Have you accepted your room reservation?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that 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.
(John 14:1-3 (NIV))

This passage came up today and my first reaction was that it wasn’t appropriate as a New Year’s scripture. Then I read it a few more times and the realization of the hope for a better future for those who are in Christ became evident. It also became evident that what society truly desires as they celebrate the beginning of a new year is the ability to wipe away all of the past mistakes and move forward with hope for a better life in the new year. Let’s face the truth. When we make resolutions, we are simply professing a desire to change something about ourselves that we don’t like!

How is that working out for you?

Human nature is a difficult thing to deal with. We say that we want to change, yet most of us after just a few short days are right back at our old habits, our old sins. We cannot do it on our own! Our Father realized this and sent His one and only Son to be offered as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. All that we have to do is earnestly and truthfully accept this and grace is ours! We are forgiven of our sins. We accept the willing sacrifice of the one perfect man who was God with us. We recognize that we must turn to Him and repent of our sins. We must be willing to repent on a daily basis for we will not be free from the temptation of sin. We must accept the truth that temptation will not go away. We must also rejoice in the fact that when the world tries to tempt us, we have Jesus.

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
    but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
(Proverbs 18:24 (NIV))

One day, we will see the Father’s house. What a promise for a better future that is. For the Body of Christ, that is not the beginning of a better future. The beginning is when someone decides to make a personal resolution that consists of three things.

1. Admit that you are a sinner.
2. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord.
3. Confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord.

The good news is that we don’t have to wait for a new year to be born again, to start anew, to give our life to Christ! That resolution can be made at any time. Now is that perfect time.

This is one resolution that has eternal rewards with a room!

Have you accepted your room reservation?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you willing to surrender your will to the Lord?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
(Isaiah 6:8 (NIV))

Willingness!

This seems to be a characteristic that is disappearing from many aspects of society. Is it disappearing from the people who claim to be members of the Body of Christ? Are we willing to stand up and say that we will go where the Lord sends us? It’s time to be honest with yourself and truthfully acknowledge the last time that you stepped forward when you saw a need or felt the Holy Spirit tugging at you. In hindsight, did you respond in a way that left you sitting there or did you wholeheartedly embrace the unknown for the Lord?

Being willing to respond and carry through with that response often places us outside of our comfort zones. We feel uncertainty when facing the unknown even when it is the Lord who is calling us to go. Think about this in respect to Abram. He heard the Lord tell him to leave the country where he lived and trust the Lord to lead him to a new land. Consider how different the outcome if Abram had simply said that he was afraid and wanted to stay where he was.

The Old Testament as well as the New Testament are full of people who were willing to answer and go. Abram went and we now know him as Abraham. Noah went and built an arc. Moses went and lead God’s people out of Egypt. Jacob went and scouted out the land. David went and fought Goliath. The disciples answered the call and followed Jesus.

We have a choice, but how do you think the Lord responds when we make a choice that is contrary to His calling? The Old and New Testaments are also full of people who heard God’s call and decided not to follow. Jonah ran and was swallowed. He eventually surrendered to God’s will. The rich young man heard the call from Jesus and turned and walked away. We never hear of him again. The two thieves on the cross answered differently from each other. One accepted Jesus and is with Him in paradise. The other cursed Jesus, and . . .

Take a very serious soul-searching look at yourself. Are you willing to do what the Lord asks?

Are you willing to surrender your will to the Lord?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Whom do you have?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
(Psalms 73:25 (NIV))

What is more important to you, the people in your life or the things in your life?

Be careful how you answer!

One more question for you. Who is more important to you, the people in your life or the Lord?

I realize that these questions may seem ridiculous, but answered honestly, they will tell you more about yourself than you probably care to admit. If you value things over people, then where is your heart? Where is your love? Some may say that valuing the people in your life is important and should take precedence over the Lord, but let me ask you another question. Who are you going to turn to when everyone in your life has let you down? Who will you turn to when even your spouse, your children or your closest friend disappoints you or are taken from you? When this happens, many people turn to the Lord, but I want to propose that the time to turn to the Lord is long before anything like this happens. When you can truthfully claim that you love the Lord, then your complete perspective on life changes. When you look at things or people as a priority, this is, in most cases, a self-centered outlook on life even if you think that you place yourself low on your priorities list. You are looking at the things or the people to make you happy, to bring meaning to your life, and to make you whole.

Think about these simple facts. Things rust and decay. All people, no matter how good they are, will disappoint you eventually. We are all sinful by nature.

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

Only the Lord is unchanging.

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

With this simple truth, we should anchor our lives on a firm foundation that never changes. We should not look to things. We should not look to people. We should only look to the Lord! We only need to accept the grace and mercy freely given at the cross and claim the gift of grace for ourselves. When we honestly and truthfully make this claim, we have the Lord of all creation in our lives and nothing can surpass His majesty and glory!

Whom do you have?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you understand the value of love?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV))

There are many characteristics that we would like to think that are a part of our personality. It is human nature to think that we are better than we really are. With this in mind, what are your greatest personality traits?

Do you feel that you truthfully exhibit any of the following?

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
(Galatians 5:19-23 (NIV))

I suppose that I should ask whether you feel you exhibit characteristics from the acts of the flesh or from the fruit of the Spirit. Each and every one of us wants to be considered loving, joyful, peaceful, kind, good, faithful and gentle, but to be honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we are only human and that we exhibit the other characteristics more often than we desire to. Even so, we have something to strive for with the Lord’s help. We are told that the greatest that we can present is love. We are also told, by the order of presentation, that love is a crucial fruit of the Spirit. We are also told that love is an identifying characteristic of those who claim to be disciples of Jesus.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
(John 13:35 (NIV))

If this is the case, then it makes perfect sense that we are to love each other.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
(1 Peter 4:8 (NIV))

Let’s put this in perspective. We can claim to have faith and we can be condemned by our lack of love. We can claim to have hope, and still be hateful. When we have love, the true love of Jesus, then faith and hope fall into place. We love the Lord and His creation. Out of this love springs the faith and the hope to share that love with the world. I believe that I am beginning to see why love is the greatest to remain.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
(1 Corinthians 13:8 (NIV))

Do you understand the value of love?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Are you thankful for the peace of Christ?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
(Colossians 3:15 (NIV))

Do you feel that you are a member of Christ’s one body?

Think about that concept for a moment and then truthfully answer the following questions.

Have you ever caused unrest or anger among other believers?

Have you ever held a grudge against someone in the Body of Christ for what had taken place in the past?

Have you refused to forgive someone who is a member of the Body of Christ?

I am not sure how you define peace, but if you have answered yes to any of these, it does not sound like the peace of Christ! Too many people define peace as the absence of conflict. If you stop to think about the complete range of emotions and events that just come short of conflict, we have opened ourselves up to a vast array of sinful behavior that is in no way related to the peace of Christ. In fact, we are told exactly how this will be treated.

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
(1 John 3:14-15 (NIV))

How do we allow the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts?

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
(Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV))

In essence, we are to love each member of the Body of Christ as if they were us for we are all members of the one body.

Does the peace of Christ rule in your heart?

Are you thankful for the peace of Christ?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Can you truthfully proclaim that God is your strength?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
(Psalms 73:26 (NIV))

When we are young, we feel that we are invincible. As we age, we start to experience things that we would have never expected when we were younger. We soon find that our physical bodies start to slow down. We experience aches and pains that we used to not have. In other words, our flesh starts to fail. We find that we have changed as does everything in this physical world.

The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
(Psalms 103:15-16 (NIV))

Where do you turn when your heart is failing?

Where do you turn when your flesh is aging?

When do you turn when your eyes grow dim?

There is only one place to turn. Turn to Him!

God should be our strength when we are young. He should be our strength when we are growing old and gray. We should learn to trust in God in all circumstances no matter where we are in life, for He is the one who gave us life.

Can you truthfully proclaim that God is your strength?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 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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