it is with an attitude of awe and wonder, after all His ways are higher than ours. We are only the creation. He is the Creator! His timing is perfect.

His ways are perfect!

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you anxiously seek Godly knowledge?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the scroll until the end of time. Many will go back and forth and search anxiously [through the scroll], and knowledge [of the purpose of God as revealed by His prophets] will [greatly] increase.
(Daniel 12:4 (AMP))

Have you ever heard this passage translated in this way?

Perhaps you are more familiar with it from this translation.

But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.
(Daniel 12:4 (NIV))

Most of us think of this passage with respect to the last sentence and take that to mean that people will be able to go everywhere easily and that human knowledge such as technology will increase. To be honest with you, this is a perfect picture of our world today. We have seen more advancements in the last one hundred years with respect to travel and human knowledge than we have over the last several thousand years.

I have a question for you to consider.

What was in the original Hebrew scrolls that made one translation allude to this as traveling here and there to increase knowledge while another translator chose to indicate that people will be going back and forth anxiously searching the scriptures for knowledge of the end of time?

I realize that everyone has their personal favorite translation that they like to use, but unless you are capable of fluently reading the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, we are all at the mercy of the people who translated God’s Word. We must learn to go beyond our favorite translation and cross reference other translations. We are to search the scriptures in such a way that we eagerly seek His insight into His Word, and if that means comparing translations to help us understand the intent of the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, then we must do so with prayerful consideration. Even if we only read one translation, we must pray for God to open our eyes, our hearts and our minds so that we truly understand His Word. We must be like the 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 17:10-12 (NIV))

We must examine the scriptures!

We must be eager in our examinations!

Do you search anxiously through God’s Word? Do you cross-reference from one passage to another and from one translation to another? Let’s take that back to the context originally spoken of in this passage. Let’s look at the increase in the desire to understand the end of time. Have you seen an increase in the eagerness to understand this knowledge?

Daniel, I now command you to keep the message of this book secret until the end of time, even though many people will go everywhere, searching for the knowledge to be found in it.
(Daniel 12:4 (CEV))

God’s Word is much more than instructions on how to live our lives. It is an insight into the very heart and mind of the Lord. It is an insight into God’s very plan as it unfolds.

Do you anxiously seek Godly knowledge?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you possess the eagerness of the Bereans?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

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))

To put this concept into context with something that was said about 40 years ago, “Trust but verify!”

The Bereans believed what Paul told them, but they took it one step further. They searched the Scriptures to verify the truth and they found it to be exactly as Paul taught. Do we do as much? Do we listen to someone in a pulpit and take what they say as truth, or do we search the Scriptures to verify for ourselves? Do we use these weekly teachings as a springboard to dive deeper into God’s Word? Do we study and follow God’s leading to wherever it may go, or do we only rely on human teachers to tell us what we need to know?

In other words, do you hunger to know the truth of God’s Word?

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
(Psalms 34:8a (NIV))

If you truly hunger for God’s Word, an hour every Sunday will not satisfy that appetite. It will become a craving that can only be satisfied by spending more and more time in the presence of the Lord and in His Word. You will find yourself doing what the Bereans did. You will read and study and cross reference and pray and take notes and then start all over again as you discover a new truth that the Lord has waiting for you!

A little over twenty years ago, I was working from home. I have multiple computers on my desk and this particular day found me with only one computer actually turned on. Imagine my surprise when the second computer just turned on and a web browser opened up and loaded a site with what they claimed was over 30,000 pages of Bible prophecy and proof that the Bible was true. The site was put together by an atheist who set out to prove that the Bible wasn’t true. By the time that he finished his research, he was no longer an atheist. I spent the rest of that day and several others following his study and his proof. I was a good Berean and verified for myself as I read what he wrote. Ever since that day, which still gives me chills when I think about it, I have found myself digging deeper than I ever thought I would. I read books and watch videos and verify as I go. I have a physical Bible, but I have come to rely on a Bible software that allows me to cross reference every single translation that there is. At present, I am drawn to read from the 1599 Geneva Bible translation, even with the 420 year old spellings.

I am not saying this to brag, but to use as an example of how once we taste and see that the Lord is good, we should desire more and more of Him. How can we truly know the Lord if our only exposure to Him is through the words of someone else? Think about that for a moment. Think about Paul and his testimony of being the perfect Jew before his Damascus Road experience. The Bereans probably knew of Paul’s history, yet they chose to not simply believe what he told them. They eagerly studied and verified for themselves!

Do you possess the eagerness of the Bereans?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 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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