Is your armor ready?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
(Ephesians 6:13 (NIV))

Armor is something that is thought of as protection, as something impenetrable. In the physical world, armor is often associated with metal and is imposing in nature. In the spiritual world, armor is not something that you wear, but something that you carry. You carry it in your hands and in your heart. This armor is the Word of God and it is a strong foundation on which to build everything that you do. The strength and protection that you receive from this armor comes from fully knowing that God always keeps His promises. He always protects His children. It is this knowledge, and the faith to hold on to this knowledge no matter the circumstances, that is the strongest armor that has ever been created.

All throughout history, men in armor have fought bravely and valiantly for something that they believed in. Even today, men in armor such military vehicles continue this tradition. They are fighting for earthly causes. How can we, when equipped to battle in the spiritual realm with God as our commanding officer and protector, not fully train to be part of the battle? We must keep our armor ready for we do not know what tomorrow may bring.

Do you have the right equipment for the coming battle?

Is your armor ready?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Have we been praying?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
(2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV))

There have been many people who have quoted this passage recently in hopes of encouraging the Body of Christ to pray for our country and our world. With this in mind, I have a question.

Have we been praying?

Have we been sincere and earnest in our pleas to God? Do we truly long for righteousness or have we started to accept what the world is selling? Do we treasure God’s Word or do we treasure the world?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(Matthew 6:21 (NIV))

Where is your heart?

Do you see the things in this world and long for righteousness? Do you ache in your heart when you see what society has become and is becoming, or do you find yourself thinking that what is going on looks like it would be fun to participate in? It’s time to examine our hearts and truly determine what it is that we treasure.

With this in mind, I think that it is time to ask the question one more time.

Have we been praying?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Will you be able to enter?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
(Hebrews 3:19 (NIV))

This passage is the culmination of an example of those who have fallen short in the belief category. The writer was referring to the exodus from Egypt and how they quickly fell into disbelief. Even after seeing the miracles that God performed to free them from bondage in Egypt, they quickly fell into a mindset where they did not believe that God could see them through to the promised land. Because of their lack of belief, they were not able to enter into God’s promises.

I love the parallels that God uses!

Ever since Jesus came into the world, we have been promised salvation. We have been promised eternal life with the Lord. There is only one thing that we have to do to have this wonderful gift of grace. We must believe!

We must believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior and all that God promises is ours. With this belief comes the ability to enter.

Will you be able to enter?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What are the consequences?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.
(Hebrews 12:14-17 (NIV))

I have to honestly ask myself if I can remember the last time I lived through a day when I did not witness a conflict. I also wonder if society has completely forgotten what it means to be holy, or if most people even care anymore?

Everyone is concerned with what is in it for them and as a result, too many people simply will do whatever it takes so that they come out on top. With this type of mentality, people fail to see that any of their actions are sinful and have consequences. It’s almost as if people have become ignorant and arrogant as opposed to thoughtful and well mannered. I may be naive, but when I was a child, if I even thought about doing any of the things that I see children and teenagers doing, I would have been taught otherwise.

Consequences!

These still exist no matter what society may say.

Can a person commit murder, ask for forgiveness, and simply walk away?

Can a person rob a bank, say that they needed the money to feed their family, and get to stay out of prison?

What is true in the physical world is true in the spiritual world.

God will forgive you if you accept Jesus and earnestly repent, but He does not alter the consequences of your sin. If you have committed sinful acts that have altered your health, your health will probably still be the same after you repent. Decisions that you make in life are things that you have to live with. Just like Esau, things that we do will come back to haunt us. Grace and mercy are there for all who will simply ask, but the physical consequences of an imperfect life in an imperfect world will be a reminder of the sins that we have been set free of. I know that God will restore what the locust has destroyed, but it may never be the same.

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you generous in your faith?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
(Proverbs 11:25 (NLT))

Have you ever met someone who just seemed to give even when they did not seem able to?

Did you ever see them run out because of their generosity?

God replenishes those who give freely from the abundance that He has given them. This is a lesson that is difficult to learn and one that I am still in the process of learning.

Let’s face the truth. We live in a physical world that appears to be governed by physical laws. It is difficult to ignore those laws when we are faced with them every day. It requires faith. It requires a faith greater than professing Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. Don’t get me wrong. Professing that Jesus is your Lord and Savior is a big step of faith, but human nature will not allow us to let go of physical possessions as easily as it allows us to profess a faith in the unseen.

When we give generously, we take that next step of faith. It is a faith that acknowledges that all things are from God and that He will supply all of our needs. It requires us to give up control and that is a difficult thing to do for all of us. We worry about lack. We worry about sufficiency. We worry about everything that we can see.

“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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
(Matthew 6:25-26 (NIV))

Generosity is a sign of surrender to the majesty of God. It is a sign of reliance upon God and not upon yourself.

Are you generous?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What have you been working on all of your life?

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23 (NAS))

What have you been working on all of your life?

If you have been part of the physical world, then you probably have been doing such daily tasks as trying to get the upper hand on the next guy. You might even have been working on increasing your pen and pencil collection at the expense of your office. Still a big one that many people continue to work on is seeing what they can look at without getting caught.

Have you worked on any of these tasks? Perhaps you can even think of a few more. No matter what you want to call things like these, they are sins and we deserve the payment of our wages for these sins.

Personally, that is one payday that I do not want to see, and by the grace of God, not a single one of us must see. We have had someone receive our payment of death for us. We have had the opportunity to have our wage sheet marked paid in full.

Grace and mercy are ours through Jesus Christ.

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
(Hebrews 10:10 (NIV))

Our jobs have changed. No longer are we to toil in our sin. We are to work toward righteousness. We are to model Jesus in all that we do. He paid the price so that we can live free from the consequences of sin.

Do you work on the same things today that you did when you first accepted Jesus?

Are you in harmony with Jesus?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
(Matthew 9:12 (NIV))

Do you consider yourself to be a good person?

Do you consider yourself to be a healthy member of the body of Christ? Are you someone who never has any difficulties and always does what a member of the body of Christ should do? Are you in harmony with the rest of the body of Christ? Are you in harmony with the head, which is Jesus?

Using what we take as common knowledge about someone being healthy, we know that a healthy person is considered to have all parts of their body working in harmony with each other. For example, the lungs breathe in the air and the blood carries the oxygen to the different parts of the body. An unhealthy body would have difficulty breathing through the lungs and could not pass the oxygen to the blood.

As such, do you ever have times when you are not in the perfect will of God and you do something that causes another part of the body of Christ to stumble? Is this considered being a healthy part of the body? Think about your last twenty-four hours. I would venture to say that each of us has had several moments when we did not function as a member of the body of Christ.

Fortunately, we have the Great Physician to help us become healthy. He has sent His Holy Spirit to guide us and direct us in what a healthy life in Christ is all about.

When you are sick and go to the doctor, do you always take his or her advise? What about when it comes to spiritual health? Do you always take the gentle proddings of the Holy Spirit and put them into action? We are only human. We will always need doctors in this physical world just as we will need healing in the spiritual world. Thankfully, we have grace and mercy through Jesus.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
(John 10:10 (NIV))

Open up your life to the healing that is yours through Jesus Christ.

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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May we reflect that light for all to see!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
(John 9:4-5 (NIV))

Does anyone else relate this passage to Genesis?

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.
(Genesis 1:3-5 (NIV))

We think of physical light and darkness when we read Genesis 1:3-5, but is there more to the meaning of light in this passage that we have overlooked? Is there more to day and night than we understand?

All throughout history, people have had to take precautions at night from things such as attacks from an enemy. It is also difficult to see where you are going and easier to stumble and fall in the dark, It has always been safer to be out during the day then at night. Cities built fortified walls to protect themselves. They posted guards at night to alert the inhabitants of an attack. Even in the history of our own country, the enemy came at night by surprise often leaving death and destruction.

Do you see any similarities between the physical world and the spiritual world?

We are more prone to attacks from the enemy when we are in spiritual darkness. It is much easier to get lost when we are already going down a dark path of sin. What looks good in the darkness of sin rapidly overtakes us. If we saw this in the light, we would be totally revolted at what we see, for it leads to death and destruction.

God declared that light is good. Jesus came as the light of the world. If we profess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then we help to shine His light. One day, that light will be removed and those who are left who have not helped to shine His light will be totally surrounded by darkness. With the things that I see and the reports of things that I read, the removal of the light may be closer than we think.

Until that time, let there be light! May we reflect that light for all to see!

Copyright 1998 – 2013 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Then I saw a Lamb . . .

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.

You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
(Revelation 5:6-14 (NIV))

Are you anticipating this scene as it unfolds in heaven?

Do you think that it will happen?

Perhaps the most important question is are you praying for it to happen?

We, as the Body of Christ, must not be focused on the things of this world. We must focus on the Will of God and having it unfold. We should not be so engrossed in our physical surroundings and the lives that we have been blessed with that we miss God’s bigger picture, His bigger plan.

Do you study God’s Word with a heavenly perspective, or do you simply study God’s Word to help you live your physical life? Both are important. Unfortunately, too many members of the Body of Christ focus on the physical realm and ignore the spiritual realm. Too many members of the Body of Christ say that it confuses them or that they don’t understand it.

We need to understand it. We need to recognize the spiritual implications of the things that we see. We need to recognize the physical manifestations of things that happen in the spiritual world.

Are we seeing the manifestation of spiritual events in the physical world? Are we prepared for these events?

Or, are we so focused on our daily lives that we are missing what God is telling us?

Do we join the four living creatures in saying “Amen” to the things that are unfolding?

Copyright 1998 – 2013 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Behold, I stand at the door and knock!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.
(Revelation 3:20 (NAS))

Can you imagine physically answering the door and Jesus is standing there?

That would be awesome!

Now, think about all of the things that have been said in the Bible about the physical world and the spiritual world. The physical world is like grass, here today and gone tomorrow. The spiritual world is the one that lasts for all eternity and is of the most importance. Jesus is knocking at your spiritual door. Will you hear the knock and let Him in, or will you be so focused on what you can see in this world that you miss the chance to be with God in the next? If you answer that knock, Jesus will be with you forever, guiding you, protecting you from the sins of the world, and intervening on your behalf with God the Father. This is the most important “knock” that you will ever answer.

Do not ignore things that are of God because you could not pull yourself away from the things that are of this world!

Copyright 1998 – 2013 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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