Category: Righteousness

Justice, Fairness and Righteousness

On By Ed AlgreenIn Righteousness, Things God lovesLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Amos 5:21-24): 21–24 “I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.

THOUGHTS: I have just returned from a trip into another world, it seems, so I hope that my view on the scripture that really spoke to me this morning will not be too slanted! It was good to step back from our busy world and enjoy the peace, obscurity, simplicity and humbleness of all that God provides for us, if only for a week. Yes, we missed the conveniences and pleasures of this world and all that we are blessed with in our modern world. However, after being reminded by Amos in this scripture today about how God must feel when we feel obligated to provide everything that our world demands, just so that they might listen to the gospel message, then I wonder how much of God we must truly portray to the world. In these few verses, God not only said what He was displeased with, but He also told us what would really make Him pleased: Oceans of justice; Rivers of fairness and a true, honest, one-on-one, heartfelt song to the Master. Sounds fairly simple right? Sounds like something we do almost every day, but at least once a week during our church service, right? Friends, I believe that God is just as anxious today, as He ever was, to hear from us personally with our praise and worship and not just to raise our hands and voices in worship when asked to do so by our worship leader. Think for a moment how thought provoking it is to prepare a day of celebration for a loved one’s birthday or anniversary, yet how little thought we put into preparing for our daily worship of God, or even our weekly corporate worship time. Yes, we really put time into planning what we will wear to church, but do we stop to ponder what all God has blessed us with during the week so that we might truly look full into His wonderful face and just worship Him with a thankful heart? One translation includes ‘righteousness’ (right-with-God) as a characteristic in verse 24 that God is looking for in His people. May I suggest that as we look for justice in God’s form, fairness in His example and righteousness sampled after His righteousness, that we will have no trouble lifting up holy hands and hearts in worship to our King in a manner acceptable to Him?

PRAYER: Lord God, You alone are holy, just, fair and righteous. You have blessed us with so much and shown us how to live this life imitating Your characteristics in every way, yet we so easily allow this world to sway our thoughts, our character and even our appreciation of You. Please forgive us for straying so far away from Your ideals and the example You set for us. Please help us to return to the basics of what You have taught us, what You have exampled for us and what You expect from us – as detailed in Your Word. May we learn to be more like You every day and in every way, is my humble prayer that I ask in the precious and holy name of Jesus, AMEN!

 

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. 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 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, Sebring, FL! 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!

Evidence Of Whose We Are

On By Ed AlgreenIn Believers, Honesty, Righteousness, SinLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – 1 John 3:9-10): 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

THOUGHTS: I remember at one point in my life I was at a gas station pumping gas, when suddenly someone called me by my dad’s name. My head quickly popped up to see who knew my family. Apparently there was enough facial resemblance, or actions, to remind the person of something he had seen in my dad! I find it exciting when I walk away from a sales clerk knowing that they must be a brother or sister, because their actions, their concern, their unselfish care for me as a customer, were all indicators that they must share the same faith that I do, and have the same Father that I have learned about over the years from His handbook, the Bible. Friends there are a few tests in these verses today that I would encourage you to use as a self-examination tool:

  1. Do not make a practice of sinning – When we invite Jesus into our hearts and lives as our Savior and Lord, not only does He forgive us of our sin, but He shows us a new way to live – like Him. Through His example, we are guided and encouraged to live holy lives, even as He is holy. To depend on the power within (the Holy Spirit) to prevent us from performing the same sin that we may have committed without thought, prior to our conversion;
  2. Do not keep on sinning – Very similar to the above, but the difference is that once we have been prompted by the Holy Spirit to stop doing something that He considers sin, we are to make every effort to not repeat that sin. We must not let it rule us. God’s Holy Spirit cannot reside where sin abides!
  3. Live righteously – Live our lives ‘right with God’. We are shown throughout the Bible what God expects of us – what is right and what is wrong. With the awesome power of the Holy Spirit, we are to live our lives ‘right with God’!
  4. Love other believers – We are to live life expressing our love and concern for each other, even if they don’t love us back, or show any appreciation for what we do for them. Sadly there is a saying that “Christians in particular, tend to shoot their wounded”. We are taught in this scripture that when the world sees us loving each other, they will know that we are different and controlled by a greater power. Selfishness and Satan-led malice, jealousy or envy will eat up our desire to love like Jesus did. The power of the Holy Spirit within us will help us to love even those who despitefully use us.

Friends, living like I described above will help us to internalize whether we truly did commit to accepting, loving, serving and practicing the love of God. It will also help confirm to the world that we are who we say we are. However, please remember that God knows our heart, so He knows whether we honestly dedicated our lives to Him. I believe He is ashamed when we act up, but our outward actions only influences the world, they’re not needed to prove anything to God.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help us to be a people who acts, responds and loves like the people we say we are. ‘Hypocritical’ is a word often used when we don’t. Furthermore, folk tend to mistrust us when they feel we are hypocritical, and this destroys our possibility to honestly witness to them. Please help us to live consistent, open lives that will represent You well. Beginning with me Lord, may Your children rededicate themselves to being transparent to those that we come into contact with. May they see Jesus in and through our words and actions so that they may be influenced to follow You, and so that Your kingdom might be glorified even now, here on this earth. Your love is amazing, and Your rich blessings are beyond compare, and more than anything that we can imagine. Please forgive us for the times we fail, and grant us strength and a quick rebound so that we might get back on track without causing damage to our witness of You. I need You every hour of every day, please continue to work on me oh Lord, so that I might be all that You need me to be for the ministry/witness You have in store for me. Bless my readers today with similar grace, so that You may be lifted up more than ever before, for I ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, my Lord, AMEN!

 

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely 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, Sebring, FL! 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!

What Are You Doing To Christ?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Holy, Holy Spirit, Pleasing to God, Purity, RighteousnessLeave a comment

The Bible – The Good News Translation

1 Corinthians 6:15–17

15 You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ. Shall I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of the body of a prostitute? Impossible! 16 Or perhaps you don’t know that the man who joins his body to a prostitute becomes physically one with her? The scripture says quite plainly, “The two will become one body.” 17 But he who joins himself to the Lord becomes spiritually one with him.

Thoughts:

Many Christians cringe when they sit down and watch a movie about the crucifixion of our Lord. Many more abhor any type of disrespect of God, either in abusing His name, or dishonoring Him in either way. These things are honorable for the children of God, but how often do we stop and consider the abuse we are subjecting our Father to when we find ourselves in places where sin abound, or in a movie where there is no respect for man or God? Paul was addressing the subject of male prostitution that had become very prominent in the Corinthian church, and he reminded them that they should consider that they are not just abusing and disrespecting their physical bodies, but that God’s Holy Spirit has taken up residence in their holy temple, when they first accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I believe that this obvious sin is very clear to see friends, but what God challenged me in through this scripture, is to be extra careful about what I subject my eyes to, and what I subject my ears to, and what I allow my mind to envelope and ponder, and the things that I abuse and subject my body to, for the Spirit of the most High is resident in this body. Just for a moment, think about the idea of going out one morning and spray-painting the inside of your garage, with you brand new car sitting in the garage! Can you image what the paint job of your car will look like when you have finished beautifying the walls of your garage? OK, in the same way, our bodies are much like the garage, whatever we subject it to, we are subjecting/disrespecting God’s Holy Spirit to, that resides within this body. Shame on us? Ashamedly, I would say yes, very much so. I remember the words of an old saint who once found herself in a location that she regretted. She openly prayed, Lord Jesus, please don’t come now!! Funny? Yes, but like the car in the garage, the damage is already done. An old nursery rhyme or song is very appropriate here: “Oh be careful little eyes what you see ……”

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I am especially thankful for Your Holy Spirit! I am thankful that You created me, and saved me so that my body might be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Please forgive me for the times that I’ve abused the residence and Lordship of Your Holy Spirit, for I am ashamed. Thank You for directing me to this passage of scripture, and sharpening my awareness of the abuse of this temple where Your Holy Spirit resides. I pray that I might concede to full obedience to Your Word, and that I might protect and preserve this temple, and never subject it to anything contrary to what is taught in Your Word. I believe that in such a condition, You will be free to accomplish Your work through me that You have in store for me to do while here below. I’m afraid that I’m not alone in this dear Jesus, so I ask that You speak words of wisdom and encouragement to all your children reading this blog today, so that Your holiness and mighty work might be preserved and accomplished here in this sinful world. Please have Your will and way in our lives today, is my humble prayer that I ask in Your precious and holy name, 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.

How To Know You Are A Child of the King

On By Ed AlgreenIn All have sinned, Ask and Receive, Born Again, Christian, God Cares For Us, Grace, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Hope, Knowing Christ, Listen to the Word of God, Repentance, Righteousness, Victorious LifeLeave a comment

The Bible – The Good news Translation

1 Corinthians 6:9–11

9 Surely you know that the wicked will not possess God’s Kingdom. Do not fool yourselves; people who are immoral or who worship idols or are adulterers or homosexual perverts 10 or who steal or are greedy or are drunkards or who slander others or are thieves—none of these will possess God’s Kingdom. 11 Some of you were like that. But you have been purified from sin; you have been dedicated to God; you have been put right with God by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Thoughts:

Do you ever stop and ponder if you are truly saved and destined for heaven’s portals one day to be with Jesus? Perhaps your parents reminds you of a time that you made a public profession, or was baptized, but questions have arisen in your mind about your salvation because you, personally, don’t recall making a decision to accept Jesus as Lord of your life? Friends, I want to help you clarify that in your mind today in light of these highlighted verses. First of all, do you recall the day you graduated from high school? What about the day you got married? I bet by now you are wondering if I am being ridiculous with you, because these are important dates that everyone remembers. But that’s my point, these important dates are remembered because there was a specific time that your life changed. Friends, neither of these dates are anywhere near as important as the day that you may have said no to this world and its evil ways, and yes to Jesus and all the glories of heaven. This is a decision where your life changes forever, because through the power of the Holy Spirit that takes up residence in your life at the time of salvation, you leave behind the sins of this world, such as those mentioned in these verses by Paul to the Corinthian church, and you march to a different Master, a righteous Leader and Lord, who changes you from the inside out and leads you in the path of righteousness – right living according to God’s terms in His Word. Secondly, I want to draw the attention of those who may have accepted Jesus as Lord of your life, yet in reading these verses this morning you are guilty of some of these sins. Friends, this is not an all-inclusive list of sins, these are just the ones Paul saw happening among the Corinthian church members. But think of it this way, all unrighteousness is sin; every actual sin, committed with design, and not repented of, shuts out the kingdom of heaven, for no sin is allowed there. We cannot hope to sow to the flesh, and reap everlasting life. Only the blood of Christ, and our desire to cleanse ourselves of sin, can take away all guilt. All who are made righteous in the sight of God, are made holy by the grace of God. If you are still struggling with the idea of whether you are secure in the kingdom of God, please use the information in the footnote to seek help. This is important enough that One Man gave His life to help you secure your eternal destiny, so please don’t delay!

Prayer:

Lord, I acknowledge that Your Word is very timely, appropriate and pointed – because only You know what we need, when we need it and why we need it. I believe that this is needed to help us recognize our sin, cleanse us of our sin, and redirect our more righteous lives to serving You as clean, strong, non-hypocritical servants before our lost family and friends. We just can’t be effective if we live just like them, accept the same sinful actions as they do and share in the same gossip rings that they participate in. We must represent You in spite of what appears to be acceptable to them, for we are a ‘New’ and a ‘Holy’ creation serving an awesome and sinless God. As You have opened our eyes in Scripture today, please tender our hearts to right decisions to seek Your forgiveness of our sin and to lives our lives acceptable to You and usable by You. Thank You for speaking to my heart today Lord, may Your perfect will also be accomplished in the lives of my readers today, is my humble and sincere prayer that I ask in Your name alone, dear 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 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.

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.

May We Rule In Righteousness

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Bold Confidence, Follow Jesus, God our Helper, God our Provider, Helper, Motivate, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Pleasing to God, RighteousnessLeave a comment

The Bible – The Good News Translation

Psalm 72:1-5

1               Teach the king to judge with your righteousness, O God; share with him your own justice, 2   so that he will rule over your people with justice and govern the oppressed with righteousness.

3               May the land enjoy prosperity; may it experience righteousness.

4               May the king judge the poor fairly; may he help the needy and defeat their oppressors.

5               May your people worship you as long as the sun shines, as long as the moon gives light, for ages to come.

Thoughts:

As I read the Word this morning I was touched by David’s request. Not only that he, as the greatest king of his time, would humble himself to ask such a thing of God, but as in vs 5, that he would do it to enhance the worship of his people. I feel like that’s the same thing as me asking such a favor of God not so that I might be lifted up in the eyes of my management team, but in order for my staff to receive a bigger raise this year, or to give my staff reason to recognize God’s hand at work and that they would be prompted to attend church services if only to give God praise for His mighty work, even in the heart of their boss. Friends, if we had more Godly managers and business owners, we wouldn’t need half the laws introduced by our government leaders, because businesses would not be out to gouge their customers or steal from the government. Furthermore, our churches would be filled with worshipers anxious to praise God the Father for having such great places to work, and desiring to have a heart like their employers. Wouldn’t that totally be a turn in events that would set us on fire for the Lord? I can only imagine that we would awake each morning super anxious to go to work and to give our employers an honest day’s work, with great expectations of them being very successful in the marketplace! Business owners, managers, supervisors, seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you, just stand by and watch the hand of God work mightily in the success of your businesses and in happy employees anxious to offer up praises to God for their place of employment!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, although I am not ruler over a kingdom like David was, I am responsible for employees, my family and other domestic employees that may work for me from time to time. Please work in the life of this son of yours and continue to give me guidance that I might manage and/or rule in a manner that is pleasing to You and that might bring glory to You by others under my supervision/management. It’s all about You Lord! To God be all glory, for I ask this in Your precious and holy 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.

Things That Prevent Total Dedication to God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Faith, RighteousnessLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 3

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man,
should her first husband come back to her again? If he went back to her, wouldn’t the land become completely unclean?
But you have acted like a prostitute with many lovers, and now you want to come back to me?” says the Lord.
“Look up to the bare hilltops, Judah. Is there any place where you have not been a prostitute?
You have sat by the road waiting for lovers, like an Arab in the desert.
You made the land unclean, because you did evil and were like a prostitute.
So the rain has not come, and there have not been any spring rains.
But your face still looks like the face of a prostitute. You refuse even to be ashamed of what you did.
Now you are calling to me, ‘My father, you have been my friend since I was young.
Will you always be angry at me? Will your anger last forever?’
Judah, you said this, but you did as much evil as you could!” (Jeremiah 3:1-5 NCV)

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

I wonder how close we are is what goes on in our country today, compared to what was happening in Judah during the day of Jeremiah? Sometimes I wonder if it is possible that a nation could have been any worse, especially when I turn on the evening news and hear story after story about the various crimes that have taken place in some of our cities. I become even more disturbed when I hear about the discord among people in churches, in families and in work places, and when I see people so dedicated to everything that may incidentally come up instead of to God and His ideals for their lives. After reading this passage I can only ask if God is not calling us a lot worse than what He called Judah. We find so many other Gods beside Him. We dedicate ourselves to so much else except the only One that could truly shower His blessings on us. Oh how we need to reassess our purpose and the things that truly receive our attention.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Lord God, I am a part of this earthly people who respond to earthly things that distract me away from Your ideals and from following Your ways and Your teachings. I call myself a child of Yours, yet I am so easily distracted by things that really shouldn’t matter in the long scheme of things. Please redirect my thoughts, my desires, my weakened commitment to stay on course for You through thick and thin. You allowed Your Son to die on Calvary just so that I may enjoy life eternally with You. There is no greater sacrifice than that. No greater way of showing Your love for me. Oh that I may now dedicate myself to that kind of devotion to You. Please be my ongoing Guide and Strength to achieve the goal of total dedication to You.

*Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com

Ready To Help, But….

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Faith, Righteousness1 Comment

Scripture: Isaiah 65.

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Isaiah 65:1-2 (NLT)
1 The LORD says, “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name.
2 All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

I believe that if I had not quoted the book and verses for the scripture, you may have thought that God was speaking to our nation today. The sad thing is friend that I believe God is speaking to our nation in very similar words today. Think about it, our churches are empty, with some having closed their doors due to lack of attendance. Mind you, attendance sharply increases when there is a disaster and fellow humans realize that they have no control over the situation. Far too often we place our relationship with God secondary to anything else that may come up and possibly give us earthly pleasure or financial gain. When I think of a nation who refuses to call on the Lord’s name, unfortunately I think of a people who expect all the gifts from God that He could possibly send their way, if He would be willing to send the gifts without too much commitment from them. I am so concerned about a people who looks to my God as a spiritual Santa Claus, not as a loving Father with whom we can have a real, meaningful, loving, caring, two-way relationship with. Following our own evil paths and schemes without allowing God to intervene and direct us is very dangerous and often leads to self-destruction. God loves us so much that He stands ready and poised to accept our hand and our plea for help. He will not force His way into our midst unwelcomed, we must invite Him and commit to follow His ways. Please reconsider your relationship with God today, won’t you?

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Lord Jesus, I am very much in need of Your leadership and direction today. Thank You for standing ready to help me as I seek Your face, for there are so many circumstances that I feel helpless in and so many decisions that I feel so unqualified to make. However, I know that just how You loved me enough to die on the cross for my sins, I believe that You will lovingly accept my hand outstretched to You today. Please lead me, guide me, direct my paths, teach me Your ways, lead me not into temptation, help me to put away childish and earthly thoughts and instead allow You to lead my every step. Please forgive me where I have been too selfish and proud to look to You first in everything. Please touch the lives of those that may read this devotional and feel equally as challenged by it as I was. Draw us close to You dear Lord.

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
ß

Observer, Criticizer or Participant?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Chosen by God, Christian, Getting Along, Obedience, Pleasing to God, Reaching the Lost, Reflecting Christ, Righteousness, Servants of GodLeave a comment

Scripture: Numbers 15-16.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Numbers 16:42-45 (NLT)

42 As the community gathered to protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the Lord appeared.

43 Moses and Aaron came and stood in front of the Tabernacle,

44 and the Lord said to Moses,

45 “Get away from all these people so that I can instantly destroy them!” But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

In these two chapters I saw several occasions where the people either were jealous of God’s appointed leaders, or they just didn’t approve of all that God was doing for them, so they protested. Before we raise our sanctified noses and feel like that was back then and we don’t have that type thing going on today, let me remind you of some of the ways that we protest against God today:

  1. When we withhold our tithes or offerings because we don’t approve what the church, or its leaders are doing. This is intensified when you consider that each member had equal opportunity to discuss and approve/disapprove the expense at a business meeting, but many chose to stay at home and …….;
  2. When we stay home from church because of who might be preaching that day. Are we saying that we could do better?
  3. When we gossip about the church, its members or its leaders. This is often done out of jealousy and especially because we are not a part of the action. Often if we had been at church and involved in the ministry, then we would have been a part of the action!

Now I would ask you/ourselves this: Can God be the same as He was in the days of Moses? Of course; not only could He be, but I can assure you that He is the same today as He was then. We may not hear many stories of fireballs being launched against church/ministry protestors, but God performs His discipline in various ways.

So how would this passage speak to us today: I believe that protests come from a jealous heart, and one that thinks that it can do a much better job than anything we see occurring today. How then shall we correct ourselves in this? Get involved in the ministry instead of being the official observer and criticizer! God’s job is to observe and judge the hearts of His people, let’s let Him do His job. Besides, we can do a much better job ourselves in our area of ministry if we do it without the strain of also doing or worrying about what someone else has been assigned to do for the kingdom of God.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, it is truly amazing how applicable Your Word is, even today. Thank You for directing me to this passage this morning, and thank You for opening my eyes to this particular piece of this scripture. Obviously this is a Word to me this morning, for I must allow it to penetrate my heart and deal with the very challenge that You have presented to me. I pray that You will not only give me the strength and the power to overcome my weakness in this area, but also that You would use this devotional to speak to the hearts of Your people throughout the world that may read this online today. May Your holy will be accomplished today, so that Your kingdom and Your ministry here may become more effective for You and more focused on You instead of what I/we may consider to be the weaknesses of others. My obligation is to maintain a right relationship with You and to portray You through my life to a lost and dying world. Please give me strength and power to do just that dear God.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
ß