SCRIPTURE  FROM:   1 Corinthians 7:23-24 (TLB)

TEXT:  ²³ You have been bought and paid for by Christ, so you belong to him—be free now from all these earthly prides and fears. ²⁴ So, dear brothers, whatever situation a person is in when he becomes a Christian, let him stay there, for now the Lord is there to help him.

OBSERVATION:   Paul had just addressed married individuals where one in the union may have been saved and the other unsaved. While Paul spoke to the challenges this brings to a marriage, he wanted them, and us, to understand that the thing that trumps our circumstances in life, is the condition of our heart before God. We know that God has an unconditional love for us, but do we need to change to receive that love? Let’s examine this…

APPLICATION:   Paul had just emphasized that it was critical, as part of accepting Jesus as our Savior, that we begin to faithfully obey His Word. To obey God’s Word, means that we must read it and meditate on the overall meaning of what God is saying to us. This should bring us to a point of changing the ways that we have looked, reacted and dealt with life’s circumstances. I found it interesting that Paul would remind us that most often these changes will not dictate us changing who we’ve always been, but instead we might do those things in much the same way that Jesus would have done them when He was here on earth. As part of becoming a child of the King, we want to also be more like Him, knowing that He was the only ‘perfect’ One. We would also have a strong desire, and a definite nudge from the Holy Spirit that now lives inside of us, to now imitate Jesus in all that we say and do. There is no doubt, life’s circumstances will come our way. Hopefully we will not really be put to the test like Job was challenged with, but we should be close enough to God that if we were challenged like Job, then like him, we would have the lasting joy of knowing where our help comes from, even in our toughest times.

PRAYER:   Oh Lord our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! A calm assurance to know that You are with us when life around us seems so out of control. Yet You are our strength, our vibrancy, and our reassuring hope when the stresses of this world seems like it is resting right on our shoulders. Thank You Lord for creating us in Your image! Thank You Lord for looking out for us from the very beginning of life, through various walks of our life, and for giving us assurance even while we live, that You have a much better place prepared for us, where there will be no sin but instead the everlasting joy of worshiping You and the Father for all eternity! It – will – be – worth – it – all, friends! Are you ready? Read my Footnote and follow the appropriate link so I might help you KNOW without a doubt where you will spend eternity. 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 Sebring, 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!