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.
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Have you truly received and believed?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
(John 1:12 (ESV))

Have you ever stopped to reflect on what this passage means to you?

It basically boils down to two very distinct words – Receive and believe.

When we hear the word “receive,” we think of something along the lines of receiving a gift. This goes well with the concept of one definition that means to come into the possession of something. However, there are other definitions that I believe are more relevant. According to Merriam-Webster, these are also valid definitions of the word “receive.”

1. To act as a receptacle or container for
2. To permit to enter
3. To accept as authoritative, true, or accurate

When you profess a faith in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you open your heart and permit Him to enter because you have accepted Him to be authoritative and true to what has been foretold in God’s Word. In other words, by you profession of faith in Jesus, you are doing more than simply receiving the amazing gift of grace! You are proclaiming so much more! This profession of faith also is a declaration that you believe what Paul wrote that this salvation, this amazing grace, is found only in the name of Jesus.

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
(Acts 4:12 (NIV))

I believe that the modern church has whitewashed the power behind professing a faith in Jesus. We tend to neglect what it means to receive. We tend to forget that the idea behind receiving Jesus is the three definitions listed above. It is not a passive activity. We have made a choice and we should stand fully ready to expect that Jesus will fill us with the power of His truth. With this in mind, I have but one thing to ask you.

Have you truly received and believed?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Do you tell others about what He has done?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
(Acts 4:19-20 (NIV))

Who is it that you desire to listen to?

Who is that you you desire to have influence your life and your eternity?

We live in a sinful, fallen world and it is so easy to listen to the things of this world especially when the things of this world can be so appealing and tantalizing.

But, there is a catch!

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

We are all condemned.

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

We can continue to listen to the world and stay condemned, or we can choose to listen to God and accept the grace freely given at the cross of Calvary. We can choose to then share the Gospel with all that we may encounter. We can choose to live our lives in repentance and willing obedience to the Creator of all things. If you have accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you have made a commitment to turn your back on the things of this world. You have made a commitment to stop listening to the worldly voices that continually tell you to rebel against God. You have made a commitment to listen for that still, small voice.

If you profess a faith in Jesus and continue to blatantly and intentionally sin, then you must take a serious look at yourself.

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
(Matthew 7:22-23 (NIV))

I don’t know about you, but this passage seems to lend itself to those who listen to the world instead of God, even when they think they know God.

Do you truly know God?

Do you tell others about what He has done?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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What have you been asking for?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
(1 John 5:14 (NIV))

Did you notice the stipulation in this passage?

All too often, people ask God for things that are from their will and not His. We are so self-centered that even when we are told to bring our concerns to the Lord, we ask as if we were the center of all creation. We ask as if God is our own personal servant whose only purpose is to fulfill our every desire. If this is how you have been approaching God, how has this been going for you?

Do you even spend time in God’s Word in search of His heart?

Do you even spend time in prayer talking to God and actually listening for His still, small voice?

How can you ask God for things that are according to His Will if you don’t even know what His Will is?

We know that God loves us. This is evident through the gift of salvation freely given through the cross. But, do we love Him in return? Do we simply give lip service to this gift and then continue to live as if we are still a part of this sinful, fallen world? Or, do we actually have a change of heart and see the world for what it is? Do we realize that the things that we had desired are now simply last grasps at the world that we say we want to leave behind?

God is not going to hear us if we ask for things of this world. God is not going to answer us if we are only being selfish in our desires.

Think about a young child in a toy store. Every other word out of their mouth is asking for the latest thing that has caught their eye. The parents know what is good and what is proper, yet the child still goes on and on about the things that they want. We are those children. The world is the toy store. God is ushering us through this world while trying to mature us enough so that what we ask for is not what is seen at every selfish turn of our heads. God is not going to give us the toy store of the world. He is going to give us things that are from Him according to His Will. He is going to give us things that will draw us closer to Him while they mature us in our faith.

God does want to bless us, but what we think of as a blessing is not how God thinks of blessings.

If you have been approaching God and you feel that He has not heard you, then you need to ask yourself one very important question.

What have you been asking for?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Do you believe in the gift of God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

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

I don’t know about you, but that is one wage that I do not want to collect, and if you don’t repent, it is one that you will collect.

I realize that this statement is rather harsh, but if you stop to think about the consequences of not repenting and accepting Jesus, then this statement is actually sugar coated.

Let me take a step back and ask one important question. What do you think of when you think of death? If you only think of the cessation of the physical body, you are missing out on the eternal aspect and consequences of your existence. Humanity is not simply a physical creature. We are not simply a temporary physical existence with a spirit and soul. We are an eternal spirit and soul with a temporary physical body. We are only passing through this world. This world is not our home! With this in mind, there is another type of death that is far worse than physical death. There is an eternal death that the enemy wants you to not know about. He will do anything that he can to make you think that it isn’t real. He wants to destroy you, both body and soul, for he hates humanity.

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
(Matthew 10:28 (NIV))

If you have never heard this in this way, it may be time to pay attention. God doesn’t want any to perish, but that decision is your. He can’t make it for you. All that He can do, and has done, is offer a way for you to escape this death. He has provided a sinless, spotless sacrifice through Jesus to take all of the sin of everyone who has ever lived. All that you have to do is accept this great gift of amazing grace!

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
(Romans 6:18 (NIV))

All that you have to do is believe!

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))

I have one more very important question to ask.

Do you believe in the gift of God?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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It is a bed fit for a king!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
(Luke 2:7 (ESV))

Everyone who professes a faith in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior knows the story of His lowly birth.

To be honest with you, I am still amazed that He stepped out of heaven to become one of us. How many kings would give up their throne? How many kings would exchange places with the least of their kingdom? How many kings would willingly walk among their people as one of them, only to willingly die so that their people might live?

God’s gift of grace is amazing. It is beyond comprehension, yet, it still happened. It all began with a single birth that the world didn’t even notice, and today, over two thousand years since that birth, that single birth has been used to divide time. It has been used to bring grace and salvation. It has also been used to bring division between those who do not believe and those who do.

Never before or since has a single birth been so crucial to all of humanity!

To those who profess a faith in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, I want to take a moment and wish you a Merry Christmas, for His birth was the beginning of God’s plan to bring about salvation. It is when our Lord stepped out of heaven and went to sleep as a baby in a manger. No bed has ever performed such an important role, for this feeding trough, this manger, became the bed for the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Have you ever thought of the manger in this manner? Have you ever given thought to how a lowly animal feeding trough became the symbol of the birth of Jesus? The manger now symbolizes new beginnings. It symbolizes grace and mercy. More importantly, it symbolizes God’s love for us.

It is a bed fit for a king!

Copyright 1998 – 2022 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Don’t you think it’s time to accept this amazing gift of grace?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
(Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV))

Do you like gifts?

I realize that I just asked a rhetorical question. Human nature seeks things that are self gratifying, so I can honestly say that I have never met anyone who hates gifts. In fact, most people love to receive gifts. Since this is part of our nature, why do so many people fail to receive the greatest gift of all?

It simply doesn’t make sense!

Thankfully, there are people who have received this amazing gift of grace and are doing all that they can to share the knowledge of this gift to all who will hear, no matter where it may lead them. As I write this, I am tracking a flight that is going half way around the world so that a group of nine men, including my youngest son, can share the Gospel with an unreached tribe in a mountainous region of a country that I don’t want to currently name. They feel called to go and share the good news in a place that is so far outside of the comfort zones of most people in this country. They are flying for two days, and then hiking for three days just to reach this group of people. They know that this gift is so great that it must be shared!

And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
(Romans 10:15 (NIV))

Do you feel that you are being sent to share this amazing gift of grace?

Let me ask another question. Have you even claimed this gift for yourself?

In most of the westernized world, there are churches everywhere. There are preachers and teachers sharing the good news. You can find Bibles in almost every hotel room and in almost every major retail store. You can turn on the television or go to a video website and watch people sharing the Gospel. You can turn on the radio and hear people proclaiming the good news, yet, so many people still turn a blind eye to the truth that can set them free from the power of sin and death. If you are one of these people, don’t wait until it is too late! If people are willing to go half way around the world for people whom they don’t know, don’t you think that there is something to this good news that you need to look at?

Don’t you think it’s time to accept this amazing gift of grace?

Copyright 1998 – 2022 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Do you desire to be still in His presence?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

“Be still, and know that I am God;
(Psalms 46:10a (NIV))

This passage begins with two of the hardest words for anyone to do, especially in today’s world.

Be still!

When was the last time that you were able to be still in this hectic world in which we live? When was the last time that you were able to be still in the midst of the chaos that permeates our lives?

The enemy has come up with so many distractions. We walk around with our eyes glued to our mobile phones. We sit in public places and ignore those around us. We live our lives as if we have to be entertained at all times. We don’t leave any time to sit in silence and listen for that still, small voice.

God is still there. He has not abandoned us. It is we who have abandoned Him. We look at our education, our jobs, our homes, and our bank accounts as what matters the most while we ignore the very thing that we truly need.

We need a relationship with God!

We have been given a way for that relationship to come to fruition, even though we are sinners who don’t deserve the love that the Father wants to give us.

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))

Have you accepted this free gift of grace and mercy?

It’s time to shut off the devices. It’s time to turn off the game. It’s time to stop concentrating on work or finances. We must learn to sit at the feet of Jesus. We must learn to listen to that still, small voice that is lovingly calling to us. We must come to the realization that God is in control and that we are not.

We must learn to be still in His presence! It is something that we must desire!

Do you desire to be still in His presence?

Copyright 1998 – 2022 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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You don’t have to stay under condemnation!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
(Romans 8:1 (NIV))

Do you like to be blamed or held accountable when things go wrong?

That is exactly what condemnation is. We are blamed and held accountable for the sins that we commit. We are all guilty. We are all sinners.

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

No descendants of Adam and Eve can escape the fate that we inherit due to the fall from grace. We are all born sinners and we inherit, we deserve, the consequences of our sins. There is none righteous on our own!

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

But, God . . .

God had another plan to redeem us, to restore us unto Himself. God has a plan to remove all condemnation from us as far as the east is from the west.

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))

If you profess a faith in Jesus, your sins are forgiven. You do not stand condemned. That is the greatest news that anyone could ever receive. With all that is happening in the world at this time, many people believe that His return is coming very soon. We do not want to be found still condemned by our sin when He does return. It’s as easy 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.

It is your choice!

You don’t have to stay under condemnation!

Copyright 1998 – 2022 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you serving as a faithful steward?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
(1 Peter 4:10 (NIV))

Acts of faithful service always have an impact!

With the current state of the world and the uncertainty that everyone is feeling, when was the last time that you used your talent, your gift, to serve others?

Think about that question from an eternal perspective. What if your willingness to serve someone is the final act, the final witness to the reality of God’s love that brings them to a saving knowledge of Jesus? What if your willingness to serve shows them the hope that is theirs if they only accept it? Could you face eternity knowing that you failed to do something that would have changed eternity for someone else?

Every person who professes a faith in Jesus is called to share the Gospel.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
(Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV))

Not only are we called to share, but if we fail to warn someone of danger, we are held accountable. There is no greater danger than that of an impending eternity separated from the Father. If we fail to use our gifts to warn someone of the danger and show them the path to salvation, we are accountable!

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.
(Ezekiel 33:6 (NIV))

We must get over the attitude that I have my salvation and everyone else is on their own. Nothing could be further from the truth! God places people in our lives every single day who need to hear the good news of salvation that is only available through Jesus. We have a calling. We have a responsibility to faithfully use the gifts that we have been given to serve others, to bring them into the Kingdom.

Are you serving as a faithful steward?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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