Musings and Nuggets

  “IN STEP WITH THE LORD” Matthew 11:28-30 (NKJV) 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am [ a ] gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light .” There have been so many times that I have read and “understood” a scripture with my intellect and not my spirit. Not that I was trying to be deep by thinking that I was “smart” enough to discern spiritual truths with my carnal mind, but, at the time,  that was the only way I knew to process what I read.  I had to learn the proper steps and mindset of reading and studying scripture.  II Timothy 2:15 (KJV) admonishes    “ Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”.  First, it was essential to commit time to study because it is not enough to just sit and hear the Word preached. The second part was to ask

                                      “Cloud of Witnesses” Key Scripture:   Hebrews 12:1a,b (NKJV)   “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, ...” A cloud looks like one big cotton ball (especially as we fly through them in an airplane), but it is made up of a gazillion tiny droplets of water (undetectable to the naked eye) that are so compact that they combine to look like one entity. This lets us know that the Bible is filled with more witnesses of faith than we can count, just as we could never count the number of individual water droplets in a cloud. This scripture is preceded by Hebrews 11 which has been called the “Faith Hall of Fame”   with statements starting with “By Faith” or “Through Faith” , accounts of the faith journeys of “heroes & heroines” of the Bible.  However,  there are  many examples of people of faith who are unnamed in both the Old & New Testaments who have testimonies just as powerful as the ones in Hebrews 11 . 

   Welcome to my blog, "Musings & Nuggets". That may seem like an odd title, but it is what the Lord dropped into my spirit as I prayed for His direction.  I will be sharing things that I hope will lead you to ponder, contemplate, reflect, (musings) and even study further to get revelation and application on your journey.  The little "Nuggets" are little pearls of wisdom that I have  gleaned from others over the years, things that I have read, my own personal experience or from the Holy Spirit. FAITH FACTOR was my first official installment on my actual blog site.  There are other writings that I have posted elsewhere which I have  transferred here.  I post on Wednesdays.  I am not professing to be an expert in any area, I just write what He leads me to write with the prayer that someone will be blessed or enlightened in some way.  Feel free to leave a comment if you like. I would appreciate knowing who you are if you choose to do so. This is also an opportunity

  Key Scripture:  Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” First, let’s make sure that we are all working with the same definition of faith .  The “go to” scripture is Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)  “ Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”  To the analytical mind, having faith in someone or something that you have never seen and cannot touch is absolutely illogical, yet to those of us who are Believers, it is absolutely essential and basic to who we are, as well as,” Whose” we are. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a factor is “ a circumstance, fact, or influence that contributes to a result or outcome”.   So faith is the component or ingredient which gives us the choice and privilege to believe in God, serve Him and walk according to His statues on this journey called life.  Fait

  Now that we all have had the opportunity to say “goodbye”, “adios”, ”wiedersehen”, “au revoir”, “sayonara”, etc  to 2020, let’s commit to not look back .  Scripture: Genesis 19:15,17,26 Most if not all of us are probably familiar with the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  God destroyed both because of  the wickedness of the people.  It turns out that Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his family lived in Sodom but they were righteous. God sent angels to escort Lot and the rest of the family out of the city before He destroyed it with fire and brimstone. (Verse 15)   The instruction the angel gave was “don’t look back”! (Verse 17)   All Mrs. Lot  had to do was to obey by leaving and not looking back . However, she did not resist the temptation to do so just that.   The consequence of her disobedience was that  she turned into a “pillar of salt”. (Verse 26) We have no indication as to whether she did that because she had fond memories from her time there or if she was just

Key Scripture Philippians 3:13,14  (NKJV)   “... but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” As we are on the cusp of the brand new year & continuing our journey in this decade, may we be “forward focused”” in our anticipation of what the Lord has in store for us. Yes, 2020 has certainly been a year like none other, and brought with it challenges that none of us could ever have anticipated, but the journey is not over.   Keep in mind His words of promise and affirmation in Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV).  “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you  hope and a future.” Every single thing that the Lord allows to touch our lives has purpose even when we can not trace Him nor understand the logic of what He is doing.  I put it this way.  For every test that God allows, “

Scripture:  Luke 2:11 Kirk Franklin & The Family have a song called, “Jesus Is The Reason”.  It may or may not be your taste in music, but the message is undeniably true.  Yet, it is a phrase that seems to have become passe because we don’t really think about what we are saying.  It has  become more like a slogan.  Although no one knows the actual date of his birth, December 25th is the date that we acknowledge, appreciate, and celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus.   The actual date of His birth is still the subject of debate among theologians. For many, the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve is a time to decorate (many trying to outdo the neighbors), to shop (literally fighting over the hottest toys, etc,), to give and receive gifts (even going into debt to do so), without a thought about the greatest gift to mankind, the Son of God, Emmanuel, God With Us (Matthew 1:23) .   Some of us have allowed Santa Claus and the commercialization of Christmas to ov

  “The Power of Your Words” Key Scripture: Psalm 141:3  (KJV)  “ Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” If you are a Believer (“called by his name”), then God’s Spirit lives in you.  Consider the following:  God is a Spirit, and He spoke everything into existence with His Words (except man).  One of His names that reflects His power is “Elohim”, The God of Creation/ (Creative Power). It is important then to realize that if His Spirit lives in you, then your words have power as well, including the power to create and  influence.  You have His ability  to “call things into existence.” Each one of us has grown up with negativity present in our everyday conversation.  We use words without giving a second thought as to what these words are creating or calling forth.  Sometimes out of anger, sadness, low esteem, frustration, we say things that are contrary to what we really want to see manifested in our lives or the lives of others. Consider the following examples.