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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-04-24 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 4:38-41 (TLB) |
|
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! | |
Tag: King
The Pyramid Of Life Decisions
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-04-21 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 4:15-20 (NIV) |
|
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! | |
My Protector
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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-04-17 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Psalm 27:1 (Voice) |
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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 | |
|
From: |
Mark 2:2-5 (NLT) |
|
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 | |
|
From: |
Mark 1:25-28 (TLB) |
|
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! | |
See Us As We Are, Not Past Failures
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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-04-08 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Psalm 25:7-10 (Voice) |
|
Text: |
7 Do not HOLD against me the sins I committed when I was young; instead, deal with me according to Your mercy and love. Then Your goodness may be demonstrated in all the world, Eternal One. 8 IMMENSELY good and honorable is the Eternal; |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Like many of us, David felt like approaching God in the light of who he was as a teenager, might be a hopeless case. However in light of who God is, and the mercy and grace that He is known for, David knew that there was hope for himself and for all who commit to serving Christ and obeying His commands. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| It is so easy for us to listen to Satan and believe there is no hope for us because of all that we were. I found it refreshing to be reminded that when I committed my life to Jesus and accepted the outstanding grace that He offers to His children, that He not only cleansed me of my sin up to that point in time, but that He looks on me as a sinner saved by His grace. Sure I make mistakes still, but with the Holy Spirit living in me and prompting me to the way of the cross, I am constantly reeled back in and redirected to the King who reigns over me. Friends, I don’t believe I am alone in feeling this way at times, for I’ve heard from many how hopeless they feel at times. May I implore you to be encouraged by the words of David in this Psalm today and be renewed in knowing that those whom Jesus has welcomed into His fold, will never be released to any other Master. Think of your earthly mother and father – you can’t undue the fact that they are your blood parents. Jesus would never accept you into His family and then push you away every time you mess up. He wants you to seek His face daily and realign your will and way with His, every moment of every day. He loves you beyond anything you could every imagine and He wants to see you in glory one day around His throne. Would you commit to follow the last verse of our Scripture today and remain true to God’s Word and keep His commandments? The promise is that He will remain kind and true to you Brothers and Sisters! There is no better companion than to have Jesus on your side while here on earth and when we see Him face to face in heaven! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord You are so good to us. Praise God that You are able to see us as ‘white as snow’, because of being redeemed by Your precious blood. Most of us have nothing that we could brag about from our past, and absolutely nothing that we can place before You as redemption for our sins. Thank You for Your enormous sacrifice, and for Your uncompromising love for us, in spite of who we used to be. In being cleansed by Your blood, because of Your amazing grace, we are united with You in spirit and filled with the promise of eternity around Your throne. Oh what a Savior! Lord teach us daily to live like who we are, and not like who we used to be. 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! | |
On Recognizing Jesus
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-04-07 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Matthew 27:54 (AMP) |
|
Text: |
54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, they were terribly frightened and filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Scripture mentions a few of the people on the scene at Calvary where Jesus was crucified. Of course there were guards on hand to make sure that Jesus, who some thought was a criminal, would not escape from His destiny, to die on that Roman cross. The guards saw the heart of God in His Son throughout this whole ordeal, especially as Jesus died, for at that very moment, they concluded that, surely, ‘this truly was the Son of God’. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| There comes a time in our lives that Jesus becomes ‘real’ to us. For some, it might be through the proclamation of His Word in a church service, but for others it might be through something in nature, or a miracle that you witnessed in response to earnest prayer by a saint of God. Some folk respond to these first experiences with Jesus by bending of the knee, seeking His face in prayer, asking for forgiveness of their sin and surrendering leadership of their remaining life to Him. Others become distracted by trying to apply some other phenomenon that may have contributed to the miracle they just witnessed. Friends, for all of us there will come a time that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will recognize God for who He is. We will immediately respond to that experience in one of several ways: Try to ignore it; Try to reject it; Try to reason it away from our minds; or stand in awe of the presence of the holy Son of the living God because of His awesome and powerful Holy Spirit convicting us of our need for a Savior. You may have done one or more of these things already in your life, and you are still remaining with us here on this earth for another opportunity. Just yesterday I heard of two men who went into eternity very unexpectedly. In fact, so quickly that they would not have had time to ask for acceptance by Jesus. If at some point in their lives they stopped making excuses and accepted the tug of Jesus on their heart, then their spirits united with Jesus yesterday, otherwise they are facing the damnation of Hell for all eternity. The choice is exactly the same for you today, friend. Your decision today affects where you will spend eternity. If you have read this blog, then you are making a decision again today. If you have never accepted Jesus as Lord, and you do not invite Jesus into your heart today, then you have made the decision to spend eternity in Hell. I would not wish that on anyone, especially you my friend. Know Jesus today and know eternal peace, won’t you? | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Father, You created us to love, honor and follow Your commands as Your loving children. I pray that hearts will be softened and reopened to the truth of Your Word today as this blog goes out to the world. Please allow those who need a Savior to happen across this blog, and may Your all powerful Word return fruit as it is read and understood. Please allow the excuses to cease and acceptance and commitment to prevail. I ask these things solely for Your glory oh Lord, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
Committed to Give!
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Post Date: |
Wednesday, 2017-04-05 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Exodus 35:4-5; 36:4-7 (NCV) |
|
Text: |
35:4 Moses said to all the Israelites, “This is what the LORD has commanded: 5 From what you have, take an offering for the LORD. Let everyone who is willing bring this offering to the LORD: gold, silver, bronze….
36:4 So all the skilled workers left the work they were doing on the Holy Tent, 5 and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than we need to do the work the LORD commanded.”
6 Then Moses sent this command throughout the camp: “No man or woman should make anything else as a gift for the Holy Tent.” So the people were kept from giving more, 7 because what they had was already more than enough to do all the work. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| In preparing to build the temple, Moses shared with the people what God had commanded them to do as their contribution to the project. Their response was so overwhelming, that Moses had to soon stop them from bringing their gifts. Seems just the opposite to what the response Moses received when he commanded them to stop worshiping idols. Perhaps God got their attention when over 3,000 was killed after the last incidence of disobedience. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I found this to be quite the contrast to the half hearted giving of God’s people today! Often when volunteers are needed, the able ones are the first to avoid eye contact and scoot out the back door of the church, because they just don’t have time. When teaching jobs are open, it is extremely challenging to find someone willing to commit the time to the job. Most would rather see the church pay for building repairs or yard work, as they simply don’t have time to do such things. If you read yesterday’s blog, you will remember that we were encouraged to always respond with the words “I just can’t make that a priority”, rather than “I just don’t have time”! I believe that it will be much closer to the truth and reflect more accurately that your priorities are elsewhere. Oooch! I know that hurts, but friends I want you to learn to be 100% honest with yourself, for God already knows your heart! This same attitude of commitment and priority also flows over to the act of giving financially to the Lord. To the able bodied brothers and sisters who may read this blog, may I suggest that you ask a handicapped person who is unable to work, “how much would they be prepared to give to the Lord, if He healed their body and gave them a job?” and I would assure you that they will probably respond 100%. My point is, friends, that in God’s Word He gives us a command to give at least 10% as a tithe to His work at our local church. In today’s peer pressure and wanting everything our neighbor has, how good are we doing with that command? Is it done before any other expenses are taken out of our income? God doesn’t give us the remains of a beautiful day, or half blessings in any way, but He gives us His very best, way more than we deserve. Giving more of self and even in our financial giving, are ways to express our gratitude to God for all that He does for us each and every day. The Bibles says that we will receive in accordance to how we have given. How are you doing friend? | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, thank You for giving of Your very best so that we may have forgiveness of our sin and one day join You in glory! You’ve not asked us to give of our only son, like You did, so Lord may we learn to be in constant awe of all that You give to us each and every day, and may we give in return as You have commanded, or even more. As we express our appreciation through our giving, may it be obvious to You that our hearts are filled to overflowing. May this be reflected in all phases of our lives so that You may use this appreciation to open the eyes of unbelievers and draw them to Yourself. I ask these things in all humility and great appreciation for Your love and Your mercy to even me, oh Lord, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
Traitor
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-03-31 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Matthew 26:47-50 (NLT) |
|
Text: |
47 … Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people. 48 The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss.” 49 So Judas came straight to Jesus. “Greetings, Rabbi!” he exclaimed and gave him the kiss. 50 Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, spending His last hours in this world before His Father in earnest prayer. He knew the moment that this event would take place and He knew who would be the instigator. In fact it would be one very close to Him, but He also knew the pain, agony and public disgrace that was in store for Him as the following events took place. I’m sure that Jesus was no different to us, in that His greatest hurt came from the betrayal by one who was close to Him, and not a stranger who had always hated Him and protested His ministry. Can this possibly apply to us?…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| My blog title today is ‘Traitor’, because that’s what Judas is often characterized as. Being specifically called by Jesus to be one of His close followers, who Jesus poured life and ministry into, and who Jesus expected to carry on the ministry after His departure, I believe it is obvious that Jesus had great expectations for Judas and His other disciples. So to see this change in Judas, I’m sure was devastating to Jesus and to the other disciples. In fact, I’m sure that they felt very betrayed by Judas. This part of the Bible is challenging for us to wrap our minds around, isn’t it? In fact, aren’t you glad that the whole event is behind us. Surely there can’t be anyone else around that would do such an awful thing, right? Or is there? Look deeply inside of yourself for a moment. Can you think of a time when you may have been ashamed of something that you said to a friend about the ministry of Christ that you thought was less than godly? Perhaps, instead of calling a prayer meeting to pray for your pastor, or an elder, or a deacon, or another church member, you joined in a conversation intended to bash the individual. Was that showing the same love that Christ offers to you, or do you suppose that you may have betrayed the ministry of Jesus Christ and His mission? Perhaps you’ve had friends praying with you about a personal situation that has really affected your. Were you able to brag with your coworkers about the love of God in answering your prayer, or did you have to ‘mellow’ and tell them what awesome luck came your way? If so, you missed an opportunity to witness to your coworkers about the awesome God who answers even your prayers. You also said to God thanks, but no thanks, for your good luck charm did more good than your prayers to Him. Is that Christ honoring, or is that denying the love and power of the awesome God that You serve? As you reflect on these verses friend, may I encourage you to look inward, instead of beating up on the person and actions of Judas. Don’t be a ‘traitor’ or ‘betrayer’ friend. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, this is a tough lesson for us, because our eyes are opened to the fact that we still do almost as bad as Judas sometimes. You showed Your love for us publicly on a cross, yet we do our best to keep our relationship with You undercover to the general public, because we don’t want to be rejected just because we are Your follower. Lord, may You rule and reign in our lives, and may we boldly declare Your majesty, love and power to all that we come into contact with. May You receive honor, praise and glory from our actions and never feel betrayed, but Lord we need Your power daily, so that we may remain strong and eternally faithful. Bless us oh Lord, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
Nuggets From God's Word 