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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-05-12 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 9:28-29 (ERV) |
|
Text: |
28 Then Jesus went into the house. His followers were alone with him there. They said, “Why weren’t we able to force that evil spirit out?”
29 Jesus answered, “That kind of spirit can be forced out only with prayer. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| On the first read of this passage of Scripture, one might assume that the disciples didn’t have enough faith, or perhaps they didn’t have the necessary power to command the evil spirit out of the boy brought to them by his father. But we will have a closer look at what Jesus told His disciples so that we might also know how to handle these situations today. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| TV evangelists will tell you that you must bring the sick to them for healing. Some churches have healing services, while others barely bring the subject up. Jesus had performed many miracles in the presence of His disciples, and He even told them that they had power to do what they had seen Him do. However in this instance, Jesus told the disciples that this type of issue could only be handled through prayer. And prayer is directed to whom? Jesus is telling the disciples that only God could handle this type of a situation. In other words, be careful how you go about thinking that you can do anything. Notice in verse 18 the father told Jesus that he took the child to His followers and they couldn’t get rid of the evil spirit from his son. Friends, today we are no different. We are advocates of the Father, and we had best remember who is in charge. May we never assume that we could do anything in our own strength. Our job is to communicate (pray) to the Father. It is He who does the healing, if within His perfect will, He sees and understands that this would be the best thing for the individual, and that it might bring praise and honor to His Son, Jesus. The other thing that we must be careful of, is the manner in which we approach the throne of grace and speak with our Father. We are not His boss, so we don’t approach Him as such. Servants approach their Master in humility, thanksgiving and with petitions that He alone may choose to respond to. Notice in verse 29 Jesus said that the Father must be approached in prayer, meaning that we should plead our case/requests with Him, Remember, we do the asking, God does the healing. I don’t believe that God would be very happy at all with us if we try to reverse the rolls, for after all, He alone is God. As His workmanship, we are simply tools that He could use to accomplish His will and His work, if He so chooses. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, it is so easy for us to pick pieces of Scripture and hang our hats on those nuggets, as they may better fit the situation we are facing at the time. Lord, please get our attention to the fact that You are in control and that You alone are capable of the miraculous works of the Master. We are simple, humble servants and we must approach Your throne with that simplicity. Servants ask, not tell their Master what to do. May we never forget the authority You have over us, nor forget the absolute lack of authority we have over You. Thank You Lord for loving us anyway and for allowing us to represent You before a lost world. Thank You for Your discipline when its necessary to remind us who’s in control! With much love, appreciation and submissiveness I ask these things 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! | |
Tag: BFC
That’s Our God!
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Post Date: |
Thursday, 2017-05-11 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Psalm 33:6-9 (NLT) |
|
Text: |
6 The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. 7 He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs. 8 Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him. 9 For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| This is one of those times that David just stopped and reflected on the awesome power of God. Did David have challenges in life like you and I? Of course he did. Did David have reason to be down because of life’s trials and problems? Of course he did. But in spite of it all David realized that there was an awesome God that created life and everything around him, and it was that same God that loved him unconditionally! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Like David, don’t you suppose that we have every reason to complain; be upset; feel distraught; feel like giving up; or even feel like we may not make it through another day? However friends, I want you to look closely at some of the reasons for which David found hope, and how he found cause to worship and praise his God. I believe that you will easily find many other personal reasons to add to David’s list, that might give you cause to lift up the name of Jesus, in spite of all that you face each day. Friends, we serve an awesome God. One who is worthy of our praise and honor. I believe that when we make time to concentrate on Him and give Him the praise He deserves, then we will notice a slow fade on the emphasis we once placed on our issues that we thought were so overbearing. There is no god like our God, friend. Know Him today and know peace, love, joy, and true happiness that comes from our Father above. There is no greater peace than knowing that the Creator of this universe is in charge of all it’s everyday affairs and so loves us that He is constantly looking out for our good. That’s my God, friend! Do you know Him? Trust Him today, won’t you? | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, how we praise You today for who You are, and for all that You do for us. Nothing good have I done, to deserve God’s own Son, yet because of His awesome love, God sent His Son, (Jesus) so that everyone of us that believes on Him, might receive everlasting life. It’s the greatest gift of love ever given to mankind. Praise God that I am a child of the King. Thank You Jesus! Lord, please also soften the hardened hearts of my family, friends and every subscriber and reader of this blog, so that they might surrender their lives to you. Lord, we want to see Jesus! What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see! Hopefully I will also see all of these I am praying for Jesus! 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! | |
Who Is Jesus – In Your Eyes?
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-05-10 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 8:27-30 (GNT) |
|
Text: |
27 Then Jesus and his disciples went away to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Tell me, who do people say I am?”
28 “Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered; “others say that you are Elijah, while others say that you are one of the prophets.” 29 “What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” 30 Then Jesus ordered them, “Do not tell anyone about me.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus had been preparing the disciples for this very important question that He posed to them in verse 29. He had shared several parables that really got them mentally prepared for the question ‘But Whom Do You Say that I am?’ This remains an important question for us today! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| How often have you gone home from church and been asked about the service? Most of us tend to respond about what the preacher spoke on, if we remember! Some will tell of the special visitors to the service, while others might tell how the preacher really got on to the parishioners in his challenging words. But what if you were asked to specifically tell what you personally got from the sermon? Now, think about a scenario at work, where Jesus and the local church is being discussed. Having heard you mention the name of Jesus before, you might be asked who He is to you and what is your relationship to Him. That’s a wide open door to share the gospel and your personal relationship with Jesus, friend. Are you prepared in your mind to do that? Jesus got very personal with the disciples when He asked their opinion about, and their relationship with Himself. May I encourage you to mull over in your mind how you would respond if a family member, or a friend, or even Jesus asked you today “So who is Jesus to you?”. I pray that your response would influence an unbeliever to learn more about your Jesus and want to know Him in a personal and meaningful way as you do. I pray that Jesus would be convinced that you are His and He is yours, forever! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, You gave up Your life for me, so that I may spend eternity with You and Your Father. You called me to Yourself and I surrendered my life to You. You have loved me, watched and protected me, and the Bible says that You have prepared a place for me! Thank You for being my Lord, my Master, my Comforter, my Redeemer and my soon coming King. May there always be a witness on my lips, love in my heart and excitement over uniting with You when You call me away from this old earth. May others find every reason to want a relationship with my King, because of the evidence they see in my life. May my readers be encouraged, and always prepared to share the reason for their joy in knowing You personally, so that You may be glorified in all things. 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! | |
Answers to Life’s Dilemmas
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-05-09 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Psalm 32:6-8 (TLB) |
|
Text: |
6 Now I say that each believer should confess his sins to God when he is aware of them, while there is time to be forgiven. Judgment will not touch him if he does.
7 You are my hiding place from every storm of life; you even keep me from getting into trouble! You surround me with songs of victory. 8 I will instruct you (says the Lord) and guide you along the best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your progress. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Clicking on the Scripture reference above will give you all of the verses in chapter 6. You will see that before David went into telling his readers what they should do, he shared his own personal experience. David knew from first hand experience that a life fully surrendered to God is one that rests peacefully in the arms of Jesus, blessed by, and enjoying His love and protection both here in this life and in the next. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| The words of many preachers ring in our ears, “if ever we needed a Savior like the one described by David, it is now”. I believe we hear those words and quickly brush them off our shoulders convinced that they are meant for the person behind us or besides us, because of all the issues they currently have. However, I have also heard saints of God rejoice in the fact that they are ever so thankful that they had a loving and caring God by their side as they went through various aspects of life that might otherwise have taken some people under. Friends, because of my relationship with my Savior, I can safely say that it is well with my soul. My sins have been forgiven, and I am not only a child of the King of all kings, but He has given to me His very own Protector and Guide, through the Holy Spirit that has taken up residence within me. I am destined for a perfect place with a perfect God, and regardless of anything that might come my way here on this earth, nothing can change my eternal destination nor my Master and Lord. With that kind of peace and eternal security, I am constantly concerned for those in my family and circle of friends who have decided to do this life on their own. I can therefore identify with David in verse 6. For I too am concerned about all that are outside of the fold, without hope, without security and without relationship with the Savior of the world. Friends, know God and be convinced about who’s in charge of your life today and throughout eternity. Without God, your suffering and complexities of life are only beginning, for there is no mercy, no love and nothing to look forward to under Satan’s control. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Thank You Father for making provisions for us to find peace in this world through Your Son Jesus. Thank You also for the bright hope that we have in tomorrow when we have a personal relationship with Your Son. Please touch the hardened hearts of family and friends who have yet to accept You as their Savior and Lord. Please don’t give up on them for, like David, it is my desire to see them overcome the tug of Satan on their lives and to see them give total control to You. Lord, please find ways to once again speak to them today. May this be the day of salvation for all in need of You, who will read this and need the hope of eternity. May they find peace in knowing You, 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 | |
|
From: |
Mark 8:1-5 (MSG) |
|
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! | |
What The Lord Hates
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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-05-06 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Proverbs 6:16-19 (ERV) |
|
Text: |
16 The Lord hates these seven things: 17 eyes that show pride, tongues that tell lies, hands that kill innocent people, 18 hearts that plan evil things to do, feet that run to do evil, 19 witnesses in court who tell lies, and anyone who causes family members to fight. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| The Bible is very clear on what displeases God. We know that He hates sin, so I believe that we can conclude as we look at each item listed in our Scripture that they are either sinful acts, or a result of sinful acts. As in any relationship in which we love someone, we should endeavor to always avoid the things that God hates. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
In the case of our parents, our spouse or even best friends, we would do our very best to always avoid doing those things that they hate, despise, or dislike. So having read that God hates to see certain things going on in our lives, what then shall we do about that? I know you can read the verses above, but let’s just break these things down and have a closer look:
All of these things are understably hated by God. If we have a personal relationship with God, we will do everything within our power to love Him and please Him. Therefore, if He hates the above things, we are to avoid them at all cost. He can help us with that if we struggle to do it on our own. |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, there is nothing we would like more than to please You in every aspect of our lives. Yet as we read this scripture, we are reminded that we sometimes fall into the trap of displeasing You. Please give us strength and wisdom to overcome our weaknesses. In return, please direct us towards pure hearts and minds that are so filled with Your goodness that we would strive to please You in everything we do and say. We want the world to see You in every aspect of our lives, and we know that this would be impossible without them seeing evidence of Your teachings in every fibre of our being. So we beg for Your filling today 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 To Prove Love For God
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-05-05 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
1 John 4:19-21 (MSG) |
|
Text: |
19 We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.
20-21 If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| John gives us a way to prove if we truly love God. God proved His love for us when He placed His very own Son on the cross at Calvary as a substitute for our sin. John explains how we prove back to God that we love Him in return. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Many people will tell you to prove that you love them by….. (doing something very special for them). Generally that’s when a friend wants you to do them a favor. However that is not love, that’s doing a favor for a friend. Often we substitute the word ‘love’ for infatuation, or lust or even being impressed with someone. Throughout the Bible God showed His love for us, and for those who know God personally and live each day in appreciation for all that He still does for us even today, we learn that His love is deeper and more sincere than anything we could describe, understand or duplicate. So what lessons have God provided for us so that we might love like He did? Although many, I want us to concentrate on the one lesson that John shares with us in the Scripture referenced above. This will be challenging for us to grasp, especially in light of the church splits we have seen, or Christian families that have parted ways with each other, or perhaps another church family. However, throughout the Word of God, we are taught to do the things that Christ taught us and was appropriately recorded in His Word. The lessons that stand out most to us, is the awesome, unconditional love that Jesus showed for us, especially when He went to the cross for all mankind, even those who scorned, mocked and hung Him on the cross. His sacrifice was for all mankind willing to surrender their lives to His lordship, yes even us , who came from awful lives of sin and self destruction. In surrendering ourselves to the lordship of Jesus Christ, we committed to a life that imitates the life that Jesus lived and exampled before us. So when we are at odds with a believer, or if we ever digress to a state of saying how much we hate another proclaimed Christian, are we not proving the Word of God in these verses by showing that it is impossible for us to say that we love God, if we truly feel ill will towards another believer? The Word tells us that for those who concede to such hatred, prove that we are not children of God, for we cannot love Him and hate a Brother or Sister in Christ. So when you find yourself getting upset with a believer, may I encourage you to examine your relationship with Jesus Christ? Let us learn to prove our love for Christ each day, by the way that we love, respect and treat His children! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Father, You loved us enough that You gave….. You gave everything so that we might one day be with You and Your Father in heaven. As Your children – Your imitators, we will not only love You in return, but we will also love those who love You. Holy Spirit, please impact our minds whenever there is concern about our love for others. Please help us to stay committed to Your Word every day, so that we might be reminded of our shortcomings and then seek You more earnestly so that we may enrich our lives with more of Your character and Your desire for Your children. May others see so much of Jesus in us that they will desire to know the source of our good works and our love for others. 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! | |
What Makes Us Unfit For God
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Post Date: |
Thursday, 2017-05-04 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 7:20-23 (TLB) |
|
Text: |
20 And then he added, “It is the thought-life that pollutes. 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts of lust, theft, murder, adultery, 22 wanting what belongs to others, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, pride, and all other folly. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what pollute you and make you unfit for God.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus had to get the Pharisees straight on their line of thinking, for they went out of their way to criticize Jesus and His followers for not following lots of manmade rules, while all the while harboring awful thoughts inside of them. As we study this today, I can assure you that we are no different, and would therefore recommend that you do some soul searching and honestly consider whether you are truly fit for meeting the God of this universe. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
Before we think too critically of the Pharisees, please allow me to challenge us to think about the many unwritten rules that we use when analyzing (judging) the behavior of those that we come into contact with. Often this really gets into our pious minds as to whether we think a person is fit for the kingdom of God. We tend to consider whether the place a person visits make them unfit; the words they say that might offend God; the people they hang around, that makes them guilty by association; the church they attend or the frequency of their weekly visits to that place of worship; or even the duration of their time meditating on God’s Word. Does this sound familiar friends? What do you think, do we really need God to judge our friends? So what exactly is it that God is teaching us here? He certainly is not teaching us how to judge someone, so we could erase that thought! Instead, I believe that God is teaching us to:
This Brother cannot tell you what you need to do to align yourselves properly with God. So present yourselves to God and ask Him to assume, or resume leadership in your life. Ask Him to fill you with His power and His grace, so that others will see Jesus in everything that you say, hear or do, knowing that He will ultimately reflect in the way you speak or act around others. |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, who is man that You would sacrifice Your life for us? Who is man that You would use us to minister in Your name and share Your gospel with others? Lord, we want to be fit vessels that will represent You well before a lost and dying world, but we can’t do it on our own. To be filled with You, we must totally surrender ourselves to You and ask You to assume control. Please work in and through us to accomplish Your perfect will for mankind, especially my family and friends within my realm of influence. The glory belongs to You as Your perfect will is accomplished 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! | |
Holiness – Because God is Holy
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-05-03 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Leviticus 19:1-2 (CEV) |
|
Text: |
1 The Lord told Moses 2 to say to the community of Israel:I am the Lord your God. I am holy, and you must be holy too! |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| God had shared with the Israelites that they were His chosen people. He showed this in the way that He brought them out of slavery in Egypt and into a land filled with milk and honey – the Promised Land. He disciplined them when they did things contrary to His commands. However God also took care of their needs and loved on them in many different ways. Now, God wanted to see them go off into the Promised Land in a manner that might show respect, honor and praise to the One who brought them to this point. This is very much in line with what God expects from us today! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| If I was a carpenter, I would teach my son a trade – and guess what that trade might be? In teaching that son what might best align him with the teachings of my Lord, I would steer him towards a humble, but yet glorifying life dedicated to Jesus Christ. My greatest lessons would be through my actions and not just through my words. I would be careful in not demanding that he lives in a manner that I have never been able to accomplish. Moses went on in the rest of chapter 19 to teach the Israelites some of the ways through which God might be glorified in their lives. I believe that it is super important that we grasp hold of this teaching friends, for God not only says in John 3:16 that whosoever believes in the Son of God will become children of God, but there are many other verses in the Bible that teach the same principles taught in this chapter. The God in whom we place our faith and our trust is a Holy God. To say that we believe in Him, or that we are His followers, or that we are Christian, and then continue to live like the world, is a huge conflict and contradiction of our beliefs. We then become hypocrites of God and distract the witness for Christ. That’s totally opposite to what we are called to be, for in us the world should see enough of Christ that they would desire to know our source of truth and help – Jesus Christ, in a very personal and meaningful way. So friends, what are others seeing in you even when you don’t have an opportunity to witness to them verbally? I pray that Jesus is so prominent in your life that the whole world will know the driving force behind all that you do and all that you are. I pray that Jesus Christ might be glorified daily because of your actions and your witness for Him! To God be all the glory! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Great is thy faithfulness Lord, to even me! Thank You for the opportunity to be called a child of the King of all kings – Jesus Christ. Lord may Your saints be so appreciative of this attachment to You, that Your character will be displayed through us in everything that we do, so that You might be glorified in all things. Have Your will and way in us today oh Lord – our Rock; our Redeemer; our Savior and our soon coming King, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
The Compassion of Christ
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-05-02 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 6:36-38 (ERV) |
|
Text: |
36 So send the people away. They need to go to the farms and towns around here to buy some food to eat.”37 But Jesus answered, “You give them some food to eat.”
They said to Jesus, “We can’t buy enough bread to feed all these people. We would all have to work a month to earn enough to buy that much bread!” 38 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have now? Go and see.” They counted their loaves of bread. They came to Jesus and said, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus had been bombarded by crowds every day, and now wanted to escape for a few hours with His close followers to just relax and refresh. However, as they were approaching their destination they realized that the crowd was 2 steps ahead of them, and in spite of going the long way around, they were already on the other side of the lake. Jesus could easily have thrown His hands up and turned around to return where He and His disciples left from, but He had compassion on the crowd gathered and resumed His ministry to them. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I wonder how often we shrug off our responsibility to care for others like Jesus did? I wonder how many ministry opportunities are missed when we do that? I wonder how often we skew the concept of Jesus in the eyes of others, because we acted in a totally different way than what they were expecting Christ’s followers to act like? Jesus was looking for respite, but instead faced the same crowd that He was hoping to escape for a short period. Not only did Jesus attend to their spiritual needs for this huge crowd, but He also attended to their physical need of nourishment. I want you to think like most of the disciples did. Imagine taking an extra couple of friends home for supper, unannounced to your spouse – the cook who may have prepared enough for 2. Now imagine that you dropped a bombshell on your wife that you would like for her to prepare a meal for your Sunday School class of 30. If you survived divorce on that daring request, imagine that you are the pastor of a church and you asked your wife to prepare a meal for the congregation. Whoa, that’s a huge and daring request! OK, so this request, or demand, Jesus made of His followers to feed the crowd of over 5,000 was humongous in the eyes of the disciples, especially with them not having brought any provisions. However, what was impossible in the eyes of man, was totally possible with God! Once again Jesus had compassion on the crowd and used what little His followers found among the crowd, to multiply it and make it more than sufficient for the need at hand. Friends, let’s learn to never question God when we feel like He is directing us. If He created the world from absolutely nothing, and if He created man from just dirt, can you imagine what He could still do today in the lives of those He created and gave up His very own Son’s life for? As we stand in awe of His awesome power and compassion, may we recommit yet again to give Him control and allow Him to rule and reign in our lives, for His ultimate glory? May we be willing to give wholeheartedly like our Saviir did! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, thank You for accepting us as You children who are so desperately in need of a Savior. Our awareness of Your power and Your giving has been revitalized as we read this story once again. Now may we be willing to exercise our faith and strive to live our life experiences with You in mind and as our example. May others desire to know You personally because of seeing You in every fiber of my life. Bless my readers and encourage them to do the same. 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! | |
Nuggets From God's Word 