DATE POSTED Tuesday, 2022-04-12
WRITTEN AT: Astatula, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Romans 12:9-13
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: ⁹ Don’t just pretend that you love others: really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. ¹⁰ Love each other with brotherly affection and take delight in honoring each other. ¹¹ Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically.¹² Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and prayerful always. ¹³ When God’s children are in need, you be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night.

APPLICATION: Saying that you love me may impress the world, but showing that you love me will probably impress God and the world. Saying that you love me will probably come just from the mouth, however showing that you love me will obviously come from every fiber of your being. To love someone you will want to know them intimately. It is extremely challenging to love someone when there are unknowns about them. But I have discovered that there is a really neat attraction to children of the same Father, our heavenly Father! For we tend to love the same things, like praying for each other, and talking about the one thing that is central for all Christians – our Lord Jesus. We respond to people and circumstances in similar ways, for we seek out the good that God has placed in each others’ lives. We celebrate and praise God for His answers to each others’ prayers and for the extra, and unexpected blessings that He bestows on us each and every day. Children of the same earthly father are linked through a blood relationship to each other. Children of the same heavenly Father are much the same, for we linked by the blood of Jesus that washed away our sin! We have a lot in common. Therefore when we see a wall rising up between another sister or brother and ourselves, we should seek the face of Jesus for the reason we feel that way. If we can find nothing that stands in the way between us and God, then we should approach our Christian Brother or Sister in love and ask them to have a similar search in their heart. I believe it is an ongoing goal of Satan to destroy relationships between us and our Christian Brothers and Sisters, but we know from the Bible that God is bigger than Satan, and more powerful than any vice Satan may try to bring between God’s children. Perhaps if we live according to verse 12, a demonstration of a beautiful garden of growth, with the three sweet peas of praise, patience, and prayer. And if we plant these seeds in your heart, we will do well throughout our earthly walk. Friends, God not only guides us and gives us the strength and guidance to be His representative here on earth, but He is the all-time designer and ultimate guide to living that will help us every day in our walk. Seek Him while He may be found, and live a life pleasing and acceptable to Him.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: With God’s help, we can be more than conquerors and live full and abundant lives while loving our neighbor!

PRAYER: Thank You merciful Father for reaching down and loving even me! Thank You for blessing me with strength and determination to live and love just like You even when the storms of life seem overwhelming and in such opposition to all that You have taught us. People all around me need the Lord , and my desire is that they will see enough of You in my life that they will be encouraged to call on You for forgiveness of their sin and make heaven their goal. Please have Your will and way in my life, and in the lives of all my readers, listeners, family and friends, so that the world will know that You live and love everyday in us and through us. 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!