Scripture: Luke 3.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Luke 3:15-18 (NLT)

15 Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah.

16 John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”

18 John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

As I read this part of chapter 3 this morning I was reminded about how much this sounds like our world today. Many are expecting Jesus to come soon. Many want to know if the Christ has come already and we just don’t recognize him. Unfortunately, many put their faith in pastors, preachers, evangelists or just plain spiritual leaders. This is evident because they never read the Bible to see what God is saying to them personally, they just depend on what they hear preached or taught to them. With every little ache or pain some will sooner run to the pastor rather than, or instead of, praying to God for their healing. Now I know that a good pastor will want to know about your ailments or needs so that he might pray with you about them, but remember friends, God is the One with the power to heal and/or meet your needs. It is so important that we have a ‘personal’ relationship with the risen Lord! The other thing that I am impressed with about John is that he emphasized that he was only a messenger, and that the Christ would be much greater than he. To those of us that folk may look up to and place faith in, we must be so very careful to clarify with them where the real power source is, and that we are merely a caring messenger of that One. To those we minister to, we must be very careful to serve as Jesus served, do all we can to see them plugged into the right power source and build a personal relationship with Jesus. Allowing someone to attach themselves to us as a friend who cares about them and will pray for them and guide them into a personal relationship with Jesus is what ministering in His name is all about. It is never about self. Remember, there is no power unless it comes from God Himself. It would be a pity for us to work with someone spiritually without seeing them come to know, and depend on Jesus as Lord of their life. We will move along some day, but remember that the love and power of God will last forever. It’s all about God, not us!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Lord Jesus, it is You that I love and adore. It is You that I long to see one day in Heaven. It is You that I want others to see when I share Your love with them. Please help me to never promote self, but to disclose the true source of any power displayed in anything that I may say or do. Like John, I know that in and of myself, I am nothing with You. Therefore, please help me to promote You in all that I say or do so that others will be drawn to You and not to me.

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àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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