Are you an active worker in the harvest?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
(Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV))

What do you see when you look around?

Do you see what the world has to offer, or do you see a world of lost souls who need Jesus? Do you see an urgency to get the next big raise and promotion, or do you see an urgency to bring as many people as possible into God’s Kingdom?

Each of us will target our efforts based on what we see, which is a direct result of what is in our hearts. Sadly, it is often the world that is truly in our hearts. Even if we profess a faith in Jesus, many of us are still so caught up in the worldly task of living and making that almighty dollar, that we fail to see the world as Jesus sees it. We don’t truly see the lost because we are thinking of ourselves. We don’t see the needy because we are too worried about our own wants. We don’t make an effort to rescue the dying because we are too worried about the splinter in our finger that has demanded all of our attention!

I often wonder if we have come to look at God’s harvest the same way that we look at grocery stores. When we go into a grocery store, we see all of the things that have been harvested and prepared for our consumption, yet we fail to recognize the work that was required to get everything there. We fail to see the time spent in preparing the soil. We fail to recognize the care that was taken to nurture the plants as they grew. We don’t ever think about the long days spent cultivating the crop and we definitely don’t think of the effort that goes into harvesting the crop. We simply look at the options and find ourselves thinking that the price we must pay is too high!

Do we think that the price that we must pay to work the harvest is too high?

Are we willing to prepare the soil of the heart to receive the seed? Are we willing to nurture that seed in the lives of those who have seen it sprout? Are we willing to cultivate that seed in the lives of those who are growing in their faith? Are we willing to step out in faith and join in the harvest? Have you been sent into the harvest field? Have you been obedient and have you gone?

Are you an active worker in the harvest?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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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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Are you following His lead?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
(Psalms 23:1-3 (NKJV))

I think that I can safely say that this passage is very well known. Even many nonbelievers have heard this passage, but have we, as the Body of Christ, taken it to heart?

When you read this passage, something becomes evident. In fact, the concept is mentioned twice in these few lines. Have you found it yet?

He leads me!

In these seven lines of scripture, David repeated these three words twice. If you understand the concept behind the word “lead,” this word does not mean that you are forced to follow. It implies that others will freely follow someone because they desire to understand and possess what the one person has. They believe in something about the one who leads.

What does Jesus have that you desire? What does Jesus offer that makes you want to follow? What makes you believe that you can possess what He offers? Are you following Him with enough desire and passion to find what He is trying to give you? All of the answers to these questions require a faith in Jesus and the promises we are given as well as a determination to take hold of those promises for ourselves. In the physical world, when we are promised something, we stick with it with a very tenacious determination. We don’t want to lose out on the promise. Are we the same with the promises from the Lord? Are we as tenacious in our determination to take hold of what we have been promised?

David thought it important enough to mention that the Lord leads him and then tells where he is taken. David did not say that he didn’t follow the Lord’s leading. In fact, he trusted the Lord enough to follow Him to very beautiful and peaceful places. He trusted the Lord to protect him, shelter him, love him, nurture him and give him rest. Do you trust the Lord in this manner?

Are you following His lead?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What do you love?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

I hate and abhor falsehood
    but I love your law.
(Psalms 119:163 (NIV))

The world in which we live today has me hating what it has become more and more each day. I long for the righteousness of God’s wisdom as it should be applied in our world and not the corruption and evil that has become more and more prevalent. Still, even in the midst of all that has gone wrong in the world’s corruption of God laws, I can still see glimpses of God’s truth in how we conduct ourselves. I still see glimmers of light shining through the lives of the body of believers that we call the church. This is what we can expect. What is interesting is that I see glimmers of hope from people who don’t profess a faith, yet they still seek to do what is considered righteous in God’s eyes. If those who don’t know Jesus can do what God calls each of us to do through His Laws, then there is a spark within them that longs to be kindled into a flame that burns brightly. In order for this to happen, they need to associate the things that they do with God’s truth and why they do them. They need to learn God’s Laws. They need to fully embrace the concepts behind them and embrace the God who loves them.

They need to embrace the fact that Jesus is the embodiment of God’s Word!

How does this relate to hating falsehood and loving God’s laws?

We must be willing to pray. We must be willing to nurture. We must be willing to help others embrace the truth that is God. We must hate falsehood so much that we are willing to step out in faith and in love to show those who are lost in falsehood that there is another way that will not leave them empty and void. We must love God’s laws so much that we do not shirk from our responsibilities as messengers of God’s law and God’s grace. We must be willing to place our comfort as secondary to the needs of others. We must not love ourselves so much that we ignore others. God did not send His Son to only save you and I. He sent His Son, Jesus, to save any and all who would call upon His name. We must love God’s truth enough to share it.

What do you love?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Combine it with faith!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
(Hebrews 4:1-2 (NIV))

Combine it with faith!

In other words, hearing and believing are two very different things.

Think back on your life. I am sure that there are many things that you have heard in your life that you did not believe. It would probably be safe to say that the first time that you heard the Gospel, you did not believe it either.

What makes someone accept something and make that leap from hearing to believing?

Some call it a sixth sense. Some call it a feeling. Some simply cannot put a name to it or even describe why they make that leap from hearing to believing.

Why do we have faith?

To many people, they find faith an absurd notion, especially when you consider that it means a firm belief in something for which there is no proof.

I like Paul’s definition.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
(Hebrews 11:1 (NIV))

What do we receive by faith?

Have you ever wavered in your faith?

Do you think that it is possible to lose your faith?

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop–a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.”
(Matthew 13:1-9 (NIV))

I find it compelling how many parables are told in which faith is compared to a seed. God is definitely trying to drive home His point that we must nurture our faith. We can hear and a small “seed” of belief is planted. We can allow that seed of faith to grow through our actions or we can allow that seed to die through our actions.

Have you heard?

Do you believe?

Has your belief turned into a strong faith?

Copyright 1998 – 2012 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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