Have you been bold enough to ask, seek and knock?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
(Matthew 7:7 (NIV))

Does this sound too good to be true?

There is absolutely nothing in this physical world that can honestly make one of these claims, let alone all three. If you ask for something, how often do you receive what you ask for? If you are looking for something, or seeking something, how often do you truly find what you are looking for? How many times in your life have you gone up to a door and knocked and found nobody was home? The physical world is full of unfulfilled expectations and desires. In most instances we do not get what we ask for. We do not get what we seek, and we do not get doors opened for us and get met with welcoming and open arms.

I love how these words from Matthew point us back to our basic human needs. We want to be heard when we ask. We want to receive what is good for us. We want to find faith, hope and love. We long to be welcomed with open arms in much the same way that a loving grandparent will open the door and embrace us when we go to visit. We long for peace and assurance that we are loved and not just some random mistake. We long for grace. We long for Jesus!

He is waiting!

For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
(Matthew 7:8 (NIV))

Nothing in this world is guaranteed. We are not promised tomorrow. Ask for grace and mercy through the cross and it will be given to you. Seek salvation through Jesus and you will find it. Knock on the door to the very throne room of God, and with the gift of grace and mercy freely given through Jesus, it will be opened to you. It is up to you. You must ask. You must seek, and you must knock. We are told what will happen when we do.

We will receive the greatest gift to have ever been given.

We will find salvation and eternal life through Jesus.

We will have direct access to God the Father as His children.

Have you been bold enough to ask, seek and knock?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What have you seen?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

“And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
(Joel 2:28 (NKJV))

I have a list of sites and people that I monitor in addition to reading and studying, and all of the sites seem to be exploding with content about people who are having dreams and visions. I have not seen anything like this in the twenty plus years that I have been reading, studying and writing. It is as if the flood gates have opened!

I am seeing things from very well known individuals in the Body of Christ who are talking about recent experiences and dreams that they have had. I also see countless ones from people who are not well known, but have been given a glimpse of something that is beyond their understanding.

What do you think about dreams and visions?

Do you believe that the Lord will do, and possibly is doing at this time, things written of in Joel?

We have evidence all throughout the Bible that God uses dreams to communicate with people. If we say that we believe the Bible, then why do so many people laugh at the idea that God uses dreams today? Why do so many people who profess a faith in Jesus ridicule those who have the faith to step forward and share what they have seen?

Have you ever had a dream or a vision that you feel was from the Lord?

What have you seen?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you walking with Jesus?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

“What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
(Luke 24:13-35 (NIV))

I hope and pray that you encountered the risen Lord Jesus during Easter. I also pray that you continue to walk with Him during all the days of your life. He is with us even when we do not recognize Him. With that in mind, how would you want Jesus to see you in your daily actions?

Are you walking with Jesus?

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

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,
(Luke 9:1 (NIV))

It is human nature to seek power. It seems that everyone wants to be in charge. If you don’t believe this simple truth, just look at a family with more than one child. There will always be bickering between the children as to which child has the final say. If you had brothers or sisters, you know how true this can be. If you have more than one child, if you haven’t experienced this yet, you will!

Even the disciples who walked with Jesus tried to play the power game with each other. If you simply look at the details of the Passover meal in the upper room, you see that there was a power play to see who would sit at the highest place. Sadly, they got it all wrong. Fortunately, they soon realized that the power they truly were seeking was equally theirs through the power and authority that was given to them by the Holy Spirit. They grew up Jewish and could recite the Torah. They knew God’s Word. They recognized the power of God’s Word. They walked with Jesus. They had seen firsthand the miracles that the power of God was able to do. All that they needed was the power of the Holy Spirit to fill them and enable them.

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
(John 14:12 (NIV))

Jesus knew from the very first time that He called each of the disciples that He would need to equip them for the time when He returned to the Father. He opened up their eyes and their hearts to the Father. He gave them true insight into the Word. He taught them how to utilize the power of God. He prepared them for the Holy Spirit. Once the power of the Holy Spirit descended upon them, they were fully equipped, they were fully charged in the power of God. They changed the world!

We may not be able to physically walk with Jesus, but we still have God’s Word. We still have the redeeming power of the blood of Jesus and we have access to the power of the Holy Spirit if we will only embrace it. It takes all three to truly embrace the Lord, for God is three in One – God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you think about it, you could even look at them as God the Creator, Jesus the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as the empowerer. You are alive because of God the Father. You are redeemed because of Jesus. Have you fully embraced the power that is yours through the Holy Spirit? Are you ready to change your part of the world?

Are you fully charged?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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What do you ask for? What do you seek?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
(Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV))

Many people know this verse, but they take it all wrong. They ask for worldly things that only benefit themselves. They do not fully understand and comprehend that what this speaks of is actually a desire for the knowledge of God and not for a desire for personal gain of worldly things.

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?
(Matthew 16:26a (NIV))

Worldly possessions are not what God is speaking of, for we already know that God does not see worldly possessions as human nature sees them. To God, the ultimate treasure is an intimate knowledge of Him. It is for this knowledge that Jesus came and died so that we may have a relationship with God the way that God designed us to be in relationship with Him. We ask for this intimacy and we eagerly knock at the door to be allowed into this intimate relationship.

God did not send His Son, Jesus, to die so that we could have material possessions. Jesus died so that we could be reunited with God in spite of our sinful nature.

What do you ask for? What do you seek?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Have you opened the door?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
(Revelation 3:20 (NIV))

When you hear someone knocking at your door, what is your first response?

Society has mandated that we respond to the knocking and acknowledge that we hear it. We may ask who is there. We may look through a peep hole in the door. We may look out a window. We may be expecting someone and simply open the door. It is considered a common courtesy to respond in some manner and usually this response leads us to actually open the door.

Why are so many of us rude to Jesus when He knocks at the door to our heart?

Thankfully, He doesn’t give up on us when we don’t answer. He is patient.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9 (NIV))

He will continue to knock at the door to our heart until we answer, we die, or He returns. Sadly, too many people die before answering. Sadly, too many will delay answering and He will return for His church and it will be too late.

Don’t be arrogant and rude. Jesus is knocking out of 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))

Jesus is knocking!

Have you opened the door?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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What signs do we see today?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
(Matthew 27:51-53 (NIV))

Do you gloss over these words when you read about the crucifixion? Do you stop reading when it says that Jesus yielded up His spirit? That was not the end of the miracles!

The veil of the temple was so tall that no one could reach the top, yet it tore from the top down. The earth groaned and quaked at the death of God’s only Son. The rocks, and I would probably bet that they were huge stones, broke from the anguish of God the Father. What I find so amazing is that the graves gave up the bodies of the people who had longed for the Messiah to come.

Can you imagine what Jerusalem was like when this happened? The sun had already darkened, and then all of these things occurred after Jesus died. How would you have reacted?

What I find interesting is that all of these things happened at His death, yet, the account of the resurrection does not tell of anything like this happening. It is as if the world had been in grief and then all is peaceful and right. However, that concept makes me think about the correlation between the crucifixion and the second coming. If the world groaned when Jesus died, even though it knew that Jesus would arise, what will the world do when it knows that Jesus is returning? Can we expect more of what was seen at the crucifixion? Can we draw any correlation between the resurrection and the second coming?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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I pray that my eyes will always be open!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
(2 Kings 6:15-17 (NIV))

Have you ever stopped to think about the impact that prayer has? Have you ever stopped to think that it is your prayers for God’s Will that God may use as the benchmark of whether or not to release the heavenly forces that He has at His command?

God will protect His people. We have seen this in the Scriptures. We have seen it possibly in our own lives.

The passage above makes me realize that God has more waiting for us than we can ever possibly imagine. It only takes faith and prayer to see God’s mighty hand at work.

I often wonder if I were in this situation, how would I have reacted? Would I have had the faith of Elisha or, in all probability, would I have been like his servant?

Can you imagine the fear and panic that the servant felt when he saw that the army had surrounded the city? How would you have reacted? It probably would initially be a very human response, a response that is based on the fight or flight instinct that seems to possess humanity in times of troubles.

Now, put yourself in the servant’s position after his eyes have been opened as an answer to prayer. I honestly believe that shock and awe occurred in this instance long before that phrase became to be known for military strategies in this current age. If you stop to think about this servant, he experienced something that took his faith level off of the charts. I can only imagine the stories he would later tell his friends and family of how God had miraculously saved him.

No matter what the world may send our way, we, as the Body of Christ, must pray that our eyes will be opened to see what the Lord is really doing in each and every situation.

Are your eyes open?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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This world is in need of what God has called you to do!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
(Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV))

It has been said that Jesus stands at the door to our heart and knocks. God longs for a saving relationship with us through His Son, Jesus. He patiently waits for us to hear that knock and allow Him in.

Can you imagine the delight that God experiences when one of His children turn that knock around, when one of His children actively seek His face, His truth, His grace and His salvation?

Jesus came into this world to offer grace and mercy to a sinful and arrogant people. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit patiently wait for someone to hear their gentle knock and to open up their life to the grace and mercy that is freely given to them. Now imagine someone who seeks this aggressively, who seeks God with all of their heart. If God is willing to give grace and mercy to those who are not answering God’s gentle knocking, imagine what God is willing to give to someone who seeks after Him with all of their heart.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.
(Exodus 14:15 (NIV))

It is a shame that too many people are like the Israelites from Exodus. We expect God to provide for everything, yet we are too afraid to step out in faith. I dare say that those who are afraid to step out in faith may also be the very same ones who do not turn to God and knock.

God rewards faith. God rewards those who knock.

Recently, I was speaking with some clergy friends and discussing the idea of pursuing some advanced Biblical education. Many of these friends told me to be prepared for things to start happening that I would not be able to explain. Each one confirmed that if we take a step in faith, God will meet us there and He will guide us and take us places that we could not imagine going.

He has given us a purpose. Now, He is waiting for us to embrace that purpose. Have you knocked at God’s door and asked what He has in store for you? Have you embraced your purpose?

If the Body of Christ will rise up and embrace that purpose, I believe that we will see God made manifest among the nations.

This world is in need of what God has called you to do!

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