Month: April 2021

Wasted Opportunities

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Witness, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Saturday, 2021-04-03
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Matthew 25:23; 26; 30
TRANSLATION: New Living Translation (NLT)

BIBLE TEXT: 23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant!…..
30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

OBSERVATION: God has gifted us in so many wonderful ways! Yes, even those who feel like they have no talent to offer for His glory, or perhaps no money to give towards His ministries, or no encouragement to pass along to another hurting soul. But have you stopped to consider that God may have given you precisely what you need for the circumstances in which you will find yourself? Let’s consider the Word today and remind ourselves of what we are doing with what we have been gifted with. Consider your gifts as an investment from God, use them diligently to bring great returns for Him and His kingdom!

APPLICATION: After reading the theme of today’s devotional, what did your mind go on? Was it a missed opportunity at work? Or perhaps something at church? Or even something with one of your kids, or your spouse? Hopefully as you read the Scripture, you smiled with pride as you recalled hearing similar words as those used by Jesus in verse 23. No doubt there would have been a gut-wrenching feeling if you ever heard similar words as those used by Jesus in verse 26. No matter what your first thoughts were, I am hoping that the Word of God will remind us today that God has showered many gifts upon His children, and I believe that He wants to see us all reach a stage in life where He might encourage us with the same words that we read in verse 23. For you see, we are His creation, and He never created ’junk’. We are made in His likeness, and He is totally perfect in every way. God has a place already prepared for us in Heaven, so I believe that He would dread ever having to tell us (His created ones made just like Himself) ‘go away, for you have been a useless servant’. So what then shall our role be in properly responding to all that God has given us? I believe we should start with being very careful with the excuses we come up with. Notice that the last servant had many excuses as to why he didn’t properly invest the money/talent given to him, and notice in verses 24 and 25 that all of the excuses pertained to someone else – the master. I have served on Pastor Search Committees, as well as Nominating Committees. In each case our teams have totally bathed the volunteer or pastoral needs of the church in many moments of prayer, so when we began asking individuals, we felt like God was lead us to that individual to fill a particular position. While some were anxious to use their talents, many found excuse after excuse why they couldn’t, especially in the area of ability. Friends I have learned over the years that God is desperately looking for our availability, so that He might work miraculously through us to fulfill the needs of His ministry. The power of the almighty working through us is way more valuable to the kingdom than anything we could do of our own wisdom or learning from mankind. For only God can touch hearts and change lives from the hold of Satan, to one that is lead by the Holy Spirit. We must simply be willing to see God, through His transforming power, change individuals For His glory. I believe that my responsibility today is to encourage you to listen closely to the Master. He has gifted you to do things that are not suited for me, and He is waiting for you to tell Him when you are ready to proceed with the work He has prepared for you. Each of us have a choice, and most of us are tempted by the evil one to always look at the work of the Lord negatively. Please don’t let Satan win you over. You have a God who loves you and who wants to see you rejoice in His accomplishments because of our usefulness here on earth.

PRAYER: Thank You Lord Jesus for Your mercies on me! Thank You Father that one of your obedient servants knelt by my side at an altar and showed me the way to heaven. There are many that I may come into contact with today that may have that same need. Please help me to never develop excuses for anything You might direct of me, for You can do ALL things. Thank You for investing in me the talents and desire to serve others with a view of accepting You as their Savior. May I always give in to Your direction and allow Your words to be delivered through my lips, so that Your personalized message for Your children will be accurately delivered in the spirit that You desire. Lord, please also anoint my readers so that these words that I share from You might bring forth fruit for the kingdom. For it’s in Your name alone that I ask these things. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please 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 might 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 Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

Our God of Mercy

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Mercy, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Friday, 2021-04-02
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Exodus 22:22-27
TRANSLATION: New Living Translation (NLT)

BIBLE TEXT: 22 “You must not exploit a widow or an orphan. 23 If you exploit them in any way and they cry out to me, then I will certainly hear their cry. 24 My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.
25 “If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would. 26 If you take your neighbor’s cloak as security for a loan, you must return it before sunset. 27 This coat may be the only blanket your neighbor has. How can a person sleep without it? If you do not return it and your neighbor cries out to me for help, then I will hear, for I am merciful.

OBSERVATION: Although the exact words are not evident, God indicates in verse 23 that He is merciful towards widows and orphans, just as he indicated in verse 27 about the poor. I wonder how conscious we are about being merciful, like our Father is? I wonder how careful we are about not coming under the wrath of God when dealing with widows, orphans and the poor? Perhaps today is a good day to consider how we are doing in following His example to be merciful. Allow the Word of God to have it’s way in your life today.

APPLICATION: All throughout the Bible we could find where God thought very tenderly and mercifully towards those who struggled to take care of themselves. Brothers were told to marry the wives left behind by their deceased brother. Deacons were told to lookout for, and take good care of, widows and orphans. But I was totally amazed at the reminder in today’s Scripture again. For God warned the Israelites that if they took advantage of these individuals and, as a consequence, they came to Him about their hurt and their need, He would kill the guilty men so that their wives and children would then become widows and orphans. Men, I don’t know about you, but even though I would fear bringing on hurt or death to myself, the last thing in the world I would want to know, is that my wife and child are being left in want after my passing. But none-the-less, Jesus warned that He would be that upset if He saw His weaker children being abused. So how would this be applied to our current day situations? In your line of business, do you offer incentives or discounts to these individuals, or do you see them as a higher risk, seeing that they are without a husband/father, so you charge them more? This might be for goods, or in the case of interest on loans or credit cards, since this was dealt with next. Do you offer them a ride back home after visiting your place of business, or are you way too busy attending to the rich and giving them every possible incentive to give you more business? Friends, I believe that God has allowed us to remain on earth so that we may represent Him well. Today we have been taught a few things that really upsets the Father. What do you suppose you and I could do to stay in the good graces of our merciful God, as it pertains to widows, orphans and the poor? Sure many who read this devotion today may not be considered rich, but in the eyes of the poor and destitute, they see us as ‘rich’. Cutting our meal size in half will not only help our health, but we might then be able to share a portion with one who may not have a solid, healthy meal. With a few extra dollars on hand, instead of using that for an extra vacation, or another new suit, try helping the widow whose electric power is close to being terminated because of unpaid bills. Instead of putting that poor person under the nearby bridge down, share a jacket with him, or take the extra food to her from a meal where you cooked in excess. Show love towards these people, be a good neighbor to that child of God who needs help. Love these individuals, even as our caring, merciful God loved you while you were still steeped in sin and filth. Let it be said of you that you were merciful, just like your Father!

PRAYER: Dearest Lord Jesus, I am so thankful that You know our very heart and therefore You are well aware of all that we stand for. There’s no need in us trying to tell You what we do and who we love, for You know our very heart. Please penetrate our hearts with Your Word, so that Your perfect will and way may be evident in all that we do, say and think. There are so many needs around us, and I’m afraid that we have become way too hardened by the needs. We attribute that to abuse that we may have seen, or perhaps to family members who should really jump in and help their needy members. But in today’s Scripture You gave us no escsape, for You insisted that if we see the need, or if we are aware of the need, meet it with all that we can. May we become keenly aware of the needs that we will encounter today with those that we come into contact with, and may You become very visible to those that we help. You gave it all, and we thank You for that, but please receive honor, praise and glory for any representation of Yourself today by Your children. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please 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 might 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 Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

Do You Hear Me Now?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Hears Us, Needs, Praise, Prayer, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Thursday, 2021-04-01
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Psalm 22:1-3
TRANSLATION: The Voice (VOICE)

BIBLE TEXT: 1 My God, my God, why have You turned Your back on me?
    Your ears are deaf to my groans.
2 O my God, I cry all day and You are silent;
    my tears in the night bring no relief.
3 Still, You are holy;
    You make Your home on the praises of Israel.

OBSERVATION: A mom or dad might respond to the pleas of an unruly child ‘don’t even talk to me right now’ and the child will know exactly that there is something that made mom/dad upset. I don’t know that God was upset with David why He made him feel that his prayers were falling on deaf ears, but often there are very good reasons why God may not immediately answer our prayers in the manner we are demanding. Let’s use this scripture as a reminder of the God who hears our every prayer!

APPLICATION: Hopefully not many of you will pick up your cellphones and shout the theme that I chose for today into your phone, like the advertiser did in their commercial! But doesn’t it remind you of that, especially at those times that you are hurting or in desperate need? Don’t you feel like shouting ‘is anybody out there’? Perhaps if we do a better job of thanking God for answers to all challenges, even smaller ones, and not overlook talking to God about the simple things of life, we might develop a sense of confidence in the God who can do ALL things, including bringing the dead back to life as He did with Lazarus. Friends, when we develop an intimate relationship with God, we will know what it means when it seems like He’s not listening and when it seems like He is not hearing or answering our prayers. We must also be very careful to remind ourselves that we are praying to God – the One who knows ALL things and will do only what He knows best for His beloved children. My point is that we don’t want to interfere with God’s plan by trying to tell Him how to correct our issue. There is no doubt that His ways far exceed anything that we might think or ask for, so simply lay your burden at His feet; share with Him how much you are hurting; and also share with Him how you wish for the best in your circumstances, even though you are more than happy to receive what He knows is best. Remember, you’ve built a relationship with your Creator and you know that He has your best interest at heart, so don’t be afraid to share your feelings, even though you want to always accept His perfect will for you. Often, these times of quiet by God is because of sin that you have allowed into your life, or because He wants you to draw closer to Him, or at even other times He is simply wanting to see you dig into His Word and be drawn to a closer walk with Him. God’s ways are always perfect, for He knows the plan that He has for us. Our ways are often diluted with sin and the evil of this earth, so when we pray, let’s remember to draw close to God first. This will help us to not only give in to His will, but it will give us opportunity to align our hearts with His, so that we may be less lightly to ask awry. A sure lesson for us to learn is found in verse 3, for in spite of David’s frustration in the first two verses, yet he acknowledged that God is almighty and all-powerful and deserves the praise of His people. This teaches me that I have no reason to be upset with God, for He deserves my praise – period! It’s me oh God, standing in the need of prayer. Please help my readers and I to concentrate on the awesome God of this universe, and refrain from trying to blame You when our prayers seem to fall on deaf ears and have not been responded to as we may have humanly and erroneously asked for.

PRAYER: Thank You Lord for Your unending patience with me. Thankfully, You created me and You know my weaknesses, just as You did with Your servant David. Please forgive me when I lower my expectations of You to a level where it seems that You need my help. You are God, and I am not. May I always remember to respect You for the awesome God that You are. Of course You hear my prayer, please help me to be patient and wait for You to do just that. May each reader be drawn closer to You today, is my humble prayer as we all depend on You in prayer. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please 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 might 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 Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!