Category: Bless Others

I Have Stayed The Course

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Bless Others, Blessings, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Tuesday, 2020-05-12
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Job 23:10-12
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: 10 But he knows every detail of what is happening to me; and when he has examined me, he will pronounce me completely innocent—as pure as solid gold! 11 “I have stayed in God’s paths, following his steps. I have not turned aside. 12 I have not refused his commandments but have enjoyed them more than my daily food.

OBSERVATION: Like Job, we too have gone through an awful lot over the past 2 months with the constraints of every government, in order to help protect us from the harm of Covid 19. Notice in the first chapters of Job, he became very disheartened over all that he was going through, and it was more than any of us could image. However, in this chapter, Job was able to truly face God and rejoice over His goodness, in spite of what occurred. I wonder how much rejoicing we will do as we attend our first church service following this pandemic!

APPLICATION: Kids tend to tell you like it is! So often they will be the first to whine: ‘church again?’ or ‘I’m really too tired to get up for church today’ or ‘we have spent no time together as a family this week, why don’t we skip church and spend time together today’! However, often some adults will follow through based on these same statements, even if they don’t say them. So regardless of where you were at in your relationship with Christ on the first day of lockdown, over the past two months you no longer needed an excuse to stay home from church! You enjoyed a sense of freedom from the religious stuff! Don’t you see that last statement applies to many who might attend church occasionally? But for those who has a true relationship with the God of this universe, I wonder what changed in your relationship with Him? The accountability of a Sunday School teacher, or even your Christian friends, may have been minimal during these past months. In fact, there hasn’t been much of a daily routine! Can you honestly join with Job and say to God today that regardless of the circumstances that encumbered your life during Covid, you are convinced that He still lives; He still loves; He still rules; and that He is still on target for returning to take you home to glory? Can you genuinely say that you were faithful every step of the way (as God is fully aware) and that you still long for His return, and you are actually growing impatient in sharing Christ with your family and friends who need Him? Some of you might be precisely in the same boat as Job, where you have lost loved ones and material things due to Covid and its consequences (unemployment, illness, death, etc.). However, some of you may have unfortunately just taken a break from religion altogether. I heard a sermon once that was entitled ‘Saints on Vacation’. It was a real eye-opener, for it spoke of how different people might act when they are on vacation – out of town and possibly no one watching their every move or action. But the sermon also spoke to times when Christians, or just people at large, take a vacation from certain routines. They take a break, just to see what life is like without a particular routine. Unfortunately, I believe that we all do each of these things from time to time, and the Covid lockdown may have been the ideal opportunity for that. I hope that each of my readers could stand strong, like Job, and confirm with Jesus that you never lost sight of who your Savior is, and that you were very strong in your own faith while trying every day to share that joy with others. I wish that we could all say like Job: ‘we never turned aside, and we enjoyed being a son of the King every day and in every word and action that we shared with others’. Friends, Jesus has not changed at all! I pray that you have not changed any at all, but that you feel closer to the Lord now than you ever did before.

PRAYER: Thank You Jesus for working in the hearts and souls of our pastors and church leaders so that they remained strong, and found awesome and innovative ways to reach and encourage their parishioners in ways that they never thought possible during these months that the church doors remained shut. Please continue to encourage them and give them wisdom for Your church as it emerges from this crazy time we have just come through. May our lives be so reenergized in our relationship with You that our churches will not be able to contain the overflow of people wanting to know the Christ who kept us safe and strong through the roughest of times. Oh that we may be able to emerge like Job, and shout our praises to You for helping us maintain a strong and righteous relationship with You, even when there were no pastors, preachers, teachers or friends breathing down our necks. We love You in the good times, and now we know that we could also love You in the challenging times. All glory to You, our Lord and King! AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org 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 or listening to this devotional, please go to 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. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. 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!

Fix Your Thoughts on…

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bless Others, The Mind of ChristLeave a comment

Tuesday, 2020-01-28

Bible Reference: Philippians 4:8
Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)

Bible Text: Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.

OBSERVATION: There are so many things that get our attention in this world with television, provocative dress options and with various habits, that these may force us to feel like they are needed in order to be the popular kid on the block. However, many of these things often distract from the true virtues of a person, so God ordained His servant Paul to share with us things that we should really concentrate on, if we are serious about reflecting Christ before a lost world. This is worth being reminded about as we meditate on this one verse today. Join me, won’t you?

APPLICATION: When a cup is filled with water, it replaces the air that the cup was filled with. When leaving your child at college, and you’re pulling out to head back home, what are some the last minute things that you tell your child? Paul was about to leave his brothers and sisters at Philippi, and he didn’t want them to fall back into the condition that he had found them when he first visited with them, so he was coaching them on how they might stay strong in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Imagine how the pastor who led you to the Lord would feel if he chose to leave your town and move elsewhere in the country? Don’t you know that he would have some wise words of wisdom for you? I believe that God got my attention in reading about Paul’s words to his people, because these are included in the Word of God for my benefit. God knows that I needed to hear this today, and I am sharing this with you, because I feel like God wants you to hear this. So friends, may I therefore encourage you to displace everything ungodly in your mind with these things:
* Those things that are true;
* Those things that are good;
* Those things that are right;
* Think about things that are pure, and lovely;
* Dwell continually on the fine, and good things in others. Even in those ones that you have never been able to get along with;
* Be diligent about looking for things you can praise God for; and
* Be glad in all things because of the love of God for even you.

And the God of all grace will be with you dear friends, even until the end of time!

PRAYER: Thank You Lord, for Your blessings on me! As I sing that song over and over in my mind Lord, I realize how blessed I am to be Your child and to be the recipient of Your boundless grace. These words of encouragement from Paul reminds me that the minds of Your chosen people should be filled with the bounties that You generously pour out on us. When this happens Lord, then our thoughts and our actions will follow our mindset and therefore cause us to be a blessing to others. In doing this, there will be no time or reason for saying or doing those things that tend to destroy and tear down the work that You need to do among Your people. Please soften our hearts and our minds so that we might seek Your face and not Your hand, as we always tend to do. I believe that Your work through us here on earth will be richer if we reflect Jesus in our lives. Please grant this today dear Lord, for I ask this in the precious name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, AMEN!

God Knows Your Heart ……… And your Love for Him

On By Ed AlgreenIn All-powerful, Believers, Bible Believing, Bless Others, Blinded by Sin, Christ's Representative, Christ-Like, Christian Living, Christian Principles, Church, Church LeadersLeave a comment

Monday, 2018-11-26

Bible Reference: Revelation 2:4-5
Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

Bible Text: 4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! 5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.

OBSERVATION: In this book of Revelation, God is speaking to the seven churches about their condition, and the subsequent result of their condition. For the church at Ephesus, God was pleased with some aspects of their ministry, but in these two verses we can see where God is getting to the root of their ineffectiveness. Let’s pay close attention to this, because I believe we will find God speaking to us about our own respective churches as we study this Book.

APPLICATION: From time to time we hear of many churches that fail for various reasons. Often we will hear of churches declining at such a rate, that it will only be the matter of time before they are forced to close their doors. Friends, churches are made up of folk like you and I, so when we say that our church is failing, I believe that we are really saying that we have become a sorry people. I know, that sounds really harsh. But allow me to challenge myself and you with a few sobering questions: When last have you prayed for your pastor? When last have you attended prayer meetings, to join hearts and souls in prayer about the needs of God’s people? Do you tithe and give generously to the work of the local church? Just like you need money to run your home, so the church needs money to pay salaries, and other operational expenses, plus support worldwide missions. When last have you visited the sick or helped the widow in need? No, that’s not the responsibility of the pastor, for we all should be obedient to the Word of God. Friends, I believe that when the church – you and I, becomes ‘the church’ and we follow the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ, then it will be evident who rules and reigns over us. People still need the Lord, and when they see God at work through His people, then perhaps they will be convinced of His existence and their need to accept Him as Lord. Looking back at our focal verses, we will see that God accused the church at Ephesus of losing their first love. Please take a moment and meditate on the days and weeks following your conversion. Remember how ‘in love’ you were with Jesus? I know, you still love Him, right? But I want you and I to think of the differences that are evident in our love now, compared to our love for Jesus at the time I referred to. What happened? I believe that such an influence of this old world has found its way into our lives, that our actions now portray more of the world than that of the One who saved us. Will the church – we the body, survive and flourish like this? Do people that we touch see more of Christ, or the world? Unless they unmistakably see Christ, let’s not think for a moment that we have a flourishing church. Examine yourselves and draw close to the One who gave up everything for you my friend. Only what’s done for Jesus will truly last!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for not giving up on us. Your Word is a light to our path, because It illuminates our earthly condition, that is often far from the path that You have laid out for Your people. Lord, we want our family and friends to know the Lord, so we want to look and sound more like You in everything we do and say every day. Please touch us once again and draw us close to You. May we become Your hands and feet on the ground, so that our people can see You and experience You when they come into contact with us. AMEN!

Blessed to Bless Others

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bless Others, Blessing, Patience, Wait PatientlyLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Tuesday, 2017-06-27
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Psalm 40:1-3 (GW)

Text:

 1 I waited patiently for the Lord.
    He turned to me and heard my cry for help.
2     He pulled me out of a horrible pit,
        out of the mud and clay.
    He set my feet on a rock
        and made my steps secure.
3     He placed a new song in my mouth,
        a song of praise to our God.
            Many will see this and worship.
            They will trust the Lord.
OBSERVATION:
It seems like the Psalmist was feeling a sense of despair, but he patiently went before the Lord pleading for help to overcome. In these verses he is celebrating that not only did God see him through his challenging low times, but He placed him at such a solid high point in his life, that he celebrated in what sounded like a new song, from a new heart, because it was coming from a renewed man! This not only brought joy and honor to David, but because of the awesome change in his life, this touched the lives of many others!
APPLICATION:
How often do we feel so despondent, and really down and out? How often do we feel like there is little hope for us, because we feel so low and forgotten by God and friends? The Psalmist teaches us from his experience that we are in no position to demand anything of God, for we are to wait patiently before God. We have to remember that God always answers our prayer, so we need not feel despondent if He does what’s best for us at the time and answer differently than what we might be wanting or expecting. So when we ask of God, let’s remember our manners and always thank God for His love and awesome wisdom in answering right! Friends, if God always answered everything we ask of Him in the way that we demand it, we would be in a heap of trouble, and we would quickly lose value in God because He simply rubber stamped everything we told Him. Remember, His ways are way above ours ways, His knowledge way exceeds ours and even to His thoughts – they are way above ours. He is the creator of everything we touch, see or experience. So our most urgent and impossible requests are but a speck of dirt to Him. Let us therefore go confidently and patiently before the Lord, knowing that He loves us as His very own child, and will answer us at the best time with the very best resolution for us, and that would bring glory to Himself. We are also reminded that as we wait for the Lord, and celebrate His response to our prayers, others will celebrate with us and grow from our experience. I bet you never thought you would be an evangelist as easy as that, did you? Seek to glorify God friends, and watch how it helps others! 
PRAYER:
Precious Lord, we are such impatient and selfish individuals. Please help us to communicate (pray) openly with You about our blessings, our needs and our desires. But Lord, help us as we pray to realize that we are not God, so the reason that we ask is because we admire the wisdom, love and generosity of our awesome God. Please remind us to always ask, and then to be patient as You answer in a way that is perfect for us and that will result in glory to Yourself. Lord, as we are blessed by You, I pray that we will be filled with such celebration that others around us will also be blessed and drawn to You. 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 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 Nuggets From God’s Word 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!

Helping Others

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bless Others, Help, Helper, Love others, Needs of others, Others firstLeave a comment

Tuesday, 2016-10-04

Scripture

Bible Reference: Ephesians 2:9-10

Bible Text:  9 Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. 10 It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.

Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)

My Take

After reading this scripture today, I feel like we should carefully examine whether we are living as God intended – helping one another. It’s almost frightening to think how greedy, and self-engrossed we have become with living our days to get as much as possible out of life for self. It seems like we are always expecting the needed help for our friends or family to come from someone else. Friends, I believe that it goes with saying, that if God sent His Son, Jesus, through the miraculous means of a virgin birth, and then He followed years later with a cruel death on the cross and a supernatural resurrection, so that our sins might be forgiven and therefore attain brand new lives, that He must have had intentions far greater than anything we could imagine. Yes, I believe that part of this plan was to make it possible for us to attain assurance of our salvation and an eternal home with our Maker, but what do you suppose he meant for us to do until the day He calls us home? Our scripture today tells us that it was God’s intent from the very beginning that we use these ‘new’ lives to help others. Think about it friend, you can tell some folk how to receive eternal life, but for others you have to show them. If we are truly Jesus’ kids, then we will act just like Him and display the same characteristics that He did. He was loving and kind even to those who were against Him and despised Him. How are you doing friend? Are you being mistaken for just about any other ‘Joe Blow’ on the street, or is it evident that You have walked and talked with Jesus and living according to His purpose? Only what’s done for Jesus will last, friend! Make it count today!

Prayer

Dear God, we have become so self-centered and greedy for all that we can personally benefit from, that we truly needed this reminder from Your Word today. Praise God that You saved us from our sin! Now Lord, please use us for the purpose You intended right from the beginning, that we help others. You placed us here on earth as brothers and sisters, not as enemies and not as one to lord over another, but in humility that we might help each other. Please open our eyes to the opportunities available to us today, and may we make You proud as we pick up the banner and help others along the way. Thank You Lord for saving my soul, and thank You for touching the hearts of so many others out there. 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!

Important Tips on Prayer For Others

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bless Others, Love others, Needs of others, Others first, Power of Prayer, PrayerLeave a comment

Friday, 2016-09-23

Scripture

Bible Reference: Colossians 1:9-11

Bible Text:   9 We have not stopped praying for you since the first day we heard about you. In fact, we always pray that God will show you everything he wants you to do and that you may have all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives. 10 Then you will live a life that honors the Lord, and you will always please him by doing good deeds. You will come to know God even better. 11 His glorious power will make you patient and strong enough to endure anything, and you will be truly happy.

Bible Translation: Contemporary English Version (CEV)

My Take

Like any good, loving, caring, pastor/shepherd would desire for their flock, the apostle Paul wanted most of all to see the saints at Colossae :

  1. Honor God with their life;
  2. Be constantly vigilant for ways to help each other in good deeds; and
  3. Come to know God even better. 

Of course, these results are virtually impossible on our own when we live in Satan’s playground, filled with sin and sinful temptations to please self and pull the other person down. However, Paul knew that the secret for success in these objectives could only come from the Master himself, therefore prayer for the saints was foremost in Paul’s agenda. So in verse 9 above, Paul declares that he and Timothy have not stopped praying for the people, and that they always pray for God to show His people everything He wants them to do, and that they would be filled with wisdom and understanding that only the Holy Spirit could give them to discern the will of God. Friends, my heart melted with these words, and the desire of these two godly saints. What if our church leaders devoted themselves more to this type of prayer for their people, than about building the next largest church building, or to introducing the next ‘program’ that would attract more folk from the church around the corner? I believe that Paul recognized that for the church to truly come to know God better, and to grow in patience and a deeper love for God – that results in pure happiness, then they needed to draw closer to the Source of all wisdom, all peace, and all joy. No doubt Paul recognized that as this became very evident in their daily lives that it would ignite a fire in those that they would come into contact with. You see, I believe that Paul recognized that his mission was to promote God, and not himself. To draw the people to God and not to himself. I also believe that if we are to truly honor God in drawing the lost to Himself, then we must get off our personal soap boxes and promote the growth of the people in their relationship to God ONLY. Nothing else will do. When that fire is ignited, the lost will be drawn to that and our churches will grow!

Prayer

Lord, thank You for loving us in spite of ourselves – in spite of our selfish motives and our greed. Thank You for also providing Your Word to speak to our hearts and challenging us on our shortcomings. Please give us the wisdom, boldness and determination to always seek Your face and to desire the very best spiritual wisdom for those that we serve. Lord, may we never lose sight of the fact that our efforts and our mission is to praise and promote You. May we always learn to step aside so that our people will see You and You alone, so that You may increase and that their eyes may be opened to Your truth – their guiding force. With thanksgiving and my sincere love and admiration, I ask these things in the precious 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!

Fill Your Minds With……..

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bless Others, The Mind of ChristLeave 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!………

The Bible Reference: Philippians 4:8
The Bible Text: …. Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.
The Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)

My Take Away: When a cup is filled with water, it replaces the air that the cup was filled with. When leaving your child at college, and you’re pulling out to head back home, what are some the last minute things that you tell your child? Paul was about to leave his brothers and sisters at Philippi, and he didn’t want them to fall back into the condition that he had found them when he first visited with them, so he was coaching them on how they might stay strong in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Imagine how the pastor who led you to the Lord would feel if he chose to leave your town and move elsewhere in the country? Don’t you know that he would have some wise words of wisdom for you? I believe that God got my attention in reading about Paul’s words to his people, because these are included in the Word of God for my benefit. God knows that I needed to hear this today, and I am sharing this with you, because I feel like God wants you to hear this. So friends, may I therefore encourage you to displace everything ungodly in your mind with these things:

  • Those things that are true;
  • Those things that are good;
  • Those things that are right;
  • Think about things that are pure, and lovely;
  • Dwell continually on the fine, and good things in others. Even in those that you have never been able to get along with;
  • Be diligent about looking for things you can praise God for; and
  • Be glad in all things because of the love of God for even you.

And the God of all grace will be with you dear friends, even until the end of time!

Prayer: Thank You Lord, for Your blessings on me! As I sing that song over and over in my mind Lord, I realize how blessed I am to be Your child and to be the recipient of Your boundless grace. These words of encouragement from Paul reminds me that the minds of Your chosen people should be filled with the bounties that You generously pour out on us. When this happens Lord, then our thoughts and our actions will follow our mindset and therefore cause us to be a blessing to others. In doing this, there will be no time or reason for saying or doing those things that tend to destroy and tear down the work that You need to do among Your people. Please soften our hearts and our minds so that we might seek Your face and not Your hand, as we always tend to do. I believe that Your work here on earth will be richer if we reflect Jesus in our lives. Please grant this today dear Lord, for I ask this in the precious name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, 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