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
**