Author: Ed Algreen

One of God's kids expressing his understanding of God's Word and sharing how it is affecting his life! May those who read it be blessed, encouraged, and drawn closer to the Lord!

On Treating The Temple of God ‘HOLY’

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Follow Jesus, Holy, Holy Spirit, Pleasing to God, StregthLeave a comment

The Bible – The New Living Translation

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Thoughts:

Why would we look down on, scorn or rebel against folk bringing their bottle of whisky to church service, or wanting to show their rated ‘R’ movie filled with cursing, sex and wild living at the church? I know, you are probably thinking that the medication I am on must really be getting to my head, right?!! Friends, my questions are not far off when you consider what we allow in our homes and into our lives. I know, our private lives are private and the church, nor Brother Ed, have no rights to question what goes on in the privacy of your own homes, right? Well, I hate to burst your bubble Brother and Sister, because in this scripture we are reminded of what happens to us at the time our salvation (surrender to God). For we must constantly be reminded that God sends His Holy Spirit (One with God in the trinity), to take up residence in our lives. Therefore our bodies become the temple, or residence, of God. So when, in the privacy of our own homes, we drink our whisky, or we cheat on our spouses, or we show highly rated films that are unsuitable for showing in our churches, what do you suppose we are doing to all that resides within us? Can’t you see that you are subjection the holiness of God to the trash of this world? Further, when we do things that we are taught will destroy our bodies – overeating; smoking; drinking; etc, is it not clear that we are destroying the temple/residence of the Holy Spirit? Friends, it is clear in verse 17 that God will destroy anyone who destroys God’s temple. I believe it is also evident from that verse, that for all those preserve the temple, to them will be given eternal life with Jesus our Lord! I believe it is also easy to see from these verses, that whenever God resides within a clean, healthy temple, that individual is capable of openly, freely, and honestly worshiping amongst the corporate body (the church) in all sincerity and as a living example before the church and the world. So the question today is: How’s your temple? Is it tainted by the world and therefore saddens the heart of God as He watches us disrespecting the temple of His Holy Spirit? The good news is that God can help us to overcome our weaknesses and to live holy and clean lives so that our temple might be sacred at all times. Are you willing and ready to make this step?

Prayer:

Lord, this is a challenging message for all of us this morning. We always want You to be proud of us, yet we are silly enough to still act in disobedient and sometimes disrespectful ways when we feel like we are in our own private times and places. How silly of us, for You are everywhere at all times. Please forgive me for my littleness of mind, for my refusal to surrender all of me, and therefore fooling myself into thinking that I could keep areas of my life ‘private’ from you and the rest of my world. Please always impress upon me the importance and value of treating Your temple holy at all times. Please also tender the hearts of my readers today so that they may catch a glimpse of all that’s involved in making a decision to accept You as Lord of their life. Another scripture comes to mind: Be ye holy, even as I am holy. This is my desire dear Lord, and I seek Your strength to help me be the holy man of which You are referring. I ask all this in the name of the only One with such great power and strength, Jesus my Lord, AMEN!

NOTE: 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.

Reasons Why The ‘World’ Don’t See Jesus

On By Ed AlgreenIn All have sinned, Bible Believing, Born Again, Christian, Follow Jesus, Fruit of the Spirit, Imitator of Christ, Obedience, Pleasing to GodLeave a comment

The Bible – New Living Translation

1 Corinthians 3:3

3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?

Thoughts:

Sometimes I look around at failing churches and I wonder, Why? Sometimes I see our pastors stressed out and I wonder, Why? And then sometimes I look at regular church attendees who suddenly stop coming to church, and I wonder, Why? God used this passage of scripture this morning to open my eyes to the reasons why, and it’s written in plain English right within the content of these verses for us to see. When we act in any of the above ways, it proves that:
          *   We are still controlled by our sinful nature;
          *   We are often jealous of one another and quarrel with each other; and
          *   We are still living like people of the world.
Now before our pride kicks in, and we get our noses too high in the air and begin thanking God for helping us to not be like that described above, I want to suggest that we invite God to dig deep into our inner selves and allow Him to open our hearts and our minds so that there will be no misgivings about our spiritual well being. You see, we are all a long ways away from the ideals established for us by Jesus himself. No matter how godly we may think we are, we must still seek God’s mercy and His constant eye on us, constantly guiding us and giving us wisdom to always respond to things outside of the ‘norm’ established in this world, in fact, we need to constantly respond the way that Jesus did, or the way that we discern from His Word that He would want us to respond. Friends, this will require us being in constant communication with God. I’m afraid that most of us are so full of this world that our only response will naturally look like a ‘worldly’ response. Conversely, if we would fill ourselves with Jesus Christ and His teachings, we would be more apt to respond like He would. Where do you stand Brother? Do You truly fill yourself with the knowledge and teachings of Jesus Christ, sister, so that your normal, quick, right-out-of-the-box response would be one that Jesus is pleased with? If I might suggest, let us humble ourselves before Christ and allow Him to use and lead us to speak and act like Him in our every day dealings with others. Let’s learn to be so filled with the Spirit of God that His character might spill over into all that we are and all that we say.

Prayer:

Father, may the church be the church. I pray that when Christians are encountered by the ‘world’ that they will immediately see the difference in us and not a hypercritical view of Christendom. The ‘world’ truly needs You Lord Jesus, please help us to not be a stumbling block to their needs being met by You. I humbly ask this in Your precious and holy name dear Lord, AMEN!

NOTE: 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.

 

Teach Me Lord!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, God Cares For Us, Humility, Imitator of Christ, Obedience, Pleasing to God, Reflecting Christ, The Book of LifeLeave a comment

The Bible – Good News Translation

Psalm 86:11

Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do,
and I will obey you faithfully; teach me to serve you with complete devotion.

Thoughts:

Friends this is pretty basic stuff today. In fact, so basic that I reflect back on what my wife and I tried to accomplish when our child was an child. We didn’t just leave her to do whatever she wanted to do or say, we guided her and taught her to be someone we could be proud of, but also someone who could get a job and be liked and honored on her job. Although there were many challenging times, yet she looked forward to the benefits of obeying her parents. In other words, like the Psalmist said in this verse, she did everything with complete devotion to us. Friends, as we look around us in astonishment at the crimes and unbelievable behavior of our general population, we no longer need to ask the reason why, because in this passage we are reminded that folk will act according to what they have been taught to do. In other words, those that have no regard for life or other humans, or the good of the land, were never taught by God the expected behavior of His children. So for those who know Christ, how might one be taught what to do? Friends, please begin by finding yourself a good Bible teaching church, and this is not for the purpose of getting your name on the church membership role, this is for the purpose of understanding your book of life instructions better (the Bible). You see, some pastors will go to great lengths, and is supported by church leaders who will go to great lengths, to pray for church members and visitors, and ensure that they understand what the Bible says about all aspects of life. In other words, they go to great lengths to help you understand what The Lord would have you do with your life, and how to live in harmony and obedience with the Word of God. Although you might learn a lot from a casual visit on an occasional Sunday morning, it is much like you found with your child, discipline and teaching was a daily thing. So yes, attend church so that you might learn more about what God wants you to do, based on His Word, but also take time each day to open the Word and read a few verses, with a mind to learn more about what God would have you understand from His Word, and how you might apply it in your life that day. I like to journal my thoughts. This is not required, but it helps me to better share my thoughts and prayers and hopefully better apply what I just read. As you learn various Godly principles and apply them to your life, you will be helping the cause of Christ by being faithful to what you feel He wants from you. We can change this world for the better one day at a time, and through one learned and applied principle at a time. We are the hands and feet of Jesus on the ground, let’s show the world that He exists and that He is evident in and through us.

Prayer:

Lord, I’m sorry that I have allowed so much of the world to impact my life. I am reminded that to serve You more faithfully, I must learn from Your Word daily and commit to serving You with all my heart. Please speak to Your servant and give me the wisdom and fortitude to do Your will and be obedient to Your commands. This old sinful world needs You. May they find enough of You in Your servants today that their lives may be impacted and lead to change in very positive and meaningful ways, is my humble prayer, in the precious name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, AMEN!

NOTE: 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.

Restore Your Church Oh God

On By Ed AlgreenIn All have sinned, Bible Believing, Celebrate God, Chosen by God, Christian, Encourage, Eternal Life, Evangelism, Faith, Follow Jesus, Forgiveness, God our Helper, Grace, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Humility, Imitator of Christ, Listen to the Word of God, Love God, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Power of Prayer, Praise, Repentance, Righteousness, Servants of God, Surrender, Trust, WorshipLeave a comment

The Bible – New Living Translation

Psalm 85:4–7

    4 Now restore us again, O God of our salvation. Put aside your anger against us once more.

    5 Will you be angry with us always? Will you prolong your wrath to all generations?

    6 Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?

    7 Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.

Thoughts:

In my first read through this passage of scripture I was touched by the prayer of David to save his people, and my heart was deeply touched by his prayer because I can clearly see how many around us, in our neighborhoods and in our cities, need the Lord. However, on closer study of this I realized that you can only restore something that at one time was resident there before. So my heart immediately went out to what David was really praying, because I believe that we are seeing churches dying today at a greater record than ever before in the history of our land. In part, I believe that this is because we need an equally as large evangelism effort to the once ‘saved’ who have fallen by the wayside, as we do to the ones who have totally disregarded the message of the cross. Like you, I am very concerned about all that is going on in our land, and in this world, where we are killing each other without any regard for precious life itself. However, this should come as no surprise to Christians, because even back in 2 Chronicles 7:14 it was declared that God is looking for His people, His children, to humble themselves and pray, before He would give consideration to healing our land. When Christians treat their relationship, their commitment, so flippantly, and when there is no humility in looking to God for His powerful, healing and restoring hand upon His people and our land, what is it that we should really expect differently? Friends, we are bringing damnation on ourselves, on our churches and on our land. Remember, God is still in control and His Word will endure to the end, so we must follow His plan if we ever expect to see God restore us again! What is your role? Are you following His plan, so that you might expect to see Him restore us again? Please, let us humble ourselves and pray…..

Prayer:

Jesus, my Lord, in all humility I pray that You might touch the hearts of Your people once again. Begin with me, I pray. May Your church be revived once again, I pray. May each person meditating on this devotional today realize that this is not the ‘place’ we call church, but the body of Christ that at one time or another made a sober decision to accept You as Lord and Savior of their life. May the places that we call ‘church’ burst wide open from the crowds that will be renewed/revived and reminded of their obligation to their Master and Lord. May Your ‘church’ truly come alive again, so that we may follow Your commands and humble ourselves before You and pray. Lord, may the uncommitted one that may be lead to read this devotional today realize the importance of surrendering themselves to Your Lordship today. We are in desperate need of a touch from You oh King, please hear my prayer and heal us. Please cause us to recommit ourselves to do Your perfect will. For I ask all this in the name of the only One with the power to do anything about our pitiful condition, Jesus, my Lord, AMEN!

NOTE: 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.

Blow A Trumpet For God!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Celebrate God, Chosen by God, Christian, Faith, God Cares For Us, Heaven, Our Help comes from God, Praise, Stregth, Surrender, Testify, Thank You Jesus, Trust, WorshipLeave a comment

The Bible – The Message

1 Corinthians 1:27–31

Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”

Thoughts:

God is nothing less than amazing! Do I hear an AMEN?!! Just when we are about to throw in the towel, or just when we think we are only a speck of dust in God’s overall kingdom, our eyes are opened with scripture like this that reminds us that we are royalty – children of the King of kings. We are also reminded that as in the case of an earthly king where the country men are subjects of the king, we too are subjects or servants of our King. Also, as in the case of a country being recognized for its valor and earthly production where the king is primarily recognized because of his leadership and his provisions that made the country what it is, so it is with our heavenly King. For it is only through the provision of the King’s Son, Jesus, that we are saved from our sin and accepted into His glorious kingdom where we will reign with Him forever. It is only through the power of this Jesus, that blind men regained their sight, the crippled began to walk again and the dead was brought back to life again. It is only through our faith in Jesus, that we are blessed with miracles even today. But friends, all these blessings come with somewhat of a warning, for we are told that although we may be the servant praying for the sick to be healed, or praying for an unsaved loved one, we can boast of no personal accomplishment in any turnaround seen in any of these cases, for we are only the beggar, the servant, asking for a favor from God Almighty. God is the healer, He sacrificed so that salvation might be available to us, our family and our friends. So as we see God’s hand at work, let’s intensify the praise and worship to our Lord, for it is He who is responsible for the miracles wrought! To Him be all glory and praise! Lift Him up before the people around You so that they too might be introduced to our Savior and Lord! Why not use your weekly worship services to especially praise the Father for His goodness? He is worthy, and deserves a lot more praise than what He hears in our labeled, ‘praise and worship’ services!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, who am I that You would send Your Son to die sacrificially so that I might easily find my way to You? Who am I that You would heal my body, or bless me with a job, a family, and a comfortable place to live? Lord, I realize that I will never understand the sincerity and depth of Your love, but thank You for opening my eyes, and reminding me of my obligation to offer constant praise and worship to You for all that You do for me. You are all powerful, but thankfully You are all loving also, because You forgave me of my sin and accepted me as Your son. Thank You Lord Jesus for being my King, my Savior and my deliverer. May I always be mindful of Your awesome presence and love for me, and therefore never beat up on myself when I feel like things are not going my way. The provision for life eternally with You has already been made, so anything that happens on this earth is really very minor and possibly even irrelevant. Please forgive me for missed opportunities to praise You and lift You up before my family, friends and coworkers. May they be  encouraged to look to You because of the evidence of Your love in and through my every action and/or word. To You be all glory, honor and praise, for I honor You and ask all this in Your precious name, Lord Jesus, AMEN!

NOTE: 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.

Nothing We Say Overrides The Power of the Cross

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Chosen by God, Christian, Encourage, Evangelism, Faith, Helper, Holy Spirit, Power, Power of Prayer, Praise, Servants of God, Service, StregthLeave a comment

The Bible – The Amplified Bible

1 Corinthians 1:17–19

17 For Christ (the Messiah) sent me out not to baptize but [to evangelize by] preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel), and that not with verbal eloquence, lest the cross of Christ should be deprived of force and emptied of its power and rendered vain (fruitless, void of value, and of no effect).

18 For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.

19 For it is written, I will baffle and render useless and destroy the learning of the learned and the philosophy of the philosophers and the cleverness of the clever and the discernment of the discerning; I will frustrate and nullify [them] and bring [them] to nothing. [Isa. 29:14.]

Thoughts:

Thank God for seminaries and dedicated theologians who teach and counsel our pastors. But I am most thankful for the intervention of the God of this universe sending His Holy Spirit to dwell among men and to impact our lives daily. I am amazed how God is able to use the uneducated and especially those having graduated from seminary. As I said, I am thankful for our seminaries, so I have nothing against them, but a person filled with head knowledge but who refuses to call on God for help in delivering His message is totally missing the point, and therefore much of their preaching is in vain. Friends, I know that all seminary graduates do not fall into the same box, so I am not condemning them. However, we must all remember that the Word of God is worthless without the power of God and the presence of God. For without God, we speak mere words of man, and it is only through the Word of God and His mighty hand that man is saved, or hardened hearts are touched. In fact, when we stand before a crowd and attempt to preach or teach without inviting God to direct us and fill us with His words and His wisdom, we are assuming that our knowledge is greater than the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. Friends, we are truly wasting our time and making a mockery of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we meet (supposedly in His name) yet deliberately leave Him out of our meeting and not totally depend on His mighty hand. To our pastors, preachers, evangelists and teachers, please be encouraged that you can’t do the preaching or teaching on your own. Yes, you are capable, but why open your mouths and speak empty words that can’t possibly touch the heart of man? Please allow God His rightful place as Commander-In-Chief of worship services dedicated to Him. Please allow Him to use you in spreading His Word to His people that need Him so badly. Friends, we have a responsibility to pray for our pastors and teachers. We need a word from The Lord when we go to our worship services. Words from mere man is a waste of our time, so let us pray earnestly for the hand of God to work actively through the man of God that stands before us each week. God could demand even the stones to speak, so as we pray let us do it in confidence that He could speak through His messenger in ways and with the words that will touch, uplift, encourage and challenge our hearts.

Prayer:

Lord, to mere man this whole passage of Scripture must seem very fictional, but to the believer in Jesus Christ who knows Your power and have read about and seen your mighty works in action, we humbly pray that You would work very powerfully in the hearts and lives of our pastors and teachers this week, so that as we gather in Your name, we would receive a word from You. Please humble the hearts of the educated, and please uplift the uneducated, so that as they stand before your people this week, they will each depend solely on the power of the Almighty to do His good work among His people gathered together. Lord, as we strive daily to live for You and like You intended, we are constantly marred by Satan and his evil followers in this world. Please forgive us for our weaknesses and encourage us to draw even closer to You so the power within us might always be greater than the power in this old world. Jesus, we depend heavily on You daily, please forgive us of our sinful attitudes and desires and strengthen us to do Your will, and this I humbly pray in Your name, knowing that only You can grant this, AMEN!

 

NOTE: 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.

Be Completely United

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Faith, Follow Jesus, Forgiveness, Fruit of the Spirit, Getting Along, God our Helper, Helper, Holy Spirit, Imitator of Christ, Love your Neighbor, Marriage, Our Help comes from God, Pleasing to God, Power, Reaching the Lost, Reflecting Christ, Stregth, Surrender, WitnessingLeave a comment

The Bible – The Good news Translation

1 Corinthians 1:10

10 By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ I appeal to all of you, my brothers and sisters, to agree in what you say, so that there will be no divisions among you. Be completely united, with only one thought and one purpose.

Thoughts:

I bet that as you read the above verse you may have thought that it was something that I came up with concerning your church, or perhaps telling you gossip from my church, right? I agree with you friends, however this is obviously one of those verses that Christians today throw over their shoulders and let it go on to apply to the church on the next block for whom it was truly written!! In our secular jobs we often remark that the most challenging part of our job is dealing with the people/staff. I would imagine that for our pastors the most challenging part of leading a small, or a large church is the same – dealing with the folk who cause upheaval that could quickly lead to division. Paul addressed two important areas that we should consider as we think about what we might do to prevent division:

  1. To agree in what you say – I believe that if we did like one pastor suggested when he said “Let the main thing be the main thing” then we would quickly refocus our minds, and subsequently our conversation, to the mighty works of God among the congregation; the Word of God that speaks to us in powerful ways today, as it did in the days we read about in the Word; the blessings that God has bestowed on us instead of the small aches and pains that we might feel; the great teachers that God has provided to share knowledge with us instead of the small insignificant, humanly faults they may have; and the heartfelt desire to see our family members saved; and
  2. Be completely united – Do you know what happens in marriages when a husband and wife cannot be completely united in one thought and purpose? Don’t you imagine that the same thing would happen if we bring that type of behavior into the church? Independent thinking is important friend, but in a heart of compassion and love and caring about the good of others, we must learn to be understanding, appreciative and patient in what others have to say also. We are not all at the same maturity level, so sometimes we will find that someone else may have a different idea about a topic than we do. They may not be wrong – in fact they may be trying to say the same things as you are saying, just using different terminology. We must learn to not only talk, but also to listen, and try to appreciate the heart of the person speaking.

I heard a preacher approach this subject recently and he advised that should a third party be brought up in a conversation you are having with another church member, stop the conversation until such time that the other party could join you in the conversation! Great advice to avoid the issues that Paul was addressing with the Corinthian church, and to help with the unity of our churches today! These are tips on how we can help keep unity in our church today, are you willing to do your part friend? Let’s ask God for the strength to do His will, even in our relationships with others who should know better!

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for Your patience with Your people as we try to get along here on this earth and live in such a way that we would be a witness of You to our lost family and friends. Lord, please remind us often that we will never impact the lost when we act just like them. If we are different, and if we belong to the King of Love, the King of compassion and the King of all Kings then it is time for us to leave the things of this world behind and center our hearts and minds on You, and not our personal desires and selfish ways. More of You in this old world will force out the ways of Satan that has become so prevalent, even among Christians. Please have Your will in my life dear Lord, and may my friends also see the need for a similar prayer today, is my humble plea, that I ask in the precious name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior, AMEN!

 

NOTE: 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.

You Have All That You Need

On By Ed AlgreenIn All have sinned, Bible Believing, Christian, Eternal Life, Faith, Follow Jesus, Fruit of the Spirit, God our Helper, God our Provider, Helper, Holy Spirit, Humility, Imitator of Christ, Listen to the Word of God, Love, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Pleasing to God, Praise, Purity, Reflecting Christ, Righteousness, Trust, Truthful, Victorious LifeLeave a comment

The Bible – New Living Translation

1 Corinthians 1:7–9

7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thoughts:

I was reminded of my working career where, from time to time, I go off to conferences or training seminars to sharpen my skills and make me a better employee. These verses made me think about this, because when we surrendered our lives to the lordship of our Lord Jesus, we were given everything that we need to succeed as a Christian. So why do we go to church? Much like I said in my career, we go to church to receive that ‘tune up’, that personal accountability where we allow God’s Word to challenge our lives and show us what we need to do differently in order to be best aligned with His will. Furthermore, Paul reminded the Corinthians of the importance to be blameless when Christ returns. This is vitally important for two reasons: 1). We don’t know the day or the hour when Jesus Christ will return, so we need to be ready and watching at all times, and this must be in a blameless fashion if we are to join Him when He returns; and 2). We need to be holy as Christ is holy, so that we can be the proper representation of Him to our lost family and friends, while we are still on this earth. If we are not blameless before them, we will be considered hypercritical and undesirable to anyone else. The reassurance in these verses can be found in verse 8, for Paul reminds us that God will keep us strong to the end! Praise God that He watches out for us and directs us as needed so that we may remain strong in Him. Now all we need to do is to free ourselves of any rebellion and allow Him to do His mighty work in us. May it be so, God being our helper!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, it is so very interesting to see how your people are the same today as they were in Paul’s day. We still tend to rebel at times and pretend like we have everything under control. Unfortunately, we know full well that we can do nothing without Your strength and Your guidance. Thank You for our pastors and church leaders who teach us Your Word and gently guide us into the path of righteousness so that we may stay aligned with Your Word, accountable to You, and a bold, honest example to our lost family and friends. Lord, may Your perfect will be made whole in my life today, and may Your presence be so bold in the lives of those that may read this devotional, and in the lives of those that we come into contact with. As Paul reminds us in this scripture this morning, You are faithful to what You have said in Your Word, so I rest in the comfort of Your loving arms and depend on Your guidance and perfect will to be accomplished in all things that I may be involved in today. I serve an awesome God in whom I rejoice today! Praising Him and asking for ongoing guidance in the precious and loving name of Jesus, my Savior, AMEN!

 

NOTE: 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.

Lip Service vs True Repentance

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Discerning, Encourage, Eternal Life, Faith, Follow Jesus, Forgiveness, God our Helper, God our Provider, Helper, Holy Spirit, Imitator of Christ, Sin, Things that make God angryLeave a comment

The Bible – New Living Translation

Psalm 78:36-39

36 But all they gave him was lip service; they lied to him with their tongues.

37 Their hearts were not loyal to him. They did not keep his covenant.

38 Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them all. Many times he held back his anger and did not unleash his fury!

39 For he remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns.

Thoughts:

In this Psalm we are reminded of all the good that God did for the Israelites as they traveled through the wilderness for 40 years, and also all the bad or challenging things that God had to do in an effort to get the attention of the people and to see them return to Him, recognize Him as God and worship Him once again. It reminds me so much about our people today that I wanted to share these thoughts with you. You see, God blessed the Israelites in some very wonderful ways, including providing their daily food from heaven. Yes, in a way that they couldn’t help but recognize that it was from God. To the other extreme, He caused the death of their strongest men, hoping to get the attention of His people, but to no avail. He started taking the lives of those very close to them, and it got their attention, but it was only temporary. In fact these verses quoted above state that they only gave ‘lip service’ for their hearts were still hardened. Friends this reminds me so much of what I have seen over the years right here in our own country. Disasters have brought many to the church and many to the Lord, but it must have only been ‘lip service’ as they soon faded away and returned to their life of sin and rebellion. Could it be that we are putting way too much dependence in verses 38 and 39? Could it be that we are waiting for danger to strike very near to home before we kneel before the Father and plead for forgiveness of our sin and rebellion? An important note to us all is that Jesus knows even our inmost thoughts, so He knows when we make decisions under duress from family, friends or the preacher. Friends, God was so serious about His love for us, and so concerned about making provisions for us to enter heaven, that He allowed His one and only Son, Jesus, to die a cruel death on a cross, so that when we become serious about surrendering our life to Him we wouldn’t have to look for additional sacrifices, but merely talk to Jesus and accept His gift of love. Are you like the Israelites where you accepted the gift(s) of God (Jesus as Lord and Savior) at some point in your life, but have since returned to your old life of sin and disregard for the gospel? Please don’t wait for another disaster to occur, recommit your life to Jesus today and be reconciled with Him. He loves the repentant sinner and would welcome you back in a heartbeat. Please contact me if I might be of any help to you friend.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me enough that You sacrificed Your only Son to die on Calvary’s cross so that I might have life eternal. You did this in spite of the sin in this world – an act of love in its purest form. Please forgive me for the times that I allow sin to enter my life and distract me from Your commands. Please touch the hearts of all those that may meditate on this devotional today, and help us to be so committed to You that our family and friends will also have a desire to recommit their lives to You and live as You intended and instructed. There is so much sin and evil around us Lord, that we need a fresh touch from You so that Your power will become very evident to us and that our personal desires would fade away as we welcome Your grace and Your power. In 1 Peter 1:22 we are reminded that obedience to Your Word will be evidence of the One to whom we belong. Lord, please grant Your servants a deep, sincere heart of obedience today, is my humble prayer that I ask in Your precious and wonderful name, AMEN!

 

NOTE: 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.

What Are You Known For?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Encourage, Follow Jesus, God our Helper, Helper, Humility, Imitator of Christ, Our Help comes from God, Reflecting Christ, StregthLeave a comment

The Bible – The Good News Translation

Romans 16:12-13

12 My greetings to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work in the Lord’s service, and to my dear friend Persis, who has done so much work for the Lord. 13 I send greetings to Rufus, that outstanding worker in the Lord’s service, and to his mother, who has always treated me like a son.

Thoughts:

I want us for a moment to think about a friend of the church that may have left town, and now writing a letter back to the pastor. As they try to tell the pastor what they remember about each one left behind they will reflect on some where they remember their name, and on others where that may not be the case. For those that they remember the name, it may be for good reason, because they may have gone out of their way to care about them. They may have called them by name, or they may have developed an even more intimate name for them. Some they recall from a courteous greeting or just a humble prayer for them. For some they may recall exactly where they sat every service, or the color of their hair or some other physical peculiarity. For some it may be the sweet Godly character that exuded from them every time they saw them, while other were causing trouble and always giving the leadership a ‘run for their money’. In verses 3-15 Paul relayed the individuals that stood out in the crowd, to him. Often at funerals we learn things about the deceased that you never knew, but to the individual giving the remarks, the character of the deceased was special in very memorable ways. I’ve said all that in preparation for a bold question to each one meditating on this devotional today: What are you known for? Ever heard someone describing you and they didn’t realize that you were near enough to hear them? Were you surprised, disappointed, angry, blessed, overwhelmed or encouraged? I believe another challenging question would be: If all of your friends arranged party to honor you, would your work friends by surprised by what your church friends have to say? How about vice versa, would your church friends and prayer partners and Bible study friends be surprised to hear about you from your work friends or fishing partners? What would God say about you? Friends, we are to live our lives in light of the gospel and in the righteousness of our Lord Jesus before everyone. God knows our every action and yes, even our thoughts. We can’t fool Him, so why should you fool others?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I am thankful that You know our most intimate thoughts and our every action. We cannot fool You, so please convince us and convict us anytime that we try to fool anyone else. The way we live our lives, speaks volumes about who we are and whose we are. Being a part of Your royal family demands that we live our lives in the same character, with the same love, and in all sincerity like You. If we belong to You we should walk and talk like You. Help us Lord to be an example of You, especially before a lost and dying world who is longing to see the hands and feet of Jesus here on this earth. I ask this in faith believing that You can do all things, as directed by Your perfect will. I ask this in the name of Jesus, my Savior and Lord, AMEN!

 

NOTE: 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.