Do you have faith in your beliefs?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
(Hebrews 11:6 (NIV))

Do you have enough faith to believe?

Do you have enough belief to have faith?

Belief comes in many levels. You can believe that God exists. Belief can stop there. You can believe that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Belief can stop there. You can believe that He loves us. Belief can stop there. You can believe that He wants to redeem us. Again, belief can stop there. You can believe that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to save us from our sins.

Belief can stop there!

What else is there?

There is the belief that Jesus arose on the third day. There is the belief that Jesus now sits at the right hand of God, the Father.

There is the belief that Jesus is your personal Lord and Savior.

There is the faith to proclaim this belief with every once that is you. There is the faith to call upon the name of Jesus in any situation. There is the faith that He will redeem you in spite of your sins.

I don’t know if you saw this, but belief leads to faith. I honestly do not think that it is possible to have faith without believing the truths behind that faith. Belief and faith go hand in hand, but, think about this concept for a moment. Can belief exist without faith? You can believe that God is good, but if you don’t have the faith to live up to that belief, what do you have? Can faith exist without belief? You can have faith that God is good, and then every action that you take will reflect that.

I honestly think that you can believe without having faith. Just take a look at all of the people who say that they believe in God, yet, never act it out. They don’t have the faith to take a stand for what the profess to believe in.

Do you believe?

Do you have faith in your beliefs?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Have you ever embraced perfection?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Every word of God is flawless;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
(Proverbs 30:5 (NIV))

Have you ever held perfection?

Have you ever studied perfection?

Have you ever embraced perfection?

This is such an interesting point. It is one that I have read, but somehow I missed the implications of this passage until now.

When something is flawless, it is said to be perfect. God’s Word is flawless. It is perfect! We know God’s word as the Bible. I realize that there are numerous translations and that it is printed by man, but is not the vessel that is perfect. It is the message.

When we hold the Bible and when we study the Bible, as long as the translation is true to the original, then we are holding perfection. We are studying perfection. What is so profound is that God sent perfection to walk among us.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
(John 1:1-2 (NIV))

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14 (NIV))

God sent His Son, Jesus, who is the Word made flesh. Jesus was and is flawless. Jesus is perfection.

Does perfection live within you?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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God’s timing is unfolding right before our eyes!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.
(Revelation 12:12 (NIV))

Do you believe that the devil’s time is short?

It gets shorter every day!

I have a question for you and I want you to answer truthfully.

Are you aware of what is going on in the world or are you so focused on what you are doing that you are oblivious to anything else?

God created a great, big, beautiful world. Unfortunately, we, as fallen humanity, have allow things to happen that God never intended to happen. We have given the devil free reign over what God had intended for good. Lately, it appears that the devil is working overtime.

Things are escalating rapidly!

Evil is marching across the face of the earth in many different forms. We are faced with not just one enemy, but multiple enemies: False religions; Teachers of false doctrines; Persecution of those who earnestly and truthfully call upon the name of the Lord Jesus as well as many, many others.

Are you aware of the wars and the rumors of wars?

Are you aware of the financial issues that the whole world seems to be facing?

I could go on and on, but I hope that you get the picture. We, as the Body of Christ, must focus on more than what God can do for us in our daily lives. Far too many of us look upon the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit only in these terms. There is so much more than our little lives in this battle of good and evil. If we are not careful, we will fall in with the wrong side simply because we are blind to what is going on.

Don’t allow your life and your issues to blind you to the bigger picture that God is unfolding right before your eyes! Focus on Jesus! Focus on God’s word! Focus on God’s calling upon your life and not your desires. Your desires can lead to an undesirable end. God’s desires will lead to an eternity in His presence!

Do you know that the devil’s time is short?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Is the kingdom nearer than you think?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
(Joel 2:28 (NIV))

I have seen numerous things that lead me to believe that these things are happening with much more frequency and regularity.

I can hear your thoughts!

Some of you are thinking that I am losing my mind and that I am simply repeating things that others are saying. Some of you are thinking that I am wishing for a way to escape this world.

You would be surprised at what I see through all of the various outlets that I monitor. People from all across the world are prophesying the same thing. The dreams are too similar to be dismissed. The visions are too similar to be coincidence.

Still, there is that passage that says that no man knows the hour or the day.

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
(Mark 13:32 (NIV))

He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
(Luke 21:29-31 (NIV))

Did you miss that past part of the passage?

When you see these things happening . . .

Take a look around. What do you see?

Do you see people who have the gift of prophesy? Do you see people who have the gift of dreams? Do you see people who have the gift of visions?

Is the kingdom nearer than you think?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Will you perish?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
(Psalms 10:16 (NIV))

Look back at your life and think about how many times you have heard of nations changing their boarders. Have you ever heard of a nation that used to exist when you were younger and doesn’t exist now? Are there any nations that didn’t exist when you were younger that do exist now?

We have a tendency to think that the nations of the world are fairly constant, yet, boarders change all of the time. Some nations go away and others come into existence. Nothing in this world is constant. Even the seas change the shoreline over a period of time. Rivers change course and erosion takes its toll on mountains.

There is only one constant in this world. There is only one constant in this universe.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
(Hebrews 13:8 (NIV))

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.
(John 14:9-10 (NIV))

Nations will come and go. People will live and die. Only the Lord will remain.

We, as part of His creation, have been blessed to be given an option to spend eternity with Him. Grace and salvation can be your if you will simply repent of your sins and proclaim the name of Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? Do this so that you do not perish.

Will you perish?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Listen for God. Listen to God.

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
(Colossians 2:8 (NIV))

Remember that the world was turned over to Satan and all things of the world are his. This includes human tradition, false religions and many of the things that we take for granted as routine. With this in mind, it can be easy to be deceived. We must keep our eyes on Jesus and follow His tradition of doing only what the Father does.

For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me
(John 6:38)

Jesus did only what the Father instructed him to do. We should keep this in mind when we go into the world for our daily lives and routines.

Listen for God. Listen to God.

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Have you forsaken God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.
(Isaiah 49:14-16 (NIV))

We may forget God, but He will never forget us.

Isaiah was given the words that bring comfort to all who belong to the Lord. It is not possible for God to forget us or forsake us. When we depart slightly from the ways that God wishes for us, He does not cast us off. He waits patiently for us to return to Him, and when we do, all of heaven rejoices. The promise that He gave to Zion (Israel) also holds true for believers.

Jesus said that He is the vine and that we are the branches. We, as Gentile believers, have been grafted into the vine that is Jesus. We are a part of Him. We have a big brother interceding for us at the right hand of God. How can God forget us or forsake us? We are better off today than when Isaiah was given these words. Jesus had not yet come to earth or ascended back to the Father.

Today, both of these have happened, and Jesus does sit at the right hand of God, the Father, interceding in our behalf. The only thing that could be better is to have direct access ourselves, but that time has not come yet. Jesus must return again for His faithful and establish His kingdom on earth.

Will you be among the faithful?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you follow the good shepherd?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
(John 10:1-5 (NIV))

Sadly, in today’s society, it has come to the point where more and more people do not recognize the shepherd.

Do you recognize the shepherd?

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
(John 10:11 (NIV))

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me– just as the Father knows me and I know the Father–and I lay down my life for the sheep.
(John 10:14-15 (NIV))

Too many people are turning to whatever they think will make them feel good, whatever will satisfy the emptiness that they feel. All too often, what they turn to is just that – it is something that they turn to and in the process, they turn away from Jesus. Sadly enough, far too many never knew Jesus to begin with.

How many different lies about Jesus have you heard recently? I am sure that it is far too many to count, yet, these lies are what people believe. The lies have come from the thief. They are a very focused effort to steal and keep as many people from receiving salvation as possible. In my opinion, it was a very well orchestrated plan that relied heavily on removing prayer from public schools. It doesn’t end there.

We have seen circumstances that have allowed the thief to enter in and falsely lead people into things that are not of God. They have listened to false shepherds. They have listened to the thief. Pray that they quickly learn to recognize the true shepherd’s voice.

Do you follow the good shepherd?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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God’s Word is the only judge!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.
(John 12:47-50 (NIV))

Did this passage catch anybody off guard?

Think about that for a moment.

How many people, including believers, have this notion that Jesus is to be our judge? This is easy to come to this false realization if you picture Jesus as He is during the Second Coming. We see Him dishing out justice on the world as He defeats the armies of the world in the Valley of Megiddo. Still, He is not the judge. There is one piece of information that we fail to bring to mind.

Jesus is wielding the Word of God as His sword. It is the Word of God that judges.

Perhaps we should think of Jesus as our defense attorney, and I know that I need one.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
(Romans 3:23 (NIV))

For those who call upon His name, Jesus is our Lord and savior. He is our defense attorney for when we stand before God to be judged. He knows God’s Laws and our sins, and He will stand in the gap for our benefit. He will claim the true believers as His own.

He will get our sentence pardoned.

Looking back at this passage, would you rather have Jesus as your judge or defense attorney?

I know that I want Him on my side.

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Who or what do you flatter?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
(Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV))

It is human nature for children to imitate their parents. That is how they learn what they are to do and the difference between right and wrong. How can we, as children of God, do any different than we did when we were little?

Jesus is our big brother and God is our Father. They are the role models that we should be looking to in all aspects of our lives. How many times have you heard a child say that they wanted to be just like their father or mother when they grow up? How many times have you heard of a younger sibling wanting to be like the older sibling?

I am guilty of wanting to be like my big brother, Jesus. We should all strive to be like Jesus in everything that we do. God sent His only Son to show us how we are to live. In Jesus’ own words, He called those who do the will of The Father His brothers and Sisters. We should actively seek to earn this title by imitating God and Jesus in all that we do.

Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Who or what do you flatter?

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