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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-05-27 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Mark 13:11 (Voice) |
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Text: |
11 When people bring you up on charges and it is your time to defend yourself, don’t worry about what message you’ll deliver. Whatever comes to your mind, speak it, because the Holy Spirit will inspire it. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus had warned His disciples that there would be some very challenging times ahead, and I’m sure it must have put their minds in high gear wondering what they had gotten themselves into. The words that I bolded are words of encouragement that would have calmed the concerns of the disciples, just as they are for us today! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Imagine being told that the authorities will come after you, if they know that you are a Christian. Imagine being told that you would appear in court for being known as a ‘Child of God’, and that there are good chances that you will be mocked and made fun of, especially when asked to say what you believe and why you believe it. For some, this will not be a problem, because they have so committed themselves wholeheartedly to the Lord, that they will stand in town square, walk the busiest streets of the city, or go before the president or any king and boldly proclaim the name of the Lord, for there is no fear of man. For others, their lack of commitment to the Master over the years will quickly come through as they quickly turn away and disclaim the name of the Lord. Friends, what gives me an awesome sense of assurance, of comfort, of peace and restores my faith, is that from the lips of Jesus we hear, in response to our fears and doubts, the words “just speak it, for the Holy Spirit will inspire you”. I believe this also means that when those times come that we doubt whether we should go on mission for the Lord, He is comforting us with the words “just do it for me and with no selfish desire, and the Holy Spirit will protect and guide you”. Our biggest fears of witnessing for Jesus to our lost loved ones and friends, don’t you know that He would want His name proclaimed by each of us, and that He would quickly say “just do it my child, and the Holy Spirit will inspire you with the words”? Friends, our God is awesome and all powerful. He sent the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Guide. Do you know Him? Do you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as your Comforter and Guide? Please accept Jesus as your Lord and Master, and be assured of the Holy Spirit that will be with you constantly, especially when difficult times come. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Thank You Heavenly Father for loving us enough to care for us and provide for us, especially in challenging times when most feel so inadequate and helpless. Thank You Holy Spirit for being our constant friend, comforter and guide. Lord, help us to be a confident people filled with Your grace, knowing that we are continuously inspired by the Holy Spirit, 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: Holy Spirit
Need Help With Your Praying?
Tuesday, 2016-11-22
Scripture
Bible Reference: Romans 8:26-28
Bible Text: 26 A similar thing happens when we pray. We are weak and do not know how to pray, so the Spirit steps in and articulates prayers for us with groaning too profound for words. 27 Don’t you know that He who pursues and explores the human heart intimately knows the Spirit’s mind because He pleads to God for His saints to align their lives with the will of God? 28 We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.
Bible Translation: The Voice Translation (VOICE)
My Take
Very often we are sitting around a family gathering and a spouse may start to share a story, but very soon the partner spouse, or perhaps a son or daughter, steps in and helps share the story, especially if they see the individual struggling to remember all of the facts, or properly articulate the story at the time. Ever felt sometimes that you have so much on your mind to speak with God about, but you just can’t put your words together to properly speak with God about it in prayer? Ever stopped to imagine that not only does God know the depth of your heart on the matter before you open your mouth to try and express your heart, but that the Holy Spirit who came to reside in you the day your surrendered your heart to Jesus, is already muttering prayers to God on your behalf? Further, one of the translations that I looked into on this passage indicated that while you might pray to God from a human perspective, the Holy Spirit is praying the will of God before the Master on your behalf! Wow! Can you comprehend that friend! How awesome is that? I believe this helps us avoid one of the huge obstacles for Christians in their prayer life – the excuse that you don’t know how to pray, or that you don’t know the right words to say. Friends, I believe we are reminded here that it is just super important that we pray – have conversation with our Creator; our Master; our Savior; and our everlasting Father. In the cases where we fall short, or we feel lacking in what to say, let’s always remember that we have an advocate that is every present and who speaks with the Father on our behalf. Now some of you reading this may question if this is for every church-goer, or for the whole family (sons and daughters; mothers and fathers). Please read carefully the very last sentence in our scripture today: for those who love Jesus, and accept His invitation to live according to His plan, the Word says that God will orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful. Friends, this wonderful expression of love by God is yours, if you have surrendered your life to the lordship of His Son Jesus, who sacrificed His life on a cross at Calvary, so that you may have forgiveness of your sin, and it opens the door for you to have eternal life in heaven with God. Do you know Him friend? Without Him you can do nothing of any kingdom value, nor do you have any hope in eternity. With Him you will not only have eternal life, but He will orchestrate everything to work towards something good and beautiful for you! I believe the choice is obvious. Read my Footnote for tips on how to make this change in your life, otherwise drop me a note so that I may pray with you about your life concerns.
Prayer
Lord, who are we that a King should live and die for? Who are we that a representative of the King of kings should take up residence in our hearts and lives just to ensure that we stay on course, and have ongoing assurance of the awesome power of our awesome God? Lord, I am convinced that it could only be a result of the love You have for your children, that You do so much for us. Thank You for Jesus, Heavenly Father! Thank You for the Holy Spirit – our comforter; our Joy; our Protector; our Guide and our Advocate. Lord, in You we place our trust, and in You we look for daily guidance to live a life worthy of Your calling, and the powerful delivery from the evil one. Thank You Holy Spirit for speaking with the Master on our behalf, for we are so unworthy and so incapable. Lord, we commend ourselves into Your keeping and Your care, for it’s You alone that we adore and seek to serve 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!
Attributes of Your Faith
Wednesday, 2016-10-26
Scripture
Bible Reference: Romans 15:13
Bible Text: I pray that God, who gives hope, will bless you with complete happiness and peace because of your faith. And may the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope.
Bible Translation: The Contemporary English Version (CEV)
My Take
I believe that Paul has outlined some attributes of our faith that should be evident, if we are truly committed to the Lord Jesus Christ and depending on the Holy Spirit every day, even while living on this earth among the multitude of sins evident everywhere we turn, and the impact/havoc that sin can have on us. Here is advice, that I feel, we can search our hearts for and to seek God’s favor for:
- The origin of ‘HOPE’ – Friends, I believe that God wanted Paul’s hearers and us to know that our hope is not dependent on our family, our church or our country, but comes from God alone. Whenever we begin to feel despondent over life’s circumstances, or the crime rate, or the multitude of lost ones all around us, and we worry about the constant bombardment of evil, there is only One that we can turn to for hope. We may be worried sick over the leader our people may elect to lead us, but we are reminded that God holds the future in His hands, so who are we to try and correct world events. He has a plan designed for the duration of our time friends, and gives us peace of mind about all that is in store for us. Because of the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, we can rest assured that we will be taken care of and that our destiny, after this wicked sinful world, is far greater than anything we could possibly experience here on earth.
- Faith – We can read about it, and we have probably witnessed the hope in our forefathers and church leaders, but we will never experience complete happiness and peace personally, until we have the faith, based on our trust in Jesus Christ, to totally depend on God for all aspects of life. This kind of faith is the kind spoken of in Proverbs 30:7-9 where Solomon pleaded with God to give him enough provisions to see him through each day, and detailed his concerns about too little or too much. I believe that God is teaching us to sincerely seek that kind of deep faith, knowing that without it, we would never see true happiness nor peace. Christian friend, at what level do you suppose your happiness meter would register today if God helped you evaluate your faith and dependence on Him?
- The reassurance of the Holy Spirit – Friends, I believe that God is teaching us here that as we draw closer to Him, His Holy Spirit will fill us with much hope and happiness by reassuring us of the One who holds our future, who watches out for us day after day, and who still loves us so much that He will see us safely on through eternity to one day be with He and His Father – God himself!
I don’t know about you friend, but these things from this very short verse has reminded me of the awesome God that I serve and that I can depend on today and every day to hold my hand, and lead me through every circumstance that may come my way. How is it with you today? Is your Hope and Faith seated firmly in the Lord Jesus Christ? Is the Holy Spirit active in your life, filling you with everlasting happiness and peace, until the Lord Jesus comes again to take you home to heaven? If not, why not? Seek God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you child of God!
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we are so caught up in every aspect of life and endure so much stress over what we think we could do to fix the wrongs that affect us in various ways. Yet we come across passages like this from Your Word that redirects us to consider our relationship with You. We are assured once again that You are in control, and You have the keys to our happiness here on earth, and the hope of our eternity in heaven with You. Thank You for reminding us that our responsibility is to trust in You, and not mess things up worse than they are already by trying to fix them ourselves. Our very happiness depends on You Lord! Please renew our faith, our hope and our total dependence on Your sweet Holy Spirit that You have given to us as our comforter and everlasting source of joy and hope. ‘I’m Yours Lord, everything I am, everything I’ve got, everything I’m not‘ please fill me and my readers with so much of You that others will see Jesus and believe on Him. 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!
Exposed By The Holy Spirit
Saturday, 2016-10-15
Scripture
Bible Reference: Romans 8:26–29
Bible Text: 26 And in the same way — by our faith — the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying. For we don’t even know what we should pray for nor how to pray as we should, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows, of course, what the Spirit is saying as he pleads for us in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.
Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)
My Take
I’m sure that each one reading my blog today will admit that there were times when you wanted to pray, but just could not get your mind together, or get the right words to express in your communication with God. Having been married for 41 years, I sometime feel like I know what my wife is thinking, or about to say. However, after reading these verses today I am reminded that our relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a lot more intimate than anything I could imagine. Friends, often when we think about praying out loud, we become so self aware of our inadequacies in the face of those who may be around us, so we remain silent. Ever thought about how this is not an issue with God? Scripture says that He knows our heart, our mind and our thoughts, so what does it matter about what blabbers out of our mouth? I believe that our part in this whole relationship with God, is that we are to concentrate on having the mind of Christ and be willing to surrender our will to the perfect will of God. There’s a saying ‘from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks’. In the context of this scripture, I would challenge us all to make sure that our heart, mind and soul is filled with the qualities of the one whom we claim to serve. If you are a child of the King, then the Holy Spirit will not only prod you to draw closer to God and be filled with the mind of Christ, but He will also share the content of your heart, soul and mind with the Master. What will that look like friend? Are you proud of all that God is hearing about you today? Deep inside are you really anything like what you believe God expects of You? Remember now, you can probably pull off exactly what your pastor, or your spouse or your friends expect to see from you, but through the Holy Spirit, God knows the very innermost depths of your heart, soul and mind. To quote a phrase from my earlier life in the islands, “come clean man” – which means – Brother, be honest and totally open with yourself and with your God. There is no time for ‘blowing smoke’, for God knows your very heart, regardless of what the world hears from your mouth..
Prayer
I am amazed by the power, the love and the wisdom of You, my Almighty God. For You knew how weak we would be in saying what our heart really cries out with, and how we would be so ready to show off our own strengths and abilities, instead of truly giving You access to our hearts. Lord, I am convinced that without a changed heart, You will never see a changed man. Thank You for sending Your awesome Holy Spirit to reside inside of us and help us in our walk with You, for we want others to see Jesus and not the weakness of mere human efforts, thoughts or actions. Please touch us once again today Father, and help us to surrender fully to Your will and Your way. May Your Holy Spirit have free and full access to our heart, with every right to convince us of wrong doings and evil thoughts. Lord, may others be encouraged today because they have felt Your presence working through us. Thank You for loving us so much, and being so considerate of our needs, and to ensure that our representation of You is totally genuine. I submit myself wholly and solely to Your will oh Lord. Please impact the hearts and lives of my readers in ways that You know will allow them to best represent You. 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!
Rescue The Perishing
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: Jude 1:20–23
Today’s Bible Text: But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love. And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)
My Take Away: Interesting how God used Jude to not only share this with his church as he prepared to leave them, but also to have this included in His Word for our ongoing benefit. Friends, have you ever stopped and thought real good about the folk that God directs your way for your weekend services? They are looking to escape the cruelty and hatred of their world, and hoping to find the opposite at your church – God’s House. As they walk in, some might look them up and down because their dress code may not be quite like that of your regular church membership, or perhaps they may not have had water turned on at their place for a shower. So let’s look at Jude’s advice here: “Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit” May I suggest that when you pray in this way, I believe God, through His Holy Spirit, will direct your thoughts to be better aligned with His thoughts, so that you might see the heart of that visitor, without being impacted by anything else. Fill yourself with God’s Holy Spirit and you will speak His words without having to worry about saying something that may ordinarily upset someone. You will quickly see the spiritual need of the individual without being distracted by, or worrying about their immediate physical needs. Friends, Jude also goes on to encourage us to deal with believers from a Holy Spirit filled heart. This is where we show mercy and love towards a Brother who is drifting away and not always living up to the mark. Satan is working seriously on the person and unless you intervene and gently speak to, and love on that person, they will be torn away by the forces of evil. In fact, it will be just like you are snatching that weaker Brother or Sister from the flames of Satan and his wicked and evil judgment. Please be concentrated on the heart today friend. The words and the actions may appear ugly and extremely sinful, but as the heart of the individual is touched, the outside stuff will be cleaned up as they invite God in. At the end of the day, this also helps you to reconcile with God about where your heart is. Interested in the restoration of a soul for Christ, or satisfied to see them fail and feel even more rejected by the world – and even worse, by Christ and His ‘representatives’?
Prayer: Lord, this is serious business for Your children, for our words and our actions can either serve to help restore one who has fallen, or one who is desperately looking for a better way, OR we could totally turn them off from ever wanting to know You at all. That’s quite a responsibility Lord Jesus, however we have been reminded that we must become better aligned with Your Holy Spirit so that we may be led daily by Him. My readers and I need You Lord Jesus, because we tend to be so critical of those that just don’t seem to have their act together quite as good as we think we do. Please forgive us for acting this way, for we have seen so often that mankind will fail in and of their own merits. Only things that are done for Jesus will last, and only things directed by Your Holy Spirit will lead to spiritual goodness that could be used for Your glory. Please have Your will and way in our lives this day, Oh Lord. For I ask these things in the all-powerful name of Jesus, my 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
Clear the Contaminants, God Wants to…..
THE HOLY BIBLE – New International Version (NIV) ~ 2 Corinthians 7:1 ~ Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
THOUGHTS: I believe that every believer in Jesus Christ would probably have as a primary objective in 2016 to surrender ourselves so fully to Christ that He might perfect in us His holiness. And there poses an awesome challenge for you and I friends, for we already know from the Word of God that He will not allow His Holy Spirit to reside in any earthen vessel where sin abides. Now before you piously think that you are clearing the mark, I want to open your eyes to one fact that might put you on a level playing field with myself, and others like me, who are also striving to be holy. In this subject verse, Paul declares that this refers to contamination of the body and the spirit. In the verses leading up to the one highlighted, we are told that God’s Holy Spirit resides inside of us. This is exciting, because we never have to worry about Him always being present to meet our needs. However, I want us to also remember that if you have sinned in your mind, you have contaminated the temple of God also. Friends, this is a major problem for us, because Satan does his very best to bother with our minds in order to distract us away from God. Remember those times that you’ve thought to yourself that it was good the other person couldn’t read your mind, otherwise they would know how corrupt you really are? As we consider what we might do to be more like Jesus in the upcoming year, may I suggest that you flood your mind with the Word of God? May I implore you to stay in touch with the Master on a very frequent basis so that as He floods your soul, only those things that He approves of, will spew out of your mouth and call you to action for the benefit of others? I believe that ‘purify’ means that we cleanse our minds of anything that would distract our minds (our spirit) away from truly Christ-like actions and/or words. Are you there yet? If not, please consider joining me in rededicating our lives, and especially our minds, to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Ships stay in the port when contaminants are found on board, and hospital rooms are closed until all contaminants are properly cleaned up. Let’s get some quality time alone with God so we can clear the contaminants of our lives before we enter a brand new year. Let’s strive to be the kind of Christian that will reflect Jesus in everything we say or do, because of His mighty presence inside of our purified bodies. Let’s allow Him to fill our spirit with Himself.
PRAYER: Dear God, You are more wonderful than anyone or anything we can describe, and we will say all day long that it’s You that we desire to imitate here on this earth. However, we are very easily distracted by all that appears to be better, or more joyful, or pleasing on ‘the other side’. Lord, we know that this is Satan’s desire for all of Your chosen people, yet we cave in and allow him control. Being reminded today that our weakness leads to us actually contaminating the temple of our precious Lord, makes us sad, and we are reminded of how important it is for us to purify ourselves and protect at all costs the temple in which you reside. Lord, I pray for Your forgiveness. I pray for your strength that can easily overpower our will, if we are willing to surrender ourselves to you. Only You can impact our minds and our soul so that we might rededicate ourselves fully to you. Please have Your will and Your way in our lives today, beginning with me. May we end this year with a re-enforced determination to protect Your temple and seek Your boldness daily so that we might stand firm in our faith and in sharing our faith with other. I ask these things in and through the name of Jesus, the Christ, 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 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!
Help Others To See God
THE HOLY BIBLE – … didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body. ~ 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ~ The Message (MSG)
THOUGHTS: These verses came at the conclusion of Paul warning the Corinthians about sexual impurity. However, I believe that we should look closely at all aspects of our life where we tend to abuse the ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’ – our bodies. First, let’s stop and think about the holiness we recognize in our churches, and the respect we give to the ‘house of God’. I agree it should be respected, because it is a place where we go as a family to meet God and worship Him. However, God’s Word is clear on the subject of the Holy Spirit (part of the triune godhead) taking up residence within us when we accept Jesus (another part of the triune godhead) as our Savior and Lord. So if, at conversion, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us to help us live godly lives, wouldn’t you assume that He also partakes of all other aspects of our life? Wouldn’t it be obvious that some of the things we do must obviously be done against the will of the God who lives within us? Let me list just a few, just in case you are questioning what I could possibly be thinking about:
- Gossip – the Word is clear that we are to build each other up and not tear down. When we spread news about a Brother or Sister we are helping to tear them down. Surely the Holy Spirit, who has been drug into this cruel act, is hurt that we have chosen to disobey His Father and deliberately disobeying what He desires of us;
- Alcohol; Drugs; Tobacco; Gorging ourselves – Some of these are controlling substances, so we sinfully allow these things to take control while we put our primary Guide (the Holy Spirit) on the back burner, until we need Him to guide us again. Very sad. All of these things are destructive to our bodies, and remember this is where the Holy Spirit resides. So we ask Him to stand by while we send in very destructive things to make His living extremely challenging and impossible;
- Pornography; and Undesirable movies – Ever noticed how embarrassed we are to let our friends see us watching such a movie. I wonder why we never stop to ponder why would we ever subject the Holy Spirit to such ‘trash’ that was obviously designed for the children of this world (Satan).
Perhaps there are other things that the Holy Spirit might speak to your heart about friends, but whatever it is, please seek the help of the Holy Spirit and work towards getting your ‘temple’ clean, respectable and worthy of the King of all Kings, for He deserves the same honor that we would give to God Himself. Let’s not take for granted all that was sacrificed so that we might become holy, even as God is holy. Remember, when we allow the Holy Spirit to fully control our lives, it is evident to others who rules and reigns in our lives. We become usable witnesses for Him!
PRAYER: Lord God, You are so worthy, and we are so needy. Please help us to stay focused on the Savior of this world and all that You have done for us. Please help us to always remember who resides inside of us, so that we may respect Your Holy Spirit who came to help us live life pleasing to You in every way. We all love choices, but yet we abuse those options so frequently. Please keep us accountable, but more than anything, please prompt us towards holy living so that we will offer no disrespect to the Holy Spirit. I ask these things in the precious name of Jesus and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 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!
‘True’ Worshipers
THE HOLY BIBLE (The New Living Translation – John 4:23-24): …. true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
THOUGHTS: I wonder if God is finding any ‘true worshipers’ in our corporate worship services each week? I wonder how often during the week God is feeling mocked, because of the filth that we have bottled up inside when we approach Him in personal worship time? According to verse 23 above, God is looking for ‘True’ Worshipers – ones who can worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Therefore let us meditate on this for a moment. God is often referred to by His triune partner – Holy Spirit. He is also referred to several times in the Bible as ‘Truth’. So if God is Spirit, and He is Truth, can mere man ever truly stand before Him and worship Him in recognition for who He is? Can’t you feel the dirtiness of sin, just thinking about that picture? Can’t you just feel the unworthiness of mortal man coming into the presence of a holy and righteous God? But we know that God wants, desires and expects our worship, so how do we deal with this dilemma? True to its form and purpose, the answer is in the Book – the Word of God. In fact in these verses referenced above we are taught how this can be accomplished. We must approach the presence of God as ‘holy’ people – saints. The way this is done is through inviting the Holy Spirit and Truth (as explained above) to enter into our lives. Now remember, God cannot exist where sin is. So before we invite God through His Holy Spirit and Truth to enter, we must first ask Him to cleanse us of all our sin. I know, you’re a Christian and can’t imagine why you would need to ask for forgiveness, right? Friends, Satan is buffeting us with sin from the very moment we open our eyes each day, so I can assure you that as long as we are this side of heaven, we need to seek God’s forgiveness before attempting to enter into His presence, or inviting Him to lead us into a time of personal worship. Do you suppose that this could be the reason why so many are side-tracked in our worship services? How is it with you friend? Please don’t bring the everyday filth and distractions before the throne of our Holy, Righteous and Awesome God. He deserves, and desires that we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth – ‘Holy’ in His sight, and this could only be accomplished when we seek forgiveness of our sin and invite God to fill us with more of Himself.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we come before You each day filled with so much of this world that it must disgust You to see Your children being so brazen as to approach You in such a condition. This is especially true after being reminded in these verses today that You are looking for ‘True’ Worshipers who are prepared to cleanse ourselves of sin and worship You in the power of Your Holy Spirit through the worthy name of Jesus (Truth). Please continue to work on us so that we may always be conscious of our sin and seek cleansing before approaching You in worship. My desire is to please You oh Lord. Please fill my readers and I again today with Your grace, Your mercy and Your forgiveness. For I ask this in the 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 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!
One Choice Determines Your Destiny!
The Bible – New Living Translation
27 But you are always the same;
you will live forever.
28 The children of your people
will live in security.
Their children’s children
will thrive in your presence.”
Thoughts:
As our kids are growing up we try to make sure they do well in school, and we prepare financially, and mentally, for them going on to college, to help prepare them for the best jobs, and therefore the best chance of making it in this challenging world. Similarly, in life, we are born a sinner, and because of a precious gift given by God, we have a choice of remaining a sinner (without Christ), or to accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. We may then live the rest of our lives savoring in that love, and subsequently look forward to a glorious day when we might be with Jesus in glory. You might ask, “but how do I get from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ in these life decisions”. David reminds us in this Psalm that in spite of all that changes in this world, in fact all that changes in our generation compared to that of our forefathers, it is important to remember that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. For a moment, let us look at the death of our parents. The world looks on and they either raise their hands in celebration that the children of the deceased were taught the love of God, accepted that precious gift, and therefore have the security referenced in verse 28 above, or disappointedly they may nod their heads knowing that the children have opted to live their lives without regards for the Christ that their parent knew, and therefore has no hope of tomorrow. Friends, my God is an everlasting God that I can recommend to my child(ren) and give them the assurance of life eternally with Him. How can I do this? Because, in scripture I am assured by Jesus, when He said: “Because I live ye shall live also”. You see, Jesus has prepared a home for His children! Praise God, I have the assurance like David did, that this ‘home’ Jesus referred to is not just for Christians today, but for their children also, if they make the choice to personally accept Jesus and develop a life-long relationship with Him. No choice at all will leave you on the road to eternal destruction (Hell). Making a choice to accept Jesus as Lord, can give you the same comfort and assurance that your Christian forefathers may have had, if they knew Him. Super simple folk, but super important. I hope that you will use the contact information in the footnote and allow myself or someone else who loves you, to lead you to the cross of Jesus Christ TODAY! I would love to celebrate with you!
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, just as my friends make choices that help mark the destiny of their children’s future, I pray that they will seriously consider making a super important choice, as presented above that would mark the eternal destiny for their lives. Not knowing what might happen the next hour or minute, I selfishly ask that You impact their lives immediately after being reminded of this in this devotional, so that they may have opportunity to make this all important choice. Thank You for impressing this upon my life some 38 years. You know how this would hurt me to now that anyone would be left behind, especially anyone that I love, care for, work with, or have opportunity to minister to. This includes anyone meditating on this devotional today. Thank You Lord for the provision You made for us at Calvary. I look forward to the day You decide to call me home to be with You! I am thankful, but yet plead my requests of You, and I ask all this in Your wonderful and all-powerful name, Jesus, my Lord and Savior, 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.
What Are You Doing To Christ?
The Bible – The Good News Translation
15 You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ. Shall I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of the body of a prostitute? Impossible! 16 Or perhaps you don’t know that the man who joins his body to a prostitute becomes physically one with her? The scripture says quite plainly, “The two will become one body.” 17 But he who joins himself to the Lord becomes spiritually one with him.
Thoughts:
Many Christians cringe when they sit down and watch a movie about the crucifixion of our Lord. Many more abhor any type of disrespect of God, either in abusing His name, or dishonoring Him in either way. These things are honorable for the children of God, but how often do we stop and consider the abuse we are subjecting our Father to when we find ourselves in places where sin abound, or in a movie where there is no respect for man or God? Paul was addressing the subject of male prostitution that had become very prominent in the Corinthian church, and he reminded them that they should consider that they are not just abusing and disrespecting their physical bodies, but that God’s Holy Spirit has taken up residence in their holy temple, when they first accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I believe that this obvious sin is very clear to see friends, but what God challenged me in through this scripture, is to be extra careful about what I subject my eyes to, and what I subject my ears to, and what I allow my mind to envelope and ponder, and the things that I abuse and subject my body to, for the Spirit of the most High is resident in this body. Just for a moment, think about the idea of going out one morning and spray-painting the inside of your garage, with you brand new car sitting in the garage! Can you image what the paint job of your car will look like when you have finished beautifying the walls of your garage? OK, in the same way, our bodies are much like the garage, whatever we subject it to, we are subjecting/disrespecting God’s Holy Spirit to, that resides within this body. Shame on us? Ashamedly, I would say yes, very much so. I remember the words of an old saint who once found herself in a location that she regretted. She openly prayed, Lord Jesus, please don’t come now!! Funny? Yes, but like the car in the garage, the damage is already done. An old nursery rhyme or song is very appropriate here: “Oh be careful little eyes what you see ……”
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I am especially thankful for Your Holy Spirit! I am thankful that You created me, and saved me so that my body might be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Please forgive me for the times that I’ve abused the residence and Lordship of Your Holy Spirit, for I am ashamed. Thank You for directing me to this passage of scripture, and sharpening my awareness of the abuse of this temple where Your Holy Spirit resides. I pray that I might concede to full obedience to Your Word, and that I might protect and preserve this temple, and never subject it to anything contrary to what is taught in Your Word. I believe that in such a condition, You will be free to accomplish Your work through me that You have in store for me to do while here below. I’m afraid that I’m not alone in this dear Jesus, so I ask that You speak words of wisdom and encouragement to all your children reading this blog today, so that Your holiness and mighty work might be preserved and accomplished here in this sinful world. Please have Your will and way in our lives today, is my humble prayer that I ask in Your precious and holy name, Jesus my Lord, AMEN!
NOTE: 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.
Nuggets From God's Word 