How to Live

The Holy Bible (Contemporary English Version – Philippians 4:5-8): ⁵ Always be gentle with others. The Lord will soon be here. ⁶ Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. ⁷ Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel. ⁸ Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.
 
Thoughts: From time to time I will come across a 'Nugget', as evident in these verses, and I will print it out and tape it to my monitor at work as a constant reminder. This would be a great example, as Satan constantly attempts to throw us off track in our Christian walk each day and destroy our witness in any way possible. Paul is giving us some tips on godly living that has helped him, for he said that we can follow his example. So although this might seem repetitious, I want to expound briefly on the tips given by Paul:

• Always be gentle, or patient with others – Be willing and ready to set aside your agenda for the good of others, as this will better display the message of the gospel to them. Don't let them find you as selfish and impatient as everyone else they come across. Show them the love of Jesus;
• Don't worry – The Christian has the awesome resource of Jesus Christ at hand, so if we trust Him to save us, and if we trust him enough to pray to Him, then why would one worry? If we truly believe in Him, we must trust Him for all things and in every circumstance;
• Pray from a thankful heart – Someone once said, don't whine over the one broken arm when you can be thanking God for the proper use of the other arm! As we look around us, we often see others who are much worse off than we are. Furthermore, we are really undeserving of anything from God, after all, who caused the death of His precious Son on the cross? Let us therefore always be thankful and appreciative for all things, for our God is SO GOOD to us!
• Keep our minds filled with the character of Jesus – Everything that is true, pure, right, holy, friendly and proper;
• Never stop thinking about these true and worthwhile things – For they lead to joy, praise and thanksgiving.

Friends, don't you know that this wicked world will look strangely at us when we follow Paul's teaching/tips? However the bottom line is that they will know that there is something different about us. Some supernatural power within us that helps us, and drives us to think differently and act just the opposite from the evil and wicked minds of the unsaved. They will want to know more about the One who controls and leads us!
Now, for my friend reading this devotional who might wonder if we belong to a 'closed' or 'exclusive' club, I will refer you to John 3:16 that plainly tells us that Jesus came so that whosoever believes on Him will be saved. This means that you too can join the redeemed of the Lord, receive power to live like explained above, and live with the joy of knowing that one day soon you too will rejoice around the throne of God with all the saved of this world. It is very important that you don't delay your request for salvation friend, for none of us know the day or the hour that Jesus will call us home, or that He might return to gather up His saints and take us on home to be with Him. Therefore, may I urge you to be prepared at all times, even today! Please review my tips in the 'Footnote' to help you with this very important decision.
 
Prayer: I am constantly amazed by the awesome love You showed on Calvary dear Lord, so that my sins might be forgiven and therefore receive the promise of eternal life with You in glory one day! Thank You, thank You, thank You! I am also appreciative of Your Word and all that You led saints, such as Paul, to write for our encouragement and direction so that we might live holy lives that lead others to the foot of the cross where we surrendered ourselves to You as our Savior. Living in this manner requires greater strength than we can muster up oh Lord, so I beg You to provide the strength, the power, the boldness and the direction so that we might be like You in every aspect of our lives. May others see, hear and feel the love of Jesus when they are around us. May we represent You unashamedly and with great pleasure, is my humble plea that I ask in the holy and wonderful name of Jesus, my King, AMEN!


 
FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will 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 blogger.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely 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, Sebring, FL! 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!