Are you faithful during times of temptation?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

     At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
     At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
(Mark 1:9-13 (NIV))

Do you ever feel like you have been sent into the desert and nothing is going right?

You are not alone !

Even Jesus faced this during His time on this earth.

What happened when Jesus faced this? Besides being tempted by Satan, angels attended Him. God did not abandon Him in the desert to face Satan all alone. He faced this experience and He still was surrounded by God’s messengers of hope.

If we follow Jesus, we, too, will face our times in the desert or wilderness. We must not lose sight of the fact that Jesus promised

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
(Matthew 28:20b (NIV))

Jesus does not abandon us when we are in the desert. We simply tend to lose sight of Him. He is always there. It is us who, in our times of temptation, think that we are alone.

We must remember to have faith during these times.

Are you faithful during times of temptation?

Copyright 1998 – 2021 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you believe that it’s time to look up?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.
(John 14:29 (NIV))

Have you ever been tempted to say, “I told you so”? Have you ever actually said it?

That is a human trait that is based on ego and pride. We want to let people know that we are right and if they would have only listened to us in the beginning, things would have turned out differently. What is it about human nature that makes us believe that we should always be on top? Does it have anything to do with our desire to overcome the fall from grace? Is it something inherited that tells us that everything is our fault and unless we point the proverbial finger and blame others, we are no better than the sin we are trapped in? We like to blame others and in the process, we tend to elevate ourselves so that we look like the good guy.

Jesus isn’t telling us “I told you so!” He isn’t providing information in hindsight for us to analyze and argue about. Jesus is telling us specifically what will happen. In fact, He told us about two thousand years ago what would unfold. He told us so that we could be on the lookout for these events and recognize them when they do begin to unfold.

Are you recognizing anything?

With all of the events in the world right now, many people believe that they recognize events unfolding just as we have been told. They, and I, see things that are escalating and getting more intense just as the birth pains that we are told about for comparison. The human mind focuses on it’s immediate surroundings and usually only is concerned with events that impact us directly. We have a tendency to quickly forget or even ignore events that don’t impact us. Perhaps we should open our eyes and look beyond our own little circle of life in this world. What will we see? Will we know enough about God’s plans as recorded in God’s Word to recognize what we see? Will we know how to respond?

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
(Luke 21:28 (NIV))

God has a time table that only He knows the exact days on which things will transpire. We are told that only He knows the exact hour and day, but that we can recognize the season.

Do you believe that it’s time to look up?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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How is your faith through the wilderness?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Immediately the Holy Spirit compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness. He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him.
(Mark 1:12-13 (NLT))

Do you ever stop to think about what Jesus actually experienced when He went into the wilderness for these forty days?

What temptations do you experience when you face each day of your life?

Do you face greed and lust? What about anger and frustration? Do you have to deal with ego and pride? I think I can safely say that all of us have also had to deal with resentment and bitterness. Now, consider how you have reacted when faced with these temptations. How did you react? Even on our best day, we fail miserably in most if not all of these temptations.

How do you think that Jesus reacted to each of these temptations?

We know that He faced every temptation known to humanity and did not give in to any of them, but I often wonder how he reacted. Did He simply turn away from them or did He reflect upon our weaknesses as He defeated each and every temptation that He was given? Did He think of what He was doing with respect to what it would mean for us? How did He reject the temptation? Did He look at it with disgust and think “How can someone give in to this?” Did He keep His eyes focused on what was at the end of the forty days on the other side of the wilderness?

Each of us face our own wilderness situations and temptations. We must look to Jesus and His experience so that we may keep our faith through our wildernesses. Because Jesus went through His wilderness experience, He now walks with us through ours. He will give us strength. He will give us comfort. He will give us peace.

The world today seems to be sending all of us into the wilderness. How we respond will determine many things. Will we have the faith to see ourselves through the wilderness or will we falter and give in to the temptations we face?

How is your faith through the wilderness?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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It is through obedience that we have salvation!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
(Philippians 2:8 (NIV))

It is so easy to overlook one crucial component of God’s plan for salvation as it unfolded in Jerusalem a little over two thousand years ago!

We know that ever since the fall from grace in the Garden of Eden, God had a plan to bring redemption, to bring salvation, to the creation that He loves. In God’s perspective, it was not that long, but to humanity, it seems like forever.

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
(2 Peter 3:8 (NIV))

Even though we feel the passage of time, it is God’s timing that has been put in motion to bring salvation. It was His plan to send His Son to redeem us, to restore us unto Himself.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
(John 3:16-17 (NIV))

We all know that Jesus was tempted by Satan, and He rebuked Satan. Jesus knew the plans that the Father had. He chose to be obedient to God the Father and through His obedience, Jesus willingly went to the cross for each of us. He willingly died so that we could have the opportunity to have eternity with God the Father. Jesus was willingly obedient to the Father’s plan. It was His obedience that allowed each of us to be offered salvation and grace. It was His resurrection that sealed the deal!

But . . .

There is one more aspect of obedience that comes into play in God’s plan for our redemption. He is calling each of us to salvation through Jesus. We have to be obedient to answer that call. Because Jesus was obedient, salvation is freely offered. It is a gift. We cannot purchase the gift. We cannot earn the gift. We can either choose to be obedient and accept it, or we can be rebellious and reject God’s gift of grace. Only if we are obedient, can salvation be received. Are you willing to be obedient?

It is through obedience that we have salvation!

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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What have you put behind you?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
(1 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV))

Maturity is something that many of us try to avoid. We have a tendency to fear responsibility and we have a tendency to think of maturity and responsibility as being one and the same. In all honesty, they are closely related, but it is possible to be responsible without actually being mature. In essence, maturity can be considered full development while responsibility often refers to accountability. A good example of this is a child who always cleans their room. They are definitely not mature, but they are responsible in certain aspects of their life.

Human nature tells us that we don’t like to be held accountable. All that you have to do is look at Adam and Eve after being tempted into eating the fruit. When God approached them about what happened, blame was placed elsewhere. They failed to take the responsibility for what happened.

If you look at maturity as the ability to recognize sin and responsibility as the accountability to stay away from sin, then we start to get a clearer picture of this passage.

A child will think, say and do things that are less than desirable. Hopefully, as the child gets older, they recognize the childish nature and desire to take on a more mature nature. They decide to leave the old, childish nature behind them in a similar manner to how a person who repents leaves the old, sinful nature behind them. They step closer to maturity by selecting to put things behind them and move forward without that baggage.

What have you put behind you?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Could you pass this test of temptation?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone.’ ”

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: `Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’ ”

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:

” `He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

Jesus answered, “It says: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
(Luke 4:1-13 (NIV))

Satan tried everything that he could do to tempt Jesus!

Fortunately, Jesus did not fall prey to any of the temptations.

How did He face these temptations and walk away from them? How can we face them and walk away from them? Jesus was able to rebuke Satan and his temptations by knowing and using the Word of God to provide support during the temptations.

We can do the same!

True, Jesus was the Son of God, yet, He gave us an example that we can use to avoid temptation in our lives. We must rely on God. We must rely on the grace and mercy that God gave us through Jesus. We must turn to Jesus in honesty and sincerity.

Could you pass this test of temptation?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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Are you tempted when others sin?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
(Galatians 6:1 (NIV))

We all like to think that we are masters over our sinful nature since we have accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.

How is that working out for you?

Paul knew better than to believe this or to even teach this concept. He knew that it would not take much to distract us before we were back involved in our old sinful habits. He warned us to always be on our guard so that we would not fall for the lies of the enemy and take our eyes off of Jesus.

He struggled with it himself!

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
(Romans 7:14-25 (NIV))

Think about that for a moment!

Paul, the very person who had a personal encounter with the risen Jesus on his was to Damascus, realizes that he sins. Paul, the very person who is credited with taking the Gospel to the Gentiles, recognizes his struggle with sin. If someone who is considered a pillar of faith knows that it is easy for him to still sin, why do we feel that we are perfect and that we can ignore temptation?

Don’t let the sins of others tempt you!

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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In case that you forgot, Jesus is the bread of life!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
(Matthew 4:1-4 (NIV))

I realize that we live in a physical world and that we need physical nourishment for our bodies, but our society has removed a vital aspect of what it takes to sustain us in a healthy manner. We need God. We need a close relationship with God.

It is this close relationship with God that enabled Jesus to rebuke the devil. If Jesus had not been the Son of God, then the close relationship with God the Father would not have been in place, and the temptation could have been too strong to avoid. Before you explode at that last statement, I want you to think about what I just said. Perhaps I should phrase it like this? If you had been in the situation that Jesus was in, would you have been able to resist the devil? Do you have a close and strong relationship with God the Father so that you can lean on Him for strength when the devil tempts you?

How do you strengthen your relationship with God?

Read and study His Word! The books of the Bible are often referred to as God’s love letters to humanity. They tell of His desires and His love at the same time that they tell of the history of God’s creation, the fall from grace, and God’s plan for redemption.

I want to ask a rhetorical question.

Are you ever tempted?

If you are honest with yourself, then the answer is going to be yes.

How do you resist temptation?

God has a plan for that. He has a plan for anything and everything that we can and will go through in life. That plan calls for us to rely on Him and His Word. We need to feed ourselves spiritually on the very heart of God!

In case that you forgot, Jesus is the bread of life!

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What is your direction?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.
(Galatians 6:1-5 (NIV))

We must lift each other up in our daily walk with God. Jesus is the head of the Church and we are the Body. Each cell of our physical body cannot survive on its own. How can we, as members of the Body of Christ, survive without the relationships and support from other members of the Body.

We must not compare ourselves with each other, for God has created each of us to be a unique creation. We must only compare ourselves to what God has intended for us to be.

When we are in need of direction, we must take that direction from the head of the Body, Jesus Christ. We must not turn to other parts of the Body and think that we should be doing what they are doing. God has a plan for you and your unique talents. Do not miss this plan by focusing on the talents of the other members of the Body.

Copyright 1998 – 2013 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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