Are you able to lift these words up as your prayer?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me.
(Psalms 51:10 (ASV))

I bet you are like me and found yourself singing this passage!

It is a passage that we all know. It was turned into a song that we all know. Even if we didn’t know it, it should be the desire of every person who professes a faith in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. It should be the desire of everyone who strives to follow God’s Word and obey His commands.

Is it your desire?

Think about that question. Do you want God to clean your heart or are you happy with the sin that darkens it? Do you want God to give you a right spirit, a spirit that seeks only Him, or are you happy chasing the things of the world?

I realize that there is a lot that could be said, but I have found that often the best results are achieved by what is not said. God will work inside of each of us when we take a passage and reflect on how it applies to our lives. His Word is alive! It gets to the very heart of our being and makes us take a serious look at our lives in relation to what He has intended. With this in mind, nothing could be a more self-searching contemplation and prayer than asking yourself if you desire for God to clean your heart and give you a spirit after His own!

Are you able to lift these words up as your prayer?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What are you trying to become?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“He must become greater; I must become less.”
(John 3:30 (NIV))

Everybody strives to become more than they are. We take classes. We get degrees. We strive to win awards. We drive expensive cars. We buy bigger homes.

What does all that get us?

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 (NIV))

No matter what we do, no matter how much we try to elevate ourselves, we are nothing! The very best that we can do is still tainted and overshadowed by the sin that we are trapped by. This is especially true when you consider that ego and pride drive our desire to elevate ourselves. In other words, it is sin that drives us. This makes perfect sense! After all, it was the sin of pride that drove Satan to rebel against God. All of sinful, fallen humanity still strives to do this very same thing. We try to elevate ourselves in an attempt to tell God that we don’t need Him. We fall for the same sin and try to elevate ourselves above God.

Pride, unfortunately, is all a part of the fallen human experience.

It takes a person who is strong in their faith to overcome pride. It takes a very strong desire and commitment to not elevate yourself, especially in the eyes of God. Satan’s downfall occurred because he wanted to become greater than God.

What are you trying to become?

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