Scripture: Mark 6.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

Mark 6:5-6 (NLT)

5 And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any mighty miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people.

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

I wonder what Jesus is saying about our faith today? Yes, I mean those of us that have accepted Him as Lord; that attend church regularly; that pray daily. Now wait just a minute you might say to those comments, why else would I go through the motions every day? Friends, I believe that if we stop for a moment and really think about the doubt that we really show when we seek God’s face in prayer about a health problem, but then we go on to great lengths to seek doctor’s advice, or perhaps the special prayer of an evangelist who we have been told really has success in his healing services. What happened to the prayer that you and a fellow Christian had together? Not effective enough? Not enough faith between the two of you? Unfortunately these are questions we must ask ourselves when we go to God in prayer. Are we asking with enough faith and confidence that we can walk away believing that it will be done? Or are we filled with so much doubt that Jesus might move on to the next town as He did in Mark 6:6? I have a gut feeling that if Jesus would audibly speak to many of our churches today, He would probably first say “O ye of little faith”. Friends, this same Jesus whose death and miraculous resurrection we celebrate at Easter time, is the one we question in our faith when we doubt His healing power. Really no reason for us to do that, right?

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord Jesus, please forgive me when I doubt. I have so much in Your Word to reassure me of your miraculous power and Your healing touch, yet I constantly question Your power to impact my life and the small issues that I bring before You. I know that I serve a Mighty God. I know that I serve an all-powerful God. I know that Your wisdom and Your abilities far exceeds any need that I could ever have, and because of Your love, I know that You are just waiting for me to ask in true humility and faith. There is nothing more that I need than to know You intimately and trust You completely. Thank You for humbling Yourself to impact even me. I love You Lord!

 

**Words 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
**

Scripture: Leviticus 22.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

Leviticus 22:31-33 (NLT)

31 “You must faithfully keep all my commands by putting them into practice, for I am the LORD.

32 Do not bring shame on my holy name, for I will display my holiness among the people of Israel. I am the LORD who makes you holy.

33 It was I who rescued you from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. I am the LORD.”

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

God had just given Moses a lot of rules and procedures that He wanted the people of Israel to follow. At first glance, these appear to be onerous and almost strange when observing the liberties and ways that we see in our culture today. However, we must realize that this was the first time that these folk were exposed to following any type of strict rules, for we saw in the wilderness that as soon as Moses turned his head and went up the mountain to meet with God, their minds went back to their old ways and they began worshipping idols. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior today, we come to Him with a lot of preconceived ideas on how to live life. It takes Bible study, church attendance and being around other Christians to help us understand and live according to God’s design. God is reminding us today, like He did through Moses to the people of Israel, that He is the Lord that makes us holy, and that we are to obey His commands as laid out in His Word, for He is holy. In verse 33 I believe that God is also saying to us that He rescued us from our world of sin so that He might be our God. He wants us so badly to follow His ways so that He can be our God. Having seen the mighty works of the almighty God, I would recommend that we do what He says. Are you ready to join me, friends?

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord Jesus I pray that You will be forever on my case to follow You carefully and in all sincerity, because I want You to always be my God. I acknowledge that You are Lord, and I want to daily live like You are Lord of my life in every way. Please guide me to follow Your ways and obey Your commands. I love the song that goes something like this, “I’m Yours Lord, Everything I’ve Got, Everything I am, …..”

 

**Words 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
**

Scripture: Mark 4.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

Mark 4:39-40 (NLT)

39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the water, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.

40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

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

In our times of trouble, distress, stress, pain, loss, heartache or fear, do we sometimes feel like the disciples did when they felt like Jesus had fallen asleep and/or forgotten about them? Of course we, unfortunately do this. Jesus’ disciples had seen the miracles and the awesome power of God, so they knew what He was capable of doing, that’s why they went to wake Jesus up – because they knew that He could handle the whole situation for them. Today, we have the good fortune of having God’s Holy Word, and we could read about the many different ways that Jesus exerted His power, so we know what He is capable of doing. Why then do we allow our fears to run away with us and create that doubt in our mind? Friends, stand firm in your faith and in the mighty God that we serve. Allow Him to protect, guide and direct our ways for His good. Remember, even though we may sometimes feel like we are so out of control over a situation, we serve a God who can handle it all, therefore we need to let go and let God be God.

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord Jesus, so often we face situations that we feel so out of control in. We face giants in our lives that make us feel so minute and out of control. This passage today has reminded me that You are the Master of this universe, and as such You have the power to control every little detail. Please remind me to willingly surrender my concerns to You and allow You to be God. I know that You love me beyond compare and that You will do things for my ultimate good. Thank You for that kind of love!

 

**Words 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
**

Scripture: Mark 3.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

Mark 3:1-2 (NLT)

1 Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand.

2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.

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

Jesus did nothing but good, yet there were folk that hated and despised Him. In the above verses we are seeing the results of Jesus exposing the sin of the Pharisees, for He had exposed their bad attitudes. I believe that people are no different today. In fact, I believe the proof is evident in the number of different denominations and cults that we see around today. Somewhere along the way, someone interpreted the Gospel in a way that stepped on someone’s toes, so they started another church or denomination or cult. Friends I want to remind you that the Word of God is offensive to the sinner, because their sin is exposed and they are individually challenged to make a decision about whether they will go on sinning, seek forgiveness of their sin, or attend a gathering where others feel the way they do about the subject. I would challenge believers to think of this, that if you live your life in a way pleasing to this world, you are probably not following God’s commands. If you live/teach/preach the unadulterated Word of God, and if God is not already challenging a person about their spiritual condition, then what you have to say will hit some very sensitive nerves, as the individual is being told that they may not be perfect in every way. Friends, if we haven’t been a challenge to anyone lately, then we are probably going with the flow and living like the world. Let me challenge us to draw near to God; Allow Him to draw close to us; Be obedient to God and His precious Word; Watch God boldly work on His children, and be prepared to pray earnestly for those who surrender to the call of Christ so that they may be obedient in following His commands unconditionally.

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord Jesus, I’m sorry that way too often we want to be accepted, so we give in to the ways, concepts and will of the world, rather than placing our total faith and trust in You. Many times this could make the difference of where someone will spend eternity, so I realize where the importance of doing this ‘life’ thing right, could have unbelievable effects on ourselves and those that we have influence over. Please mold me daily so that I may be pliable and usable by You in every way dear Lord. Thank You for providing a ‘way’ for us. In Jesus’ wonderful Name I humbly ask, Amen!

 

**Words 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
**

Scripture: Leviticus 18.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

Leviticus 18:1-5 (NLT)

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the LORD your God. 3 So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. 4 You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the LORD your God.
5 If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the LORD.

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

I underlined a section of the verses above that really spoke to me. In evangelism training we are taught that when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we make a 180 degree turn from our old way of living to the new life in Christ. This concept is developed even further in these key verses, for God told Moses that He not only expected His people that He had rescued from Eqypt to discontinue their sinful lifestyles that they developed in Egypt, but He also did not expect them to imitate the lives of those in the new country in which He had led them. Instead they were to live in accordance with the laws and regulations taught to them during their time in the wilderness. Now let’s try and apply this to Christianity and see the similarity. When one surrenders themselves to Christ and decides that with God’s help they will give up their old lives of sin and live according to the Word of God, I believe that God and His church are all happy. Unfortunately when this new Christian plants themselves into a church, they often find a group of Christians that still struggle with giving up their old lives and therefore could become either an encourager to the new Christian or a bad example. I believe that Jesus desires that we strive to be like Him in every way, even if that sometimes lead to a lifestyle different to that of our non-Christian friends or our new-found Christian friends. I would encourage my friends that may read this to surrender your life to Jesus as your everlasting Lord and Savior, and to live a life dedicated to Him and in obedience to His Word. This may often lead to disagreeing with others around you, but keep your goal as one that will lead to eternal life in heaven with Jesus, and not in pleasing friends.

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord, my desire is to one day be with You in glory with as few regrets as possible about my life here on earth. You have a design for my life here on earth, as detailed throughout Your Word. Please help me to daily align myself with Your desire for me while here on earth, and guide me to a life of holiness that represents You in every way.

 

**Words 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
**

Scripture: Mark 2.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

Mark 2:2-5 (NLT)

2 Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat.

4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus.

5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

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

The sentence that I underlined really caught my attention as I studied this passage of scripture. Join me in considering what many of us may have said or done, should this incident happen today. Don’t you imagine that the problems would begin in finding enough able men to help us carry this man to Jesus? I’m sure that excuses such as: “I heard that you can’t get anywhere near Jesus because of the crowds, and I must be back in an hour to catch the game, so I can’t take that chance in leaving to go with you” or “I just got home from work and I can’t leave that quickly, can’t you find someone else to go?” or “I have family in town and I can’t leave them for what may wind up being an hour or more, and to take the old crippled before a man claiming to be God?” or “My family needs me tonight way more than this mission you have dreamed up to take old Jack before this so called prophet who doesn’t even worship with us each week”. Now imagine arriving at the home where Jesus is, and the excuses that would be used by our current day Christian workers. Friends, before you consider me a lunatic for thinking this way, try and attend our prayer meetings on Wednesday evenings where less than 1% of our members see the necessity to attend, where they could join in prayer for a crippled like the one mentioned in this story, and even the ones that attend are either too timid to talk to God openly or they feel like it’s the pastor’s job or perhaps the deacon’s job to say some fancy prayer. Friends, I believe that where we go wrong is that we try to compare ourselves to another and their prayer style, instead of speaking from the heart to the One who created us and knows everything about us. He knows our thoughts before we speak them, so there is no need to fancy them up in order to sound just like Uncle James. Because of the faith and actions of the men who carried this man to Jesus, the man was healed. Do we put enough into our prayer lives that we might expect to see healing for another? Being convinced about the One whom we serve and to whom we pray, should give us confidence in our prayer lives and give us reason to be committed to Him until the end. How is it with you, Brother? How about you, Sister?

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord Jesus I must come before You in humility this morning asking for Your forgiveness for the times that I have come before You in prayer for a Brother or Sister, but yet with such doubt and unbelief in my heart. Please take this vessel and mold it to be just like You. Please help me to be in tuned with You and Your Word each and every day so that I may hear Your voice and obey Your commands, and become more like You in my words and in my actions.

 

**Words 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
**

Scripture: Leviticus 11.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

Leviticus 11:44-45 (NLT)

44 For I am the LORD your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves with any of these small animals that scurry along the ground.

45 For I, the LORD, am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. Therefore, you must be holy because I am holy.

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

This command by God was given to His people as He was about to turn them loose to their freedom in the Promised Land, but I believe that His desire to see us as His holy people desiring to follow our Holy God is just as applicable to us today. We are His chosen people and since we have committed to follow Him for the rest of our lives and to be like Him every day, then God expects nothing less from us. How is it with you friend? At the end of each day, do you suppose there is anything that may have disappointed God in your words or actions that day? If it is, then I believe that we are expected to seek forgiveness from God and ask for His strength and guidance to be a better representative of His the next day.

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord Jesus, I am ashamed to say that I often fail in being an image of You each day. Like the people of Israel, there are many distractions that tend to lead me on a path that may not always make You proud of me. Please forgive me, and please open my eyes, empower me, guide me and give me boldness of heart to follow You in all that I do or say. Like a popular song of today proclaims “Lord, I want to be just like You“.

 

**Words 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
**

Scripture: Matthew 25.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

Matthew 25:34-36 (NLT)

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.

35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.

36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

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

This is a very powerful chapter to read, for we see where Jesus tells us first of all that even though we may have accepted Jesus as Lord, we need to be watching and prepared in anticipation of His return. Many times we make decisions based on the circumstances, or the folk around us. When we have truly committed ourselves to the Master, we become anxious for His return because it’s all about Him and not of ourselves or anything that exist in this old world. Next we have the story of the three servants who were given gifts to use for God’s glory. To those of us that hide that gift and/or keep it to ourselves, God warns us that it will be taken away. To say that we have no gift, is truly a slap in the face of Almighty God, because scripture teaches us that we are each gifted by the Holy Spirit at the time of our conversion. The question remains, “Are our gifts from God evident to others, or are we hiding them”? Like the third servant, we may be thrown into outer darkness. Please don’t quench the gifts entrusted to us by our Savior. Considering both of the aforementioned sobering lessons, I want us to imagine standing before our Almighty, All-knowing God and watching Him separate the people of this world, placing some to His left and some to His right. Can you imagine how this might make you a nervous wreck wondering what He will do when it’s your turn? Can you imagine the shock when He sends those to His left into outer darkness because they made a decision to accept Him, but it really wasn’t sincere as they never followed His example and obeyed His commands? Perhaps never read His Word to know what they should be doing as children of God? Perhaps embarrassed to let their non-Christian friends know that they are changed individuals? Perhaps only followed the rest of the crowd one evening and went forward in church and ‘supposedly’ accepted the Lord? Friends, this will be a very sobering moment, but allow me to remind you that this will be an eternal moment because there will be no re-living the opportunity. Jesus will separate us permanently at that point. Are you sure of your destiny? Why not make the right decision today and have the opportunity to live the life that Christ intended us to live? Please talk with your Bible-teaching pastor, or a good Bible-believing and practicing Christian friend, or write to me using the email below and allow one of us to partner with you in prayer about eternal decisions you must make today?

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord, there are decisions that need to be made today to either solidify a commitment to You that has never been truly implemented in the heart and life of a friend reading this, or there may be a friend who has finally realized the importance of solidifying a decision to accept You as Lord of their life. Please humble the hearts of the proud and unsaved friends that will read this and give them another opportunity to seek forgiveness of their sin and commit themselves to You as their Lord and Savior. For those that have answered Your call to salvation, but have never acted on the greatest strength in their life, please awaken them and prompt them into action. Please give me Your strength, power and wisdom to deal with the circumstances of this day in a way that will be pleasing to You, and that would be encouraging to others and used mightily by You.

 

**Words 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
**

Scripture: Exodus 31.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

Exodus 31:1-5 (NLT)

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3
I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. 4 He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. 5 He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft!

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

Isn’t it strange how you and I might look the crowd over and decide that there are none qualified for a job among us, yet when we depend on God to fill the position not only does the position become filled, but we find as time goes on that it was the perfect person to do the job? Well, these verses help us to understand why this happens. Just as God had gifted Bezalel to do the job for Moses, I believe that He is still God and will still gift individuals for the right positions in His work today. I also believe that when we listen to God and allow His chosen ones to do the God-assigned jobs He has directed, there will be no one among us that could do it more effectively. So how does this apply to us today, you may ask. I am convinced that when we are given the responsibility to do God’s work, we must always include Him in the decision making for the ministry to be effective. When bringing ministry workers alongside of us, it is so much easier for us to choose the individuals who are most supportive to us; who always raises their hand to do a job, no matter how overwhelmed they are already; the ones who will always ask how high, when we ask them to jump; the ones who will always make us look good in our position. However, if we never talk to God and find the worker(s) He has already gifted for the position(s) then we are merely filling in names for available positions, and not placing God’s choice for the individual(s) that He has already prepared for the job. Friends, I believe that our ministries become ineffective when we try to please man, instead of seeking God’s will, and pleasing Him by choosing His man/woman for the right job in our ministries.

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Dear God, I thank You for being so deliberate in the work that must be done in and through Your church today. From this passage I have been reminded that to do God’s work, we must have God’s assigned leaders and workers whom He has gifted for the job. I pray that all pastors and church leaders will catch a glimpse of what You did in this scriptural case for Moses, and that they too will seek Your face and ensure that ministry positions are filled with Your gifted workers who has been prepared and charged with the responsibilities by You alone. Thank You for choosing to work through even us to accomplish Your kingdom sized responsibilities here on earth.

 

**Words 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
**