Pray for God’s righteousness to be made manifest!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—
     the Lord detests them both.
(Proverbs 17:15 (NIV))

Can you imagine what the Lord thinks about our current society?

I’m not going to go into any examples, for I am confident that you can come up with your own examples that fit this passage from Proverbs. All that I will say is that based on recent events, the Lord is probably not very happy with the way things are going. I will also take a moment to remind everyone that everything that is happening has not caught Him off guard. He has told us what would happen before it has happened. With that in mind, do you recognize the events that are transpiring in the world as prophetically significant? Do you even pay any attention to the things that are happening, or are you so engrossed in your own life that you can’t see the proverbial forest for the trees?

When governments don’t do what is right in the eyes of God, we have problems. When the courts don’t do what is right in the eyes of God, wee have problems. When the media pushes an unholy agenda, we have problems. And, the one that gets me agitated the most is when the churches espouse a different gospel, or they don’t follow Biblical principles, then we have problems.

When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice;
     when the wicked rule, the people groan.
(Proverbs 29:2 (NIV))

Are you groaning?

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
(Romans 8:26 (NIV))

Rest assured that the Lord sees and hears what is transpiring. When we see things in this world that go against what God calls good, we feel it in our spirit. We groan in agony over the wickedness that seems to get worse every day. We groan in agony over those who are lost in their sin. We groan in agony over the lies that the enemy has convinced far too many people that it is truth. We groan in agony over the churches who have bought into the lies.

But, we have another option to consider when we groan.

The Lord understands these groans as prayers, and they are as incense lifting up to Him. All that we need to remember is that everything is in His timing and not ours. We are called to be patient. We are called to be prayerful, and we are always called to share the Gospel with anyone and everyone who will listen. I have a challenge for you the next time that you see the guilty acquitted and the innocent condemned. I have a challenge for you when you see anything that is not righteous in the eyes of the Lord. Pray! Pray in agreement with what you know that the Lord desires, and never forget that groans are acceptable.

Pray for God’s righteousness to be made manifest!

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What do you think happened in the beginning?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
(Genesis 1:1 (NIV))

Everyone looks at life and the world today with a bias based on what they think happened long ago. Everything hinges on what someone believes when they answer one simple question.

What do you think happened in the beginning?

How they answer will determine so much about what they believe and how they see the world!

Just to clarify, there are many beginnings. What we read about in Genesis is the beginning of this physical existence that we know and understand. God existed before this beginning. Do we know and understand the spiritual realm where God existed before our beginning? Are we even capable of understanding?

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
(Isaiah 55:9 (NIV))

We also know that there is another beginning that God refers to.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
(Proverbs 9:10 (NIV))

I find it interesting that those who reject the beginning mentioned in Genesis 1:1 also reject the beginning mentioned in Proverbs 9:10. Sadly, they also reject understanding. They lack the faith to even consider for a fraction of a second that what has been recorded and accepted as truth for thousands of years is actually true. They lack the confidence to trust anything beyond what they can see, touch or feel.

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

In essence, understanding the beginning requires faith.

What do you think happened in the beginning?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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I pray that no one rages against wise judgment!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;
He rages against all wise judgment.
(Proverbs 18:1 (NKJV))

Wisdom is often in the eyes of the person seeking it. If a person denies the wisdom of God, he will turn from God and seek after what he desires. Eventually, a person who seeks his own desires will seek out others who have the same desires. This is out of a need to validate these desires, for inwardly, they know that these desires are wrong. They seek out others with these desires to try and prove to themselves that they are not wrong.

Proverbs speaks of isolating yourself from others. What is implied is that the other people are Godly people who wish to do the will of God and seek after God in all things. This is the wisdom that is raged against. This is the wisdom that is looked upon as foolishness, and the foolishness that they desire is looked upon as wisdom.

The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.
(Psalms 14:1(NIV))

If, in isolation, we seek after our own desires, then it is wise to seek after fellowship with people who are believers and wish to obey God’s Word. This is so that we do not turn towards our own desires and turn from the true wisdom that only comes from God.

It is human nature to seek after what we long for in our hearts. We must fill our hearts with the things that God would have us long for.

What is in your heart that you desire?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Shelter

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.
(Proverbs 18:10 (NIV))

In this world where sin and death have taken over due to man’s downfall, it is good to know that we have a place of refuge. Those who are of the world do not know of this refuge. They go about their daily lives not knowing of the grace and peace that can be found in this refuge. This wonderful refuge is our Lord. Even when the Book of Proverbs was written, Solomon knew of the great peace available through the grace of God. He was not able to partake fully of that peace, for Jesus had not come to the earth yet. Still, Solomon had a foreshadowing of that peace.

All throughout history, the righteous have been able to call on God as their sword and shield, even though:

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
(Isaiah 64:6)

God looks at a person’s heart. He is capable of knowing if we seek after Him and if we do, we have a place of refuge.

Who or what do you turn to when you need shelter?

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