You are His work in process!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 1:6 (NIV))

Is there anything that you have ever done that you did perfectly the very first time that you did it?

Let me ask a different question that poses a very similar type of response.

If you undertake something significant, do you finish it instantly? If you decide to learn how to play piano, do you sit down and immediately play the most beautiful and intricate composition ever? If you decide to learn how to draw and paint, do you immediately produce a work comparable to the Mona Lisa? If you choose to pursue a certain profession, do you simply open up a business saying that you are what you decided you were that morning?

Everything takes time!

In fact, there is a phrase that fits this quite well. Your piano playing capabilities are a work in process. Your artistic skills are a work in process. You professional skills are a work in process. You will never reach the full potential unless you stay actively in pursuit of the desired goal.

Why do we think that our spiritual walk of faith will not be a work in process?

Is your faith the same as the first day that you made that profession in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Is your knowledge of God’s Word the same as it was the very first time that you picked up a Bible? Is your outlook on sin the same as it was before you asked Jesus to save you from your sins?

Life is a learning process. Faith is a learning process. This learning process will see you walk through many things in your life with the hopeful outcome being one of maturity in your faith, maturity in your relationship with Jesus, and maturity in your daily walk with the Lord. Faith is often referred to a a journey. Did the disciples have the faith to take the Gospel into all the world when they first met Jesus? Did Paul know how to reach the Gentiles immediately after his Damascus Road experience? Even these people whom we look to as pillars of the faith did not start that way, but they were lead to maturity by the loving hand of the Lord and guided by the Holy Spirit.

Today, as we live our lives, we are being matured in our faith. When you realize that each day holds something that the Lord wants you to experience and learn, then you realize that He is not finished with you.

You are His work in process!

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you confident in your faith?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:16 (ESV))

How confident are you of your salvation?

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
(Hebrews 11:1 (NIV))

Such confidence we have through Christ before God.
(2 Corinthians 3:4 (NIV))

The early church leaders knew that we should be confident in our faith. Those who wrote these words had either seen Jesus or they knew those who had witnessed the events that we now cling to as strategic moments of faith. They had witnessed the miracles and were confident in what they saw. They had witnessed the severity of the scourging and the crucifixion and were then completely overwhelmed by the resurrection! They had witnessed the ascension and were given the promise that He would return the same way He left.

Think about that for a moment.

If you had witnessed someone beaten so badly that he was not identifiable after the beating and then they were killed by crucifixion, how confident would you be that the person was dead? If you heard that he was buried, yet was alive again, would you question your confidence in what you had witnessed? What if you met that person and he spoke to you about the things that you had done together, would you be confident that it was the same person? What if that person showed you the scars? How confident would you be that this person had died, was buried and then rose again? If you had witnessed these things first hand, you would not be able to keep quiet about what you saw and what you know. You would proclaim it with complete confidence.

That is exactly what the disciples and the early church leaders did! They were so full of confidence that they told everyone the good news of Jesus.

Sometimes I think that we, as the modern church, have lost our confidence. We read the words and we watch reenactments, but do we truly comprehend what happened? If we did, I feel that we would be doing what the disciples and the early church leaders were doing. We would be telling everyone about Jesus. I feel that we couldn’t be made to be quiet. Even the threat of persecution or death would not detract from what we boldly and confidently proclaimed.

Take a serious look at your faith. Do you believe without any doubt? Do you fully understand what you profess to believe?

Are you confident in your faith?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Is this how you wish to pray?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
(Matthew 6:7 (NIV))

Have you ever been accused of babbling?

Merriam-Webster defines babbling as idle, foolish, or nonsensical talk or chatter. When you hear someone talking in this manner, do you feel the urge to tell them to get to the point? Do you even bother to listen to the words that are being uttered. Do you zone out and nod slightly to make it look like you are listening? At times, it appears that the person who is talking simply likes the sound of their own voice. It can get annoying!

With this defined, let’s go back to my first question. Have you ever been accused of babbling? Better yet, have you ever approached the throne room of God in prayer only to babble on and on simply because you were too afraid to ask the Lord for what you seek in a bold and confident manner? Perhaps you found yourself babbling because you knew deep down that your motives for what you ask were wrong.

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
(James 4:3 (NIV))

Human nature is a funny thing. We think that we can hide what we truly desire and the motives for that desire, but our actions give us away. Simply think about the many times when you were a child where you approached your parents to ask for something. You had probably made up a story that wasn’t quite true and you talked and talked and talked hoping that your words would be convincing. Your parents knew. Now, think about this from God’s perspective. He knows our hearts. He knows the true desires and the true motives that we try to hide from public display when we try using a constant barrage of words.

We put up a facade! We try to convince ourselves and others that our motives are noble when they are simply self-serving.

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”
(James 4:6 (NIV))

Humility doesn’t have anything to say. Humility is quiet and unassuming. When we put on humility, we simply surrender to the Lord and fully rely upon His mercy and grace. We surrender our motives and embrace His motives. We put self aside and when we do this, our words don’t matter. What matters is our heart!

Is this how you wish to pray?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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We must confidently cling to Jesus!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
(Hebrews 10:35-36 (NIV))

Do you think of yourself as a confident person? Does this confidence extend to your hope and trust in Jesus?

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
(Hebrews 11:1 (NIV))

In other words, do you think that your faith is solid? Are you still standing firm on the solid rock that is Jesus Christ?

With everything that the world has gone through, are you still able to proclaim your confidence and your faith in Jesus? I don’t profess to know everyone’s situation, but as for me, this year has been strange. Everyone in my family has faced something way beyond the ordinary from college classes from home, to quarantining, and even to a confirmed case. I see families that have been devastated. Unfortunately, I have seen lives lost. I have seen social unrest and violence that just doesn’t make sense. I have seen calls for the police to be defunded and then the very same people are complaining when no one responds to a 911 call. I have seen wars and rumors of wars, and perhaps the single most interesting thing that I have seen is a peace treaty between Israel and several Arab nations. On the surface, the peace treaty sounds wonderful, but, have you read anything about a peace treaty just like this in the Bible?

There is so much going on in the world. If you are not firmly rooted in God’s Word and understand God’s ultimate plan, then your confidence and faith can be seriously impacted. Your outlook is based on the events of the world from a human perspective and not from God’s perspective as laid out in His Word. If you are firmly rooted in God’s Word, then you understand that when you see these things unfolding, you will know exactly what to do.

There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
(Luke 21:25-28 (NIV))

I realize that there is some disagreement on these events, but lets take them at face value. There have been signs with eclipses, blood moons and what many are calling the Revelation 12 sign. In addition, we are seeing earth “near-misses” being reported and predicted. Nations are in anguish. People groups are in anguish. This year has seen more hurricanes than I can remember in one season, and it has just started. The only thing that I see that hasn’t come at us full force is the shaking of the heavenly bodies. Is it time to look up?

We have two basic reactions. We can look at the world and panic, or we can look at the world from a Biblical perspective no matter what we may face and faithfully and confidently proclaim that Jesus is Lord!

We must confidently cling to Jesus!

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Who do you say that Jesus is?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
(Matthew 16:15-16 (NIV))

What about you?

Have you truly given thought to the question that Jesus asked Peter? Have you proclaimed your answer? Where you confident in your proclamation?

If the time comes that proclaiming an answer like Peter’s answer means that you will be killed, will you still boldly proclaim that Jesus is the Son of the living God?

My heart is heavy. I pray for those who have not, nor will not, proclaim that Jesus is their Lord and Savior. I suppose that having a heart after God’s heart means that your heart breaks when you see people who simply refuse to repent. All they have to do is accept the grace and mercy that is theirs through Jesus. Even without the current state of the world, we are not promised tomorrow. Our worldly existence could end with the very next heartbeat. If that were to be the case, are you confident of your eternal destination?

It is simple. It is a gift from God. All that we have to do is accept that gift by believing that Jesus is that gift!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
(John 3:16-18 (NIV))

What about you?

Who do you say that Jesus is?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you ready for His coming?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
(1 John 2:28 (NIV))

I want to ask a question and I pray that you will be honest with yourself in this question and all questions that I ask.

With all that is going on in the world right now, have you found yourself asking if this is an indication of the soon return of Jesus?

To be honest with you, I have seen many people who would have never posted anything about this topic before who are now asking similar questions to what I just asked. This has many people thinking about God and what He has in store for us in the coming days, weeks, months and potentially years. What are your thoughts? What worries you or scares you the most? Are you worried or do you have a peace that baffles your family and friends?

If we have professed a faith in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we should not worry. We should not fear! We should be longing for His return. We should be focused on doing all that He has called us to do and not focused on the things of this world.

If we are fearful as the events unfold before us, what does that say about our faith and trust in Jesus? If we are more concerned with thoughts such as “What will we do?”, then we should be ashamed of our lack of faith. We can look at the world and be overwhelmed and worried, or we can look at Jesus and be at peace. It is a matter of attitude and priorities. If we focus on the world, we are not focused on Jesus. We are not ready to stand before Him as one of His! If we focus on Jesus, there is nothing that can happen in this world that will sway our faith. In fact, when we focus on Jesus we are preparing for His return.

Are you ready for His coming?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
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Have you been strengthened?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
(Isaiah 41:10 (NIV))

The circumstances may have changed from when this was originally recorded but the message is still the same.

Has there ever been a generation of humanity that did not need the assurance that is spoken in these words? Israel had Babylon. Skipping ahead to more recent times, the whole world had World War I and World War II. We have had terrorists and now we have a worldwide pandemic brought about by an enemy so small that it can’t be seen. We are told to not even get close to each other out of fear of spreading this contagion. It’s as if the enemy is trying harder and harder to make all of creation fear the glory of God’s creation. Now, just as it was all throughout history, humanity has faced things in this world that bring fear, but just as we were told in Isaiah, we have nothing to fear!

God had chosen the nation of Israel to bring forth His greatest promise. The enemy did all that he could to prevent that. Israel faced slavery in Egypt. Israel faced captivity by Babylon. They faced occupation by Roman armies. Even through all of this, and much more, God’s greatest promise, a savior, was fulfilled in Jesus. All along the way, God raised up individuals whom He used to remind the people to keep their eyes on Him, not to be afraid and to be confident of His strength. We are no different today. God is still raising up individuals to remind us of His promises and to not be afraid no matter what the enemy may send our way.

Right now, the enemy is working overtime. He knows that his time is short. He is doing all that he can to set the stage for his unholy trinity of the false prophet, the antichrist and himself. If you have professed a faith in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, then you have nothing to fear from what the world or the enemy may send your way. Through Jesus, we have been promised salvation from an eternity in hell and promised an eternal home in heaven with God the Father.

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
(2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV))

If we can count on all of God’s promises being fulfilled, why should we fear anything that the world or the enemy may send our way? When we begin to grow fearful, we must remember that the Lord of all creation has told us do not fear! This single fact should be enough to give us strength!

Have you been strengthened?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Jesus is far greater than our troubles!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
(John 16:33 (NIV))

Is it just me, or do you feel that it is impossible to make it through a single day without having some kind of trouble?

I realize that some troubles appear negligible in our eyes because we have become so used to facing them that we completely ignore them when they do happen. Do you even consider those to be real troubles? On a scale of zero to ten, at what point do you consider a measurable trouble to begin? At what point do you consider a life-changing trouble to begin? At what point do you consider a life-ending as we know it type of trouble to begin?

I have one more question that I want to ask you in relationship to your answers to the previous questions above.

At what point do you turn to Jesus?

Do you wait until your problems have hit the life-changing point? Perhaps you are one of those individuals who are adamant that you can do things on your own and only turn to Jesus when you encounter what could be a life-ending trouble? Perhaps you are on the opposite end of the spectrum and turn to Jesus when something happens like a flat tire. No matter when you choose to turn to Jesus, it isn’t soon enough! As members of the Body of Christ, we should be walking with Jesus in all things and not just the troubles. We should be so confident in our relationship with Jesus that we are able to laugh with Him and to cry with Him. We should be able to ask, “Jesus, what do I do?” at any time, day or night, in times of plenty or in times of need, in time of good and in times of trouble. We must come to the realization that all of our troubles combined with all of the troubles of everyone who has ever lived are still much smaller than the Jesus that we can claim as our Lord and Savior, after all, one thing is true!

Jesus is far greater than our troubles!

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Do you long for the day of completion?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 1:3-6 (NIV))

Isn’t it wonderful how we can come to Jesus just as we are and He accepts us in all of our rags? What is even more wonderful is that once we come to Jesus, He does not leave us in our rags. He begins to work within us and turn us into what God had intended for us to be all along.

We are not completed works. We are works in progress. We are not the same as we were the day we accepted Jesus as our Savior, and we are not the same today as we will be when we stand before the throne. We are constantly being changed into the image of Christ.

In this world, we will not be able to be completed due to the nature of sin. But when we stand before God, through the redemptive and cleansing power of Jesus’ blood, we will be completed.

God does not do anything only half way. He gave us a way to salvation through Jesus Christ, and He also gave us a way to be completed in His image.

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
(Genesis 1:27)

God created us in His image from the beginning. It was the introduction of sin into the world that corrupted that image. Through Jesus Christ, we again have the potential to be created in his own image.

When you look into the mirror, whose image do you see? Do you long for the day of completion?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you confident and assured?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
(Hebrews 11:1 (NIV))

I find it ironic that the world loves people who are confident and assured, but the world hates people who profess a faith in Jesus!

I know that I have referenced this old song before, but the world loves the “I did it my way” type of mentality. In fact, if you look at the current societal philosophy that states tolerance and acceptance of every way of life, then you quickly see that whatever an individual chooses to do is supposed to be acceptable and God’s Word is not tolerated. The world applauds confidence and assurance when it is placed within yourself and abhors it when it is placed in a higher authority. I don’t know how much more we can slide down the slippery slope, but I feel that society is becoming more and more rebellious. Society is increasingly looking inward to find what is right instead of looking upward to find what is right.

How many people do you think have ever lived since creation? In all of human history, what has been the results of those individuals who were narcissistic enough to have the confidence and assurance that they knew better than everyone else on how to rule? From the very beginning of time, people have placed confidence and assurance in themselves for various reasons. From the very beginning of time, we have these very same individuals either killing or being killed because of their misplaced confidence in themselves.

We don’t even deserve to be able to have confidence in ourselves!

A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.
(Proverbs 21:2 (NIV))

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
(Romans 3:23 (NIV))

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23 (NIV))

How can we, as a fallen sinful creation, have confidence in ourselves when all that we have ever done has earned us death?

There is only one thing that we can be confident of!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16 (NIV))

I am confident in the hope that we have in Jesus! I am assured that my Lord and Savior lives!

Are you confident and assured?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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