Month: May 2011

The Importance of Obedience

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Imitator of Christ, Listen to the Word of God, ObedienceLeave a comment

Scripture: Deuteronomy 25-28.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Deuteronomy 28:58-59 (NLT)

58 “If you refuse to obey all the words of instruction that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the Lord your God, 59 then the Lord will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

Moses had seen all that God had done for him and his people. After all, they had been rescued for the impossible rule and slavery of the Egyptians, they had been brought safely through the wilderness for 40 years and provided water when there was none to be found, provided food when none was available to the people, also God provided direction and Godly leadership to them when everything seemed helpless and forsaken as a people. If we are totally honest before God, we would acknowledge that we too are a very blessed people, and it is so evident that God has carefully brought us through so much, that we should feel eternally grateful and therefore in constant praise and worship to our Kind, our Provider, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But let us also take note of the warning that Moses gave to his people, for he told them that if they did not fear the glorious and awesome name of the Lord then they would be overwhelmed by intense plagues that would make them miserable and unbearably sick. I don’t know about you friend, but I often look around and wonder if God is not showing His displeasure with our sinfulness when I see all the disasters that come upon us, and/or so many of the illnesses and diseases that come upon us for which doctors have no answers or cures. I believe that what we must be careful to consider, is that even though we often see God’s marvelous hand upon us in blessings, we must especially take note when we His hand of correction, redirection or displeasure is upon us. As children of God, I believe that we must be so in turned with God’s Word that we will do everything possible to avoid God’s handoff correction upon us, for I believe that He delights in obedient children. Our desire and our aim should be to obey His Word completely and therefore please Him in all things and all aspects of our life.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, I know that this is a daily battle, but please help me to be obedient to Your Word and follow Your commands in all that I do and say. May You be proud of the effort that I give to this and may I represent You so well in all that I do and say, that others will see Jesus in my every action or word. It’s You I live for Jesus – may that be evident to others through my deeds, actions and words.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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What Do Others See Flowing From Your Heart?

On By Ed AlgreenIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Scripture: Luke 6.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Luke 6:43-45 (NLT)

43 “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs never grow on thornbushes, nor grapes on bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

This 6th chapter of Luke really is a chapter that Christians should keep pinned to a wall visible to us every day as a constant reminder of what it means to honor our commitment to be a follower of Christ. These verses that God made me pay particular attention to emphasizes how important it is to fill myself with pure, holy, teachings of Christ that will serve to make me more like Him every day. Unfortunately, the world in which we live and operate bombards us with evil, hatred, jealousy, envy, lies, and many other ungodly acts that serve to steer us off the track of holiness and Godliness, and the only way to combat that is to fill our hearts and our minds with the Word of God – His instructions, His directions, His teachings, His example, His words and His power that gives us control over the things of this world. As our hearts are filled with all these things, we will find ourselves speaking from a heart of love and a constant example of Christ. It’s Him that I live for and Him that I seek to serve and represent each day of my life, for I am His child and want to be seen looking and acting just like Him.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Lord, there is truly only one way that I can come close to achieving this awesome task of showing You in all that I do, expressing You in all that I say, displaying You in everything that I do, yet being humble enough to let You be Lord, Ruler and King of everything that I am about. But Lord, I believe that as I surrender my life and my heart to You each day that You can fill me with Yourself so that those that You place in my path will witness the Savior and not sinful man. So Lord, I beg You to take control of my words, actions and deeds and use this servant of Yours as a vessel through which You can minister to a lost, hurting and dying world. Have Your way dear Lord!

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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Make Time To Pray

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Imitator of Christ, Power of PrayerLeave a comment

Scripture: Luke 5.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Luke 5:15-16 (NLT)

15 But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases.

16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

Recently I saw a signature line on an email that read “Make it a great day!” and it struck home to me that although we can say to friends that we wish them a great day, it is totally up to them to make it a great day. Likewise in this passage, Jesus could easily have prayed to the Father with all the crowds around Him, but to truly find an intimate time with His Father, He withdrew from the crowds and found one on one time with Him. Attending church is vital to the Christian. Praying with fellow Christians is very healthy, especially when praying for things in common. However, when praying about very intimate, personal things, and when asking for very intimate responses from God to your very intimate needs, it is always best to pull yourself aside from the busyness of the day, from the friends that will distract you, from the work that you are so busy doing, and make time to pray intimately to the Father. Tell Him your heart and your hearts desires. Listen to Him about all that He would have you do to walk closer with Him and be a better witness for Him. To make time to pray is making that a priority in your life and not allowing anything to come in the way. Sometimes this will force you to look at your day and determine when there is availability in your schedule where you will not be disturbed by anyone or distracted by anything. Sometimes this may mean taking less sleep so you could spend time with God. Whatever it is, do whatever it takes to make time to pray, friend. Jesus did it, imagine how much more important it is for us to do it! One of the worse attended services at churches is Prayer Meeting. Corporate prayer is usually evidence of an individual who practices personal, private time, I believe. Where are you on prayer meeting nights?

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, we get so caught up in the rush, hustle and bustle of everyday life, that we often include our time with You as part of that hustle and bustle. Please help me to always make time to pray, even if it means sacrificing a little sleep or personal time. I have often taught that instead of saying that we don’t have time for something, say that it was not a priority at the time for us. I pray that I will never say that finding time to pray alone with You was not a priority for me. Something so important deserves top priority, because it means communicating with my Creator, my Savior who sacrificed life itself so that I may live eternally with the Father. It means finding time to make sure that I receive my next set of instructions for the day, or for the tasks assigned to me by the Father. I want to make my time with You top priority. Please help me to always honor this.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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Where He Leads me, I will…..

On By Ed AlgreenIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Scripture: Luke 4.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Luke 4:1-2 (NLT)

1 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

So many times I have heard about the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness, but it was not until I read this again today that the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that He will not only lead me into spiritual things, or into ‘holy’ situations, or into pleasing company, or with Godly people, or besides peaceful streams as taught in Psalm 23, but as in the case of Jesus, He may lead me/us into difficult situations. I believe that we must first insure that we haven’t brought such times on ourselves through sin or unwise choices. But secondly, if we can find no sin to confess or unwise behavior to change, we must ask God to strengthen us for the test. Regardless of the situation, we must always be careful to follow faithfully wherever the Holy Spirit leads. We must consider another scripture verse that says, “in all things, give thanks to God”. Our challenge is to realize that God didn’t say that we give thanks in all ‘good’ things that happen to us, but I believe that the intent is that in all things in which we acknowledge Jesus directing us, providing for us, giving us wisdom, giving us the right words to speak, giving us boldness to share Him and/or His Word with others, or humbling us to take our rightful place in His kingdom – in all these things that we give thanks honestly to Him who has all power and authority over us. Like Jesus, let’s not question why we go through trying times, but instead prepare our lives to live obediently and sacrificially before Him that leads and directs our every step. Lead me Lord, I will follow…

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

What a message this morning! Too often I have felt that only those good and positive times in my life were led by God, but who am I to think that I should be more blessed than Jesus was? He was led into a very trying time. Should I believe for a moment that God will not lead me into circumstances that He knows could be used to strengthen my walk with Him? When I agreed to follow Jesus, I should have known that this meant through every situation, in all circumstances. The important thing is that I be willing to follow where He leads. Lord, may I truly be alert to Your leading today. May I always follow You knowing that You will always love me, care for me and lead me to Yourself. Please have Your way in my life today!

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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As You Are Blessed – Give in Return

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Giving, God our Provider, Imitator of ChristLeave a comment

Scripture: Deuteronomy 14 – 17.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Deuteronomy 16:16-17 (NLT)

16 “Each year every man in Israel must celebrate these three festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters. On each of these occasions, all men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he chooses, but they must not appear before the Lord without a gift for him. 17 All must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the Lord your God.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

Would there ever be a need in God’s house or among His people if we all gave as we are blessed? I dare say that there would not be the need for a church to borrow funds if we truly followed God’s Word on the subject of giving. I believe that too often we tend to give ourselves credit for all that we achieve in our jobs and in our income, so we find excuses as to why we shouldn’t give a portion to God in return for His blessing. I need to remind self and my friends this morning that life itself is a blessing from God. Health and strength is a blessing from God – after all why do we deserve to be healthy enough to rise and shine this morning, when so many are bed ridden and unable to move? Why are we so blessed to have a job to go to this morning when there are so many that are unemployed? God has seen fit to bless us in this time and place. What we do with that is our appreciation back to our Maker, our Provider, our Protector, our Sacrificial Lamb, our Savior, Our Lord and soon coming King. As we are blessed, let us recognize the blessings, and let us give in accordance with how we are blessed. We often say “God is good all the time”, the question today is: Are we good to others in return? Do we give freely to others as God has chosen to give freely to us? It’s all His, friend! Let’s not be stingy in how liberal we are in how we give to others and to His work!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, I pray that You will help me to be mindful of how much You bless me each and every day. Help me to not obligate myself so much in debt and/or bills that I find it challenging to give to others and/or Your work. Thank You for blessing me with so much. Please help me to bless others in return so that they may see You in material ways and want to know You in a personal way.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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Who Receives Credit for Your Ministry?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Disciple, Humility, PowerLeave a comment

Scripture: Luke 3.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Luke 3:15-18 (NLT)

15 Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah.

16 John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”

18 John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

As I read this part of chapter 3 this morning I was reminded about how much this sounds like our world today. Many are expecting Jesus to come soon. Many want to know if the Christ has come already and we just don’t recognize him. Unfortunately, many put their faith in pastors, preachers, evangelists or just plain spiritual leaders. This is evident because they never read the Bible to see what God is saying to them personally, they just depend on what they hear preached or taught to them. With every little ache or pain some will sooner run to the pastor rather than, or instead of, praying to God for their healing. Now I know that a good pastor will want to know about your ailments or needs so that he might pray with you about them, but remember friends, God is the One with the power to heal and/or meet your needs. It is so important that we have a ‘personal’ relationship with the risen Lord! The other thing that I am impressed with about John is that he emphasized that he was only a messenger, and that the Christ would be much greater than he. To those of us that folk may look up to and place faith in, we must be so very careful to clarify with them where the real power source is, and that we are merely a caring messenger of that One. To those we minister to, we must be very careful to serve as Jesus served, do all we can to see them plugged into the right power source and build a personal relationship with Jesus. Allowing someone to attach themselves to us as a friend who cares about them and will pray for them and guide them into a personal relationship with Jesus is what ministering in His name is all about. It is never about self. Remember, there is no power unless it comes from God Himself. It would be a pity for us to work with someone spiritually without seeing them come to know, and depend on Jesus as Lord of their life. We will move along some day, but remember that the love and power of God will last forever. It’s all about God, not us!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Lord Jesus, it is You that I love and adore. It is You that I long to see one day in Heaven. It is You that I want others to see when I share Your love with them. Please help me to never promote self, but to disclose the true source of any power displayed in anything that I may say or do. Like John, I know that in and of myself, I am nothing with You. Therefore, please help me to promote You in all that I say or do so that others will be drawn to You and not to me.

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àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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Obey God’s Commands

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Heaven, Imitator of Christ, Listen to the Word of God, Obedience, Resurrection DayLeave a comment

Scripture: Deuteronomy 12-13.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Deuteronomy 12:28 (NLT)

28 Be careful to obey all my commands, so that all will go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and pleasing to the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 12:32 (NLT)

32 “So be careful to obey all the commands I give you. You must not add anything to them or subtract anything from them.
Deuteronomy 13:4 (NLT)

4 Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.

Deuteronomy 13:18 (NLT)

18 “The Lord your God will be merciful only if you listen to his voice and keep all his commands that I am giving you today, doing what pleases him.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

It is interesting how God has been emphasizing ‘Obedience’ over the past three devotions! In reading these two chapters this morning I noticed where the Israelites were being warned several times how important it was for them to honor God through their obedience. It was also interesting to note how a reward of some sort was being offered or promised to them in response to their obedience. It definitely was emphasized how important it is to God when His children loves Him enough to be obedient to His commands and teachings. This speaks to me, because I know that this is the same God that I serve today. God’s Word is loaded with ‘nuggets’ that we are expected to follow in obedience to the God that we love and in showing proof to God that we love Him so much that we are willing to obey Him, regardless if it may be contrary to the desires of our own heart or in line with what our peers around us. It is obvious that our obedience pleases God and it is obvious throughout God’s Word that He will honor our obedience with rewards that come only from a loving God. I’m looking forward to my reward of being present with the Lord some day in Heaven and I long for the voice of God to say individually to me, “well done good and faithful servant – Ed, you have been obedient to my Word and my commands, welcome into my presence”. Wow, ‘What A Day that Will Be‘! Wow, ‘Oh that will be Glory for Me’!, Wow, ‘Oh I want to see Him, Look Upon His Face, There to Sing Forever‘!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, just to look upon Your face and sing glories to You forever in Your heavenly home is something worth the journey each and every day while walking this daily, challenging road here on earth. You have emphasized how important obedience is to that ultimate journey. I pray that my life will be so dedicated to obeying You and my mind so fixed on Your Word and obeying it, that someday, when You see fit to call me out of this world, that I shall see You face to face and worship You eternally in heaven. I look forward to that day! I feel like it will be the prize rewarded to me for being obedient, patient and exemplifying You in every way while here on this earth. Thank You for preparing a home for me! While left here on this earth, I beg Your power to overcome evil and be a living, loving example of You to all that I come into contact with.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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Love and Obedience Lead to Blessings!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, God’s Word, Imitator of Christ, Listen to the Word of God, Obedience, Pleasing to GodLeave a comment

Scripture: Deuteronomy 11.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Deuteronomy 11:22-23 (NLT)

22 “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him. 23 Then the Lord will drive out all the nations ahead of you, though they are much greater and stronger than you, and you will take over their land.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

I have underlined a section of the short scripture that I copied above, because it really spoke to me this morning about where we are as a people, as a church, as a city, state and country. We tend to get all shaken and concerned about all that goes on around us, and we may even wonder sometime if God is truly with us. I believe that much too often we look at external factors that may affect us much more than looking inward to see what it is that we may be falling short on ourselves. I believe that Moses said to his people that when they do their part by:

  1. Showing love to the Lord – let’s remember that our love is shown by our actions. We may say with our mouths that we love someone, but when we consistently do those things that we know will aggravate, tantalize, upset or even disappoint that person, they will not feel much love from us. So it is with God. If we truly love Him, we will be in close communion/fellowship with Him daily. We will look for ways to please Him, honor Him and obey Him. We will then say it with our mouths that we love Him, and He will know without a doubt from our actions that we love Him. In fact others around us will know that we love Him.
  2. Walking in His ways – being a Christian means being a little Christ, or giving every effort towards doing all that Jesus did, all that He showed us and told us to do. Follow His example in the ways that He dealt with people. Imitate His very character and seek to do His will in all aspects of your life.
  3. Holding tightly to Him – at the beginning of this chapter Moses made it clear that he was not speaking to the children, or folk that didn’t know about the mighty hand of God. This reminds me that I can’t shrug off my responsibility to hold tight to the teachings, miracles, leadership, love, understanding and boldness of my Savior, because it is upon those things that I have built my faith and trust in Him. So hold tight to those things that I have learned about Him so that all doubt will be removed as I look to depend on Him each day.

When we do our part, then we can know that God will honor His Word and do all that He has promised. We have a hope, friend. Let us do our part through our belief, our actions and our obedience, then watch and savor the blessings that will be ours as God watches over us and makes a way for us.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, thank You for reminding me again this morning what it takes to open the doors of Heaven and receive Your blessings. Please direct my path today and help me to walk in Your ways and be obedient to all that You would have me do or say. I am often reminded about what You would have me do and say. Please give me the boldness, desire and love to follow Your teachings so that I may be more like You each and every day. Thank You for your promises to do even more for me as I follow and be obedient. I need Your strength and power each and every day dear Lord.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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Obedience

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Obedience, Reflecting ChristLeave a comment

Obedience

Deuteronomy 8:1 tells us to obey God’s commandments. We do this by obeying God with…

OUR HEART

By loving him more than any relationship, activity, achievement, or possession

OUR WILL

By committing ourselves completely to him

OUR MIND

By seeking to know him and his Word, so his principles and values form the foundation of all we think and do

OUR BODY

By recognizing that our strengths, talents, and sexuality are given to us by God to be used for pleasure and fulfillment according to his rules, not ours

OUR FINANCES

By deciding that all of the resources we have ultimately come from God, and that we are to be managers of them and not owners

OUR FUTURE

By deciding to make service to God and man the main purpose of our life’s work

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father God, I am convinced again today that there is nothing more important than reading Your Word and obeying it, for You alone are God , and it is You that will lead us out of our world of sin and into Your path of righteousness that leads to heaven and life eternally with You. Please help me to stay constant in Your Word, constant in obeying Your commands and constant in my witness to a lost and dying world. Thank You for all that You provide for me each day and all that You help me through in overcoming evil and living a life worthy of Your calling.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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In Faith, Believing

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Chosen by God, Faith, God our Helper, Imitator of Christ, Obedience, Pleasing to God, PurityLeave a comment

Scripture: Luke 1.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Luke 1:35-38 (NLT)

35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”

38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

In my last devotional I was drawn to a section of scripture that highlighted the unbelief of the disciples concerning the resurrection of our Lord. In this passage I rejoiced, and was encouraged over the humbleness and total faith of Mary who was honored by the presence of an angel and also by the miraculous message that she would bear a child, even though she never had relations with a man. In fact, it appears like Mary basically said to the angel: I am God’s and God’s alone, may He do with me what pleases Him so that He may be honored through me and bless others. Wow, what a powerful example of a totally surrendered, unselfish, committed life. This means that nothing in this world was more important, or had greater priority, than to follow the will of God and be used by Him. Even if it meant that the world may look upon her in disgrace, because they wouldn’t know the extent of what brought on the pregnancy. If there was at least one person in each church congregation that had these characteristics today, there would be no doubt that we are truly a Christian nation! Individually, can we work on our faith so that we may totally surrender our lives to the work of the Master? Can we turn loose of self and our desire to please a sinful world, and instead dedicate ourselves to pleasing an almighty God?

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, in reading this today I am reminded of how much I lean towards pleasing those around me rather than totally surrendering myself to You and allowing You to have Your will and way in and through my life. Please forgive me for my lack of priority and direction. Please help me to get on track in being obedient to You, the one that I have committed my life to and asked You to be leader, director and model for my every decision, movement and action. I am Your servant, may everything You desire to use me for here on this earth be accomplished in and through me in its most purest form.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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