Category: Commitment

How To Live Innocent, Pure and Effective Lives

On By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, LightLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (New Living Translation – Philippians 2:14-16a): 14 Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 16 Hold firmly to the word of life;

Thoughts: I don’t believe there is a person on earth that would not want to live their lives with purpose and in a way that would impact someone else in a positive way. I believe that some of the bestselling books are those written to show people how they might improve their lives to be more effective in their jobs and in their personal relationships. Perhaps most folk are unaware of Biblical teachings, such as the one highlighted today, that do exactly what they are looking for! So friends let’s dig in and examine what the Word is actually directing us to do in order to live innocent, pure and effective lives:

  • First, and of primary importance, do everything without complaining and arguing. – I believe it is obvious to see that not only does this interfere in our growth and effectiveness today, but that Paul addressed this with His church followers because of issues in the church back then. Think about this good friend, and I believe that you will quickly see that this type of behavior only serves to tear down and not build up. It is generally egged on by Satan to destroy the effectiveness of God’s work among His people. So anytime you find yourself participating in something like this, please quickly recognize that you are not promoting an innocent, pure and effective work that shows God at work in your life;
  • Secondly, when others cannot see any difference in the life you live versus those that do not claim Jesus as Lord, then I would dare say that you have lost touch with the One who makes a difference in your life. For when Jesus lights up your life, through living in You and showing you the way to righteousness, your life will be a stark contrast to the unsaved that you come into contact with. People might explain a stark difference in two things as “difference between day and night”. Similarly, you can also see from verse 15 above that God is expecting our lives to be in such contrast to the darkness of sin in an unbeliever’s life, as a shining light is to one in their dark world of sin and disregard for the things of Christ. And
  • Thirdly, our strength to be effective comes from the Lord. So hold firmly to the Word of God. This is not a paper book being referred to here. This means that we are to hold on to the truths taught by and through the Word of God. When we live by the Spirit, He will be more apt to affect the lives of others through us, but when we exclude Him, we are powerless.

For the Christian, I believe that your challenge is to live the life you have committed to live in Christ’s wisdom and power so that we might all be effective witnesses for our Master. For the non-Christian, there is a better way friend! To live life to its fullest and to enjoy the rewards of sharing light and hope to your lost friends, I would encourage you to first surrender your life to the Light of this world, Jesus Christ. Please read through the ‘Footnote’ below for help on how you might do this. Friend, I am always available and ready to help you in any way that I could, in order that you might achieve this eternal hope!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Light of the world, thank You for shining Your precious light on me some 39 years ago, and for lighting my path every day, enabling me to live in the light of Your will. Please continue to touch me with Your power each and every day so that I may stay away from complaining and arguing, and instead live a clean and innocent life that exemplifies You in every way so that I may be a ‘light’, Your light, to the dark and miserable world that I am surrounded by. Please touch the hearts of my readers today so that they too might commit to being more effective ‘lights’ in their world, or if You are not known as a source of light to one that might stumble upon this devotional, I pray that You might have an awesome and life changing impact upon them today. Lord, may Your powerful ‘Light’ shine though us today, is my humble and sincere prayer that I ask in the 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 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 blogger.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!

Have The Same Attitude As Christ Jesus

On By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, ExampleLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (New Living Translation – Philippians 2:1-5): Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Thoughts: We are often compared to a parent or grandparent on our looks and in our demeanor. Wouldn’t it be praise worthy if, just from our actions and our attitude, someone could identify us with Jesus? You see, this could very well happen when a believer or non-believer identifies something different about us – something different to the rest of the world, or different to what they would expect for someone under our circumstances. I believe that we, children of God, are to be constantly in the Word of God. Therefore, just as we model our lives after our ancestors because of our time with them, we will also become acquainted with the ways of God and start acting like Him. The neat thing for Christians, is that when we commit/surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, He gives us His Helper (the Holy Spirit) as our Guide, our Strength, our Deliverer, our Protector and our Friend, to enable us to act like Jesus even under circumstances that would tend to throw the ordinary person into a tail spin. Paul teaches that this type of life will invoke: agreeing wholeheartedly with each other; loving one another; working together in peace and purpose; unselfishness; no need to impress others; humbleness; ability to think of others as better than yourself; and not always looking out for your own interest only. Friends, there’s an old song with lyrics that read “What the world need now, is love, sweet love….” For a moment can you think what our world would be like if everyone would live with the attitude of “What the world needs now, is Jesus as Lord”? Can’t you imagine us retiring most of our military, little need for an expansive law enforcement team or counselors or mediators! Think about it friend, if we are not living like God expects, then obviously we are living like Satan wants us to. There is no in between. This change can happen one life at a time. Will you consider being the first to make a change in your life and seek to live with the attitude of Christ Jesus? With God’s help you can, friend!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are my Rock, my salvation, my Guide, my Deliverer, my Friend and yet my Master. You led a perfect life so that I may have a perfect example to follow. Please give me an ongoing desire to follow Your example each and every day, and may I practice Your example with everyone that I come into contact with, and under every circumstance in this life. May others see Jesus in every aspect of my life, and may You receive honor and praise from others as they detect Your love and example in me. Please speak to the hearts of my readers today, because I am convinced that what the world needs now is Jesus. They need to see You in action through the committed lives of Your children. May they not be disappointed as they look on us dear Lord. I ask all this, believing that You are the only one capable of helping us, and the only one worthy of our praise, and so it is in the name of Jesus that I plead my case, 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. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to blogger.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!