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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-07-05 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Psalm 42:1-3 (Voice) |
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Text: |
1 My soul is dry and thirsts for You, True God, as a deer thirsts for water. 2 I long for the True God who lives. When can I stand before Him and feel His comfort? 3 Right now I’m overwhelmed by my sorrow and pain; I can’t stop feasting on my tears. People crowd around me and say, “Where is your True God whom you claim will save?” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| It seems like the Psalmist had come to a time in his life where he may have plateaued in his relationship with God. I don’t feel like he had lost faith in Him, but things were just not as fresh, or alive, or active as it used to be. In fact, it seems like his contemporaries had even noticed that he was not on fire for the Lord as he once were. Let’s analyze whether these times come to Christians today…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| It seems like at the moment that a Brother or Sister accepts the Lord, they are so on fire for the Lord that it may appear like they are definitely the saint who will save the world. Then, like I heard one preacher say, older Christians rub off on them and they lose their enthusiasm! Why do you suppose this happens? I believe that new Christians have just been transformed from a life of sin, to a life on fire for the Lord. They realize the total opposite impact on life compared to their life before Christ when they were simply led by the crowd, beat up by the world, and felt no sense of accomplishment nor hope for heaven. Christians who are out of touch with Jesus Christ, could feel just as helpless and unfulfilled, for they are back to their previous life of self fulfilment and self satisfaction. Fellow Christians, just as the Psalmist shared in verse three, it is amazing how quickly your friends will notice the void or lacking element in your life. They might quickly question if you have lost touch with God or had a massive interruption in your relationship with your God. So I bet you might be asking how might we overcome this or avoid this disconnect. I firmly believe that when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He sticks to His promises 100%. So guess where the disconnect comes in? It’s you and I friends. You cannot stay close to God and stand on His promises when you live out the promises of this world and are constantly suffering the consequences of that lifestyle. There must come a time when, like the Psalmist, you have such a desire to refresh your relationship with your God, that your whole being feels like it is suffering from an unquenchable thirst for Him. Like a deer that pants for water, you may even feel like your whole body is panting for more of God. Once that thirst is satisfied, an animal settles down, breathes much easier, and is much more amicable towards others. I believe you will do the same friends. But this begins with recognizing your need, seeking the face of Jesus to receive the help you need, and actually stepping in there to make it happen. I trust that might be the sincere desire of those who have drifted away from God or feel the need of refreshment from God so that you might be more effective in your ministry for the kingdom of God. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Precious Lord, we feel dry, parched and thirsty for You, when we realize that we have lost touch with You and have become ineffective in our witness for You. Please be a constant reminder to us that You will never leave nor forsake us, and that we should set a daily goal to do the same. Help us to pray in the good times, as well as the times of need and distress. Help us to habitually get into Your Word, so that we might hear words of affirmation, love and promises to encourage us and draw us closer to you each day. Our relationship is not one where we do nothing and You constantly cram blessings and words of wisdom into our life. It’s about relationship! Please help us to be alert to, and actively pursue, actions that will draw us closer to You each day, so that You might be glorified even by those that we witness to each day. I ask these things in all hope and honesty, all for Your glory alone dear God, 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! | |
Month: July 2017
Praise Be to God – Our Creator!
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-07-04 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Proverbs 8:27-29 (NCV) |
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Text: |
27 I was there when God put the skies in place, when he stretched the horizon over the oceans, 28 when he made the clouds above and put the deep underground springs in place. 29 I was there when he ordered the sea not to go beyond the borders he had set. I was there when he laid the earth’s foundation. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| This whole chapter reminds us of the importance of wisdom, and that it existed from the very beginning of time when God was creating this earth. God really caught my attention in the above verses, for Solomon was reflecting on how awesome it must have been for one to watch God in action as he put this whole earth together. Reflecting on this could easily prompt one to worship the Creator! I could only imagine how Solomon must of welled up in praise as he reflected and put his feelings into words. I believe Solomon, just like all other Biblical writers, was led by the Holy Spirit to write these words so that we who have come behind him would also be reminded and lift up our hands and voices in praise and amazement to our awesome God! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
Solomon was known as the wisest man on earth, yet we can tell from this chapter in Proverbs, that he respected where wisdom really originated. In fact right at the beginning of the book, he asked God for wisdom, and God blessed him with this wonderful gift. While I have the utmost respect for wise people, God got my attention in these verses to just imagine how exciting it was to see God in action as He created this earth. Here are a few of the things that spoke to me:
Friends, these are the things that we need to remember as we have our individual praise times with our Master! Let’s be diligent to not always make it a gripe session or one of begging or complaining. Let’s praise Him for who He truly is – King of all kings and Lord of all lords! Our loving and caring Savior who provides for us in advance! |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, thank You for setting the stage for our arrival on earth. You prepared the earth with such beauty, provisions and awesome wonder for mankind to enjoy and be blessed by. As we recognize Your goodness, may we well up in glorious praise to You, for the awesome God that You are. Thank You for being so good to us Lord! 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! | |
Our Greatest Need
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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-07-03 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Luke 5:18-20 (TLB) |
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Text: |
18-19 Then—look! Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to push through the crowd to Jesus but couldn’t reach him. So they went up on the roof above him, took off some tiles, and lowered the sick man down into the crowd, still on his sleeping mat, right in front of Jesus.
20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven!” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| There are a few powerful lessons here in this Scripture, beginning with the audacity of the paralyzed man’s friends to get their friend in front of Jesus in spite of any obstacles that might present itself. The second thing is to notice that Jesus’ first priority was to meet the man’s greatest need – forgiveness of his sin. Let’s apply this to our challenges of today…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I am very convinced that Jesus is the same today as He was yesterday. I am therefore convinced that when we are called on to pray for someone’s health; someone’s battle with evil; or someone’s battle with finding a job. In fact, no matter what the request is for prayer, we who know the Lord personally, must take the example of Jesus and seek to know the spiritual condition of the individual first and approach God for their greatest need(s) before any other physical need they could possibly have. Although given the facts in this Scripture today, let me encourage you to think this through in a logical manner also. What would it profit a man to be healed, if his soul is destined for eternal damnation in Hell. Miracles happen so that the Son of God might be glorified. What glory might God receive for an unbeliever to be healed and then attribute his ‘miracle’ to happen-chance, or some other good luck charm, or ‘positive thoughts’ from a friend? Would this not be making a mockery of our Lord Jesus? What impact would healing have on a person whose soul is destined for Hell? Jesus immediately recognized that this paralyzed man wanted to be seen by Him, because the man allowed, or possibly even asked his friends to place him at the feet of Jesus. But Jesus also knew that the man’s greatest need was to have his sins forgiven so that he might be assured of his eternal destination, whether lying on a mat or walking about like you and I. Friends, many folk may present their needs to us today in hopes that we would pray for them. Unless you know about their spiritual relationship with God, may I suggest that you pray for that most urgently, then possibly for their physical needs? I believe that will fall more in line with what we were taught in the Scripture here today. In closing, let me suggest that we remember the determination of these friends to get the paralyzed man at the feet of Jesus. The didn’t let things like: his weight, their back issues, the crowd, possible security at the entrance of the meeting place, or even a means of how to get onto the roof interfere with their far-out alternate plan. Remembering this determination might help us the next time we are looking for excuses not to attend church and worship the Lord corporately, or going to the hospital to pray with a friend. We come up with lots of excuses that may sound OK to a friend, but let me assure you that God knows your heart, and the very thoughts that run through your mind! Make Him priority in your life, if He truly is your King! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord God, thank You for Your faithfulness to us. Thank You for Your healing power displayed to the paralyzed man in this Scripture today. I am confident that the same love and power shown to this man, is only a glimpse into what You can actually do for us. Please help us to daily recognize Your amazing grace and miraculous works in our lives. Please help us to also be much more mindful about what others truly need first and foremost in their lives, in spite of what they may have called us to do for them, or pray with them about. Thank You Lord for saving my soul, and thank You for Your miraculous touch in my life through many circumstances way beyond anything I or the doctors could do for me. Lord, may You continue to amaze me with Your power and invincible hand, for I ask these things in and through the precious name of Jesus, my Lord, 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! | |
Overwhelmed By God’s Presence
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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-07-01 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Luke 5:4-9 (TLB) |
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Text: |
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets and you will catch a lot of fish!”
5 “Sir,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, we’ll try again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full that they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. 8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, sir, please leave us—I’m too much of a sinner for you to have around.” 9 For he was awestruck by the size of their catch, as were the others with him, |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| I feel pretty sure that Simon had heard about Jesus and he had heard about the miracles that he performed. He had just heard the wisdom in His teaching right from his very own boat to a crowd on the shore. But then Simon was faced with a test of his faith. In spite of having fished all night and caught nothing, Jesus told him to go and do the exact thing that brought no results after hours and hours of self efforts. However after seeing the difference in obeying Jesus, Simon became very embarrassed of his initial hesitation. Let’s put ourselves in the position of Simon and consider if we would have done any differently. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Don’t you love it when you are trying to help a child and you give them instructions, based on your proven experience, only to see them look up at you with a large question mark on their faces, as if to say “are you sure about this”? I would imagine that similar thoughts must have haunted Simon, for he had heard of Jesus’ teachings, His healings, and the love He showed to all mankind, but where would He have gathered such knowledge to tell a seasoned fisherman where to go and what to do? Like most of us, Simon hesitated, and actually tried to clarify why he was hesitating by telling Jesus of the endless efforts the night before. We do the same thing friends, because how many of you jump to it and move into action when asked to do something around your church, or are invited to go on a missions trip? Our usual excuse is that we need to go home and pray about it, and I believe that’s an excellent move. But I wonder how often it’s merely giving us time to build a case as to why we can’t do the job or make the mission’s trip! Friends, I believe that it should always be our goal to seek God’s face and ask for His guidance in helping us do what He desires, when He desires it. He is the One that has a divine will and direction for our lives. He knows where we need to be and where we need to go, so that His glory might shine through us. Oh what joy will be ours when we are obedient and see God being glorified because of our obedience. Can’t you imagine how Simon must have felt after hesitating on an order from Jesus, then to only witness that He indeed is God, and that everything happened just as He said it would? Can you imagine the disappointment on God’s face when He has a plan for us; gives us direction towards achieving that plan, and then for us to decline, because we think we know better than He knows? Can you truly turn around and celebrate in praise to the God that you just disappointed? I can only imagine that as we are obedient and see the wondrous works of Christ materialize through us, that we would act very similar to Simon: Oh Lord, please forgive this doubting man and multiply my faith so that I might be more obedient and draw ever closer to You. You alone are God and in total respect and honor to You, I want to be Your obedient servant because of the strong faith I believe You will develop in me. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, we are thankful that You consider us Yours, for those who have placed their faith and trust in You. Thank you for your direction in our lives and leading us each day. Just as our Scripture reading shows a turning point in Simon’s life, I pray that You will also touch the lives of each reader today so that we might willingly and obediently follow Your will and design for us. Lord, may we be humble and usable vessels through which You can work, and let Your glory shine. 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! | |
Nuggets From God's Word 