DATE POSTED Tuesday, 2021-11-02
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: John 1:46-49
TRANSLATION: The Passion Translation (TPT)

BIBLE TEXT: ⁴⁶ Nathanael sneered, “Nazareth! What good thing could ever come from Nazareth?” Philip answered, “Come and let’s find out!”
⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said, “Here comes a true son of Israel—an honest man with no hidden motive!”
⁴⁸ Nathanael was stunned and said, “But you’ve never met me—how do you know anything about me?”
Jesus answered, “Nathanael, right before Philip came to you, I saw you sitting under the shade of a fig tree.”
⁴⁹ Nathanael blurted out, “Teacher, you are truly the Son of God and the King of Israel!”

APPLICATION: Children are usually amazed that mom and/or dad knows about what they did while they were with friends or out of their sight! But for the child of God who gets into His Word, we are reminded that God is fully aware of our words, actions and even our thoughts. Isn’t it interesting that when we are confronted with our sin, we tend to act like Nathanael and question ‘who me’, or quickly declare ‘not me’. Friends, notice that Nathanael must have really been embarrassed that Jesus knew all about his snide remark when invited by Philip to join he and the others as followers of Jesus. But also notice that Jesus readily accepted Nathanael and basically honored him for his honest response to Philip. Perhaps many of you are like me, and we try to be so politically correct, or kind to everyone, that we often hide our true opinion. I believe it is good that we don’t poison the whole group with our negativity, but I also find it amazing that Jesus understands our heart-felt opinions, and He works with us to either correct the inward man, or teach us His way. Friends, I am convinced that from the depth of our heart, come the words that spew from our mouths. Therefore let us enrich our hearts daily through close communion with our Savior. For it is His love that we need to have ready to share with others; His words that we want to be encouraged by, instead of allowing the evil of this world to get to us. Remember, God loved us while we were unlovable and so drenched in sin, that no one wanted to hang around us. Furthermore, He gave His very best for us, even while we were still sinners in need of a Savior. My desire is that each day I will enrich my heart with more of God’s love, and that I will reach out to Him for encouragement, even when life seems to be at its worse. Then, filled with His goodness and love, perhaps I then can show love to others – the love of Jesus my Savior. Of course, it would be my desire that each reader and listener would also reach out to Jesus each day and seek His face for more and more of His grace, so that others will see our Lord, and not our ugly selfish likes and dislikes. ‘Oh that they would see Jesus’, is my sincere desire, and I hope it will be yours also.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Jesus loved Nathanael in spite of his snide remark about Him and His people. I believe He loves us also, even though we may appear to the world as unlovable.

PRAYER: Lord, I acknowledge that You created us. But we mess up so often, I have to question at times how could You possibly still love us. But in our Scripture today, You saw beyond the snide remarks of Nathanael and right into his honest heart. Please Lord, work on us each day so that we may fill our hearts with more and more of You. We want others to see Jesus, and not our rotten attitudes that seem to, unfortunately, come through in our words. Please use even us to reach unsaved friends and loved ones. May they always be reminded of, and see Jesus through our words and in our actions. 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 might 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 subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!