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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-05-03 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Leviticus 19:1-2 (CEV) |
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Text: |
1 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the community of Israel:I am the Lord your God. I am holy, and you must be holy too! |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| God had shared with the Israelites that they were His chosen people. He showed this in the way that He brought them out of slavery in Egypt and into a land filled with milk and honey – the Promised Land. He disciplined them when they did things contrary to His commands. However God also took care of their needs and loved on them in many different ways. Now, God wanted to see them go off into the Promised Land in a manner that might show respect, honor and praise to the One who brought them to this point. This is very much in line with what God expects from us today! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| If I was a carpenter, I would teach my son a trade – and guess what that trade might be? In teaching that son what might best align him with the teachings of my Lord, I would steer him towards a humble, but yet glorifying life dedicated to Jesus Christ. My greatest lessons would be through my actions and not just through my words. I would be careful in not demanding that he lives in a manner that I have never been able to accomplish. Moses went on in the rest of chapter 19 to teach the Israelites some of the ways through which God might be glorified in their lives. I believe that it is super important that we grasp hold of this teaching friends, for God not only says in John 3:16 that whosoever believes in the Son of God will become children of God, but there are many other verses in the Bible that teach the same principles taught in this chapter. The God in whom we place our faith and our trust is a Holy God. To say that we believe in Him, or that we are His followers, or that we are Christian, and then continue to live like the world, is a huge conflict and contradiction of our beliefs. We then become hypocrites of God and distract the witness for Christ. That’s totally opposite to what we are called to be, for in us the world should see enough of Christ that they would desire to know our source of truth and help – Jesus Christ, in a very personal and meaningful way. So friends, what are others seeing in you even when you don’t have an opportunity to witness to them verbally? I pray that Jesus is so prominent in your life that the whole world will know the driving force behind all that you do and all that you are. I pray that Jesus Christ might be glorified daily because of your actions and your witness for Him! To God be all the glory! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Great is thy faithfulness Lord, to even me! Thank You for the opportunity to be called a child of the King of all kings – Jesus Christ. Lord may Your saints be so appreciative of this attachment to You, that Your character will be displayed through us in everything that we do, so that You might be glorified in all things. Have Your will and way in us today oh Lord – our Rock; our Redeemer; our Savior and our soon coming 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! | |
Category: Holy
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! | |
Prayer In Anticipation of What’s To Come
Sunday, 2016-11-20
Scripture
Bible Reference: John 17:13-17
Bible Text: 13 “And now I am coming to you. I have told them many things while I was with them so that they would be filled with my joy. 14 I have given them your commands. And the world hates them because they don’t fit in with it, just as I don’t. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from Satan’s power. 16 They are not part of this world any more than I am. 17 Make them pure and holy through teaching them your words of truth.
Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)
My Take
Jesus was about to leave this world and return to His Father. While on earth He touched the hearts of many and saw them come to a saving knowledge of the Father. However, He knew that there was great opposition to the stand His followers took as children of God, as compared to the rest of the world being led by the evil one. So while Jesus was happy to return to His Father, He dreaded the idea of leaving His children among the likes of Satan and his earthly tempters. I believe that is most admirable of our blessed Savior, don’t you? So I believe that the question for us today is that knowing what our Lord did for us, how concerned are we for those we love? Can we honestly stand before God and say that we have prayed in all sincerity for our lost ones, or that we have shared the Word of God with them? I believe that we are prepared to pray that they be shielded from the evil one, because we would never want to see anything bad brought to them, but how often do we in all sincerity pray for that? As a child of the King, and aiming to be more like Jesus every day, I believe that God would rather see us imitate the example of our Lord and Savior, more than anything else that may seem somewhat important to us. Friends, let us be reminded that we have only one life to live here on this earth, and only what’s done for Jesus will last. Oh that we will start each day determined to live a life pleasing to God, and that our relatives, friends and loved ones might come to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, based on the reality of what they see lived out in us. This is so important, especially knowing that one day soon we will stand before the throne of God and answer for our choices that we have made here on earth. My determination is that God might look intently into my eyes and share His pleasure with the choices that I have made and the life I have chosen to live here on this earth. May I count on you to do the same friend? If there is anything I can do to help you insure your eternal destination, or anything I can help you pray for regarding a loved one you fear is still without Christ, please drop me a note and allow me to pray with you. Jesus knew that we who are left on this earth would suffer through the temptations of this world and its leader, but He also knew that for the joy of what lies ahead of us, we may stand strong and joyful in the fact that greater is he that is in us than he that is in this world! Friends, we are assured that joy lies ahead for those of us that have the eternal hope of being with Jesus on that great resurrection morning! Based on the word of God, I can be confident in that fact that joy will come in the morning for me, I pray that you can do the same!
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for all that You have done for me and Your other children who have accepted You as Lord and Savior. We may struggle in our circumstances today, but praise be to the God of this universe, I know what the future holds for me and I know who holds the key to that future hope. You provided the way, and through Your Word You have shown us the way to eternal hope in You oh Lord. Please help us keep our eyes of faith focused on You and a burden for the souls of those that we love and care for, as we should be most concerned about their current decisions in preparation for their eternal hope. Please burden us with an urgent heart for the eternal destination of our family and friends so that together we may look full into the wonderfrul face of Jesus on that judgment day and sing praises to the King of Glory, together with our loved ones. AMEN and 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!
Live To Prove ‘To Whom You Belong’
THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Ephesians 4:22-24): 22 You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. 23 Let the Spirit change your way of thinking 24 and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.
THOUGHTS: Evil people think evil, wicked things, so they live like evil, wicked people. Does your life show enough evidence of whose you are, that others will be convinced? When we surrender ourselves to someone, we generally release ourselves from the one to whom we were committed before. We become very miserable and confused when we detect any bleeding over of one allegiance into another. Think about it – when you marry someone and commit your life to that person, you are generally happy and living a blissful life together, until one of you start to reflect on an old flame, or perhaps another prospect that Satan has placed in your path. It just doesn’t work friend. The marriage is doomed to fail. Don’t you know then that the same thing happens in our walk with the Lord? Paul calls our mental escape from reality ‘foolish’, for we know that the minute we entertain a bad habit, it will pull us back into bad habits. The very moment that we give in to sin, we have taken our eyes off God, and it becomes easy for Satan to pull us back into his world. This is not abnormal for humans, that’s just the way we are designed. However, just as Paul teaches us in this scripture, we have an Advocate who is standing ready to help us overcome this weakness. It is the Spirit of the Living God that enters the believer, who helps us overcome our weaknesses and makes us into a new person. However, the Spirit does not take control against our will. We must willingly surrender ourselves to the Almighty God, and this is not just a one-time thing where you may have done so in a church service. This is a daily surrender of your will to His will and His control. This is the only way that we can possibly expect to be like our creator. What a reminder in verse 24 – we were created to be like God – WOW! However the ending of that verse is also important, as it is the only way that we stand a chance at getting to this achievement – we must strive to please God and to be truly holy, even as He is holy. When we live under the power and authority of the Holy Spirit, it will be evident to those that we come into contact with, to whom we belong.
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your faithfulness to us, in spite of our weaknesses. Thank You for Your Word that teaches us the importance of living our lives to reflect our Master and our Lord, and for teaching us and warning us of the pitfalls that will distract us in our walk for You. Please continue to open our eyes and encourage our spirits so that we might be more determined than ever to live Godly lives, so that the lost might know that our Savior lives, and that Your love for them is unlimited and available. I ask all this in the precious and 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 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!
Created to Be Virtuous
THE HOLY BIBLE (The New Living Translation – Ecclesiastes 7:28-29): 28 Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman! 29 But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”
THOUGHTS: We often hear the term ‘Virtuous Woman’, especially around Mother’s Day, but I found these two verses touching and challenging. In fact, God really got my attention through these verses. Let’s first define the word ‘virtuous’ – “conforming to a high, moral and ethical standard”. Later in this chapter it is referred as ‘honest and true’. So I believe that God is really saying through His word here, “Hey, I made you to be honest and true, virtuous in every way, so how did you get to where you are today?” Now friends, as you consider this and perhaps seek God’s face about being more virtuous, I want to encourage you to put down your glasses of piety. Relax your pride and selfishness for just a moment. Be reminded that you are looking to the God of this universe for answers. Be willing to open your eyes, your ears and your heart to what He might respond, realizing that He not only knows everything about you, but is very aware of even your inmost thoughts. Remember, He created you! But what’s super important today is that He made you to be ‘virtuous’. Unfortunately, I believe that we are much like the folk that Solomon was thinking of when he penned these words – there wasn’t one who could be found in the whole lot, that he considered ‘virtuous’. So what’s the problem folk? I believe that it’s a small three letter word that has drastically impacted on our lives – SIN. Remember, God will not abide where sin abounds. Solomon said that we have each turned to follow our own downward path. In other words, a path that leads to nothing Godly or nothing good. Friends, if God created us to be virtuous, then I am convinced that He wanted us to live virtuous lives that He could be proud of and use for His earthly work. Are you worthy of this, or have you followed your own downward path that is good for nothing that imitates God? Christians, we are not perfect – just forgiven, so this challenge very much applies to you. Non-Christian, you may tend to think that you are so entrenched in sin that there is no way that you can ever be classified ‘Virtuous’. I have great news for you friend. God loves you and with such passion that He decided even while we were deep in sin, to send His only Son into this world as a sacrificial lamb, providing the only means for salvation and ultimately, virtuous living. This is all accomplished with Him as our Guide, our Defender, our Redeemer, our Master and our Lord. Jesus alone can turn your life around, and into something beautiful that can be used for His glory. Will you let Him do it? My ‘Footnote’ contains helpful tips.
PRAYER: Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, for I can hardly imagine the love of a Savior for those who had you crucified, yet You went to the cross for us. Yes, so that we might have a chance of seeing You face to face, but also to provide the means and direction for us to live ‘virtuous’ lives here on this earth. I know this is what’s required of us to be true witnesses of Yours, but in our carnal minds this seems so impossible. Yet we know that You are the God of everything that seems ‘impossible’ to us, so it is in that assurance that we come before You today asking for forgiveness of our less than virtuous living, and asking that You might give us power and a desire to turn our lives around and refocus our lives, our speech and our actions to closely imitate You dear God, so that we may be acceptable and usable witnesses. Bless us with Your presence and Your power today, is my humble prayer that I ask in the name of Your Son 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!
While You Wait
HE HOLY BIBLE (God’s Word Translation – 2 Peter 3:11-14): 11 …. So think of the kind of holy and godly lives you must live 12 as you look forward to the day of God and eagerly wait for it to come….. When that day comes, heaven will be on fire and will be destroyed. Everything that makes up the universe will burn and melt. 13 But we look forward to what God has promised—a new heaven and a new earth—a place where everything that has God’s approval lives. 14 Therefore, dear friends, with this to look forward to, make every effort to have him find you at peace, without (spiritual) stains or blemishes.
THOUGHTS: Many business places have now introduced televisions in their lobbies, because they have found that if they could distract customers’ attention to a TV screen, they would not be as likely to notice how long they have been standing in line, and therefore lash out on the clerk who will eventually serve them. Our all knowing God, realized that this would be the case with His children here on earth, in regards to His second coming. For those who have never accepted Christ, a delayed return may help to confirm their Satan influenced idea that there is no God, and of course, even if He did exist, they would never see or hear from Him here on this earth, so there is nothing to worry about. For those of us that call Him Savior, Lord, Friend, Jesus, etc, God knows that without proper guidance, we may actually wonder if we made a good decision and wonder the same as the unsaved, whether there really is a God. Our minds wonder and often Satan will fill our minds with doubt. God knew forehand that things like this might occur, so in addition to the many promises we find in His Word, the miracles that we read about and witness in our own lives, and the overwhelming anticipation we have of one day uniting with Jesus and His Father, we find in this scripture, instructions how we are to live while we wait. Friends, we do pretty good at dressing and acting like the boss wants while at work, and as we represent our employer in our community. We do good at being ‘perfect’ Christians while inside our church walls, and/or while trying to impress others, but from the standpoint of God, where He knows our very thoughts, hearts, minds and intentions, are we really reflecting on the outside what we are on the inside? Verse 14 sums up what God expects of us: That we live at peace with God, and everyone else that He placed all around us, and that we live without allowing the world to stain our Christian lives or blemish us in any way. My pastor said in his sermon last week that we are to be protective of the world polluting our Christian walk with sin! Friends, many marriages end in divorce because couples make the commitment, but don’t follow through in unselfishly living the talk out to prove their commitment to their spouse. We classify folk as ‘Christian’ when they make a public profession of faith. Only God knows what’s on the inside of that person and how committed they are to Him. So individually, we must commit to following the will and word of the Lord, in faith, knowing that His return to take us on to glory is nearer now that it has ever been in the history of mankind. Live in peace Brothers and Sisters and constantly seek the strong hand of Jesus to protect you from the (sin) pollution of this world in which we are temporarily living while we wait!
PRAYER: Thank You Lord, for saving my soul, thank You Lord, for making me whole…. Often we think of our salvation as our ticket into heaven, and I suppose it is Lord, but I believe Your Word is clear about our responsibility while still here on this earth. Thank You for this reminder through Your servant Peter. May we be blessed with power from above today so that we might truly live as Your representatives, in peace and without blemish, so that You may be lifted up, praised and worshipped. May the unsaved see Jesus in and through Your servants. Please use us, Your children, as Your instruments of light in this dark world and give us Your power to remain at peace and without the stains of this cruel and ungodly world. You are God of ALL, so I ask all this in the precious name of Your Son, our redeemer, 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!
Chosen To Live Holy Lives
THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – 1 Peter 1:13-16): 13 Be alert and think straight. Put all your hope in how kind God will be to you when Jesus Christ appears. 14 Behave like obedient children. Don’t let your lives be controlled by your desires, as they used to be. 15 Always live as God’s holy people should, because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy. 16 That’s why the Scriptures say, “I am the holy God, and you must be holy too.”
THOUGHTS: One of the major differences between the way that parents think of their children today and how God thinks of His children, is that most worldly parents want to see their children excel and do way better than they did in life. We are often ashamed of some of the things that we did in our lifetime, so we try to impress upon our kids the importance of doing so much better than we ever found possible. God’s Word shows us how different God is in His expectations of us, for He was, and is, the only truly holy One that ever lived, and because He loves us so much, He wants us to be just like Him, especially in holiness. I find it beyond comprehension that God would look down over billions of people on this earth, and yet choose me. Friends, if you have ever surrendered your life to Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior, then you have accepted the call of the One who also chose you. Think about that friend. In spite of our obstinate, disagreeable, sinful acts and thoughts and our unworthiness, yet God chose us! Wow! So if the holy God chose us, would it not make sense that He chose us to conform us to His likeness, His holiness, His attitude towards life and each other? Friends, if we act unholy and unrighteous and sinful in every way – characteristics totally opposite to our Father, should we not reassess our relationship to our Father? Did we truly answer the call of God on our life? Often we just need a wake-up call such as this scripture, or a sermon orchestrated by God, or something similar to draw our attention to our weakened spirit. God said that He is holy, and we must be holy also. So what needs to change in your life to enable you to stand before our all-knowing God and proclaim “Yes Lord, I feel like I am holy, much like I know of Your perfect and holy life”. This takes a lot of personal assessment, and constant realigning of our attitudes and actions, that seem so easily distracted by Satan and his cohorts. We live in a world that does not conform to the ways of God, but just as God has set us aside as His chosen vessel, we too can make deliberate choices to refrain from sinful acts and instead live like God has ordained – holy and righteous. It’s a choice, but can only be attained with the help of our Lord and Savior.
PRAYER: Father I thank You for Your Word, and its content, because It is orchestrated and inspired by You, therefore it allows You to speak directly to the hardened hearts of Your children. Thank You for choosing me to be Your precious chosen one! I believe that some will read this devotional today that may be a Brother or Sister in the faith, because they have also felt the touch of Your hand on their life, and accepted You as their Savior. We are daily challenged to stay strong in the faith Lord, but I believe that in choosing us, You have set us apart from this world and is available to us daily to help us deal with the Evil One. I also feel like You are still dealing with folk even today, for I have family and friends who have yet to accept Your call on their life. I pray that today might be the day of salvation for them. Please do Your miracle working thing in their lives and redirect their attention towards You. For Your children that should be living holy lives as indicated by Your servant Peter, I pray that You would not give up on us, but daily instruct, guide and strengthen us for the challenge of holiness in an unholy world that we are a part of. We need You Father, and we want You to be our God. Our desire is to be just like you in every way, especially in holiness. I ask this humbly in the precious and holy name of Jesus, and for His sake, 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!
Who’s In Control?
THE HOLY BIBLE (The Good News Translation – James 1:19-22; 26-27): 19Remember this, my dear brothers and sisters! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. 20Human anger does not achieve God’s righteous purpose. 21So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you. 22Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice.
26Do any of you think you are religious? If you do not control your tongue, your religion is worthless and you deceive yourselves. 27What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.
THOUGHTS: Bankers must follow the rules, regulations and sometimes even the desires of their regulators, in order to stay in their good graces and know that they are doing what they understand the law requires of them. I believe this is pretty prevalent in many things that we do in life, but being especially concerned in this blog with what I interpret from the Bible that God requires of us, I want to remind us of exactly what God said through His servant James, in the highlighted verses today. God’s ultimate desire, I believe, is that we be as much like Him as possible. Particularly, that we be righteous, even as He is righteous. I believe it is evident from these verses, and God’s Word in general, that we will never attain righteousness as long as we allow Satan a foothold in our lives. So how do we know when this is occurring? When we do those things, and act in ways that do not represent what we know about God. We are reminded in the scripture today that self-control is very important. In other words, way too often we allow our anger to get the better part of us and we react way too quickly, based on our own opinions, rather than listening a little longer. The only way we can listen longer, is the speak less. When we do this we avoid jumping to our conclusions prematurely, and instead hearing the full story from the heart of the one speaking. Think about it friend, while God desires peace and goodwill towards our fellow man, Satan desires just the opposite to God. So when we speak prematurely and cause an argument or hard feelings in the other person, we are pleasing what Satan wants from us, not God. I am so amazed and always blessed by God’s Word, because whenever we read about God’s demands or His ‘thou shall not’s’, we can often read on and see what it is that He desires from us instead. Look at verse 27, and notice what God wants us to do with our time, instead of being Satan’s vehicle to stir up trouble and discontent. If we desire to help, and practice helping those who cannot help themselves and love them like Jesus would, don’t you see that we will be overwhelmed in appreciation of all that God has blessed us with, rather than letting Satan use us to tear down and destroy others – which is his main goal? Friends, please remember that if we have surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ, our actions are driven by God, otherwise we are naturally driven to please Satan. Strictly based on your actions, who’s driving you?
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for showing us the way to righteousness and thank You for being ‘the way‘ to righteousness. You are the One that directed what You want from us, and You provided us with the means to accomplish that. Thank You for Jesus, and the life that He lived here on earth, in order that we might learn how to live righteously like He did. Father, in a life totally committed to being like You, I need Your hand upon my every thought, my every action and my every word, so that I might follow Your way, Your desire, and Your will for my life. May I be so committed to this kind of life that Satan will find no room to tempt or use me in any way for his dirty work. Lord, I believe that my friends reading this devotional may have similar temptations today, so I pray that You might impact their lives in such a way that they may commit to giving You full control of their life and experience a total transformation. May You have Your will and way in our lives so that we may be obedient, holy, and righteous, as You intended. I ask all this in the precious 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 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!
The Purpose of Discipline By God
THE HOLY BIBLE (New Century Version – Hebrews 12:7-10): 7 So hold on through your sufferings, because they are like a father’s discipline. God is treating you as children. All children are disciplined by their fathers. 8 If you are never disciplined (and every child must be disciplined), you are not true children. 9 We have all had fathers here on earth who disciplined us, and we respected them. So it is even more important that we accept discipline from the Father of our spirits so we will have life. 10 Our fathers on earth disciplined us for a short time in the way they thought was best. But God disciplines us to help us, so we can become holy as he is.
THOUGHTS: I believe that we can endure many things if we know why they are happening to us. This is the reason that we often complain, ‘why me Lord?’ However it is often difficult, and perhaps very ‘human’ to limit our sight to our current circumstances instead of looking for the possible good that God could achieve through our suffering or challenge. Friends if we are ever involved in making something – perhaps a piece of pottery or building something out of wood, we may have to smash it at times and start over. Similarly, God made us perfect, but He gave us free-will to do our own thing, so our sin nature often gets the better part of us and leads us down a path that could be destructive. Without having to smash us and destroy us, God, in His infinite wisdom and love, gets our attention, and brings us back on the road where we look more like Him again. This is called ‘discipline’. So if you get nothing more out of this devotional today, please memorize the words that are bolded at the end of the highlighted verses: “God disciplines to help us become holy, just as He is“. Why do we deserve such love, you might ask. I believe that the words that I first quoted as our main gripe, were also used in the title of a song that helps us voice our opinion to God but yet understand the great love shown to us by the Father. Listen to ‘Why Me Lord‘ as you ponder why God would love even you so much that He would send His one and only Son as a sacrifice for all your bad – your sin. Remember, He wants us to look just like Him and to be good representatives of His while on our path of life here on planet earth. His discipline serves an eternal purpose that only God knows, and that we may or may not ever see or understand. Just trust Him friend! I have been struggling with one challenge, or trial, after another recently, and yesterday while really feeling burdened, God sent a messenger to tell me that my trials are not to burden me or hurt me, but to strengthen me for greater and bigger things that will benefit His kingdom! Wow, what an inspiration! Our road to holiness is a challenging one while living in a challenging world filled with greed and sin, but our God can do all things in the lives of those who place their faith and trust in Him. Draw close to God, friend, so that He may draw close to you and help you on this challenging road of life.
PRAYER: What have I done to deserve God’s only Son? As I hear those words sung in the video reference above, I am reminded of all the love You have shown, both at Calvary, and through all phases of my Christian life, and I can only sit back and ask Why? Why me Lord? I may never know why You love me so much Heavenly Father, but I am compelled to say yet again today how much I appreciate all that You have done to make me more like You every day. I stand amazed in the presence of the King and Creator of this universe and humbly call You my Lord, my Savior, my Friend and my soon coming King! Please soften the hearts of the rebellious today. Please pour out Your love on those that may question why they are going through challenges. Draw them to Yourself in such a way that their rebellion will turn to pure love and submission, knowing that You only want us to be more holy, as You are. I love You Lord Jesus, and I thank You for first loving me! I ask all this in Your precious name, 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 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!
Things to Run From and Things to Run Towards
THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – 2 Timothy 2:20-22): 20 In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. 21 If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. 22 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
THOUGHTS: One of the things that I love about God’s Word is that it not only tells us what not to do, but it also doesn’t leave it up to us to decide on our own what we think we should do, for it gives us a righteous path to follow that leads us towards the characteristics of Jesus. In verse 22, Timothy, together with us, are encouraged to run from youthful lusts. This tells me that we will be battered with temptation and youthful lusts, and we must learn to get away – run far away from them. I heard a story of a drunk who came to know the Lord. After this turn of events, the man would travel a different route every day between work and home in order to avoid the bar that he often frequented before Christ. I believe he ran from those lusts that held him captive before Christ. Likewise, I believe that we/Christians need to make very conscious decisions to avoid certain circumstances, places and things that might otherwise take us off track from our Christian walk and commitment to the Lord. Let’s run from them! Now, here are the things that we should run towards: righteous living – things that are right in God’s sight, for we are only righteous because of God; faithfulness – practice faith in God in our daily walk. Live in faith, and boast of it every time possible; love – not just natural lustful love, but actually practice the love that God showed us through His Son Jesus. Sacrificial, humble, unselfish love; peace – this is an unworried soldier who is content in the direction, support and leadership of his Chief, and convinced of the strength and agility of his fellow soldiers; and time together with other Christians – we become much like those we hang out with, for we strengthen our character by everything we experience from them, good or bad. ‘Birds of a feather flock together’, so we should be right at home fellowshipping and worshiping with other believers and we should desire to spend even more time with them. So where are you at in all of this friend? Have some things that you need to deliberately run from? Satisfied from the way your life is going, and your relationship with the Lord, that you are convinced that you are running towards and practicing the right things in your life? If not, may I remind you that the God who made you, and this universe, is available and ready to help you when you call on His name, right now? He is able friend! Know Him and know the peace that comes only from Him, then live like you are convinced that His peace is deep inside of you! I need this, and I believe you do also!
PRAYER: Dear God, may our lives be intentionally lived for You and according to the design outlined in Your Word. Thank You for the direction given to us today by Your servant Paul. I believe that Your servants will only be effective when we live according to Your design and in subjection to Your will and command. I also believe that for this world to change, they must see Christians being Christ-like and living according to what our handbook (the Bible) says. Lord, I pray that You will start with me, and I also plead with You to touch the lives of my readers, that they also may see the need for recommitting their lives to Your call on their lives and therefore live like children of God. Fall afresh on us dear Lord and allow Your Holy Spirit to indwell us with power to overcome sin and the temptations of this world. Help us to run away from sin, and instead, run towards You and display the characteristics Paul reminded us of today. For we are to be holy, even as you are holy! These requests I ask in the precious and holy name of Jesus, with thanksgiving, 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!
Nuggets From God's Word 