Are you willing to listen to God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue,
      to know the word that sustains the weary.
   He wakens me morning by morning,
      wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
(Isaiah 50:4 (NIV))

What can sustain the weary?

Think about that question.

What makes you weary? Is it the world? Is it your job? Is it relationships that you wish were different? Is it the state of the world with all of the trials and tribulations that we must face? What sustains you in the midst of these trials and tribulations? What sustains you when you feel that you cannot go on?

Isaiah was given words to say to people who were weary. God gave him words of hope to speak to the people of Israel. Many of the prophesies regarding the coming of Jesus were spoken through Isaiah. What made Isaiah different from all of the people around him? Why was he able to hear God when the others did not? Perhaps we are given a clue as to Isaiah’s abilities in the remaining lines of the passage. God awoke Isaiah every morning and taught him. God spoke to Isaiah because Isaiah was willing to listen. What made Isaiah willing to listen?

What makes you willing to listen to someone? I believe that there are two primary reasons someone willingly listens to someone else. They love the person speaking, or they are interested in the topic. In Isaiah, I believe that we have found both. He loved the Lord and, because of this love, he also was very interested in what God had to say. He listened because he longed for God’s truth. This, alone, is enough to sustain the weary. Simply listening to God and taking his Word to heart is sufficient to sustain even the most weary of individuals.

Are you weary? Do you listen to God? Do you embrace every word that He has given us?

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
(Matthew 11:28 (NIV))

Have you found rest?

Are you willing to listen to God?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Don’t be caught off guard!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.
(Revelation 16:15 (NIV))

Those who profess a faith in Jesus longingly await His return, but will we be ready when He does return?

It is human nature to let our guard down. We work for something or we desire something, and the longer we wait, the less devoted we seem to be. I fully understand how the old saying, “Out of sight, out of mind” came into existence. Human beings are so easily sidetracked. We soon loose sight of what we strive for once the reminders are removed from our immediate perception. How many families have been broken apart because of long distances? How many dreams have been set aside because of a perceived, more immediate need?

How long has it been since you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?

Is your faith as strong now as it was when you first believed? Have you found yourself slowly losing sight of Jesus in your daily life? Have you found yourself questioning whether you believe at all because you don’t see any movement on His promise to return? One thing is certain!

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
(2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV))

Just because we don’t see God moving according to our desires and our timing doesn’t mean that He is not moving. Don’t give up! Stand firm in your faith while He completes His task of bringing others into His grace.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9 (NIV))

Don’t let the world make you lose sight of Jesus. Don’t lose hope in His promises. He will come when you least expect it.

Don’t be caught off guard!

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Have you been strengthened?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
(Isaiah 41:10 (NIV))

The circumstances may have changed from when this was originally recorded but the message is still the same.

Has there ever been a generation of humanity that did not need the assurance that is spoken in these words? Israel had Babylon. Skipping ahead to more recent times, the whole world had World War I and World War II. We have had terrorists and now we have a worldwide pandemic brought about by an enemy so small that it can’t be seen. We are told to not even get close to each other out of fear of spreading this contagion. It’s as if the enemy is trying harder and harder to make all of creation fear the glory of God’s creation. Now, just as it was all throughout history, humanity has faced things in this world that bring fear, but just as we were told in Isaiah, we have nothing to fear!

God had chosen the nation of Israel to bring forth His greatest promise. The enemy did all that he could to prevent that. Israel faced slavery in Egypt. Israel faced captivity by Babylon. They faced occupation by Roman armies. Even through all of this, and much more, God’s greatest promise, a savior, was fulfilled in Jesus. All along the way, God raised up individuals whom He used to remind the people to keep their eyes on Him, not to be afraid and to be confident of His strength. We are no different today. God is still raising up individuals to remind us of His promises and to not be afraid no matter what the enemy may send our way.

Right now, the enemy is working overtime. He knows that his time is short. He is doing all that he can to set the stage for his unholy trinity of the false prophet, the antichrist and himself. If you have professed a faith in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, then you have nothing to fear from what the world or the enemy may send your way. Through Jesus, we have been promised salvation from an eternity in hell and promised an eternal home in heaven with God the Father.

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
(2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV))

If we can count on all of God’s promises being fulfilled, why should we fear anything that the world or the enemy may send our way? When we begin to grow fearful, we must remember that the Lord of all creation has told us do not fear! This single fact should be enough to give us strength!

Have you been strengthened?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Have you chosen life through the Lord?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
(Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NIV))

These words were spoken long ago. So long ago that it has now become popular for many “scholars” to doubt that these words, or any other word from the Bible actually ever were spoken. What they doubt is not really the fact that these words were spoken, but the fact that there is truth behind them. A truth far greater than any truth humanity can fathom or create on our own.

Too many people have a hard time believing that there is a God, for they do not want to be accountable to anyone but themselves. They want to continue to believe that whatever they do is all right as long as it makes them feel good. God gave us words to the contrary. He gave them to Moses on Mt. Sinai. If you follow these words, you are promised life. If you do not, you are faced with death. Humanity is not capable of following these words to perfection. We are not capable of following them for more than a few minutes before we stray from their path.

How can we have life if we cannot follow the instructions that lead to life? God has given us a savior. He has given us someone who can, and has followed them to perfection. He has given us His Son, Jesus, to be our intercessor.

We now can choose life and know that our choice will be a true choice. We have a savior. We have a perfect intercessor who has taken all of our imperfections and removed them from us. We now have life and all of the promises that God has given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Have you chosen life through the Lord?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Have you accepted the invitation to enter through this Temple?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
(John 2:19-22 (NIV))

It is amazing how the religious authority of the day completely missed the boat. They had been misinterpreting the Scriptures for their own benefit for years. They did not realize that the Savior they were looking for was not a mighty warrior to overthrow their worldly enemies, but a mighty warrior in spiritual matters who had come to overthrow the power of sin and death for all mankind.

They also did not understand, due to their proximity to the events, that Jesus always spoke in parables or examples, and His words were not always what they appeared to be to the world. When Jesus spoke these words, the “Temple” that He spoke of had not yet been glorified. Now, we worship through the “Temple” of Jesus Christ glorified. We have been allowed direct access to God through this “Temple”. Before this happened, only the priests could enter the Temple. Now, anyone can enter if they enter through Jesus Christ.

Have you accepted the invitation to enter through this Temple?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you glow with the glory of the Lord?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.
(Exodus 34:29 (NIV))

Very few people have been able to do what Moses did on Mount Sinai. Adam and Eve walked with God before the fall from grace. Abraham heard God call him to a new land. Moses spoke with God on Mount Sinai. The prophets relayed God’s messages to the people and the disciples spoke face to face with Jesus. Even in these examples, only Moses is recorded as being radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. Moses was the only person since the fall from grace to have been in God’s glorious presence. It makes me wonder what Adam and Eve looked like since they walked with God. Were they radiant in their appearance?

Do you long to radiate with the presence of the Lord?

Do you long to spend time in His glorious presence?

Do you long to hear His Word and have it become such a part of you that your very countenance glows with His righteousness?

Do you want others to see this radiance on you and in you and know that you love the Lord?

I realize that I ask a lot of questions, but a relationship with the Lord is a personal matter and the only way to truly build that relationship is to know what you truly desire on a personal level. It is not based on what your parents did. It is not based on what I write. It is not based on what your children do. It is not based on what your preacher says. It is entirely based on your personal desire to spend time in the presence of the Lord. I honestly believe that this is why I love the following verse so much. It reminds me that I am nothing if I do not spend time in God’s presence, if I do not allow the Lord’s grace to overflow onto me, into me and through me.

Be still, and know that I am God;
(Psalms 46:10a (NIV))

Is it obvious to others that the Lord’s radiance is upon you?

Do you glow with the glory of the Lord?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Will you be acquitted or will you be condemned?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.
(Matthew 12:36-37 (NIV))

We must be careful of what we say. Every word that we utter has a profound effect on us and everyone around us.

Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.
(Psalm 5:9)

The tongue is the ultimate weapon that we have against others. We must not wield that weapon. We must hold it in check. God will hold us accountable for all that we say.

What have you said today?

Will you be acquitted or will you be condemned?

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