Numbers 11:1 – And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. THEME OF THE DAY. IT IS NO SMALL MATTER. Whenever we use words like “never”, “always”, and “everybody”, we…
Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ
Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ
Ministries
Luke 14:27 – Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Here you will find activities and information that promotes growth in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and our journey of discipleship.
Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. THEME OF THE DAY. DEALING WITH OUR MOODINESS. Do we ever get moody? Maybe we woke up on the wrong side of the bed and just felt grouchy, not wanting to confront a single human being the whole day. How about getting a little irritated over still yet another…
Psalm 112:1 – Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! THEME OF THE DAY. HAPPY CHRISTIANS. One of the definitions for the word “blessed” is “happiness” or “to be happy.” Isn’t that the innermost cry of every human being, Christian and non-Christian? If we went out to a mall or place of…
Are we devoted to the Lord? I know that may seem like a silly question for readers of the nugget. I would boldly assume all of us would answer “Of course. I love the Lord. I am devoted to Him.” I would say that too, but then again, I had to stop and do some real soul-searching with the words “Am I?” and just because I am a pastor doesn’t mean I am devoted or have arrived to the point of absolute surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. My vocation is what I do; my identity as a Christian is what I am. And devotion to God is to define that identity for you and me. Today, let’s look at devotion in two ways; first from God to us, then us back to Him.
How would we define Christian faith? What does genuine saving faith really look like? What would make us assured we had the right type of faith? In defining the faith of Christianity, we are given two specific objects which are to be the direction our faith takes; the Person of our God and the revelation of that God through His two means of revealing Himself; creation and His written Word. Faith involves a trust in the God prayed to and the action of praying to this trusted God. We will find the Lord repeatedly acknowledging that true faith in Him includes both trust in His Person and acts of obedience to His Word. In today’s scripture, we find Jesus telling us this truth. Let’s consider two applications from His words.
I often ask myself self-examination questions like this, “Jim, are you growing in grace? Are you getting closer to Christ? Is the Fruit of the Spirit blossoming more in you now than last week, month, or year? Is spiritual maturity something you recognize happening in you?” These are difficult questions because they require honest, unhurried time with the Lord to mediate and listen to His voice through His Word in order to answer them. They also are difficult because we need another input outside of ourselves because of the treachery and self-deception in our hearts (Jeremiah 17:9). So, what are some signs that we may see in our lives that we are growing in Christ and exhibiting spiritual maturity?