We must confidently cling to Jesus!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
(Hebrews 10:35-36 (NIV))

Do you think of yourself as a confident person? Does this confidence extend to your hope and trust in Jesus?

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
(Hebrews 11:1 (NIV))

In other words, do you think that your faith is solid? Are you still standing firm on the solid rock that is Jesus Christ?

With everything that the world has gone through, are you still able to proclaim your confidence and your faith in Jesus? I don’t profess to know everyone’s situation, but as for me, this year has been strange. Everyone in my family has faced something way beyond the ordinary from college classes from home, to quarantining, and even to a confirmed case. I see families that have been devastated. Unfortunately, I have seen lives lost. I have seen social unrest and violence that just doesn’t make sense. I have seen calls for the police to be defunded and then the very same people are complaining when no one responds to a 911 call. I have seen wars and rumors of wars, and perhaps the single most interesting thing that I have seen is a peace treaty between Israel and several Arab nations. On the surface, the peace treaty sounds wonderful, but, have you read anything about a peace treaty just like this in the Bible?

There is so much going on in the world. If you are not firmly rooted in God’s Word and understand God’s ultimate plan, then your confidence and faith can be seriously impacted. Your outlook is based on the events of the world from a human perspective and not from God’s perspective as laid out in His Word. If you are firmly rooted in God’s Word, then you understand that when you see these things unfolding, you will know exactly what to do.

There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
(Luke 21:25-28 (NIV))

I realize that there is some disagreement on these events, but lets take them at face value. There have been signs with eclipses, blood moons and what many are calling the Revelation 12 sign. In addition, we are seeing earth “near-misses” being reported and predicted. Nations are in anguish. People groups are in anguish. This year has seen more hurricanes than I can remember in one season, and it has just started. The only thing that I see that hasn’t come at us full force is the shaking of the heavenly bodies. Is it time to look up?

We have two basic reactions. We can look at the world and panic, or we can look at the world from a Biblical perspective no matter what we may face and faithfully and confidently proclaim that Jesus is Lord!

We must confidently cling to Jesus!

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are your heart and mind guarded by the peace of God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 4:7 (NIV))

With everything that has been happening and is happening in the world, what is the state of your heart and mind?

We have all seen the news. We have all seen the shortages at the grocery stores. We have all seen far more than we care to want to experience, yet, some people are at peace while others are experiencing panic and much worse. Where do you fall in this wide array of responses? Are you at peace during all of this?

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
(John 16:33 (NIV))

Think about that for a moment. The whole world has been having trouble. Jesus has overcome the world. He has overcome the trouble. He brings peace in the midst of trouble to all who proclaim His name as their personal Lord and Savior. This doesn’t mean that the trouble goes away. It does mean that we get a better understanding of the world and its troubles. We realize that this world is not our home and that we have something so much better to look forward to. Think about this concept in this context. You are going on vacation to your favorite place in all of the world. Along the way, you end up sitting in some traffic. Does the traffic make you take your eyes off of your destination and the joy that you will experience once you have arrived at your destination? Since the promises of God are so much better than any earthly vacation that we may take, our joy should be so much greater. All that we have to do is keep our eyes on Jesus, after all, we have God’s promises of paradise for those who believe.

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))

I don’t know about you, but the promise of eternal life gives me complete peace. Please don’t misunderstand me. I sometimes worry. That is human nature, but I have a Savior who helps me overcome human nature. All that any of us need to do is take our eyes off of the world and forever place them on Jesus and the peace of God will continually amaze each and every one of us.

Are your heart and mind guarded by the peace of God?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Does your life reflect your hope?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
(Isaiah 40:31 (NIV))

We have been told in other Scripture passages that we would face troubles. We have been told that there would be people who would faint from the things that they would face. Ezekiel wrote about Babylon coming against Israel and what would happen.

And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every leg will be wet with urine.’ It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
(Ezekiel 21:7 (NIV))

We aren’t yet to the point that Luke writes of, but the description is of something that we don’t want to see.

People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
(Luke 21:26 (NIV))

We are facing worldwide troubles. I am certain that some people are in a state of panic and could very easily faint from fear. Others have a peace that passes understanding. We have a hope that brings about a renewed faith even in the face of adversity.

I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.
(Jeremiah 31:25 (NIV))

I love how the Lord tells us to place our hope in Him, and that He will give us strength so that we don’t grow faint. I did a search for the word “faint,” and I found that thirty-five of the returned passages in one translation are in the Old Testament. I find it interesting that the only passage that is in the New Testament in this translation is Luke 21:26. I love how after Jesus came to the earth to bring us hope and salvation, the only reference to fainting is of a future event and those who are fainting are those who do not know Jesus!

Do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Do you place your hope in Jesus as Lord?

Does your life reflect your hope?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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What controls your spirit?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
(2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV))

How are you holding up in the midst of all that is happening in the world?

Be honest with yourself. Are you falling into the panic and fear that the world insists on spreading? Have you focused only on the world to the point that you have ignored or completely forgotten the promises that we have been given by our Lord? If you are fearful because of the events occurring in the world, it is time to step back and take a serious look at all that has been promised by God.

He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to redeem us and restore us to Himself. This restoration saves us from sin and death. Why would He save us from such a fate and then abandon us? Fear is rooted in uncertainty and a sense of danger. We have already been told our destiny lies with Jesus. That is certain. We have also been told to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Does this sound like something we need to fear? We have nothing to fear because Jesus bore all of our sin. He willingly paid the consequences of our sins and gave us His righteousness and grace. We have been told that Jesus will return for us. If He is returning, what do we have to fear in this world?

When we accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, all fear has been defeated. It has been replaced with His power and His love. When we embrace the Holy Spirit, He gives us a sound mind. He gives us His mind to guide us.

No matter what may come our way while we are in this world, we have nothing to fear, for we are His and He is ours!

What controls your spirit?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Do you know the Lord well enough to know that He will be exalted?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Be still, and know that I am God;
(Psalms 46:10a (NKJV))

As most of you know, my ministry is built upon this passage. For the most part, I have focused on the first part of Psalm 46:10, for this is where we are called to be still and know God. This focus was to remind us that we can truly learn to be still in His presence, for it is only when we can truly be still and acknowledge Him do we truly understand His love, power and authority. When we are still in His presence is also when we learn to hear from the Lord. It is when we experience the intimacy that our spirit yearns for. It is when we experience the Lord as Abba, Father.

How is your relationship with the Lord? Do you proclaim that He is your Father? Are you able to spend time completely still in His presence?

Are any of us able to completely stop the cares of this world and focus on God? Perhaps if we go beyond the first part of this passage we can begin to see the results, for what is truly happening in this passage is much different than most people realize. This passage was written immediately after a time of extreme panic by the people of Israel. They were surrounded by a vast army that had never been defeated. They were facing certain defeat and perhaps annihilation at the hands of this enemy. The king humbled himself before the Lord, and to make a long story short, the Lord defeated the army over night. Those who were not killed fled for their lives. Through this, we learn another aspect of God. We learn that He is a mighty warrior who will protect those who love Him and call upon His name. We learn that He will do mighty things in the sight of the nations that will glorify Him as He saves those who believe!

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
(Psalm 46:10 (NKJV))

Are you fearful because of the things in this world that are surrounding you at this very moment?

Be still!

Are you so full of panic that you only see the enemy and not the Savior?

Be still!

If we profess a faith in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, it is time to sit at the feet of the Lord and remember what He has already done and what He promises that He will do. We are not on our own! We must remember that we don’t have to handle things by ourselves. If you are concerned about anything, be still and allow God to handle it. If you stop and let Him manifest His plan, you will see that He will be exalted. Do not be afraid! Be still!

Do you know the Lord well enough to know that He will be exalted?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Why do we fail to remember what God has done?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.
(Deuteronomy 7:18 (NIV))

In case you haven’t noticed, human nature is a strange thing!

We have a tendency to forget things that have happened and, at the same time, we are likely to remember things that didn’t happen.

If there was ever a group of people that should have no problem remembering things, it was the Israelites that Moses lead out of Egypt. They had witnessed the plagues. They had lived through the Angel of Death at the first Passover. They had watched God part the waters of the Red Sea so that they could walk across dry land. They had been given manna to eat in the desert. They had seen water gush forth after Moses struck a rock at God’s command.

Still they muttered and were afraid of what lie ahead!

They and their descendants had all too quickly forgotten all that the Lord had done for them to get them to that point. They looked at the problems before them and failed to remember the huge problems that God had delivered them from and through in the not so distant past.

What is it about being human that makes us forget and makes us worry? Perhaps it is the very same thing that makes us look at our surroundings when we are driving on a high and curvy mountain road. We know that we should have nothing to worry about, but there is something about the potential danger that makes us forget successful endeavors in the past. We simply overreact in fear when we should fully realize that we have nothing to fear.

We panic!

And in our panic, it’s as if all of our memories and ability to reason go flying out the window!

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
(Romans 8:31 (NIV))

Why do we fail to remember what God has done?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What do you hold firmly to?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
(Hebrews 4:14 (NIV))

Do you hold firmly to your faith?

I want you to give me, actually, I want you to give yourself, an honest answer to the following questions.

What do you do when money is tight and your car breaks down?

What do you do when you get fired from your job?

What do you do when you are faced with a life changing illness?

I could ask countless questions like these, but I hope that these are sufficient to get the idea across. The idea is that how we react to these types of situations is a direct reflection of our faith. We can either panic in our human nature or we can turn to Jesus in our need. We can choose to forget what Jesus has promised or we can fully embrace what Jesus has promised. We can abandon what faith we profess to possess or we can fully embrace the faith that Jesus calls us to possess.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
(John 16:33 (NIV))

Do you have faith that Jesus has overcome the world?

Do you live your life reflecting what you profess to believe or do you reflect the world and it’s troubles? We have a choice. We can hold firmly to the world or we can hold firmly to faith in Jesus!

What do you hold firmly to?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Why worry about what Jesus has already overcome?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
(Matthew 6:25 (NIV))

The pressures of society sure have had an impact on our lives. We worry about having the right education. We worry about having a stable future. We worry about being able to afford the latest and greatest designer clothes or electronic gadgets. We worry far too much! Don’t misunderstand me. There are some things that we should be concerned about, but when we see people standing in line because they are worried that they won’t be the first ones to be able to purchase the latest smart phone, our society has a problem. When we see groups of people in a panic because they are worried about who gets elected, or who got elected, our society has a problem.

Humanity, for the most part, worries about trivial matters.

What is the one thing at this very moment that concerns you the most?

What would be the ramifications if your concerns came to pass?

Would God still be on His throne?

Would Jesus still be your personal Lord and Savior?

Would all of God’s promises still be true?

If something is of concern, do not worry. Pray!

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
(Matthew 6:34 (NIV))

I find it intriguing that the words written in Matthew tell us that each day has enough trouble. It is human nature to not like trouble, to not like conflict. Is that why we worry? Are we simply afraid of the troubles that we think will come?

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
(John 16:33 (NIV))

Why worry about what Jesus has already overcome?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you amazed by the power in His name?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!””
(Matthew 8:27 (NIV))

Everyone should recognize this passage from when Jesus calmed the winds and the waves with His words. It is one thing to read it. It is a completely different thing to place yourself into the situation that lead up to this.

Have you ever been in a small boat without an engine and probably without any shelter from the elements? You are out in the middle of a large body of water. It is one big enough that you cannot see either shore when you are in the middle of the water. You are far from land and a very violent storm suddenly appears. The winds are blowing the boat and the waves are rocking it. It is completely out of control. You see no end in sight!

You are in a panic.

You feel that you are going to be cast overboard, or the boat will capsize, and you will drown.

You have probably never felt more terrified in all of your life!

In the midst of this scene, Jesus is asleep. Someone in the boat wakes Him up and with just a few words spoken to the wind and the waves, they completely stop!

You have been rescued out of the middle of what looked to be certain death and it had been done with just the spoken word!

How would you react?

Would you be able to speak?

Would you be in awe at the power that Jesus was able to bring into the situation?

Would you feel a little fearful of the one who calmed the sea with His words?

If you stop to think about this situation, Jesus did for all of us through the cross what He did for His disciples on that boat. With His spoken word, life was restored from the certain brink of death. When He cried out that it was finished, He completed the way to safety for all who would believe.

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.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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