Scripture: 1 Timothy 4.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

2 Timothy 4:6-8 (NLT)
⁶ As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.
⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
⁸ And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.

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

In a world where divorce rates are just as high among Christian couples as it is among the unsaved, meaning that one or both of the parties can no longer commit to the promises made in their marriage vows. A world where churches are closing its doors as a result of Christians not getting along, or they no longer tithe to support the work of the church, or they can no longer commit to the work of the church because they are doing OK on their own without Jesus or His followers, or more important things have taken priority in their lives. Yes, with all this going on amongst Christians, is it any wonder why most of us cannot truly repeat the words of Paul in verse 7 honestly before the Lord? In our marriage vows we commit to be faithful to our spouse until parted by death. Surely our commitment to God when we ask for His forgiveness and salvation is no less. I believe that if at the end of each day, or at the end of each week, we could analyze our commitment and our faithfulness for the time spent with God and in His service, we would be a much better people. I could only imagine that our reconciliation with God each day or each week would be something like the prayer below…

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

I acknowledge dear God that, yes my goal was to be faithful to You in service today, or in my commitment to You this week, but Lord You know of my failures and I plead for Your forgiveness. Please forgive me for my selfishness, my failure to make You first in all that I did, for overextending myself and therefore crowding my time with You or in some cases bypassing my time with You. Please forgive me for my shortcomings in my faithfulness to You. Forgive me for allowing my commitment to You to take a lower priority in my life. Because You are number One in my life, I need You to be top priority in my life. Because of my failures today/this week, it is obvious that I need You to empower me with Your strength to overcome everything that tends to interfere with my commitment, for I truly want to be able to repeat verse 7 honestly before You the next time we meet – I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. Thank You for loving me anyway, and thank You for the confidence I feel in knowing that You will help me with my commitment.

 

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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