Has the blessing been removed?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
(Psalms 33:12 (NIV))

For a nation that was conceived as a nation under God, we sure do not act like it today!

What do you think that God will think of us as a society when we allow the murder of unborn children? What do you think that God will think of us when we allow the removal of prayer from school? What do you think God will think of us when we allow the courts to remove The Ten Commandments from our public buildings? What do you think that God will think of us when we allow same sex marriages?

We pray that God will bless us, yet, we allow everything that is Godly to be removed from our society and replaced with abominations in the eyes of God.

Can we truly be blessed as a nation when we continually tell God that we want nothing to do with Him? We are quickly throwing away our inheritance. We are not losing it. We are doing all that we can to get rid of it!

We must return to God and again place Him as our Lord.

Where do you place God?

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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We must return to God and His Commandments!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
(Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NIV))

We, as a country, have gotten away from this very important truth. Too many years ago, the United States Supreme Court said that we had to remove the 10 Commandments from our classrooms. Look at what has happened since then. We must turn back towards God and His Word and then we must teach our children the value of His Word, and we must pray.

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:13-14)

We must return to God and His Commandments and pray for the nation to return.

Do you follow God’s Commandments?

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Have you made heaven rejoice?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
(Luke 15:7 (NIV))

God does not wish for any to perish. He rejoices when one who is lost is found. If you have something of value, and you know where it is, you have no reason to rejoice. If that same thing is lost, you are extremely happy when it is found. God is the same when it comes to sinners who repent and turn to Him.

Have you made heaven rejoice?

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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If we cherish sin

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened
and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!
(Psalms 66:17-20 (NIV))

If we cherish sin, God will not listen!

It can’t get any simpler than that profound statement. If we turn to Him we are turning away from our sin. God and sin are diametrically opposed and cannot exist around each other. If we cherish sin, then we cannot cherish God. If we cherish God, then sin will have no place in our lives. All it takes is a choice on our part to turn towards God and away from our sin.

Wait a minute! What about all the times that we think or do things that we shouldn’t after we have turned towards God?

Turning towards God is not a one-time event. We must look at daily repentance in a manner similar to driving a car. When you get behind the wheel of a car, you do not simply point the car in the direction that you wish to go and then never touch the steering wheel. We need to make continuous midcourse adjustments to our direction if we are to achieve our ultimate destination. Life lived for God is the same way. We will hit bumps in the road that will throw us slightly off-course. It is our reaction to these “bumps” that will determine whether they have more than a minor impact on our lives. Just as a small bump in the road can slightly alter your course, and, if left uncorrected, can put you in a ditch, so too can the bumps in life if you do not make daily course corrections. We must strive to not cherish sin and to place God above all else. If we can do this, then God will not withhold His love. Even if we allow the “bumps” to completely throw us off course, we can correct and return to God.

How is your course?

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