Do you want more of God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
(Hebrews 11:6 (NIV))

I can’t believe what I just watched!

I may make some people mad, but this sounds like a Pharisee’s teaching to me. A short video was put out by a denominational preacher and he was criticizing what is happening on many college campuses saying that it couldn’t be real because it was not his denomination. Correct me if I am wrong, but Jesus did not come to baptize people into denominations. Denominations didn’t exist until man decided to divide what Jesus came to unite! He also pointed out as another ridiculous reason that it wasn’t real was because they were not preaching from God’s true word, the King James Bible. Correct me if I am wrong, but Jesus DID NOT speak King James English! He also criticized what is happening because they were playing modern music and not hymns. Correct me if I am wrong, but at the time the hymns were created they were considered modern music. They were written to allow the people of that age to worship in song. Another criticism was that the people in attendance were not conducting themselves in a proper manner. He criticized those in attendance for being charismatic. As I recall, David danced before the Lord. He also did many things that went against the traditions of those in authority, yet he was elevated by God.

After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
(Acts 13:22 (NIV))

Do you believe that God exists?

Do you earnestly seek the Lord?

Do you desire to please God?

Take a look back at every time that God moved in some miraculous way. Take a look at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to the believers. To quote the King James Version, God is not a respecter of persons!

For there is no respect of persons with God.
(Romans 2:11 (KJV))

God will use anyone who eagerly desires to seek Him. You do not have to be part of a certain group. He does not care if you are Jew or Gentile, male or female, young or old. All that He desires is a heart that seeks for more of Him in all aspects of your life.

Do you want more of God?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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How do we see each other?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
(Galatians 3:28 (NIV))

I long for the day that we truly see each other as Jesus sees us!

I have lived long enough to honestly say that I am tired of people treating each other differently simply because we may not look the same. I want it to end, but since we live in a sinful, fallen world, we are going to continue to see these types of things happen. It breaks my heart just as I am certain that it breaks the very heart of God. What is it about human nature that makes us want to lash out at someone because of our shortcomings, our sins? Ever since the fall from grace in the Garden of Eden, humanity has had to struggle with a vast array of sins including ego, pride and selfishness.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
(Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV))

The world is upside down. We are seeing things that our ancestors never saw. We also are doing things that our ancestors would have never dreamed about doing. This goes both ways. Some things are better while some things are worse. We, as the Body of Christ, recognize the intolerance and hatred. We also know that there is truly only one solution to this sinful nature. Unfortunately, not everyone will accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. It is also sad to realize that not everyone who professes a faith in Jesus is mature enough to embrace what the author of Acts recorded for us.

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
(Acts 20:24 (NIV))

We must all come to the realization that each person is a unique creation and is loved by God. We must treat each individual with this in mind. For those individuals whom we see who have accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, we can embrace them as part of the family. For those who haven’t yet accepted Jesus, we can show them the love of Jesus and invite them into the family.

How do we see each other?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Do you have faith?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
(Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV))

Have you ever stopped to think about the number of times that faith is mentioned in God’s word? In one translation alone, faith is mentioned 246 times and faithful is mentioned another 78 times. Faithfulness is mentioned another 59 times. I hope that you are seeing what I see.

I have a database of scripture verses that God has placed on my heart, and in my database, nearly twenty-five percent of the entries that I have reference faith, faithful or faithfulness.

Faith is important!

Can you honestly proclaim anything in this life without having a faith to back it up? Can you claim that tomorrow will come? Can you know that the seasons will come? Can you know that the next breath that you take will fill your lungs and prolong your life?

Can you proclaim that God is good?

Can you proclaim that God loves you?

Can you proclaim that you know where you will be after you leave this world?

Think about these questions. Can you see any of these with your physical eyes? And, yes, this also applies to the concept of tomorrow, the seasons, and air.

Have you ever seen God?

If you haven’t seen God, then how do you know that He exists? How do you know that He loves you? How do you know where you will be after this life?

I bet most of you are thinking of that line from the children’s song – “Because the Bible tells me so.” What makes these printed words on a page different from the other books that are in this world?

FAITH

To believe anything, to accept anything, you have to have faith. You have to understand and accept the basic principles that support the ideas being presented. You have to accept the idea that this world was created. You have to accept the idea that the creator is God. You have to accept the idea that God loves us. You have to accept the idea that we, as His creation, are sinful. You have to accept the idea that God wanted to wash away our sins. You have to accept the idea that He sent His Son, Jesus, to live among us and to die for our transgressions. You have to accept the idea that Jesus arose on the third day and sits at the right hand of God, the Father. You have to accept the idea that only through Jesus will you receive grace.

Perhaps we can define faith as a joyful acceptance of what we have never seen, yet we know to be true.

Do you joyfully accept Jesus and all of the promises that are fulfilled through Him? In other words, do you have faith?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Since we are made in His image, we should act like it!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
(Genesis 1:26-28 (NIV))

From the beginning, God had planned for man to rule over His Creation. He still plans for man to rule. We are to be co-rulers with Jesus.

We are created in God’s image. Just imagine, we are created in the image of God. He did not create us to be like anything else. He created us to be in His image. We were created to be with God. It was the fall from grace that has destroyed that.

Do you think that you aren’t worth saving? Did you really think that God would allow His creation made in His image to remain in sin?

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.
(John 3:16 (NIV))

God did not desire to leave us in our sin and destruction. He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us from our sin, so that we may once again be with Him. According to God’s love for us, we are worth salvation. In God’s eyes, we are worth being given grace.

Since we are made in His image, we should act like it!

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Do you believe that you are created in God’s image?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
(Genesis 1:26-28 (NIV))

For those people who believe in evolution, I would like to offer the above scripture for their review and consideration.

We, as believers, know this to be true, yet, how can so many people belittle themselves by saying that they evolved from apes. Does God look like an ape?

I DON’T THINK SO!!!

God created us in His image to be like Him. We, through our father Adam and our mother Eve, have let sin into the world. We had a choice. We made the wrong choice. God created us to rule over the world. We surrendered this rulership when we sinned. Yet, we are still created in His image.

He gave us free will. It was our fault. Yet, He also gave us a plan of redemption. If you have friends who believe in evolution, they do not have a proper self esteem or self-worth. They also have a very distorted view of the natural order of things. The very nature of creation, since we let sin in, is to deteriorate, not evolve.

How can they look at the world and see all of the deterioration, yet still say that evolution is true? It goes against everything that is obvious, both from the Bible and from observation.

Satan does not want people to believe that they were created in God’s image. By deceiving people, he has convinced millions that they are no more than a mass of cells with no eternal purpose. Beware the father of all lies.

Do you believe that you are created in God’s image?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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The enemy even tried to trick Jesus!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator `made them male and female,’ and said, `For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ ? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
(Matthew 19:3-6 (NIV))

Isn’t it sad how creation tries to take everything that God has created and completely turn it upside down? Ever since the fall from grace in the Garden of Eden, the enemy has been planting deceptions and lies into the minds of people to get them to step away from what God desires. The enemy, as witnessed by the above passage, has deceived people who claim to follow God in order to trip up other people. The enemy even tried to do that very same thing with Jesus.

I never realized the level of arrogance that satan has until I thought about this passage with the realization that he is the one who planted the idea for this question into their minds. He knew who Jesus was, yet he had the audacity to try to trick Jesus with His own Word.

We are up against a very deceitful, vengeful and arrogant persona, but we, as the Body of Christ, must never forget that Jesus has defeated satan. All that needs to happen is for satan to realize it. His days are numbered! He is like a wounded animal who is more dangerous because of the wound.

We must arm ourselves and be prepared to face the enemy at any time. We must stand firm in God’s Word and be prepared to use God’s Word to remind satan of his place.

I find it interesting that the concept of man and wife is what the enemy used to try and trick Jesus when He walked the earth. Satan never learns. He is using the very same concept to try and trick the followers of Jesus today.

Stand firm in the knowledge that Jesus has defeated the enemy!

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Have you been redeemed?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
(Galatians 4:28-31 (NIV))

I have read this passage many times. I have always known that the child born by the power of the Spirit was Isaac and that the son born in the ordinary way was Ishmael. In reading this again, I stopped cold when I saw that the passage was saying that Ishmael was persecuting Isaac. I literally froze when I read the next words – “It is the same now.” Those very words can still be spoken today of these two half-brothers. Isaac’s descendants are the tribes of Israel. Ishmael’s descendants are the Arab people.

Upon further reading, something else struck me about the slave woman’s son never sharing in the inheritance with the free woman’s son. At the time, a slave was property. A slave’s son was also property. How could such a person share in the inheritance with the free son?

The slave’s son was born out if sin, We are all born out of sin and are slaves to sin and death.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
(Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV))

The current situation in the world is not hopeless. We know who is victorious. We also know that those who are lost in the sin of the slave’s son can be redeemed. We are seeing this all throughout the world where the descendants of Ishmael are accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We must pray that the redeeming grace through the Blood of Jesus breaks down the barriers and brings together slave and free, Jew and Greek, male and female.

Have you been redeemed?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you an heir to the promise?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
(Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV))

There are people who say that Jesus was only a good man. If He were only a good man, would the original twelve have followed Him like they did?

I do not know of anybody who would be willing to die for something as radical as what Jesus was saying if they did not see first-hand that it was true!

If we accept that basic premise, then the words from Galatians have a very definitive meaning to us today, just as they did two thousand years ago. These people who witnessed the events surrounding Jesus’ life had such a powerful presence and such an honest and sincere story, that people believed them, and still believe them today.

Jesus came so that ALL people could be set free from the bondage of sin and death. This promise was given through Abraham and fulfilled through Jesus Christ. If we accept the promise, then we need to accept the fact that we are heirs to the Kingdom. All of this has only come about because of the love of God the Father in sending His only Son, Jesus Christ.

Are you an heir to the promise?

Copyright 1998 – 2012 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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