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Post Date: |
Thursday, 2017-08-24 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Luke 18:16-17 (TLB) |
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Text: |
16-17 Then Jesus called the children over to him and said to the disciples, “Let the little children come to me! Never send them away! For the Kingdom of God belongs to men who have hearts as trusting as these little children’s. And anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get within the Kingdom’s gates.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Men has a predetermined idea of the qualities needed to do a job, and the type of person to do it – perhaps even the age of the person. Jesus tried to break that idea by showing that there are qualities even in a child, who has not really experienced a lot in life yet, that we need to take note of. Let’s have a closer look at those qualities and see what we might learn from them. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
It is so challenging for a group of adults to sit in a room and come to a unanimous decision. Even more challenging for a group working on a project and agreeing to accomplish the necessary tasks in unity. Jesus pointed out two qualities that He recognized in children that, I believe, we need to have a closer look at:
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| PRAYER: | |
| Father God, Creator of heaven and earth, All powerful and almighty in strength and power, we exalt You and we lift up Your name on high. We come before You with thanksgiving, knowing that we serve an awesome God who loves and cares for His children. Please enhance our faith Lord, so that we may trust You with all of life’s ups and downs. Lord we need You every day and in every circumstance. We need You every hour dear Lord. Thank You for Your faithfulness and love. 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: Trust
Faith Like That of The Shepherds
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-06-20 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Luke 2:8-12 (NCV) |
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Text: |
8 That night, some shepherds were in the fields nearby watching their sheep. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord was shining around them, and they became very frightened. 10 The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people. 11 Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord. 12 This is how you will know him: You will find a baby wrapped in pieces of cloth and lying in a feeding box.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| God had a plan in action, with the miraculous birth of His Son through a virgin named Mary. Everything went just as God had revealed to Mary, Joseph and Elizabeth. Now God was working in the lives of those that were praying for this Savior to come and save them and their country from the awful stain of sin, corruption and destruction. Let’s have a closer look at the shepherds, whom God chose to reveal Himself to, resulting in them being one of the first groups to visit the newborn infant and God’s servants, Mary and Joseph. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Some may assume that I am getting wrapped up in the Christmas story way early this year, and while I totally love the story of our Savior’s birth, I am merely reading through the Bible and got to this Scripture today! I believe that way too often we hear the Christmas story, and because we have always loved the story of Jesus’ birth, we remember the story vividly and therefore never stop to meditate on particular servants or scenes, because we feel like we have heard it all so many times over the years. In the case of the shepherds, they were keeping watch over their sheep to protect them from the wild animals that may have been looking for a quick way into the pasture to grab one for dinner! It seems like these were godly men who prayed for a deliverer, and probably looked into the night sky while on watch, just praying some more and imagining what it might be like if that deliverer might come during their lifetime. I believe that many Christians probably do something very similar when they look at the challenges with politics in their own country. I love the outdoors, so I have often looked into the dark skies lit only by God’s perfect candles (stars) and imagined what it would be like to witness the return of Jesus Christ when He comes to take fellow Christians and myself up to our heavenly home to live eternally with Him! What if that night silence and dark sky was broken one night and God sent His angels to come and take us home? Of course you will immediately cry out for family and friends for whose salvation you’ve been praying, but can you even imagine the joy that will fill your heart to even imagine going to live with your blessed Redeemer for whom you’ve been loving, serving and anticipating for years? In fact, this may all have crossed the minds of these shepherds as they saw something bright and glorious appear before them in the dark sky. I’m sure they were in so much shock and awe that they probably had trouble concentrating on what was being told to them, but they gathered enough from the good news that they quickly decided to go and see this child that the angels spoke of. But let’s be sure that we get this. Imagine being a part of a group considered the lowest of the lowest in society, and now you are convinced that the Almighty God sent an angel to tell you about the birth of His Son? Furthermore, you are witnessing this group dropping everything, and risking to walk a distance to see if this is for real? As part of that group, what will you tell someone along the way who may ask about your travel destination? Friends, I believe you could see that while we classify people based on our perception, God is no respecter of persons. Some of us create separations by country, by race, by political party, by church denomination, etc. But I truly believe that God looks at us as His precious children, period. Being no respecter of persons, God could give someone that we least expect, a message that He would like for us to adhere to, or be encouraged by. Are we seriously looking for a word from the Lord each day, no matter who God decides to use as His delivery boy? Are we seriously looking forward to His return? What if it was today? Are you truly ready and waiting for His return? Let’s try to be like the shepherds who, when told about Jesus, dropped what they were doing and went to worship Him! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord God, You are so awesome in every way, and I praise You for who You are to me. In being reminded today of Your willingness to minister to ALL mankind, I am humbled and reassured that I can stand boldly before the throne and worship You and bring my petitions before You. Lord, for those who will read this and doubt about their worthiness in Your sight, please reassure them of Your love for all mankind – all who were made by You, in Your image and for Your glory. The shepherds glorified the arrival of their long awaited King and Savior, because their world was so challenging and filled with hatred and crime. Sounds like a mirror of what we face today Lord, so we plead that You might hear our cry for help and send us relief that only You could imagine or make possible. We have hope in You oh Lord, please help us to remain faithful until You are ready for us in heaven, 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! | |
Our Awesome Lord!
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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-06-05 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Psalm 37:3-7 (NCV) |
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Text: |
3 Trust the Lord and do good. 7 Wait and trust the Lord. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| This is a very positive Psalm where David gives those of us who trust in the Lord some very positive actions: Do good; Feed on the truth; Enjoy serving the Lord; Depend on the Lord; Trust in the Lord; Wait on the Lord; Don’t envy others who get rich or succeed. In concentrating on these things, our goodness and fairness will shine like the sun! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
I found that some of these very things that David mentioned, are some of the very things that Christians struggle with today. So I believe that it is important that we take note of key points that David teaches us on how to achieve favor with God and be happy in our life experiences:
Friends, verse 6 sums up our rewards in ways that this world cannot understand or appreciate: our goodness will become obvious, and our fairness will be recognized just as the noonday sun! In other words, our efforts to be like Jesus and show His goodness to the world will please God and ultimately bless us in return! Glory to God for His goodness to us, His humble servants! |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Dear Father, thank You for using Your servant David to encourage us to live our lives pleasing You and blessing others. Lord, You bless us in so many ways and we are eternally thankful. May we be encouraged through Your Word today to be Your hands extended to those in need, and may we love and encourage just as You have done for us, so that You may be glorified in all that we do and say. 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! | |
Accept THE GIFT Like a Child
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-05-16 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Mark 10:14-16 (ERV) |
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Text: |
14 …. So he said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like these little children. 15 The truth is, you must accept God’s kingdom like a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it.” 16 Then Jesus held the children in his arms. He laid his hands on them and blessed them. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| The disciples did exactly like we would still do today. When the crowds came pressing in on the center of attention, Jesus, they thought to begin reducing the confusion by keeping the children at bay. Surely Jesus would want to speak with the town authorities, or possibly the indigent, or even the known rebels in the town, But to their surprise, Jesus got upset at them, because He wanted the children to come to Him. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| One translation reads that adults must learn about and accept Jesus in the simplicity of a child. I know that some adults still get pretty excited on Christmas morning, but really nothing to compare to the excitement of a child. Ever notice how a child never meets a ‘stranger’? For those that are not too sheltered, they will walk up to a total stranger and talk to them just like they would to a family member. Ever notice how children absorb everything they are taught, while adults must prove it first? Google has become our greatest friend, because when we can’t trust what the pastor said in church, we could prove him wrong by checking it out on Google! Our children are so trusting that we have to teach them at a very early age that there are some bad people out there that they must be careful of. Adults often have to be retrained that there are some good people out there that they can trust and befriend! In our text today, Jesus is teaching us that adults are to receive kingdom things like little children, with trust and dependence on Him. Our personal abilities, riches, or effort does nothing to enhance our personal relationship with Jesus. Ever notice how within a few days of being with their school or Sunday school teacher, a child will greet them each time with a great big hug and a smile, because they have found someone who cares for them and loves them in return. That’s the same way it is with Jesus Christ. He has already proven His love for us, for with arms stretched from east to west on the cross at Calvary He showed us how much He loved us. And although our eternal life was very costly to Jesus, He made the sacrifice so that we would not allow personal cost to be a hindrance to accepting Him and entering heaven’s portals. Spend some time around a child today and at the end of the day, review your relationship with the King of Glory in light of the faith, trust and love that you witnessed as you observed that child. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Heavenly Father, You created us as children so that, as adults, we could appreciate the qualities in little people. I’m sure that as You grew us into adulthood You expected us to maintain some of what we learned as a child, but I believe that we have taken on so many bad qualities of this world, that we have lost much of our faith, trust, humility and love. These are not only qualities we see in our children, but they are key qualities we see in our Savior, and qualities that help us to draw close to You, dear Lord. Please continue to draw us to yourself and please continue to strengthen the qualities that we need in order to draw close to You and be a living witness of You with all that we come into contact with. We are Your children Lord, please help us to love, trust, honor and worship You as child would, 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! | |
How Easily We Forget
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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-05-08 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Mark 8:1-5 (MSG) |
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Text: |
1-3 At about this same time he again found himself with a hungry crowd on his hands. He called his disciples together and said, “This crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they’ll faint along the way—some of them have come a long distance.”4 His disciples responded, “What do you expect us to do about it? Buy food out here in the desert?”
5 He asked, “How much bread do you have?” “Seven loaves,” they said. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Many crowds followed Jesus because of all the miracles they had heard of Him performing, and at times these crowd would stick around for days on end. Those closest to Him – His disciples, were with Him on two occasions when the crowds stayed overnight without food. The disciples had personally witnessed and participated in the first miracle, yet when the second opportunity presented itself, they acted as though it had never happened. Let’s look into whether we do any better today. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Right up front I want us to be reminded that Jesus is not like Santa Claus who will give us a treat once a year, if we’ve been good. Neither is He a puppet that will respond the same way in every scenario at our every whim. He is God and He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. What is very much the same for us today is that the credentials of our Lord, are nothing less that miraculous and totally outstanding! What this means for us is that we should have learned by now that God is in control, and not we ourselves. Based on His record of miracles in the Bible, and what we have heard from fellow believers, we should come before Him asking in the name of Jesus, in accordance with His perfect will, knowing that He has the power to do whatsoever we might ask. To simplify this thought, imagine us praying that God would make a blind person to see, if He has an awesome ministry for that person to achieve – especially because of their blindness. Imagine us praying for our daughter to marry a prince, when God already has everything aligned for her to marry a future president of a very large country, or marry a young man whom God will use powerfully in ministry with an awesome young lady by his side, like our daughter! I believe the impact of this story is that in spite of the mountains, or impossibilities that may blind us from seeing all that God can do, we should never forget that He’s in control, and that there is absolutely nothing that is impossible with God. His timing is perfect, so please don’t ask Him to do something next week that He may see better results from in handling the situation today. Let’s learn to quote past occurrences of miracles such as the one we are asking for, and let’s not limit our God to the restricted use of our humanly vision. He is God, and if He fed over 5,000 before with just a few fish and loaves of bread, we have confidence that He could do it again, if this is His will. Let’s be the cheerleaders to a God that can, not sinful doubters that something might be beyond His reach. If He walked on water before, we have no reason to doubt that He could do it again! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Although we limit our requests of You to what seems possible in our eyes, oh Lord, I pray that as Your dedicated, loyal followers, we might learn to stay attuned to all You have already accomplished, and the wide opened possibilities that are Yours because of who You are. Please help us to remove doubt and our limitations from the equation, knowing that ALL things are possible with our God. Please grant us faith to place our trust whole heartedly in You Lord, so that all doubt will be removed and instead Your children be filled with power from above to simple trust and obey. 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! | |
The Path to Integrity
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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-03-25 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Proverbs 4:10-15 (Voice) |
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Text: |
10 Hear my words, my son, and take them in; let them soak in so that you will live a long, full life. 11 I have pointed you in the way of wisdom; I have steered you down the path to integrity. 12 So get going. And as you go, know this: with integrity you will overcome all obstacles; even if you run, you will not stumble. 13 Tighten your grip around wise advice; don’t let it slip away. Protect Wisdom, for without her, life isn’t worth living. 14 Do not start down the road of the wicked— the first step is easy, but it leads to heartache— do not go along the way of evildoers. 15 Stay away from it; don’t even go past it— and if you find yourself anywhere near it, turn your back and run as far as you can in the opposite direction. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Wikipedia gives the following meaning to ‘Integrity’: “Integrity is the qualifications of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. It is generally a personal choice to hold oneself to consistent moral and ethical standards.” That sounds like a pretty close match to what the Proverbs is describing in these focal verses today, I feel! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I believe that many strive to live a life of integrity even if they know nothing about the promises of God to bless us as we strive to live in the wisdom of all that He has taught us. Often this may occur because of the upbringing of the individual, or because of someone that they are looking up to in their life. For the child of God, we have the Word of God to guide our actions, thoughts and principles, and we have the power of God to help us overcome obstacles that may try to hinder our walk to consistent integrity. When we accept Jesus as Lord of our life, He places the Holy Spirit within us to guide us along the right path. He is our Helper and our Guide when puzzled about which path to follow; He is our Comforter and Protector when trouble comes our way; He is our Deliverer when tempted and we call on Him for help. So with that kind of support within us, can you think of any reason why we can’t follow the Word of God and the will of God for our lives? Friends, if ever our employers should find employees of integrity, that they can trust wholeheartedly, or if ever our friends could find and trust people of integrity that they could depend on and trust with sharing their heart, it should be in those who have honestly invited Jesus into our heart and committed ourselves to allow Him full control over our lives. Jesus has always been, and always will be considered a person of integrity, for He is the only Perfect One, so having Him as our Lord and Savior, we too can be people of integrity. It’s your call friend. As for me, I choose to be a man of integrity, God being my helper! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, in a world that seems filled with strife, backbiting and lack of trust in each other, I reaffirm my desire to be a man of integrity, with the help of Your Holy Spirit. I pray for commitment of this attribute for my readers, my family, my friends and my coworkers. Lord may this lost world see more of You in more of us. May we be known as people of integrity because of whose we are! 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! | |
Your Response to ‘Impossible’ Tasks
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-03-01 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Exodus 3:10-12 (Voice) |
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Text: |
Eternal One: 10 So go. I’m sending you back to Egypt as My messenger to the Pharaoh. I want you to gather My people—the children of Israel—and bring them out of Egypt.
Moses (to God): 11 Who am I to confront Pharaoh and lead Israel’s children out of Egypt? Eternal One: 12 Do not fear, Moses. I will be with you every step of the way….. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Moses was challenged way outside of his comfort zone, because he was being asked to do something he had not been trained for, and that he felt very unqualified for. As we ponder the ‘application’ of this Scripture reading today, I want us to think about exactly what it would take for us to agree to such a task! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| How many times have you been asked to take on a job that you have received no training for? How many times have you been invited to a meal or a meeting with top government officials, and you turned it down because of shattered nerves or 1001 other excuses that you quickly came up with? In my work field we have customer interfacing employees, and we have support staff that strictly work behind the scenes making sure that the front line staff could perform their jobs well. We find that if an employee whose makeup best suits dealing with customers is placed in the backroom, they are seldom happy in their jobs. I believe that Moses was like that! To be asked to go and see the king was a huge challenge for him, and to further be asked to confront the king with demands that anyone could guess would be confrontational, just caused Moses to pull back and try every which way to escape his assignment. Been there and done that?? I bet that we all may have faced similar challenges before, and we could probably identify with Moses. So is there anything we can do to prepare ourselves for these types of challenges? Friends, I believe you will agree that you will very easily do what your parent or spouse tells you to do, and almost anything that a sibling might ask you to do! Why? Because you trust them, and you know that because they love you, they would never ask you to do something they know you would fail at, or that would bring harm to you. So I believe that brings us to the point of obedience to God. Trust is built based on relationship. So I believe that we must first look at how well we know the One (our Father) that we are wanting to follow and/or obey. In building this relationship we will also develop a sense of what all the One, who we are wanting to trust, is capable of doing. May I remind you that the God we place our faith and trust in, has been proven over and over again, but I also believe that He will quickly give you the assurance that You need as well. I would gladly and unreservedly assure you friend, that my God is not only the Creator of this earth and each of us, but He loves us above and beyond anything we have ever experienced here on earth. In fact, He proved that love for us by sacrificing the life of His very own Son, Jesus, so that we might have a clear path to the Father and His heavenly home. I accepted Him over 40 years ago, and without hesitation, will highly recommend Him to anyone reading this devotional. Please read my ‘Footnote’ for more information on how you might know Jesus personally. That’s the beginning of a relationship with Him! May you accept Him as Lord, trust in Him as your Savior, worship Him as God and live for Him as a living sacrifice and witness to a world that is lost and going to Hell if they are not introduced to our Savior. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Thank You Father for loving us enough to sacrifice Your very own Son to save us from our sin that seperates us from You. Thank You for hearing our cry for help, and for challenging us with assignments that cause us to trust You more, and to depend on You as our sole Provider; Healer; Friend; Deliverer; Savior and Lord. Please touch the hearts of my readers and I so that we might develop the faith of Moses, and be willing to do as You command for the salvation of Your people. In thanksgiving, and desiring more faith from You, I glorify Your holy name. 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! | |
I Got This – Trust Me!
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-01-17 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Matthew 6:31–33 (NCV) |
|
Text: |
31 Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 The people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them. 33 Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well.
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| OBSERVATION: | |
| The text in this whole chapter of Matthew is in ‘red’, meaning that Jesus was teaching His disciples about what it’s like in their lives when they place their faith and trust in Him as their Savior, Leader, Provider and Protector. It is evident that, much like today, the disciples were worry-warts, and Jesus had to calm their fears and teach them what it’s like to be a follower of Christ. He taught His audience that when there was evidence of worry, they should recognize that their faith in Him might be faltering, otherwise they would quickly remember that when their priority is in seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness, then all their needs would be met by Him. In fact, Jesus taught that when folk worry about such things as eat, drink and clothing, they are demonstrating evidence of being an unbeliever, as only they tend to worry about such things. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I believe that if a preacher stood in the pulpit and declared the truths of this scripture to his audience in any given service, they would probably swear up and down that he had spies in their home, because I am convinced that we probably worry more about these same things than just about anyone that ever existed on earth. Friends, please correct me if you think I am wrong, but when we worry, we are really saying that we have no faith in God nor ourselves to correct a given situation or need. Look at verse 33 very carefully again: If we seek after God’s kingdom and what God wants, then He will meet all of our needs. God resides in His kingdom, so when we seek His kingdom, we are making every effort to live in a way pleasing to Him, because our top priority is to be where He is. Furthermore, we know for a fact that there will be no sin there, so we strive to live holy lives free from all sin. But what exactly does God want from us? Friends, may I encourage you to make it a priority to get into God’s Word on a daily basis, so that You might stay attuned to what He wants you to do? Seek His face and ask Him to direct you into the deep truths of His Word and enlighten you as to how the Word should be applied to your life each day. The reward for doing these things, according to the latter part of verse 33, is that He will meet all of our needs! Our God is so good friends, He desires an intimate relationship with His children and has promised to meet our needs, if we do our part. There is no way that we should let Him down. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Dear Jesus, You have shown us throughout Your Word that there is no need to worry, and no need to fret, for the same God that put this whole earth together, and the same God who demonstrated His love for us at Calvary, is the same God that declared that He will meet our needs, if we seek after the kingdom of God and what He wants. Lord, please forgive us for our selfishness in demanding so much without any effort to do what we are commanded. You have shown us the way, now please give us the desire to seek Your face and do Your will. This old world has impacted us in ways that have stripped away all Godly desires, but in this scripture today we are reminded that this may be the very cause of our earthly struggles. Lord, I pray that my readers and I will recommit to obedience to our Father, so that we can be more like You in a lost world, but also so You could meet our daily needs. Easy concept, but often harder than most of us can handle. We need You Heavenly Father. 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! | |
To Be Entrusted with God’s Most Precious Gift!
Tuesday, 2016-12-13
Scripture
Bible Reference: Luke 1:45
Bible Text: 45 You believed that God would do what he said; that is why he has given you this wonderful blessing.”
Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)
My Take
We might feel honored if we were asked to dine with the leader of our respective countries. We might feel even more honored if we were asked to work alongside of them – for the benefit of our country. We know very little about Mary prior to her being asked to carry the Son of God, but we are told that she was still a young lady who, although engaged to be married to Joseph, she had not yet had relations with a man. Let’s consider that as we think about our scenario friends. We walk into our churches for worship, and we walk in all the same way. The way we leave depends on us. Some attend because of habit or tradition, and I believe that often they leave feeling accomplished, because they have fulfilled the one obligation they feel like they owe to God for that week. Others attend because they are searching for more from God. They’ve come to a place where they realize that they need God in order to survive the evil and frustrations of this world, and they know that they need a Savior in order to one day be with Him in glory. So they try to connect with God through the songs, and they take out their Bibles so they could look at the scripture during the sermon delivery. I don’t feel like that’s because they want to make sure the preacher speaks truth from the Word of God, but rather, to look around the context and see what else God might be saying to them individually. Some of these folk, and I believe you know where you are placed in these descriptions I just gave, will leave church fulfilled, because they are satisfied that they have been in God’s presence and therefore they have renewed hope that God will continue to be with them each day that follows. I honestly believe that God knows the very depths of our heart and the sincerity of our innermost person. I have no idea where Mary would have fit into the scenarios I have just expressed, but God knew that He could trust her with the most precious gift that He had in store for all mankind – His very own Son – the Savior of this world. In all honesty to yourself and before our most holy and righteous God, where do you stand, friend? Just a passerby, or are you interested in being a part of the ministry of Jesus Christ? God may not have another son to give you dear sister, but for all of us, God has many other gifts that He would like to shower upon us, so that we might use those gifts to be a blessing to a child of His who needs to know His Son personally. Do you feel like you are in a position where God can entrust you with His most precious gifts, so that He might be glorified through you?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, although we know very little about Mary before you entrusted her with Your Son, I believe You knew all about her from the inside out. I also believe that You know us to the same extent. For some that brings joy, because we realize that our efforts to live a life dedicated to You is not going unnoticed by You. To others, this might bring shame and a feeling of disgrace, as they know that they are revolting in the face of a holy and righteous God. Lord, each of us are accountable to You for our every thought, action, deed and word. I pray that we will live our lives in such a way that You will grace us with Your presence and surround us with Your amazing love, so that our lives would be usable by You in many miraculous ways. Have Your will and way in our lives today dear Lord, I pray, AMEN!
Footnote
If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
Great Is His Faithfulness
Thursday, 2016-10-27
Scripture
Bible Reference: Lamentations 3:21-25
Bible Text: 21 But then I think about this, and I have hope: 22 We are still alive because the Lord’s faithful love never ends. 23 Every morning he shows it in new ways! You are so very true and loyal! 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my God, and I trust him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him. He is good to those who look for him.
Bible Translation: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
My Take
Perhaps yesterday was a very tough day for you, and your greatest fear for today is that things will only get worse. I believe that this snippet from God’s Word is intended to bring us HOPE friend, for in spite of the evil minds of those who tend to persecute us and hold us down, yet we are reminded that our God is forever faithful to His children – that’s us! In fact, how awesome is it to be reminded that the faithfulness of our God is refreshed, or anew every morning! Doesn’t this renew new strength and hope in us to: worship our God; sing praises to our awesome God; seek His forgiveness for us forgetting His love and power yesterday; and to face today with reassurance that we serve the very God who designed us and this universe where we live! It is that powerful God that cares for and loves us beyond all measure, and will care for us today, friend! There was a bus-line that had a slogan “leave the driving up to us”. I believe our reminder, and reassurance today, is that God wants us to cast our cares and concerns upon Him, leave them at His feet, and depend on Him to hold our hand and guide us lovingly through today with His total protection and extreme love that He wants to extend to those who will trust Him today. This brings me hope today friend, I trust that it will do the same for you!
Prayer
Oh what a Savior! Lord, I thank You for Your faithfulness, for it is not dependent on our perfection, or our efforts, or our capabilities. In fact, I would dare say that it appears like Your love is unconditional and so very evident especially when we are weak and tend to fail in our walk and talk as Your children. Oh that we may learn to love and care for others like that! Thank You Lord for the hope we have each day in knowing that You are our Rock, our Salvation, our Hope, our Protector, our Guide and our everlasting Savior! We need You today Lord, for we are facing a day with many unknowns. Please hold our hand – guide, protect and encourage us to face the day with confidence knowing that the almighty God is our Deliverer, and that You love us enough that all things will work together for our good. We are desperate children, in need of an awesome God! Please help us to trust You and place our total faith and trust in You, for I ask these things in the matchless name of Jesus, God’s Son, 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!
Nuggets From God's Word 