Does Jesus offend you?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?
(John 6:61 (NIV))

We try to ignore this passage, this question, but it is something that each of us must answer.

There are many things that Jesus taught that are labeled as “hard teachings.” These are things that make us stop and truly examine our faith. All of these “hard sayings” are truths taken out of God’s Word. They make us feel uncomfortable. They may even make us feel like walking away, but we must realize that if we walk away from these “hard sayings,” then we walk away from Jesus.

We cannot separate Jesus from the things that He taught!

They are one and the same!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
(John 1:1-5 (NIV))

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14 (NIV))

Jesus is the Word made flesh. If there are things that He says that offend you, then you are offended by Jesus.

I want you to take a long, hard look at your life and truthfully answer one question. Your answer may have eternal ramifications.

Does Jesus offend you?

Copyright 1998 – 2024 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Do you imitate your Father?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
(Luke 6:36 (NIV))

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

With that in mind, who do you flatter with your actions? Who do you flatter with your words, and who do you flatter with your thoughts?

Do you imitate the flesh or do you imitate the Father?

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
(Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV))

These characteristics do not sound very appealing. In fact, they sound sinful in nature. Is that what you imitate, or do you strive to imitate characteristics that are more loving and flattering to the Lord?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
(Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV))

We have a choice to make. We can imitate the things of this sinful, fallen world, or we can imitate the things of a loving and righteous Father.

It is your choice who you imitate.

Do you imitate your Father?

Copyright 1998 – 2024 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Have you had your heart transplant?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
(Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV))

Does the world leave you feeling heavy and burdened? Has it made you so cynical that you automatically find the worst in everything?

It is so easy to let your heart be hardened. It is so easy to simply give up on the things that God desires. It is so easy to shut yourself off to such an extent that you become helpless, hopeless and lost.

Does this sound too familiar?

I will let you in on a little secret. It is also so easy to overcome this hardened heart. It is so easy to overcome the feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and being lost.

It just takes a different point of view. It takes seeing the world, and your situation, through the eyes of Jesus.

“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))

Do you want a change of heart?

Do you long to overcome your hard heart and the cynical nature that this world makes us feel?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
(2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV))

Do you want to be a new creation? It’s as simple as ABC.

A is for admit that you are a sinner in need of a savior.

B is for believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Him from the dead.

C is for call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.

You will find yourself with a new perspective, a new attitude and a new heart!

Have you had your heart transplant?

Copyright 1998 – 2024 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you prepared for no more business as usual?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:
(Philippians 3:4b (NIV))

Paul was what you could probably describe as an elite Jew. He could boast of being a Hebrew of Hebrews, He was a Pharisee, and he was zealous for the Torah. Still, he found himself in misguided beliefs. Paul learned a valuable lesson on the Road to Damascus.

It is not credentials.

It is not your resume.

It is not you family lineage.

It is not what others think of you.

It is not how many people look up to you!

It is not how may people attend your church.

This is a lesson that Paul not only learned. He taught from this valuable insight. He used his background to acknowledge that there is something far greater than anything that he had in the physical, and far greater than anything that we could have.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
(Philippians 3:7-9 (NIV))

Paul learned what Samuel had learned when the Lord directed him to anoint David as king.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
(1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV))

Our society has fallen prey to the outward appearances trap once again. We even do this in our churches. We seek preaching that tickles our ears. We seek preaching that is shrouded in a flashy stage presence. What happens when the enemy makes church assembly against the law? You can’t turn to the feel good preachers who spoon feed you small morsels of God’s Word. You will have to turn to God’s Word and immerse yourself into the very thing that will give you hope! Are you prepared to realize that things are about to change?

Are you prepared for no more business as usual?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you believe that Jesus is God’s Word made flesh?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

All your words are true;
     all your righteous laws are eternal.
(Psalms 119:160 (NIV))

Did the Psalmist know the truth of these words when he was given them to write down?

Think about that verse and this question in relationship to this passage recorded several hundred years later.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(John 1:1 (NIV))

In essence, God is true!

Now, let’s take that one step further and take a look at what we know to be true about Jesus!

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14 (NIV))

I am sure that I am going to make someone who isn’t a believer very upset with my next logical conclusion. It is based on the concept that if A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C. In this case, all God’s words equal true. Jesus equals God’s Word made flesh, therefore Jesus is true!

I realize that this is oversimplifying the lordship of Jesus, but we are told to keep thinks simple. We are not to twist His Word. We are to share the Gospel in God’s simple plan of salvation.

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))

It is a simple matter of faith.

Do you believe in the truth?

Do you believe that Jesus is God’s Word made flesh?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Have you accepted the complete truth of God’s Word?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(John 1:1 (NIV))

If you ever need to remind yourself of the power and authority that is only found in the name of Jesus, this passage tells it clearly! Just in case you need clarification, the following passage puts it into perspective!

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14 (NIV))

Jesus is the Word made flesh!

Jesus was with God in the beginning!

Jesus is the very Word of God!

Jesus is His glory! Jesus is the one and only Son who came from the Father.

Do you believe this?

Now is the time to profess your faith in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Now is the time to turn to God in repentance and approach Him professing your belief before it is too late! Don’t be like the people in the days of Noah. Don’t love your sin so much that you are treated like the people in the days of Lot.

If you profess a faith in Jesus, then you have accepted His authority. Have you also accepted His prophetic word about what is coming upon this sinful, fallen world? You can’t only accept grace. You must also accept the truth of all that has been taught.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
(2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV))

We can’t pick and choose! We can’t only believe what we want. All of God’s Word is true and all of God’s Word will come to pass.

Have you accepted the complete truth of God’s Word?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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How are you at balancing grace and truth?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14 (NIV))

I heard something today that made me stop and think that we often fall to the extremes of grace and truth without accomplishing what Jesus would want us to accomplish!

If we take grace to the wrong extreme, we accept anything even if it is a sin. We see this running through our society today to the point where any perversion is being accepted because that is the way that they were made. We even see churches promoting this as an acceptable lifestyle in the eyes of God.

If we take truth to the wrong extreme, we condemn the sinner in the very same actions and words that we use to condemn the sin. This approach only results in the sinner being convinced that they want nothing to do with Jesus.

Neither of these approaches is how Jesus lived His life while on the earth. Contrary to what society thinks, He did not offer grace without repentance. He did not condemn the sinner because of their sin. He called people to turn from their sin and follow Him. He did these things out of love. He loves each of us and does not wish for any to perish, for the wages of sin is death. He calls each person out of love. Only when people, such as the Pharisees, responded out of selfish, power hungry desires that led others astray did He respond any differently.

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
(Matthew 23:33 (NIV))

We are to remember the old saying that we are to love the sinner and hate the sin. Too many people just can’t seem to keep these two separated in their minds. Still, we must take His words to heart and learn how to love the sinner and hate the sin. We must be able to know sin, which God hates, and then we must be able to separate the sin from the person whom God loves. We must present the Gospel in such a way that it reflects Jesus in all that we do. After all, when Jesus walked this earth, He did not yell at people for being sinners. He loved them and taught them that there is a better way, a way that leads to life! We must balance our lives just as Jesus told His disciples.

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
(Matthew 10:16 (NIV))

It is a fine line that we must walk. It requires that we keep our eyes on Jesus when we share His grace and His truth. We simply can’t offer grace without repentance. We simply can’t hammer home His truth without showing His love. Human nature is rebellious. If you tell someone that they are wrong, they will fight. If you lovingly show someone that there is a better way, they will respond.

How are you at balancing grace and truth?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Have you given up the indulgences of the flesh?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
(Galatians 5:13 (NIV))

Do you still indulge in your past sins?

If you have professed a faith in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, what does your answer say about your faith?

By professing a faith in Jesus, you have admitted that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, but that does not mean that we can continue in our sin. Think of this in comparison to the relationship of a husband and wife. What happens when one spouse commits adultery and the other spouse forgives them? Does that forgiveness give the one who strayed in the relationship permission to do it again? If you answered that it does not, then why do those who profess a faith in Jesus do what we all agree should not happen?

We are told that the Blood of Jesus washes away all of our sins and that we are made white as snow through the cleansing blood of the Lamb. I love this amazing fact, this amazing gift of grace! I also love that if we truly seek His face, we are forgiven. If we repent, we are forgiven. It is a matter of attitude. We must desire to change. We must desire to repent daily and follow Jesus, but we are told that we are not to continue to deliberately choose to sin. We are to focus on Jesus and when we focus on Jesus, the sin that we have indulged our fleshly nature with soon becomes non-desirable and eventually nonexistent.

But, we can’t do it on our own. We must rely on Jesus every single moment of every single day of our lives!

There is a saying that each of us has a God-shaped hole that we try to fill with anything and everything that a human heart and a human mind can conceive. When we indulge the flesh, we attempt to fill that hole with the conceptions of our sinful nature. When we choose to serve one another humbly in love and obedience to Jesus, we indulge the righteousness that we are called to emulate. We choose to fill that God-shaped hole with what God intended.

It comes down to a personal choice.

What choices do you make on a daily basis?

Have you given up the indulgences of the flesh?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What’s on your mind?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
(Romans 8:6-7 (NIV))

Two very distinct examples of what awaits us if we continue to let the flesh rule our minds.

We are told in Galatians what we face, what we will see as the characteristics of the mind governed by the flesh, and they are not pretty.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
(Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV))

Do you see these characteristics in your life?

If so, what does that say about the things that control your mind? What does that say about the actions that we must take?

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
(2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV))

When we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we have accepted the grace that is freely given, but we have also accepted the fact that our lives are not supposed to be the same as before we accepted Jesus. We are to relinquish the things of this world, the things of the flesh, and focus on the things of God. We are to strive, with His help, to replace the acts of the flesh with things of the Spirit. We are to bear good fruit according to His purpose.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
(Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV))

We are to make a daily decision to have our minds governed by the fruit of the Spirit.

I realize that we are born sinners and that we live in a sinful, fallen world, but the decision is ours. We have been told that we will face troubles in this world, but we are to focus on Jesus, for He has overcome the world. We are to fill our minds with things of God and not things of this world. You will be surprised at what can and will happen in your life when this becomes your priority. It all starts with what you think about!

What’s on your mind?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you kind, compassionate and forgiving?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
(Ephesians 4:32 (NIV))

We are called to be kind, compassionate and forgiving!

So, just how hard can this be?

The last time that I looked, these characteristics go against anything and everything that we call human nature. They go against the very desires of the flesh that makes up our physical existence.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
(Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV))

We are called to be kind, compassionate and forgiving, yet our very flesh is doing all that it can to keep us from this calling. Our flesh calls us to focus on three individuals, me, myself and I. We must learn to desire the characteristics that God desires for each of us to possess. We must learn to shift our focus to others and learn how to see others as God sees them.

We must learn to shift our focus from the physical to the spiritual!

We must learn to shift our focus from ourselves to others!

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
(Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV))

When you focus on what God desires for you, then you start to change from the inside out. You no longer see the world from the perspective of what’s in it for me. Rather, you start to see the world from the vantage point that we are all in the very same sinking ship. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. When this happens, you see in others what you know was at one point in you. You begin to see, and understand, that no one can do for themselves what Jesus has done for you. You realize that in order for them to be shown this great love, you must be the hands and feet of Jesus. You must share with them what was once shared with you. In essence, you need to show kindness. You need to show compassion, and you need to show forgiveness. It will be these characteristics that draw people to you. It will be these characteristics that allow you to show them Jesus.

Are you kind, compassionate and forgiving?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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