How well do you know God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

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

How often can you take the time to sit in silence? If you are like me, the hectic lifestyles that we live do not allow any time like this. Yet, God has made us for these times. He did not make us to live in this hectic pace. He made us to be at peace with Him, with the world, and with ourselves.

How can we receive this peace?

God told us to “Be still, and know that I am God.” He did not tell us to live our lives frantically striving to attain something worldly. He told us to be still.

God is not going to shout to get our attention. God is a gentleman. He will not force Himself on anyone, yet He is there for everyone. You must approach Him! You must then learn to be still in His presence and nurture the relationship that He longs to have with you. You must learn to long for a relationship with God.

How do you approach someone that you wish to get to know? Do you go somewhere where it is really noisy, or do you go somewhere where it is quiet and you can talk. God wishes to talk to us in this manner. He also wishes for us to talk to Him in this manner.

Be still and listen.

Be still and talk.

Be still and know.

How well do you know God?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Will you take the time to be still and know God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

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

I once asked the question, “How often can you take the time to sit in silence?” If you are like me, the hectic lifestyles that we live do not allow many times like this. I still find myself struggling to find time each day to spend quietly with God. Many times it is only for a few minutes an evening as I sit in my office and my family is in another room. I read through the verses that have caught my attention and I find myself reflecting upon what God has placed upon my heart.

Many times, the events of the day will open up an avenue that God will use to reach out to me and ask me if I have done the best that I could possibly do in a situation. Just like any one of us on any given day, I fail miserably when I think about what I should have done. When this happens, I thank God for showing me what a fool I can be and then I praise Him for His grace and mercy. Tomorrow is a new day! It is another day that I, a mere toddler, can attempt to walk with God in all of His glory. I know that each day I will fall short of what He desires for me, but I also know that He will allow me to get back up. He will allow me once again to take my place in my lifelong walk with Him.

Many times I miss the queues that tell me where He is going. I fail to hear that still small voice when He tells me to venture outside of my comfort zone. I long to get better at being able to discern His voice. I long to sit in His presence. I long to feel His guiding hand upon my life in all that I do.

There is no substitute for being in God’s presence and discerning His voice. It is something that we must learn. It takes patience. It takes practice. It takes a conscious effort each and every day. How can you know something if you do not take the time to study, if you do not take the time to learn? If we desire to know God, we must take the time. We must make a decision each and every day to make the time.

What will be your decision for today and every day for the rest of your life? Will you take the time to be still and know God?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you recognize the unchanging nature of Jesus?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
(Hebrews 13:8 (NIV))

Have you ever heard people say that if Jesus were on the earth today, He wouldn’t teach the same things that He taught two thousand years ago?

Their reasoning is that we now live in a modern society that is different from the way things were two thousand years ago. They claim that humanity has advanced and that we have learned so much since Jesus walked among us. They claim that truth is not absolute and what is true for one person is not true for all. They claim that alternate lifestyles are now acceptable because society has accepted them and that Jesus would accept them as well.

If Jesus didn’t do it when He walked this earth, what makes you think He’d do it now?

Sin is still sin!

Just because humanity justifies something doesn’t make it right, especially in the eyes of God.

There is something about human nature that despises change, yet we are constantly looking for something new and better. Paul knew human nature. He warned us about falling for something that was not true. Yet, we have a tendency to do just that.

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
(2 Corinthians 11:3-4 (NIV))

Truth never changes.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(John 14:6 (NIV))

Do you recognize the unchanging nature of Jesus?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Listen to God’s explanation!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
(Luke 19:10 (NIV))

What was and is the sole purpose of God sending Jesus to this world?

Did He come to bring social justice and bring financial equality?

You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.
(John 12:18 (NIV))

Did Jesus come so that people could continue to live the lifestyles that they wanted to live?

“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
(John 8:11 (NIV))

Jesus came to seek and save the lost!

All that we 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 he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
(John 3:16-21 (NIV))

Contrary to the popular theology of today, Jesus came to call us to repentance and to a restored relationship with God the Father. Jesus did not come into the world to tell us that it is okay to continue living in our sins. He called us to grace and mercy.

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

What is sin? God’s definition of sin is not what the world says it is. The world says that if it feels good, do it. The world says that we can claim that we were born that way. The world says that truth is relative and that what one person considers a sin, another person does not.

Sin is defined by God.

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

Salvation is defined by God as explained in John 3:16-21.

Society has tried to redefine the reason that Jesus came to this world. Don’t listen to society’s explanation.

Listen to God’s explanation!

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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