Month: September 2024

Share/Preach What You Have Seen and Heard

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Adoration, Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Awesome God, Beyond Description, Blessing, Celebrate God, Needs, Praise, Praise-worthy, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED: Friday, September 13, 2024, and I was blessed to be at Destin, FL when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. My Footnote will tell you how to find, read or listen to any and all episodes that I have shared over the years.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE FROM THE New International Version (NIV) IS FOUND IN Luke 24:45-48

THE BIBLE TEXT IS: 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised….

APPLICATION OF THE WORD: Ever notice that when you share someone else’s story it’s not as impactful as telling something that is near and dear to your own heart, because of your first-hand experience? In our Scripture today, Jesus share the Gospel with His disciples, but then He reminded them ‘but you are witnesses to these things’. Think about it: If you are married, like I am, then it is easy to share with someone seeking to unite in marriage; If you have been through a hurricane, like I have, then it is easy, but with a sense of urgency, to warn others that may be threatened with an oncoming hurricane; Likewise, if you have experienced the love of God – the One in whom you have placed your faith and trust, and surrendered your total lordship to Him, then you have a story to tell. I once heard an old preacher describe it as a beggar telling, and showing, another beggar where to find bread. I wonder if Satan doesn’t trip us up into believing that we must be ready to preach, or quote any and all verses in the Bible, before opening our mouths to share with someone else! In Ephesians 4:11 we are taught that some are given the gift of apostle, some teaching, some preaching, and so on. Not everyone in the church will be a preacher, otherwise there would be no skills for music or administration or otherwise. But the Bible specifically tells us that we each have been given a gift from God, and although that gift may not be evangelizing the lost, we each are prone to share our personal experiences, for it’s something that happened to us, or something that we have experienced. I was reminded of two additional things as I meditated on these verses:
1. Notice that Jesus opened the minds of the disciples so they could understand His teaching? When we go to church or Bible Study, try asking God to open your mind to what He has to teach you through His Word that day. We can walk through the doors of the church, sit in one of the comfortable seats, and although very capable of hearing and understanding, if our minds are hundreds of miles away, or wandering around the auditorium, then it may be challenging, if not impossible, to hear, understand and apply the teaching of God’s Word.
2. Jesus told His disciples what to concentrate on teaching and preaching, and I believe this holds true for His disciples, you and I, today. Repentance and forgiveness is to be the main principles of our sharing, and demonstrated through our lifestyle. Repentance is when you turn away from what you were doing, and turn to what you are taught to do through God’s Word. You were in sin, and you were living like the world, following Satan’s evil desire for your life. On surrendering to the rule and reign of Jesus Christ in your life, you accepted His gift of eternal life and you are on a road in life that leads to eternity with He and the Father in heaven. Follow His example and His teachings so that the world will know, and want to change in a similar way. Forgiveness is an acknowledgment that you are very capable of doing wrong, so don’t be so judgmental of everyone else. Be willing to forgive them, just as Christ forgave you.
Friends, we serve an awesome, loving and perfect God. Seek Him while He may be found, and allow Him to work in and through your life so that others may see, know, and also believe in the one true God.

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Lord Jesus, please continue to open our minds to truly hear, understand and believe what You say to us through Your Word and through circumstances in our lives. We are the clay and You are the Potter. Teach us to be moldable, especially here on this earth where there are so many side currents and acts of Satan that presses upon us every day. This old world needs Jesus, I pray that as they see and experience us, there will be a huge reminder of Your goodness, Your love, Your forgiveness, and Your salvation, that they too will want to know You personally. Please teach us to seek after and obey Your will for our lives each day. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There’s another page on my website, entitled ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to this 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. If you would like to read more of my devotionals, or subscribe for a daily email containing each new devotional, please go online to NuggetsFromGodsWord.org. For my podcast, go online to Apple Podcasts or, using the Apple Podcast app, simply search for Nuggets From God’s Word to hear more episodes, or click ‘Follow’ to be notified of Podcast updates. Friends, please allow me to encourage you to find a church home nearby 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!

Eternal Life Promise: Isaiah 64:8-9 Prayer and Reflection

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Adoration, Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Awesome God, Beyond Description, Blessing, Celebrate God, Needs, Praise, Praise-worthy, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED: Thursday, September 12, 2024, and I was blessed to be at Destin, FL when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. My Footnote will tell you how to find, read or listen to any and all episodes that I have shared over the years.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE FROM THE The Voice (VOICE) IS FOUND IN Isaiah 64:8-9

THE BIBLE TEXT IS: Still, Eternal One, You are our Father. We are just clay, and You are the potter.
We are the product of Your creative action, shaped and formed into something of worth. Don’t be so angry anymore, O Eternal; don’t always remember our wrongs. Please, look around and see that we are all Your people.

APPLICATION OF THE WORD: I’m not so sure that children today still fear the discipline of their parents, but there was a time when children may have feared returning home after a school teacher discipline, for they knew that there was additional discipline they could expect from their parents. As declared in verse 5, the Israelites acknowledged that they had continued in their sin for a very long time, but they came to their senses and realized that their sacrificial, forgiving and loving God was their only hope. Friends, as I read this I believe the Holy Spirit caused me to reflect on myself, my family, my church, my community and my country, for it’s difficult to turn on the evening news without hearing about the atrocious sins committed that day. It’s sad to attend church and look around at the empty seats, while later reading on Social Media about the other priorities and ways in which our friends chose to spend their Sunday. It pains us to see where their priorities were on a day that Christians choose to lift up the name of Jesus and encourage those who need a Savior. It is frightening and difficult to hear the family of a deceased loved one trying to console themselves by assuming that ‘absent from the body is to be present with the Lord’, especially when that loved one, while alive, wanted nothing to do with the Lord, or with anyone claiming Him as Lord. Friends, according to the Word of God, the day of salvation is at hand – now, today, without delay. God says in His Word that there will be a day of reckoning, and some will hear the sad words of the Master say ‘away from me, for I never knew you’. This means that the individual chose to follow their own way, as they wanted nothing to do with Jesus. Imagine how insulting that would be to the individual to hear Jesus claim them when you told Him ‘no’ all of your life. Notice in our verses today, the Israelites came to their senses – they are still alive and able to consciously make decisions to effect their present and future life situation. They pleaded with God to remember who they were and to give them what He promised. I believe that most importantly, they once again recognized who God was. When you approach those in authority over you, there is a sense of trying to honor them, please them, and place yourself into proper perspective. This often leads to you pleading your change of heart before them, for you now need them. It is so easy for us to look at the attributes of God like love, forgiveness, understanding and welcoming us home to glory. But let’s never forget that He is most importantly God – the one who knows our every action, word and thought, and because He will always honor His word, it is up to us to first recognize Him as God, and to honor Him by submitting lordship of our lives to Him, for He has awesome plans for each of us. Where do you stand dear one? When you claim Him as your God, He will claim you as His child for all eternity. If you choose otherwise, Satan is walking about like a roaring lion waiting for those without Christ. The later option leads to eternal damnation and tormenting. Don’t you get enough of that here on earth each day? Why not surrender to Jesus for eternal life with He and the Father in heaven?

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Thank You Lord Jesus for the promise of eternal life! Please teach us to not only plan our tomorrows here on earth, but to also secure our future in heaven with You and the Father. There is only one way, through the relationship we have with Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives. Please help us to never assume relationship if we have never sought You out and accepted You as Lord of our lives. You set the path for eternal life from the very beginning of time, and You cemented that plan into the pages of Your precious Word. Just as we are reminded daily, there is no set time for our departure, so we must latch on to You today, before it is eternally too late. Please speak intently to the hearts of every reader and remind them of the decision they need to make, for salvation is not something that grows on them, or filtered into them because of their earthly behavior. Your Word is a light unto our path, may we make it a part of our daily habit so that we might be reminded of You and Your promises. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There’s another page on my website, entitled ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to this 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. If you would like to read more of my devotionals, or subscribe for a daily email containing each new devotional, please go online to NuggetsFromGodsWord.org. For my podcast, go online to Apple Podcasts or, using the Apple Podcast app, simply search for Nuggets From God’s Word to hear more episodes, or click ‘Follow’ to be notified of Podcast updates. Friends, please allow me to encourage you to find a church home nearby 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!