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Post Date: |
Monday, 2017-07-10 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Deuteronomy 11:1-2; 7 (ERV) |
|
Text: |
1 “So you must love the Lord your God. You must do what he tells you to do and always obey his laws, rules, and commands. 2 Remember today all the great things the Lord your God has done to teach you. It was you, not your children, who saw those things happen and lived through them. You saw how great he is. You saw how strong he is, and you saw the powerful things he does.
7 It was you, not your children, who saw all the great things the Lord did. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| I believe that Moses realized that the younger generation of Israelites might be entering into the Promised Land without ever having witnessed the powerful hand of God through the many miracles in Egypt, and in the wilderness. I believe that the older generation were probably content in their tents knowing that they had witnessed a lot in their day and that hopefully their children would never have to face those challenges again. We will consider the application to our current day situation, as we reflect on the dilemma Moses saw with his people, at such a celebrative time in their history…. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Gossip generally starts when one is trying to relay a story based on something they thought they heard someone else say. Exaggerations are generally added, especially to slant the belief of the hearer towards the feelings of the story teller. But if experiences are never shared with others, the lessons that you learned will not help others, or give them a ray of hope through all that they are facing. God brought the Israelites through so much that their experiences are spread across several books in the Bible, yet this younger generation was preparing to enter into uncharted territory, facing huge obstacles, and Moses was afraid that they would probably face these with little hope or trust in the God from whom their forefathers witnessed miracle after miracle. Has things changed? Do our kids know about the miracles in the lives of our parents and grandparents? Do they know about the faith as demonstrated by your uncle? Do they know that the same God who raised Lazarus from the grave, is the same God available to them today and they too can experience His awesome grace and power? Don’t forget friends, there are folk that will deliberately get into conversation with you today, because they may have seen your faith at work, or they’ve heard of the faith that you may have in your Master. Don’t brush them off because you’re at work, or you’re at the grocery store. God arranged the meeting place and the circumstance so that someone might hear your story today. Don’t let Him down! Family will probably call or stop by today and although there might be several reasons for their visit, one might be that they want some of your faith to rub off on them. Let me encourage you to share wherever and whenever you can. The obvious place is at church friends, for most people attend, looking for hope, for answers, for a better way. Be interested in those that you speak with, and not just a casual handshake or smile, for they may enter their future without ever having been touched by the blessings God showered on you. Your sharing with them might be the final thing that convinces them to meet the originator of miracles – our God! Do your part by share what God has done for you personally friend. There is nothing like an eyewitness account! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, You bless us immensely each and every day, and You have not only performed miracles in our own lives, but also in the lives of relatives that have shared experiences with us. Please help us to share with others how You have blessed us, and Lord, please use those circumstances to draw folk to you. Help us to share in simple form what You have miraculously done for us. No need for exaggeration, Your power is enough to draw folk to You and to save the most hardened sinner. Lord, I look forward to sharing with others today, God being my helper, 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: Witness
Asleep On The Job
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-06-02 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 14:37-38 (CEV) |
|
Text: |
37 When Jesus came back and found the disciples sleeping, he said to Simon Peter, “Are you asleep? Can’t you stay awake for just one hour? 38 Stay awake and pray that you won’t be tested. You want to do what is right, but you are weak.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| A crowd followed Jesus up to the garden, however He took just three disciples along with Him to a place of solitude so that He could pray. At the place of prayer, Jesus asked His disciples to stop, watch and pray, while He went on just a little farther for some one on one time with the Father. Knowing what was in store for Him, He had some very serious conversation with His Father, yet He was also concerned about His disciples, so He kept checking on them. I feel like those three disciples vividly represent ‘Christians’ today and, with God’s guidance, I will expand on that in our ‘application’. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Jesus was praying so earnestly with the Father that His very heart was broken. I would imagine that He should have felt some relief knowing that His inner circle of disciples were right there praying with Him, or were they? God created this beautiful world in which we live, and He also created each of us especially to worship Him while living on this earth enjoying it. While we are definitely living on this earth and being blessed by everything around us, how would you think we are rated in truly worshipping the one who provided all this for us? Simon Peter had just sworn to Jesus, a short time before the garden scene, that He (Jesus) could depend on him to be faithful right until the end of time. Yet when Jesus returned to check on His three disciples, they were all asleep – including Peter. I often feel like a very large percentage of ‘Christians’ are ‘asleep on the job’ as we plunder through our time here on earth while placing priority on everything else, besides our commitment to worship our Lord and be His faithful followers and missionaries. Some attend church services, while most others are asleep on the job and can’t find an hour a week to join with believers in worship to our Savior and Lord. Unfortunately, many that attend a worship service pretty much represents the three disciples in our Scripture today, for our arms are strapped to our sides, our lips are sealed, and our expression shows that we can’t wait for the service to be over. Many will listen to the pastor pray, the praise team sing and, if we could stay awake, we may listen to the pastor share his heart about something from the Scripture. Excuse me, but where did ‘our time of worship’ fit into any of that I just explained? Our presence inside of a church does not count as worship to the Father, nor the Son, nor the Holy Ghost. Where was our heart, our thoughts and our concentration during that time together? How would we respond to Jesus if He returned today and asked us the same question as He did to Simon Peter? Are we truly appreciative of the sacrifice made for us at Calvary? Is Jesus pleased with our daily expressions of gratitude? In most workplaces employees are fired for falling asleep on the job. How do you suppose God should act about us falling asleep on the job of worshipping Him, witnessing in His name, being good honest representatives of His to a lost world that needs Jesus? | |
| PRAYER: | |
| What a sobering reminder to us today dear Jesus, for I feel like Your saints here on earth are very much in the same boat as Peter, James and John. Please forgive our unfaithfulness and today fill us with Your unction to be the hands, feet and voice of Jesus as we face a bitter world where most have no appreciation for the sacrifice You made and the love that You share with us every day. Regardless of their position in life, please grant us the boldness and deep desire to bear Your cross and be a living witness before them, and all those that we are privileged to come into contact with. Please awaken Your church, so that together our communities may witness the outstretched arms of our Savior and 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! | |
Obedience Vs Disrupting God’s Work
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-04-14 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 1:40-45 (HCSB) |
|
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! | |
Good News!
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-04-11 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Mark 1:14-15 (NLT) |
|
Text: |
14 Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. 15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| The order of events shows that Jesus showed up to be baptized by His forerunner, John the Baptist; He was then ordered to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan; then He returned to begin His earthly ministry of sharing the best news ever – God’s Good News of the home He has prepared for His saints to settle in one day with He and His precious Son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. There is nothing that would match this good news when shared with people of this earth! | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| This great news that Jesus shared with the people of Galilee, is still the greatest news that we can share with the world today, friends! Pastors do this from our pulpits, teachers do this through Bible studies and/or Sunday School and those who have that assurance of salvation – Christians, we share this each and every day through our words and through our actions. Ever stopped to ponder what message you are unconsciously getting across to those you work with or associate with every day? Unfortunately the unsaved have chosen to reject the Bible and its teachings, but they are constantly looking for a life, or a witness, that appears happy and successful to them, so that they may seek the source of that joy. And that’s where Christians come in, it’s not how often we attend church, or how good we are at quoting parts of the Bible. Friends, they are looking for changed lives – ones that stand out and are sincerely living a life that imitates everything they have heard about Jesus. I believe that our takeaway from this Scripture today is that the Good News must still go out to the unsaved today, if they are ever expected to know and believe on Jesus. Are we conveying that message through the lives we live? May our words be reflective of the Good News of Jesus Christ that we live our lives by, so that the world might know. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ and the salvation of those that believe on Him, was of super importance to Jesus. If we are to live like Him, then we must follow in His footsteps and fulfill the ministry of the saints to share the love of Jesus and the saving grace that comes form Him alone. The world needs this, but how will they know unless we tell them? Lord, please direct Your children today. As you share the Good News, may we follow in doing the same today. Amen! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
Know Jesus So You May Obey Him
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-03-03 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Exodus 5:1-2 (TLB) |
|
Text: |
1 … Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They told him, “We bring you a message from Jehovah, the God of Israel. He says, ‘Let my people go, for they must make a holy pilgrimage out into the wilderness, for a religious feast, to worship me there.’”2 “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is Jehovah, that I should listen to him, and let Israel go? I don’t know Jehovah and I will not let Israel go.” |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Pharaoh challenged Moses and Aaron as to why should he obey the commands that their God sent them to convey to him. In not knowing the same God that Moses and Aaron knew, loved and worshipped, Pharaoh refused to obey what the two brothers relayed to him from their God. After all, why should an unbeliever obey a god that they don’t know, and that we feel is genuine? | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| To tell someone that I met for the first time, that I have the best wife in the whole world, they may look at me and admire how well programmed I am to say those words to even a stranger. To tell that stranger that my wife said that they must not eat certain foods because it will destroy their bodies, they may look at me like I’ve really lost my mind, or perhaps ask me to get out of their face. However, if my healthy looking wife walked into the room and became acquainted with them and answered their questions about nutrition and how she attributes her great health to certain diet restrictions that she follows every day, the stranger may become more apt to accept what she says – listen and obey. As I read this Scripture this morning it was like God stopped me and made me ponder for a while that aren’t Christians doing the same thing as Moses and Aaron> Think about it, we become very spiritually fed during our weekend services and as we enter our weekday we try to share, or some may even demand some of the scriptural commands on those we work with, or come across during our day. If they don’t know God, why would they listen to us or consider obeying what we try to convince them that God said? I am very convinced that the most important thing Christians can do for unbelievers is to live life in total obedience to God, so that we can convince them that God is impacting our life. Secondly, don’t ‘beat around the bush’ about why we act the way we do, or why we attend church, or why we don’t care about their crude jokes, or why God is so important in every decision we make. When a person’s heart is touched by the Lord, THEN and only THEN will they want to hear what God has to say to them. Let’s remember, we are not in the sales business, we simply bear witness to the Truth, and He will do the convincing. Remember, He intricately designed the heart, and He knows exactly what it takes to reach that heart with the love and acceptance of Jesus Christ. When we go over and above what God intended, or leads us towards, we actually cause walls to be erected by the unbeliever. Are you meeting many folk like Pharaoh? How’s your witness for our Lord, convincing to the unbeliever? Remember, God is the One who does the convincing and the saving, we are merely the earthly vessels that He might use to help in that process. Let’s not get the order messed up and confuse the unbeliever as to who brings salvation into their lives! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord, You’ve shown us through the story of Pharaoh how challenging it is to obey Your commands if we don’t know the Commander personally. Please forgive us for often reversing that order and expecting our friends to like the things we like or go the places we go, when their hearts are often polluted with so much of the world. Please continue to work on believers so that we may simply desire to be conduits through which You can share Your love, Your salvation message, and Your grace, so that others may see and believe. I am anxious to be used by You through circumstance yet unknown today. May Your will be done, oh Lord, my Rock and my salvation, 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! | |
God’s Way vs Man’s Ways
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Post Date: |
Tuesday, 2017-02-14 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
Matthew 14:15–17 (NLT) |
|
Text: |
15 That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”
16 But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.” 17 “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered.
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| OBSERVATION: | |
| Man’s Way: Send the crowds away…. God’s Way: It’s not necessary to send them away, you feed them! Man’s Way: BUT, we don’t have enough food for all of them… |
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| APPLICATION: | |
| In verse 14, the Scripture says that Jesus saw the needs of the people and He had compassion on them. He was concerned about their needs, just as I believe He is also concerned about our needs today. Friends, you could be the most wealthy person around, but in the presence of Jesus, my King, you will be reminded of how needy you truly are. In our quoted verses, I was reminded of the decisions we make in life today, and how those choices also carry forward into our churches. Seeing us in the world setting vs seeing us make decisions as church leaders, I wonder if our people actually sees a difference. I believe that we are so much like the disciples, for we are quick to judge, and make decisions based on our emotions and how the individual, or crowd is impacting our space, or our personal lives. The disciples saw the crowds and probably knew of their many and varied needs, so they thought to head off one more obvious need, and that was the worry of feeding the crowd. I learnt very early in my marriage that I didn’t just pop up on my wife, with one or more people, around lunch time, without giving her hours of preparation time to clean the house and prepare a nice meal! I wonder how much food the disciples would have taken to the hillside for a hungry crowd the size they were facing! The disciples saw the crowd as an inconvenience, but Jesus saw their needs. Also, even after proving Himself over and over before, yet when He told the disciples that they would feed the crowd, there was a rebuttal because they could not see the miracle that was possible by and through the hand of God. So how might we identify with this story today in our world? Do we have those times that we want the crowds to go away, so that we could…. Are there times that the needy approach us and all we look at is their physical condition and assume what their physical needs must be? Do we stop to consider what Jesus might say to those same individuals, or what He might say about our decision to ignore them or send them away? Would you compare your compassion for the needy to be in line with the compassion of Jesus, or are you at the opposite ends of the spectrum on how you might react, compared to Jesus? Friends, perhaps we should consider this Scripture in view of the personal decisions that we make regarding the physical needs of others, and imagine just for a moment that we might also be rejecting their spiritual needs when we turn the needy away. Oh that Jesus might penetrate our hearts so that we may see needs as He would, so that we may express love in ways that exemplify Him. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, just as You have opened my eyes to being more compassionate of the needs of those around me, or the needs of folk that might walk through our church doors, I pray that You would also tender the hearts of my readers. As Your representatives, I sincerely believe that we must desire the heart and compassion of our Master. Please humble us to look beyond our expectations and our image of the poor and needy, and help us to instead be concerned about their heart and their readiness to meet You, should You call them home today. Lord, teach us to imitate You and to gain the heart of Christ as we approach the needs of individuals today. Oh that they may see Jesus and want to know Him personally! May we not be a stumbling block to hinder such decisions today, is my humble prayer, 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! | |
Evidence of Your Gifts
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Post Date: |
Friday, 2017-02-03 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
|
From: |
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (Voice) |
|
Text: |
7 Each believer has received a gift that manifests the Spirit’s power and presence. That gift is given for the good of the whole community. 8 The Spirit gives one person a word of wisdom, but to the next person the same Spirit gives a word of knowledge. 9 Another will receive the gift of faith by the same Spirit, and still another gifts of healing—all from the one Spirit. 10 One person is enabled by the Spirit to perform miracles, another to prophesy, while another is enabled to distinguish those prophetic spirits. The next one speaks in various kinds of unknown languages, while another is able to interpret those languages. 11 One Spirit works all these things in each of them individually as He sees fit. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Notice what the Word of God does not say: It doesn’t say that some will receive a gift from God; or that some who are really blessed will receive more, or better gifts; or that our gift is given to help us look better or get richer; nor dies it say that because some will have better upbringing, they will develop better gifts. In fact, the Scripture says just the opposite to all these things, for it declares in verse 11 that the Spirit works which gift each will receive, as He sees fit, and not if He will decide to give them one. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| OK, so having concluded that each believer in Jesus Christ has been blessed by God with a gift that should be used for His glory, you can appreciate why today’s blog title never questions whether you have a gift or not, but rather, what are you doing with that gift. Throughout the Bible we’ve seen where believers have questioned God about their gift, for Moses was adamant that he could not speak well, although He was ordained by God to lead the Israelites (a huge crowd of them) out of Egypt; Saul (Paul) was struck down on the road to Damascus and spoken to by God, only for Saul to question “who, me?”, yet from the biggest persecutor of the church, Paul became the biggest evangelist and even wrote much of the New Testament for our benefit. So what’s your excuse friend? Hopefully you are not guilty of doing the same with your gift as Jesus taught about ‘Light’ when He cautioned us to not hide our ‘Light’ under a bushel where it is ineffective. I believe that our first excuse is to talk ourselves out of a task that would showcase our gift. Fortunately, I believe that is also Biblical, for Scripture tells us that we are not to think more highly of ourselves than we should. However Scripture also says that ‘greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world’. Scripture also teaches that through our weakness and inabilities, He becomes strong – in other words, His worthiness is recognized in and through our weaknesses and inabilities. Ever noticed how God will many times use the most uneducated pastor to reach the lost, than some who have been to seminary and knows all the right words to say? Friends, I believe that there is perfection in what God declared through the words written by Paul. There are family and friends that you will rub shoulders with, or eat with, or play sports with, that I will never know here on this earth. So of course He wants His holiness, and His sanctification to be evident through you, so that those lost ones might know about Jesus and believe on Him. Please don’t underestimate your gift. No matter what God has blessed you with, just allow Him to use that gift through you, for His glory. Giving excuses is like saying that God is unworthy, or incapable of blessing you with your gift. Seek God’s face and recognize His voice, so that when the opportunity arises to use your gift, you will know without a shadow of doubt that God is merely using you as His instrument through whom He could accomplish His work. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| While our talents and our gifts are a blessing from You dear Lord, please humble us to allow You to accomplish Your will and Your work through everything that we attempt to do in Your name. Thank You for entrusting us with gifts that could help us accomplish Your work here on earth. We are so unworthy, and so inadequate in and of ourselves, no matter how much education we might have, or how smart we are in other earthly ways. Unless You build the house – unless You accomplish Your work, it will fail. Likewise, please help us to never underestimate the power of our God. It is so easy for us to conclude that we can’t, or we are incapable, or we have not been educated for that, or we can’t speak comfortably in front of others much more educated than us. Lord, we are questioning, or doubting Your abilities when we do that. Shame on us, for You are more than able to accomplish every good work and to reach every mortal man. Thank You for making us a part of Your plan, so that we may realize that our time here on earth is well worth it! Thine be the glory, for ever and for ever, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
The Suffiency of God’s Grace!
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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-01-21 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (Voice) |
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Text: |
7 To keep me grounded and stop me from becoming too high and mighty due to the extraordinary character of these revelations, I was given a thorn in the flesh—a nagging nuisance of Satan, a messenger to plague me! 8 I begged the Lord three times to liberate me from its anguish; 9 and finally He said to me, “My grace is enough to cover and sustain you. My power is made perfect in weakness.” So ask me about my thorn, inquire about my weaknesses, and I will gladly go on and on—I would rather stake my claim in these and have the power of the Anointed One at home within me. |
| OBSERVATION: | |
| Paul shared that he could easily have become puffed up, because of all that God had blessed him with, however, we acknowledged the ‘speed bumps’ that God placed in his way so that pride didn’t develop in his life. No doubt many of us might often beat up on God because of ‘roadblocks’ that we feel are hindering our success, so let’s look at the application of this text. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| How easy is it for us to feel despondent and forgotten when it seems like we constantly face ‘roadblocks’, or ‘speed bumps’ in our lives. Friends, I believe it is times like that when we must stop and acknowledge that we are working God’s agenda, not Him working our scheduling. About a month ago I had great plans for a party I would lead for a Married Couples group that I teach. Guess what, my plans never materialized, because while I was in a hospital bed, the party was at one of the couple’s home! I believe that God made me realize that no matter how well we might plan, it is left entirely up to Him as to what will transpire, so that He might be glorified and allowed to work in the midst of it all. Now in no way am I advocating that it’s not important to plan ahead, but what I am saying is that it is God who will be victorious, and receive the glory for all that is done and all that is accomplished. The other application I can share with you is that I have had the honor of substitute teaching in a Sunday School class for a retired pastor of our church. I don’t know anything more humbling than to stand in front of a class who has been blessed with powerful teaching and the unimaginable knowledge of a great man of God. But folk, I quickly learned that it’s not about me, or about that retired pastor, for as this passage advocates, God’s strength and power becomes evident through the weakness of those who place their faith, trust and dependence in Him. I trust that we will daily surrender our all to Jesus every day, so that HE might rule and reign in all the circumstances that we may find ourselves in that day. Lord, may they see the face of Jesus as others look at us, for only His grace can fulfil their need! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, Paul shared with us how You were able to work, especially through his weaknesses. I am certain that today we will be tempted to allow our selfish pride and self-proclaimed strengths to stand in the way of our awesome God working out His will through us, so Father, I pray that You will work on us internally to worry not about our weaknesses or inadequacies, but to simply surrender our all to You, so that it might be obvious to everyone that we come into contact with who truly rules and reigns in our hearts and lives. Yes, Your grace is sufficient to meet our every need. Thank You Jesus for blessing us with Your grace. 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! | |
Don’t Miss ‘The Boat’!
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Post Date: |
Thursday, 2017-01-19 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Matthew 7:21–23 (MSG) |
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Text: |
“Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’
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| OBSERVATION: | |
| This 7th chapter of Matthew records Jesus teaching a crowd that followed him even to the mountains. Addressing this crowd was probably much like one of our pastors who address our congregations each week. However, Jesus knew the hearts and intentions of each one gathered, so He was able to speak directly into their lives. In this particular instance Jesus addressed folk who may have used church, or used their act of following Him as an act to brag about. They knew what it took to be recognized as a follower, and they thought they knew what to say, although Jesus exposed that thought in His teaching here. Jesus pulled no punches! While I believe He was honored that so many wanted to be near Him and hear His teaching, He also knew that He had to correct their misunderstanding of what it takes to meet His Father face to face on that Day. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| Much like the crowd that Jesus taught at the edge of the mountain, I believe that many churches are packed with folk each week that may still be under the misguided understanding that church attendance; giving to their local church; wearing a big cross as jewelry every day; or using church-like words interspersed in conversation throughout their day, would convince the world that they know Jesus in a very intimate way. The problem with that, is that the world sees through your pretense almost as much as God does. Friends, it’s not the world that we must impress, and this may come as a shock to you, but it’s not Jesus that you must impress! Jesus knows your heart, friend. Therefore He knows very well when our words are misaligned with our heart and our inner person. Jesus wants us to change from the inside out, and not vice versa. There is only one way to the throne of the Father, and that’s through accepting Jesus, the One whose blood was spilled at Calvary – the sacrifice that He made for the salvation of folk like you and me. You see, this is really simple. As we seek God’s face and His forgiveness, our lives will change from the inside out. His work in our lives, and our aim at living obedient lives to the teachings and example of Jesus Christ, prepares us with honest words and actions where the world will know and believe on the only Son of God, Jesus the Christ. Living that type of life means that it’s not something we calculate, or conjure up, but rather, the love of the Savior that resides inside of us spills out in our words and actions so that the world will know who Jesus is. Are you on the right track friends? If not, I encourage you to go back to the foot of the cross and talk with Jesus about your salvation. Reaffirm your faith in Jesus, so that you can stop trying so hard. Let Him have His way in your life. | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, we are nothing without You, so of course our efforts without You and Your power will have no impact on unbelievers. Time is precious to all of us, and Lord we would never want to merely pretend to be Your followers to impress those around us, for we are very much like them when witnessing or evangelizing in our own strength. Furthermore, people are smart enough to see through our pretense, for only You can speak to the hearts of Your children. Lord, I commend myself to You again, asking that I do nothing in my own strength, but that I seek Your face daily and allow Your precious Holy Spirit to guide my lips, my actions and my whole self, so that others will see Jesus, not this humble, helpless man. Please tender the hearts of my readers so that they too may realign themselves with Your will for their lives. The world needs You, precious Lord, not us. Use us if needed, but please work in the lives of those that we will come into contact with today, for I ask this in the wonderful, matchless name of 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! | |
A Higher Calling – Perfection
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Post Date: |
Saturday, 2017-01-14 |
| SCRIPTURE | |
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From: |
Matthew 5:43–48 (Voice) |
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Text: |
43 You have been taught to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— 45 in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner. 46 It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. 47 And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! 48 But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
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| OBSERVATION: | |
| Jesus taught us that He was ordained as God’s special gift to mankind that would be born miraculously though a virgin; He lived among men who hated Him and ridiculed Him; and He died a criminal’s death on a cross – in spite of having the power to overcome with just a single Word. Let’s remember, Jesus did this for mankind even while men hated Him and was following the evil desires of this world. So consider that kind of love and then read this passage again. Notice in verse 48 that we, who know this Jesus intimately and have surrendered our lives to His will, are called to a much higher calling – to be perfect even as our Savior is perfect. | |
| APPLICATION: | |
| I’m super excited that based on the title you didn’t ignore this devotional, because you knew that you could never attain perfection! Allow me to encourage you today friend, for while you are right in thinking that you could never attain perfection, when we accept the only perfect One, Jesus Christ, and allow Him to control our lives, He places His Holy Spirit within us to mold us into His likeness. When we commit ourselves to the only ‘perfect’ One, and when He fills us with His likeness, and He controls our thoughts and our wants, we become vessels that are used by God. Only then, and by His grace alone, can we ever attain the perfection of God. For it is He who controls us. Jesus wants us to love like Him, including the willful love of those who hate us and despise us. Friends, I truly believe what the Word of God teaches, that the Master of this universe can work through us in all things and cause us to love, even as He loves. Let’s test Him with that today and prove His mighty power. If He told us to do it, then by His grace we have all power and authority to do just that! | |
| PRAYER: | |
| Lord Jesus, thank You for demonstrating Your enormous love for us that even while we were yet sinners, You died for us, so that we might see the likes of heaven and especially see Your father in heaven. The commands in these verses today sound impossible, but knowing that all things are possible by the God we serve, we humbly place ourselves at Your feet and ask that You guide us and direct us into ultimate perfection, even to love those that despitfully use and abuse us. May Your kingdom come oh Lord, and Your will be done in and through each of us today, for I ask these things in the name of Jesus, AMEN! | |
| FOOTNOTE: | |
| There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us! | |
Nuggets From God's Word 