Have you allowed yourself to be cleansed?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
(Psalms 51:1-2 (NIV))

Everyone desires mercy, but not everyone wants to be cleansed of the reason that they desire mercy!

Think about that in relationship to your own life. We all have something that we know that we shouldn’t do, but we do it anyway. We ask for forgiveness when someone brings it up, but do we truly desire to have this characteristic removed from our lives? Do we truly desire to be cleansed of what we continually ask for mercy for?

For some people, these traits are simply things that annoy those we love. We do them over and over again until someone says something and then we apologize by uttering a “Forgive me! I’m sorry!” For others, these traits are something much worse. They are so ingrained into our sinful nature that we do things that we know aren’t right by any stretch of the imagination. We know that our sins are forgiven and that we have been washed clean by the Blood of the Lamb, but we fail to do the one thing that will give us true freedom. We fail to do the one thing that the Lord desires for us to do.

We fail to surrender!

We fail to let go of our sins. We cling tightly to them even though we claim that we have left them at the foot of the cross. It’s just like old things that we have collected. We know that we should get rid of them, so we pack them up and take them away to be discarded. Far too many of us change our minds along the way. Why do we bring them back into our lives once we have gone through the motions? I often think that we are afraid of what our lives would be without these things. The fear of change keeps us from breaking free. Are we afraid of truly leaving our sins at the foot of the cross? Do we truly repent if we pick them back up? Jesus understood that we may desire to do what is right, but we face obstacles within ourselves. Jesus understands the human condition! He has walked where we walk.

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
(Matthew 26:41 (NIV))

If you read Psalm 51 as a response to the words recorded in Matthew, they can and should be taken as a prayer that every believer presents to God when they are confronted with the sinful nature of the flesh. We should all desire to be cleansed. In order to be cleansed, we have to submit. We have to seek it. We have to allow God to cleanse us.

Have you allowed yourself to be cleansed?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What do your words and actions show?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
(1 John 3:18-20 (NIV))

The old saying that actions speak louder than words is definitely true.

Words are cheap. What is in a person’s heart is what he or she will do. Our actions will show the world that we are bought by the Blood of the Lamb, not our words. Words can be deceiving, and even appear to be the truth. Satan comes disguising his words and they may appear to be truth, yet, when his actions are judged, he is the father of all lies.

Let your hearts focus on Jesus Christ and allow God to work through you by the power of the Holy Spirit, and then your actions will truly represent what is in your heart.

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What have you read today?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

He must always keep this copy of the law with him and read it daily as long as he lives.
(Deuteronomy 17:19 (NLT))

We have been told to keep God’s Word in our hearts and in our lives since the beginning of creation. God’s Word has been classified into several different categories, one of which is the Law. The Law tells us how we are to live. We are to read it daily for we live our lives daily. We need the guidance that the Law provides to us.

Some people believe that because Jesus came to die for our sins, we are free from the Law. They believe that the grace and mercy that He brought keeps us from needing to live be the righteous statutes that it conveys. They feel that they can do whatever they want because they are forgiven; that they are covered by the Blood of the Lamb.

Jesus, Himself, put this belief to a very sound resolution.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
(Matthew 5:17 (NIV))

Just because God’s Word may come from what we call the Old Testament does not mean that it is to be ignored because Jesus saved us from the Law. He did save us from the Law, but He did not save us to blatantly ignore the Law. We are to keep God’s commands because Jesus kept His commands. Jesus fulfilled every single one of them. We, as believers, are destined to be matured into the very image of Jesus. If He fulfilled them, then we should also.

What have you read today?

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you walking with Jesus?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
(Amos 3:3 (NIV))

Life is too short to spend time with people who do not agree with you!

That sounds like a worldly philosophy, but consider that what we are talking about agreeing upon is a firm foundation in Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. Once you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you desire to walk with others who have made that same commitment.

Can you honestly say that you would walk with someone who has made a commitment to be exactly opposite of what God has called you to? Would you associate with someone who is trapped in a life of sin to the point where they are opposed to everything that you believe to be Godly and true? Would a rich man walk with a beggar if they did not have anything in common? Would an avid hunter and fisherman walk with someone who preferred to remain indoors?

What is the one thing that can bring all types of people together in a common walk? What one thing unites us all no matter how God has made us?

It is the grace and mercy that was freely given and willingly accepted as our own through the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, all believers have a common bond that unites us in our “walk” through this world. Our task on this “walk” is to invite others to join us and walk with us in agreement in the salvation that is ours only through Jesus.

How is your walk? Are you in step with other believers and walking with Jesus?

Copyright 1998 – 2013 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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