Come To Jesus Meeting

On 2015-12-082015-12-08 By Ed AlgreenIn Integrity, RighteousnessLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – ¹Declare me innocent, O Lord, for I have acted with integrity; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. ² Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart. ³ For I am always aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth. ~ Psalm 26:1-3 ~ _{New Living Translation (NLT)}

THOUGHTS: As I read about David’s one-on-one meeting with the Master, I remembered our pastor mentioning in a recent sermon that he and his family would see the need for a ‘Come to Jesus meeting’ every so often to settle some issues or misunderstanding that the kids may have perceived or strayed away to. This was very close to me, because we had those same type meetings in my family also, and perhaps you might do the same. The reason I feel like I was so impressed with David’s actions in these verses, is because I felt like God was telling me this should be a good checkpoint in my life also. I believe that a lot of times we feel like we are doing ok, and that we have this ‘Christian living’ thing under control. Friends, may I remind you that you and I are not to parallel our righteousness with that of our spouse, our Sunday School teacher, our deacon or elder nor after our pastor, but only after the one true righteous One that ever lived, Jesus Christ. So with that in mind, how then shall we approach the God of this universe about our righteousness? By the way, what righteousness? Remember, God not only sees our actions, like other men do, but God knows our very thoughts and intentions behind everything we say and do. So although we appear ‘good’ to those who only see the outward self and expressions, how do you suppose we stack up in God’s eyes? You also know yourself very well, are you ready to look in the face of God and say like David, that you have acted with integrity; trusted in the Lord without wavering; always aware of His gracious love and lived according to His Word? Can you truly say these things to God with enough conviction that you would welcome His cross-examination and testing? Wouldn’t it be grand to go on a retreat for about 3 days with dedicated hours towards meditating alone with God and in His Word? Do you suppose that sometime during that retreat you might truly be able to have your ‘Come To Jesus’ meeting and wait for His judgment? I bet it would totally and radically change your Christian walk and experience. I bet your eyes would be opened to areas of your life where you feel so inadequate and mis-aligned with God and His purpose for your life. Perhaps you may even feel like David when he declared at the end of the same chapter “Now I stand on solid ground, and I will publicly praise the Lord.” This sounds like cleaning up the garbage that separates, or drives you away from the God that you love, doesn’t it? Friends, for us to stand firm with our friends, we must first be extremely firm in our relationship with God.

PRAYER: Father, You alone are perfect and good, but I believe You would love to see us try harder to become perfect and good in all our ways so that we may be better aligned with You. Our lives are very transparent, so in spite of us convincing ourselves of our goodness, others see our faults and the large variance in our ways vs Your ways. Please help us to get honest with ourselves by asking You to highlight our weaknesses and our sin. We realize that we will never become perfect, as You are the only perfect One, but Lord I feel like we should all strive towards being more like You every day. We can only fight the war with Satan here on earth through Your strength and the assurance of Your presence each and every day. Thank You for loving us enough to care about our righteousness. I ask this humbly in the name of Your very precious Son, 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 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 blogger.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!

Love Is….

On 2015-12-072015-12-07 By Ed AlgreenIn Imitator of Christ, LoveLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – ⁴Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or ⁵rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. ⁶Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. ⁷Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. ⁸Love never fails! ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ~ _{The Contemporary English Version (CEV)}

THOUGHTS: This scripture will probably sound very familiar to you, because you either heard it read at your wedding, or at a wedding ceremony where you were in attendance. Yes, I agree that this whole chapter, known as the ‘Love’ chapter, very much applies to a couple either considering marriage or may even serve as a commitment for a couple making a lifetime commitment based on the love that they share for each other. This actually hit me a little differently as I meditated on this passage this morning, and it is from this perspective that I would like to share a few words with you today. God is the greatest demonstrator of love – to the extent that He is even referred to as ‘love’ in the Biblical phrase “God is ‘love’“. So considering that He sent His Son as our example of His love for us, and if everything ‘Love’ did while here on earth represents ‘love’ in its truest form, should we not be following His example? If we expect to be ‘little Christs’, then we must closely study what Christ himself did, and what He stood for. Don’t you know that we must always question our motives or even our relationship with the Lord when we realize that we are being: unkind; impatient; jealous; boastful; rude; selfish; quick tempered; keeping records of the wrongs other do; despising the truth; rejoicing in evil; unsupportive; disloyal; mistrusting and always failing in our commitments and love towards others? Friends, these actions are more characteristic of the enemy (Satan), so can we truly convince the world that we are a child of the King of all kings, when we act like that? May I challenge you to review your actions after your events of today and talk it over with God, so He could open your eyes to whether you represented His characteristic of ‘Love’, or whether it was probably pretty obvious to everyone who controls your life? This could result in a pretty sobering turn around in your life, all because of ‘LOVE’. I trust that it will be evident to the world whose you are by the love that you show towards God and mankind each day!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, loving Savior, thank You for the ultimate love that You demonstrated on the cross so that we may know You – that we may know the essence of ‘Love’. Lord, Your Word is clear that we must demonstrate all that You have taught us so that the world might see You in all that we are and in all that we say. May this be a day that Your children will make it obvious to the world, that they are Yours and may it be proven through our words, actions and love. Thank You Father for first loving us! Now, may we carry on that tradition by loving all that we come into contact with! I ask these things in all sincerity and through the loving name of Jesus, AMEN!

What Is Best For Others

On 2015-12-042015-12-04 By Ed AlgreenIn Committed, ObedientLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – ²³You are certainly free to eat food offered to idols if you want to; it’s not against God’s laws to eat such meat, but that doesn’t mean that you should go ahead and do it. It may be perfectly legal, but it may not be best and helpful. ²⁴ Don’t think only of yourself. Try to think of the other fellow, too, and what is best for him. ~_{1 Corinthians 10:23-33}_{~ Living Bible (TLB)}

THOUGHTS: Glance back at today’s title again and think about how ‘worldly’ that statement sounds. Not at all, right? That’s because this is an attribute of a child of God, friends. Paul used this in teaching the Corinthian church, where members who had accepted Jesus as Lord, realized that there were some traditional practices where they had recognized they may have been questioning God’s authority to bless and/or authorize them to eat. The problem Paul saw in that, is that they chose to eat these meats in the presence of weak Christians or even those who had yet to accept Christ. This created an air of unacceptance or separation by the unsaved, where it could have become almost impossible to break through their barrier, to teach them anything about the Lord. Let’s put this into a current, practical application. Assume with me that you invited a person to your church who is unsaved, but have always felt ‘religious’ convictions about eating pork, because they had at one time in their life been taught that the pig was ‘unclean’. So after the worship service, at the church-provided luncheon you filled your plate up with pork chops and proceeded to sit next to your invited friend to gorge yourself on this delicious meat. You noticed that after excusing themselves several times to make trips to the bathroom, your friend finally told you bye, and they left. Your eating of a food that made them sick to their stomach, not only put a wedge between the two of you, but could very easily have placed such a disgust in the mind of that friend for Christians as a whole, that they would never again accept an invitation to your church. This is an example of something being OK (legal) in your mind, but it totally offended your friend that you invited to church. Food is not the only thing that offends, or turns a prospect off from the Jesus you have been trying very hard to share with your friends. However, may I suggest to you that if you stick to the things of God and the practices taught by His Precious Son, then you can’t go wrong. You have developed a hardness in your heart against those things that may offend God, things that you automatically do in the presence of weaker Christians and/or prospects, causing them to question what kind of God could you possibly be serving. Right or wrong, non-Christians have their view about what a ‘perfect’ follower of Christ should look and act like. We have a responsibility to God to act and talk like Him so that He might use us to minister and/or encourage those that we come into contact with. We are to be ambassadors for Christ and learn to stay pliable by Him. This will lead to a life where our friends will see the difference in us, and not question to whom we could possibly belong. If you are truly on the Lord’s side, may I encourage you today to seek His face and desire to live according to His Word and His will for your life. Time is short before the Lord returns. We can’t afford ‘mess-ups’ like given in the example above. We are on mission for Jesus Christ, not on a self-pleasing mission for personal pleasure or gain. Join me, won’t you?

PRAYER: Father You sent Your Son to this earth to witness how far we had strayed, and to teach us how we should live obedient lives that are pleasing to You and therefore be individuals who are usable by You. Lord, this old sinful world has such a tug on Your children, especially when we lose sight of Your goodness and Your teachings. Lord, personally, I want to be just like You. I want my life to be a living example of all that You have taught us in Your Word, so that others touched by me would have touched the hand of God extended through me. I pray that You will multiply this request over and over, as individuals read this devotional today and share a desire to also be Your committed servant. Touch Your people once again dear God, so that we might become servants that You can be proud of, and usable instruments in Your hand – all for Your ultimate glory and honor. For these blessings I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus, my Savior and Lord, AMEN!

God Will Never Let You Down

On 2015-12-032015-12-03 By Ed AlgreenIn encouragement, God Can Do It Again, God's Not DeadLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – ^11-12These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence. ¹³ No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it. ~ _{1 Corinthians 10:12-13}_{~ The Message (MSG)}

THOUGHTS: I believe that Paul was warning the Corinthian church to take note of what God had done in the past to help their ancestors, and know that He can do it again for them. Our message in this study today is to also help us realize that our God hasn’t changed, and that He can do it again for us – similar miracles as performed for Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness. I am always amazed how things in our everyday life changes – cars; technology; houses; churches; dress, etc. but when we read about the works of our God from the very beginning of time, and as we are reminded by Paul in our passage today, I can’t help being totally encouraged to know that our God – the One who spoke to Moses through a burning bush; the One who used a man who was afraid to speak in public, yet used Moses to lead his people – in huge numbers through the wilderness, I can only reassure myself and encourage you in the fact that Our God’s not Dead, and that He can do that, and any other miracle beyond anything we can imagine, with just a word, or just the touch of His powerful hand. That’s right Brothers and Sisters, He can Do It Again! I know that we feel overwhelmed with the challenges of life, and I know that we may often feel like we are fighting a very challenging battle in our normal day-to-day lives, but just as Paul encouraged the Corinthians, I must use his example and encourage my readers today to know that whatever you may be going through, rest on His promises, depend on His strong hand, and be confident in His Word, that HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN! That’s just the wonderful, miraculous, saving, loving, awesome God that you and I serve friend! Let me encourage you that should you be in a good place emotionally when you read this today, please take note of these words and be prepared to ‘Carry Your Candle‘ of encouragement with you today so that you might allow God to work through you to encourage someone who may be struggling to see that hope that’s offered by God alone. To the one who will read this today and wonder about who this awesome God is, may I encourage you to read my ‘Footnote’ for the ‘keys of knowledge’ on how to know my Savior, and how to contact me so that I might introduce you to my best Friend. I serve an awesome God and I want you to know Him like I do.

PRAYER:
Dear God, You are so good! Thank You for Your love that You showed evidence of at Calvary, when You made the ultimate step of providing the means for us to know You personally. Lord, there are many that will read this devotional today who are taking very lightly the great sacrifice You made for us. There will also be some who read this as a total stranger, because they have yet to surrender their life to You and accept You as Lord and Savior. Please Do It Again – by melting hearts, convicting Your children of sin and loving them into a relationship with Yourself. Especially at this busy time of the year, there are many who are overwhelmed with all that they feel is necessary to bring happiness into their lives, and those of their families. Please Help us to celebrate the One who came into this world to be our Savior and Lord. A most treasured gift that could never be replicated by anything we buy from the stores. So please help us to give, and share the greatest, most meaningful gift imaginable, the gift of Jesus Christ. Thank You Jesus for accepting me into Your family and treating me as Your very own son. Bless all who reads this devotional today, for I ask all these things in the wonderful name of Jesus – Emanuel, AMEN!

Run With Purpose – You’re almost There!

On 2015-12-022015-12-02 By Ed AlgreenIn Consistent, Persistence, Race2 Comments

THE HOLY BIBLE – ²⁴Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! ²⁵All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. ²⁶ So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. ²⁷ I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. ~ 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ~ _{New Living Translation (NLT)}

THOUGHTS: Imagine an athlete running down the track, and every time a friend shouts his name he runs off to the right to see who it is calling his name. Similarly, if a fan of his opponent calls his name, he steps off the track to check his running shoes, thinking that something is wrong. Do you think that athlete will ever reach the finish line in time to qualify? Paul drew an illustration similar to this in our scripture today. First, I believe you should settle this in your mind. Just as an athlete must meet certain qualifications to run a race, you will want to know that you have accepted Jesus as Lord of your life in order to enter the race that Paul is referring to. In other words, only Christians identify with the goal of seeing Christ face to face at the end of our race (the race of life itself), so you may consider that a prequalifier. Now when Paul refers to conditioning his body in order to run the race and endure to the end, he is referring to things like: strengthening our walk with Jesus daily so that we might know the Way, the Truth and the Life. Imagine running an athletic race without knowing the way to the finish line, or believing everything a coach tells you, or knowing for sure that the finish line exists on the other side of the track because you can’t see it from the starting line. Friends, we must remember that just as the athlete can’t purchase a ticket that will automatically take him to the finish line when the starting gun fires, so it is with the Christian life. When you invite Jesus into your life, you invite Him to save you, yes, but you also invite Him to guide your daily walk and talk so that as you travel this track (daily life here on earth) towards the goal (eternity in heaven with Jesus and the Father) so that you will look, sound and act like the athlete in competition – like a Christian ought to look – like Jesus. Friends, this is a very personal experience/relationship, so Paul reminds us that if we learn how to do this by the book, and we teach others, or preach to many, and don’t live like an athlete – a child of God, then we stand to be disqualified personally at the end of the race/life. I’m sure that you have found in life that in earthly relationships, way too many experiences arise, to possibly refer to a manual on the subject. However, if we live daily in close communion with the other party, we learn a lot about them and can generally handle the ups and downs as they arise. In our relationship with God, we must learn to communicate with Him – in prayer, Bible Study; church; fellowship with other believers; etc. so that we may condition ourselves daily to reach the goal, even if God called us home today? Think about it friend.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for making this life worth living by providing a promise for those of us that know You, to one-day reach out to grasp Your precious hand and hear You welcome us home to glory! What joy that brings to my heart today, even though I understand that the challenges of today may be even more challenging than the ones from yesterday. Lord, thank You for the assurance that You are by our side, guiding us, protecting us, encouraging us and loving us as we travel this challenging track, known as everyday life. Please continue to emphasize the importance of relationship with You, because that reminds us that it was You who took care of us and watched over us that day or that circumstance – something we really can’t attribute to happen-chance. Please speak to, and challenge my readers and I today about the need for daily conditioning, so that we may stay strong and determined to stay on course and stay the course right to the very day that You calls us home – our goal! I long to see that Day oh Lord, so I rejoice in the knowledge and expectation of that Day, yet plead for Your strong hand to be consistently upon me as I run this race. All these things I rejoice in, and ask for, in and through the precious name of Jesus, AMEN!

Watch For Distractors In Your Ministry

On 2015-12-012015-12-01 By Ed AlgreenIn Committed, Dedicated, DistractionLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – ³⁵I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible. ~ 1 Corinthians 7:35 ~ _{New Living Translation (NLT)}

THOUGHTS: Paul seemed to have been addressing church members who were caught up in trying to find happiness for their lives, without much regard to what might benefit their long-term benefit to the ministry of Jesus Christ. It seemed like there were members who were wanting to break marriages, because their spouse may not have been a believer at the time they came to know Jesus Christ. It seemed like some wanted to get married to find happiness, but wasn’t sure what to do. Friends we find these dilemmas every day, and although they may not involve marital choices, yet we ponder the right decision for ourselves under the circumstances. Paul encourage the Corinthian church to always bring into the decision equation whether the choice being considered will not only be pleasing to God for our future happiness, but also strongly consider how the decision will impact their ministry for the kingdom. Friends, decisions involving change in your life will tend to either facilitate or enrich your ministry, or it will negatively impact it and distract your ministry. I know, by now you are saying that you are safe because you are not the minister/pastor. May I encourage you to apply this squarely to your life Brothers and Sisters? You may think that your only ministry is praying for church leaders and the needs of church members. Fair enough, will the decisions that you make involving change in your life get in the way of your prayer life? Will it distract you and possibly hinder the time you spend in prayer, or the solitude of your prayer time? Paul’s plea with the Corinthian church is very applicable to us today. We must be careful, and seriously consider any changes in our lives that might distract our ministry for the Lord. If God is truly FIRST in our lives, then we really need to make sure that nothing else becomes first, or that it at least diminishes the value of our dedication to God and His work. May I encourage you to think carefully of any distractors in your life? It may not be a marriage partner, it may just be a girlfriend or boyfriend, or it may be your job, or it may be the demands of your friends to party with them. Whatever it is, only you and God will know. Seek His help and His guidance to help you stay focused and committed to your ministry for His kingdom’s sake. The benefits are ‘out of this world’!

PRAYER: Father, there is so much tugging on us for our time and our attention. For some, it may be exactly like the situation that Paul was addressing, it may be a new partner that someone is looking to take on for selfish reasons. For others, it may be total absorption into their job, for it totally consumes them. Lord we see the distractions that digital devices have brought to our homes, our churches and in our witnessing, yet we know that there are even more powerful distractors that Satan will use to trip us up, or block our ministry opportunities. Please touch your children today, and encourage Your servants to stay focused on You – the God who gave everything so that we might enjoy life eternally with You. Lord You are good and Your mercies endures forever. I pray that we might follow in Your footsteps. I ask these things in the strong name of Jesus – the name above all other names, AMEN!

Nuggets From God's Word

Month: December 2015