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
May 28, 2019
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
(John 14:1-14 (NIV))
Even after spending several years with the disciples, they did not fully understand who Jesus is. Perhaps they were still blinded by the human condition in which we all live. Yet, these words that Jesus spoke hold great promise for those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Through these words, we have built a foundation of hope that there is room in heaven for all who believe. We have also relied upon these words to strengthen our faith and step out into the world with a boldness that the world does not understand. We have promises that have been made, and will never be broken, for we have Jesus standing at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us on our behalf.
Reread these words that have meant so much to our faith. Could you have built your faith and hope without these promises? These promises, alone, are enough to have a blessed hope of salvation.
Do you let your heart be troubled?
Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Posted by dailylivingministries
Daily Living Ministries 