What are you in step with?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
(Galatians 5:25 (NIV))

Do you listen to the Spirit?

Are you receptive to that still, small voice?

If you profess a faith in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, it is so easy to think that this is always true. Sadly, for most people it is not. Even those who desire nothing but to be in His Will make mistakes. Even Paul struggled with this. Thankfully, he wrote down his thoughts for us.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
(Romans 7:15-20 (NIV))

Paul did not give up. He did not give in to his sin!

It is a matter of attitude. It is a matter of priorities. Even when we want to do what is right, we will fail. The key is to always keep your eyes focused on Jesus and your spirit willing to listen and learn from the Holy Spirit. When the times come, and they will, when you fail to do the right things that you know you should do, it is important that you do the things you did when you first accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.

Admit that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, still!

Humbly seek His grace and mercy.

Repent and pray for the strength to stand firm in your faith.

If we strive to live by the Spirit, we will desire to keep in step with the Spirit, but since we are still not mature in our faith, we will falter. In much the same way a child who is walking with their father will become sidetracked by all of the things that catch their eye, we, too, are still a child in our faith journey. We will inevitably become sidetracked. We will sin. When this happens, it is important to remember that we must get back in step with the one who is leading us on this faith journey.

What are you in step with?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you need to make adjustments to your priorities?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
(Matthew 6:33 (NIV))

What is it that you seek in life? Is it self-indulgent? Is it self-gratifying? Is it something that you would be proud to tell someone about?

Far too many people seek the wrong things in life. Sadly, some people seek the right things but for the wrong reasons. These people seek to do what is right, but not because it is right, but because it will bring them notoriety and recognition. They seek the accolades of men and not the recognition by God.

It is a matter of the heart and priorities.

What are your priorities?

I once heard a talk given on priorities. It was a short, but powerful retrospective discourse that made me look inside myself and come to the conclusion that I had been the very person who had been doing things for the wrong reasons. I came away with the realization that I needed to place God first in all that I do. It has not been easy to live up to this realization. I fail many times a day. Still, I know that when I fail, I can ask for grace and mercy and repent and try again.

Seeking God’s kingdom first is not easy. Nothing worth having is easy. Think about your favorite past-time. Whether it is golf, art, or a musical instrument, it required work. Mastering it was not an easy task. That was only one part of your life. God’s kingdom is all encompassing. It requires all of your life. If you seek God’s kingdom first, He will give you grace and mercy so that everything else will fall in place.

What are your priorities?

Do you need to make adjustments to your priorities?

Copyright 1998 – 2022 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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We must not delay!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
     it speaks of the end
     and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
     it will certainly come
     and will not delay.
(Habakkuk 2:3 (NIV))

It seems as if the whole world is impatient!

Everyone is waiting for something to happen. What they are waiting for is a matter of priorities. Each one of us have priorities, but they are not the same for everyone. To boil it all down, our priorities are are either selfish in nature, worldly in nature, or eternal in nature. No matter what our priorities may be, it is human nature that makes us not want to wait. We seek instant gratification in any way that we can. We seem to have forgotten the old saying that good things come to those who wait.

What are you waiting for?

Are you like Simeon and desire to see God’s salvation?

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
     you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
     and the glory of your people Israel.”
(Luke 2:25-32 (NIV))

Do you desire to see what God will reveal to the world at His appointed time? Are you willing to stand firm in your faith in the face of the world and declare what Simeon saw with his own eyes? Are you willing to share the Gospel with a sinful and lost world? Are you willing to tell the world that God has a plan?

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
(Romans 3:23 (NIV))

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))

Contrary to what the world says, there are not many ways to heaven!

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
(Acts 4:12 (NIV))

Have you found this single source of salvation and claimed Him as your personal Lord and Savior? Time is short. No one knows what tomorrow will bring. It is time to proclaim the name of Jesus. No other name but Jesus!

We must not delay!

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Do you long to do as He says?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
(James 1:22 (NIV))

Does that passage hit you in the same way that it hits me?

Far too many times it convicts me, for I know that no matter how hard I try, there will be times that I fail. I listen to the word. I long to do what it says. And still I fail.

Failure is not deliberate. Failure is not my goal. Failure is a setback and an obstacle to overcome.

God’s word is alive. It is the truth and it is how we should live our lives. It is a choice and it is one that I take very seriously. I desire to live my life the way that God desires me to live. Yet, I find myself in the same predicament as Paul when he wrote to the Romans.

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
(Romans 7:14-20 (NIV))

We all have times when we do what we know we shouldn’t. It is our recognition of these times that helps us to mature in our faith. If we desire to do what God’s word says, then we will hate our failures. We will long to be obedient. If we only listen and do not have a desire to do, then we do not hold God’s word in our heart. We do not long to be what God calls us to be.

We can listen to God’s word in the same way that we listen to the radio. When you turn off the radio, do you honestly remember the songs that you heard? Or, we can listen to God’s word in the way that you listen to things that are close to your heart. It is a matter of priorities.

When you listen to God, do you long to do as He says?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Come to Jesus and find rest!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV))

All of us need rest in the physical world!

How many have thought about spiritual rest and the impact that it has on our physical existence? If we are truly at rest in the Lord, our physical world, no matter what we may face, will also be at rest. We will be at peace. If we focus on finding rest in the physical world first, we will never find true rest and our spiritual rest will also be nonexistent.

Think about your priorities.

God does not want us to be burdened and heavy laden. He wants us to have the peace that only He can provide. He has even given us a way to get that peace, because there is nothing that we can do to achieve it ourselves. Jesus is the peace that God has given us. He is our rest and our hope. He is our spiritual big brother who is looking out for us. We can have rest. It is a rest better than any we have ever known.

Come to Jesus and find rest!

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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What is the condition of your heart?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
(Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV))

Have the last few weeks made you stop and take a long, hard look at your life?

Have you found that the things of this world that you once thought were important no longer hold that exalted place in your life? Have your priorities shifted to the point where you feel that you have had a change of heart?

There are many characteristics of a life that is self-centered and self-absorbed. Most of these are described by a reference to the heart. Hardhearted. Cold-hearted. Heart of stone. I am sure that you can probably think of others, but I think that you understand the concept. The more time that we spend focused on the world and what it can provide to us often leads us to become non-caring with respect to other people that we see. Let’s face facts. When we are focused on the world, it tells us go for all that we can get no matter the consequences.

Does this sound like the type of life that we were created for?

Sadly, when we live our lives in this manner, we also lose sight of God! Our hearts become hardened to anything that relates to our relationship with the Lord. We can even get to the false conclusion that we are good and that we do not need God, Jesus or the grace that is freely given through the cross.

This is definitely not the way that God created us to live!

I want to ask the same question once again. Have the last few weeks made you stop and take a long, hard look at your life? The world may see these last few weeks as an attempt to avoid a pandemic, but God had other plans. What has He shown you about yourself? Has He been trying to remove your heart of stone?

What is the condition of your heart?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you ready for His coming?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
(1 John 2:28 (NIV))

I want to ask a question and I pray that you will be honest with yourself in this question and all questions that I ask.

With all that is going on in the world right now, have you found yourself asking if this is an indication of the soon return of Jesus?

To be honest with you, I have seen many people who would have never posted anything about this topic before who are now asking similar questions to what I just asked. This has many people thinking about God and what He has in store for us in the coming days, weeks, months and potentially years. What are your thoughts? What worries you or scares you the most? Are you worried or do you have a peace that baffles your family and friends?

If we have professed a faith in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we should not worry. We should not fear! We should be longing for His return. We should be focused on doing all that He has called us to do and not focused on the things of this world.

If we are fearful as the events unfold before us, what does that say about our faith and trust in Jesus? If we are more concerned with thoughts such as “What will we do?”, then we should be ashamed of our lack of faith. We can look at the world and be overwhelmed and worried, or we can look at Jesus and be at peace. It is a matter of attitude and priorities. If we focus on the world, we are not focused on Jesus. We are not ready to stand before Him as one of His! If we focus on Jesus, there is nothing that can happen in this world that will sway our faith. In fact, when we focus on Jesus we are preparing for His return.

Are you ready for His coming?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you sure about your relationship with Jesus?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

“Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
(Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV))

Are you following your will or God’s?

Do you know the difference?

Most people may not know that there is a difference. Too many pray for things to happen because it is their will. All too often, when things don’t work out the way that they think they should, they search for another way to make them happen. Is this truly following God’s will or is it following your own will and your own desires?

I know far too many people who seem to beat their heads against the wall with respect to things in their lives. They never see a blessing and they never see encouragement, yet, they still claim to be following God’s will.

Does this sound like your life?

I realize that God is not slow in keeping His promises and the lack of blessings and the lack of encouragement may be God saying that the time is not right. I know that this is a tough call. What do you do in these circumstances? What do you do when you feel that God is calling you into something, yet you are not seeing anything come to fruition?

Look at David. He was called to be king of Israel, yet he faced many years of persecution. The one thing about David that stands out is that he had a personal relationship with God. He longed to know God and he longed for God to know him.

Can you say the same thing?

Are your thoughts in line with God’s thoughts? Are your actions in line with what God is telling you? Perhaps the best way to say this, to cut to the chase, is to look at your priorities. Do you focus on yourself first and then everything that you claim to do for God is only done so that you can receive the accolades of people? God looks at the heart.

Are you sure about your relationship with Jesus?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Happy Thanksgiving!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
(1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NIV))

What is your attitude when you partake of communion? Are you thankful for the blessings that you have been freely given through the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross? Do you stop and reflect upon just what that moment in time two thousands years ago means to you at this very moment?

If you stop to think about what we have been given through this event and the symbolic ritual, you would come to the realization that every day should be one of gratitude and thanksgiving. We have been granted the opportunity to escape the consequences of our sinful nature simply by accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.

Just as our traditional Thanksgiving meals are designed to fill our stomachs, we should look upon the meal of Christ’s body and blood as one that is designed to fill our spirits. We should be overjoyed with the bounty of grace and mercy that we partake of through the atoning sacrifice that Jesus made for us.

I challenge everyone to stop and reflect upon your life. What are you most thankful for? I earnestly pray that your priorities place God’s grace and mercy where it should be. When you sit down with family and friends this Thanksgiving, stop to think about what Jesus went through so that you can be shown grace and mercy.

Lift your thanks up to the Lord this Thanksgiving and every single day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you glad He went after you?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
(Matthew 18:12-14 (NIV))

Are you lost?

Helpless, hopeless and lost?

Satan longs to have us feel this way.

God longs for us to feel helpful, hopeful and loved.

God also longs for us to mature spiritually and become the person whom He created us to be. Sometimes this requires tough love. Just as a parent must sometimes withhold things from a child, God must withhold things from us. Just as a parent must allow the child to enter into things that will teach them a lesson, so too with God and us.

We are creatures of habit. Each of us exists within certain boundaries that we have established or that have been established for us. These boundaries become our comfort zone. God, in His infinite wisdom, knows that our comfort zones foster stagnation. We soon grow complacent. We soon grow so rigid and confined within our comfort zones that we fail to recognize the need for spiritual growth and maturity. We become creatures of habit, and all too often our habits leave something to be desired. It takes something drastic to get our attention. It takes something that will make us look beyond our circumstances and look at our core beliefs and priorities.

God wants to get our attention. He wants to get us out of our comfort zones and focused on Him. Sometimes, that requires something bigger than we care to have happen. He wants us to take the time to fulfill Psalm 46:10a so that we may know Him and His will for our lives.

Be still, and know that I am God
(Psalm 4610a (NIV))

Are you glad He went after you?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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