God the Creator

On 2015-08-312015-08-31 By Ed AlgreenIn Almighty, Beginning, CreatorLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – Genesis 1:1-3): ¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. ³ Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

THOUGHTS: Friends, I just completed my study through the entire Bible and found that God was not only the Creator and Author of life and all aspects of this earth and living forms, but He is still Savior and Redeemer of our sins, and is actively involved in every aspect of every detail in keeping this world going as we know it. You see, He has an eternal purpose for us, and He wants us to survive the evil and hardships of this old world! At the end of the Book, I found where He has a much better place prepared for us, praise to the Almighty, the King of glory! What I find exciting as I begin my journey again through this great Book, is the reminder right up front that “in the beginning was God”. In other words, nothing existed before Him, and based upon what I shared about the end of the Book, all roads for the believer in Jesus Christ, leads to eternity with Him! What an exciting journey! For the non-Christian, may I encourage you to seek Jesus while He is available to you! I will not go into detail about what happens if you don’t, but simply remember two key words: Satan and Hell. Unfortunately you are headed towards an ugly finish unless you humble yourself before Jesus Christ and accept the free gift of eternal life that only He can provide. Please look deep into my ‘Footnote’ for details on how you might turn your life around. To the Christian Brother or Sister meditating on this devotional, may I encourage you to be faithful, and to place your hand in the hand of the One who created everything from nothing at all? Our God had the power to take a formless, dark, empty planet and create the beauty that you and I enjoy today! Can you even imagine that? Can’t you imagine how God can easily handle our problems, even though they may seem so overwhelming to us and impossible to overcome in our eyes? Won’t you trust Him with your whole life today friend? I’m sure He can handle it!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for reassuring me of Your awesome power in creating everything – from nothing at all. You provided such peace and tranquility to calm us and even the foods for us to eat. As I begin my study back at the beginning of Your great Book, thank You for this great reminder of how You were there before anything else was, and that You, who had the power to create everything, can be trusted to handle my problems – big or small in my eyes. I serve such an awesome and all powerful God! Please impact the mind and lives of those who will meditate on this devotional today so that they too might be encouraged, for we place such pressure on ourselves when we cannot handle all of life’s challenges. We are reminded that nothing is too big for You oh Lord, including our problems, if only we will surrender them to You. I respectfully ask that Your perfect will be accomplished in our lives today, for I ask all this in the strong name of Jesus, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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 www.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!

Purpose Yourself to Worship God

On 2015-08-292015-08-29 By Ed AlgreenIn Allegiance, Treasure, WorshipLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – Matthew 6:19-21): ¹⁹ “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

THOUGHTS: Why do you go to church? Why do you worship God? Did you find God in the corporate worship time? How? – I believe the first two questions would be a good survey to ask folk about to enter a weekend church service, and the last two questions would be great for an exit survey as they are leaving. I believe it would be good for each reader to answer these questions even now! Because you are human, just as I am, I know there are times that we jump out of bed, rush to church, sit back and wait for the entertainment to start. There are times that we have so much going on in our lives that our body attends church, but we hope that no one asks what the preacher spoke about, because we were way too preoccupied solving issues in our minds to hear and apply a word that he said! So how then do we get ourselves in motion and in tune with God? First of all, I believe that worship is a daily, relational thing. It’s a matter of priority, and it’s a deliberate action on the worshiper to think about the Savior of this world and the many blessings that He continually pours out on us. By now you are wondering how all of this ties in with the point of this scripture I bet! Friends, when we place so much of our time and effort into material things, guess where our minds are while our bodies attend church? When we assume control of our finances, instead of allowing God control of this vital part of our existence, we worry about how we will make the budget, and we constantly contemplate where and how we can make more money. It is challenging for us to give God our undivided attention when, in our minds, we have so much else going on. I believe that if we were to sincerely aim at achieving what verse 21 advocates, then we will invest ourselves, our time and our money into the worship and work of the Lord. My treasure is in heaven, is that evident in every aspect of my life?

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for sacrificing Your precious Son, in spite of those that You know would just ignore You and take Your Treasure for granted. Lord we fool no one else but ourselves when we get ourselves so distracted, and we can’t concentrate on You because of all that we worry about. Too often our ‘treasure’ is misaligned and consumes our attention, and draws us away from giving You our full attention and allegiance. Please continue Your work in me and in the lives of my readers, that we may be so aligned with our greatest ‘TREASURE’ that great works will extend from the hearts and lives of Your children and that You will have full access to our hearts for Your use. I ask this in total humility and in the wonderful name of Jesus, AMEN!

Invitation and Rewards

On 2015-08-282015-08-28 By Ed AlgreenIn Evangelism, Humility, WitnessingLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Easy-To-Read Version – Revelation 22:12-13; 17): ¹² “Listen, I am coming soon! I will bring rewards with me. I will repay everyone for what they have done. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Everyone who hears this should also say, “Come!” All who are thirsty may come; they can have the water of life as a free gift if they want it.

THOUGHTS: Depending on who’s pitching a party it could be well attended, because invitees look forward to the eats, drinks and favors that normally abound. In other words, the rewards. Our scripture today is very comforting in many respects and I want us to be encouraged in several ways by what it reveals to us. Through John, God reassures us that He is coming back soon, and that He is bringing rewards with Him. I don’t believe that this is intended to bribe, because throughout the Bible we are told about the hope, the everlasting life, the worship around the throne and the joy that believers in Christ can look forward to when Jesus returns to take His bride with Him. So I believe that this is just reassurance of the promises already given to us in the Word. Now in verses 14 thru 16 we are shown how God will recognize and accept those who claim Him as Lord, but in verse 17 we are encouraged to spread the Word (invite) at every opportunity, for it says that if we hear this call of God to come, we are encouraged to spread this word to those that we come into contact with. The invitation is extended to everyone (ALL) – even those who are parched by the lack of love and understanding from this world, for they will receive refreshment – water that provides life like never experienced before. Friends, notice that there are no conditions or special classes qualified in either of these types mentioned. The Word says that for everyone who hears, they should invite others to come. We tend to feel like that’s the preacher’s job. If you received a gift of money, you wouldn’t wait for the bank to tell everyone, you would be telling everyone how blessed you are financially. Look also at who are filtered from the list of those who can come to satisfy their thirst. The Word specifically reaffirms what was said in John 3:16 – ALL may come to the fountain of life to satisfy their thirst, or as relayed in John “that whosoever believes on Him may have eternal life”. To the Christian, we dare not limit to whom we will share the gospel. To the uncommitted, unsaved, non-believer, be encouraged that this invitation in opened to you. Lay aside the weights (sin) that might be holding you down, and accept the invitation from my Master today, is my humble plea to you. You deserve the best from the King of all kings, and God wants you to have it!

PRAYER: Thank You Father for Your precious and holy Word. Thank You that even right up to the end of the Book Your promise is still there and Your desire to see us in heaven with You is still very real! Thank You for once again reminding Christians to share the Good News, and to be a light in this dark world of sin. A light that represents the Light of the World. Thank You for sharing a message of hope for the lost right up to the end of this great Book. There is hope for us all, and I thank You for thinking of us all. I pray that I might be the messenger of hope that You expect of Your children, so that those that I rub up against might know that my Redeemer lives and is available to them. We are blessed with Your Word, now may we be a blessing to others, is my humble prayer that I ask in the precious name of Jesus, AMEN!

Coming Soon!

On 2015-08-272015-08-27 By Ed AlgreenIn Come Soon, Ready to GoLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Revelation 22:6-7): ⁶ …These words are true and can be trusted. The Lord God controls the spirits of his prophets, and he is the one who sent his angel to show his servants what must happen right away. ⁷Remember, I am coming soon! God will bless everyone who pays attention to the message of this book.

THOUGHTS: Often the entertainment world will use the term ‘Coming Soon’ to build excitement about an upcoming movie that movie makers may have invested millions of dollars to produce. Perhaps a popular entertainer has been booked to perform near you, and this same phrase may be used to build excitement and help you invite friends to attend the event near you. In this passage of scripture, I feel like the phrase was used to both warn and build excitement. A warning because God knew that He had created humans prone to procrastinate – wait until the last minute to do something. Throughout the Bible we have been taught about our Master and Lord. Told about how He sacrificed His one and only Son, Jesus, so that we could enjoy eternal life with Him in glory. There are still way too many folk who keep that promise in the back of their mind as an alternative, or option, should they ever feel like their end is nearing. I feel like we should carefully weigh the impact of what will happen to those who have chosen to ignore this warning. Think about the opposite of what was said in verse 7. Not good. However, when we think about the excitement that builds in the minds and lives of those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and are obedient to the things told to us in the Bible, this phrase brings the excitement of expectation and impatient anticipation. We just wish that Jesus would go ahead and come now, so that we don’t have to worry about stuff like another possible financial market crash, or a hurricane that looks like it is quickly approaching our shores, or possible medical challenges that seem inevitable. In fact, when you’re ready for an event, you often wish that it would go ahead and happen! Friends, I feel like the excitement often prods us to reach out to others and share the coming news/event and to invite our friends to participate. That’s called ‘evangelism’ or ‘witnessing’ in the Christian’s ‘world’, because we don’t want anyone to be left behind. We also get very tired of the negative impact of the adversary in our everyday walk of life. In fact we often cry out ‘Come Soon Lord Jesus‘!

PRAYER: The promise is real and the anticipation is building oh Lord! Please Come Soon, and take Your church away from this wicked world, for we want to be with You. We want our heavenly home and we want so badly to be absent from this world and present with the Lord. This scripture today has inspired me to think less of the everyday concerns of this world, and instead, keep my eyes focused on the light at the end of the tunnel! Thank You for the reassurance, the reminder and the excitement that builds every time that we are reminded of being in the presence of our Father, the forgiveness of our sins, the reinforced truth of God’s Word and the anticipated worship time around the feet of Jesus! Come Soon Lord Jesus! I worship You and ask these many things in the worthy name of Jesus, For Thou Alone are Worthy, AMEN!

Permission Granted To Enter

On 2015-08-262015-08-26 By Ed AlgreenIn Lamb's Book of Life, Salvation, Saved, WorthyLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Revelation 21:27): ²⁷ But nothing unworthy will be allowed to enter. No one who is dirty-minded or who tells lies will be there. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will be in the city.

THOUGHTS: I recently took an international trip. Because I was leaving my country of citizenship, I needed proof to show the authorities of the visiting country that I was who I said I was. They saw from my passport that I was a legal person in my home country, now they had to decide if they felt OK about letting me into their country. They were not at all interested in allowing a ‘bad’ person into their country. In fact, most immigration officers would check to make sure that I was not on a ‘bad’ list of persons that should not be allowed entry. In every case, it is highly advised that you never attempt to enter another country unprepared, otherwise they will use their option to decline you entrance into their country. In our scripture today John is sharing with us what we might expect when we make our final crossing – the one from planet earth to our final destination. I will point to the very last sentence in our scripture today, where we are told that only those whose names are in the book of life will be allowed into heaven. Friends, you will recall from many earlier devotionals where we discussed such things as salvation, redemption, a loving Savior, a sacrificial death for the forgiveness of our sin, only one way, and many other like phrases and or studies to help remind ourselves of the need, and the only way of preparing ourselves for acceptance into God’s heaven. In my above travel story, notice that I had to ask for permission to enter the foreign country. Notice that based on my past behavior, they opted to allow me entrance. Notice that John is given a very similar scenario in this verse. You must have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, and therefore gotten your name into the Lamb’s book of life. However, this is not like an airline ticket that you purchase, and then live any way you want until the day of your trip. For we are told that nothing unworthy, no dirty-minded person, nor liars would be permitted there. In other words, if you have accepted Jesus and lived your life like He personally demonstrated, and as explained through His biblical saints, then chances are that you are who you say you are. Although I sincerely hope that none of you reading this devotional would ignore the warnings here, I want to be sure and remind you that failure to be accepted in heaven automatically directs you to hell. There are only two destinations. Hell is the Lake of fire that we talked about yesterday, so I sincerely pray that you have either made your travel preparations for heaven already, or that God will melt your hardened hearts today so that you might seek the face of Jesus and His righteousness, and invite Him into your heart and life. This is the only means into heaven. I want to see you there friend, please don’t disappoint me!

PRAYER: Thank You Father for the reminder of what we must do today to prepare for our final crossing of the border between our current home and the next. For those of us that know You, our minds are fixed on heaven and our celebratory time we will enjoy worshiping at Your feet. However this scripture has reminded us that for those who are not prepared for heaven, they are destined for hell – a place of eternal torment. The main reason we live today Lord, is to evangelize and encourage those that have not made a decision yet to accept You as Lord and Savior. May this be a day that your saints will be energized to share, to encourage and to live life as a full demonstration of God’s love for us, so that our family, friends and coworkers might see the results of Your grace in our lives. We long to be with You oh Lord. Please make our waiting time here worthwhile by using us to touch the lives of those needing You. I ask all this in the strong name of Jesus, AMEN!

Describe Your Dream City

On 2015-08-252015-08-25 By Ed AlgreenIn Heaven, Reunion Day, SalvationLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Century Version – Revelation 21:18-21): ¹⁸ The wall was made of jasper, and the city was made of pure gold, as pure as glass. ¹⁹ The foundation stones of the city walls were decorated with every kind of jewel. The first foundation was jasper, the second was sapphire, the third was chalcedony, the fourth was emerald, ²⁰ the fifth was onyx, the sixth was carnelian, the seventh was chrysolite, the eighth was beryl, the ninth was topaz, the tenth was chrysoprase, the eleventh was jacinth, and the twelfth was amethyst. ²¹ The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate having been made from a single pearl. And the street of the city was made of pure gold as clear as glass.

THOUGHTS: If asked to describe your current city where you live, you may describe its economic makeup, its average temperature, its major historic sites or perhaps its key visitor points of interest. However if asked to describe the place in which you may want to retire, the description might be more ideal to the things you have always wished you could do, or perhaps tend to be the opposite of anything you don’t care for in your current town! Now I want you to imagine the city where we will meet with our Heavenly King. What might that city look like if it is to truly house our Lord and Savior, our God, all the great saints that have gone on before us? Could anyone possible construct it in such a way to present our creator in all of His glory? Isn’t it awesome to imagine that the God of this universe has a special city that will house His saints that will be totally perfect? Read the description given by John in these verses and catch a glimpse! Now, let’s take this one step further. Imagine arising for the first time in such an awesome city and you have absolutely no interest in the beauty of its walls or streets, but rather, your mind is fixed on meeting your Creator, your Redeemer, your Savior, your Healer, your Deliverer, your Sacrificial Lamb, your King who is King over all kings! Imagine how insignificant everything else will be? Friends, this is just a taste of the rewards that the redeemed of the Lord is looking forward to, for we have met the King of which I referred, and we absolutely believe Him when He declared in His Word that He is preparing a place for us. Our hearts are overwhelmed with joy when we read accounts like this, because we are reminded of how soon that reunion day will really be. Down here I love to sing that old gospel hymn “What A Day That Will Be, When my Jesus I Shall See“. On days like this when I think about my eternal home and my loving Savior who will greet me, I can only sing “Oh that will be, Glory for me“! Friends, it’s not really about the ‘city’, even though I could only imagine that it will be superb. It’s all about the Savior who will reside there, and that Glad Reunion Day when all the saints will gather to meet Him face to face. I’ve made arrangements to be there friend, have you? If unsure, I’ve provided help in my ‘Footnote’ and would encourage you to study it closely and follow through with a decision today. It’s that important!

PRAYER: Father, it’s not really about the ‘city’, it’s about that glorious reunion day with You! Everything else will be insignificant. I thank You Lord for touching me, convincing me of my sin and leading me to the cross of Calvary to meet You, the One who gave it all that I might be considered ‘not guilty’, but worthy of a crown from the Master. Father, I would humbly ask that You soften the hearts of my relatives and friends who have been stubborn to Your call on their life so far. I really want to know that they will join me in that beautiful city where we will meet You face to face. Lord, may this be a day of decision for them, please? Touch the hearts and encourage the souls of each one that reads this devotional today dear God. May they see Jesus and look forward to His return! I glorify in Your wonderful name oh Lord, and I look forward with great anticipation to that Great Day. Come quickly oh Lord! For I ask all this in the all-powerful and wonderful name of Jesus, my risen Lord, AMEN!

Do You Believe?

On 2015-08-242015-08-24 By Ed AlgreenIn Faithful, PersistenceLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Easy To Read Version – John 6:64-69): ⁶⁴ …some of you don’t believe.” (Jesus knew the people who did not believe. He knew this from the beginning. And he knew the one who would hand him over to his enemies.) ⁶⁵ Jesus said, “That is why I said, ‘Anyone the Father does not help to come to me cannot come.'” ⁶⁶ After Jesus said these things, many of his followers left and stopped following him. ⁶⁷ Jesus asked the twelve apostles, “Do you want to leave too?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, where would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. ⁶⁹ We believe in you. We know that you are the Holy One from God.”

THOUGHTS: Divorce rates are at an all-time high. Churches are closing their doors because of low attendance, lack of commitment and/or lack of financial resources. What do you suppose might be the reasons for this decline in Christian/Biblical principles? Where do you stand friend? Isn’t it interesting to note from this scripture that this is not a new problem? In fact, these disciples who turned away and stopped following Jesus even had the opportunity to see Jesus physically, and hear Him speak in person, yet because they couldn’t grasp exactly what Jesus was teaching they decided to stop following Him? To put this into perspective, I believe this would equal the same thing as some today that leave the church because they don’t understand or don’t agree with the things taught about God, even if directly from His Word. I believe that we have become such a ‘politically correct’ world, that people are used to the idea of not being told directly that what they are doing is ‘SIN’. Folk have become accustomed to having things ‘sugar coated’ so that their blatant sin is dismissed as just a difference of opinion, or old school philosophy. A good friend had a pastor tell him and a group gathered this summer, that the Lord’s Prayer is outdated. Really? Unfortunately we have become so wishy-washy in our beliefs and our stand on what we believe, that we find it very easy to just walk away, like these disciples did with Jesus, instead of supporting our pastors and teachers with our prayers, our moral support and our attendance. Could it be that we have become so lax in studying the Word of God that we have lost sight of what it says, what it means, what it stands for, and the Master Designer that it teaches about? Could it be that we, like the disciples, turn a deaf ear to teachings that challenge our sin, and we find it very easy to just turn away and run from such direct teachings? Friends, let’s remember that we have a sinful nature, and since God’s Word is designed to challenge us on that ungodly nature, we will have our toes stepped on and our sinful beliefs and habits challenged. The BIG questions is: “What then will you do with Jesus”? Judas turned Him in and He was subsequently crucified. You may not be that cruel, but running from Him will hurt Him just as bad. Especially after He considers the return thanks for His enormous sacrifice that He made for you, even while you hated and rejected Him. You may attend church friend, you may have even walked the isle at church or you may read your Bible whenever you can get around to it, but do you truly believe in Christ? Have you invited Him to rule and reign in your life? Remember, there is no forgiveness of sin without first becoming intimate with God and asking His Son Jesus into your life as your Lord and personal Savior. Reading this devotional today is proof that it is not too late for you to seek Jesus, and His righteousness. Please read through my ‘Footnote’ for tips on how to know Jesus. Then commit to giving Him full control of your life, for the rest of your life! No turning back, friend!

PRAYER: Lord, I believe. Please help any and all areas of unbelief that may develop in me. Please touch the hearts of those reading this devotional who may think the same way as the disciples who walked away. We may not always understand why, but please help us to trust You with every fiber of our being and therefore find comfort in knowing that all things work together for good, to those who place their trust in You. We’re not prone to quit in other areas of our life, so please give us strength and confidence to never give up on You. It seems like there will be more and more pressure on Christians to stand firm in our belief. Lord, may we never sell out, but rather stand firm to the end. You did that for us and I pray that we will always be faithful to You. I ask for strength, persistence, commitment and assurance for believers today, so that Your people will be sure of the One in whom they believe and bold in standing firm in the faith right until the end of time. In the precious and everlasting name of Jesus, I ask all this oh God, AMEN!

The Rest of the Story!

On 2015-08-222015-08-22 By Ed AlgreenIn Choices, Eternity, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Revelation 21:3-8): ³ I heard a loud voice shout from the throne: God’s home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. ⁴ He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever. ⁵ Then the one sitting on the throne said: I am making everything new. Write down what I have said. My words are true and can be trusted. ⁶ Everything is finished! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give water from the life-giving fountain to everyone who is thirsty. ⁷ All who win the victory will be given these blessings. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ⁸ But I will tell you what will happen to cowards and to everyone who is unfaithful or dirty-minded or who murders or is sexually immoral or uses witchcraft or worships idols or tells lies. They will be thrown into that lake of fire and burning sulfur. This is the second death.

THOUGHTS: For those of you who have followed Nuggets for a while will remember that we covered from the creation of the world, to the birth of Jesus, through the miracles and life changing events that occurred during His short life, then through His death/crucifixion and resurrection. All of this happened in perfect timing, and this information has been widely available for years, to show that although we are born into a world of sin and perhaps little hope, we realize when we read the last book of the Bible that all these happenings were for a reason. They brought us hope and a promise, that if we surrender our lives to Jesus – God’s sacrificial gift to man, then we would be included in the family of God referred to in verse 3. The whole plan comes together friends! For those who wisely surrendered their lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ during their lifetime, we can look forward to having God live among us in an atmosphere of peace, comfort and tranquility – no more tears, death, suffering, crying or pain. Everything new! Everything as we know it today will be finished! Fortunately we are also warned about what will happen to those who choose to do life their own way. In verse 8 these folk are given just the opposite treatment. Friends, we know the Bible is true, for it is one of the most widely printed and studied books there is, plus its content has been proven over and over again. In the financial world, if we know of impending doom we try to avoid it by investing much more conservatively. In our physical environments, we try to protect ourselves when we are warned of hurricanes and/or other acts of God. I am very concerned for the millions of people who have chosen to accept the latter conditions mentioned in verse 8. There are choices that our family and friends can make to improve their eternal destiny. Are we praying enough, or encouraging enough, or doing enough to help them make wiser choices today Christians? The end of the story is very exciting for those who have made arrangements to be in the presence of Jesus and His Father! It can be the same for those of you reading this who are not sure of your position/destiny. Please follow the steps in my Footnote to receive help and sure up your position about heaven or hell as your destination, and God vs Satan for your eternal master. I would welcome the opportunity to help!

PRAYER: Thank You Father for providing everything for Your children. It is unfortunate, but we believe that there are still many who have chosen to ignore Your gift of eternal life and settle for the Lake of Fire referenced in our scripture this morning. Many of these are our family, friends and coworkers, and we are very concerned about their sanity in this kind of decision. I realize that Satan is busy at work, distracting his followers from the truth of which I have referenced here today, but I am blessed and assured to know that Christians are following the same Savior today as will lead us on that day referenced in verse 3 above! Oh Lord, please use Your saints to be an influence in the lives of those who do not call You Lord. Please keep us from being stumbling blocks, but to stay firm in our belief and always lift up the name of Jesus in all that we do and say. May lives be impacted for You today, is my humble plea oh Lord. All this I ask in the bountiful name of Jesus, AMEN!

Do Everything For The Glory Of God

On 2015-08-212015-08-21 By Ed AlgreenIn Glory of GodLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Living Bible – 1 Corinthians 10:29-33): ²⁹ ….you may ask, must I be guided and limited by what someone else thinks? ³⁰ If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why let someone spoil everything just because he thinks I am wrong? ³¹ Well, I’ll tell you why. It is because you must do everything for the glory of God, even your eating and drinking. ³² So don’t be a stumbling block to anyone, whether they are Jews or Gentiles or Christians. ³³ That is the plan I follow, too. I try to please everyone in everything I do, not doing what I like or what is best for me but what is best for them, so that they may be saved.

THOUGHTS: To a very large extent we tend to build our lives around people who please us; doing all the things that please us; and having all the things that make us happy. Paul had to address this in the Corinthian church, and I believe that his teaching is included in the Word of God, because we need to be reminded of this today also. In this particular chapter Paul was addressing the subject of some being convinced that they could not eat certain foods, while others were quite OK with that and saw nothing wrong with that, nor how it would affect their relationship with God. Paul’s conviction was that we should be careful to do what pleases God, not just ourselves. In fact Paul directed us to do only those things that will glorify God, and that opens a much wider spectrum of principles about we should do, why we should do it and how we should do it. For God has taught throughout His Word the wide variety of principles and characteristics that He has modeled, and that He is pleased with. So let’s take the example of food that Paul taught about in this chapter. This still exists today, because there are some who feel like there are certain foods that would defile their bodies, and some even feel that this is based on Biblical references – and therefore may displease God. I believe that we are being taught to make every effort to please God in our own convictions rather than creating animosity with that Brother or Sister who is trying to please God through what they eat. Unfortunately, we sometimes become so wrapped up in the unimportant aspects of a Christian’s beliefs and practices, that we lose sight of their relationship with God. In other words, whether we force them to eat what we eat or not, it’s a matter of personal relationship with God and the decisions made by the individual about accepting Jesus as Savior that makes a difference of where they will spend eternity. If we are not careful, we could become a stumbling block to the very people we feel led to help. As a child of God, our aim should always be to please Him through the way that we live, not by trying to be ‘God’. Our path to living like God designed is very clear in His Word, let’s learn to live like that and rub off on as many as we can as they try to do the same. Maybe at that point we will have more impact on the unbeliever also, for we will truly imitate our loving Lord, and act more like He intended. It’s all about God friend, not our personal ideals.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for loving us in spite of our silly personal ideals. Thank You for speaking through Paul to redirect our attention towards You instead of trying to impose our imperfections onto others. May our daily goal always be to please You in all that we do and say. To be more like You and to draw closer to You in every way. You have taught us to love everyone and to encourage them instead of tearing down and destroying. May we be more like You every day, and may it be evident to all that we come into contact with, is my humble plea that I ask for myself and encourage my readers to do the same also. For I ask this in the loving and awesome name of Jesus, AMEN!

The Consequences of Disobedience

On 2015-08-202015-08-20 By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiveness, Obedience, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Zechariah 7:9-14): ^9-10Well, the message hasn’t changed. God-of-the-Angel-Armies said then and says now: “‘treat one another justly. Love your neighbors. Be compassionate with each other. Don’t take advantage of widows, orphans, visitors, and the poor. Don’t plot and scheme against one another—that’s evil.’ ^11–13“But did your ancestors listen? No, they set their jaws in defiance. They shut their ears. They steeled themselves against God’s revelation and the Spirit-filled sermons preached by the earlier prophets by order of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. And God became angry, really angry, because he told them everything plainly and they wouldn’t listen to a word he said. ^13–14 “So [this is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies said] if they won’t listen to me, I won’t listen to them. I scattered them to the four winds. They ended up strangers wherever they were.

THOUGHTS: I am fascinated how history repeats itself in spite of the lessons we should learn from our past. Much like Zechariah did when sharing the visions he was blessed with from God, our pastors today dig into God’s Word seeking what God might reveal to them that would bless and/or convict their church members. They share with us the consequences of disobedience by our ancestors, hoping that we would see the error of our ways, turn from our sin and obey God without the need for further consequences for us. A few sins were mentioned in verses 9 and 10, and not only do we still see these unfortunate sins recurring today, but they were also concerns mentioned in the New Testament. Several translations used the same verbiage in verse 11 that indicates to me that it is of grave concern to our Master. I believe that it truly concerns Him when He sees us plot and scheme against one another. When we look for ways to hurt one another. He announces this as pure evil and I believe this is something that we must not only be on guard for personally, but also look for ways to help each other fight against this awful sin. Let’s learn to pray for each other, that we would see the good in fellow humans and learn to celebrate it. Let us learn to pray for the parts of life where others find it challenging to do it just like Jesus would have done it, or perhaps expects of us. I believe the biggest thing that got my attention in these verses today, is the consequences of disobedience. The Word says “if we don’t listen to/obey God, He won’t listen to us” Oh my, oh my! Do you suppose that this is the reason we feel like we are hitting brick walls with our prayers, or feeling ignored by God? There’s an old spiritual that I learned later in life that I am reminded of as I meditated on these words today: “It’s me, it’s me oh Lord, Standing in the need of prayer“, it’s not my brother or my sister that I need to be most concerned about, but I need to get my act together first and take care of my personal cleansing before God first, before attempting to help a brother or sister where I easily see glaringly obvious sin. I don’t know about you friend, but I need God to listen to me, so it is imperative that I listen to Him and obey Him. Will you commit to doing the same? It is so critical that we have believers who are actually getting through to God with our needs and concerns. Let’s do our part in being obedient.

PRAYER: Dear God, please forgive us for so easily attempting to do Your job by zoning in on the wrongs of others, while overlooking the sin in our own lives. “It’s me, it’s me oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer – not my brother or my sister, but me….” I need thee every hour of every day, for in my own strength I cannot overcome the evil pull of this life. Please touch the lives of each one that will read this devotional. Please impact their lives with a desire to surrender full control of their lives to You so that we all may be usable instruments for Your kingdom work here on this earth. I humbly ask these things in the wonderful, and strong name of Jesus, AMEN!

Nuggets From God's Word

Month: August 2015