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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-01-07 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Mathew 4:1-3 (NET) |
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Text: |
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus had just been baptized by John the Baptist in the presence of many. At the baptism, God spoke audibly to the people officially announcing that this is His beloved, or dear, Son in whom He (God) is well pleased. I would have thought that the next scene would have been one filled with Jesus performing miracle after miracle, and proving to the people that they weren’t just hearing things from the heavens, but here is proof that Jesus is the Son of God. However, we know from the scriptures that this was not the case, for Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness to spend time with Satan – there to be tempted by the evil one. It seems almost like Jesus was deliberately forced into the most vulnerable position imaginable after such a high point in His life. Additionally, He even fasted for 40 days before facing the tempter. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| In my observation above, I built the case for us to look at here. I wonder what God wants us to see in this. I don’t believe this was done to make Jesus stronger, or to open His eyes to any spiritual truth, for He is the Son of God. He is part of the trinity, meaning that He is also one with the Father. So obviously this was done as a demonstration for those in attendance, and for those of us that would read the account later, and try to grow from its truth. So let’s look at this in that light. I could only imagine that there were lots of folk there that day at the baptism that doubted this whole announcement from God about Jesus being His Son, don’t you think that they would have been good candidates for a heavy dose of temptation from Satan? Don’t you think that there were some in attendance like Peter, who swore that he would stand by Jesus through thick and thin? Surely they would have been candidates for the serious temptations of Satan so that they could firm up their words into actions? Friends, I believe that this process that Jesus was forced to endure could very easily have been done to show us today that our commitment to our Lord Jesus is more than words alone, but a lifetime commitment that may even come with temptations and/or other actions by Satan that will test our commitment. I believe the word ‘hypocrite’ probably came about because of folk that say they are one thing or the other, but their lives do not exemplify that commitment that they supposedly made. Where do you stand, friend? Stop. Meditate and consider where you stand in your relationship with Jesus today. How would you fare under strong temptations? Draw close to God friend, and He will draw close to you. He will be your guide, especially in times like temptations when you need Him most. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, I am reminded yet again how much You went through for me, and I thank You for Your grace, and Your underserved mercy. Thank You heavenly Father for Your love for sinners such as I. Please touch the lives of those that will read this devotional today. Please search our hearts and show us our weaknesses – our weak commitments and our open doors for Satan to easily attack. Lord, please prepare us to respond to Satan and his attacks using the example You gave us in this account of Your temptation. May we be more like You in every respect, is my request and my heart’s desire today oh Lord, my Rock and my Salvation. 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 could 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 to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
Category: Commitment
May I Introduce You To …
Thursday, 2016-12-01
Scripture
Bible Reference: Isaiah 42:1-4
Bible Text: “Take a good look at my servant. I’m backing him to the hilt. He’s the one I chose, and I couldn’t be more pleased with him. I’ve bathed him with my Spirit, my life. He’ll set everything right among the nations. He won’t call attention to what he does with loud speeches or gaudy parades. He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant, but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right. He won’t tire out and quit. He won’t be stopped until he’s finished his work—to set things right on earth. Far-flung ocean islands wait expectantly for his teaching.”
Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)
My Take
Isaiah had dealt with so much in the area of worthless idols that devoured the attention of his people. However God revealed through this prophet that He had better plans ahead for His people, and here in the scripture He gave a glimpse of the Savior that would be born for the sole purpose of saving the people from their sins, and renewing their hope. He also promised that He would bring hope for even the poor and hurting, who was normally ignored and brushed aside by worldly kings of that time and era. Should you be wondering how on earth Isaiah could possibly have known what would come to pass hundreds of years later in time? May I take a moment to introduce you to my God! Friends, my God is not only in control of what takes place today, but He also has a plan for everything that’s yet to come. To help you better understand how this all aligned, I could refer you to Matthew 12:18-21 where, after Jesus was born, and during His earthly ministry, He emphasized to the people who He was ministering in much the same way that the prophet Isaiah prophesied. In fact, the apostle Matthew actually made reference to what Isaiah had prophesied because he recognized the similarity in the message. This was hundreds of years later, friends! Coincidence? No way, for if our God tells us something today, we can go to the bank with that, because it will be the same today, tomorrow and forever. But friends, I want you to stop and consider that in spite of us having benefited from the fact that Jesus came, and He ministered in ways that fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, yet many today have chosen to ignore that fact and continue to serve unrewarding idols. Now I bet by now, in your minds you are throwing rotten tomatoes at me, because you know of no worship of idols in our day. I tend to differ friend, for our idols today are much different to those back in Isaiah’s day. To help you better understand our current day idols, may I suggest that you think of, and write down those things that distract you from the worship of your Savior? May I clarify that your communion with God is not limited to the times that the church doors are opened, although I believe it is super important that you obey God’s Word in assembling ourselves together with other believers for the purpose of corporate worship. So perhaps we have personally decided that in order to keep our relationship with Jesus alive and strong, we will spend time with him at least twice each day. Are there ‘things’ that get in the way of that time with God? Are they things that you struggle to do without? Are they so important to you that they are often considered more important than the time you had allotted to be with God? What would you classify those things to be? Jesus came so that we might have life, and life more abundant and free. Don’t allow those ‘idols’ to control you friend. There really is nothing more important than the time you have committed to spend with God!
Prayer
Lord Jesus, You came to this earth in fulfilment of prophecy, so that we may have life eternally. Thank You sincerely for loving us so much, that You gave of Your life as a living sacrifice. Unfortunately there are still many idols that distract us from our time with You. Our weak and uncommitted relationship with You, has given room for Satan to walk right in and pound us with distractions; with worldly thoughts; with sinful ideas; and ruined witnesses to the lost. Often we become useless vessels that You can use to win the lost and encourage the weak. Please forgive us Lord. Please renew a right spirit within us – one that would cherish the sacrifice You made for us, and one that would be committed to faithfully serve You and one with a priority to worship and honor You with all our heart, soul and mind. Open the eyes of our heart Lord, so that we may be filled with Jesus in every way, every day, and for every purpose in life. AMEN!
Footnote
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@outlook.com. 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 could 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 www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
Found ‘GUILTY’ of Praying?
Sunday, 2016-11-13
Scripture
Bible Reference: Daniel 6:10-11
Bible Text: 10 When Daniel learned that the decree had been signed and posted, he continued to pray just as he had always done. His house had windows in the upstairs that opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he knelt there in prayer, thanking and praising his God. 11 The conspirators came and found him praying, asking God for help.
Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)
My Take
Many of us meditating on this scripture today probably don’t have any state laws prohibiting us from any religious activities, but I wonder when last we could have possibly been found guilty of ‘praying’? Over in Philippians 4:6 we are told to not fret or worry about anything, but instead ‘pray’ about everything, yet in a country where we are free to pray and worship the God of this universe, we ‘worry’ so much that our doctors probably deal more with depression and anxiety than anything else. Daniel shows us that in spite of man’s efforts to hinder his relationship with his God, that nothing would separate him from the love of his Lord. I would encourage each of us to take particular note of this, because it doesn’t take much to hinder us in our prayer life. Of course I could only speak to our corporate prayer life, but it is sad that our midweek prayer and Bible study is attended by only a very small percentage of our congregation. In fact, so poorly attended that I am reminded by the words of a pastor in my younger life, who said that it looks like the church at large has voted to cancel the service, for the absence of the vast majority speaks volumes about how they feel about corporate prayer meetings. In fact, I wonder how God must feel when He looks at our corporate prayer meeting attendance, for He said through His servant in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 ‘Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.’ So friends I would challenge you to seriously consider and declare who you are claiming as your King; your Lord; and your Master. Have you personally accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? God’s Word tells us that if you have, then you would have a desire to ‘pray all the time’. If your ‘love-for-God’ meter is measured by your prayer life, are you proud of the love you show to God every day? How about your concern for the church as a whole, do you attend corporate prayer enough to pray for its survival and its outreach for your community? Is your pastor empowered because of your prayers for him? Daniel maintained his prayer life in spite of a new law being enacted that he knew could have led to his imprisonment. How valid do you feel your excuses are for not attending your corporate prayer services, compared to Daniel’s commitment in the circumstances he was under?
Prayer
Lord God, we are a sorry bunch considering all the gracious gifts that You bless us with every day, compared to the uncaring attitude we take in returning thanks to You. Friends are dying every day without Jesus, and ashamedly we acknowledge that our prayers and our influence in their lives could have made a difference. We have read, heard and seen the power of prayer, yet many have chosen to ignore its power through their attendance and commitment to pray corporately. Please forgive us Lord. I feel like we are witnessing the greatest need for revival probably in the life of Your church here on earth. Only those who have actually accepted you as Lord can be ‘revived’, so Lord, please begin a great work in the life of Your church – Your people. May Your children be reminded of the power of prayer, and their obligation to converse with their Master. We need you heavenly Father, revive Your church again, I pray. AMEN!
Footnote
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@outlook.com. 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 could 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 www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
A Woman Who is Worth More Than Precious Gems!
Friday, 2016-10-28
Scripture
Bible Reference: Proverbs 31:10–12
Bible Text: 10 If you can find a truly good wife, she is worth more than precious gems! 11 Her husband can trust her, and she will richly satisfy his needs. 12 She will not hinder him but help him all her life.
Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)
My Take
Throughout the Bible we see where crowds are usually counted based on the number of men in the crowd, even if women and children are present. We basically see where women are kept in the background of many Bible stories and especially in ancient church leadership. In fact, one may sometimes wonder if they were considered ‘second-class’ citizens. In my study today I came across two instances where we are reminded that women are super important to the kingdom of heaven, to their husbands, to their children, and to the church. In my new testament reading in Romans 16, Paul commended a female deacon, Phoebe, and He encouraged his friends to honor Phoebe as one who is worthy among the people of God. In Proverbs 31 we see where a good portion of that chapter is devoted to expressing the value of women to God, to their husbands, to their children and to their communities. In Proverbs 31:23, we are reminded that men worthy of being community leaders, can successfully fulfill his responsibilities when he is blessed with a good wife who knows the Lord, and is honorable in her home, for she not only supports her husband in clothing and feeding him, but in her prayers for his success also. Friends, I pray that not one man will stand and boast about how good or successful he is, because invariably you will find that he has the support of a praying mom and/or a supportive, loving, encouraging and praying wife. I have found that as I express love and worth to my wife, she in turn offers prayer, support and encouragement for my success. I am reminded from the Word of God, that Jesus expects for me to love and care for my wife, like He loves and cares for His church. He expressed that love through the biggest sacrifice recorded in history, for he gave of his own life, so that we may have access to the only One capable of forgiveness for our sins. With the purity that comes with a heart cleansed by Jesus Christ, we are acceptable for entry into heaven, and an audience with the Father. Our short lives here on this earth are filled with steps that lead us to our ultimate destination where we will spend eternity. In a major portion of this life, we (men) are surrounded by women who are ordained by God to care for us, push us towards success, support us in leadership, care for and love our children and pray for our walk with the Lord. We, in turn, must be willing to do whatever it takes, including total sacrifice as Jesus did for us, to bring fulfillment, happiness, and godly leadership into their lives so that they might also be honorable before God. This is a two-way thing Brothers! While Christ is very worthy of fulfilling the requests brought to Him by our wives, He expects us to do our part as worthwhile, God-filled husbands, to make them the virtuous women that He desires. Men, are you prepared to rededicate Your life to Jesus and ask Him to help you to rededicate the commitment, love and protection your wife needs from you?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we have been reminded of the love You showed for us on Calvary, the love expected of husbands towards their wives, and how all of this could lead to helping our wives be the virtuous women that You desire in Your kingdom, in our lives and in this world. There’s great responsibility from all involved, but this leads to a beautiful relationship between husband and wife, and fully dedicated lives by both before a lost world, all for Your glory. Based on my study, I truly believe that this is Your desire for us. Please help us to be obedient and willing servants so that others may see, hear and believe on You. I ask these things all for your glory, AMEN!
Footnote
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@outlook.com. 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 could 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 www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
What Is This?
May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………
Today’s Bible Reference: Isaiah 52:4–6
Today’s Bible Text: 4 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Long ago my people chose to live in Egypt. Now they are oppressed by Assyria. 5 What is this?” asks the LORD. “Why are my people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation.* My name is blasphemed all day long. 6 But I will reveal my name to my people, and they will come to know its power. Then at last they will recognize that I am the one who speaks to them.”
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)
My Take Away: I believe there are times that Christians drift so far away from God, and lose sight of all that God has done for us, that God must look down in amazement, shake His head and say “young man/lady, what have you done now? What have you gotten yourself into now? Just a few days ago I rescued you from deep trouble (health issues; job reemployment; family issues; financial impossibilities; etc.) yet today you appear so far away from me. What is this?”. This would be similar to the situation God found with the Israelites. For He had rescued them from slavery, brought them into a happy place – the Promised Land, and made sure they were well taken care of. Now as He looks on them, He finds them back in slavery again while those who rule over them, blasphemes the name of their Lord. Friends, our lives will drift towards the very lifestyle that we live. If we drift towards the world, it will make its way into our lives and control the way we live, the things we say and the way we act. It will enslave us. May I encourage you to stop and consider the awesome price that God paid for us when He sacrificed His only Son for the redemption of our sin? May I suggest that you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and draw closer to Him in every way, each and every day? He truly deserves our praise and our ultimate dedication, friends. When we do this, we’ll not leave room for the world/Satan to slip in, distract us and pull us away from the cross. Jesus paid it all for us, and I feel like He deserves our all in return. We can do this!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for giving Your all for me, so that I may have access to the throne of God. Please fill my life to overflowing each and every day, so that I may gain strength to stand up against the temptations of this world and the enslavement of the Evil One. Lord, I believe that my friends face very similar issues in a day, so I humbly ask that You also surround them with Your love and Your strength, so that they may determine in their own minds to not cave in to this old wicked world, but to be fully dedicated to Your kingdom. We need You blessed Jesus. I ask these things in faith, and through the all-powerful name of Jesus, AMEN!
Footnote: 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@outlook.com. 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 could 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 www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
2016
Will Jesus Know You as His Follower?
May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………
Today’s Bible Reference: Luke 13:23–25
Today’s Bible Text: A bystander said, “Master, will only a few be saved?” He said, “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, ‘Sorry, you’re not on my guest list.’
The Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)
My Take Away: Ever had someone sneak up behind you and blindfold you to see if you could guess who it is? Ever had a situation that you didn’t recognize the person, even after they revealed themselves to you? Perhaps you were mistaken for someone else they knew. It’s embarrassing when someone strongly believes that they know you, but you don’t recognize them in the slightest, isn’t it? This kind of reminds me of what it is like when someone appears insulted by asking them if they are a believer in Jesus. They may look at you and remind you that they are the one who attended Vacation Bible School with you in the 5th grade, and they have continued their belief in God by attending your church at least three times in the last year! So why would you possibly ask such a question of them? Friends I could go on giving you examples of those, whom I feel, might be surprised on Judgment Day. However, just like this translation indicates: Jesus responds that “this is none of my business”; for this is strictly something that He will work on each day until the time He calls that person out of this world. What God really wants you and I to do, is also in this scripture, for Jesus demands that we concentrate on our own relationship with the Lord. In other words, we have a fulltime job working on our own relationship with God instead of being so caught up in the affairs of others. Let me suggest that we look around and try to identify happily married couples. I believe you will do that by looking at the way they look at each other; the things they say to each other; the unending times that they strive to be together; the things the husband may do for his wife and/or her friends just to prove his love for her. Now, should that be any different when we try to show our love for our Lord? We will want to talk to Him as often as possible (prayer); We will want to be with Him and/or His people as often as possible (church); We will want to study His habits – His likes and dislikes and His desires for us (Bible Study and/or quiet times with the Lord); It will excite us to be around other folk who also love Him and is seeking to serve Him (church gatherings). Friends, these are just outward expressions of love for your Master that your friends will notice. Jesus knows your heart, so He knows what makes you ‘tick’ and why you do what you do. He knows if you’re serious about Him or just trying to impress mama by being in church each Sunday. Bottom line is that you may be successful in fooling all of the people all of the time, but God truly knows the heart of each man and woman. God will open the gates of heaven to you when He is convinced that you are sincerely in love with Him.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we often go through the motions of church attendance because we don’t want to disappoint the pastor, or because we promised mom that we would be in church at least each Sunday morning. It is obvious from this scripture today, that You look a lot deeper than that, for just like we can’t ever expect to sleep in our garage and wake up looking like a car, nor can we expect that church attendance will make us a Christian, or follower of Christ. Lord, please forgive us for our littleness in thinking that because we can impress our friends, that we can also trick You into believing we are a follower by going through the motions the world expects of a Christian. Lord, may Your Word penetrate our hearts and convince us of our sin. May we seek Your forgiveness of that sin, and may we strive daily to live for You, without being distracted about how our neighbor may be handling their lives. You are my all in all Jesus. May my life reflect that in all aspects of my character. AMEN!
Footnote: 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@outlook.com. 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 could 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 www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
2016
How, Then Shall We Live
May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………
Today’s Bible Reference: 1 John 3:1–3
Today’s Bible Text: What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to. But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.
The Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)
My Take Away: I see such a sweet assurance in the beginning verse of how much my heavenly Father loves me, and how He calls us His children. My eyes were also opened to the reminder that the world may very well dislike us, because they do not have an appreciation for the things, or character of God. But then I realize that if we do not conform to their ways, they would hate us anyway, per Romans 12:2. In fact that verse tells us that God will change us from the inside out, so of course we will be different to anything we have ever witnessed before. But friends, the captioned verses today reminds us that our God will come one day to take us home to be with Him. Now that’s a day that we all look forward to, amen? But what about the here and now, what are we to be doing – how then shall we be living? Thankfully John covers this in verse 3, for he advised that we should aim to live like Jesus. I found it interesting that the Message chose to use such an awesome description of the life we are to live: ‘Glistening purity of Jesus’. That makes me think that we are to live squeaky clean, just as Christ was perfectly clean. Friends, I believe that the bottom line is that we live the changed life that we have committed ourselves to. How confusing it must be for nonbelievers to hear us preaching the goodness of the Lord from our mouths, yet living like the Devil in our actions and all of our practices. Jesus was pure in every way, and that’s what we are called to do as children of God. Will you be willing to commit to living the pure life exampled by Jesus Christ?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You lived a perfect life amidst lots of evil. We also are called to live the kind of pure life that You lived, and our world seems even more corrupt and sinful today than anytime in history. For those of us willing to live the example You have set before us, may You endow us with power, wisdom, determination and total surrender, so that the enemy might see Jesus in all that we do and say. We need You precious Savior. Please work miraculously through us so that Your work might be done, by even us. AMEN!
Footnote: 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@outlook.com. 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 could 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 www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
2016
Salvation, Contentment and Everlasting Life!
May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………
Today’s Bible Text:
1 Timothy 6:7-10 – 7 We didn’t bring anything into this world, and we won’t take anything with us when we leave. 8 So we should be satisfied just to have food and clothes. 9 People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them. 10 The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain. (The Contemporary English Version).
Psalm 80:3 – Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. (New Living Translation).
My Take Away: In my New Testament reading today I felt compelled to ponder a while on the verses shared above from 1 Timothy 6. Then I was torn when I got to the Psalms and read the verse above, for the words in vs. 3 were reemphasized/repeated in verse 7 and again in verse 19 of that Psalm. It then became clear that the Holy Spirit was actually guiding me to the answer to life’s dilemma that becomes man’s greatest frustration when he realizes that riches will not bring all of life’s answers and or happiness. You see, in the new testament verses, Paul was teaching Timothy to make sure that he really emphasized to the people that on the day they were born and on the day they die, their worldly worth is the same – nothing. So why make such a fuss over money during the short span in between the two events. In fact, in verse 10 Paul emphasizes that our love for money becomes so strong during our lifetimes, that it actually affects our walk, our relationships, and our ability to properly represent God. We often reflect on the simplicity of life in the days of our ancestors, and while they also had their own types of issues, we quickly discern that they had more time to fellowship with each other and show God’s love one for another. Friends, the real answer to our dilemma became evident in Psalm 80:3, for we desperately need to seek God’s face, allow His face to shine upon us, save us, and cause us to turn again to Himself. I believe it is only then that our minds will deflect the temptation to covet what our neighbor has, or to feel the need for more money in the bank as our only answer to survival now, and in the future. It’s all about God, friend! He was here from the beginning of our lives, He surrounded us with His love, protection and direction throughout our lives and He is available to lead us to our eternal home with Him, if we accept Him as Lord of our lives. There just is nothing more important than that friends! Look to my ‘Footnote’ for help on how to make this transition in your life, if you haven’t made a decision yet to accept Jesus as your Savior, for He is the answer to all of life’s questions and earthly challenges.
Prayer: Father God, You created this world, brought us into this world, provided for us and loved us beyond anything we could imagine, by sacrificing Your very own Son to die for us so that we might live in hope of one day returning to spend eternity with You in heaven. Please forgive us for the times we have really messed up and gone sideways on Your expectations of us. As the Psalmist penned in Psalm 80:3, please turn us again to Yourself and make your face to shine upon us again, so that we may be saved. Please reach into the hearts of the hardened ones that we know and love today. May they feel Your presence and be drawn to You with sincere and broken hearts. Thank You for loving us beyond anything we could imagine. May we surrender ourselves fully to You and love you with all the capacity that we could muster up, is my humble request today, AMEN!
Footnote: 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@outlook.com. 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 could 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 www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
2016
Loving Jesus and Willing to Follow Him
THE HOLY BIBLE – 19 ….Then he said to Peter, “Follow me!” 20 Peter turned and saw the follower Jesus loved very much walking behind them. (This was the follower who had leaned against Jesus at the supper and said, “Lord, who is it that will hand you over?”) 21 When Peter saw him behind them, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus answered, “Maybe I want him to live until I come. That should not matter to you. You follow me!” ~ John 21:19b-22 ~ Easy-To-Read Version (ERV)
THOUGHTS: All of our lives we are trained to think about the other person and not be selfish, but I believe you will note in this scripture today that there comes a time in life where Jesus calls for our undivided attention to what He is saying directly to us. In this chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus had just questioned Peter about HIS relation – HIS love for the Master. Jesus got so personal with that question that He asked it of Peter 3 times. When we repeat a question like that, usually we are trying to make sure that we have the person’s undivided attention, and by the second or third time we ask it, the person is really questioning to himself if he truly understood the question, or if the hearer is doubting his answer. You might remember that this is the same Peter who will deny Jesus three times while Jesus hangs on the cross, even though Peter told Jesus ahead of time that he would be with Him right up the very bitter end. As for how we might normally handle this type of question, I believe it all depends on where we are at and in whose presence. At church, where we are surrounded by a crowd of fellow Christians. I bet we would easily respond in the affirmative to Jesus, as we listen for a loud ‘Amen’ from those around us! But how would our response differ if we were asked the same question by Jesus at work; or at the football stadium where folk all around us are drinking and partying? Would we be as quick to respond affirmatively? However, this was not the only sobering thought of this scripture. As indicated already, imagine if the question Jesus asked Peter was asked of us individually in a crowd. Can’t you see us looking around for support, before we respond? “Come on church, let’s respond collectively”, we might say. Imagine Jesus stopping your parade and saying “wait a minute young man/lady, I am looking for a personal response from you only. May I hear your heart’s response, in spite of what you feel the rest of the church/co-workers/theme park crowd might say collectively with you”. Friends, this is exactly what Jesus did to Peter, for He told me that He was more concerned that he (Peter) would follow Him, even if no one else did. What about you friend? If you were singled out like that, how would you respond to Jesus? Are you at that place in your relationship with Jesus that you will respond, based on your heart, and not what you think the crowd would like to hear? Friend, I would encourage you to join me in solidifying our relationship with the Lord. This could be the day that He decides to take one or all of us home, and I don’t know about you, but I really want to know that Jesus was pleased with my life while here on this earth. That I stood firm in my faith and in my witness for Him. I pray that this would also be the desire of each reader.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You stayed true to Your mission right up to Your time on the cross. Like us, I believe that Peter stayed true to you, but he and us, we are so easily swayed in our decision making, that the crowd (Satan) may easily find a ‘soft spot’ and distract our thoughts and commitment to You. Lord, we are so weak. But praise to Your glorious name, You are so strong. So Lord, we come to the solid ‘Rock’ today pleading for Your strength in our commitment; our boldness; and our witness – regardless of the environment or crowd that we might be in. Please help us to remain strong. For those reading this who have not made a personal decision to accept You as their Lord and Savior, I ask for clarity in their minds so that they might recognize the priority of accepting You as Lord, before following the crowd to ask a total stranger for help. Please impact the lives of Your children today, so that we might stand firm in our faith. May our transformed lives be so sincere, that the lives of others will be transformed when they ‘rub shoulders’ with one of Yours today. For I ask these things in the strong name of Jesus, AMEN!
FOOTNOTE: 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@outlook.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. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to blogger.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
Do You Really Belong To Jesus?
THE HOLY BIBLE – John 13:6-10 – The Contemporary English Version (CEV): 6 But when he came to Simon Peter, that disciple asked, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You don’t really know what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “You will never wash my feet!” Peter replied. “If I don’t wash you,” Jesus told him, “you don’t really belong to me.” 9 Peter said, “Lord, don’t wash just my feet. Wash my hands and my head.” 10 Jesus answered, “People who have bathed and are clean all over need to wash just their feet. And you, my disciples, are clean, except for one of you.”
THOUGHTS: There’s a lovely old hymn entitled ‘Are You Washed In the Blood of The Lamb‘, and unless we grasp the full understanding of those lyrics, we may miss the whole point of the song, and this scripture that we are looking at today. Friends, even in the case of the disciples, Jesus saw where it was necessary to challenge them into surrendering themselves fully. Way too often, I’m afraid that we make a decision to accept the Lord because of outside pressures – perhaps it was mom who prayed endlessly for us and provoked us at every opportunity to surrender to the call of Jesus. Perhaps it’s a spouse who is threatening to leave us, unless we give ourselves to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Or perhaps that old preacher who ‘bugs the tar out of us’ every time he sees us. Often when we do something for the sake of others, we tend to get them off our back, but nothing has really impacted our heart. For a moment, consider a decision made under one of the scenarios I just gave, and compare this to a case where God truly got a hold of your heart and caused you to personally, willingly, and not under any outside pressures, provoked you to personally decide that today is the day of salvation. In other words, you are personally seeking the face of Jesus. Which one would you suspect might have the longest lasting impact? Let’s remember, Jesus knew the heart of each disciple, so as He knelt before them to wash their feet He really knew and understood what the motives were behind their being there, and what was going on in their minds at the time. But friends, nothing has changed in the power of God to know and understand our hearts and our minds today. He knows how committed we truly are to Him. He knows whether our walk is sincere, or whether our words are the same around church as they are out in the field where we interact with abrasive coworkers. He knows if we claim Him as Lord on church day, but put Him ‘on a shelf’ until we need Him or find ourselves around church folk again. Friends, like Jesus told Peter, unless He washes every piece of our being with His cleansing power – His blood that was shed on Calvary for the cleansing of our sin, then our lives will be a farce, and we will always pretend that we are something that we really are not in our hearts. You know, this Christianity thing – this salvation thing – is all relational, it’s not a game, or a thing that is dependent on who could act this thing out the best. Is it truly evident from the way you live, that Jesus has truly gotten hold of your life, washed away the old selfish life of sin, and given you a brand new life where it is evident that you are not the ‘pilot’, but instead, you are led by the Savior of this world – the God of this universe, and the King of all kings? If not, may I encourage you to read God’s Word daily to seek His perfect will for your life? May I also encourage you to chat daily with our Lord? This opens the doors of communication with Him, and this is vital to every relationship – especially the one you should develop with Jesus Christ.
PRAYER: Father, I am concerned that many may be in the same boat as Peter, where they feel like they have everything under control – their control. Your Word is very clear that unless You wash us clean of all our sin, we are not really Yours. Please open the eyes of those pretending today, so that they may fully understand Your call on their lives. Please open eyes and soften hearts so that each reader will closely examine themselves and see the need for a thorough cleansing by You. Full surrender is a must, and I pray that no one will miss that point to consider seriously today. May You be very active in each of our lives today, is my humble and sincere prayer that I ask in the strong name of Jesus, AMEN!
FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.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. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
Nuggets From God's Word 