Sincere Godly Love, One for Another

The Bible – The Good News Translation

Romans12:9-10

^{9 Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. 1 0 Love one another warmly as Christian brothers and sisters, and be eager to show respect for one another.}

Thoughts:

In a world where family members are jealous of each other and can’t stand to be in each others presence; where coworkers are so competitive to reach the top or earn more commission and/or recognition, that they step right over another employee, and may even do certain things to keep them from doing their best; where church members want to be in charge or favored by the pastor or can’t have their own way, so we see churches split or families leave the church and move on to another; I wonder if the result would be any different if we were to follow the advice of Paul in these two verses? Friends, Christians are to be deep into the Word at every opportunity, but not less frequently than daily, looking over God’s instructions to be sure that we live and love like Him. You see, God’s Word contains our template for love, it tells us about our Role Model, Jesus Christ. Our responsibility according to the Word, is to go and minister to the world so that all may know Jesus. Don’t you know that we are actually teaching them our evil ways when we act like the above examples? Remember, our actions speak so loud that others will really not hear what we are saying to them. I believe Paul is saying that we are not to be hypocritical. If we claim Jesus as Lord, then we are to live like Him and seek to squish all the evil thoughts we might receive that make us act and rationalize to cause the above issues. Friends, Jesus is coming soon and we must live with that in mind. Don’t dare live like the devil and think you’ll have time to seek forgiveness when you hear that Jesus is coming down the street. The Bible says that we must live in a state of readiness, because Jesus in no way needs our permission that the coast is clear for Him to come and gather His bride (the church – us). This means that we are to live and love like Jesus demands of us today. Don’t delay, please?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, the creator of love, the One who showed ultimate love, please forgive me for making a mockery of living and loving like You exampled for me. Paul has reminded me that I need to live and love in ways that others might recognize and want to know You personally. This is difficult to do when I surrender to living and loving like the world. Father, please give me strength to be a victor in living my life according to the model You displayed. Please help me to stay so in tuned with Your Word that it will not only impact the words from my lips, but the desires of my heart and the actions of my whole being. Lord, sadly, I have ‘Christian’ family and friends that I know who are living in sin, because they are acting just like the above examples given. Please use this devotional today to speak to the hearts of those claiming You as Lord. Please also speak to those who have not yet accepted You as Lord, for today is the day of salvation, and there is no better time than today for them to seek Your power and Your strength so that they too might live and love like You. Lord, this old world is getting in extremely poor shape morally, for folk are becoming more and more hardened to their sin. Please, I beg You, do a mighty work in Your people today. Begin with us, Christians. Get us straight first, so that we may be Your hands and Your feet on the ground seeking to impact the lives of those that don’t know You. These things I ask humbly in Your precious name and for Your sake, AMEN!

NOTE: 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.

The Deep Unexplainable Love of God!

The Bible – The Message

Romans 11:33-36

^{33–36         Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out.}

                ^{Is there anyone around who can explain God?}

                ^{Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?}

                ^{Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice?}

                ^{Everything comes from him;}

                ^{Everything happens through him;}

                ^{Everything ends up in him.}

                ^{Always glory! Always praise!}

                ^{Yes. Yes. Yes!}

Thoughts:

No doubt the Romans were having trouble understand this deep, amazing love of Jesus that Paul spoke about. Paul struggled to find words to explain this love, but he kind of recapped it by saying that God’s love is undeserved, because there is nothing that we have done that could ever qualify as a contribution towards God loving us in the amazing way that He does. This helped me to understand how non-Christians must feel and why we receive the blank looks when we try to share with them the unsearchable, undeserved yet unshakable and everlasting love of our Father. I am convinced that no matter what we tell others about the Bible and all that Jesus said about love, or what Paul or Luke or John said, the thing that will impact them most, is when we tell them about how God’s love has impacted us. Too many of us are way too nervous about witnessing, because we are afraid that we may not be able to answer a Bible question correctly, or recite verses needed to show a lost one their need for the Savior. Friends, when I tell folk about the joys of marriage, and they see and understand how much I love my wife, then they believe what I said about marriage. So it is with witnessing. Although we might use a Bible story or character as an illustration when we share with someone about the love of God, it’s not until we share the impact God had in our lives that they truly start to listen and believe. Ever notice how you totally tune out a person when they tell us about a coworker who may be close to them, but we may not know the person or anything about them? However when they finally get to tell us about themselves, our attention is quickly focused on them? This is the best method of witnessing, I feel. Share what God has done for you, and that the same love of which you told, is also available to them. Remember, God does the saving, not us. Our responsibility is to share what God has done for us, so that others may know that the same ‘Gift’ is available to them.

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, what amazing love You have shown to me! The Love of God is truly amazing! Nothing, absolutely nothing have I done to deserve the love that You showed when You allowed wicked sinful people to beat You and hang You in disgrace on a cross just so that I might have a way to one day enter heaven’s gates and sit with You at God’s right hand. Thank You for claiming me as Your own. Please help me to always allow Your love to radiate through me in such a way that a non-Christian family member, friend or co-worker would have no doubt that the King of Glory resides within and that this love is something they desperately need. Lord, we (Christians) are absolutely worthless without You, and we have no need of being looked on as anything other than the image of our Father. Please have Your will and way in my life even today, and develop a peace in me over those things that would ordinarily give me deep concern. Please touch the heart of my friends that may read this devotional. May they find peace in You and experience that ‘love’ of which I have shared. Thine be the glory Lord! I ask this in Your holy and precious and loving name, AMEN!

NOTE: 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.

Trust In God at All Times

The Bible – The Good News Translation

Psalm 62:5-8

^{5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.}

^{6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.}

^{7 My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.}

^{8 O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.}

Thoughts:

When we think about the life of David we remember that from the time he was just a young boy he placed his faith and strength in the hands of the Lord – remember when he went to battle with the giant Philistine? David faced many battles as Israel’s king, and he was able to place the battles before God, seek His direction and in following God’s commands, David lead many armies into successful battles. Many of the Psalms were written either in preparation for battles, or in celebration and thanksgiving for successes in battles. Now for those who are still trying to follow my line of thinking here, you are probably saying under your breath that you are not a king, and you have no armies to lead. But where God got my attention on this is that we almost daily face battles of one type or another. For some, it may be jobs and unreasonable supervisors, for others it might be family members, friends, co-workers or just about anyone that Satan could send our way to test our faith in the Lord. The big question, or challenge, for us to consider is: will these ‘battles’ result in the world seeing that we are just like them, in that we caved in to jealousy, revenge, hatred or an attitude just like theirs, or will they see in return: forgiveness; love; turning the other cheek; understanding and a God-like attitude? You see, for us to truly be ‘little Christ’s’ (Christians) then we must respond like Jesus would. If we say during the good times of life that God is our Refuge and Strength, do we maintain that same truth when under pressure or tested by Satan’s tactics, and our enemies are attacking from all sides? Please re-read vs 8 and be reminded that God is saying through His servant David, “Trust in the Lord at all times, for He (God) is our refuge (our safe harbor) and our strength”, and we have nothing to fear!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, it is easy for us to trust in You when we are on a mountain top looking down on our ‘enemies’ or looking down on the completed battle, but the challenge is for us to place our faith and trust in You before we go to ‘battle’, or during the ‘battle’. Lord, we are reminded in Your Word again today that You alone is God, yes over our good times, and the bad and the challenging times. Please help Your weak-at-heart children to always place our faith in You and to look to You for our guidance and victories. Way too often we try to take the wheel back from You and drive this life-ship ourselves. Please forgive us, for we should never forget that You are our Strength and our Refuge, a present help in times of trouble and in need. Lord, my unsaved loved ones will not experience this great Strength and Defender unless they have accepted You as their Lord and Savior. Please, may it be so, even today? I humbly ask all this in Your precious and all powerful name, Lord Jesus, AMEN!

NOTE: 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.