The Holy Bible – The Good News Translation

John 7:16-18

16 Jesus answered, “What I teach is not my own teaching, but it comes from God, who sent me. 17 Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority. 18 A person who speaks on his own authority is trying to gain glory for himself. But he who wants glory for the one who sent him is honest, and there is nothing false in him.

My Thoughts:
The people recognized that that Jesus was an awesome teacher. However Jesus wanted to make it clear that His words came directly from the Father. I believe that verse 18 helped to open my eyes to what we see in churches today. In other words, when we see someone trying to gain glory, or attention to themselves, they are speaking from their own auhority. Unfortunately we see this in preachers, teachers and other leaders, at times. Let’s remember that our godly responsibility is to pray for those who teach us, not make fun of them or ridicule them. That’s where God takes over. Fortunately though, we also have preachers and teachers who displays a true sensitivity to God and His Holy Spirit, and therefore there is a deep honesty about him and nothing false. OK, so what is in this for the laity, like you and I? 1). We have been given the litmus test to help us decide on whether we are being fed the honest truth of God’s Word, or whether we are seeing a popularity contest, or perhaps a self promotion. This helps us to place ourselves under the right preaching/teaching so that we can be truly taught by God. 2). Look inwardly and allow God to show you any faults that may be evident in your life. Perhaps you are the false teacher/preacher. Are you promoting self every opportunity, or are you standing behind the cross of Christ, with Him as your spokesman so that His work might be accomplished? Let Him have His way in your life, friend. Don’t just let Him be the ‘co-pilot’ in your life, but give Him the wheel and let Him pilot you through this life. Let Him receive glory for all that is accomplished in your life and in your ministry.

My Payer:
Lord Jesus, it is so easy to sit back an gloat on the praise that others may give you. Yes, I know it is meant to encourage me and lift me up, but dear Lord, I need the strength and wisdom to pass those praises right on up to You. For without You in my life, without You guiding me every step of the way, my impact on a loss world would be non-existant. Please continue to use my talents and my willingness to serve for Your glory and hopefully the growth of Your church. Please help me to display so much of You that those that I come into contact with may receive Your glory. Please forgive me Lord for those times that I may have promoted self instead of You, the One who makes this whole life possible, and worth it all! To God be the glory, is my constant praise!

Please contact me at NuggestsFromGodsWord@yahoo.com if I might pray with you about a need you would like to surrender to The Lord. If you do not know the Lord in a very personal way, please contact a local pastor of a Bible believing church or also contact me by email. One of us could help you make the most important decision of your life!

The Holy Bible – The Good News Translation

1 Kings 18:21

Elijah went up to the people and said, “How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the LORD is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!” But the people didn’t say a word.

My Thoughts:

No doubt there are some that may read this today and say like I did, Please forgive me Lord for the times when people that I came into contact with may not have recognized who exactly I was serving. Whose side I was on? Was I a Christian, or was I just one of the guys, they may have asked themselves. Friends, I believe that when it comes to parties, or work places or family events or anywhere else we are among people, we must be good representations of our Lord Jesus. Now for some, this will mean that they must be very stiff-necked and not capable of having any fun with non-Christians. I don’t believe that this is what God intended when He said that we are a peculiar people. I believe that we are to be followers of Christ, and this alone will reflect some vast differences in the things we say and the way that we act, compared to those that have no such guidelines for their lives. The problem Elijah had with the prophets is that they would ride the fence, so they were no good to the king, or anyone else. Friends, we are of no earthy good if we live a life pretending to be someone through our speech, but in the presence of others we act totally different. Remember, God knows the inside, so we are not fooling Him. Best of all, remember that God is a loving and forgiving God who wants to see His kids succeed, so call on Him and watch Him perform miracles in your lives that will help us to be the kids He intended us to be. Friends, I believe that Christianity is losing ground today because of ‘Christians’ who fail to be who they claim they are. They consider us ‘hypocrites’, or personal failures! God’s kids are royalty – let’s live up to that, with God as our constant helper!

My Prayer:

As in my remarks, please forgive me oh Lord for the times that I have been so much on the fence that others really couldn’t tell if I was a follower or not. I know this really saddens You, because You see the detrimental effect this is having on our lost world today. Please strengthen Your people today and give us extra boldness to stand up for You. Help us to be bold in our character, so that every word and action may be reflective of what You would have us do, or of what You did while here on earth. Help us to get off the fence oh Lord, for I believe that You could use real warriors today, knowing that You can trust them to be who they claim to be. Knowing that they are doing a great job representing You.

 

Please contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@yahoo.com if I could pray with you about any needs in your life, especially any that may improve your spiritual condition with our Lord.

The Holy Bible – The Good News Translation

1 Ki 15:3–5

But for David’s sake, the LORD his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem and to keep Jerusalem secure. The LORD did this because David had done what pleased him and had never disobeyed any of his commands, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

My Thoughts:

Over the past few chapters I noticed where the Word declares that God did certain things “for the sake of David”. I was excited to read in the scripture above the reason why God did so much ‘for David’s sake’. Wow, he did it because David had always pleased Him and obeyed His commands, except of course in the case of having the husband of Bathsheba killed. Isn’t it interesting how today we use the excuse that, after all, we are only ‘human’? David showed us that this is really no excuse at all. Even more exciting is the good news that God will not only bless us, but our ancestors also, when we do our part and be faithful and obedient to Him? We often say that what we are doing is not for self recognition, but praise the Lord, my Jesus (the One that I do it all for) sees and  blesses for generations. Be encouraged friend, that what we do for Jesus has eternal benefits!

My Prayer:

Dear God, in Your Word You have given us instructions and direction on how to live. Please forgive me for thinking that I know better than You and therefore live my life in disobedience at times. Please be my Strength, Guide, Director and Encourager to consistently obey You and live according to Your commands. Please speak to the hearts of my friends that will meditate on this devotional today. Remind them of Your love, and of all that You did for saints that have gone on before us, like in the case of David, so that they may be even more determined to know You in a very personal way, and live their lives in accordance with Your will and Your commands. Thank You for loving us in this way!

The Holy Bible: The Good news Translation

1 Ki 11:9–11 (Key verses)

^9–10 Even though the LORD, the God of Israel, had appeared to Solomon twice and had commanded him not to worship foreign gods, Solomon did not obey the LORD, but turned away from him. So the LORD was angry with Solomon
¹¹ and said to him, “Because you have deliberately broken your covenant with me and disobeyed my commands, I promise that I will take the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your officials.

³⁹ Because of Solomon’s sin I will punish the descendants of David, but not for all time.

^14:9 You have committed far greater sins than those who ruled before you. You have rejected me and have aroused my anger by making idols and metal images to worship. Because of this I will bring disaster on your dynasty and will kill all your male descendants, young and old alike. I will get rid of your family; they will be swept away like dung.

My Thoughts:
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my life today?)

I believe that the thing that bothered me most while growing up, was to disappoint my parents or those that may have had charge over me at the time. I always wanted them to be proud of me, and not feel let down because of something I may have done or said. In the chapters I studied today I was vividly reminded that my Heavenly Father is much the same way. He had promised so much to David, then He promised so much to his son Solomon. However, He was up front about what He promised them. He said that they would be blessed IF they are obedient. Like us, Solomon must have thought that his blessings were self-earned and that he couldn’t be touched, so he went off in his own direction doing his own thing. We generally have the same misfortune as he had – anytime we decide to do our own thing, it means that we are not doing God’s will. Friend, I was reminded about how this must hurt my Father. He sacrificed His only begotten Son (Jesus) and allowed Him to suffer and be humiliated, and die on a cruel old cross, so that I might have a better life. The hope of glory – in heaven with Him when I graduate from this world! But imagine hurting such a loving Father? And that is exactly what happens when we deliberately turn from God, disobey Him, go our own way, do our own thing, disregard His love. Wow, what an eye opener to the things that I do or say that may not be in line with God’s Word – the Bible. Friend, examine yourself and decide to correct your ways also today, if you are weak and disobedient like I am at times. Let’s rededicate our lives to serving our Master! Let’s ask for help to be obedient servants of the King. Ones He could be proud of, and continue to bless.

My Prayer
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord Jesus, You have heard my heart in my above thoughts and I sincerely need Your help in being dedicated to serving You with all of my fiber through my actions, my words and my obedience. May my life be pleasing in Your sight through everything that I am about. I cannot judge my friends, but I pray that as they meditate on this devotional, that they would examine their own lives in light of Your Word and that they will individually get their lives in order also. Our wicked world needs to see more examples of You so that they can be drawn to You, please begin this process through me and any friend that asks for the same after meditating on this devotional.

 

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
**

The Bible – Good News Translation

1 Kings 8:23

…there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You keep your covenant with your people and show them your love when they live in wholehearted obedience to you.

My Thoughts:

So often I hear servants of God speak about God not being a puppet for us. In other words, he is not a genie just waiting on our next command, especially when we live like the devil. In the scripture today, Solomon was dedicating the awesome temple he had made, and he was well aware of God’s direction and help all through the construction, so at the conclusion he had a serious prayer to God. As part of his praise time in that prayer, Solomon thanked God for keeping His covenant with His people and showing His love to them, but then comes the kicker – WHEN they live in wholehearted obedience to God. I always like to look at the words of a verse and think about the opposite effect. First of all, if they are not obedient God will not keep His end of the bargain. I believe there are many examples in scripture that show proof of this. But God spoke to me through this, and showed me that when things appear to be going sideways, or backwards for me and my back seems to be against the wall with no place to go, I need to re-examine my life, my obedience factor, my relationship with God. In other words, I need revival in my life. So often we blame these type things on Satan, or tough times, or the government, or a thousand other reasons, but friend, these type indicators may very well be God trying to get our attention so that we could redirect our lives towards Him. Where are you at today friend? Is God truly in control and receiving your full obedience? Perhaps this might be a good reality check time for you! Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you, friend.

My Prayer:

Father, You have provided so much for me and continue to watch over me every day. You have given me the roadmap of where You would have me go, You have provided the power source – through Your precious Son, and the direction all throughout Your Word, like in this prayer of Solomon’s today. You have promised me a wonderful home in glory, with You! Please get my attention each time that You see me getting off track, and help me stay focused on the things that really matter – Your commands and imitating Your character. Your covenant is key to my Christian life, please help me to keep my end of the covenant at all times. Lord Jesus, it is also important to me that my friends are where they need to be in You, so as they meditate on this devotional today, please convict them of any area of their life that need attention so that they may also receive Your blessings.

**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@yahoo.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray.

The Bible – Good News Translation

1 Kings 3:9

…give me the wisdom I need to rule your people with justice and to know the difference between good and evil. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours?” 

My Thoughts:

I don’t know about you friend, but there are so many times in my life when I face decisions that I have had no previous experience with, or the results of which could have serious impacts on myself, my family or my employees. I often take these before God and ask for wisdom to make the right decision. In reading this passage about King Solomon, I saw where he humbled himself and went before God and asked for the wisdom to rule the people well. Now I believe that means that he wanted to rule them in a way pleasing to God. Each day that we are blessed to place our feet on the floor and begin making decisions, we have no idea what a day may bring forth. Therefore, it is critical at that very moment that we humble ourselves, like Solomon did, and seek God’s face and direction for whatever may come our way that day, that we may respond with the heart of God and for His glory. Friend, if we don’t do this, Satan will begin working on us the very next step that we make. I don’t know about you, but I need, and I want God directing my path, not Satan.

My Prayer:

Lord Jesus,  please forgive me for the times that I’ve tried to do things on my own. You know better than I how I’ve made bad decisions and sometimes how they affected others. Please remind me, and give me the boldness to come to Your throne daily and ask for the wisdom to make right decisions and in a way that would bring honor and glory to You, for it’s You oh Lord that I live for, adore and want to please with every fiber of my being. For my friends that may read this devotional today, please anoint them with Your power to also be dependent on You for the decisions they make. I love this song that reminds me of the commitment I need with Jesus on decision making: Everyday Lord, it’s You I live for!

The Holy Bible: The Good news Translation (2nd ed., 2 Sa 22:21–25).

²¹ Lord rewards me because I do what is right;

he blesses me because I am innocent.

²² I have obeyed the law of the Lord;

I have not turned away from my God.

²³ I have observed all his laws;

I have not disobeyed his commands.

²⁴ He knows that I am faultless,

that I have kept myself from doing wrong.

²⁵ And so he rewards me because I do what is right,

because he knows that I am innocent.

 

 

Thoughts:

In verses 21 thru 24 David took a bold step in presenting himself as one who: 1). Does Right; 2). Obeyed the law of the Lord and not turned away from Him; 3). Observed all of the laws of the Lord and His commands; and then went on to add that he knows that God will find him faultless. Could you ever imagine anyone being so bold as to say those things before a holy and perfect God? Wow, I hope that one day I could feel so convinced that my walk had been so much on target. This has caused me to reflect back on David’s life, and I recall that in spite of his sins told in scripture, there are so many cases where David would not make a decision until he consulted with God. Then there were no apologies for what he asked his people to do, because he knew where the instructions came from, and he knew there was no choice but to obey. Isn’t it funny how we tend to waiver and doubt so much, especially when we have added our two cents in and diluted the truth of God with our views? Now let’s look at verse 25, David was able to confirm that he had been rewarded because of all the things he bragged about in verses 21 thru 24! That’s exciting, because often here on this earth we follow God’s commands and make sure that others follow the plan, but we never hear the accolades. Praise be to God, it is for Him that we are obedient, not for the world. Anytime we flip the purpose to do what the world wants, we are not following God’s plan. “Well done, good and faithful servant” are the words that we long to hear when He calls us home to glory! What a day that will be!

 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You for providing Your book of instructions and for planting into our hearts the desire to study Your Word and allow it to saturate our lives. As it becomes a part of our lives, I pray that You will empower us to live it and be obedient to what You would say to us through it. Thank You for tugging on our hearts and directing us each day, so that the world might see Jesus in and through us. Lord, You are awesome and so worthy of our praise! Thank You for allowing me to be a child of the King. Thank You for making the provision through sending (sacrificing) Your Son as a substitute for my sin!

 

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
**

Scripture: 2 Samuel 22.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

2 Samuel 22:1 (GNT)

When the LORD saved David from Saul and his other enemies, David sang this song to the LORD:

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my life today?)

God blesses us each and every day with more things than we can enumerate in one setting, but what do we say or do in return? I am most upset when a rude child snatches something from me without ever saying “thank you”. David went on for a whole Psalm (chapter) praising God for watching over him and protecting him. Recently I have seen so many wrecks in our area, some ending in death to at least one of the parties. Regrettably this has not prompted me to give God thanks for watching over and protecting me every day that I travel 18 miles to work. School personnel, there have been many incidents in the school system, obviously you were kept safe if you are reading this devotional. Did you remember to thank God for protecting you? Airport personnel, same example as for the schools. Friends, our God loves us and He loves us enough that He would die for us. Through His son Jesus, He actually did that for you and I! To take advantage of that special offer for salvation from our sins, we must accept the gift given to us. Please speak with a local Bible teaching clergy for direction and help in making this important decision to accept Jesus’ gift, or contact me using the email below, as I would be thrilled to pray with you and give you direction. This decision is the key to living life eternally with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Life much better than anything experienced here on this earth. Consider making this important decision today, while you are able to, friend!

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord, please forgive me for being so ungrateful at times. Please help me to be so focused on You that praising You will be on my lips at all times. Please help me to stay focused on the many things that You do for, and provide for, me to enjoy each and every day. With praise in my heart, and praise on my lips, I am convinced that I can overcome anything that may tend to set me back. Please help me to also affect my Brothers and Sisters who may otherwise lose out on these opportunities to praise You. Lord, You are worthy, and worthy of our praise, each and every day. May we be found guilty of always praising the name of Jesus in all things.

 

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
**

Scripture: John 12.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

John 12:17-19 (NLT)

17 Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it.

18
That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign.

19 Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!”

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my life today?)

It seems harder and harder trying to reach the unsaved these days. I bet this was no different in Bible days. In this passage this morning though, we see where there were crowds who flocked to be in the presence of Jesus. Since we have difficulty trying to get our family and friends to attend church, I wanted us to look in on what attracted this crowd. Verse 18 says that it was because of all that the people heard was going on in the Jesus crowd. So this made me ask myself, what does my friends hear from me about what is going on in my church? Ask yourself the same question Christian brother/sister. Do our friends that we are trying to witness to, hear enough out of us to make them want to attend church? Or do you suppose that they are even more turned off from church than they were before hearing from us? Friends, we need to talk about the prayers that were answered; about the wonderful Word of God that was expounded from the pulpit or Sunday School teacher; about the sweet relationship that we develop with fellow brothers and sisters; about the miracles God is blessing us with; about the friend/visitor who came to know our Lord at our last service. In the Bible passage, the crowds gathered because of what they had heard! Can your church be full this weekend because of what others have heard from you? Verse 19 reminds me of what Satan does when he’s losing the battle with Christians/children of God, I believe that he must really pout and mutter about how there is just nothing he could do about it!! Praise be to our God and Father and to the Son, Jesus the Christ, for He alone is worthy of our praise!

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Jesus, we have commercialized church so much, with so many programs and so many marketing techniques, that we can’t help but wonder where you fit into the whole idea of YOU calling the lost unto yourself. Thank you for the reminder from Your Word this morning, that the lost will come when they are convinced that the saved are indeed saved, and that there is joy, purpose and personal benefit in attending church on a regular basis. Thank You for the joy of knowing You, and the joy of hearing Your voice through Your Word and through the spoken word at church. May we live according to Your instructions and may we share at every opportunity, the ways that You are blessing us individually and collectively as our respective churches. Lord, You are good and Your mercies lasts forever!

 

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
**

Scripture: 2 Samuel 12.  

OBSERVATION
(Key verses)

2 Samuel 12:7-9 (LEB)

7 Then Nathan said to him, “You are the man! Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘I anointed you as king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you the household of your master and the women of your master into your lap. I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah; if that had been too little, I would have added to you ⌊much more⌋. 9 Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in his eyes?

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my life today?)

Nathan had just delivered a message to David from God, in order to show him the evil of his ways for what he did to Uriah (had him killed in battle so that he, David, could steal his wife). David lashed out against the man in the story illustrated by Nathan, because it was easy to see that man’s fault. Nathan then brought the parallel together for David in verse 7 by telling him that he is the man in the story. Quite a challenge for Nathan to be bold enough to approach David (the king) with such bluntness, but he was being obedient to what God asked him to do. Friends, let us take heart from this story, and be very transparent before our God, knowing that we ourselves have sinned and that we are the ones in need of prayer as much, or worse than, the person we are taking before God to straighten out. Let’s clean up our own act before we approach the throne with stones for another person. The beauty of this story is that we need to be like David and humble ourselves when necessary. David, being the king, could have ordered the death of Nathan for speaking to him in such a way, but instead he humbled himself before God and sought His forgiveness. Several lessons we could learn from this, friends.

PRAYER
(What I will ask of God, in order for me to properly apply His Word to my life)

Lord Jesus, You especially know how imperfect man is, and You also know how difficult it is for us to admit our own sin and seek forgiveness. Please humble Your servant today. Please humble the hearts of each one that may read this devotional today. We want to be more like You every day, and we want to be ready to humble ourselves and be worthy in Your eyes every day. Help us Lord to be like David, and freely open our hearts to the truth from Your Word and from Your saints that may challenge us with our wrongdoing. In order to best represent You in this wicked world, we absolutely cannot be hypocritical, but we need Your strength and Your boldness to overcome our own personal feelings and weaknesses so that we may be like You in every way. Please bless us with humility this day, is my humble prayer oh Lord!

 

**Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
**