Are you ready to decrease?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

He must increase, but I must decrease.
(John 3:30 (NKJV))

Humanity has spent all of history with an attitude that is exactly opposite of what John proclaimed!

It is our sinful, fallen human nature that wants to be elevated. We want to increase no matter the cost.

We all want the biggest house, the fanciest car, the best looking spouse, the most prestigious job, the biggest income, and the adulation of those whom we have stepped on in the process of attaining these things. Now, multiply that attitude by the number of people who are alive today. Perhaps we should even multiply that attitude by the number of people who have ever lived, and you then have the current condition of the human heart and the world in which we live.

The first time that I saw the movie Jesus Revolution, there probably wasn’t a single moment after the movie started that I didn’t find myself with involuntary tears. Tonight, my wife and I started watching it again on one of the streaming services, and the results were the same. As humanity, we long for something greater than us, yet, we still fail to relinquish our desires and our priorities in order embrace what has been there all along. We are too proud to realize that humility is what is needed. We have tried to be the masters of our own destiny, and we have failed miserably!

James said the same thing, but with different words.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
(James 4:10 (NIV))

If you have been paying any attention to the world of the last several years, you know that we are on a worldly path that many believe will end in war. In fact, we are seeing wars and rumors of wars in the daily headlines. We are seeing nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. We are seeing Israel under attack, and we are seeing so much more that is transpiring right in front of us. To put it simply, people are too focused on what they want for themselves, or for the groups that they identify with. They are adamant about being right. They are adamant about increasing their holdings, their status, and their power.

I love how Jesus addressed this when He walked the earth.

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
(Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV))

This reminds me of a saying that you may be familiar with.

Humility doesn’t mean that you think less of yourself. It means that you think of yourself less. In other words, we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. In order for this to truly happen, we need to shift our priorities. We need to seek for Jesus to increase in our lives so that we will decrease. We need to empty ourselves so that there is room for Jesus.

With that said, I have one simple question that I want you to honestly answer.

Are you ready to decrease?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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That is my prayer for each of us, including myself!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalms 139:23-24 (NIV))

As I read this passage, I had to stop and pray that my desires are the same as the ones professed by the Psalmist.

It is so easy to simply give “lip service” to God professing to desire what He desires for us. All too often, even under the best of intentions, we get carried away by the ways of the world and we simply forget to seek God in an earnest and sincere way. We get so involved in the daily details that are trivial in nature that we forget to seek after the things in our lives that are eternal in nature.

One hundred years from now, will it matter if you got that promotion at work? Will it matter if you were a member of that elite club that you just have to be a part of? Will it matter if your house is the biggest one in town?

There is only one thing that will matter in one hundred years!

I don’t want anyone to look back and realize that the one thing that truly mattered, they overlooked.

What is that one thing?

It can literally change your perspective on eternity.

Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Have you earnestly sought after God’s own heart and realized that He is leading you to the saving grace that is only yours through the atoning blood of Jesus? That is the way that is everlasting. Allow God to search you and to lead you to the saving grace that He has freely given to all who will simply receive.

For those who have accepted this grace, allow God to search your heart and lead you away from any offensive way. That is my prayer for each of us, including myself!

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What does the Lord do with you?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
(Psalms 145:20 (NIV))

It is said that your life is defined by your choices!

Think about that in context to the following and see if you don’t agree.

Who you date and who you marry.

If you go to school and where you go to school.

The things that you love to do and the things that you do to earn a living.

How you see the world and how the world sees you.

If you have children or if you don’t.

If you got that promotion or if you quit your job.

I could go on and on about the choices that we all face and how each choice impacts our life far beyond what we could possibly imagine at that moment. Think about the choices that you have made in your life. Your life, as it is, is a direct result of your choices with each choice taking you down a path that is completely different from the one if you had only chosen differently. With that in mind, it is often said that life is a journey. You never truly know where you will go in life until you are there. Some people try to control that journey by making choices that they feel are the ones that will lead to wealth and power only find themselves alone and miserable. Others will make choices in life based on friendship and love only to find themselves surrounded by people who love them deeply no matter what they may have of value in this world.

I realize that I have avoided the biggest choice that anyone can make in this life, and that is the choice you make about the Lord.

To put it simply, the choice you make about who you say He is will impact you for all eternity. He is waiting with open arms to embrace you and to show you such grace and mercy, but you have to accept it. You have to claim it. You have to love the truth and love the Lord. You have to proclaim it! If this is your choice, then the Lord will watch over you. Sadly, you must be prepared for horrible consequences if you do not, for we are told what will happen to all who do not profess that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords and their personal Lord and Savior!

What does the Lord do with you?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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