DATE POSTED: Friday, January 12, 2024, and I was blessed to be at Advent Christian Village, Dowling Park, FL when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. My Footnote will tell you how to find, read or listen to any and all episodes that I have shared over the years.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE FROM THE New Century Version (NCV) IS FOUND IN Proverbs 22:17-19

THE BIBLE TEXT IS: Listen carefully to what wise people say; pay attention to what I am teaching you.
It will be good to keep these things in mind so that you are ready to repeat them.
I am teaching them to you now so that you will put your trust in the Lord.

APPLICATION OF THE WORD: I sure wish that over my years of teaching in Sunday School, Marriage Enrichment classes and elsewhere, I would have had as my goal ‘So that they (my students) might trust in the Lord’. I found these verses today very intriguing, for in verse 18, I believe that students will learn that you’re not just in class for a perfect attendance award, but instead, to listen careful to the wisdom being taught, and to record those words in your heart so that you will have wise words of advice to give to others. When you sit in front of a television and fill your mind with all the unfortunate reporting that fill our evening news channels, or if you sit in a local bar and listen to the anger, frustration and brokenness of families today, your heart may very well be soured by, and disappointed from, everything you hear. But God’s Word is filled with wisdom for every good and perfect desire of a man’s heart. Solomon, the author of Proverbs, is known as the wisest man that ever lived. One can expect to find his words of wisdom filled with useful advice for any child of God seeking to follow the desire of the Holy Spirit who inspired this writer as an integral part of God’s Word. So where then should you spend your spare time? I believe that as your mind is saturated by the Word of God, and you make it a priority to meditate on the Creator of this world, you will have a growing desire to be more like Jesus in everything you say and do. As you seek His face, learn about His commands, desire and direction for your life, I believe you will wind up seeking Him out more and more each day. This will come from your desire to communicate with Him, learn more from his Word every day, and seek out learning opportunities frequently. Teachers of the gospel, please notice the responsibility and commitment these thoughts place on you. Why do you teach? Just to fill a vacant spot at church? Have you set an overall goal you are asking God to help you achieve through your teaching? This Scripture might be yet another reminder that your teaching is more of a God thing than anything you can drum up from your own resources. Your students need more of God, and less of you and your personal desires and wishes. Do you teach every lesson so that your students might be encouraged to grow in the Lord Jesus Christ?

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Lord Jesus, thank You for teaching us again today the importance of opening our ears of understanding and our hungry minds that yearn to grow more like You every day, so that we might always be better representatives of Yours before a lost and dying world. If a natural disaster was approaching, we would be in the highest form of urgency to convince our family, friends, students and all others in our circle of influence, that the need for salvation from material destruction is at hand. Please Lord, teach us that same urgency when it comes to teaching and sharing the urgency to set aside material gain, and instead, see with urgency the need for a Savior who would accept us and forgive us of our sin. Please open our minds to accept the wisdom taught to us by our teachers, pastors and elders. Please gift our leaders with more and more wisdom, and their need to trust in You for all things, while losing sight of the need to please others who need so much more of you. Oh Lord, may Your kingdom come, and Your will be done, on earth and in the hearts of all who will meditate on this devotional today. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There’s another page on my website, entitled ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to this 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. If you would like to read more of my devotionals, or subscribe for a daily email containing each new devotional, please go online to NuggetsFromGodsWord.org. For my podcast, go online to Apple Podcasts or, using the Apple Podcast app, simply search for Nuggets From God’s Word to hear more episodes, or click ‘Follow’ to be notified of Podcast updates. Friends, please allow me to encourage you to find a church home nearby 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!