Are you faithful with your praise?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

For what you have done I will always praise you
in the presence of your faithful people.
And I will hope in your name,
for your name is good.
(Psalms 52:9 (NIV))

God is faithful and worthy to be praised!

Every promise that He has ever made has come true or is in the process of coming true. I don’t recall the number of prophesies that have come true. I realize that there are still some that have not come true, but we have to consider that God’s timeline is not complete. If we saw that every one of God’s promises had come true, we would not be sitting in the current state of this world. We would see all prophesies from the other end of time. We would be looking back on the events of Daniel and Revelation and praising God for always keeping His promises. Until that day, we must simply rely on faith to know that what has yet to happen will happen exactly as God has foretold that it would.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
(Hebrews 11:1 (NIV))

We must be faithful in our belief.

We must be faithful in our understanding.

We must be faithful in our study.

We must be faithful in our praise!

If God is faithful to fulfill all of His promises, we should be faithful to praise Him no matter what we may see. We are limited in our understanding, yet, we proclaim that we believe. If we believe, then we should praise!

What do you do when your favorite football team wins all the time?

It is human nature to praise, but what happens when you start to see things go a little differently than you expected? Do you still praise or do you complain? Are we guilty of doing the very same thing to God when things don’t go as we expect them to go? Since when are we privileged to know God’s complete will and His complete plan?

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
(1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV))

If we trust God to fulfill His promises, why don’t we trust Him enough to praise Him at all times?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Lead and guide me Jesus!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
(Psalms 31:3 (NIV))

This should be the prayer of every believer. We made a decision to follow Jesus Christ, yet do we truly want Jesus to lead and guide us?

Our answer should be “YES”.

If we do not follow the lead of Jesus, then we are held more accountable than a non-believer. We will still have salvation, but we will not be rewarded for our faith. We call on the name of Jesus to be our Savior, yet we are reluctant to call Him Lord.

It is so hard to let human nature take a back seat. Human nature, due to the fall from grace, calls for us to be in control, for us to be our own lord and master. We must give this up and let Jesus truly be our Lord and lead and guide us in all that we do.

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
(Luke 10:17-20 (NIV))

Can you imagine the excitement that the seventy-two had experienced that lead them to go back to Jesus with this proclamation?

Do you ever wonder what they actually saw and experienced that gave them that excitement?

Now, I want you to put yourself into this scene. How would you react when you hear the words “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Every time that I read those words, I get chills. I honestly do not know how I would have reacted if I were to have heard those words first hand. The implications are mind blowing. Time to get theological.

Satan was cast out of heaven before Adam and Eve. Jesus saw this happen.

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))

I don’t know about you, but this brings me great joy, for it confirms that my faith has been placed correctly. I want, I need, the power of Jesus in my life. I need to know that the demons will not harm me if I place my hope, faith and trust in Jesus.

But, more importantly, just as Jesus told the seventy-two, I rejoice knowing that because Jesus is who He is, my name is written in heaven.

Still, can you imagine hearing first hand these words and know that the speaker tells the truth?

“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

Copyright 1998 – 2012 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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