Have you found the comfort to walk through this valley?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
     for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
     I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
     your rod and your staff,
     they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
     in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
     my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
     all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
     forever.
(Psalms 23:1-6 (ESV))

Contrary to what each of us may want, this world is not a safe place!

We can ignore the truth and go blindly about our lives, but that is exactly what the enemy wants us to do. If we don’t make a deliberate decision to turn to the Lord, then we belong to the enemy. Even when we do profess a faith in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, the enemy will do all within his power to steal, kill and destroy. In other words, every day that we live in this sinful, fallen world, we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

Are you walking through this valley with the good shepherd?

Are you walking through this valley with the Lord?

Are you at peace even when all around you is falling apart?

I could go on with so many questions, but it all comes down to being comfortable in your faith and in your relationship with the Lord.

Have you found the comfort to walk through this valley?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What are you in step with?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
(Galatians 5:25 (NIV))

Do you listen to the Spirit?

Are you receptive to that still, small voice?

If you profess a faith in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, it is so easy to think that this is always true. Sadly, for most people it is not. Even those who desire nothing but to be in His Will make mistakes. Even Paul struggled with this. Thankfully, he wrote down his thoughts for us.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
(Romans 7:15-20 (NIV))

Paul did not give up. He did not give in to his sin!

It is a matter of attitude. It is a matter of priorities. Even when we want to do what is right, we will fail. The key is to always keep your eyes focused on Jesus and your spirit willing to listen and learn from the Holy Spirit. When the times come, and they will, when you fail to do the right things that you know you should do, it is important that you do the things you did when you first accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.

Admit that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, still!

Humbly seek His grace and mercy.

Repent and pray for the strength to stand firm in your faith.

If we strive to live by the Spirit, we will desire to keep in step with the Spirit, but since we are still not mature in our faith, we will falter. In much the same way a child who is walking with their father will become sidetracked by all of the things that catch their eye, we, too, are still a child in our faith journey. We will inevitably become sidetracked. We will sin. When this happens, it is important to remember that we must get back in step with the one who is leading us on this faith journey.

What are you in step with?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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How well do you love?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
(1 John 4:18 (NAS))

It has been said that there is a thin line between fear and hate. If you fear others, then it is because you are close to hating others. This is probably not intentional, but, it is true.

It is through love that hatred is abolished, and through this, fear is abated. You cannot fear someone that you love. They are opposite extremes and diametrically opposed to each other. You either love with no fear, or you fear with hatred as the root.

We are to live with Jesus as the example. Jesus did not know fear or hatred. He had compassion and mercy on all that He encountered. It was their reactions to Him that set the tone of the interactions. No matter what happened, Jesus always responded in love and mercy. If we are to be followers of Jesus, then we, too, should respond to all whom we see with love and mercy. Jesus gave us instructions on what to do.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
(John 13:34-35)

How well have you carried out this new commandment? Can others tell that you are a disciple of Jesus?

How well do you love?

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

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

He was despised and rejected by mankind,
     a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
     he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain
     and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
     stricken by him, and afflicted.
(Isaiah 53:3-4 (NIV))

We are rapidly coming up on the anniversary of the events that these words refer to, but, all too often we don’t truly think of what Jesus suffered in order to offer us grace and mercy.

We gloss over everything to the point where the words recorded in Isaiah make us very uncomfortable to even think about. To prove my point, how many people have seen Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”? Did you turn your eyes away during the scourging scenes and the crucifixion scenes? Were they difficult, even unbearable, to watch? I want you to consider some summary information that I have gleaned from experts who have studied scourging and the Roman practice of crucifixion. These experts, most of whom are all believers, have indicated that what actually happened is far worse than the scenes that we turned our eyes away from.

I am not going to go into details, but what Jesus suffered is far worse than most of us can even imagine, yet, He did it willingly!

I know that sounds way beyond our human capability of comprehension, but the pain and suffering were very real. The love that He felt, and still feels for us, is very real. The offer of grace and mercy that is freely given because of the Lord’s great love is very real.

I truly believe that we do a great disservice to what Jesus went through when we don’t portray the events as they really were. Don’t get me wrong, for I love the old movies about the life of Jesus, but they often make it look like the punishment was not as great as it truly was. They make it look like the resurrection was not a total physical body repair job, but simply an event similar to when Jesus said that the girl was only sleeping. It even goes further than raising Lazarus from the dead. If you remember, he had been dead several days and everyone told Jesus that he would smell. From what I have been able to study about scourging, the very skin was ripped from the body. From what I have read about crucifixion, the vital organs shut down.

This was suffering. This was pain. People turned their faces away from this site in much the same way that we turned our faces away from the scenes in the movie.

Do you want to know how much Jesus loves you? Simply look at a true account of what He went through. Then, take a serious look at what God had to do to resurrect His battered, bleeding, and broken body. That miraculous event should make any skeptic fall to their knees and boldly profess, “My Lord, my God, and My Savior!”

How do you see the one who was despised and rejected?

How do you see Jesus?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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WE NEED REVIVAL!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
(1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV))

What do you consider as foolishness?

Over the last few days, I have read and heard some pretty foolish things from people who claim to be followers of Jesus. Just to provide some background information on what this is all about, there is a revival occurring on Asbury University and it is being received in all manner of various different ways, even among those who profess a faith in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

The proper response for anyone who professes a faith in Jesus is a glorious AMEN! This should then be followed up with a desire for the flames of revival to be fanned so that it spreads far and wide!

Sadly, I have read and heard responses that are far from what should be the desire of every person who professes a faith in Jesus. I have even read comments from people who claim to be pastors and preachers that are derogatory to the events unfolding and spreading. Comments range from denominational vitriol to claims that this can’t be from God because it doesn’t mention social justice, or that it isn’t led by ordained clergy. I don’t know about you, but these reactions sound so much like what Jesus encountered with the Sadducees and Pharisees. From the reports that I have seen, it is a powerful move of God through the students and for the students. It is not led by the pastors. It is not led by the professors. It is not clinging to denominational doctrine, but to Biblical truths. People are praying and being delivered. They are surrendering to the power of the Holy Spirit and they are not waiting for an official church approval. From the reports that I have heard, it is spreading to other campuses and other cities,

AND, . . .

Students are coming from other college campuses by the bus load to be a part of what God is doing?

Do you want to be a part of what God is doing? Do you long for an honest and sincere revival from the Holy Spirit and not just one hour a day for a few days from a guest speaker?

I applaud the revival. In fact, I long for revival. I pray that it would break out on every college campus across the nation and the world. I pray that it would break out in every church across the nation and the world. I pray that it would break out in our governments, in our schools, at our jobs, and in our homes. I pray that the message of the cross would spread so fast and so far that those who see it as foolishness would be exponentially decreasing each and every day!

Do you see revival as foolish? Do you see surrendering to the power of the Gospel as foolish? Do you see salvation, mercy and grace as foolish? Do you see redemption and healing as foolish?

Are you stuck in the mindset that says it can’t be done that way because that has never been done before?

See, I am doing a new thing!
     Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
     and streams in the wasteland.
(Isaiah 43:19 (NIV))

John the Baptist was a new thing!

He proclaimed repentance, baptism and the coming of the Messiah.

Jesus was a new thing!

He upset the traditions of man by showing us what God had intended. All that you have to do is take a look at the following passage.

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
(Luke 19:39-40 (NIV))

I don’t know about you, but I long for the power of the Lord to be made manifest so that the stones don’t have to cry out.

WE NEED REVIVAL!

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you humble yourself and bow to the Lord?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
(Psalms 138:2 (NIV))

Awe and reverence!

Two characteristics that clearly manifest themselves in people who truly understand God’s power, majesty, grace, mercy and love. How can anyone who truly understands these godly traits do anything except bow down and praise God for what He has done?

No one else is capable of doing what God has done. Only God could have offered us grace and mercy that is eternal. Only God could have sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our iniquities.

We did not ask Him to do it. He volunteered to do it because of His great love for us! How can we do any less that bow down and praise Him for what He has done, after all, He did not have to do any of it, for He is God. No one forces Him to do anything. No one can ever say that God has done something that goes against His very nature. If God cannot do anything that goes against His nature and He sent us Jesus to be our atoning sacrifice for our sins, then we have a Creator who truly loves us in spite of ourselves.

Have you bowed down in reverence and respect before God lately? Have you praised God for all that He has done for you? Have you actually thought about the grace and mercy that was freely given to you at the cost of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ?

Do you humble yourself and bow to the Lord?

Copyright 1998 – 2022 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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We must occupy until He returns!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’
(Luke 19:13 (ESV))

Engage in business until I come!

If you read this parable and miss that the master is Jesus, then engage in business means just that. However, if you make the connection that Jesus is telling His disciples that He will be leaving, then you understand that engaging in His business is telling the world about the grace and mercy that is only found through Himself. Another translation puts it this way.

And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
(Luke 19:13 (KJV))

As followers of Jesus, we are to occupy until He comes. This translation brings to the table a different, more emphatic instruction set for those who profess a faith in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. We are to occupy this world. When I read this translation, my mind automatically thinks of an occupying army. They do what they are commanded and do not fear the consequences, for they have an authority that is not native to the land that they answer to. They are to carry out the instructions that they have been given. As the Body of Christ, we have been given instructions that we are to perform until His return.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 28:18-20 (NIV))

The church, the Body of Christ, is an occupying army. We are instructed to take captive those who are currently not following Jesus. We are instructed to share the Gospel of salvation with a sinful and dying world. We are to rebuke the enemy. We are instructed to bind the power of the enemy and to show people how they can break the chains of bondage to sin.

The translations that refer to engaging in business don’t paint the complete picture in my mind. Most people think of buying and selling and making a profit when you mention business. I am not capable of reading this passage in the original language, so I have to rely on the people who have performed the translations. Word choice can make a big difference. I know that it does for me.

What about you?

What translation conveys this passage in the best way, the most understandable way, for you?

No matter which translation you choose, we are called to be doing the work that Jesus instructed us to do until He returns. Many people, myself included, believe that recent world events indicate that the time of the end is rapidly approaching. We are called to be His light in a dark and dying world. We are called to share the Gospel into the lives of sinners in need of a Savior. We are called to be about His business!

Are you performing the duties that we have been given?

We must occupy until He returns!

Copyright 1998 – 2022 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you participate in true and proper worship?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
(Romans 12:1 (NIV))

I want you to read that passage again and let it sink in.

If we profess a faith in Jesus, we are called to leave behind the things of this world. We are called to leave behind the sin that had us enslaved. We are called to repent and follow Jesus in all that we do!

Have you ever truly considered what that looks like in relation to this passage?

When the sacrificial system was in place at the temple in Jerusalem, the animals that were to be sacrificed were to be spotless. They were to be perfect with no blemishes or defects. How do we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice if we are to offer our best to God?

Do we let our bodies get obese if we can control it?

Do we fill our bodies with alcohol and drugs?

Do we abuse our bodies in ways that cause harm?

Take a look at your life and how you treat your body. Is it pleasing to God?

Do you participate in true and proper worship?

Copyright 1998 – 2022 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you fulfilling His requirements?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
     And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
     and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8 (NIV))

Sometimes we get so caught up in what the world calls good that we lose sight of what is truly good.

Lately, we have seen things in this world that no one in their right mind would call good. In fact, many would say that the world is calling evil good and good is being called evil. Where do you stand on the things that have been happening in this world? Do you think that they are escalating in frequency and intensity? Do you long for things to return to some type of normalcy or have you started looking up?

If you love the world, you are probably focused on being able to return to the things that you used to know. How does that appear to be going? Do you see any signs of this happening in the near future?

If you love the Lord, you are probably looking around at what is going on and, as a result, your gaze has shifted. Have you started looking for the Lord? I honestly believe that many who profess a faith in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior are doing just that. We see signs and know that the time is close. Still, what do we do while still in this world? What do we do when we encounter those who have fallen for the delusion and believe that good is evil and that evil is good?

That is a very tough question, but it has a very simple answer!

We are to treat them in the same manner that we long to be treated. We are to act justly.

We are to show mercy when our human nature eggs us on to fall back into our depraved, sinful nature. We are to love mercy even when we are not shown mercy by this world, for we have been shown the greatest mercy of all.

We are to live out our lives in humility for we are all sinners in need of a Savior. We must not allow our ego and pride to be the stumbling block that prevents someone from coming to a saving relationship with Jesus.

Only God knows what tomorrow will bring. We must allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit in such a way that we are being obedient to His calling no matter what the circumstances. We must always keep our eyes on Jesus!

Are you fulfilling His requirements?

Copyright 1998 – 2022 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Have you accepted His mercy?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

His mercy extends to those who fear him,
     from generation to generation.
(Luke 1:50 (NIV))

Have you ever read these words and realized that this is the reason that Jesus came into the world?

He came to bring us mercy. He came to bring us grace. He came to bring us hope. He came to bring us something that we could not achieve on our own, and that was a way to be reconciled, to be made righteous in the eyes of God the Father. If that isn’t mercy, then what is it? Perhaps you could say that it is love.

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))

When you think of the birth of Jesus, many things comes to mind, but the one thing that we must remember is that God came to be with us so that His mercy could be explained and offered firsthand. He came to fulfill the law so that we could be held blameless and righteous through His actions. He came so that we could have abundant life in this world and with Him in eternity.

He provided a way for us to escape the consequences of our sinful, human nature and all that we have to do to be shown this mercy is follow a plan 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.

Have you accepted His mercy?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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