Jesus is the Word made flesh!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
(Isaiah 55:11 (NIV))

I have read this passage numerous times, but tonight I was given insight that made me stop as I fully realized the implications of these words! It became more than clear to me when I was directed to this passage about Jesus. In fact, what made me take notice of this passage from Isaiah was that it does not say So shall My words. It is singular just as it is in identifying Jesus.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14 (NIV))

Jesus was sent forth to accomplish God’s will and He did not return void. He accomplished what pleased the Father. Salvation is the thing for which Jesus was sent, and He prospered in fulfilling the Father’s desires by providing salvation to a sinful, fallen world! All that we have to do is accept what the Father has provided.

I love how God’s Word comes to life! The more that you read and study, the more that you see Jesus even in passages where you may not have seen Him before. As your desire to understand increases, He gives you more understanding. He unfolds His truth to those who earnestly seek Him. I don’t know how many times that I have read a passage and then the very next time that I read it, I am given new insight. I am given new understanding.

Do you hunger and thirst for the truth of His Word? Do you hunger and thirst for Jesus? Do you bury yourself in His Word in order to know the very heart of God?

God showed us His heart when He sent Jesus. We are told that where your treasure is there your heart will be also. God treasures His creation. He treasures us so much that He sent His Son, whom He loves. Jesus was and is the Word made flesh. Jesus fulfilled everything written in Isaiah.

God’s Word is still going forth. Jesus is still accomplishing what the Father pleases. Jesus is still increasing the numbers who have accepted this gift of salvation.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(John 14:6 (NIV))

Jesus is the Word made flesh!

Copyright 1998 – 2022 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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It takes faith to turn to God and that pleases Him!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
(Hebrews 11:6 (NIV))

I’ve read this particular passage many times and I thought that I understood it, but recently I had an epiphany. I had a new understanding of this passage and I don’t understand why the obvious had not made itself known to me before. It all starts with a fresh understanding of faith.

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

Have you ever seen God? Are you confident that He exists? If you firmly believe that He exists, that is faith. In this physical world, it takes faith to even acknowledge that God exists. If you do not possess faith the size of a mustard seed, then it is impossible for your mind to even conceive of the idea of God. Faith is the key! Without faith, God doesn’t exist in your heart or in your mind. You have made a decision to shun the Creator of all things! That breaks the very heart of God, for He longs to draw each of us closer to Himself. It only takes a little faith to grow the idea that God is real. Once you have the faith to make this proclamation, you have taken the first step in your journey with the Lord. Each step of that journey draws you closer to the Lord and builds a stronger faith. It pleases the Lord when you draw closer to Him. It pleases the Lord as your faith matures.

How do you grow faith?

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
(Romans 10:17 (NKJV))

We must spend time daily in His Word, for His Word is His heart! When we know His Word, we know Him intimately.

Do you possess a faith that seeks intimacy with the Lord?

It takes faith to turn to God and that pleases Him!

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Do your thoughts and words please the Lord?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
(Psalms 19:14 (NIV))

Reading this passage reminded me of something that I think most people forget to take into consideration, and that is the simple fact that God knows us better than we know ourselves. He sees straight into our hearts and knows our innermost desires. He sees the things that we try to hide even from ourselves.

Are you willing to ask God to search your heart?

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
(Psalms 139:23 (NIV))

Better yet, are you willing to respond to God when He reveals to you things that are not pleasing in His sight? All of us have thoughts and desires that are less than righteous. We all say things that are less than pleasing to God and to ourselves. Are you willing to repent? Are you willing to change? It is human nature to rebel against correction. It is human nature to fall into prideful arrogance because we simply don’t want to change.

In short, we don’t want to please the Lord. We want to please ourselves?

Do your thoughts and words please the Lord?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Do you have faith in your beliefs?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
(Hebrews 11:6 (NIV))

Do you have enough faith to believe?

Do you have enough belief to have faith?

Belief comes in many levels. You can believe that God exists. Belief can stop there. You can believe that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Belief can stop there. You can believe that He loves us. Belief can stop there. You can believe that He wants to redeem us. Again, belief can stop there. You can believe that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to save us from our sins.

Belief can stop there!

What else is there?

There is the belief that Jesus arose on the third day. There is the belief that Jesus now sits at the right hand of God, the Father.

There is the belief that Jesus is your personal Lord and Savior.

There is the faith to proclaim this belief with every once that is you. There is the faith to call upon the name of Jesus in any situation. There is the faith that He will redeem you in spite of your sins.

I don’t know if you saw this, but belief leads to faith. I honestly do not think that it is possible to have faith without believing the truths behind that faith. Belief and faith go hand in hand, but, think about this concept for a moment. Can belief exist without faith? You can believe that God is good, but if you don’t have the faith to live up to that belief, what do you have? Can faith exist without belief? You can have faith that God is good, and then every action that you take will reflect that.

I honestly think that you can believe without having faith. Just take a look at all of the people who say that they believe in God, yet, never act it out. They don’t have the faith to take a stand for what the profess to believe in.

Do you believe?

Do you have faith in your beliefs?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you an obedient soldier in the Lord’s army?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
(2 Timothy 2:4 (NAS))

As a child, probably everybody sang the song about being in the Lord’s Army. If we are in the active service of Jesus, then we have an obligation to follow the “marching orders” that we are given.

In our nation’s army, a private obeys the orders that he is given by his sergeant or he faces disciplinary action. How can we, as believers in Jesus Christ, not obey the orders that we are given by our commander, after all, Jesus outranks the sergeant that the private obeys!

Yet, many people do not follow the orders or even worse, they ignore them.

We have a mission far more important than that of a soldier in a worldly army! We are to be the light in a dark world and we are to take that light to the world. If the private does not obey the sergeant for an extended period of time, he is subject to court martial. If believers do not listen to God, we are not subject to court martial or any retribution, but God does continue to give us “orders” for the advancement of His Kingdom. It is our choice whether we obey or not!

If we are truly soldiers in God’s Army, then we should be willing to obey.

Are you an obedient soldier in the Lord’s army?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Have you faithfully answered this call of duty?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.
(2 Timothy 2:4 (NIV))

I have a few things for you to consider.

As a spouse, what should be your priority? What happens if you become entangled with other relationships?

As a parent, what should be your priority? What happens if you become entangled with things that take you away from your children?

Now that I believe that we can agree on determining priorities and the consequences of ignoring what should be our priorities, I have one more question for you to consider.

As a follower of Christ, what should be your priority? What happens if you become entangled with things that distract you from Jesus?

Let’s face it. Just like a soldier should strive to please his commanding officer, we should strive to please Jesus. In both situations, we are to be obedient to the instructions that we are given. We are to focus on the mission that we have been given. Failure to do so could have dire consequences. As a soldier, failure to obey could mean the physical loss of life. As a follower of Jesus, failure to obey our one objective could mean that someone is eternally separated from God. What is our one objective?

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,
(Matthew 28:19 (NIV))

Are you on mission or are you entangled in things of the world? Have you faithfully answered this call of duty?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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What will you reap?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
(Galatians 6:7-8 (NIV))

Human nature is a very strange thing. We have a tendency, more often than not, to choose the things that are not good for us. I know that this ties back to the fall from grace, but it looks like that we would eventually learn at the personal level. Unfortunately, this happens far less than we care to admit. We go so far as to think that we can fool ourselves. We make the wrong choices and we try to justify the choices that we make. In essence, we choose to sow to please the flesh and try to convince ourselves that we are sowing to please the Spirit. If you don’t believe this, consider the foods that you choose to eat. If you choose to eat things that are high in sugar and fat, then your body will suffer. As a result, you will crave these foods more and your spirit will suffer the consequences. In essence, when you sow to please the flesh, you create addictions. Addictions are contrary to the Spirit. Addictions are exactly what the enemy looks for to distract you.

What do you reap when you have an addiction?

We may try to deceive ourselves, but we cannot deceive God. We may think that we can choose to change and that once or twice will not hurt us. In our fallen state, we believe the lie. We choose to believe the sin over believing the God of creation.

Take a good, long look at your life? What have you chosen to sow? It’s not too late to repent. It’s not too late to reap eternal life!

What will you reap?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are we doing what Jesus has asked of us?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
(2 Timothy 2:24 (NIV))

People always say that the student imitates the teacher. So too must the true servant, for they wish to please the master in all that they do. If Jesus is our true Lord and Savior, then as Lord, He is our master.

The word Lord means:
1. A man of high rank in a feudal society or in one that retains feudal forms and institutions, especially:. a. A king. b. A territorial magnate.
2. a. God. b. Jesus. c. A man of renowned power or authority.

If the word “Lord” means king, then according to the authority that a king has over his people, he truly is their master.

A servant does what the master asks of him!

Are we doing what Jesus has asked of us?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Contrary to society, there is a right way to live!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.
(1 Thessalonians 4:1 (NIV))

Do you believe that God is just?

Do you believe that He cannot associate with sin?

Do you believe that humanity fell from grace and we are all sinners?

Do you believe that God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins?

Do you believe that by accepting the free gift of grace, our sins are forgiven?

Do you believe that since our sins are forgiven that God can now rebuild the association with us?

If you believe all of this, why do you, and I am using the word you collectively, continue to live lives that are not pleasing to God? We all have a tendency to do this. Our current society seems to be pushing the envelope. Society seems to be trying to taunt God by continually crossing the line that God has clearly defined. My prayers go out for those who cross that line, for contrary to what society says, God says that there is a right way to live!

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Who do you speak to please?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.
(1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NIV))

Paul wasn’t afraid to say what he knew to be true. I often wonder what he would think of our politically correct society? Perhaps I should take that one painful step further and ask the question that too many of us are thinking. How do you think Paul would react when confronted with our politically correct churches?

I hate to say this, but have we become too concerned with pleasing people, with not telling the truth because it would hurt their feelings?

Did Paul ever hold back the truth because it would hurt feelings?

Let’s go one step further. Did Jesus ever hold back the truth because it would hurt feelings? I’ll give you a little hint. Go ask the group of people whom He called a brood of vipers.

Sugar coating the truth does more damage than it does good.

Imagine that you are in a situation where you come across a group of people who are badly injured and dying. You look around and you see that there is a hospital across the street. Do you calmly tell them to be patient and that they will be all right, or do you tell them the truth?

If you want to live, follow me! I will take you to someone who can save you.

Paul knew the urgency of the words that he had been given to preach. He spoke with the desire to help people find salvation no matter what they may think or feel. He knew that his words would make some people angry. He knew that his words would make some people want to imprison him or kill him.

If given a choice between speaking words that please people of that please God, who do you speak to please?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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