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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-04-25 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Ecclesiastes 9:9-10 (ERV) |
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Text: |
9 …. Enjoy every day of your short life. God has given you this short life on earth—and it is all you have. So enjoy the work you have to do in this life. 10 Every time you find work to do, do it the best you can.… |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Our attention is drawn to the fact that God has given us the ability to provide for ourselves – the strength, knowledge, pride and desire. We are encouraged to take advantage of that and not look at it as punishment, but rather a blessing. Wow, if only we could find employees who enjoy coming to work every day because they consider it a God-given privilege and joy! Perhaps we should lead the way, right? | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| For the child of God, we find verses like these that God uses to spur us on to be the best we can be in our work places and to show that we actually enjoy our jobs. We often use phrases like ‘TGIF’ or ‘Hump Day’ that indicates to the world that we are glad to see this chore, called ‘work’ nearing an end. For the unbeliever, there might be a variety of feelings, including feeling unappreciated, underpaid or perhaps overworked. Isn’t it amazing how unimportant all of these things become when we hear of our competition closing their doors, and many dear friends or family losing their jobs? Or perhaps we apply for a job elsewhere and see that we are not worth anywhere near what we thought we are worth monetarily? Friends, I believe that the Scripture is telling us to appreciate the gifts that God has given to us; the blessings that God has poured out on us to have a good job; the interesting challenges that we face on our jobs that come to stretch our minds and give us the ability to grow in knowledge and understanding; the awakening of being faced with a menial task sometimes, so that we could appreciate what subordinates face each day; the occasional walk through a hospital, assisted living facility or a prison so that our eyes might be opened to the fact that but for grace of God, it could very easily have been one of us in that facility. I truly believe that the person who sits idle and unappreciative of work, is the one who says to God ‘thanks, but no thanks’! Friend, God has blessed you with gifts, abilities and a desire to provide for yourself and your family. Is he proud of what you are doing with all that He has given to you? Can you praise Him and thank Him even today for the work that you do? I pray that you will not be ashamed to stand before the throne and thank God for all your accomplishments resulting from all that He blessed you with! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, with my hands; my mind and the many gifts that You have blessed me with, I lift them to You in praise and thanksgiving. I pray that You will help each of us today to use our talents to provide for ourselves and our families, and that we will never hide them under a bushel because we feel like someone else is much more capable than us. I pray that our eyes will be opened to the gifts You have specifically blessed us with, and that we will see the purpose for which You have placed us where we are at for such a time as this. You have never made a mistake Lord Jesus, please help us to stop finding excuses for why we can’t…. but instead look for all the blessings You have given to us that allows us the abilities to accomplish great 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! | |
Tag: Jesus
The Only One Who Can
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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-04-24 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 4:38-41 (TLB) |
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Text: |
38 Jesus was asleep at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Frantically they wakened him, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are all about to drown?”39 Then he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Quiet down!” And the wind fell, and there was a great calm!
40 And he asked them, “Why were you so fearful? Don’t you even yet have confidence in me?” 41 And they were filled with awe and said among themselves, “Who is this man, that even the winds and seas obey him?” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Taking advantage of a few minutes of rest while his boat crossed the lake, Jesus rested near the stern of the boat. Because he was not awake to witness the panic that was building with his disciples as the waters became more and more violent, the disciples automatically assumed that Jesus didn’t care about their safety. However, hearing the urgency of their need, Jesus awoke and immediately took care of their need. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| The disciples had witnessed many miracles performed already, so they knew that Jesus was very capable of handling their current desperate situation. I believe the disciples had faith that Jesus could correct their current situation, because after the waves got so bad that they were about to give up on hopes of their survival, they finally decided to go and try Jesus. I was reminded of our personal situations. We may not get so worried over what appears to be minor illnesses, but as the situation worsens, we become more and more desperate and then we begin to pray in earnest and we call in the troops (our pastors, elders and Christian friends) to pray with us over our dire situation. Friends, we pray because we know that all power lies with the God of our salvation, for we know that He is our friend, our healer and our conqueror. Let’s never forget that this is the same Master and Lord who brought Lazarus back to life; who turned water into the best wine of the evening; who healed the blind; who walked on water and healed a woman who merely touched the hem of His garment, that’s the King who Christians turn to in our time of need! That’s our King! Now, I have also learned over the years that we tend to call on Jesus as a last resort. Oh how I wish that we would learn to call on our Master each and every day, when things are going great and when we first notice the slightest need arising. Remember, He went to Calvary as a sacrifice for our sin, knowing that we would get into stuff that would possibly lead to sin/situations from which we could not escape on our own. Jesus did this for us in advance, so let us be just as proactive in taking our needs before Him, for He cares for us, more than anything we could ever imagine. Furthermore, just like the disciples knew that Jesus was the only one who could speak to the elements, we are just as convinced that He is the only one that could meet our very personal needs, so let’s not delay, let’s share our heart with Him today. This might be very desperate needs, or just the concerns of our heart. Let’s open that door of communication with the only One who can do anything about our needs, for He cares for His own! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Thank You Lord Jesus for the reminder in this passage that You should always be the one that we communicate with daily, and not just when things are at their worst. Lord, we need You ever hour, as the words of an old hymn reminds us. We especially need Your protection, Your guidance and Your strength to help us maintain a close relationship with You. One that we could learn from and share with our friends each and every day. There seems to be a constant need of someone much greater than us, more powerful than we are and always willing to help us overcome. That’s You Lord, and we are standing in the need of prayer today, so that we might always share our need of our Master and King in all walks of life. Thank You Heavenly Father for being available for Your children. 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! | |
Use What You Have
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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-04-22 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Mark 4:23-25 (ERV) |
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Text: |
23 You people who hear me, listen! 24 Think carefully about what you are hearing. God will know how much to give you by how much you understand now. But he will give you more than you deserve. 25 The people who have some understanding will receive more. But those who do not have much will lose even the small amount they have.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus was right in the middle of teaching, and I believe He probably started to see the blank stares that many teacher receive when they realize they may have lost their audience. Jesus was very careful to indicate the need for close attention and understanding, as they would be blessed as they share with others what they had learned from Him. In fact, He advised that they would by blessed in accordance with how much they share with others, from what they had learned. I wonder – are we receiving our share of blessings? | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| In a children’s class or even in a young adult class, the teacher might often do a recap at the end of class and ask questions about the lesson they just taught, to check for understanding, and also to prove how well the kids were listening. Isn’t it interesting that the ones who were most attentive, are the ones bubbling over with all of the answers? Ever wonder how many leave your class and while on break or in between classes they actually stop and share the exciting lesson they just learned in their last class? My daughter came to visit recently, and she was bubbling over with excitement about something she had just learned. Supposedly she had talked about the subject most of the day and couldn’t stop talking to her mom and I. I believe this is what Jesus is saying to us through these verses in our study. For if we listen to the right things, because Jesus taught that we are to listen carefully to the right things, and if we use that information to help others, or teach others, then we will be blessed with more and more, so that we could continually bless others for God. If we leave the lesson there, everyone would be happy, I believe. However, Jesus went on to say that if we ignore the good things that are being taught to us, and therefore don’t grasp the truth of the Word so that we could happily share that with a friend, neighbor, coworker or even family members, then even the small amount of knowledge that some may have will be taken away. Friends, I believe we can recap this lesson by saying that blessings are in store for those who share what they have learned, however blessings are withdrawn from those who refuse to listen and/or share what they have learned. How’s your tank of blessings? Filled, or almost empty? You have now been reminded of the formula to refill your tank, go for it friend and willingly share what you learn so that the blessings keep flowing! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, thank You for giving to us so that we might share with others! Please continue to show us how we might gain more, so that we might give more. Open our minds of understanding and our hearts with a deep desire to learn more. Help us to be empty vessels, because we have shared with others all that we have taken in. May You be blessed and glorified because of all that we give. 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 Pyramid Of Life Decisions
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-04-21 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 4:15-20 (NIV) |
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Text: |
15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| In the earlier part of chapter 4, Jesus had taught the crowd through a parable that totally related to where they were at in life. He used a farmer, that probably applied to most who were in the audience at the time, so I’m sure they totally ‘caught His drift’. However, just like we tend to dance around the truth today by applying an interpretation that suits our circumstance, Jesus wanted to make sure that His teaching was caught and applied, so He went into detail about the parable. Let’s see how, or if this applies to us…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I recognized a pyramid in this teaching, and I believe that we will place ourselves in one of the levels of the pyramid, and I’m hoping that we will seek the face of God to help us strive for the top level (#1) of the pyramid through constant growth in our relationship with God, through His Son Jesus. Here is what I am seeing in this pyramid, starting with the bottom level:
5. Unbelievers – Although not mentioned in the parable, there are some who refuse to listen to the Word of God; 4. Easily accessible by Satan – These are ones who my live with godly parents, or work alongside a Christian, so they see God at work, and may hear the Word spoken at times, but Satan has full access to their heart, without any filters. So he immediately fills their heart with ‘sweet nothings’ in order to prevent their minds wandering away from his evil ways. They may hear the Word of God, but Satan quickly erases the thought from their minds; 3. Stoney ground – I believe these may have accepted Jesus as Lord at one time, probably through peer pressure or to please mom or dad. But they have no desire to grow in their ‘Christian walk’. So hearing the Word of God has no impact in their life. It’s like going to the top of a hill and trying to find enough soil to plant something that needs a foot of soil for its root system. The Word does not impact their lives; 2. Persistent thorns – Planting the Word of God in the life of one so distracted by the world, makes it almost impossible to take traction in that person. God said in another place in His work, that we are to be still and know that He is God. When we enter into a Bible teaching classroom or sanctuary, with our minds so bogged down in the worries of this world, or the sinful place that we attended last night, the distraction, or thorns of sin, will control our minds and block our acceptance and/or understanding of the Word being taught; 1. Good soil – A farmer finds the best soil to plant his seeds in, to ensure the most healthy and productive growth. A Christian whose aim is to be more like Christ in every aspect of life, will look for ingredients to enrich their lives. This might be daily quiet daily times that include some time in the Word of God; prayer; and reflection on God and His awesome goodness. These followers of Christ will look to produce fruit by finding ways to produce additional Christians and bringing ones up the pyramid. Just as farmers tend to spend more time enriching the soil, watering the plants and eradicating the weeds, so these Christians will have a deep desire to grow in their faith and find ways to not only develop a closer relationship with the Lord, but especially find ways to encourage those around them. So I wonder friend, at which level of the pyramid did you find yourself? If, in your honesty, you found yourself below level ‘1’, may I encourage you to ‘Have a little Talk with Jesus’ and pour out your soul to Him. Ask Him for help in attaining level ‘1’ and watch how He will drive you to a deeper walk with Himself! I truly believe that His desire is to see us all be little ‘Christ’s’ because of our personal desire to do His will. |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Savior, Master, and King, thank You for loving us enough to care about us and accept us as Your children in spite of our ugly past, or our easy tendency to sin. Your Word is so mind provoking, that we are frequently reminded of our inadequacies; our weak approach to holiness; and our walk that exemplifies a ‘perfect’ Lord. Please forgive us for deliberately keeping one foot in the world, while striving to place the other foot in a circle filled with Your holiness and righteousness. Although I plead Your blood and Your holiness on all those who my read this devotional, ‘It’s Me Oh Lord, Standing in the need of prayer’. Please work on Your humble servant so that I may exemplify You in every walk of life and with everyone that I may find myself associating with. With all glory to You oh 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! | |
A Cry For Help
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-04-19 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Psalm 27:9-11 (NLT) |
|
Text: |
9 Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation! 10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. 11 Teach me how to live, O Lord. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| David was not afraid to cry out to God for help, and in this Psalm he was desperate enough to say that even if his parents turned their backs on him, yet he KNEW that his Savior lives and would always listen to his cry and help him in his time of need. Wow! ‘Oh What A Savior’! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I was reminded as I read this Psalm this morning, of the importance of developing and maintaining a strong relationship with the Savior of the world. Friends, it is one thing to build a great relationship with your spouse, or relatives, or friends, but can they really do anything for the hurt you feel at times, that seems so deep and troubling? Can they really give you direction for your life, by knowing what’s in store for you tomorrow? Can they really mend a broken heart? Are they truly prepared to prove their love for you by placing themselves in the way of death, so that you may go on and enjoy the glories of your God and King? How desperate are you really, for this type of relationship? Are you willing to set aside the evil and sin that seems like so much fun, to accept Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, and be filled with joy everlasting about the prospects of heaven one day? Friends, Jesus knows the sincerity of your heart, so please give this your careful attention. Dedicate your life to Jesus today, and allow God to rule, reign, love, protect and guide you while you finish up life’s journey here on this planet. There are much brighter days ahead for those of us that have placed our trust in Him. I pray that you can be counted in that number today. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, it is so hard to imagine the love that You have for us, because we have nothing to compare that to here on this earth. I pray that my family, friends and readers will develop the kind of joy that David spoke of here in this Psalm that we read today. He developed such a relationship with You that he was content to celebrate Your help in times of obvious successes, but he also felt very comfortable presenting his troubles at Your feet for help, comfort and direction. Oh Lord, I pray that we will be a people like Your servant David, where we celebrate our joys with You, and then run quickly to You when we can’t figure things out, or feel alone, or frustrated over not knowing which way to turn next, or just desire a more intimate relationship with You. You are my rock and my salvation, and I sincerely thank You for being my guide throughout the rest of my days on earth. I am so looking forward to seeing You and worshiping You face to face in glory, but ‘Until Then, My Heart will Go on Singing’! 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! | |
With Hearts of Worship, We…
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-04-18 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 3:1-2 (Voice) |
|
Text: |
1 On the Sabbath, Jesus had come into a synagogue where He saw a man with a withered hand.2 The Pharisees held their breath: would Jesus cure this man on the Sabbath, right there in front of everyone? If so, they could charge Him with breaking the Sabbath law. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| It is interesting to see how evil the leaders (the Pharisees) of one religious sect (the Jews) could be, and how persistent they could be about trapping the leader (Jesus) of another sect (Christians). Why it was becoming a threat to their longstanding beliefs and practices. Aren’t you happy that those practices were all due to the immaturity, prejudices and hatred of that day? Or were they?…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
I have always remembered the words of a tour guide that took my family and I through Fort Charlotte, in the Bahamas. He showed us, and explained to us, how the stretch chamber was used when the British soldiers wanted to force the captured pirates to talk. His words still echo in my mind: “sure glad I wasn’t born in those days. ha, ha, ha”! Those words came to mind as I read these verses, because I’m afraid that many of us sit innocent in our church services and really criticize the Jews for being so awful to Jesus. And while I could agree with you, I believe we often ignore how much of that attitude we still bring to our churches today. Having just celebrated Easter and our risen Lord, our hearts are probably still overflowing with thanksgiving after being reminded about all that Jesus did for us at Calvary. We probably celebrated in worship more this past weekend than we have in a long time. But how is it going for most of you after being back in the workforce for a part of the week? I realize that for most of us, we could easily get defensive about how precious our own churches are, but friends I would encourage you to pray a hedge of protection around your pastor(s) and teachers, for Satan is out to attack them in much the same way as the Pharisees did to Jesus. In fact, many of them have probably received way more emails, letters and/or visits to criticize the efforts of Resurrection Sunday than to thank them and encourage them for their efforts amidst family visiting with them and the normal day-to-day pressures of pastoring. Can you imagine the awe of what our worship times together could be, if we:
Friends, I truly believe that when we prepare our hearts like this, we will find less time and importance in seeking out the bad in our pastor and church leaders, and the hypocrite sitting two rows in front of us, and instead this will lead us to open the doors of heaven and seek Jesus for who He is, and ask for His perfection in our lives so that we might be usable vessels in His earthly ministry. You see, there’s way too much need personally, than to waste our time trying to be God and judge everyone around us. That’s not a part of worship to our heavenly Father. |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Dear Lord Jesus, please humble our hearts so that we might seek Your perfection in our lives. Please humble us to serve You and others instead of waiting to be catered to in all walks of life. Help us to imitate You in all walks of life, so that others might be reminded of You, Your character, love and godliness. ‘People need the Lord’, oh that we might encourage and provoke that desire into reality, rather than being a stumbling block that might turn them away forever. You’re in control of us dear Jesus, and You control those around us, please help us to communicate with You about the needs that we see, rather than trying to invoke our own ideologies on the needy that we come into contact with. May it be obvious to others today, whose we are! AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
My Protector
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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-04-17 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Psalm 27:1 (Voice) |
|
Text: |
1 The Eternal is my light amidst my darkness and my rescue in times of trouble. So whom shall I fear? He surrounds me with a fortress of protection. So nothing should cause me alarm. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| David had ‘been there and done that’, as we would say today, when speaking from personal experience. When sharing this gained experience with others, as David did in this Psalm, we help them to gain confidence to trust God with the circumstances that they are facing. I wonder how well we are doing with that? | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| When whining and complaining about every little thing that don’t go our way, it is impossible to share a sense of confidence with a friend about how ‘good’ God is to you! For if God truly is ‘good’ to you, He will stop you from traveling a path where He knows that trouble lies ahead for you, or where temptation might be too great for you to handle. Friends, there are stories in our Book of Instruction (the Bible) that tells us of battles that God won without His led army ever raising their swords. Stories where earthly leaders went to battle with numbers they felt necessary to fight an army, and God ordered a reduction by 97% because He knew that He could be more effective than the full army of men. There are stories where His ministering saints were simply unchained during the night without ever calling for bolt cutters or hacksaws. Of course there are multitudes of other miracles told in the Word of God, so why should we lack the faith to trust in this awesome God with our situations today? Friends, if God is for us, who can you ever think of, that could be against us? Who can be more powerful? Who will love you and look our for your best interest, like He would? Do you know Him friend? It is repeated time and time again in the Bible, that God will take care of His own, and since He is totally honest, He will also bring punishment to those who have chosen to disregard Him and not accept Him as Lord. You see, it’s like an open book test. You know what the results will be, so it is entirely up to you to choose which results are dished out to you. Accepting Jesus as Lord, results in eternal life with Jesus and an eternity in Heaven with He and the Father (God). Ignoring the call of God on your life, will result in eternity with Satan and his deceiving legion. One brings you the confidence that David shared in our Psalm today, while the other gives you a deep sense of hopelessness that our world deals with today. With the end result in mind, the choice is yours dear friend. My wish is that I will see you in glory. I pray that you will make that decision today, while you still have breath to invite Jesus as your Lord and Savior. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus I believe that presented with the facts again today, many may be at a crossroads in their life where they need to make a decision about their eternity. The decision seems simple/obvious to me and very easy to make, however, I know that Satan will be doing everything to keep my family, friends and readers from leaving his evil domain. With the same power that You brought Lazarus back to life, and that put You back together after Your death and burial, I pray that You will use Your awesome power to touch the lives of those that mentioned above, and convince them of their need for the Savior. Lord, please tender their hardened hearts once again today. May this be the day of salvation for many today, is my humble and desperate plea, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
Our Greatest Need
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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-04-15 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Mark 2:2-5 (NLT) |
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Text: |
2 ….While he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| The determination of these men carrying the paraplegic is to be admired. They didn’t let the crowds stop them, nor the leaders that were probably there helping with crowd control. They didn’t let the walls of the building stop them, for they got up on the roof with the man on the stretcher. The roof was no hindrance, for they dug a hole through it that was large enough to fit a stretcher through it – probably 80″ by 30″ or more. They had a determination to get their friend before Jesus, no matter what obstacles stood in their way. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I wonder how disappointed the men were after going through all that they did, yet when Jesus saw the young man He didn’t immediately address the issue of paralysis, but rather attended to the condition of his heart and his readiness to meet God. I wonder how much this story parallels our earnest prayers to God, where we are concerned for our family and friends’ welfare or health, but seldom show deep concern for the salvation of their soul for eternity? Would we ‘go to bat’ over their salvation as much as we would for other things in their life that we feel might impact their normal living here on earth? How often do we forget that the things of this earth are temporal and could very easily be gone today or tomorrow? Yet the condition of their soul will determine their eternity. Should we be concerned for the physical, financial and personal welfare of our friends? If we didn’t then one would question if they are truly our friends, but I believe Jesus showed the Pharisees, and is showing us, that there is one concern that trumps all other concerns in life, and that is the spiritual condition of the individual. When you know that your friend is ready to meet their Savior and Lord, and that they are living daily to be more like Him here on earth, then all other needs will fall into place, for God cares intimately for His children and He will not bring anything on us beyond what we can bear, nor will He burden us with anything that will not bring glory to Himself. So friends, let me encourage you this Easter weekend, to look just a little differently at those you love and will spend time with this weekend. Look beyond their physical and material needs and pray with them about their spiritual needs, should there be a need to do that. Our greatest need in life is to be the individual that God designed us to be – one that will worship Him and bring glory to Him, in everything we do, until Jesus returns to take us all home to heaven to spend eternity with He and His Father. I’m ready for that reunion friends, and I want each of you, and all of my family and friends to also be ready to join me for that meeting at the foot of the cross! ‘What a Day That will Be’! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Thanks You Jesus for all that You willingly did that very first ‘Good Friday’ and the glory of that first ‘Easter’ morning! As we celebrate the events of that occasion again this year, I pray that although we will be touched by the drama of all that You went through, yet we will never lose sight of the fact that You did it all for us. Thank You Lord Jesus! I am eternally grateful Heavenly Father! In much the same way that You were willing to do whatever it took to save Your children from the awful stain of sin and damnation, I pray that each of us will commit to being so concerned about our family and friends that we would recommit to sharing Your love with them and allowing them to see the meaning of the cross and the possibilities of their eternity with You. There was nothing more important to You Lord Jesus. I pray that we would be very much the same in our concern for others. May You be glorified and lifted up this weekend, for I ask these things in the precious name of the crucified, yet risen 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! | |
Obedience Vs Disrupting God’s Work
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-04-14 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Mark 1:40-45 (HCSB) |
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Text: |
40 Then a man with a serious skin disease came to Him and, on his knees, begged Him: “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched him. “I am willing,” He told him. “Be made clean.” 42 Immediately the disease left him, and he was healed. 43 Then He sternly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 telling him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But He was out in deserted places, and they would come to Him from everywhere. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| God blessed this leper for the faith he showed in presenting himself to Jesus for healing. However, in his zealous and joyful heart after his healing, he wound up doing exactly what Jesus told him not to do, and this disrupted the ongoing work of Jesus. |
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| APPLICATION: | |
| This is a challenging one for us to learn, for the question becomes: How often do we override the commands of God, to do what we feel is best? Yes, even when our plan is to supposedly honor and glorify God. This reminds me of what we do when someone tells us a secret and asks us to keep it between us two. What’s the first thing we do? We find someone who we feel is trustworthy and we preface our gossip with: “Now ‘Tom’ told me to keep this between us two, but I know you won’t say anything, and I really believe you should know this…”, right? Now I know that God never made a mistake, so I’m sure that He knew this leper would instinctively go and tell the world that a man whom they despised and rejected is now perfectly whole again, and it was Jesus, the Christ who healed him. However, look at what happened to the ministry of Jesus when the healed leper allowed his will to be done, instead of the will of the One who just healed his body. Jesus said up in verse 38 that His whole reason for coming to earth was to preach the Word of God in all villages, then in just a few verses later we see where Jesus’ ministry was then restricted to to isolated places outside of the city. I wonder what impact our cruel, unthoughtful words; or our selfish and often bitter attitudes; or our prideful and arrogant treatment of others; must have on the work of the Lord in our circles of influence? Remember, that our knowledge and our vision of what lies ahead in a situation is restricted by what we can see in that present moment, compared to the eternal God who knows and sees all things, including what the future holds for those involved. He has a purpose in commanding us to follow His Word, even when it seems so strange to us. Oh may His perfect will be done, so that His glory might be revealed, resulting in awesome praise and worship to the Father, for ‘Our God Is an Awesome God!’ |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Father, please forgive us for the times that we deliberately jump out in front and decide to do things that totally disrupts Your work. Yes, we always think that we know enough to make sound decisions or recommendations, but oh how limited our knowledge truly is. The leper in our story today probably thought that he was doing the best possible thing, for he was promoting the name of Jesus by telling the world that He is the one responsible for his healing. However, Jesus didn’t tell him to go and do what he thought best, which is exactly what we tend to do way too often. Please open our eyes to the innocence of raw humility and strict obedience to You oh Lord, so that You might accomplish Your will and Your work in our midst, without us erecting stumbling blocks along the way. Your way is perfect, please help us to always be mindful of that, AMEN! |
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| 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! | |
Share The Amazement of Jesus
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-04-12 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Mark 1:25-28 (TLB) |
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Text: |
25 Jesus curtly commanded the demon to say no more and to come out of the man. 26 At that the evil spirit screamed and convulsed the man violently and left him. 27 Amazement gripped the audience and they began discussing what had happened.
“What sort of new religion is this?” they asked excitedly. “Why, even evil spirits obey his orders!” 28 The news of what he had done spread quickly through that entire area of Galilee. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| The New Testament is filled with accounts of awe as many people witnessed the power, the love and amazement of our Lord Jesus. There are many accounts of eyewitnesses going and spreading the good news of all that this Son of God was capable of doing, as they had witnessed it with their own eyes, or experienced it personally. Our story today is one such story, as it shares the power of Jesus to even demand evil spirits to leave a troubled man. |
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| APPLICATION: | |
| Walk in to any sanctuary in your area and I’m sure you will find people in attendance for various reasons. For some, it’s just the place to be on Saturday or Sunday mornings – tradition; for others, it’s the music that blesses your soul and you look forward to the next service to participate in and be blessed by the music; others might find comfort in being around nice people; while others are blessed beyond measure to hear their pastor speak. Can you think of any other reason why people show up for church services? Notice one thing missing from all of the reason I shared? How many actually show up for church to meet Jesus there, or are excited to be there because they want to be the first to celebrate what Jesus will do again today in our midst? Wouldn’t it be neat if people would walk in the doors of our churches and be looking all around to see where Jesus is at work, in response to their prayers? Friends, our churches are probably more needful than patients in hospital, for there are some burdened by sin; some hurting very badly from a bad marriage or sibling rivalry; there are some who are hurting terribly because of the pain in their bodies; some overwhelmed by finances or by kids who are headed in the wrong direction; and praise God, there are some who are ready to shout for joy and share an experience of Jesus being active in their life during that week. Let me ask you to ponder, what might our community hear about if each of the above groups returned home with their ‘cups filled and running over’ from God meeting their needs at church that day? What would be the difference to the neighbors in what they saw in the past, to what they might witness when we go to church expecting to meet God there, expecting a miracle? Friends, God did precisely this many times before in stories related in the Bible, and there is great satisfaction and excitement in Christians not only knowing that God is alive, but that He is actively at work in each of our lives still today! Is this possible? Of course it is, our God is alive and ready to work in our lives if we will pray to Him, search Him out, expect to find Him, and make ourselves truly available to Him. The world will believe and accept this when they see it for themselves through God’s messengers here on earth. That’s you and I, Christian Brother and Sister! |
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| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us enough to not only make a way for us to enter heaven’s glory and spend eternity with You, but also to be actively involved in our lives each and every day. Please helps us to constantly be in a state of recognizing Your involvement in our lives, and even more, help us to never be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the miracles of our awesome God! Praise God that You are alive today precious Jesus, and praise Him that You are alive and active in my life. Please be especially visible to my friends who will read this devotional and to all my family and friends that I will touch in some way today. Glorify Your name oh Lord! AMEN! |
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| 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 