June 6, 2019
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living
“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
(Acts 2:36-47 (NIV))
The early church did not have the ability to look back into history and see what Jesus had done. They didn’t need it! Many of the people who came to be believers in this time had seen Jesus perform the miracles and had heard Him teach. They had seen Him crucified and had seen Him resurrected. Those who did not see all these things happen, knew of them. They also had the eye-witness accounts of the disciples who had been with Jesus during all of this. No matter how they knew of Jesus, they knew that He is Lord and Savior of all Creation. They fervently praised God and prayed for what they knew comes from these actions.
Have the centuries dulled our intensity? Have they caused us to be less than our brothers and sisters from the early church? We have more evidence today that all of these things happened. Historical records besides the New Testament verify many of the accounts of Jesus’ life. Have we grown complacent in our faith? Take a serious look at your life and priorities. Can you say that you devote yourself to Jesus’ teachings and fellowship with other believers?
Has your faith stayed strong?
Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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a strong faith, according to your faith, be strong in the Lord, build your faith, do you have faith, faith, faith can move mountains, faith in God, faith in Jesus, Godly priorities, it is a matter of priorities, priorities, stay strong, stay strong in the Lord, strong faith, Uncategorized, what are your priorities | Tagged: apostles, assured, awe, baptized, Be still, believers, bread, breaking, broke, centuries, Christ, church, complacent, corrupt, crucified, devoted, dulled, early, enjoying, faith, favor, fellowship, filled, Forgiveness, gave, generation, gift, God, grown, Holy Spirit, intensity, Israel, Jesus, Lord, miraculous, New Testament, priorities, promise, pryaeer, receive, repent, save, signs, sins, stayed, strong, teaching, wonders | 
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Posted by dailylivingministries
April 10, 2019
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
(Revelation 3:6 (NIV))
Have you been hearing some strange things lately?
That may sound like a very unusual question, but if you love the world, your hearing may be dulled. You may not be in-tune to what the Spirit is saying during these times in which we live. Logically, the next thing that needs to be brought up is another question.
Do you believe that the Spirit of God is saying anything to the churches today?
Do you hear the Spirit saying that the world is calling good, evil and evil is being called good?
Do you hear the Spirit saying that people have become lovers of self?
Do you hear the Spirit saying that you have left your first love or that you have become lukewarm?
Ouch!
It hurts when you ask things like this of yourself, but this is where the Spirit works. God calls us as individuals. He looks at our sins as individuals. He looks at our hearts as individuals, but when you are associated with others who are like-minded in sin, then the Spirit speaks differently. Just as He spoke to the seven churches as groups, the Spirit is speaking to us today as groups. He is also speaking to us as individuals. We must hear the Spirit and learn to respond to the Spirit. He may be calling us as individuals out of an existing situation into a new situation and direction if we can only hear what the Spirit is saying. The Spirit is trying to lead if we could and would only listen.
Are you able to hear?
Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Posted by dailylivingministries
Daily Living Ministries 