August 17, 2020
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
(Philippians 4:9 (NIV))
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that is the case, do you flatter Jesus?
When Paul wrote his letter to the church at Philippi, he was encouraging the believers there to take what they have learned from him about Jesus and put it into practice. In other words, he was encouraging them to imitate Jesus by following His teachings. Two thousand years later, that is still the very best advise that anyone can give.
How are you living up to imitating Jesus in all that you do?
It isn’t easy, is it?
No matter how sincere we may be in our desires, human nature keeps getting in the way. Our sinful nature keeps raising its ugly head and we soon find ourselves doing things that we truly wish that we could avoid. Perhaps we need to truly take a lesson from Jesus and pay attention to how much time that He spent in prayer with the Father. I would venture to say that if we start practicing this lesson more often, the other things that we are called to imitate would be so much easier to actually imitate. Spending time in honest, heartfelt communication with the Lord will lead to a stronger relationship, and a better understanding of and a stronger desire to be like Jesus!
There is only so much that we can learn if we don’t start practicing what we have learned. Obedience is critical. Obedience means doing what Jesus instructs us to do. Obedience means putting away our sinful nature and following Jesus. Obedience means that we imitate Jesus by putting into practice what we have learned.
Are you practicing what you have learned?
Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Posted by dailylivingministries
February 7, 2020
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.
(Acts 17:31 (NIV))
Far too many people simply think of Jesus as the baby in the manger. They see the sweet innocence and gladly embrace a child. Some even fully embrace that He was sent by God.
Some see more than this.
Some see a teacher. Some see a prophet. Some see a martyr. Some see even more than this.
I fully embrace the description that the Bible gives to Jesus. This is a combination of Old Testament prophecy that is mirrored in New Testament fulfillment. I see Jesus as all of these things and more. He was a sweet and innocent babe. He was a teacher. He was a prophet. He was a martyr in that He came to die for our sins. But, there is more.
He is God’s only begotten Son. He is the son of man. He is both fully God and fully human. Jesus came to teach us. He came to show us God’s plan for salvation. He came to die so that plan of salvation could be realized. He died and was buried. On the third day, He arose again to being hope and fulfill the promises that had been made. He ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father, and He will return to judge the world.
There, I said it. Too many people simply do not want to admit that God’s plan also includes a day of judgment. They don’t want to admit that there will be consequences for their actions.
Think about that for a moment, though.
Who would you rather be judged by – a perfect Creator in God, or God who became human so that He could fully understand our temptations? In order for God to set a day of judgment, He had to have appointed someone to act as judge. He had to appoint someone to act as a mediator between Himself and sinful man. He had to come into this world to live as we live and to set an example for each of us. He had to face the same temptations that we face. He had to overcome them and offer Himself as a replacement for our punishment.
Judgment is something that we all dread. It is something that we would rather not think about. It is something that we will face if we do not turn to the One whom God sent.
The first time that Jesus came into this world, He came to offer salvation. He came to show us how to avoid judgment. We can accept this offer or we can face judgment.
Do you accept the proof?
Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Leave a Comment » | accept Jesus, accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, accept Jesus before it is too late, Christ raised from the dead, Christ was raised from the dead, day of judgment, God's judgment, Godly priorities, it is a matter of priorities, Jesus was raised from the dead, judgment, Judgment or salvation, one life and then judgment, priorities, Uncategorized, what are your priorities, Who is Jesus to you? | Tagged: accept, actions, appointed, arose, ascended, avoid, baby, Be still, Bible, buried, child, consequences, Creator, day, dead, description, die, embrace, Father, fulfill, fulfillment, fully God, fully human, given, gladly, God, hand, heaven, hope, innocence, Jesus, judge, judgment, justice, man, manger, martyr, more, New Testament, offer, Old Testament, only, Promises, proof, prophecy, prophet, raising, realized, return, right, salvation, sent, sit, son, teach, teacher, temptations, third day, understand, world | Permalink
Posted by dailylivingministries
March 13, 2018
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
(John 20:30-31 (NIV))
It has often been speculated that Jesus performed far more miracles than any of the books of the New Testament recorded. These words from John give credence to that idea. Think about it for a moment. Just how many miracles do you need to have documented before you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God? Will it take 10,000 to make you believe? Will you settle for only 1,000 miracles? Will 100 be sufficient to draw you into faith? Perhaps 10 will be enough to make you realize that Jesus is the Son of God?
Could you believe if you were only told of one miracle that Jesus performed?
If so, which one would it be? Turning water into wine? Walking on water? Feeding the 5,000 or would it be raising Lazarus from the dead? Personally, everything that Jesus accomplished when He walked this earth takes a back seat to the ultimate miracle. Everything that He did, even when raising Lazarus from the dead, was a temporary fix to the situation that was presented to Him. The one and only miracle that has an everlasting effect on all of creation was His resurrection from the grave after a brutal death. Through this one miracle, Jesus has ascended to the right hand of God the Father and He has overcome the power of sin and death for all time.
The time for being a skeptic is over. Look at the miracles. Look at the lives impacted. Look at the promises fulfilled. Look at the empty tomb!
What will it take for you to believe?
Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Posted by dailylivingministries
Daily Living Ministries 