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Post Date: |
Sunday, 2017-07-23 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Luke 9:46-48 (TLB) |
|
Text: |
46 Now came an argument among them as to which of them would be greatest in the coming Kingdom! 47 But Jesus knew their thoughts, so he stood a little child beside him 48 and said to them, “Anyone who takes care of a little child like this is caring for me! And whoever cares for me is caring for God who sent me. Your care for others is the measure of your greatness.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| It seems like Jesus’ definition of ‘greatness’ is quite different to ours. So we will look at this a little deeper today to make sure that we are not only getting the meaning of this word from Webster or some other English dictionary, but also to make sure that we are following God’s desire for our ‘greatness’ in this world. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| In this world, and even in dictionaries, we learn that ‘greatness’ is considered: superior; or possess a natural ability to be better than most; illustrious; important; famous; etc. However, from everything we know of Jesus, He never showed any of these characteristics. He was born in a lowly manger in a cattle stall, and for the rest of His life there is no talk of Him living, or desiring to live anywhere near a palace. He simply obeyed His Father and served all mankind with sincere love and admiration. Yet He was the greatest man that ever lived! In our Scripture today Jesus is teaching His disciples that for them to evaluate who among them is the greatest in the kingdom of God, they must consider who is the greatest servant, for simply looking through worldly eyes at what they each might be famous for, will only impact what the world thinks of them and expects from ‘great’ people, in their terms. Let me suggest that we stop and consider how concerned, helpful and caring we would be towards a little child as they go helplessly down a river. Now think about the child, they are totally dependent upon you to keep their heads above water and from the harm of all rocks or debris, plus keep them warm once they are ready to exit the water. I believe Jesus wants us to care for everyone here on earth in much the same way as we would for that child in the river. This includes those who are very close to us, those that we think are above us in status and especially those that we know society always look down their noses at. ALL are precious in His sight. Jesus also wants us to be like the child going down the river: fully dependent on Him; begging for His helping hand to guide, protect and keep us; and willing to accept help from anyone that stretches out ther hand to help us. At the end of life’s road when we meet Jesus, we will all be considered children of God, or not. There will be no ‘greatness’ that will get us there, only the simple invitation of Jesus into our lives. What’s your position today friends? Do you know my Jesus personally? Are you serving Him faithfully in all phases of your life and with whomever you come into contact with? If so you may one day stand to hear: ‘Welcome my child, you have been faithful over many things on earth, now come and dine with me and my Father as we rejoice together throughout eternity! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, thank You for all that You have demonstrated through Your example, and from all that You have taught us through Your precious Word. We will meet many that are different in many ways from us. Please teach us to always welcome one another with the same grace that You welcome us. It is unimaginable that a King would willingly sacrifice His life for my sin, and my opportunity to spend eternity in heaven. Yet You did just that. Thank You Lord Jesus! Now may I, and all my readers be prepared to act in similar fashion and accept even those who persecute us; who have more money than us; who may live in mansions; and who may live under bridges. All are precious in Your sight, and so should they be in ours. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever, 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: Bible Fellowship Church of Sebring FL
Your Hands – God’s Hand Extended
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-07-21 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Proverbs 3:27-28 (MSG) |
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Text: |
27-28 Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person. Don’t tell your neighbor “Maybe some other time” or “Try me tomorrow” when the money’s right there in your pocket. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| This Proverb is teaching us to help one another and be a neighbor that would remind people of God. Have you ever stopped to consider that, as God’s servants, we are His hands and feet on the ground? When we see a need, God encourages us to think about what He would have done if He was here, then impresses on us to press on to ‘get ‘r done’! What an honor it is to feel like someone might recognize our helping hand as that inspired and designed by God for that very action that we are helping them with! To God be the glory! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| How often have you arrived home at the end of your workday, tired beyond words, and trying to get in the door of your home so you could relax and clear your mind, when your neighbor calls out for your help on a project, or just needs someone to talk to? Do you suppose that your reaction was noticeable to the neighbor? Do you suppose God recognized your reaction as something He did while here on earth? Have you ever been in need of help yourself? Some months ago I purchased a shed, and it was delivered the day after I had a back surgery. I was anxious to have it erected, so I asked a neighbor for help. Much of the time I was absolutely of no help at all, because I couldn’t. It was a very humbling experience hearing him outside working, with me being totally incapable of helping him. However, I feel like he did something that Jesus would have done when He was here on earth. Did my neighbor have other things to do, I could almost assure you that he did, but whether he realized it or not, I saw Jesus at work in my yard that day. Friends, we often hear an old saying ‘what comes around goes around’. Please stop and ask God what you might do to extend a hand to someone today. Friends, family or church members might be in hospital. They obviously can’t visit you, so please consider visiting with them. It will help them feel better knowing that others cared enough to sacrifice time to visit with them. They will thank God for you and your visit. Call a friend you haven’t heard from in a long time, they may have gone through awful times and couldn’t call you, but your call might really serve to encourage them knowing that you cared enough to miss them, and then to call them. Perhaps, more of Jesus in our lives, and less TV and internet devices, might help us be real neighbors again, and extend the love of Jesus through our meager efforts here on earth. Be willing to share friends. It takes no money – just your willingness to listen to God and be His hands extended to someone else. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, You unselfishly gave of Yourself for us, and You gave us a wonderful life to enjoy here on earth until You are ready to call us home. Please help us to constantly be aware of our surroundings and the needs that cry out for our involvement – Your hands extended. Lord, may others be drawn to You and give thanks continuously for Your outstretched arm of love, and action through Your saints. May all the glory be Yours oh King, my Lord and Savior, 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! | |
Prayerful Expectancy
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-07-19 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Luke 2:25-26 (MSG) |
|
Text: |
25-26 In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| We are led to believe that Simeon was a godly man who prayed. We also know that he prayed in earnest about one particular thing, more than anything else – that God would send a warrior, or savior for his native Israelites. This caused me to stop and think about the one thing of highest importance that I pray about, and I would like to challenge my audience to do the same. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| For those who regularly attend prayer meetings at your church, and if your church family are given the opportunity to pray out loud, I believe that you can generally understand the heart of each prayer warrior. Somewhere in each one’s prayer you will hear them pray from the sincerity of their heart for at least one specific person, ministry or kingdom work. Simeon was like this, for he prayed diligently for help for his country Israel. Friends, I don’t know about you, but I believe that we could do with lots more Simeon’s in our churches in America, who will make the needs, concerns and sins of our country as their top priority for prayer. I have relatives in the Bahamas, and no doubt many of you reading this devotional may be located in other countries or have relatives living abroad. I have every reason to believe that these other countries also need prayer warriors who will commit to pray unceasingly for help in these countries also. Oh that our countries might return to God, and seek to operate according to God’s laws that have succeeded century after century under the protection of His powerful hand. Won’t you join me in prayer for our respective countries friends? No matter how impossible it may look to doubting eyes, we know without a doubt that our God lives, and He is still in the miracle working business. Why not ask for His power to save our countries so that we may live peaceably, in love and unity with one another, with God as our leader and enabler! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord God, You are our Rock; our Provider; our Protector; and our Healer of everything, including our nations. Lord You’ve told us that if we, Your meek servants, would humble ourselves and pray, You would hear from heaven and heal our land. That’s our desire Lord! We want to see You and we also want our friends and family to see You one day. Living in a country that entices the worship of our awesome God could only serve to encourage the lost to seek Jesus, the answer to the world and it’s many problems. Thank You Jesus for loving us enough to care, 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! | |
Just A Touch Can Do!
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-07-18 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Luke 8:45-48 (TLB) |
|
Text: |
45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, so many are crowding against you. . . . ” 46 But Jesus told him, “No, it was someone who deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” 47 When the woman realized that Jesus knew, she began to tremble and fell to her knees before him and told why she had touched him and that now she was well. 48 “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus was on a mission headed towards the home of Jairus to meet the need reported to Him by this father. While enroute, there was a large crowd following, and they pressed in on Jesus’ personal space because they didn’t want to miss anything that He did. By this time, many had heard so much about the power of Jesus, that they were willing to do things such as merely getting close enough to touch His clothing, such as noted in the verses today. This took real faith! Do we have what it takes? | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| As I read this Scripture today, I believe that Jesus prompted me to reflect on how we might go about ‘touching the hem of His garment’ in our world today. Think about it friends, we often think of a ‘touch from God’ when we’re sick, or about to face surgery, or lost a loved one, or can’t see ourselves through financial struggles, or things at work seems impossible, but there is no ‘hem of Jesus’ garment’ for us to go and touch, is there? Well, let’s reread the verses again and see if the answer came in touching Jesus’ garment. In verse 48 Jesus actually tells the woman what actually healed her. It was her faith! I believe this lady knew Jesus, knew of His awesome power and compassion on those in need, and I feel pretty sure that she probably knew the miracles He had already performed. So do you suppose she left her home that day with a good luck charm hoping that these rumors she had heard about Jesus could also possibly touch her life? Do you suppose that the thought may have crossed her mind that she perhaps could stay at home in her bed and if Jesus wants to, He would heal her? Let me share with you what my thoughts are: I believe this lady knew Jesus personally, and I believe she had lots of faith – enough to believe that Jesus could do for her everything that she had heard about Him ever doing for anyone else. However, I believe she wanted a close-up experience with her Master. Seeing that Jesus was thronged by so many people, she felt like she could never get His personal attention, but she knew that if she could only manage to get close enough to touch Him or any part of His clothing, she would be healed. Friends, that’s a lot of faith! That’s like us having faith to call on Him in our time of need, or asking our church elders to pray over you with oil, as spoken of in the New Testament. May I remind you again today that Our God’s Not Dead, Nor Has He Lost His Power To Heal! If He’s your God today friend, call on Him in your time of need. Celebrate Him when You remember His goodness and recognize His miracle working hand. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, we are so amazed by Your awesome power, and often wonder why You would consider even us for Your miraculous work. Please teach us the wonder of faith and the unlimited power of our wonderful God. May we always come to the Savior for salvation; the Healer with our illnesses and to our Eternal God with our desire for eternity in Heaven with You. Thank You for loving us so much dear God, our Heavenly Father! AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
In All Honesty and Fairness
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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-07-17 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Deuteronomy 16:18-20 (NCV) |
|
Text: |
18 Appoint judges and officers for your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you; they must judge the people fairly. 19 Do not judge unfairly or take sides. Do not let people pay you to make wrong decisions, because that kind of payment makes wise people seem blind, and it changes the words of good people. 20 Always do what is right….. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Moses, in guiding God’s people as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, realized that this would be a whole new experience for them, so he tried to share every detail with them. In these verses that we will look at today he told them that they will need judges and leaders, to take the place of all that he and Aaron had done for them over the past 40 years. Knowing that we can also benefit from this reminder, I want God to lead us in this devotional on how we might be better leaders… | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| It is so easy for us look at a judge’s decision, and if it’s contrary to our belief, or our desire for the prosecuted (defendant), we may quickly respond “that’s unfair” without giving it a second thought. Our wish didn’t come true. However good judges are put in place to learn everything possible about the law of the land, so that when a case is brought before them, they could listen to all the facts, compare what they hear to everything they know about the law, and then determine as an independent person whether the defendant is guilty of wrongdoing. Not being a ‘judge’ you may question if this really applies to you and I. That’s what I want us to look at today, because I believe that we make decisions every day that shows God whether we are thinking and acting fairly. Let’s look at our work situation where we are looking at 3 candidates who have applied for a position we have available. Although much of our decision is based on a ‘gut feeling’, I believe it will surprise us to stop and ponder what prejudices or selfish motives come into play with our decision. Secondly, imagine two individuals being reported to you as doing something contrary to company policy. One brings you coffee every morning and has your back most of the time, vs the other one causes relational problems in your department. Can you honestly deal fairly and consistent with both employees? Things become especially tricky in churches when dealing with those that financially support the church vs a regular attendee who may or may not support the church financially. Friends, as you can see from the examples given, we all make judgment calls in some aspect of our lives. You can also see that bribes come in more ways than one, and they all serve to sway our decision in one way or another. This Scripture is teaching us to be careful of this, for it makes a wise man blind and causes him to make decisions that he may ordinarily have done if being obedient to his full understanding of God’s perfect laws. Obeying God’s laws is sometimes tougher than we might think, if we try to follow them in our own strength and power. I believe that it is a daily challenge that we must keep ever before God, that we seek His guidance, His strength and His perfect design for us to be aligned with what He desires of us. Living a life like Jesus is so different to anything we experience here on earth, that we must stay closely in tuned with our awesome Designer. Are you prepared to do this friend? | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, this life is challenging at best, and we can only accomplish Your will with the help of Your Holy Spirit. Leadership is challenging when we have to put personal feelings aside and judge according to Your perfect design. But Lord, we want to be more like You every day and in every way. So teach us Your ways, and help us to understand Your perfect will more and more clearly. We love You Lord, and appreciate every opportunity You give to us to show that same awesome love to others we come into contact with, all for Your honor and glory, 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! | |
Show How Blessed You Are
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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-07-15 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Deuteronomy 16:16-17 (NCV) |
|
Text: |
16 ….No man should come before the Lord without a gift. 17 Each of you must bring a gift that will show how much the Lord your God has blessed you. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| The Israelites received guidance from Moses on where they should worship, when, how and why. Other than the sacrifices, where Jesus offered Himself as a living sacrifice for us, I believe the other guidance that Moses felt led of God to share with his people are still very much in line with what we should still be doing today. The point today of giving in return for the blessings you receive, is one that we will look closer at and attempt to apply to our lives today. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I would imagine that there are some out there that give to the work of the Lord for various reasons, like giving because of promises by preachers that you would be healed, or that you will get rich. Some to avoid shame when the offering plate is passed, so that you will not be looked at strangely if you put nothing at all in it. Some may not give because they feel like churches or pastors are out to get rich quick from the gifts of even the poorest members. Or because you never have enough money for yourself each paycheck after paying your bills, so why should you short yourself to give to the church? These are probably just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ on excuses you have either heard or used before, but friends, our direction comes from God’s Word. Throughout His Word He teaches that those who love Him, or know Him, or who are His, are those who obey His commands. The guide given in verse 17 above, is that we give in line with how we’ve been blessed. Notice that there is no other calculation used? Here’s a personal testimony: When I became a tither, the biggest hurdle for me was to switch from a $1 offering in the plate as it passed, to actually giving 10% of my paycheck. There were times when funds got so tight that old Satan would make me question why am I doing this crazy giving thing? But God always saw me through, and He blessed me day after day. No He didn’t make me rich in money, but rather rich in blessings. Later in my Christian walk, an evangelist spoke on giving to God from our financial resources. In his closing prayer, he had us take our wallets out of our pocket, hold them in our hands before God, as we prayed for direction on our giving in relation to our blessings. God clearly reminded me that He had blessed me with my whole paycheck, and not just the net amount after taxes, loan payments, etc. At a time when funds were already challenging, I trusted God to see me through this change in the amount that I surrendered to Him. In no way is this bragging on anything special about this old born again sinner, but I would like you to know that God has held my hand and helped me through every financial challenge, AND blessed me enormously in my everyday life. Is God proud of the way you recognize His blessings to you? If He went strictly by the percentage you gave to Him unreservedly, and out of total obedience to His Word, would He consider you to be a totally appreciative person? If God blessed you strictly based on the amount you give to Him, do you suppose your blessings would increase, or decrease? Friends, let me assure you, our God is a very giving God. You can’t out-give Him, and I strongly believe that He will bless you even more as He recognizes that you are giving honestly and in response to His matchless blessings to you! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, how could we ever give enough to show our appreciation for all that You willingly and generously give to us? Lord, please help us to always give back to You out of love and in proportion to all that You have blessed us with, and never in response to what we feel that our church leaders may fail at. We want to be blessed by You, so we give to You. As You direct us to elect Your leaders to lead Your church, I have no doubt that You will place trusted leaders to mind Your flock and provide for the spiritual welfare of Your flock and our community. Thank You for giving so overwhelmingly to us Lord. May we give in proportion to all that You give to us. 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! | |
You Are The ‘Apple’ Of God’s Eye!
|
Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-07-14 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Deuteronomy 14:2 (NCV) |
|
Text: |
2 You are holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. He has chosen you from all the people on earth to be his very own. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| In verse 1 we can clarify that our chosen Scripture was directed at the Israelites as God’s chosen people, but does this mean that His children today are any less special to Him? Let’s examine this today… | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I believe that God really spoke to me in this verse this morning, so I wanted to share this with each of you, my readers. These words echoed a sweet reminder to me that all of us who have sincerely and seriously surrendered our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we also are very special to God. How special you might ask, because there are times when you may feel like God is so far away from you and may not have even heard your prayer request. Friends, when last did someone sacrifice their lunch for you so that you would not go hungry? Yes I know, that’s not in the Bible! However, my God loved you and I so much that He lightened our burden of sin and through the sacrifice of His very own Son, provided the means for us to live eternally with God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the glories of heaven when our lives here on earth is over. Access to ‘the means‘ as provided by God, is to simply respond to the tug on your heart by the Holy Spirit, and surrender your life to Jesus Christ. Allow Him to assume lordship of your life and commit to obeying His commands as declared in His Word. Be willing to share that love with those that He might direct you to throughout your life. Friends, I want to remind you that whenever you accept the free gift of eternal life, as described above, my Jesus doesn’t take that lightly, and I hope that you don’t either. Jesus accepts you as His very own, and throughout Scripture, we find promise after promise of how He shows His love for us; protects us and even prays to the Father on our behalf. Friends, I can assure you that for those who have accepted Jesus, and live according to His plan for our lives, we have become children of God! His love is beyond anything we could ever imagine. We are extremely ‘S P E C I A L’ in our Father’s eyes, and our destination is edged in stone, as He awaits our arrival! I am anxiously awaiting the day friend, and I hope you have that same assurance! When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!!! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Why me Lord – What have I ever done – To deserve even one – Of the blessings I’ve known – Why me Lord – What did I ever do – That was worth love from you – And the kindness you’ve shown – – Lord help me, Jesus – I’ve wasted it so – Help me, Jesus – I know what I am – Now that I know – That I’ve needed you so – Help me, Jesus – My soul’s in your hand! ~ Forgive us Lord when we take You for granted, disobey Your Word or ignore the love You showed for us. Please soften the hardened hearts of those we love who have ignored Your precious gift. May they surrender their hearts to You, even 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! | |
Attributes To Help You Be Useful To God
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Post Date: |
Thursday, 2017-07-13 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
2 Peter 1:5-8 (ERV) |
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Text: |
5 ……do all you can to add to your life these things: to your faith add goodness; to your goodness add knowledge; 6 to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add patience; to your patience add devotion to God; 7 to your devotion add kindness toward your brothers and sisters in Christ, and to this kindness add love. 8 If all these things are in you and growing, you will never fail to be useful to God. You will produce the kind of fruit that should come from your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Peter started off his book by telling us how blessed we are to be called children of God. He shared that we are truly a very blessed people, and because of these blessings we should be careful to make every effort, and with the help of God, add attributes to our lives that would make us more like Jesus and useful for His service. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Wouldn’t it be a really neat thing to look around your Sunday School class, or even your church and recognize one or more of the attributes mentioned in these verses, in different folk. We hear preachers say all the time that they don’t want us to attend church services to soak and sour. But don’t you know that God’s heart would be gladdened if He saw each of us striving more and more each day to welcome one of these gifts from God and then work hard to develop and apply them to our lives? Don’t you know that we would see a reduction in gossiping, insults, ill-feelings and hatred going on in our churches? Wouldn’t it be really encouraging to see the lost flocking to our doors because they ran into a church member during the week and saw these attributes of God alive and active in their life, so they followed up by attending to see if they could also attain those same gifts from God? Friends, if the Holy Spirit is truly living inside of us and we have given Him full reign of our lives, I truly believe that He will guide us into all righteousness and to act more like God every day. When people see this, they immediately think of God. If it takes us telling the average person that we are a Christian, then I believe that very quickly they will see through our flaws or our hypocritical lifestyle. Let me encourage you to join me in striving for righteousness; faith; goodness; knowledge; self-control; patience; devotion to God; kindness and love, for as God blesses us with these attributes, we will become truly useful to Him! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord God, You are awesome in every way. You took ‘pieces of clay’ and made them Your perfect creation, so that we might love, serve and worship You. Seeing that we are still a work in progress, these gifts that you encouraged Peter to share with us today, will only serve to draw us closer to you; be more like You in every way; plus, encourage and motivate others that we come into contact with. Strengthen us today Lord, so that we may serve You better and encourage others along the way. I ask these things, all for Your glory, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
To Know That He Is God!
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-07-12 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Luke 7:22-23 (ERV) |
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Text: |
22 Then he said to John’s followers, “Go tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind can see. The crippled can walk. People with leprosy are healed. The deaf can hear. The dead are brought back to life. And the Good News is being told to the poor.23 Great blessings belong to those who don’t have a problem accepting me.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| The prophets foretold the coming of John the Baptist, and the people followed his teachings. However, John knew that one was coming who was much greater than he was, so when questioned by his followers about the teachings of Jesus, John sent them to inquire. Our Scripture today is Jesus’ response to John’s followers. But how do we determine for ourselves who Jesus is? | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| At some time in our lives we are faced with the question about who God is, and then there’s the importance of evaluating what our relationship is with this awesome God. John knew from Scripture that Jesus was coming and when he heard about all that Jesus was doing, he was anxious to know if this was really the Christ. I truly believe that almost everyone in the world has probably heard about Jesus, but like you and I, they have to find out for themselves whether He truly exists, and then decide what they will do with Him. I thought that Jesus’ response was outstanding! He didn’t send the disciples to study what the prophets had foretold, nor did He quote Scripture for them. He simply told them to share with John all they had seen and experienced. Friends, if I told you about a news report I saw of an earthquake in Africa, and another friend told you of a time they were visiting California and an earthquake came in the middle of the night, which story do you suppose might be more convincing and interesting? I believe we will all agree that for those of us that not only have accepted Jesus as Lord, but have truly developed a personal relationship with Him, we can speak of Him from the heart. John’s followers experienced the awesome power of Jesus, so can you even imagine how excited and convincing they were when they returned to John? Do you suppose that he doubted for a moment whether they were telling him the truth? Friends, I believe that God is teaching us in this Scripture today, that we can attend church every day of the week, and hear the very best of preachers, but until we have developed our own personal experience with Jesus Christ, our witnessing will consist more of storytelling, than it would of a personal experience. Each man, woman and child must decide for themselves who Jesus is to them; develop and maintain a personal relationship with Him; and then let the joy that comes from that relationship overflow to all those that we come into contact with. We all need Jesus. Once you have confirmed that personal relationship, reach out to a friend that also needs Him and share your story. That’s real, personal evangelism! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us enough to sacrifice Yourself on the cross so that we might have the means of one day seeing You and the Father. Please forgive us for the times that we have kept that joy of knowing You bottled up inside. Lord, may our cups overflow so that the world will know that that You are very much alive, because they see evidence of it in us! We love You Lord, and again thank You for providing a way for us! 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 Choice – Blessing or Curse!
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-07-11 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 (ERV) |
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Text: |
26 “Today I am giving you a choice. You may choose the blessing or the curse. 27 You will get the blessing if you listen and obey the commands of the Lord your God that I have told you today. 28 But you will get the curse if you refuse to listen and obey the commands of the Lord your God….. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| In previous chapters Moses shared with his people what God had ordained for them to do when they entered into the land He had promised them. Kind of ironic that in spite of them being led for 40 years through the wilderness, where they witnessed miracle after miracle, and they still continued their bad habits at every turn, yet God didn’t give up on them, and He had His servant Moses warn them of the consequences of their decisions, even now that they arrived at their destination. I don’t believe there’s a whole lot of difference between what the consequences the Israelites could expect versus what we could expect if we are obedient or not. Let’s examine that further… | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| It seems like mankind is made to test the system, no matter what aspect of like you are getting involved in. Children test every rule set by their parents to see which ones are for real and which ones the parents are more tolerable with. In marriages, we encounter fights, and often separation, because we keep pushing our spouse to the limit and beyond. The Israelites had already tested the system while in the wilderness, but their spiritual ‘father’ was now giving them some great advice from God about what will make their lives in their new country more acceptable with Him, and what might provoke them to evil and therefore align themselves more with Satan. The Word says that individually we have a choice on whether we will do everything possible that leads to a flood of blessings back from God, or whether we continue to live life like we feel comfortable doing, and that pleases most people. So based on the leadership of the Holy Spirit and the holy Word of God that you allowed to soak into your mind this morning, do you feel like you are on the right track for a blessing from God? I believe that blessings in you, will allow you to share ‘blessings’ with others. My deep desire for all my readers today is that there will not result an ounce of curses to destroy your witness and disappoint our Savior. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, please touch the lives of Your children today, and like You did through Moses, please remind and convince your children to be obedient to Your voice and follow Your commands. We love You Lord 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! | |
Nuggets From God's Word 