We must learn that God is our only source!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said:
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king.”
(Daniel 2:19-23 (NIV))

Daniel was given a glimpse of God in a manner like no other that I have ever heard! God used the king and Daniel to establish that He alone is in control.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had asked his advisors, the wise men, to tell him the dream that he had and then tell him the interpretation. They replied correctly and told Nebuchadnezzar that no one living among humans could do such a thing. Even when Joseph interpreted pharaoh’s dream, the dream was described. Still, God knows the hearts of men. He uses dreams and visions to communicate with us. In this particular situation, He used the king as a vessel for the dream and He used Daniel to present His power and authority through the dream. Daniel understood the importance of the king’s request. He knew that he had to turn to God! Through prayer, the dream was revealed to Daniel. The Lord gave Daniel insight and wisdom. He revealed everything to Daniel that the king had asked his wise men to reveal to him.

We know the story, but do you understand the situation as it presented itself all of those years ago? Nebuchadnezzar had decreed that all wise men in Babylon be put to death if they could not do as he asked. There were dire consequences to be faced and only direct intervention from the Lord would be able to see Daniel through.

Have you ever faced situations where there seems to be no way to come out of them in one piece? I fully believe that this is what Daniel thought and that is why he and his friends began pleading with God for mercy. Pleading with God goes far beyond a simple prayer. You are earnest. In fact, you could even say that you are in anguish and are overwhelmed to the point of death. You go boldly before the Lord because you know that only He can save you!

I honestly believe that Daniel and his friends pleaded with God. They probably did not stop. They did not stray from their petitions. They did not falter. They were faithful to stay diligent in petitioning the Lord for what was needed and when He revealed Himself to Daniel, Daniel praised Him with the same effort that was used for the prayer.

God gives us wisdom, but it is not an easy thing for us to attain. We must be willing to stay with the Lord and wait for His counsel. We must learn that we cannot stray. We must learn to trust in the Lord in all that we do, both great and small. We must learn to praise God for answered prayers!

We must learn that God is our only source!

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Show others that they can be made new!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
(Matthew 9:16-17 (NIV))

Have you become so set in your ways that God cannot do something new in your life? Is your heart so old that it cannot handle anything new?

If you associate physical age with “oldness,” then let me explain something. I have seen very old men and women who have a “new” heart – one that is open to the love, grace and mercy that God has blessed them with and I have seen people who are physically young who have such an “old” heart. It is closed to anything and everything that has to do with God. Fortunately, God has a way of softening hard hearts. He can reverse the aging process that we have applied to ourselves. Just like the old wineskins that would burst if new wine were poured into them, our old hearts must undergo a change before we can fully accept the love, grace and mercy that God so freely gives.

We are those wineskins!

If God were to pour out new wine of His Spirit upon your heart, would it be able to hold it? Would it be so brittle and break because of the new shape that God desires for it to take, or would it bend and accept the changes from within? Just like the new wine changes the wineskin from within, God changes our heart from within. He pours out His Spirit and allows it to flow into the very recesses of our heart. It works slowly and before you know it, just like with the wine, God has soon changed the vessel that He has used to contain His Spirit.

There is no wrong time to open yourself up to the newness that God wants to bring Allow God to use you to show others that He can bring a newness and a refreshing even when the world is saying that there is no hope.

Show others that they can be made new!

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

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
(1 Corinthians 2:12 (NIV))

Sadly, too many people who claim to be a member of the Body of Christ still cling tightfisted to the spirit of the world. We have become afraid to let go of the sin that we have embraced in our lives. Is this due to familiarity with the world or is it due to the simple fact that we are comfortable in our sin?

Are you conformable in your sin?

Are you afraid to let it go because you don’t know if you can face your life without it? Are you afraid to see what God has in store for you if you do leave your sin? I once heard a story of a little monkey who reached into a jar to get what was in it. Unfortunately, when he tried to pull his hand out of the jar, his closed fist was too big to fit through the opening. Instead of letting the object go, he clung to his prize and remained stuck in the jar. Are we like that monkey? Do we cling to things even though they entrap us?

Take a long, hard look at your life. Is there anything that you refuse to let go of even though it has you trapped in sin? Sin is of the enemy. Sin is of the spirit of the world. In order to truly follow Jesus, we must be willing to let go of anything and everything that will keep us from Him? We cannot be a vessel for both the spirit of the world and the Holy Spirit!

Which spirit have you received?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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