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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-04-18 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Mark 3:1-2 (Voice) |
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Text: |
1 On the Sabbath, Jesus had come into a synagogue where He saw a man with a withered hand.2 The Pharisees held their breath: would Jesus cure this man on the Sabbath, right there in front of everyone? If so, they could charge Him with breaking the Sabbath law. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| It is interesting to see how evil the leaders (the Pharisees) of one religious sect (the Jews) could be, and how persistent they could be about trapping the leader (Jesus) of another sect (Christians). Why it was becoming a threat to their longstanding beliefs and practices. Aren’t you happy that those practices were all due to the immaturity, prejudices and hatred of that day? Or were they?…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
I have always remembered the words of a tour guide that took my family and I through Fort Charlotte, in the Bahamas. He showed us, and explained to us, how the stretch chamber was used when the British soldiers wanted to force the captured pirates to talk. His words still echo in my mind: “sure glad I wasn’t born in those days. ha, ha, ha”! Those words came to mind as I read these verses, because I’m afraid that many of us sit innocent in our church services and really criticize the Jews for being so awful to Jesus. And while I could agree with you, I believe we often ignore how much of that attitude we still bring to our churches today. Having just celebrated Easter and our risen Lord, our hearts are probably still overflowing with thanksgiving after being reminded about all that Jesus did for us at Calvary. We probably celebrated in worship more this past weekend than we have in a long time. But how is it going for most of you after being back in the workforce for a part of the week? I realize that for most of us, we could easily get defensive about how precious our own churches are, but friends I would encourage you to pray a hedge of protection around your pastor(s) and teachers, for Satan is out to attack them in much the same way as the Pharisees did to Jesus. In fact, many of them have probably received way more emails, letters and/or visits to criticize the efforts of Resurrection Sunday than to thank them and encourage them for their efforts amidst family visiting with them and the normal day-to-day pressures of pastoring. Can you imagine the awe of what our worship times together could be, if we:
Friends, I truly believe that when we prepare our hearts like this, we will find less time and importance in seeking out the bad in our pastor and church leaders, and the hypocrite sitting two rows in front of us, and instead this will lead us to open the doors of heaven and seek Jesus for who He is, and ask for His perfection in our lives so that we might be usable vessels in His earthly ministry. You see, there’s way too much need personally, than to waste our time trying to be God and judge everyone around us. That’s not a part of worship to our heavenly Father. |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Dear Lord Jesus, please humble our hearts so that we might seek Your perfection in our lives. Please humble us to serve You and others instead of waiting to be catered to in all walks of life. Help us to imitate You in all walks of life, so that others might be reminded of You, Your character, love and godliness. ‘People need the Lord’, oh that we might encourage and provoke that desire into reality, rather than being a stumbling block that might turn them away forever. You’re in control of us dear Jesus, and You control those around us, please help us to communicate with You about the needs that we see, rather than trying to invoke our own ideologies on the needy that we come into contact with. May it be obvious to others today, 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! | |
Category: Witness
Good News!
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-04-11 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Mark 1:14-15 (NLT) |
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Text: |
14 Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. 15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| The order of events shows that Jesus showed up to be baptized by His forerunner, John the Baptist; He was then ordered to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan; then He returned to begin His earthly ministry of sharing the best news ever – God’s Good News of the home He has prepared for His saints to settle in one day with He and His precious Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. There is nothing that would match this good news when shared with people of this earth! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| This great news that Jesus shared with the people of Galilee, is still the greatest news that we can share with the world today, friends! Pastors do this from our pulpits, teachers do this through Bible studies and/or Sunday School and those who have that assurance of salvation – Christians, we share this each and every day through our words and through our actions. Ever stopped to ponder what message you are unconsciously getting across to those you work with or associate with every day? Unfortunately the unsaved have chosen to reject the Bible and its teachings, but they are constantly looking for a life, or a witness, that appears happy and successful to them, so that they may seek the source of that joy. And that’s where Christians come in, it’s not how often we attend church, or how good we are at quoting parts of the Bible. Friends, they are looking for changed lives – ones that stand out and are sincerely living a life that imitates everything they have heard about Jesus. I believe that our takeaway from this Scripture today is that the Good News must still go out to the unsaved today, if they are ever expected to know and believe on Jesus. Are we conveying that message through the lives we live? May our words be reflective of the Good News of Jesus Christ that we live our lives by, so that the world might know. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ and the salvation of those that believe on Him, was of super importance to Jesus. If we are to live like Him, then we must follow in His footsteps and fulfill the ministry of the saints to share the love of Jesus and the saving grace that comes form Him alone. The world needs this, but how will they know unless we tell them? Lord, please direct Your children today. As you share the Good News, may we follow in doing the same today. Amen! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
A Test of your Belief System
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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-04-10 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Matthew 28:7-8 (NLT) |
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Text: |
7 And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”
8 The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| The women referred to in verse 8 witnessed a second earthquake in just 3 days, for they were at the cross when Jesus died and the first one occurred, now as they arrived at the tomb to check on the body of Jesus, another earthquake occurred as He arose from the dead. Ordinarily this would put folk in a panic, but these ladies waited for the message from the angel, then ran to give the message to the disciples! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
There were three types of hearers in this resurrection story:
Friends, as you celebrate this Easter season, I pray that in all honesty, your eyes will be opened to placing yourself in one of these categories. My prayer is that God will convict you to move up the above list in your belief and conviction system, and that you will be open to the gospel message one more time. Although Jesus arose from the grave many years ago, I pray that He will truly come alive in your life this year! |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, the Bible speaks very clearly about Your death and resurrection, and from eyewitnesses, the evidence is clear that You are alive! Thank You Father for the evidence of Your mighty works in my life – clear evidence of a heavenly Father who loves me and, through Your precious Son, prepared a way for me to approach You as my Father! Lord, may my experience with You be such that others may see You and have a greater desire to know You better, and this is my prayer in deepest sincerity, 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! | |
Traitor
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-03-31 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Matthew 26:47-50 (NLT) |
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Text: |
47 … Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people. 48 The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss.” 49 So Judas came straight to Jesus. “Greetings, Rabbi!” he exclaimed and gave him the kiss. 50 Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, spending His last hours in this world before His Father in earnest prayer. He knew the moment that this event would take place and He knew who would be the instigator. In fact it would be one very close to Him, but He also knew the pain, agony and public disgrace that was in store for Him as the following events took place. I’m sure that Jesus was no different to us, in that His greatest hurt came from the betrayal by one who was close to Him, and not a stranger who had always hated Him and protested His ministry. Can this possibly apply to us?…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| My blog title today is ‘Traitor’, because that’s what Judas is often characterized as. Being specifically called by Jesus to be one of His close followers, who Jesus poured life and ministry into, and who Jesus expected to carry on the ministry after His departure, I believe it is obvious that Jesus had great expectations for Judas and His other disciples. So to see this change in Judas, I’m sure was devastating to Jesus and to the other disciples. In fact, I’m sure that they felt very betrayed by Judas. This part of the Bible is challenging for us to wrap our minds around, isn’t it? In fact, aren’t you glad that the whole event is behind us. Surely there can’t be anyone else around that would do such an awful thing, right? Or is there? Look deeply inside of yourself for a moment. Can you think of a time when you may have been ashamed of something that you said to a friend about the ministry of Christ that you thought was less than godly? Perhaps, instead of calling a prayer meeting to pray for your pastor, or an elder, or a deacon, or another church member, you joined in a conversation intended to bash the individual. Was that showing the same love that Christ offers to you, or do you suppose that you may have betrayed the ministry of Jesus Christ and His mission? Perhaps you’ve had friends praying with you about a personal situation that has really affected your. Were you able to brag with your coworkers about the love of God in answering your prayer, or did you have to ‘mellow’ and tell them what awesome luck came your way? If so, you missed an opportunity to witness to your coworkers about the awesome God who answers even your prayers. You also said to God thanks, but no thanks, for your good luck charm did more good than your prayers to Him. Is that Christ honoring, or is that denying the love and power of the awesome God that You serve? As you reflect on these verses friend, may I encourage you to look inward, instead of beating up on the person and actions of Judas. Don’t be a ‘traitor’ or ‘betrayer’ friend. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, this is a tough lesson for us, because our eyes are opened to the fact that we still do almost as bad as Judas sometimes. You showed Your love for us publicly on a cross, yet we do our best to keep our relationship with You undercover to the general public, because we don’t want to be rejected just because we are Your follower. Lord, may You rule and reign in our lives, and may we boldly declare Your majesty, love and power to all that we come into contact with. May You receive honor, praise and glory from our actions and never feel betrayed, but Lord we need Your power daily, so that we may remain strong and eternally faithful. Bless us oh Lord, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
How Long Do I Have?
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-03-21 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Matthew 24:37-42 (TLB) |
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Text: |
37-38 “The world will be at ease – banquets and parties and weddings – just as it was in Noah’s time before the sudden coming of the Flood; 39 people wouldn’t believe what was going to happen until the Flood actually arrived and took them all away. So shall my coming be.
40 “Two men will be working together in the fields, and one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be going about their household tasks; one will be taken, the other left. 42 “So be prepared, for you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus took the opportunity to further explain how it will be when He returns to take His church/His children home to glory. Like many serious events in our lifetime here on earth, it won’t be on our timetable. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| At my church there is a group that I shepherd, and back in December we had our Christmas party all planned out, including a few things I wanted to share as part of a devotional. Well guess what, I surprisingly wound up spending that time period in the hospital and the party had to go on without me. In our verses today, there is another such story in the Bible where Noah was commissioned to find the righteous in his area. Finding none, he was ordered to build a boat in the middle of the land. This made as much sense to the people as someone today building an airplane in a high-rise downtown New York city! But Noah was an obedient servant who left the logistics of launching that huge ship up to the God who ordered him to build it. Friends, doctors today have been blessed with such talent, and they have so many technologies available to help them analyze their diagnosis of a patient, yet I believe that most of us head home from a doctor’s visit and research on the internet all side effects of any medications prescribed, or any new diagnosis shared by the doctor. I wonder how many go home from a church service and research more about what their pastor shared in his sermon! I wonder how many go to the main resource for life, the Bible, to see what God says about current world events, or personal issues they are dealing with! I wonder how many see enough of Jesus in Christians that they ask “what is your source of hope, because I need some of that!” I wonder what we will say to Jesus when questioned about a family member or friend that we never warned about the separation that will come when Jesus returns, should they not have heard about or accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior! I believe that doctors have gotten a whole lot better at telling their patients the truth about their evaluation of their remaining life. I hope that my fellow Christians and myself will do a better job of doing the same. The Bible tells us that can be at any time Jesus sees fit. Let’s not ‘sugar-coat’ that news as we glory with those who are ready, or challenge those who are not ready to go. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Come Lord Jesus, even today! Lord, I pray that we, Your children, will be honest in telling the BIG news today, even though for some that will be so challenging that they may reject us. All the same, please help us to be very honest and not tell them what we think they want to hear. Your Word is a light unto our path, and that same Word tells us that Your return is eminent, and could be at any given moment. Praise God for all who are reading this devotional and know that they are ready to see Jesus, now may we all be busy sharing with our family and friends the clear path to eternal life, God being our helper. Thank You Lord Jesus for being the Way, the Truth and the Light for all mankind, 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! | |
Only God
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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-03-13 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Exodus 14:31 (AMP) |
|
Text: |
31 When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord [with reverence and awe-filled respect], and they believed in the Lord, and in His servant Moses. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| The Israelites had a hard time trusting Moses and his God, as they suffered through the heat, drought and weariness of wandering through the wilderness, even though God came through for them on many occasions. Here on yet another occasion it became evident to the Israelites that only God could hold the waters back so they could walk through the Red Sea on dry land, and only God could give the command to fill the sea back, after the Israelites were safely on the other side and the Egyptians were dead center in the middle of it when it collapsed on top of them. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| We could see where the episode detailed in our Scripture verses today is yet another in a series of miracles that God performed to help gain the confidence and trust of the Israelites that He allowed Moses to lead away from Egypt. At the conclusion of this particular episode, the Israelites were able to look back in wonderment of what God had just done to bring them safely through a body of water, then how He used that same body of water to destroy their slave-masters – the Egyptian army. Is this what’s missing from our culture today? I believe that miracles still occur, but are they getting passed off as happen-chance, or good luck, or great doctors? How about when a young drug addict is drawn to the Lord, is it ever said that it was because of the prayers of a praying mom and dad, that God got to the heart of that son or daughter and drew them to Himself? Friends, we are quickly approaching the Easter season where we are reminded of the resurrected Lord. He is still on the throne and still very active in the lives of His children. Yes we can tell the stories of miracles from the Bible so that we could be reminded of the power of our God, but we must never forget that He is still on the throne; He still answers the prayers of His children; and that He still performs miracles even today. Drug addicts and those trapped by Satan will quickly tell you of the dark underground where they live. Now if only Christians will be as quick to brag about the power of God in their lives each day! When you see answered prayer, believe me, that was a miracle of God, not because of any power of yours or your pastor’s. Be ready and willing to praise and thank God for the miracles, and always be ready to brag on your miracles so that others may see, or hear, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Israelites saw and believed – your friends can do the same, if you remain faithful and give God the glory! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Father, it took miracle after miracle to get through to the stubborn hearts of the Israelites that You carefully led out of slavery in Egypt. There are many of our friends, neighbors and family who are enslaved to the greater sins of this world today, and You have placed us plum in the middle of all this so that we could expose them to the miracle of the gospel. Please touch your children once again today dear Lord and give us boldness to declare the goodness of the Lord. We are thankful for the miracles we see each and every day through answered prayer, please help us to use those experiences to brag on You before an unbelieving world. May they see Jesus through our eyes, so they may understand the Miracle Worker that we love and adore. May they seek Your saving grace even today dear Lord, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
Know Jesus So You May Obey Him
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-03-03 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Exodus 5:1-2 (TLB) |
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Text: |
1 … Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They told him, “We bring you a message from Jehovah, the God of Israel. He says, ‘Let my people go, for they must make a holy pilgrimage out into the wilderness, for a religious feast, to worship me there.’”2 “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is Jehovah, that I should listen to him, and let Israel go? I don’t know Jehovah and I will not let Israel go.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Pharaoh challenged Moses and Aaron as to why should he obey the commands that their God sent them to convey to him. In not knowing the same God that Moses and Aaron knew, loved and worshipped, Pharaoh refused to obey what the two brothers relayed to him from their God. After all, why should an unbeliever obey a god that they don’t know, and that we feel is genuine? | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| To tell someone that I met for the first time, that I have the best wife in the whole world, they may look at me and admire how well programmed I am to say those words to even a stranger. To tell that stranger that my wife said that they must not eat certain foods because it will destroy their bodies, they may look at me like I’ve really lost my mind, or perhaps ask me to get out of their face. However, if my healthy looking wife walked into the room and became acquainted with them and answered their questions about nutrition and how she attributes her great health to certain diet restrictions that she follows every day, the stranger may become more apt to accept what she says – listen and obey. As I read this Scripture this morning it was like God stopped me and made me ponder for a while that aren’t Christians doing the same thing as Moses and Aaron> Think about it, we become very spiritually fed during our weekend services and as we enter our weekday we try to share, or some may even demand some of the scriptural commands on those we work with, or come across during our day. If they don’t know God, why would they listen to us or consider obeying what we try to convince them that God said? I am very convinced that the most important thing Christians can do for unbelievers is to live life in total obedience to God, so that we can convince them that God is impacting our life. Secondly, don’t ‘beat around the bush’ about why we act the way we do, or why we attend church, or why we don’t care about their crude jokes, or why God is so important in every decision we make. When a person’s heart is touched by the Lord, THEN and only THEN will they want to hear what God has to say to them. Let’s remember, we are not in the sales business, we simply bear witness to the Truth, and He will do the convincing. Remember, He intricately designed the heart, and He knows exactly what it takes to reach that heart with the love and acceptance of Jesus Christ. When we go over and above what God intended, or leads us towards, we actually cause walls to be erected by the unbeliever. Are you meeting many folk like Pharaoh? How’s your witness for our Lord, convincing to the unbeliever? Remember, God is the One who does the convincing and the saving, we are merely the earthly vessels that He might use to help in that process. Let’s not get the order messed up and confuse the unbeliever as to who brings salvation into their lives! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, You’ve shown us through the story of Pharaoh how challenging it is to obey Your commands if we don’t know the Commander personally. Please forgive us for often reversing that order and expecting our friends to like the things we like or go the places we go, when their hearts are often polluted with so much of the world. Please continue to work on believers so that we may simply desire to be conduits through which You can share Your love, Your salvation message, and Your grace, so that others may see and believe. I am anxious to be used by You through circumstance yet unknown today. May Your will be done, oh Lord, my Rock and my salvation, 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 | |
|
From: |
Exodus 3:10-12 (Voice) |
|
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! | |
Your Ashamedness vs God’s Ashamedness
Friday, 2016-11-25
Scripture
Bible Reference: Luke 9:23-26
Bible Text: 23 Jesus continued to say to all of them, “Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you every day for following me. 24 Any of you who try to save the life you have will lose it. But you who give up your life for me will save it. 25 It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are destroyed or lost. 26 Don’t be ashamed of me and my teaching. If that happens, I[a] will be ashamed of you when I come with my divine greatness and that of the Father and the holy angels.
Bible Translation: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
My Take
While on the way to a business reception I remember being challenged in the presence of about 4 others, why is that I don’t drink alcoholic beverages and whether it was related to my religious beliefs. I’m not sure if the businessman was starting to think that he might be ashamed of me while at the reception if I was one of the few not drinking, but I believe it was intended to question my Christian stand on the subject of drinking alcohol. There are many other stories I hear of individuals being challenged with similar questions. At times, I believe it opens the door for entertainment while the Christian is put on the spot about a belief that may be contrary to the worldly beliefs of others in the group, but I also believe that many times Satan is using his messengers to challenge us on our beliefs so that we may question our selves and possibly sweep our God-infused beliefs ‘under the rug’. Friends, there are many times that it is safer to blend in with the rest, than to stand out like a sore thumb, all alone in believing something contrary to the crowd. Might I suggest that this challenge is our ‘cross’ that we must carry every day? Let’s compare for a moment. Jesus carried a cross all the way up to Calvary that He knew He would be hung on to die. He also knew that, as the Son of God, He had all power to reverse the whole crucifixion, for we know that previously He had disappeared from a crowd of witness during His earthly ministry. He had miraculously turned water into wine, caused the blind to see and brought the dead back to life. Was there something about this crucifixion that was more difficult or impossible than any of the miracles just mentioned? However, remember when He prayed to His Father in the garden? In response to His own pleading for the cup of suffering to be taken from Him, Jesus said to His Father “none the less, may Your will be done”. Now let’s consider our ‘cross’ that we are called to carry every day. Like Jesus, we may commit to Him in private that we are determined to carry our ‘cross’ each day. However, like Peter, I believe we often cave in to the popular thing to do – the joys of partying and going along with the crowd, even if it takes us into choice areas that we would never agree to, if we sought to do the will of God withough any worldly pressures. Friends, I believe this all boils down to two things: First – Popularity – which means that we want to be super popular with the organizer of an event where we may have to compromise, or we just allow Satan to misguide us into putting God into a ‘box’ – a segregated comfortable ‘box’ we call the church, or even in the privacy of our home. We want to fit in with the crowd. However, Secondly – is Integrity – which means that we will stand firm to our commitment to serve God in season and out of season; at church or on the byways and at our parties or worldly events. Friends, if we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, then transgress to living like the world, are we not saying that we are ok being a Christian in private, but publicly we are really ashamed of standing up for what God really teaches in His Word? Please allow me to be the first to tell you: that is not being a person of integrity. If you commit to something, or someone, let it exude from your mouth, your actions and every aspect of your life. If it’s in you, it will exude from you! I feel like these verses basically say that when we choose to be popular, or feel ashamed to be obedient to God, we are showing that we are ashamed of Him. Isn’t that the same as saying that you are really not sure that you want to commit to God for all aspects of your life? God declares that if this happens, He will shun us when He returns, for He will be ashamed of us. Is that what you truly want to happen? I pray that each of you reading this devotional today will stand firm and practice obedience to everything God teaches you to say and do, God being your helper!
Prayer
Lord, as I reflect on this today, my mind goes back to the sign that I see near the exit of many churches ‘you are now entering your mission field’, for daily we leave the comfort of our homes, and the safety of our commitment to you, to be bombarded by the practices of the world and the dictates of it’s leader. Lord, I pray that daily we can mimick Your words to Your Father and commit ourselves in saying: not my will oh Lord, but may the words of our mouth, the meditation of our heart and the actions we take, be pleasing to You and represent Your compassion for our lives and witness, 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!
Live Before God The Testimony You Portray Before Man
Saturday, 2016-11-12
Scripture
Bible Reference: Isaiah 1:14–17
Bible Text: I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.
Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)
My Take
In the days that Isaiah addressed his writings, there were sacrifices at the temple for just about every thing imaginable. However, based on my understanding of Isaiah’s message, I believe God became very agitated at all of the sacrifices while still seeing the same folk who brought the sacrifices live just like the rest of the world, trying to cover up their worldliness by bringing sacrifices and visiting the temple often. In The Message, I feel like Eugene Peterson did a great job in presenting this scripture in terms that really opens our minds to where, and how, we still live today. For I believe that way too often we sit back and read about Old Testament teachings and just can’t get over the awful things they did back then. Friends, unfortunately I believe that God had these words placed in His Book of Instruction (the Bible), because He knew that His people who are often called by His name today, would still try to pull off the same nonsense, assuming that their testimony to man is taken at surface level, because they just can’t see what goes on in the hearts and minds of so called ‘Christians’. I believe that God would have me remind us today that it is the testimony before God that really matters, for only He can match the words from our lips with the intent of our heart, our very thoughts, and our outward actions. I can give you a good example, I believe: I live in a small community where it appears like very few attend a regular church service – a normal indication of an inward decision they may have made to the Lord. My wife and I usually hear comments about how often we leave for a church meeting of one type or another. And not that we have attained perfection, by any stretch of our imagination, but we often hear remarks about our attitude, our commitment and our stand as a Christian. Imagine if those things were opposing to the first remark that I said we often hear, do you suppose we would ever be able to witness to our neighbor. However, as indicated already, God is able to deal with me in passages of scripture like this, because He knows my very thoughts, and He sees my actions in all aspects of life, so I feel like God is ministering to me in much the same way that I pray you would be impacted as you meditate on this devotional today. Friends, I am convinced that God wants us to reach for the perfection that He demonstrated for us, and stop using the excuses like “Well, I’m only human”, or “Oops, I shouldn’t have thought or said that, but God knows I’m not perfect”. I believe that God wants the church to be the church. In other words, I believe that He desires to see the world become confused when they deal with Christians and find them to be totally different to the rest of the world. In fact, it should make them feel like they just had an encounter with Jesus! Unfortunately we still find today that there are multiple opportunities for folk to attend church. I pray that as we exit the doors of our churches, we would carry with us the likeness of Jesus Christ. That we would unashamedly be His hands; His feet and His witness to a world that desperately need Him as Savior and Lord. May our actions, attitudes and thoughts enhance the picture that the world sees, and not be a stumbling block to those who need to know our Savior, because of the hypocrisy that they may witness in our lives.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, You were so serious about Your love for us, that You allowed Your very own Son to die a cruel death for our salvation. Yet I believe that You probably have as much need as ever before to be upset at us for being so casual about our Christian life and walk here on earth. Please forgive us Lord, and renew within us a right spirit so that the words from our lips, the thoughts from our hearts and the desires of our very being, may always be acceptable in Your sight, our Rock; our Redeemer; our Savior and our Lord, AMEN!
Footnote
If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
Nuggets From God's Word 