The Holy Bible: The Good news Translation

1 Ki 21:27–29 (Key verses)

27 When Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes, took them off, and put on sackcloth. He refused food, slept in the sackcloth, and went about gloomy and depressed.

28 The LORD said to the prophet Elijah, 29″Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has done this, I will not bring disaster on him during his lifetime; it will be during his son’s lifetime that I will bring disaster on Ahab’s family.”

My Thoughts:
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my life today?)

Praise The Lord that we serve such an awesome God who is merciful, to even us! In the scripture leading up to these verses we read about how wicked King Ahab was, and how conniving and deceiving his wife Jezebel was. Yet when God sent His prophet, Elijah, out to tell Ahab about his sinful condition, and what the consequences would be, Ahad actually showed humility, instead of hostility, and showed obvious signs of his regret and sorrow for doing such things. Even knowing the evil of this man, yet God lightened the consequences of this man’s sin, all because of his humility. Friends, we might often mess up, but we know what God desires of us. First of all, He wants a relationship with us. He created us in His own image – so He is very proud of mankind. Don’t you imagine how sorry He must be when He sees us turn away from Him and want nothing to do with Him? Secondly, God wants to see us follow in His footsteps. Think about your children. You want them to be at least as good as you are, so you set good examples for them to follow, and you have certain rules for them to follow so that they could wind up being adults likened to you. This is the same that Jesus wants for us. He wants us to be more like Him every day, because He has prepared the way, the example, for us. He is given us rules to follow, His Holy Bible contains them all, so that one day as we mature into Christians on mission for Him, He might say to us “Well Done good and faithful servant”. Friend, please follow step one and accept this Jesus of mine. Secondly, please follow His example, be more like Him every day, so that You may touch the hearts of others and cause them to hunger for our Lord.

My Prayer
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me enough to give of yourself so that I may live eternally with You. Thank You for teaching me through Your Word what it really means to be humble and forgiving. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You oh Lord. Please strengthen me each day and guide me into the way of righteousness, so that I may exemplify You with all of my being. I love You Lord, and I lift my voice, to worship You oh Lord! Your mercies endure forever!

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
**

The Holy Bible: The Good news Translation

1 Kings 20:18 (Key verses)

28 A prophet went to King Ahab and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Syrians say that I am a god of the hills and not of the plains, I will give you victory over their huge army, and you and your people will know that I am the LORD.’ ”

My Thoughts:
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my life today?)

God performed miracles and gave great successes to the army of King Ahab, with hopes that this might get the attention of the people. Our country today, and many others that we hear about, are in sad shape as far as their spiritual wellbeing. I wonder what it would take to get the attention of the masses. Back at the time of the 911 disaster, many flocked to the churches, for at least a few days. So we know that disasters really work, although we really don’t want to see something so drastic again anytime soon. Miracles happen every day, but do we brag enough about those that those not involved would have a chance of knowing about the wonderful works of God? Christians, we must give God credit when we see things happening in response to our prayers. The things that we hear from non-Christians are anything but godly, because they don’t know our Savior, so we can’t depend on their praises having any impact on fellow lost people. The church is made up of you and I, fellow church attendees. What will it take to get our attention, considering the rush and hustle that we face each day? Many of us are so saturated in the things of this world as pushed by the media, that I would question how long it would take for us to even recognize an actual God-sighting in our homes or neighborhood or church or community? Friends, God loves us so much that He is willing to try almost anything to get our attention. Please join me in being super attentive to God’s hand at work today in our lives and all around us! Let’s get used to doing this so that the world will know that our God is alive and waiting for them to call upon the name of Jesus for salvation.

My Prayer
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Thank You Lord Jesus for loving me enough to send things my way to wake me up, to get my attention to Your wonderful works. Thank You for providing so much for me to enjoy in this beautiful world that You have created. Thank You for being patient with me and forgiving of me when I am distracted by this old world and other unimportant things. Lord, of what purpose would our journey here on earth be, if others are not pointed to You through our lives? Please work on me today to give You credit for all that You are doing, so that some lost person might want to know more about the Savior that I love, adore and serve. Lord, may You have an impact on the lost today through the words and/or actions of Your saints that may meditate on this devotional today, is my humble prayer.

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
**

The Holy Bible – The Good News Translation

John 7:16-18

16 Jesus answered, “What I teach is not my own teaching, but it comes from God, who sent me. 17 Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority. 18 A person who speaks on his own authority is trying to gain glory for himself. But he who wants glory for the one who sent him is honest, and there is nothing false in him.

My Thoughts:
The people recognized that that Jesus was an awesome teacher. However Jesus wanted to make it clear that His words came directly from the Father. I believe that verse 18 helped to open my eyes to what we see in churches today. In other words, when we see someone trying to gain glory, or attention to themselves, they are speaking from their own auhority. Unfortunately we see this in preachers, teachers and other leaders, at times. Let’s remember that our godly responsibility is to pray for those who teach us, not make fun of them or ridicule them. That’s where God takes over. Fortunately though, we also have preachers and teachers who displays a true sensitivity to God and His Holy Spirit, and therefore there is a deep honesty about him and nothing false. OK, so what is in this for the laity, like you and I? 1). We have been given the litmus test to help us decide on whether we are being fed the honest truth of God’s Word, or whether we are seeing a popularity contest, or perhaps a self promotion. This helps us to place ourselves under the right preaching/teaching so that we can be truly taught by God. 2). Look inwardly and allow God to show you any faults that may be evident in your life. Perhaps you are the false teacher/preacher. Are you promoting self every opportunity, or are you standing behind the cross of Christ, with Him as your spokesman so that His work might be accomplished? Let Him have His way in your life, friend. Don’t just let Him be the ‘co-pilot’ in your life, but give Him the wheel and let Him pilot you through this life. Let Him receive glory for all that is accomplished in your life and in your ministry.

My Payer:
Lord Jesus, it is so easy to sit back an gloat on the praise that others may give you. Yes, I know it is meant to encourage me and lift me up, but dear Lord, I need the strength and wisdom to pass those praises right on up to You. For without You in my life, without You guiding me every step of the way, my impact on a loss world would be non-existant. Please continue to use my talents and my willingness to serve for Your glory and hopefully the growth of Your church. Please help me to display so much of You that those that I come into contact with may receive Your glory. Please forgive me Lord for those times that I may have promoted self instead of You, the One who makes this whole life possible, and worth it all! To God be the glory, is my constant praise!

Please contact me at NuggestsFromGodsWord@yahoo.com if I might pray with you about a need you would like to surrender to The Lord. If you do not know the Lord in a very personal way, please contact a local pastor of a Bible believing church or also contact me by email. One of us could help you make the most important decision of your life!

The Holy Bible – The Good News Translation

1 Kings 18:21

Elijah went up to the people and said, “How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the LORD is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!” But the people didn’t say a word.

My Thoughts:

No doubt there are some that may read this today and say like I did, Please forgive me Lord for the times when people that I came into contact with may not have recognized who exactly I was serving. Whose side I was on? Was I a Christian, or was I just one of the guys, they may have asked themselves. Friends, I believe that when it comes to parties, or work places or family events or anywhere else we are among people, we must be good representations of our Lord Jesus. Now for some, this will mean that they must be very stiff-necked and not capable of having any fun with non-Christians. I don’t believe that this is what God intended when He said that we are a peculiar people. I believe that we are to be followers of Christ, and this alone will reflect some vast differences in the things we say and the way that we act, compared to those that have no such guidelines for their lives. The problem Elijah had with the prophets is that they would ride the fence, so they were no good to the king, or anyone else. Friends, we are of no earthy good if we live a life pretending to be someone through our speech, but in the presence of others we act totally different. Remember, God knows the inside, so we are not fooling Him. Best of all, remember that God is a loving and forgiving God who wants to see His kids succeed, so call on Him and watch Him perform miracles in your lives that will help us to be the kids He intended us to be. Friends, I believe that Christianity is losing ground today because of ‘Christians’ who fail to be who they claim they are. They consider us ‘hypocrites’, or personal failures! God’s kids are royalty – let’s live up to that, with God as our constant helper!

My Prayer:

As in my remarks, please forgive me oh Lord for the times that I have been so much on the fence that others really couldn’t tell if I was a follower or not. I know this really saddens You, because You see the detrimental effect this is having on our lost world today. Please strengthen Your people today and give us extra boldness to stand up for You. Help us to be bold in our character, so that every word and action may be reflective of what You would have us do, or of what You did while here on earth. Help us to get off the fence oh Lord, for I believe that You could use real warriors today, knowing that You can trust them to be who they claim to be. Knowing that they are doing a great job representing You.

Please contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@yahoo.com if I could pray with you about any needs in your life, especially any that may improve your spiritual condition with our Lord.

The Holy Bible – The Good News Translation

1 Ki 15:3–5

But for David’s sake, the LORD his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem and to keep Jerusalem secure. The LORD did this because David had done what pleased him and had never disobeyed any of his commands, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

My Thoughts:

Over the past few chapters I noticed where the Word declares that God did certain things “for the sake of David”. I was excited to read in the scripture above the reason why God did so much ‘for David’s sake’. Wow, he did it because David had always pleased Him and obeyed His commands, except of course in the case of having the husband of Bathsheba killed. Isn’t it interesting how today we use the excuse that, after all, we are only ‘human’? David showed us that this is really no excuse at all. Even more exciting is the good news that God will not only bless us, but our ancestors also, when we do our part and be faithful and obedient to Him? We often say that what we are doing is not for self recognition, but praise the Lord, my Jesus (the One that I do it all for) sees and  blesses for generations. Be encouraged friend, that what we do for Jesus has eternal benefits!

My Prayer:

Dear God, in Your Word You have given us instructions and direction on how to live. Please forgive me for thinking that I know better than You and therefore live my life in disobedience at times. Please be my Strength, Guide, Director and Encourager to consistently obey You and live according to Your commands. Please speak to the hearts of my friends that will meditate on this devotional today. Remind them of Your love, and of all that You did for saints that have gone on before us, like in the case of David, so that they may be even more determined to know You in a very personal way, and live their lives in accordance with Your will and Your commands. Thank You for loving us in this way!

The Holy Bible: The Good news Translation

1 Ki 11:9–11 (Key verses)

^9–10 Even though the LORD, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the LORD, but turned away from him. So the LORD was angry with Solomon
¹¹ and said to him, “Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials.

³⁹ Because of Solomon’s sin I will punish the descendants of David, but not for all time.

^14:9 You have committed far greater sins than those who ruled before you. You have rejected me and have aroused my anger by making idols and metal images to worship. Because of this I will bring disaster on your dynasty and will kill all your male descendants, young and old alike. I will get rid of your family; they will be swept away like dung.

My Thoughts:
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my life today?)

I believe that the thing that bothered me most while growing up, was to disappoint my parents or those that may have had charge over me at the time. I always wanted them to be proud of me, and not feel let down because of something I may have done or said. In the chapters I studied today I was vividly reminded that my Heavenly Father is much the same way. He had promised so much to David, then He promised so much to his son Solomon. However, He was up front about what He promised them. He said that they would be blessed IF they are obedient. Like us, Solomon must have thought that his blessings were self-earned and that he couldn’t be touched, so he went off in his own direction doing his own thing. We generally have the same misfortune as he had – anytime we decide to do our own thing, it means that we are not doing God’s will. Friend, I was reminded about how this must hurt my Father. He sacrificed His only begotten Son (Jesus) and allowed Him to suffer and be humiliated, and die on a cruel old cross, so that I might have a better life. The hope of glory – in heaven with Him when I graduate from this world! But imagine hurting such a loving Father? And that is exactly what happens when we deliberately turn from God, disobey Him, go our own way, do our own thing, disregard His love. Wow, what an eye opener to the things that I do or say that may not be in line with God’s Word – the Bible. Friend, examine yourself and decide to correct your ways also today, if you are weak and disobedient like I am at times. Let’s rededicate our lives to serving our Master! Let’s ask for help to be obedient servants of the King. Ones He could be proud of, and continue to bless.

My Prayer
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord Jesus, You have heard my heart in my above thoughts and I sincerely need Your help in being dedicated to serving You with all of my fiber through my actions, my words and my obedience. May my life be pleasing in Your sight through everything that I am about. I cannot judge my friends, but I pray that as they meditate on this devotional, that they would examine their own lives in light of Your Word and that they will individually get their lives in order also. Our wicked world needs to see more examples of You so that they can be drawn to You, please begin this process through me and any friend that asks for the same after meditating on this devotional.

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
**

The Bible – Good News Translation

1 Kings 8:23

…there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you.

My Thoughts:

So often I hear servants of God speak about God not being a puppet for us. In other words, he is not a genie just waiting on our next command, especially when we live like the devil. In the scripture today, Solomon was dedicating the awesome temple he had made, and he was well aware of God’s direction and help all through the construction, so at the conclusion he had a serious prayer to God. As part of his praise time in that prayer, Solomon thanked God for keeping His covenant with His people and showing His love to them, but then comes the kicker – WHEN they live in wholehearted obedience to God. I always like to look at the words of a verse and think about the opposite effect. First of all, if they are not obedient God will not keep His end of the bargain. I believe there are many examples in scripture that show proof of this. But God spoke to me through this, and showed me that when things appear to be going sideways, or backwards for me and my back seems to be against the wall with no place to go, I need to re-examine my life, my obedience factor, my relationship with God. In other words, I need revival in my life. So often we blame these type things on Satan, or tough times, or the government, or a thousand other reasons, but friend, these type indicators may very well be God trying to get our attention so that we could redirect our lives towards Him. Where are you at today friend? Is God truly in control and receiving your full obedience? Perhaps this might be a good reality check time for you! Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you, friend.

My Prayer:

Father, You have provided so much for me and continue to watch over me every day. You have given me the roadmap of where You would have me go, You have provided the power source – through Your precious Son, and the direction all throughout Your Word, like in this prayer of Solomon’s today. You have promised me a wonderful home in glory, with You! Please get my attention each time that You see me getting off track, and help me stay focused on the things that really matter – Your commands and imitating Your character. Your covenant is key to my Christian life, please help me to keep my end of the covenant at all times. Lord Jesus, it is also important to me that my friends are where they need to be in You, so as they meditate on this devotional today, please convict them of any area of their life that need attention so that they may also receive Your blessings.

**If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@yahoo.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will 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.

The Bible – Good News Translation

1 Kings 3:9

…give me the wisdom I need to rule your people with justice and to know the difference between good and evil. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours?” 

My Thoughts:

I don’t know about you friend, but there are so many times in my life when I face decisions that I have had no previous experience with, or the results of which could have serious impacts on myself, my family or my employees. I often take these before God and ask for wisdom to make the right decision. In reading this passage about King Solomon, I saw where he humbled himself and went before God and asked for the wisdom to rule the people well. Now I believe that means that he wanted to rule them in a way pleasing to God. Each day that we are blessed to place our feet on the floor and begin making decisions, we have no idea what a day may bring forth. Therefore, it is critical at that very moment that we humble ourselves, like Solomon did, and seek God’s face and direction for whatever may come our way that day, that we may respond with the heart of God and for His glory. Friend, if we don’t do this, Satan will begin working on us the very next step that we make. I don’t know about you, but I need, and I want God directing my path, not Satan.

My Prayer:

Lord Jesus,  please forgive me for the times that I’ve tried to do things on my own. You know better than I how I’ve made bad decisions and sometimes how they affected others. Please remind me, and give me the boldness to come to Your throne daily and ask for the wisdom to make right decisions and in a way that would bring honor and glory to You, for it’s You oh Lord that I live for, adore and want to please with every fiber of my being. For my friends that may read this devotional today, please anoint them with Your power to also be dependent on You for the decisions they make. I love this song that reminds me of the commitment I need with Jesus on decision making: Everyday Lord, it’s You I live for!

The Holy Bible: The Good news Translation (2nd ed., 2 Sa 22:21–25).

²¹ Lord rewards me because I do what is right;

he blesses me because I am innocent.

²² I have obeyed the law of the Lord;

I have not turned away from my God.

²³ I have observed all his laws;

I have not disobeyed his commands.

²⁴ He knows that I am faultless,

that I have kept myself from doing wrong.

²⁵ And so he rewards me because I do what is right,

because he knows that I am innocent.

Thoughts:

In verses 21 thru 24 David took a bold step in presenting himself as one who: 1). Does Right; 2). Obeyed the law of the Lord and not turned away from Him; 3). Observed all of the laws of the Lord and His commands; and then went on to add that he knows that God will find him faultless. Could you ever imagine anyone being so bold as to say those things before a holy and perfect God? Wow, I hope that one day I could feel so convinced that my walk had been so much on target. This has caused me to reflect back on David’s life, and I recall that in spite of his sins told in scripture, there are so many cases where David would not make a decision until he consulted with God. Then there were no apologies for what he asked his people to do, because he knew where the instructions came from, and he knew there was no choice but to obey. Isn’t it funny how we tend to waiver and doubt so much, especially when we have added our two cents in and diluted the truth of God with our views? Now let’s look at verse 25, David was able to confirm that he had been rewarded because of all the things he bragged about in verses 21 thru 24! That’s exciting, because often here on this earth we follow God’s commands and make sure that others follow the plan, but we never hear the accolades. Praise be to God, it is for Him that we are obedient, not for the world. Anytime we flip the purpose to do what the world wants, we are not following God’s plan. “Well done, good and faithful servant” are the words that we long to hear when He calls us home to glory! What a day that will be!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You for providing Your book of instructions and for planting into our hearts the desire to study Your Word and allow it to saturate our lives. As it becomes a part of our lives, I pray that You will empower us to live it and be obedient to what You would say to us through it. Thank You for tugging on our hearts and directing us each day, so that the world might see Jesus in and through us. Lord, You are awesome and so worthy of our praise! Thank You for allowing me to be a child of the King. Thank You for making the provision through sending (sacrificing) Your Son as a substitute for my sin!

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
**

Scripture: 2 Samuel 22.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

2 Samuel 22:1 (GNT)

When the LORD saved David from Saul and his other enemies, David sang this song to the LORD:

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my life today?)

God blesses us each and every day with more things than we can enumerate in one setting, but what do we say or do in return? I am most upset when a rude child snatches something from me without ever saying “thank you”. David went on for a whole Psalm (chapter) praising God for watching over him and protecting him. Recently I have seen so many wrecks in our area, some ending in death to at least one of the parties. Regrettably this has not prompted me to give God thanks for watching over and protecting me every day that I travel 18 miles to work. School personnel, there have been many incidents in the school system, obviously you were kept safe if you are reading this devotional. Did you remember to thank God for protecting you? Airport personnel, same example as for the schools. Friends, our God loves us and He loves us enough that He would die for us. Through His son Jesus, He actually did that for you and I! To take advantage of that special offer for salvation from our sins, we must accept the gift given to us. Please speak with a local Bible teaching clergy for direction and help in making this important decision to accept Jesus’ gift, or contact me using the email below, as I would be thrilled to pray with you and give you direction. This decision is the key to living life eternally with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Life much better than anything experienced here on this earth. Consider making this important decision today, while you are able to, friend!

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord, please forgive me for being so ungrateful at times. Please help me to be so focused on You that praising You will be on my lips at all times. Please help me to stay focused on the many things that You do for, and provide for, me to enjoy each and every day. With praise in my heart, and praise on my lips, I am convinced that I can overcome anything that may tend to set me back. Please help me to also affect my Brothers and Sisters who may otherwise lose out on these opportunities to praise You. Lord, You are worthy, and worthy of our praise, each and every day. May we be found guilty of always praising the name of Jesus in all things.

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
**