Are you prepared?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

The days of punishment are coming,
      the days of reckoning are at hand.
      Let Israel know this.
Because your sins are so many
      and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,
      the inspired person a maniac.
(Hosea 9:7 (NIV))

These words were written to and about Israel long ago, but do you see anything in them that is true today?

Let me rephrase that general question into a few distinct questions.

When you look at the things that are going on in this country and in the world, are you overcome with the vast number of ways that humanity has found to sin against God? We take innocent life and call it choice. We take all the things that God has called a sin and an abomination and call it good. Anyone who points out that the world is going against God is ridiculed, chastised and labeled an old-fashioned fool. Anyone who speaks about Jesus as the only begotten Son of God and the only way to get to the Father is labeled a bigot and a lunatic. Do I need to go any further? Do you see these things happening more frequently or are you looking at the world through blinded eyes?

If Israel was warned of days of punishment coming for doing these things, where does that leave today’s society and world?

You may call me a fool and a maniac, but I need to ask more questions. I will say that many people are thinking about the world in its current state, for I am seeing many people who are posting Bible verses, ideas on how to love our neighbors, and even very strongly worded instructions to pray for God to protect His people. With this in mind, I want you to seriously think about your answers to the questions that are probably already lingering in your thoughts and hopefully your prayers.

Are you following God’s Word and have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?

Does it break your heart to see the things that go against God’s Word?

Is it possible that everything is coming to pass just as God has foretold?

Is it possible that we are too blinded by the world to truly recognize what is in front of our eyes?

Would you recognize unfolding events as part of God’s plan?

Do you believe that God will punish His creation for their sinful nature?

Do you believe that the world is becoming more engrossed in sin?

Sadly, most of us go about our daily lives with no thought about what is going on around us. We need to open our eyes. We need to be aware of the times and our surroundings. We need to wrap ourselves in God’s Word. We need to wrap ourselves in God’s love by accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. We need to embrace the truth that God has a timeline and it is drawing close to His fulfillment of that timeline. We must be prepared to be called a fool for Jesus and a maniac for God.

Are you prepared?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Don’t lower your standards!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.
(1 Corinthians 3:18-19A (NIV))

What standards do you live by?

There is the standard that God has set for us that He longs for us to follow and then there is the standard that the world sets.

The world says that truth is relative and that if it feels good, do it. The world says that no one else matters. Life is about getting all that you can get no matter what you have to do to get it. If we follow that philosophy, then we play right into the lies of the enemy. We become foolish in the eyes of God, for we have literally traded gold for ashes.

Have you ever felt like a fool?

What made you feel that way? Who do you think felt that way about you?

Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and felt that you are foolish in the eyes of man? Have you ever looked in the Bible and felt that you are foolish in the eyes of God? Have you ever looked at yourself in relation to the world and felt that the world sees you as foolish because of your faith in God?

There is a question that asks if you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? The way that the world is going, people who profess a faith in Jesus are coming under persecution. The world looks upon us as foolish. Would you be convicted of being a fool for Jesus?

God has set a higher standard than the one the world has set. Some call it foolishness, but I call it wisdom.

Don’t lower your standards!

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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