Are you a member of God’s household?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,
(Ephesians 2:19 (NIV))

Think about this passage for a moment.

When darkness falls and the doors to the home are locked, who remains inside the home when the homeowner turns out the lights? Who relies on the head of the household to provide security and rest?

I don’t know about you, but I have never seen someone who had the lives of family and friends under the safety of their roof leave doors unlocked so that the enemy could attack. By professing a faith in Jesus, we have been welcomed into the household of God. We have been given not only grace and mercy. We have been given a home that is far more secure than anything we can ever imagine. This world is not our home! We must never forget that we are only passing through on our way to a place that the Lord has prepared for us. We are to be citizens of heaven and we are to be called children of God. Human nature is sinful, but most of us love and provide for our children. How much more will the Lord do for us?

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
(Matthew 7:11 (NIV))

Have you ever stopped to truly think about what actually happens when we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior? I realize that there is so much more, but the symbolism of these are represented very eloquently in Ephesians 2:19.

We trade being foreigners and strangers with God to being His children.

We trade being children of sin to being foreigners and strangers to the sinful world.

With all that is happening in this world, we must remember to not be a stranger to God. Are you a member of God’s household?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

What will the Lord find in you?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.
(Jeremiah 17:10 (NIV))

When you are searching through a place that you thought you were familiar with, are you ever surprised by what you find?

Perhaps you found an old baseball glove in the back of your closet. Maybe you found a picture from your high school prom. You may have even found a letter from someone whom you thought you could never live without. Each of us have things like this that appear every now and then and completely catch us off guard.

What happens when we go digging through our heart? Do we find things that we thought had been lost only to find that they are still very prominent in our lives? Are we ever surprised by the thoughts that we keep locked away? We think that we have overcome them, but they are always there just below the surface. What reactions do these things bring out of us when they materialize once again in our lives? Are we guilty of trying to hide these things from ourselves so that we don’t have to deal with them?

We may think that we can hide them. We may even be capable of fooling ourselves for a time, but unless we lay them at the foot of the cross, they are still a part of our lives. We choose to hold onto them instead of turning them over to the Lord. If we confess them as sin, we can repent. If we repent, we are making a decision to leave it behind. If we choose to leave our sin behind, then we should focus on Jesus. We should fill our hearts and our minds with the knowledge of the Lord.

Have you found something in your heart or in your mind that you long to be rid of? Lay it at the foot of the cross!

What will the Lord find in you?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook