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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-09-18 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Psalm 59:16-17 (TLB) |
|
Text: |
16 But as for me, I will sing each morning about your power and mercy. For you have been my high tower of refuge, a place of safety in the day of my distress. 17 O my Strength, to you I sing my praises; for you are my high tower of safety, my God of mercy. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| David had a way of expressing himself about the relationship that he had with God, and how God answered his prayers in the very miraculous ways that only God could do! In these verses today David was acknowledging through praise, how God heard his prayers and protected him against Saul’s men that surrounded his home. Let’s look into the ways that we can apply this in our own lives…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| No doubt there have been times of desperation in our own lives where we have knelt before our Maker in desperation and prayed over very critical moments for a family member, or perhaps a parent, or even a friend. Often we can remember the growth and encouragement that came when our prayers were answered just like we asked of God. However, we tend to get our noses a little ‘out of joint’ when we tell God to do such and such, and He decides that there are alternate ways that He would prefer handling things. This might be a good reminder that the whole reason that we ask God, is that we know that there could be more than one outcome to a situation. For example, in David’s scenario, God could have left Saul’s men hidden for a longer period of time which would have allowed Him more time to work on David; He could have used these men, yes even the opposition, to take David out; or of course He could have stricken the enemies blind so that David could walk away unscathed. I believe that God will gladly listen to our personal desires, or wishes, in a scenario, but I also believe that when we ask that His perfect will be done, that we should strap ourselves in and prepare for the strong, all-knowing, mighty hand of God to be applied in our best interest, or that might bring praise to the Almighty. I believe that most Christians are good about asking, but we may be way too caught up in telling God how to answer our prayers. Additionally, we are way too quick to say that God didn’t, or won’t, answer our prayers, when in fact He answered in line with His perfect will for us. Friends, if we truly know God personally, and we are willing to take Him at His word, then we need to follow the words of an old hymn, ‘Just take it to the Lord, and leave it there’. The other challenging thing for us, is to be ready to obey Him and follow His perfect plan for us, no matter which way He answers. This type of obedience is probably one of the most challenging for mankind, because our tendency is to snarl our noses up when we may have to do something differently than what we asked for. I believe that we need to decide that if God is truly in control, it’s our responsibility to listen and obey Him, knowing that He has our best interest, and His glory, at the center of our heart. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Precious Savior, thank You for being patient with us as we learn from Your Word, and through our own personal experiences. You are a God who loves and cares for us, and who can be trusted with perfect decisions for us so that You may be glorified. Please help us to take our burdens, cares and concerns to the foot of the cross and leave them there. Please help us to be obedient, even when Your perfect response is different to our personal desires. Lord, may our faith increase everyday because of the awesome working of Your hand, 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: September 2017
Salvation is Instant
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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-09-16 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Luke 23:42-43 (ERV) |
|
Text: |
42 Then he (the criminal) said, “Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as king!” 43 Then Jesus said to him, “I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| I found it interesting that at least two of the ways that people tend to think of salvation today, occurred in these two verses. First, that if I ask for salvation today then eventually I will be saved. The second is in Jesus’ response, that today, you are saved. Because I believe that some still believe in one of these concepts and some in the other, I believe that we should examine the two…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| On the day that I was born, my mom and dad was given the date and time of my birth. They were not told that if he survives 90 days then you can start the clock running for the beginning of his life, or you will be granted a birth certificate at that time. On the day I got married, my wife and I were given marriage certificates, certifying that we were married on a given date and time in a certain place by a certain pastor. What I have found in Christianity, is that some will say that their journey began when they were influenced by this person and grew as they attended church and matured when they saw answered prayer over an illness. I wonder when the criminal might have considered himself saved if this logic was used? Perhaps Jesus would have told him: sorry buddy, you are just too late in the game? Did you notice that God had been speaking to the criminal before he spoke these words to Jesus? He knew all about the good deeds of Jesus; that he was wrongly accused, and that He was being crucified as an innocent man. I’m sure that the criminal watched the attitude of Jesus throughout the whole march up to Calvary as well. Most importantly, did you notice that Jesus didn’t regurgitate all the sins and/or crimes of the criminal when He was asked to accept him? Jesus simply said to him, what He would simply respond to the vilest offender today: today, you are Mine. Today, should you die, you will be with me in eternity! Friends, let me encourage you to think back to the day and the time that you asked Jesus to forgive you of your sin and accept you as His very own son or daughter. Let me encourage you to write that down somewhere, and embed that in your mind, because as long as you are on this earth, its leader (Satan) will still be on your heels and he will cause you to doubt, or question your salvation. Take Satan back to the place, day and time where you secured your salvation with Jesus Christ, and order him to flee from you, for you serve a new Master now and it’s not him! Of course you will mature in your Christian walk as you learn more about the life, ministry and teachings of Jesus, but keep your markers in place friend regarding the day you decided to serve only Him. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Father, You are all merciful and understanding of the effects that this world has on your precious children. I know that the angels rejoice when one makes a decision that they want heaven as their eternal home and You as their triumphant leader from the point of salvation and forevermore! Thank You for the awesome plan You put in place for us! Thank You for the gift of Your precious Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to guide us through this earthly life that is bombarded by sin on every turn. We are anxious for our eternal home, but until then, anxious about all that You can do through us to help yet another beggar (sinner) see the Light of the World – Jesus! Please direct us and use us as instruments molded by You. 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! | |
Proof of Son-ship
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-09-15 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
1 John 4:7-10 (GNT) |
|
Text: |
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him. 10 This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| I believe that we have always learned that God is love, and that we should use His example when explaining the word ‘love’. However in our Scripture today, John is helping us to understand that if we claim to know Jesus as Lord, then we must be identified as being a person of that same genuine love as Jesus. Easy? No, but let’s try to apply this today….. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| After growing into a teenager, I remember being far from home, and someone at a gas station shouted across identifying me with my dad. I was floored, as I never knew that I looked so much like my dad! We often hear people tell couples that they look like sister and brother. I wonder if that’s as much in looks, or how they act so much alike after being together so many years? Friends, with God’s help, I want to especially share with you the unconditional love that Jesus has for us, and I want to remind you that when we identify ourselves with Him – that we are a Christian, then folk should often mistake us for Jesus, because we act so much like all they have read, heard or know about Jesus. This passage today is telling us that we can’t hate a brother or a sister and claim to be Christ-like, for that would be totally opposite to His character trait. Let me remind you that He loved the men that came to arrest Him in the garden where He went to pray, because He reached out and healed the ear of the one whose ear was severed by one of Jesus’ men. On the cross He pleaded with God to have mercy on the folk responsible for His crucifixion, as He felt they really didn’t know what they were doing. He could have called a multitude of angels to clean up the scene at the crucifixion, much like He did at His birth when He reached out to the shepherds, but He sought the Father’s will instead. These few points lead to the fact that just as Jesus loved, in spite of the circumstances, and in spite of the hatred showed to Him, then as His child, we too must seek guidance, strength and boldness to love those who are easy to love, and those who really don’t want anyone to love them. Our witness to them will be most effective when they see Jesus in our words and in our actions, otherwise we come across to them as just another hypocrite. For those of us that represent our Savior, our relationship with Him is way too important to mess up on this. Verse 8 clearly identifies those who choose not to love. I trust that no one reading this blog today will walk away acknowledging that they are not a child of the King. Friends, please know Him and know true love for one another. If you are challenged to show love for everyone, then have a personal meeting with Jesus and analyze Your relationship with Him. There may be some decisions or cleanup that He may want you to do in your life. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Dear Jesus, thank You for another identifier, and reminder for those of us that claim You as Lord and Master. You portrayed love to everyone, much to the dismay of church leaders in Your day. Yet You have forgiven us of our sin, and we still look down our noses at some, assuming that we could never love them. Your Word is clear – that attitude highlights one who is not a child of the King. Lord Jesus, please help us to seek Your face, Your strength and Your love each and every day, and please help us to never assume that anyone is not worthy of our love. As Your representative, may we learn to love everyone with the same love that You showed to us when a holy and righteous Savior held out His hand and accepted a sinner like me. May You be honored in all that we say and do today, is my humble prayer that I ask in faith, 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! | |
How To Gain God’s Favor
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Post Date: |
Thursday, 2017-09-14 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Isaiah 58:6-9 (GNT) |
|
Text: |
6 “The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. 7 Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.
8 “Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and your wounds will be quickly healed. I will always be with you to save you; my presence will protect you on every side. 9 When you pray, I will answer you. When you call to me, I will respond. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| By clicking on the Scripture link, you will see the whole part of this chapter in Isaiah that speaks to the subject of fasting. You can read this and see the heart of God in response to our condition when asking Him for anything. After all, who are we, in our sinful, unclean, selfish character, to ask a holy, righteous, almighty, Son of God for anything at all? Let’s have a look, as this speaks directly to us today…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| We’ve heard parents say this over and over to a child that comes to them in boldness, and often disrespect, asking for something: “Who do you think I am child? You may speak to your friends like that, but you don’t speak to me, or any adult like that”! Sounds familiar? Well, who are we to think that if we follow some religious tradition, we could demand anything of God? I was humbled by a pastor from my past, that always prayed to God to ‘please’ do this, or ‘please’ don’t do this. Sounds like a simple word that we would use when asking any human for something, but seldom do we add that pleasantry in our prayers. God told the Israelites in this Scripture from Isaiah something very similar to a New Testament lesson that He also taught – on getting the board out of your own eye, before talking to Him about the splinter in your neighbor’s eye. I believe that God had Isaiah tell the Israelites, and record it in His Word so that we might know, that what God is more interested in than anything else, is the heart of mankind. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God said that: If my people would humble themselves, pray, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and heal their land. Similarly, in this Scripture, God is telling us to come before Him holy, and righteous – in other words, straighten up our act and perfectly align our lives with Christ, then He will shine on us; heal our wounds; save us; protect us; answer our prayers and be attentive to our plea before Him. Is there something more you might want than that list my friend? This is the God that we worship and adore! This is the God that we approach for forgiveness and with our petitions! May I suggest that you approach Him with the respect He deserves and having considered the issues with self before whining and complaining to Him about others! I am convinced that God loves His children and wants to work His miracles through those of us who are considered clean and worthy vessels. Won’t you join me in seeking God to use even you and I? | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, thank You for guiding us to all truth and holiness. Thank You for showing us so vividly what it is that You would like from us, so that we may gain Your favor. Lord, I pray that each one reading this blog today might hear directly from You through these simple words, and that they may draw closer to You as they seek Your face in prayer for themselves and for others. 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! | |
When Jesus Looks Into Your Eyes
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-09-13 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Luke 22:60-62 (TLB) |
|
Text: |
60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And as he said the words, a rooster crowed. 61 At that moment Jesus turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered what he had said—“Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny me three times.” 62 And Peter walked out of the courtyard, crying bitterly. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| In earlier verses Peter swore that he would do anything and everything to show his loyalty to Jesus. But he was cautioned by Jesus, as He knew what would happen when Peter was really squeezed by the local people to claim his allegiance. Of course Jesus knew what He was saying, and unfortunately for Peter, Jesus was present when it happened the third time when Peter heard the rooster crow, just as Jesus had predicted to Peter. Let’s apply this to our own lives… | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| As a child, I knew when mom’s eyes meant she was proud of me, or when she was upset at me, or when I was really in trouble. At school, I knew the same traits of my teacher. Now that I’m older, I can see how silly it was of me to try and hide certain things from either of these people, because they knew me so well, and they were certainly smart enough to see guilt in my eyes. Reading these verses, I was reminded that Jesus sees me as His loving child, and when I try very diligently to obey Him and do His perfect will. However. I was also reminded that He also sees when I willfully disobey His commands and His instructions, and when I make promises to Him but totally disregard them when I think that no one knows me or sees me. Am I alone in this? Am I the only one that didn’t learn from this embarrassing moment of Peter’s? Friends, each of us must face God for ourselves. It won’t matter how much of a godly mother we had or that our dad was a pastor, God will look into our eyes (individually) and judge us for who we were and for all the words we said or thoughts that may or may not have provoked our actions. If that was to happen today, how would that go for you? May I remind you that this could be the exact scene for you or I today? We all have lost friends this year that we never suspected that they would be called home so early in life. So may I encourage you today to know that you know Jesus personally, and to live as if today will be the day that Jesus looks fully into your eyes and makes a final decision on you, based on what He knows to be the case. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Father God, we come humbly before You today and confess that way too often we are probably way too much like Peter. Lord, I believe that we all will confess that we would much prefer being the ‘perfect’ child and that we have been totally obedient to you in mind, action and daily walk. Please forgive us for trying to ‘pull the wool’ over our parent’s eyes, our teachers, our friends and for foolishly thinking that we could do the same with You. I believe that our greatest desire as Your child today is that we become more and more like You every day, and that friends we witness to will see us the same in the dark as they see in the daytime; the same in town as they might see out of town; the same in our workplaces as they see in church and that Your character will be evident in and through us at all times. Lord, may You rule and reign supremely in us at all times, is my humble prayer, 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! | |
Strength Against Temptation
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-09-12 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Luke 22:46 (ERV) |
|
Text: |
46 Jesus said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray for strength against temptation.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| At a time when Jesus went up to the garden to pray, He gave His disciples an assignment to pray about also: Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. Because this is something that we all can pray for, I wanted us to take a deeper look into this… | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I found it interesting that Jesus did not say to His disciples, pray just in case temptation comes your way. Jesus knew what was about to happen, and He knew that it could mean death for His disciples if they stuck to their witness of the Master that was so close and intimate over their time of close ministry with Him. Things are no different today friends, for we leave our times of spiritual enrichment through great praise and worship services, and awesome reminders from God’s Word, and we reenter the world of constant bombardment by Satan to turn our heads and return to the ways of the world. So what’s so wrong about that, you might ask – seeing that we have to live in this old world. Good question! I believe that it is appropriate that we be reminded that Jesus was so different to the world, that He became the center of attention for attacks by the people. I know, that’s the last thing you want, right? Well, I believe you made a mistake in wanting a part in Christianity, for the teachings and example of Jesus is totally opposed to the teachings and example of this world. You see, if you are not led by the Lord Jesus Christ, and asking Him daily to guide your life, then you have a different leader – Satan. There are many examples of where Jesus was totally different, or opposite to the ways of the world. Sometimes it made Him stand out like a sore thumb, but it’s who He was and still is. ‘Going with the flow’ often means that we wait around to see what the crowd decides to do then we will do the same thing. When Jesus asks us to stay awake and pray against temptation, I believe He is telling us to seek the face of Jesus about the best course of action for us today, not what the popular person/people does. We were told at a very young age by our parents that following the crowd will get us into trouble. Jesus declares the same thing to be true today – stay awake and not be led into temptation by the crowd, but seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness. As Christians, we are to look like Jesus, sound like Him and act like Him in every way. In fact, we should easily be mistaken for Jesus because of our likeness of Him in our character and in our love. Let’s pray for one another friends, so that the world might see, know and believe in the same Lord that we adore and are led by. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, we all face temptation from this old wicked world, but we want to be more and more like You every day. We can only do this with Your help and our determination. Please touch the hearts of Your children and help us to not only proclaim our allegiance to You in the presence of our pastor or other church members, but even at times when temptation knocks for an open door of opportunity. Lord, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and for ever, 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! | |
Learn to Praise God, Even In The Storms of Life!
|
Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-09-09 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Psalm 57:5 (CEV) |
|
Text: |
4 I live among lions, who gobble down people! They have spears and arrows instead of teeth, and they have sharp swords instead of tongues. 5 May you, my God, be honored above the heavens; may your glory be seen everywhere on earth. 6 Enemies set traps for my feet and struck me down. They dug a pit in my path, but fell in it themselves. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Even among his troubles David took time to recognize God and to offer up a sacrifice of praise right in the middle of his challenges. We face challenges all the time, so let’s see how this might help us…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I want you to particularly notice that we are very much like David was, in that he suffered insecurities, and that he felt like his enemies were out to get him at every turn. In verse 4, some translations use the word ‘enemies’ in lieu of ‘lions’. In verse 6 David continues to emphasize how much his enemies are out to get him. Yet right in between these two verses, David stopped to give honor to God! I believe that we can conclude that David was sharing his heart with God about how he really felt in this world in verses 4 and 6, but he wanted God to know that in spite of his challenges and the way that he felt others were treating him, he wanted to praise God anyway. I believe that God placed these verses before me today for a special reason, for in verse 4 I could easily share about my concerns about hurricane Irma that is approaching us from the south, and there is so much concern about safety, security and survival because of the awesome strength that this hurricane brings and all of the tornados that will spawn from it. In verse 6 I can easily worry myself silly over what life my look like after this storm. But I believe that God wanted me to recognize that in the middle of all these worries, I need to stop and remember who’s in charge; who created us; who causes the winds to blow; and who will guide this storm and keep a watchful eye over his children. When I think about all of this and take a reality check on who also guides me through the storms of life every day, I am reminded that I serve a risen Savior who watches, protects and loves me, every day, so there is nothing to worry about! I want His will to be accomplished in and through my life every day, whether in the heat of the summer, or the coldest winter, or on the mildest day of summer enjoying the beauty of the beach or the mountains, or even through vicious storms, such as the approaching hurricane. Friends, let’s learn to praise our God in all phases of life – on the good days or the days that we feel could be better. Then when the storms come, we will look for the works of our Master and find reasons to praise Him even then. Of course I want you to be safe during the storms of life that will come your way, but let me also encourage you to always praise God in the good times and in the challenging times of life. Remember, He’s still God and He will watch over you in every circumstance of life! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, please help us to be more like David and praise you in the midst of the storms of life that seem gigantic to us. Oh to be reminded that You are creator over all things and watch over us on the good days and on those days that seem hopeless to us. We are but a spec of dirt in the overall master plan of this earth, but yet we serve a God who considers us heirs, and sons and daughters of His! What a mighty God we serve! Please help us to keep our head up; look to the Master of this universe for all things, and give thanks in all circumstances of life, 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! | |
Heeding The Warnings
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Post Date: |
Thursday, 2017-09-07 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Luke 21:34-36 (TLB) |
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Text: |
34-35 “Watch out! Don’t let my sudden coming catch you unawares; don’t let me find you living in careless ease, carousing and drinking, and occupied with the problems of this life, like all the rest of the world. 36 Keep a constant watch. And pray that if possible you may arrive in my presence without having to experience these horrors.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| In the preceding verses Jesus shared some of the signs that He will give us as indicators announcing His return to earth. However, I believe that Jesus knew beforehand how distracted and over-committed we would become here on earth. There are songs written by great Christian writers that remind us to ‘Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus’; ‘It Is Well With My Soul’ and many more. The bottom line, is that we know Jesus is coming back to take His church on home to glory. We know that He will give us indicators of His return, and we know that only those who are ready to meet Him, will actually be caught up in the air together with Him. Let’s look closer into how seriously we take all of this…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I’m sure that most of us can recall times that we were so engrossed in something that we totally missed an appointment, or perhaps never heard our loved one talking to us. Often times, devices are now taking more of our time than face-to-face conversations, so we are getting worse at ignoring others when they are talking to us. In our Scripture today, we are being reminded by Jesus that His Word is true and it is super accurate, so we are to listen to it and enjoy it’s benefits, or bear the brunt of disobeying the commands of God through His Word. Some of my readers will be in a similar position as I am right now, where we are being told about a large hurricane that will pass pretty close to us. We could be careless and do nothing, or we could take the warnings seriously and protect our lives from the possible onslaught of this huge, powerful hurricane. Our Scripture today gives us the warning signs to look for that will indicate the return of Jesus. Let me encourage you to be sure now that your life is under the control of our Savior and Lord. This will not only give you a desire to help others along the way, but it will give you a sweet sense of anticipation about the return of Jesus, when we hear and see the signs happening. You have a choice friends. You may not have seen the signs spoken of in the Word of God, but God has already made the provisions for us to secure our eternity with Him. Just like shopping for special occasions, often we will procrastinate until the very last moment, however in the case of Jesus’ return, He told us in His Word that not even He knows the day or the hour when that will happen. I didn’t want to take the chance of Jesus returning unexpectedly and find me unprepared, so I surrendered my life to Him back in 1976. Since that time I have enjoyed learning more about Him; experiencing His rich blessings; and sharing the joy that fills my heart, with others! I’m ready to leave this world and be with Him, whenever He makes that call! Friends, if Jesus returns and you are still in procrastination mode, the Word of God declares that your decision will place you in the pit of hell where you will suffer anguish and damnation with your leader, Satan, throughout eternity. If you have money, you probably have it safely secured and invested. Your soul is much more important, why not know that you know where you will spend eternity right now? Carefully read my Footnote and look at the Scriptures recommended for reading, through the link ‘To Know Jesus’. Perhaps the Holy Spirit will either give you that assurance of your salvation, or lead you to the throne of grace to settle your account with Jesus – TODAY! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Precious Savior, Jesus my Lord! Thank You for loving us enough to sacrifice Your own life as a token of our salvation. Lord thank You for not giving up on us, but instead giving us warnings to help us know the way that You would have us to go and the decisions that are super important to us. You did that for me in the years leading up to 1976, I pray that You will mightily use these words shared in this blog to encourage someone who needs You in their life. We are heeding hurricane warnings at this time, but I truly believe that heeding the warnings from You about decisions that will have an eternal impact, is way more important. May today be the day of decision for all who will read this blog and still unsure of their heavenly position. I earnest pray and ask these things in the name of Jesus, the Christ, 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! | |
Don’t Worry, God’s Got You!
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-09-06 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Luke 21:14-19 (CEV) |
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Text: |
14 Don’t worry about what you will say to defend yourselves. 15 I will give you the wisdom to know what to say. None of your enemies will be able to oppose you or to say that you are wrong. 16 You will be betrayed by your own parents, brothers, family, and friends. Some of you will even be killed. 17 Because of me, you will be hated by everyone. 18 But don’t worry! 19 You will be saved by being faithful to me. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Having a crowd gathered, Jesus thought to share with them that not all will appear ‘peachy’ for those who choose to follow Him. In fact, things will get very uncomfortable, as even to close relatives will betray them. In fact, everyone will hate them. However, their peace; their comfort; and their overriding joy in Christ should help in committing them to stand strong in the faith and be faithful to God in all circumstances. This is still very applicable to us today, so let’s examine this more closely…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Often it appears like we are fair-weather Christians. In other words, as long as everything is going well, we feel comforted that Jesus is on our side and taking good care of us. But as soon as we see things happening that we didn’t expect, we immediately wonder why Satan entered the scene and is trying to destroy us. Friends, I have seen some ‘terrible’ things happen which brought unsaved relatives to the Lord. My dad was a good example of that, His nephew fell from the top of a street-side electrical pole to his death. My dad’s eyes were opened to the condition of his soul and he surrendered his life to Jesus. A young man serving on the battlefield promised God that if He would see him safely through the gunfire that was killing his buddies all around him, that he would serve Him for the rest of his life. This Brother just retired from the ministry after a number of faithful years serving/leading local churches through which he led many unsaved people to the Lord. Jesus tells us in our focal Scripture today that those who are faithful to Him will be saved. You know, I believe that means that if we truly know God; if we truly trust Him with everything; and if we are solid in our faith; then we will look for the ways that God is working in all of life’s circumstances and not concentrated at all in poor me, or what God could do better for us. Let’s be encouraged friends that if the God of this universe accepts us as His very own child, and if He allows us to participate in His miraculous work here on this earth, then we should not hesitate in saying, ‘Yes Lord, thy will be done’. Let’s remember Brothers and Sisters, those who remain faithful to the end will be saved. Will you be considered among those saved? | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, please allow Your Word to work in our lives today. Please open our hearts to accept You fully and to be totally faithful to You until You call us home to glory. We have every reason to trust You and to depend on everything that You have promised to us. Lord, may we be faithful to You til the very end. 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! | |
Who’s Responsible For Your Faithfulness?
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-09-05 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Judges 8:33-35 (TLB) |
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Text: |
33 But as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelis began to worship the idols Baal and Baal-berith. 34 They no longer considered the Lord as their God, though he had rescued them from all their enemies on every side. 35 Nor did they show any kindness to the family of Gideon despite all he had done for them. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Through Gideon’s faithfulness, commitment to God, and his dependency on God to do all that He said He would do, God was very faithful and brought Gideon and his people through many difficult and challenging times. As long as the people were reminded of the love and power of God, they listened to Gideon and followed him. The real proof of their faithfulness came when Gideon passed from the scene and was no longer with them. We are challenged by this, because we also face similar times as the Israelites faced, so let’s see how we should apply this….. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Vacation time is probably one of the greatest tests of our faithfulness. Of course we should sleep in, we’re on vacation! We won’t have to worry about the embarrassment of having to respond to the pastor when he calls to check on us, and because we told the Sunday School class last week that we would be on vacation, no one will call us. If we are vacationing near the beach, why the ocean waters have not been this calm since we started our vacation. The skies are clear and the beaches are extremely inviting. Oh but wait a moment, you slipped it out in conversation with another couple in the pool that you attended XYZ church back home, and they might question where you went Sunday morning while on vacation? Friends, what about your commitment to God? In return for hearing the gospel message and feeling a tug on your heart’s door, to accept Jesus as your Lord, you surrendered your life to Him. Now when you are looking for excuses to escape being in His presence, and He sends circumstances your way to make you question your whole relationship with Him, don’t you know that He makes Himself even more aware to you and causes you to re-evaluate your true commitment to Him? The Israelites were face with a very similar decision, and they decided to do it their way. What about you friend? Will Satan win the battle, or will you stay true to the Master and be a witness for Him even on vacation? Remember, when we cave in to our old desires, not only do we stand in question by God, but also those who are following our example and our lifestyle. Are you leading them astray, or towards a closer and more committed relationship with their Savior? Another consideration is that the source of the Israelite’s encouragement disappeared when Gideon died. Before you condemn the Israelites, be careful that you are not one who will run when that charismatic preacher is no longer in the pulpit, or that fun and powerful voice is no longer on the praise team, or your best friend who invited you to church moves away. Always reflect on the reason that you got saved; the reason that you go to corporate worship; and the ones who are using your walk with the Lord as their example and encouragement. Remember also that Jesus would have gone to the cross if you were the only one that needed the forgiveness of sin. He never doubted or wimped out for a moment or looked for excuses. Oh that we may be as committed and faithful to Him! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord You are so good to us and Your mercies endures forever and forever. Please forgive us when we falter and fail. When we look for excuses to not follow You or worship You. You have always been good to us, always been faithful to us and went to the extreme to show Your love for us. Lord, please help us to always do the same in return. We have no reason to turn our backs on You, please help us to not listen to the enemy and look for ways. I ask these things in the powerful and almighty name of Jesus, my Savior. 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 