DATE POSTED Wednesday, 2022-08-
WRITTEN AT: O Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: 2 Corinthians 6:16-18
TRANSLATION: New Living Translation (NLT)

BIBLE TEXT: ¹⁶ …We are the temple of the living God. As God said:
“I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ¹⁷ Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. ¹⁸ And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.

APPLICATION: There is a type of tug-of-war that occurs in marriages, and even in business partnerships, when each partner comes from varied backgrounds and cultures; believes in principles that oppose those of their partner; and they are unwilling to compromise on their beliefs. Especially for marriages, it is best to work out these differences, or at least come to a point of understanding, before committing to marriage. The exact same thing happens when we surrender lordship of our lives to the Lord Jesus. We approach Christendom after having lived a life where anything goes and is encouraged. Fortunately, God in His infinite wisdom, knew that we were not good at handling complete freedom of choice, because He saw the overcrowding of our prisons, the abusive relationships, the lack of love and respect shown one to another, and our total disregard for our Maker. So, God provided us His Book of Instruction, better known as The Bible. Our lesson today is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ when it comes to God’s instruction, for we can find in His Word, answers to all of life’s questions, and direction in all of life’s dilemmas. Besides the reminders of God’s infinite love, and the power and wisdom of the Creator of this whole world, the next most important thing to remember is that God placed His Holy Spirit to live in us and to be a constant reminder of the God we serve. Wherever we go, the Holy Spirit goes with us; whatever we say, the Holy Spirit hears us and encourages us towards an attitude of Jesus Christ. So, when we try to partner up with an unbeliever, we are placing the Holy Spirit into an awkward situation, for He is God, and He will not stand for Satan’s tactics and sinful attitudes. Furthermore, shouldn’t we expect the Holy Spirit to be extremely upset when we move in a direction completely opposed to what He was assigned to lead us towards? Can you imagine how you would feel if you saw your child heading into a very disturbing, evil and compromising situation that totally opposes everything you ever taught them? Friends, our verses today demands that we come out from the world and its evil practices. If the world sees nothing distinctive in you and in your righteous behavior, then it may be time to have a little talk with Jesus and ask Him to again point out your faults and shortcomings as His child. I believe that the world will respect the person who stands firm in their beliefs, for they will know that you are serious about your God. I will be your Father, says our God in verse 18. He is worthy of that honorable title, but can you be counted as His daughter, or His son? Ultimate peace is achieved when Jesus Christ is at the helm of our lives, leading, direction and blessing us. Won’t you let Him be Lord, dear friend?

BLESSING(S) NOTED: God will take us where He is at, if we come out from among the world and stand firm in our relationship with Him

PRAYER: Forgive us Lord for trying so hard to please others, often those who have their values aligned with the world. Please know that today we avow to not only seek You in our times of trouble, but to always focus our attention on You and seek to follow Your teachings and Your example in everything we do or say. Please continue to support us as we separate ourselves from the world and stand firm on the sold Rock – Jesus our Lord. Forgive us Lord for the times we have tried to relax our guard in an effort to be accepted by the world. This has gained us nothing but heartaches, and we regret our weaknesses and lack of effort to remain strong in our faith. please be our strength and our every-day Guide to live just like You exampled before us, so that others will see and hear You, and believe in You as their Savior and 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 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!