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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-01-20 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Matthew 7:24-27 (TLB) |
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Text: |
24 “All who listen to my instructions and follow them are wise, like a man who builds his house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents, and the floods rise and the storm winds beat against his house, it won’t collapse, for it is built on rock.
26 “But those who hear my instructions and ignore them are foolish, like a man who builds his house on sand. 27 For when the rains and floods come, and storm winds beat against his house, it will fall with a mighty crash.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| I believe that Jesus saw men flagging in bad decisions in His day also, so He taught them about what causes those unwarranted decisions, and what they could do about turning that weakness around. This is a lesson for people of all ages to follow, so let’s look at how we might apply this to our lives. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
Jesus is very deliberate in what He instructed, and He used an example to clarify what He taught about making sound, or grounded decisions, and gave examples of what the results might look like. In the example of building a house on solid ground, this rings real close to home with me, because I come from a country where houses are generally built super strong and deeply grounded, because of the hurricanes that often pass over those islands, The Bahamas. However, Jesus was extremely clear in what he taught, so let’s not get too caught up in the examples that Jesus used, but rather concentrate on the simple truth of His Word. Based on this, I feel like I can safely teach you that your premise for making grounded, or safe decisions that are backed by God, are based on the condition used by Jesus when He said that we are to:
Now I believe that many times we will listen and obey God’s instructions and they may not apply to the circumstances at hand. Notice that Jesus didn’t say that we become wise by handling daily situations well. He said that we become wise as we listen and obey His instructions. Remember how important it is for us to teach a child about everyday situations? Even though they don’t need that education for situations they will handle that day, they become wise and able to handle those situations as they arise later in life. And so it is with God, friends! Let’s do what He says, knowing that one day we will act on what we learned. That’s how we make sound, grounded decisions, based on the teachings of our Lord! |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Every day we make decisions, some of which have long-lasting effects on the lives of people that we know, love, and want to see accept You as Lord. Unless we display the love and wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, often we will lose their confidence and even sometimes cause them to create a lack of faith in us. Lord, it’s not about us. We want these individuals to clearly see the faith that we have in our all-wise, all-loving God and therefore create a desire in them to know You and accept You as Lord. To do this, please teach us to not only go in Your name, but to stay mindful of, and obedient to, Your teachings, so that our ways, and our thoughts, and our words or instructions, might better align with Yours. This requires that we empty ourselves of self and fill ourselves with You and Your teachings. Please give us the desire to do just that and embolden us to freely share Your love with others. I ask these things in the strong name of Jesus, my Rock and my Redeemer, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could 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 Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to 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, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! 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! | |
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