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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-04-08 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Psalm 25:7-10 (Voice) |
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Text: |
7 Do not HOLD against me the sins I committed when I was young; instead, deal with me according to Your mercy and love. Then Your goodness may be demonstrated in all the world, Eternal One. 8 IMMENSELY good and honorable is the Eternal; |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Like many of us, David felt like approaching God in the light of who he was as a teenager, might be a hopeless case. However in light of who God is, and the mercy and grace that He is known for, David knew that there was hope for himself and for all who commit to serving Christ and obeying His commands. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| It is so easy for us to listen to Satan and believe there is no hope for us because of all that we were. I found it refreshing to be reminded that when I committed my life to Jesus and accepted the outstanding grace that He offers to His children, that He not only cleansed me of my sin up to that point in time, but that He looks on me as a sinner saved by His grace. Sure I make mistakes still, but with the Holy Spirit living in me and prompting me to the way of the cross, I am constantly reeled back in and redirected to the King who reigns over me. Friends, I don’t believe I am alone in feeling this way at times, for I’ve heard from many how hopeless they feel at times. May I implore you to be encouraged by the words of David in this Psalm today and be renewed in knowing that those whom Jesus has welcomed into His fold, will never be released to any other Master. Think of your earthly mother and father – you can’t undue the fact that they are your blood parents. Jesus would never accept you into His family and then push you away every time you mess up. He wants you to seek His face daily and realign your will and way with His, every moment of every day. He loves you beyond anything you could every imagine and He wants to see you in glory one day around His throne. Would you commit to follow the last verse of our Scripture today and remain true to God’s Word and keep His commandments? The promise is that He will remain kind and true to you Brothers and Sisters! There is no better companion than to have Jesus on your side while here on earth and when we see Him face to face in heaven! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord You are so good to us. Praise God that You are able to see us as ‘white as snow’, because of being redeemed by Your precious blood. Most of us have nothing that we could brag about from our past, and absolutely nothing that we can place before You as redemption for our sins. Thank You for Your enormous sacrifice, and for Your uncompromising love for us, in spite of who we used to be. In being cleansed by Your blood, because of Your amazing grace, we are united with You in spirit and filled with the promise of eternity around Your throne. Oh what a Savior! Lord teach us daily to live like who we are, and not like who we used to be. 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: Forgiveness
Did You RSVP Yet?
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-03-10 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Matthew 22:12-14 (NLT) |
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Text: |
12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| In this parable, Jesus tells of a king who invited many guests to a wedding feast. When they didn’t show up, he sent his servants into the streets to invite any and everyone in. Most came prepared for a wedding feast, except one, whom the king addressed personally about his attire. With no explanation from the guest, the king had him thrown out. Let’s see out this applies to us…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I would imagine that in your church you face pretty much the same challenge as in my church, for members and attendees are encouraged to go and invite a friend or neighbor to church with you. Now, in your mind I want you to scan the audience of one of your favorite services and consider this question: If Jesus returned to gather His bride, the saved of this earth, right in the middle of that favorite service, how many do you think would remain? I know that you are not the judge, but wouldn’t you assume that there will be some who have just gone through the motions and attended church to please someone, or to keep someone from continuously bugging them, but they have never accepted the call (invitation) of Jesus to surrender their life to Him? I believe that there is no better place to find good, sincere friends and fellowship than around churches. I believe that there is no better place to be, than with God’s people who sincerely worship their God, seek His face in prayer, and understand His response through studying, or hearing the Word of God taught/preached. However, there is nothing in the Word of God that indicates that because you were invited to church and attended; or you had good fellowship with believers and actually befriended several of them; or you heard the Word taught or preached; or you attended a very serious prayer meeting – none of these things qualify you for meeting Jesus face to face. I believe that Jesus is extremely happy to see you fellowship with His children, but unless you believe on their Lord and Savior and surrender your life to His call on your life, then you will be much like the miss-dressed guest in this story when Jesus considers whether to accept you into His kingdom. So friend, you received an invitation to fellowship with believers and you accepted and did that. Hopefully you also received an invitation – a tug on your heart from the Lord Jesus to surrender your life of sin to Him for forgiveness and acceptance into His kingdom. That RSVP is the only means of you retiring to glory when you graduate from this earth. For it is only through accepting Jesus as Lord that He will see a believer as one washed white as snow, because of His forgiveness and acceptance. Neglecting this step will lead you to the same outer darkness referring to in the Scripture today. You, and only you, will make the choice about responding to Jesus. My prayer is that, if you have not knowingly made this commitment before, that you go directly to my Footnote and click the link ‘To Know Jesus’, for no one knows the day or the hour when the Lord will call either of us out of this world. Let’s be ‘dressed in our wedding clothes’, in other words, be found righteous by our holy God, and therefore ready to meet Him in the air! That meeting could take place today! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Thank You for Your precious Word dear Lord, and I thank You for tugging at my heart’s door many years ago, and I humbly accepted Your call. Lord, may I be found faithful right up to the day that You call me home to be with You. Lord, I may have some friends, and maybe even some family, who may fit into the same scenario as the guest who was thrown out from the wedding feast, for I’m not sure that they ever completed their RSVP that You personally delivered to them. I believe there will also be readers of this blog that may fit this description also. Lord, I pray that You would anoint this blog with Your Holy Spirit that will tug at the hearts of these ones again today. May this be a day of decision by many today, is my heart’s cry in sincere prayer to the only One who can make a difference, Jesus, my Lord and King, 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! | |
God Wants Us To Be Holy
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-03-08 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Hebrews 12:8-11 (CEV) |
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Text: |
8 God corrects all of his children, and if he doesn’t correct you, then you don’t really belong to him. 9 Our earthly fathers correct us, and we still respect them. Isn’t it even better to be given true life by letting our spiritual Father correct us?
10 Our human fathers correct us for a short time, and they do it as they think best. But God corrects us for our own good, because he wants us to be holy, as he is. 11 It is never fun to be corrected. In fact, at the time it is always painful. But if we learn to obey by being corrected, we will do right and live at peace. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Our Scripture today confirms the love of God for His children, and confirms that it’s because of that deep love for us that God disciplines us. However, when we understand the purpose for that discipline then we appreciate the discipline. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Some may struggle with the idea of God disciplining His children because we have always been taught that He loves us enough to die for us. In parenting, or adult life overall, I believe we all can agree that where there is no discipline, there is good indication of a disconnect between the adult and the child. Either the child doesn’t belong to the adult on the scene and therefore a lack of duty, or love, or responsibility to correct the child, or a lack of love and concern for the upbringing of that child. I want you to stop and think about yourself as a parent, or if you’re not a parent then think about your parents, and consider all the reasons why a child is probably loved by their earthly parents. Next, I want you to think of the God who created us, then recognized that we are selfish and would never follow rules, commands and rituals in order to right ourselves with Him because of our sins. So in order to help us out, God sent His one and only Son to die a cruel death through crucifixion to prove His love for us. Now, for a God like that, don’t you know that He would very much desire that we be steered into oneness with Himself? Steering us is the same as disciplining us. When we are reminded of wrong things through reading God’s Word, or hearing a message from God via our pastor or Godly teacher, we are being steered away from that wrong. Likewise when we can honestly say ‘amen’ to a sermon or Bible reading, it probably means that we agree, and that we are honestly following that command of God. Now here are the words that I really loved from our Scripture today, because God said that the reason He steers us, or disciplines us, is not just because He loves us, but because “He wants us to be holy, as He is”! I don’t know about you friend, but that sends chills up and down my spine, to think that the God of this universe loves me enough that He will do whatever it takes to get us in line with His commands so that we may be holy, just as He is! Wow! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| It is so hard for us to believe that we could ever be considered ‘Holy’, much less to be consider ‘holy’ as God Himself. Yet God said it, so I believe it. Thank You for never giving up on us Jesus! Thank You for loving us so much – more than we could ever comprehend. Please forgive us for being so stubborn, disobedient, and straying so often from the path You have set for us. Lord I can only imagine that this is a daily chore for You to deal with, so I beg You to touch Your children once again today. We want to be like You, and we want to be ‘holy’ in Your eyes. Please steer us aright again today as we face the trials and temptations of this day. Thank You heavenly Father for loving us so deeply and unconditionally! 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! | |
A Compassionate Heart
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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-02-27 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Genesis 50:19-21 (TLB) |
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Text: |
19 But Joseph told them, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, to judge and punish you? 20 As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil, for he brought me to this high position I have today so that I could save the lives of many people. 21 No, don’t be afraid. Indeed, I myself will take care of you and your families.” And he spoke very kindly to them, reassuring them. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Joseph had all the reason in the world to bring revenge on his brothers, and he had the power to simply say the word, and they would have been eliminated. Instead he chose to look at all that God had accomplished through him, in spite of all that his brothers had cruelly forced on him. A sincere man of God who showed the compassion of God under extreme circumstances. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| It takes a great man/woman of God to withold revenge when they’ve been hurt, and instead to give God glory for all that He did even through circumstances that seemed extremely awful to them. There is another excellent example of this given in my New Testament reading today. In Matthew 18:26 and following, we see the story of a servant who received forgiveness of a huge debt that he owed, yet he was unable to forgive his debtor who owed him money. Just the complete opposite to the example of Joseph. Notice the difference, one case ended in forgiveness and with a true example of God, the One who gave His very own Son to pay the price for our sin. Using His God-given strength, He could have avoided the cross, plus He had every reason to seek revenge against those who had Him crucified, but instead He did the Father’s will so that we might have eternal life. In the other example, we see the heart of bitter, ungodly men today, for this world does a great job in teaching mankind about selfish desires and ungodly revenge. Which of these are closest to the response you might give to those who seek to offend you? Hopefully you have decided to seek God’s face for His leading in your life to best handle situations that may portray His compassionate heart. Please allow me to introduce you to my Savior. I really want you to know about this awesome Jesus of mine who not only shows compassion to His followers, but also has the power to help us be more like Him in being compassionate to even the vilest offenders that may cross our path today. There is scripture included in the link behind the words ‘To Know Jesus’ below, please take time to read what the Bible has to say about your salvation. Otherwise, please feel free to contact me via email or see a local Bible teaching pastor who would gladly show you the way to heaven. Showing compassion to one another is a means of proving that your relaionship with the primary Compassionate One, is evident. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, I believe that the world is dying to see a difference in Your children, compared to the rest of this cruel world. Thank You for the lesson in being compassionate today, and the great example through Your servant Joseph, who had every reason to lash back at his brothers, and had every authority at his command to totally destroy them. Yet as a man under Your authority, seeking to be like You in every way, chose to humble himself and praise You for the work You accomplished through him, rather than paying back through revenge. Lord, I strongly believe that we must seek Your powerful hand to help us in circumstances like this, because even in circumstances of forgiveness we still want You to be glorified. Although I might be first at your throne today in response to this lesson, I pray that You might also touch the hearts of each of my readers today and fill us with a heart like Yours, one that will show compassion and God’s love in every response that we give today. I ask these things humbly dear Lord, but also boldly knowing that You can humble even the vilest offender. May Your children be great imitators of their loving and compassionate Savior today, beginning with me, for this is my humble prayer oh Lord, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog 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! | |
Characteristics That Please God
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-01-24 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Ephesians 4:30-32 (TLB) |
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Text: |
30 Don’t cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete.
31 Stop being mean, bad-tempered, and angry. Quarreling, harsh words, and dislike of others should have no place in your lives. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you because you belong to Christ. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| This is an awesome passage today, in that it tells us what pleases our Father; Some major things that we should strive to avoid in our character; but most importantly, some things that we should be doing that really exemplifies and pleases Christ. |
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| APPLICATION: | |
Many people look at the Bible as a Book of ‘don’ts’ for there is so much that we are told not to do. This could be the case for those who have a guilty conscience for all that they are doing that probably do not please our Maker. For I have found in several cases where, although we are told about our wrong doings, we can also find even stronger teachings on what we should be doing that would please God. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, told the Ephesians, and I truly believe that his Words are still echoing to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ today, that there are some things that we do that are so contrary to the will of Christ, that it downright sorrows, or grieves the Holy Spirit. No doubt there are tons of guilty consciences hitting each reader by now, for that same sweet Holy Spirit also speaks to us personally about what displeases Him. But let’s have a look at what Paul taught, and let’s particularly draw a parallel between what the Holy Spirit dislikes, vs what pleases God:
Now, although Paul didn’t say that the first list of characteristics were not of Christ, it did say that the second list – especially forgiveness, was the image, or practice that imitates how God has forgiven us because we belong to Christ. Friends, we must always keep in mind that our natural, sinful selves will lead us towards the characteristics mentioned in the first bullet. A surrendered life, seeking to please the Master – Jesus Christ, will always seek to do the things mentioned in the second bullet. It may be a good idea to keep the two lists posted in a prominent place to remind us when we are acting ungodly and displeasing the Holy Spirit, so that we may quickly seek God’s help to overcome and change our evil ways. Being a child in the Algreen home, caused me to always strive to please my Algreen parents. Being a child of the King of all kings, should always cause you and I to strive towards pleasing Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives. There’s a song that includes the words ‘they will know us by our love’, meaning that the world will recognize Christians by their love – the love and character of Jesus Christ. How are you perceived by others Brother and Sister? Is it obvious to whom you belong, based on your actions and characteristics? |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, You set an awesome example for us to follow. So in reading this passage today and hearing Paul teach on the characteristics that please Your Holy Spirit, we can reflect back on Your Word and see example after example where You demonstrated these same characteristics. Whereas, the qualities on the ‘don’t’ list are all ones that You warned about in many of Your teachings. So Lord, we have been reminded of what pleases the Holy Spirit, and what grieves Him. Please touch Your children today so that we may make wise decisions in every aspect of our lives, especially in our character. May we please You by obeying Your teachings and Your example. In humbleness of heart and seeking to serve You obediently today, I ask these things in the worthy name of Jesus, my Savior and Lord, AMEN! |
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| 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! | |
How’s Your Heart?
Friday, 2016-11-11
Scripture
Bible Reference: Psalm 51:16-17
Bible Text: 16 I would surrender my dearest possessions or destroy all that I prize to prove my regret, but You don’t take pleasure in sacrifices or burnt offerings. 17 What sacrifice I can offer You is my broken spirit because a broken spirit, O God, a heart that honestly regrets the past, You won’t detest.
Bible Translation: The Voice (Voice)
My Take
From a very early age, we demand our kids to say “I’m sorry” when they have wronged a sibling or someone else. Also from a very early age we easily detect that those words are sometimes forced out of kids, because they know that parents are not satisfied until they hear their kids, in obedience, say “I’m sorry”. So what do we think happens when we meet God personally? “Lord, I’m sorry for my sin”, might come quite naturally when introduced to Jesus, but how sorry are we, really, when we turn around and do the same thing over and over again. David, the Psalmist, was confronted about his awful sin with Bathsheba, and while he could very easily spurt those famous words out to Nathan the prophet, David had to face his all-knowing God with this sin. Now we should be reminded that God didn’t only know the fact that Nathan just presented to David, but God knows even our thoughts and the intent of our heart. So do you really think that it would have helped for David to sacrifice a sheep or a goat on the altar as his way of saying I’m sorry? For the world, that may have been enough, because from all apparent evidence, David would have acknowledged his sin and paid the price for his forgiveness. But just like you and I, David not only needed this to look good in the eyes of his friends and the local priests, but in true repentance, he wanted a clean heart in the presence of his God. So friends, we not only need to ask for forgiveness from our earthly friends, family and the impacted one(s) for our sin, but in order to right our heart and resume our oneness with God, and to one day present ourselves faultless before our King, we must get before God in humility and deepest sincerity and ask for His forgiveness. Like David, we must always be aware that God desires:
- A broken spirit – this means that we must be willing to break down our pride of thinking we know everything, and thinking that what occurred was a private matter between two consenting adults. We must acknowledge that we recognize that our hearts and our lives are transparent before an all-knowing God, so we may as well ‘come clean’ and ask His forgiveness for everything we have done or said or thought that may be contrary to His perfect design and will. There is nothing we can hide from God, so may I encourage you to break down the walls of pride and secrecy and be totally open with God;
- A humble heart that honestly regrets the past (our sin) – Our acts may have been fun at the time, or our words may have revenged the individual we were out to get back at, but I believe that when the God of this universe looks into our eyes and our hearts, and He sees unconfessed sin, then we will be pushed aside or rejected from His presence, as sin cannot enter His kingdom.
I was at a conference yesterday where we were reminded that when we stand before God, we will deal with our personal condition in the face of a righteous, all-knowing God. The normal tendency of our actions here on earth of trying to compare to another individual, or pointing out their sin, while pushing ours under the table, is not the way God will handle our judgment on that day that we stand before Him, for that will be a one-on-one conversation. It won’t matter what the neighbor did, or the deacon said, it will only matter how in sync our heart is with a righteous and perfect God. If that was to happen today, and it could very easily happen, what would God challenge you with? Consider getting that straight today friend, for we have no assurance of a second chance to do so tomorrow.
Prayer
Father God, You created us, included our heart, our soul, our mind and our intellect. Why would we ever think that we could hide anything from You is most astonishing to our sober minds when we are not trying to escape Your wrath. Please speak to those who seek after you today. Lord Jesus, may the words from our lips and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, our Rock, our Redeemer, our Savior and our Lord. 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!
Be Kind to God’s Messengers
Monday, 2016-07-11
Scripture
Bible Reference: Acts 26:10–11; 13–14
Bible Text: 10 ….. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. 11 Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.
13 …. as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. 14 We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.’
Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)
My Take
In some translations, the word ‘persecute’ is used several times in the few verses referenced. Here’s what that means: “to treat (someone) cruelly or unfairly especially because of race or religious or political beliefs“. I feel like God opened my eyes and reminded me that when we treat God’s messengers with contempt, then we are actually persecuting the Lord Jesus himself. This reminds me of a loving parent who feels condemned when their child is persecuted or ill-treated. So what is our lesson in this? After all, we don’t go about ‘persecuting’ our religious leaders. Or do we? How often do you hear corners of conversation that tend to chew up the sermon from your last service, or the dress code of the pastor, or the makeup on the worship team leader, or the audacity of the pastor to say what he did during his sermon? Is that complimentary of God’s messenger? Is that the precursor to a time of prayer that the group will have for their pastor? I’ve always said that one will get as much from a sermon, as they have prayed into it. Do you feel like we tend to persecute the pastor because God didn’t respond like we expected to our prayers for His messenger who stood in the pulpit? Friends, over in 2 Chronicles 7:14, God said that if we would humble ourselves and pray (not belittle or try to humble the pastor), and if we would seek His face, and if we would turn from our wicked ways, then He would hear from heaven, forgive our sins and restore our land. Notice the personal application there? Nothing about God taking care of all that we feel are inadequate, or who screw up at every opportunity. Friends, I believe that these scriptures are warning us that we have a full-time job doing all that God expects of us, so if we find that we are ‘persecuting’ anyone, then we are meddling and need to get back to the basics. Take care of self first, then perhaps we will not be near as critical of everyone else. Please don’t shrug this off as being super applicable to all of your friends. Allow God to search your heart and convict you of your sin and shortcomings. I believe you will find that there’s lots there to keep you on your knees for a very long time, including praying for your spiritual leaders. There just won’t be time enough to persecute others.
Prayer
Lord God, You created all things and You are above all things. Thank You for sending messengers, Your angels, to minister to folk like me, even though we tend to persecute the very ones that You send to bless us, love on us and warn us about our sinful lives. Please help us to love these ones, in spite of them not meeting all of our expectations, and in spite of our sinful desire to persecute them. I believe it is obvious that Paul was not the only one that persecuted Christians. Please dear Lord, rest Your hand upon Your children today, beginning with me, and help us to accept Your power and desire to help us succeed in this Christian life, so that we may serve You better and more fully. We are your messengers as well, please encourage us to treat other messengers in the same way that we want to be treated. May Your kingdom come oh Lord, and may we be ready and obedient in every way, every day! 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!
The Basics Of Prayer
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 11:2–4
Today’s Bible Text: Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this:
‘Father: May your holy name be honored; may your Kingdom come. Give us day by day the food we need. Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who does us wrong. And do not bring us to hard testing.’ ”
The Bible Translation: The Good news Translation (GNT)
My Take Away: There are some basic elements to this lesson from Jesus on how we should pray, that I believe, we should all pay close attention to, and incorporate into our prayer lives:
- Father – Address the One to whom you are praying. This is not a general prayer to the church where you are asking for volunteers to help you with certain concerns of your life;
- May Your holy name be honored – Our God is worthy, and is to be honored for the awesome God that He is. In spite of the most serious prayer concerns that we could possibly have for God, yet there is so much that we can recognize in His goodness and mercy towards us. Take time to glorify Him and worship Him;
- May Your kingdom come – What’s your heart’s condition? Would you be ready to go with Him if His kingdom came today – if He came for you today?
- Give us…, forgive us…. – Recognize that you are a needy person in desperate need of a most worthy God. Place your needs at His feet and ask His forgiveness for all your failures and shortcomings;
- Forgive others – Recognize that you are asking God’s forgiveness because you have been faithful in forgiving others;
- Hard testing – Know that the only thing that separates you from the challenges, trials and testing this world/Satan dishes out, is the grace of God. Ask for God’s strength to properly handle those things and to protect you from them. Remember, He is worthy!
Friends, I believe that many of you may struggle with how to pray. That’s not new, for Jesus responded to the same dilemma that His followers had – as in our subject verses today. I hope that this will help you.
Prayer: Praise God that we serve such an awesome, all-powerful God! Jesus, please touch our hearts again today as we deal with such elementary, yet very powerful, subjects as ‘prayer’. We are a needy people who desperately need an all powerful Savior to hold our hands and direct our thoughts, our actions and our words today. In thanksgiving, I ask these things for my readers and myself dear God, 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
Things That Might Prevent Answers To Your Prayers
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 Peter 3:7
Today’s Bible Text: 7 You husbands must be careful of your wives, being thoughtful of their needs and honoring them as the weaker sex. Remember that you and your wife are partners in receiving God’s blessings, and if you don’t treat her as you should, your prayers will not get ready answers.
The Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)
My Take Away: In this instant, press-of-a-button type world that we live in today, there is little tolerance for the man praying to God without receiving a quick response. However, have you ever stopped to think why God would not be tuned in and ready to answer your prayers? Peter reminds us that God has placed husband and wife together as loving partners who are not just blessed to receive the love and care of each other, but they are also subject to receiving the blessings of God that will impact their lives in such a way that they would be a blessing to others. In fact, Peter emphasizes that this union is so important, that when they are no longer abiding by His instruction through His Word, and that a divide in spirit is obvious, that He may very well not answer their prayers that He intended to bless them both with. Let me suggest that you think of it this way: imagine that a relative sold some land and always intended to bless you and your spouse with a portion of the sale proceeds. However, before the funds are disbursed the relative learns that you and your spouse are separated because of circumstances that you can’t seem to work through. Do you suppose that the relative will reissue two checks – one to each of you, or that they will postpone the disbursement until you work through your differences? I dare say that I believe it is the latter that will probably occur. So friends, I believe that the idea that Peter is trying to teach us here, is that our ‘house’ should be in order before we go before a holy and righteous God asking Him to ignore our ‘mess’ and bless us because of His love for us. Remember, God gave of His very best for us. He sacrificed His very best for us, so that we might one day be united with Him in glory. How dare us think that we can come before Him in our filth – hatred, disunity, division, negative attitudes, and other sin. Holiness requires holiness, or at least a request for help to overcome our unrighteousness and to become holy, as He is holy. If you know Jesus as Lord, may I encourage you to clean up your act of disunity and disrespect for your spouse, before you go before God asking Him to bless anything you are doing, or to give you something from the riches of His awesome hand? If you have never accepted Jesus as Lord, may I encourage you to seek His hand of forgiveness and accept Him as Lord, Savior and Master of your life, before you ever attempt to ask Him for anything?
Prayer: Dear God, please forgive us for our littleness in thinking that You would overlook our pettiness, our sin, our unforgiveness, our deliberate disunity with our spouse and yet turn a blind eye and bless us anyway. Thank You for having Your servant Peter remind us of the importance of being holy when we approach Your holy throne of grace. It is so obvious that we need You in every aspect of our lives. It is so obvious that we need to stay so perfectly aligned with Your will, and obedient to Your commands, that You would welcome our petitions when we approach Your throne. Please forgive us for ever thinking otherwise. Please forgive our disrespect for Your holiness. Please give us boldness to seek Your help in our relationships, particularly the most important relationship you have ever blessed us with – our spouse. Thank You for demonstrating pure, unadulterated love to us. May we seek Your face as we endeavor to return that love to You and as we love our spouse. I ask these things in the precious and all-loving 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
Freed To Receive From God
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 3:20–22
Today’s Bible Text: God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God! We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him.
The Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)
My Take Away: Often Satan will bind us so tightly to our sin, that we feel that it is impossible for God to look at us through a lens of holiness and forgiveness, even when we seek His face and plead before His throne for His forgiveness. Friends, these verses that we are looking at today assures us that when we truly surrender our sin to God, accept His forgiveness and personally forgive ourselves for having allowed Satan to control our lives, that it is then that God takes charge of our lives and ask us to step aside from our weaknesses and our sin, and allow Him to be God – our God; our Deliverer; our Savior; our Master and our King. I believe that often our challenge is attributed to the fact that we might allow outside pressures to control our mouths and our actions. Parents are famous for trying to get their kids saved, and that is admirable, but we don’t just want our kids to say the words, or do something just to please us. As in any personal relationship, it must be a personal decision, a personal experience and a personal commitment. Let’s remember, it is God who draws man to Himself, not mom or dad or anyone else that pushes us towards God. Another aspect of life, is that we tend to be harder on ourselves than anyone else that we know of. That’s why many procrastinate in their decision to follow God, because they feel like there is so much that they must personally clear up first, before God would ever accept them. Friends, if we were able to overcome our sin personally, there would be no need for a Savior, and we would have done it a long time ago. Only God can forgive us of our sin, and only He can strengthen us, and help us to overcome our sinful actions/habits. Let’s work at the unfortunate habit of beating up on ourselves and, instead seek God’s face and accept His precious love for us. Only then, through His power and His grace, we will have the power to overcome our sinful actions and receive what we ask of Him, because we are doing what He said and what pleases Him.
Prayer: Father, it is very easy for us to disqualify ourselves from approaching Your throne, because we know deep inside how awful we have been. Please open the eyes of those that still feel like they must clear up certain sinful actions before they personally seek Your face. Please open our eyes to our inability to do anything about our sin, without a righteous and all-powerful God. It’s You that we need first, oh Lord, then all these things that seem impossible to us, will become very possible in and through your grace. Thank You Lord for Your love, Your grace, Your power, and Your forgiveness. It’s only because of this that I am a confirmed child of the Kind, who still needs you every hour of every day. Please open the blind eyes of my family and friends who still need Your precious love and forgiveness in their lives. Please touch the lives of those that will read this devotional today, for like me, they need Your awesome power also. I ask these things in faith and in the confidence of the Savior of this world, Jesus, my Savior and Lord, 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
Nuggets From God's Word 