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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-03-18 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Matthew 24:9-14 (ERV) |
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Text: |
9 ….People all over the world will hate you because you believe in me. 10 During that time many believers will lose their faith. They will turn against each other and hate each other. 11 Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe things that are wrong. 12 There will be so much more evil in the world that the love of most believers will grow cold. 13 But the one who remains faithful to the end will be saved. 14 And the Good News I have shared about God’s kingdom will be told throughout the world…. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus was asked to explain when the end of time will come. He responded with several signs, and in the link to our scripture reference you will find the whole chapter that details it all. However, in these verses we will look at reasons why we should be prepared even before the signs materialize. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I Find it interesting how some folk may not react to warnings but rather to certain actions that confirm the warnings, whereas some are proactive and prepare ahead of time for what is predicted. In my part of the world we particularly see this with hurricanes. In Christianity we try to teach that because God loved us so much, He gave us His very own Son to live among us, experience our challenges, then die a cruel death to make our hope a reality and our future in eternal life assured. Based on that love, many accept that offer of salvation through our Lord and Savior who died for us. However, some gamble with their very lives by thinking they could wait until the end of their life and, when given no other choice, then try Jesus. Unfortunately for the ‘gamblers’, these end of time signs include no clues as to when they will occur, and to be realistic, we are seeing many of these things quickly falling into place even now. I hope that for any of us meditating on this devotional today, our minds would become more focused on the Savior who loved us enough that He provided a ‘sign’ to us in the shape of a cross on which He was crucified, just to prove His love for us. In being reminded of, and refocused on that, won’t you show your appreciation and reciprocal love to Jesus by accepting that gift of love He produced for all who would accept it? Please don’t wait for the signs told of in the Scripture today, for many will never live to see these materialize, and you could be one of them. At the time of reading this blog you are assured of life here on earth, however the very next moment you could be facing death, with no further chance to change your mind about this loving Jesus of whom I witness and share with you about. The Bible is clear about what happens to the ones who reject the gift of Jesus also, and it is not good friend. For those who reject Jesus, or have never accepted His gift of eternal life, their eyes will be opened in the pit of Hell under the reign of Satan himself. Only you can make the above choices friend, and unless you make a deliberate choice to allow Jesus access and Kingship over your life, then your destination is determined to be under the lordship of Satan. My obvious desire is to see all of my family, friends and readers of this blog at the feet of Jesus in glory. Please don’t disappoint me, make the choice today to accept Jesus as Lord and follow Him. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Thank You Lord Jesus for loving us enough to pay the ultimate price for our sins, giving us the hope of eternity in heaven with You, Your Father, and all of our loved ones gone on before us who claimed You as their Savior. I am flabbergasted that the King of Glory would love me enough to do this even if I was the only one needing a Savior! Wow! Lord, I pray Your emense blessings on Your Word as it is shared today and tomorrow through this blog, through pulpits in various churches, and in neighborhoods where Christians will share their testimony of the Christ who saved them from Hell. May Your Word bring forth much fruit today, and may those who have never given ear to the truth of Your love for them, hear, believe and accept the love You freely poured out for them. I love You Lord. May You receive honor and praise in many ways this weekend! 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: The love of God
God Will Take Care of You!
Thursday, 2016-09-01
Scripture
Bible Reference: 1 Kings 17:2-4
Bible Text: 2 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 3 “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. 4 Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.”
Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)
My Take
I Love that old gospel song: “Be not dismayed …. God Will Take Care of You“! On reading these verses this morning I was reminded that for all those times that we feel so worn, or so distraught about life’s circumstances – perhaps the loss of a loved one that leaves us wondering how on earth can we possibly go on without them; or perhaps because of financial woes that make us feel so trapped into thinking that we work to satisfy bills only; or perhaps unemployment that makes us look inward and question our own personal worth; no matter the circumstance, we tend to wonder ‘Why me, Lord’ and then question how can we possibly overcome our particular circumstance. Friends, I wish you would take time to read the whole passage linked in the scripture reference, because you will see the reason why God sent Elijah to the Jordan River bank to hang out in the first place, then you will also see what other miracles God performed to take care of Elijah, even beyond this fending miracle at the Jordan River. Whether Elijah realized it or not, he was at a crossroads to where he may not have survived the drought if God had not intervened and taken care of him. I rejoiced in seeing how God worked through Elijah later on to bring a young man back to life, because it made me realize the importance of not giving up on God, and instead allowing Him to work on us, in us, and through us for the purpose of greater accomplishments for the kingdom, at a time pleasing to God. Friends, our ways are not God’s ways, so we are called on to be faithful and sure in our faith, knowing that what He works out in and through us will serve to benefit Him and bless us tremendously. So may I encourage you dear friend to stand firm in your faith, depend on God, and open yourself to the wondrous things He will do through You. Please know that your personal circumstances may look totally different to what God has in store for you. Trust Him, wait on Him and allow Him to be God in your life. Know that when You place your faith, trust, and total life in His hands, He WILL Take Care of You!
Prayer
To the loving, caring, awesome God that I serve; thank You for watching over me, taking care of me, and guiding my footsteps each and every day. Because I am still alive, I know that your work is still in progress as to what You would have me do. Please have Your will and way. Please continue to take care of me, and especially on those days when life seems impossible to me, or the future seems so questionable. Lord, there are many who will stop by to read this devotional today, please reinforce to them how much You care for them, and remind them of the enormous love that You have for them. Lord, I ask these thinks in faith, and through the precious name of Jesus, Your Son and my 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. 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 http://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!
Treated Unfairly?
Tuesday, 2016-08-02
Scripture
Bible Reference: Job 37:23–24
Bible Text: 23–24 “Mighty God! Far beyond our reach! Unsurpassable in power and justice! It’s unthinkable that he’d treat anyone unfairly. So bow to him in deep reverence, one and all! If you’re wise, you’ll most certainly worship him.”
Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)
My Take
I believe that way too often we tend to look inward and feel sorry for ourselves. Way too often we tend to look at others, and quickly become envious of all that they have, compared to what we recognize in our gifts, talents and possessions. Then we tend to ponder why we are so undeserving. We identify with how Job was feeling after his ‘world’ was stripped away from him. Throughout this book of Job there are many lessons for us. In today’s verses, I believe it is important that we see that true friends are very honest with us, and they may not just tell us what they think we want to hear. It would have been much easier for Job’s friend to go along with the way that Job was feeling; or to make promises to Job that he may, or may not be capable, or willing to make a reality. Unfortunately, we do this all the time friends. We feel sorry for folk and tell them things like: “Don’t worry, everything’s gonna be alright”; or “I will pray for you”; or “I will come and visit you so we could talk”; or “You look so good that no one would ever imagine that you are serious ill”. However, when we are hurting, we tend to look inward and feel sorry for self. Like the world is against us, and that we are being treated so unfairly. I believe that the best thing a friend can do, is to help us get our eyes refocused on Jesus, and His undeniable love for us. We may never understand, at least at the time, why things are going the way they are, but if we can refocus on the love of God for us, that it is unchangeable, and unshaken by circumstances, and that He made us with great purpose in mind, then we might begin to remember all the ways that God has blessed us, and is continuing to watch over us and care for us. Friends, the adversary (Satan) is doing his very best to distract us from the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ, and the many ways that Jesus loves us. What better way to do this than to tap away at our mind and try to tear down the very blessings that God is showering upon us every day? Jesus loves us more than anyone or anything we could possibly imagine, and this was not just for the period He sacrificed His life for us on the cross, but right straight through eternity. So let us therefore, always fix our eyes on the Author and the Finisher of our faith; the Alpha and the Omega; the beginning and the end; JESUS, the Holy Son of God!
Prayer
Lord, thank You for reminding me that “poor me’ is not a term used by folk who are children of the most high God; the King of all kings; the Savior of this world! We are so blessed and set apart as such a holy people, that we must always keep our eyes fixed on the Author of all these blessings. There is a lot of ‘Light’ at the end of this sometimes ‘dark’ world that we live in – the Light of the world, is Jesus! As our Light; our Savior and our Lord, please help Your humble servants to keep our eyes and our minds fixed on You, and not allow Satan to interfere with our happiness. We need You daily Lord, and we look forward to eternity with You loving Father, 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!
God Has Always Loved Us
Tuesday, 2016-07-12
Scripture
Bible Reference: Malachi 1:2
Bible Text: 2 “I have always loved you,” says the LORD. But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?” And the LORD replies, “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob….
Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)
My Take
I believe that we are such creatures of finding the worst in every situation, instead of looking for the ways that God, or His kingdom might benefit from our situations. Way too often we are very much like the Israelites, who would hear the words of Malachi about God having always loved them, and then try every which way to bring back to memory every situation where we feel like God didn’t handle it the way we instructed Him. Wouldn’t it be calming for us to sit and reflect on the worst of times in our lives so far, and look for the best things that came out of those? Our reflection today is a reminder that no matter what happens, let’s always remember that God loves us. In fact, He loved us from the very beginning of time, loves us today, and will always love His bride – His chosen people for whom He sent His very Son to Calvary on a cruel cross, just to show how much He loved us. This was visible proof of God proving His love for us, in spite of where we might be spiritually. Let us work towards removing the word ‘but’ from our vocabulary when reflecting on God’s love and promises. If He said it, we can surely believe it, because He never lies. I encourage you to read out loud these words “God has always loved me and He always will, because I’m His precious kid – Praise the Lord”.
Prayer
Thank You for loving even me dear God! As I am reminded of Your love today, please help me to never question Your actions, but to look for the marvelous ways in which You show Your handiwork. May I be an instrument of Your love, so that others might clearly be reminded of the love of God for them also. Thank You for loving on us each and 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!
God Will Prevail!
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!………
The Bible Reference: Judges 2:11-13; Philippians 1:12-14
The Bible Text: (Judges 2:11-13) The People of Israel did evil in GOD’s sight: they served Baal-gods; they deserted GOD, the God of their parents who had led them out of Egypt; they took up with other gods, gods of the peoples around them. They actually worshiped them! And oh, how they angered GOD as they worshiped god Baal and goddess Astarte!
(Phil 1:12-14) I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.
The Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)
My Take Away: I was impacted by two passages of scripture, and both made me reflect on the types of individuals that my God made, and allowed to exist here on earth. In the first scripture we see where the Israelites thought they had everything figured out, so they lost sight of God and worshipped false gods instead. Now look at us – ever noticed how full our churches get after a disaster? For a few Sundays after the 9-11 disaster, our churches were filled. However as soon as folk felt like they were safe to return to their sinful lifestyles, church-going took an unimportant place in their lives. Friends, have you ever stopped to ponder why we hear so many concerns about what appears to be doom and gloom whenever we hear groups talking? Wouldn’t you think that just as God got upset at the Israelites for straying away from Him and worshipping other gods, that He is very likely to also get upset at us for turning our backs on Him? Especially when we really trusted Him to see us recover from the disasters, but soon afterwards wanted nothing to do with God or His body of believers? God declared war on the Israelites, and He even worked against them in their battles. Could He be doing the same thing in our country, our state, our cities, our churches and our families? But look at Paul’s testimony. He was thrown into prison for his beliefs and his bold testimony of what God had done in his life. Ordinarily we would consider that a write-off, for we would think that Paul, or any other Christian in a similar position today, would be silenced and unable to continue witnessing for the Lord. Paul shared in our second scripture that God was able to use him even more in the prison environment – praise the Lord. I have a good friend in a similar scenario, and God is actively using him in the prison system. Friends, I would challenge you today to never give up on God. Never turn your back on Him, for He can use you in every scenario of life, if only you will let Him. Remember, whether it’s through the times when you feel on top of the world and see God actively involved in your life, or times when you are calling on God, but feel alone in this world, God will prevail, and He could easily prevail in all circumstances of our life, if we will let Him. God WILL prevail! And we will also, if we allow God to rule, reign and operate in every circumstance of our lives. Try it friend! What do you have to lose, when you have eternity to gain?
Prayer: Father, please forgive us for so easily giving up on You and instead grabbing the reins ourselves to create such an awful mess for ourselves. Please forgive us for our littleness, and our attraction to the things of this world, rather than remaining faithful and strong to You. Please touch the lives of Your children who will read this devotional today. May they gain strength from Your Word, and may their eyes be opened to the awful effects of sinful and disobedient actions, as shown in Your Word today. Lord, You alone are worthy and so deserving of our praise, while we are so needy and so dependent on You in every aspect of our lives. Please hear our cries today as we seek Your face and desire Your precious hand upon our lives. I ask these things in faith and in recognition of who You are, in the strong and wonderful name of Jesus, my Lord, Savior and soon coming King, AMEN!
Footnote: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
2016
Nuggets From God's Word 