Month: April 2016

We Have Not, Because…..

On By Ed AlgreenIn Ask and Receive, Envy, Jealousy, Prayer2 Comments

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: James 4:2–3
Today’s Bible Text: You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: I believe that many of us read these verses and sit back in disbelief that folk would actually do this! Whoa, wait a moment…. would we ever think that God had a message through James for everyone else…. but not for us? Something can’t be right with that analysis Brother, Sister, friend. So let’s look a little closer at this. I believe that fights, arguments and many evils in life can be traced back to times when we have felt that we were not treated fairly, or obtained our desires. In fact, we become downright envious, with a strong sense of covetousness, when we look at what others have, compared to what we have, or can afford, or perhaps that we didn’t see as a priority to purchase. Our lacking could also be a scripturally based issue, for perhaps we never saw the need to ask God for it! But what normally happens when these resulting feelings well up inside of us? Friends, this is the root of conflict and strife. In fact, there are feelings that sometimes overtake us and opens the door for Satan to push us into actions that we never thought possible. It might be quarrelling, fighting, or even conspiring to do things out of spite that could lead to crimes we never thought possible. But catch this thought friends, James is suggesting that we don’t have because we simply don’t ask God for it. Is he kidding? Of course we told God what we had to have? Ooops, did I just say that??? Friends, I believe that God is warning us that instead of looking horizontal at what others have, we need to start looking up – to God, for all that He would bless us with. Remember, we are His child, so He knows exactly what we need, and what we could handle, that won’t cause us to lose track of the important things in life. You see, we should never have those things that will distract us and cause us to lose our witness, so can we learn to give Him thanks in ALL things and in all of life’s circumstances – please? I believe that most often we tend to try and satisfy our deep, selfish desires when we ask God for things. It might even sound legitimate, such as more time, more money or more energy so that we could do the things we desire to do for God. But what if we asked instead for more desire for what God promises or commands of us? What if we asked for less desire to do those things that are contrary to His will for us? Which of these might bear the motive that best aligns with God’s will for us? It may be time for us to ‘Have A Little Talk With Jesus’ – a sincere and honest talk with Him as we seek His will, without any personal desires getting in the way of that. 

Prayer: Dear God, we are so twisted, and distracted by the things of this world, and our selfish desires. Is it any wonder why we often feel so unworthy of being used by You? Lord, You created us to worship You, obey You and example Your ways before a lost and dying world. Please help us to refocus on Your will for us, instead of our selfish desires for things that we think will benefit us. Please help us to make the adjustments necessary to focus more fully and more obediently on You and Your perfect will for us. Please help us to put self aside and allow You to minister in and through us to those who need You as Lord of their life. Please touch the lives of Your children – Your followers – Your servants today, so that we may be usable instruments in Your hands. I ask these things in the matchless 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 contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could 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 to 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, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! 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!

2016

Your Character Qualities Show Where You Gain Your Wisdom From!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Character, qualities, Witness2 Comments

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Please read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: James 3:14–18
Today’s Bible Text: If your heart is full of bitter jealousy and selfishness, don’t brag or lie to cover up the truth. That kind of wisdom doesn’t come from above. It is earthly and selfish and comes from the devil himself. Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.
The Bible Translation: The Contemporary English Version (CEV)

My Take Away: Often we will hear someone say that we don’t need to tell them who our parents are, because they had already determined that, based on the character qualities that they observed in us! Similarly, James is warning us that our character qualities will prove who we are being influenced by spiritually. Look at the qualities in these two columns and determine what the majority of your character qualities are telling the world about who is leading your life:

From The Devil From Above
Bitter jealousy Pure
Selfishness Friendly
Earthly Gentle
Jealous Sensible
Kind
Helpful
Genuine
Sincere
Will cause trouble & do all sorts of cruel things Will harvest justice (peace and righteousness)

Friends, I could only imagine that you may be feeling a lot more transparent than you ever planned to, but the Word of God is very clear. Another scripture tells us that by your fruits they will know you. May I remind you that these qualities of which we are studying about, comes from hanging around the key players. If you hang around God and His Word, you will learn and practice His characteristics automatically, because You want to become more like Him. I believe you are plenty smart enough to figure out what happens when you don’t hang around God, or read His Word, or try to live by the things taught in His Word, but please take particular note of the last line in each column above. Those are the results of the character qualities that you produce. We have both kinds of people in our world today. Which column do you fall into? Only God can help you improve your life qualities, if you’re not happy with where you are at. Please consider allowing Him to do that.

Prayer: Lord God, it’s You that I long to be like in every aspect of my life. Being reminded today of how glaringly obvious this is to everyone I come into contact with, drives me to a greater determination to make sure that they only see Jesus and your rich qualities that will draw mankind to Yourself. Lord, I pray that my readers will join me in saying that this life would be meaningless if we travel through it without impacting individuals for Your kingdom. Lord, may Your perfect will be accomplished in and through Your humble servants today so that the lost might see the King of all kings, even in us. You alone are holy Lord, so please have Your will and way in our lives, so that the unsaved may see and yearn for Your holiness. I ask these things in the precious and holy 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 contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could 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 to 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, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! 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!

2016

Let God’s Word Guide You

On By Ed AlgreenIn direction, Guide, ObedienceLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: Psalm 119:105–112
Today’s Bible Text: Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. I’ve promised it once, and I’ll promise it again: I will obey your righteous regulations. I have suffered much, O LORD; restore my life again as you promised. LORD, accept my offering of praise, and teach me your regulations. My life constantly hangs in the balance, but I will not stop obeying your instructions. The wicked have set their traps for me, but I will not turn from your commandments. Your laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight. I am determined to keep your decrees to the very end.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: On a bright sunny day we seek direction for the right path to travel and the right way to get there, all for the sake of timeliness, safety and to be sure that we are in the right place at the right time. On the darkest night, we use a light source to light our path so that we are not obstructed. It is super easy to get lost at night, because we don’t have the benefit of seeing everything else around us that we would normally see in the daytime. The Psalmist shares with us that he found the wisdom of God’s Word to be a treasure, and that his heart was delighted to acknowledge that it was God who was taking the lead in his life. Friends, it seems like especially in our day there is so much happening that we tend to sit back and marvel over it all, and we are amazed by the wonder of God’s awesome power to control everything – even the newest technology, so that His people might be blessed, protected and comforted to know that Our God Reigns – period!! I believe that the key to us allowing God to reign in everything that touches His children, is a matter of total surrender. Notice that the Psalmist wrote that he had promised to obey God’s righteous laws, and that he would commit to that all over again and again. Notice that he vowed to obey, in spite of suffering and his life hanging in the balance at times. In other words friends, we must be determined to dig into God’s Word, seek His face and commit to His commands in the best of times and in the worst of times. Let us never be guilty of only being ‘fair weather’ Christians, but let us commit to obeying God when we feel certain about our path, and at those times that we are just advancing in faith, because we absolutely need God’s guidance for the next step in our life. The Psalmist shared that he was determined to obey God’s decrees to the very end. Will you commit to do the same friend? Let God be your Master and your Friend and your Guide everyday, and in all circumstances, won’t you?

Prayer: Precious Father, thank You for loving us unconditionally. Thank You for accepting us on our best days and on those days that the world may wonder what has gotten into us that is causing us to act so strangely! You are the same yesterday, today and forever precious Lord. I pray that we will never forget that and always strive to be committed to obeying You and serving You faithfully every day, in spite of what may seem questionable in the way You choose to lead us. Lord, may we commit to serve You faithfully and obey Your commands consistently each and every day. May we recognize and always be reminded that You are God over all things each and every day, and we need to adjust ourselves to accept that and obey You in spite of ourselves and our circumstances. Thank You for being that kind of awesome, powerful God oh Lord, my Rock and my Salvation. 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. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could 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 to 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, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! 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!

2016

Determined To Achieve The Goal

On By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiven, goal, SavedLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: Hebrews 12:1–3
Today’s Bible Text: Such a large crowd of witnesses is all around us! So we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the sin that just won’t let go. And we must be determined to run the race that is ahead of us. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. He endured the shame of being nailed to a cross, because he knew that later on he would be glad he did. Now he is seated at the right side of God’s throne! So keep your mind on Jesus, who put up with many insults from sinners. Then you won’t get discouraged and give up.
The Bible Translation: The Contemporary English Version (CEV)

My Take Away: I was intrigued to learn that one of my Sunday School students had shaved all the hair from his arms and legs so that he might gain a few seconds in a swim meet he was about to undertake! I have similar stories about boat racing, where the owners would find the best possible paint for the bottom of the boat to ensure that the boat would move along effortlessly in the water on race day. Cars are very similar, because we are cautioned to remove any unnecessary weight in order to facilitate the best gas mileage. In this scripture today we are reminded that we should keep our eyes fixed on those saints that have gone this road already and have set great examples for us to follow. I believe the Word is declaring that we should be ready to set aside the many excuses that Satan will fill our minds with, about why we can’t be an effective witness. I’m sure that you have also heard folk say things like: well you know, if we had the power of that staff that Moses carried, then perhaps we could also prove to our listeners that God is alive and active – but how many of us could survive the ridicule, the mocking or the ungratefulness displayed by the very people that Moses helped? How about the faith of Peter to step out of the boat, and on to the water because Jesus was beckoning him to come to Him – that would help us to prove the awesome power of God, right? But we all know the weaknesses of Peter before and after that moment. Friends, I agree that we have a lot of great witnesses that have proven the tremendous power of the God we serve, but these verses today are suggesting that we must begin the shedding process if we ever expect to turn loose of the temptations and trials of this world help us hostage to. You see, God wants (and deserves) our undivided attention. He wants us to throw away the cell phones, for example, so that He could speak to our hearts clearly – undistracted by anything else. When we surrendered our sinful lives to Him, we left our sin and our previous life at the cross. He promised that He would wash us white as snow and take away our burdens. We could never be totally devoted and attentive to Him if we insist on trying to help God out by carrying those same sins and burdens around, that He promised to take control of. If we are concerned that the very hair on our limbs will slow us down in the water, can you imagine what impact the ongoing, surrendered, guilt of family arguments; divorce; murder; lying; stealing; etc. would have on our ability to witness to others, or to have a right relationship with our holy and righteous God? The Bible says that God will separate our sin from us as far as the east is from the west. Let’s allow God to be God, and stop trying to help Him do His job. Let’s learn to feast on His goodness; His forgiveness; and His unchanging love for us. Perhaps then we may feel ‘whiter than snow’; righteous; holy; and a ‘child of the King’. Perhaps then God can truly use us to do His work!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us enough to accept us just the way we were, and just the way we are. Thank You for dealing with the sin that we brought to the foot of the cross. Please help us to forgive ourselves, and accept Your offer of cleaning our slate of those very things that we sought Your forgiveness. I pray that we will never pick the weight of those sins back up again, so that we may be free to display the freedom in knowing You as Lord and Savior. Lord You are good and Your mercies endures forever! Blessed be the name of the Lord, 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. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could 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 to 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, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! 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!

2016

Faith That Leads To Action

On By Ed AlgreenIn Confidence, Faith, Faithful, HopeLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: James 2:17; 21-22
Today’s Bible Text: 17 So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good works is no faith at all—it is dead and useless…..   21 Don’t you remember that even our father Abraham was declared good because of what he did when he was willing to obey God, even if it meant offering his son Isaac to die on the altar? 22 You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to; his faith was made complete by what he did—by his actions, his good deeds.
The Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)

My Take Away: I believe that many may find reason to argue over this particular scripture, but then I also believe that Satan looks for opportunities to put Christians in a mode of confusion when it comes to reading Truth, and applying it to their lives, for it presents greater challenge for Satan to complete his work. Friends, God spoke through His humble servants, such as James, to help clarify questions and/or doubt that He knew would cause us to ponder. I believe that often we would disagree with James because we might tend to swing this truth all the way around and think that perhaps James may have been saying that ‘faith’ is unimportant – as long as we show our works/deeds. There is no need to try and change the context of what James is saying here. He is merely telling us that faith is not just an event that occurred in our lives, but rather it is a change of character and mindset. For, because of our unique relationship with God, we have developed a confidence in Him, or totally enhanced our faith in Him, so that we know that we are changed because of His awesome, powerful, all-sufficient, Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us. We’ve read about and may have even seen the miracles performed by God, so do we have faith to believe that He can miraculously heal us or someone we love? Of course we do! We believe the Word of God where we learned that Jesus walked on water, raised the dead back to life, healed the blind and much, much more, so are we prepared to step out in faith and allow Him to once again miraculously work in us and through us? Of course we would! Jesus is very much alive, and for those of us who have placed our faith and trust in Him as our living Lord, we KNOW that we can step out in faith through whatever action He directs! We have moved beyond just talking about it, we can act on what we know to be true, secure and filled with the power of our God! Our faith is secure in knowing the God of all power and truth!

Prayer: Thank You Lord for Your Word. Thank You for the awesome obedience of Your faithful writers who shared Your experiences here on earth, and who were obedient to the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit to pen the words that You knew we would need to better understand Your mighty works, and to grasp what faith in You is all about. Please touch the hearts of Your people as they meditate on this devotional today. May this help to clarify, and not confuse what You would have us to know. Lord, may our faith grow so strong that our actions will show evidence of our faith, so that others might see and believe. I ask these things, in faith, and through the awesome 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 contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could 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 to 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, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! 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!

2016

Segregation?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Evangelize, Segregation2 Comments

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: James 2:2-7
Today’s Bible Text: My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say, “Better sit here in the back row,” haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted? Listen, dear friends. Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God.
The Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)

My Take Away: Mt topic today may draw attention because of its ugly past, where there were huge issues with the practice of segregation. Still, James warned his listeners about this, and it was included in our Bibles, as obviously God felt like this might be an ongoing concern for us. Friends, our Savior showed many times that He exists so that ALL may come to Him, and that ALL may have the opportunity to have eternal life. Our lesson today is teaching us that it is vital that we live the principles taught by our Master. Just as we compelled ourselves to believe that Jesus loved us in spite of our sin, and that He died so that we may accept His free gift of eternal life and be as welcomed into His kingdom as the greatest saint that ever lived, we too must practice that same type of justice to all that we come into contact with. Jesus still loves that much, and He still welcomes all that would come to Him, and He expects us to follow His example by practicing the same in our everyday life experiences. This means that we must be intentional in reaching across barriers that we tend to set for ourselves and treat each other with the same love that Jesus has for each of His kids. Always consider that Jesus accepted us, regardless of our nationality, or color, or gender, or height, or weight, or political persuasions, or church denomination, or age, or economic status – so who do we think we are to allow any of these things to distract us from our association with some that God may send our way? When Jesus said “suffer the little children to come to Him”, notice that He needed no further description? He excluded no one. I believe that He is teaching us today that we need to be sure and do the same. Let us learn to love all God’s children through His lens, with no worldly segregation, so that we may reach the whole world for Him.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me just the way I was, and still loving me today, just the way I am. Not perfect, but You have provided Your Word to direct my path and lead me to live according to Your perfect example set before me. Our lives are often torn by the distractions and prejudices of this world, and although so unfortunate that we bring that into our walk with You Lord, yet Your Word is perfect and directs our path towards righteousness and holiness like You exampled for us. Please continue to teach us Your ways so that we may see needs like You, love like You, and to be Your hands and feet even in an imperfect world. People need the Lord, and not more of our human imperfections. Please teach us Your ways oh Lord and drive us towards Your perfect will for Your children of every kind here on earth. I ask these things in the perfect name of Jesus, the One who died for us ALL, 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. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could 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 to 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, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! 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!

2016