DATE POSTED: Wednesday, October 7, 2026, and I was blessed to be at Mariposa Apartment Homes, San Marcos, TX when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. Please visit NuggetsFromGodsWord.org to find and read all episodes shared over the years.

SCRIPTURE: Romans 7:14-17 – ¹⁴ So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. ¹⁶ But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

DEVOTIONAL: In several translations of the Bible, the Apostle Paul describes himself as “carnal” or “all too human.” Because of this, some readers might wonder if he is describing the life of an unbeliever. But this passage serves as a vital reminder for every believer: accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior does not mean our struggle with sinful desires instantly disappears.

As believers, the Holy Spirit lives within us. He guides us, directs us, warns us of sin, and convicts us when we disobey God. Although the blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin, our sin still grieves the Holy Spirit and hinders the closeness of our fellowship with God. When we knowingly sin, it demonstrates not only our human weakness, but also our stubbornness in resisting the voice and direction of the Holy Spirit within us.

Perhaps this is why Paul’s words in verses 15–16 are so easy for many of us to understand: I know what is right. I want to do what is right. So why don’t I always do it? Why do I sometimes find myself doing the very thing I know is wrong?

What an honest description of the struggle that takes place within us!

Paul was not trying to excuse his sin or deny personal responsibility for it. Rather, he recognized the terrible power of sin that continued to wage war within him. There was a struggle between his desire to obey God and the sinful flesh that still wanted its own way. I believe every honest Christian knows something about that struggle.

The very fact that sin troubles us should cause us to examine what is happening in our hearts. We should never become comfortable with that which God calls sin. Instead, conviction should lead us back to God in confession and repentance.

My prayer is that we will grow stronger in our walk with Jesus each day. Through daily communion with Him, we become spiritually robust and deeply committed to His revealed Word. As we draw near to Him, our hearts become sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s voice, igniting a desire for a fuller, richer obedience—resulting in more of Jesus and less of self.

Jesus is the ultimate answer to our sin problem. Oh, that we would yield daily to His call of repentance, grace, and obedience!

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TODAY’S CHALLENGE: “Draw close to God and He will draw close to you.” (James 4:8)

As I share in our Nuggets From God’s Word Bible Study at Mariposa Apartments, keep these three spiritual pillars priority in your daily walk:

1. Daily in the Word — Feeding your heart on Scripture.
2. Daily in Conversation with God — Maintaining open, continuous prayer.
3. Regular Fellowship — Worshiping and gathering faithfully with other believers.

When these habits become priorities in your life, the pull and allure of worldly desires will naturally begin to fade. Draw Me Close To You, Heavenly Father!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit who convicts, guides, and comforts us. Forgive us for the times we have been stubborn and ignored Your gentle voice. Wash us clean and restore to us the joy of sweet fellowship with You. Strengthen our hearts each day through Your Word, through prayer, and through assembling with fellow believers. Teach us to yield to Your Spirit so that our lives reflect more of Jesus and less of our old sinful nature. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Next Steps & Resources

• Taking a Step of Faith? If today’s devotional prompted a decision in your heart, visit the To Know Jesus page, speak with a local Bible-teaching pastor, or reach out to me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. I pray you find help and encouragement as you begin or continue your walk with Christ.
• Explore & Subscribe: Browse past devotionals or sign up for daily email updates at NuggetsFromGodsWord.org.
• Find Community: I warmly encourage you to join a local Bible-teaching church. Gathering with fellow believers is essential for growing in faith, finding encouragement, and serving others as God works through His church.

DATE POSTED: Tuesday, October 6, 2026, and I was blessed to be at Mariposa Apartment Homes, San Marcos, TX when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. Please visit NuggetsFromGodsWord.org to find and read all episodes shared over the years.

SCRIPTURE: Romans 7:11-13 – ¹¹ Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. ¹² But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. ¹³ But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.

DEVOTIONAL: Why is it often so challenging for us to leave sin behind? To stir your thoughts, consider a few subtle traps:

• Sin falsely promises satisfaction – offering temporary pleasure that leaves us spiritually empty.
• Sin falsely offers an adequate excuse – convincing us that our circumstances justify our actions.
• Sin falsely promises an escape from consequences – whispering that no one will notice or care.

In Romans 7, Paul pulls back the curtain on this deception. He reminds us that sin is a master deceiver. It takes what God meant for good and attempts to turn it against us. Satan delights in convincing us that God wants to deprive us of the “good” things in life. But that is a lie. God’s law is “holy,” and His commandments are “holy and right and good.” The problem is not God’s Word—the problem is how sin twists what is good to lead us away from the Life-Giver.

Isn’t that still one of Satan’s great lies today?

From the beginning, Satan has tried to convince mankind that God is withholding something desirable from us. His deception suggests that obedience will deprive us of something good, while disobedience will provide the satisfaction we are seeking. Yet God’s Word shows us just the opposite. Sin promises life but ultimately produces death.

And still, our gracious God calls us back to Himself!

God does not give His commands because He wants to rob us of life’s pleasures. He gives them because He created us, loves us, and knows what is best for us. And when our sin separated us from Him, the Father demonstrated the depth of His love by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to provide the way for sinners like you and me to be reconciled to Him. What an awesome God!

Paul therefore makes it clear that we cannot blame God’s law for our sinful condition. Instead, God’s commands help expose the condition of our hearts. They cause us to look inward and recognize just how far we have wandered from God’s direction.

That’s not always easy, is it?

It’s much easier to blame someone else, our circumstances, our upbringing, the pressures we’re under, or even the devil. We’ve probably all heard someone jokingly say, “The devil made me do it!” But ultimately, each of us must come before God and acknowledge our own sin.

Perhaps this would be a good time to ask ourselves: What excuses am I using today?

What have I allowed to stand between me and wholehearted trust in Jesus Christ? Is there something I know God has spoken about in His Word, yet I continue trying to justify doing things my own way?

Remember, sin deceives. It makes wrong appear right, harmful things appear harmless, and temporary pleasure seem more important than eternal consequences. But God’s Word lovingly exposes the lie.

Perhaps there’s something you’ve been holding tightly today. A habit. An attitude. Pride. Unforgiveness. Self-reliance. A desire to control your own future. Whatever it might be, why not place it before the Lord?

The wonderful news is that we don’t come before an angry God who delights in condemning us. We come before the God who loved us enough to give His Son for us. He already knows where we have failed. He knows the condition of our hearts. Yet He lovingly calls us to turn from sin and come to Him.

Don’t wait until you’ve “cleaned yourself up.” Come to Him now. Surrender yourself completely to the One who knows you, loves you, and desires that you walk closely with Him.

Sin will deceive you, but God’s Word will reveal the truth. Sin will lead you away from God, but Jesus Christ calls you home.

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TODAY’S CHALLENGE: Take a few quiet moments today and ask God to reveal anything you have allowed to come between you and wholehearted trust in Jesus Christ.

Are you making excuses for something God’s Word has already addressed? Have other priorities been given first place in your life? Are you still holding tightly to the reins, insisting on determining your own direction?

If so, release them.

Place the reins of your life squarely into the hands of Jesus. Don’t wait until you believe you’ve made yourself worthy of Him. Come just as you are, confess your need, and allow Him to begin changing what needs to be changed.

The safest place for your life is in the hands of the One who created you, loves you, died for you, and will never deceive you.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You that Your Word is holy, righteous, and good. Please forgive me for the times I have allowed sin to deceive me into believing that my way is better than Yours. Search my heart and reveal anything I have tried to excuse, justify, or hold back from You. Help me recognize sin for what it truly is and trust that Your commands are given from a heart of perfect love. Lord Jesus, I surrender the reins of my life to You. Guide my thoughts, my choices, and my steps so that my life may bring honor and glory to You. Thank You for loving me, forgiving me, and continually calling me back into fellowship with You. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Next Steps & Resources

• Taking a Step of Faith? If today’s devotional prompted a decision in your heart, visit the To Know Jesus page, speak with a local Bible-teaching pastor, or reach out to me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. I pray you find help and encouragement as you begin or continue your walk with Christ.
• Explore & Subscribe: Browse past devotionals or sign up for daily email updates at NuggetsFromGodsWord.org.
• Find Community: I warmly encourage you to join a local Bible-teaching church. Gathering with fellow believers is essential for growing in faith, finding encouragement, and serving others as God works through His church.

DATE POSTED: Saturday, October 3, 2026, and I was blessed to be at Mariposa Apartment Homes, San Marcos, TX when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. Please visit NuggetsFromGodsWord.org to find and read all episodes shared over the years.

DEVOTIONAL: Imagine driving down an open highway, feeling relaxed and moving at whatever speed feels comfortable. There seems to be no restriction—until suddenly, you pass a posted speed limit sign. In an instant, you realize you were speeding. The sign didn’t make you a speeder, but it clearly exposed that you were breaking the law.

That speed limit sign operates much like the Law of Moses that Paul describes in Romans 7. God’s Law acts as a moral spotlight. It opens our eyes to covetousness, pride, and the many subtle ways we fall short of His holy standards every day. Standing before the mirror of God’s Law, we quickly realize we cannot measure up on our own strength, leaving us burdened down and without hope in ourselves.

Praise God, that is not where the story ends! God knew our sinful condition, and in His great love He did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to save sinners. God’s law exposes our need; Jesus provides the answer to that need.

Sin cannot exist in the presence of a holy, righteous God, which means left on our own, we face eternal separation from Him.

Yet salvation requires a personal, deliberate decision. John 3:16 reminds us that whosoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life. Salvation isn’t inherited from godly parents, nor can anyone else make the choice for you. It requires a personal commitment to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, turn away from sin and place your trust entirely in Christ.

And please don’t make the mistake of waiting until you feel you’re good enough to approach God. If becoming good enough were possible, we wouldn’t need a Savior! We come to Christ precisely because we aren’t good enough. We confess our sin and trust the One who died and rose again to save us.

What a difference there is between having God’s law reveal our guilt and having Jesus forgive that guilt!

The law says,“Here is your sin.”

Jesus says,“Come to Me.”

Dear friends, there is no greater gift than salvation, no greater assurance than knowing that we belong to Christ, and no greater hope than knowing that eternal life is ours through Him.

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TODAY’S CHALLENGE: If nothing else has touched your heart in today’s devotional, I pray that it would be the fact that sin cannot enter heaven. The Law cannot save you; it only reveals your need for a Savior. Only Jesus saves. Salvation requires a personal step of faith—believing on the Lord Jesus Christ to cleanse your heart and fit you for heaven.

I know Jesus as my Savior, and I have the blessed assurance that eternity with Him awaits me. Dear reader, my heart’s desire and prayer is that you will know Him personally and have that same assurance.

The law reveals our need for a Savior. Jesus is that Savior!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for Your Word and for Your law that reveals the sin in my heart and shows me how desperately I need You. Thank You that You didn’t leave me condemned and without hope, but sent Your one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to do for me what I could never do for myself. Lord Jesus, thank You for bearing the penalty for my sin and offering me forgiveness and eternal life. For anyone reading this who has never placed their faith in You, I pray that today they would recognize their need, turn to You, believe in You, and receive the precious gift of salvation. And for those of us who already know You as Savior, may the realization of what You saved us from, cause us to love You more deeply and live each day in gratitude for Your amazing grace.  In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Next Steps & Resources

• Taking a Step of Faith? If today’s devotional prompted a decision in your heart, visit the To Know Jesus page, speak with a local Bible-teaching pastor, or reach out to me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. I pray you find help and encouragement as you begin or continue your walk with Christ.
• Explore & Subscribe: Browse past devotionals or sign up for daily email updates at NuggetsFromGodsWord.org.
• Find Community: I warmly encourage you to join a local Bible-teaching church. Gathering with fellow believers is essential for growing in faith, finding encouragement, and serving others as God works through His church.

DATE POSTED: Thursday, October 1, 2026, and I was blessed to be at Mariposa Apartment Homes, San Marcos, TX when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. Please visit NuggetsFromGodsWord.org to find and read all episodes shared over the years.

SCRIPTURE: Romans 7: 4-6 (NLT) – ⁴ So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. ⁵ When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. ⁶ But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

DEVOTIONAL: Back in chapter 6, Paul explained how believers in Jesus Christ are freed from the power of sin. Here in chapter 7, he goes a step further to explain how we are also freed from the burden of the law.

Before we rejoice over being free from obeying the laws of our land, let me quickly clarify! Paul is not giving Christians permission to ignore governmental laws, nor is he suggesting that God’s law is somehow bad. Rather, Paul is teaching that we cannot make ourselves right with God by keeping a set of laws or religious rules. Our salvation does not depend on how successful we are at checking all the right religious boxes. It depends entirely upon what Jesus Christ has done for us.

When you examine your daily spiritual life, what drives the things you feel obligated to do? If you are carrying heavy spiritual expectations that have no biblical foundation and bring no genuine fruit to the Kingdom of God, you may be bound to man-made traditions rather than walking in the freedom of Christ.

Now, this is certainly not an invitation to ignore instruction from your pastor or church elders. Rather, it is an encouraging call to anchor your faith directly in the truth of God’s Word. As Paul later reminds us in Romans 8, nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. If nothing can separate us from His love, then man-made religious pressures should never stand between us and the rich, unconditional grace God poured out when He gave His Son as our substitute.

Notice the beautiful contrast Paul sets up: verse 5 reminds us of our former lives under the law, where performance only exposed our sin and produced spiritual death. But verse 6 brings the ultimate good news—we are released from that captivity! We no longer serve God out of fear or rigid obligation, but out of a joyful, Spirit-led relationship with the resurrected Christ.

Even on days when life feels heavy and stressful, we can join the angels in heaven rejoicing over the glorious future God has prepared for us. All glory and praise belong to the only true and living God!

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TODAY’S CHALLENGE: Take time today to evaluate your walk with God. Are you serving Him out of love and gratitude, or out of religious obligation? If you have not yet placed your faith in Jesus Christ, know that He offers you freedom, rest, and a peace that surpasses all understanding. You don’t have to clean yourself up or fulfill a list of rules to come to Him. If you want to know more about beginning a real relationship with Jesus, please reach out to a local Bible-teaching pastor, a trusted Christian friend, or message me directly—we would love to introduce you to Him!

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PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You that my salvation does not depend upon my ability to perfectly keep Your law, but upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. Thank You for sending Your Son to do for me what I could never do for myself. Please help me never to use Your grace as an excuse for careless living, but instead empower me through Your Holy Spirit to live a life that bears fruit for Your glory. And Lord, for the one reading this who has never trusted Jesus as Savior, please open their heart to understand and receive Your wonderful gift of salvation today.  In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

FOOTNOTE
If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please take advantage of the information provided on my page ‘To Know Jesus’. Alternatively, consider speaking with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. I pray that one of God’s servants will pray with you and offer help and encouragement as you begin, or continue, your walk with Jesus. For my earlier devotionals, please visit NuggetsFromGodsWord.org, or if you choose, subscribe to receive a daily email containing each new devotional. Friends, I encourage you to find a Bible teaching church home near your residence and attend as frequently as possible. Get to know God and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk while you invite God to work through you to bless them. God is at work among His people! Please consider being a part of that while also growing in your faith as you worship with fellow believers!