THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – John 1:10-12): ¹⁰ He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹ He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. ¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

THOUGHTS: Some of us tell stories about meeting our spouses, and those stories could sometimes sound somewhat like this passage. We struggled to get along with the person when we first met them, then they gained our confidence and we began trusting them. This followed with actually falling in love with that wonderful person and we wound up marrying them! With God, we tend to look at all the beauty around us; we hear of all the miracles He has performed, and sometimes we hear of the miracles performed in the lives of our loved ones even today. We come across folk who hate Him, yet we come across some who are crazy in love with Him. We just can’t escape knowing that God exist because of all the reasons mentioned but yet something still confuses us about wanting to fully accept Him for who people claim Him to be. Friends, may I tell you bluntly that Satan will do everything possible to distract you from trusting in his opponent, for when you believe in; trust in; and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Satan loses. However, let me draw to your attention the truth of verse 12. The verse speaks to the glory of becoming a child of God, if you believe in Jesus Christ and accept Him as Lord of your life. But let’s really look at this from a perspective of what happens if you do not believe in Him and accept Him. Doesn’t that mean that Satan wins? Doesn’t that mean that you have chosen instead to follow the ways of Satan and agree that you would rather go to the pits of hell with him to be punished eternally? In life, smart folk don’t make those kinds of choices deliberately, friend. Why would you knowingly settle for that? In religious based movies we hear of people facing death by an evil person if they say they are a Christian. Please hear your friend carefully today when I tell you that there is no known punishment that you can think of that will compare to the pain, anguish and punishment that will be for those who stand before the Lord and say that they have chosen the evil one. The Bible tells us this friend. Granted, you would never deliberately surrender to Satan, right? I bring bad news friend, unless you surrender your life to Jesus Christ, you have decided to accept the alternative, and Satan will do with you what comes natural to him – punish you throughout eternity. Only you can change your destiny friend, and God will help you, if you let Him. He loves you that much!

PRAYER: Lord God, this short passage can be a treacherous one to think about today, or we can chose to see it as a bright and glorious opportunity we have in being called Children of God, because we have surrendered our life to You, through Your Son Jesus. May our choice be a wise one today as we meditate on Your Word? Many will quickly say that they never deliberately make bad choices. Please open their eyes of understanding Lord, so that they may realize that anything less than making a choice to accept You as Lord of their lives, is deliberately making a choice to allow Satan to control their lives. We need You oh Lord, for we have family and friends who still don’t understand the impact of the choice they have made up to this point in their lives. Because they have not been promised anything beyond the present time, I sincerely pray that their eyes of faith will be opened and their hearts softened to allow them to surrender to You before it is eternally too late. I ask all this in the name of Jesus, and because I know that You are the only One who can truly have a positive impact on lives, even today. All glory to You oh Lord, my Savior, AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!