Category: Dedicated

God Keeps Us Focused on Himself

On By Ed AlgreenIn Dedicated, Focused Christian, Transparent, UncompromisedLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – The Message (MSG) ~ 2 Corinthians 1 ~ 12 Now that the worst is over, we’re pleased we can report that we’ve come out of this with conscience and faith intact, and can face the world—and even more importantly, face you with our heads held high. But it wasn’t by any fancy footwork on our part. It was God who kept us focused on him, uncompromised.

THOUGHTS: As I meditated on these verses today, I actually thought of additional words by Paul in 2 Timothy 4 where, right at the end of his life, he said: 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 8 And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. This combination of verses made me realize that, like Paul, we also can remain faithful, and stay focused on the Lord, if we would keep our minds fixed on Him, our minds made up to serve Him faithfully, our determination to remain obedient, and our constant prayer of faith in the only One who can direct our path and keep our eyes fixed on Him. Paul’s words right at the end of our focused verse convinces me that we must live such a determined and consistent life that our friends will recognize it, and the Good Lord will know it, that we have kept the faith, uncompromised, and dedicated our lives fully to our Savior and the truth of His Word. Friends, it is this type of life that will touch the hearts and lives of our unsaved friends, for we are a lot more transparent to our unsaved friends that what we may care to think. They know when we are sincere and uncompromised, and they can discern when we are faithful and true. I believe that God will only use us when we are prepared to allow Him to be portrayed in and through our lives – our actions and our words. Where are you at today friends? What do you suppose that God would say, if you stood before Him today? And don’t be fooled friend, that face-to-face meeting could actually take place today. We have no assurance of tomorrow. Get things straightened out today, won’t you friend?

PRAYER: At this time of the year we concentrate on the greatest gift ever given to mankind, the gift of God’s only Son, Jesus. While we love to celebrate at Christmas, Lord, we must acknowledge that we feel so awesomely blessed each and every day by the works of Your hand in our lives through the many blessings that You bestow on us. We can hardly imagine that such an awesome God, would use the vehicle of mankind (my readers and I included) to spread Your Word, to witness to the unsaved, and to actually participate in convincing them of their need for salvation. Thank You Lord Jesus, thank You Father God! May You receive our uncompromised walk and talk today, is my humble request, and I ask these things in the wonderful, blessed 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!

Watch For Distractors In Your Ministry

On By Ed AlgreenIn Committed, Dedicated, DistractionLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – 35 I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible. ~ 1 Corinthians 7:35 ~ New Living Translation (NLT)

THOUGHTS: Paul seemed to have been addressing church members who were caught up in trying to find happiness for their lives, without much regard to what might benefit their long-term benefit to the ministry of Jesus Christ. It seemed like there were members who were wanting to break marriages, because their spouse may not have been a believer at the time they came to know Jesus Christ. It seemed like some wanted to get married to find happiness, but wasn’t sure what to do. Friends we find these dilemmas every day, and although they may not involve marital choices, yet we ponder the right decision for ourselves under the circumstances. Paul encourage the Corinthian church to always bring into the decision equation whether the choice being considered will not only be pleasing to God for our future happiness, but also strongly consider how the decision will impact their ministry for the kingdom. Friends, decisions involving change in your life will tend to either facilitate or enrich your ministry, or it will negatively impact it and distract your ministry. I know, by now you are saying that you are safe because you are not the minister/pastor. May I encourage you to apply this squarely to your life Brothers and Sisters? You may think that your only ministry is praying for church leaders and the needs of church members. Fair enough, will the decisions that you make involving change in your life get in the way of your prayer life? Will it distract you and possibly hinder the time you spend in prayer, or the solitude of your prayer time? Paul’s plea with the Corinthian church is very applicable to us today. We must be careful, and seriously consider any changes in our lives that might distract our ministry for the Lord. If God is truly FIRST in our lives, then we really need to make sure that nothing else becomes first, or that it at least diminishes the value of our dedication to God and His work. May I encourage you to think carefully of any distractors in your life? It may not be a marriage partner, it may just be a girlfriend or boyfriend, or it may be your job, or it may be the demands of your friends to party with them. Whatever it is, only you and God will know. Seek His help and His guidance to help you stay focused and committed to your ministry for His kingdom’s sake. The benefits are ‘out of this world’!

PRAYER: Father, there is so much tugging on us for our time and our attention. For some, it may be exactly like the situation that Paul was addressing, it may be a new partner that someone is looking to take on for selfish reasons. For others, it may be total absorption into their job, for it totally consumes them. Lord we see the distractions that digital devices have brought to our homes, our churches and in our witnessing, yet we know that there are even more powerful distractors that Satan will use to trip us up, or block our ministry opportunities. Please touch your children today, and encourage Your servants to stay focused on You – the God who gave everything so that we might enjoy life eternally with You. Lord You are good and Your mercies endures forever. I pray that we might follow in Your footsteps. I ask these things in the strong name of Jesus – the name above all other names, 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!

Spiritual Maturity

On By Ed AlgreenIn Allegiance, Commitment, Dedicated, MaturityLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Hebrews 5:11-14): 11 Much more could be said about this subject. But it is hard to explain, and all of you are slow to understand. 12 By now you should have been teachers, but once again you need to be taught the simplest things about what God has said. You need milk instead of solid food. 13 People who live on milk are like babies who don’t really know what is right. 14 Solid food is for mature people who have been trained to know right from wrong.

THOUGHTS: There are lots of references in the Bible that speak to maturity in the Lord, so when I read this passage this morning I thought perhaps we should look at this a little closer and try to discern if you and I are making any effort to mature in the Word of God and our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that it would be good to see the values in an infant versus the values we see in maturing individuals. Infants are very needy and very dependent on others to provide for them and help them survive. In an infant Christian we see similar traits, for they need to be fed the Word of God and taught about how this new found relationship with God needs the Word of God imbedded in their knowledge and expressed in their character and life values. In the life of a maturing individual, we see where they are able to feed themselves and perhaps able to earn a living so they could provide food and shelter for themselves. In a maturing Christian, we should see where they go after spiritual food on their own – through personal Bible study and applying biblical principles in their lives. They become grounded in their relationship with God and depend on Him every day for their spiritual growth and maturity so that they in turn can turn around and help others who are still ‘infants’ in their spiritual walk. In physical life, when an adult remains a child in their maturity level, it may become very challenging for independent, maturing adults to respect them and treat them properly, for it often appears like they may have made a deliberate choice to be irresponsible. It appears like the writer of Hebrews may have faced similar frustrations with immature Christians, for he stopped his line of teaching because he realized that he was talking to a group of people still stuck in their infancy maturity level. Friends, we must be careful to not fall in the group who not only needs constant training and growth in the Lord, but our very existence depends on that spiritual food taught by others. This detracts from the teacher assigned to help new Christians get a head start on their walk to maturity, and adds to their frustration level as to why you insist on remaining in your infancy stages of Christianity. If approached about the hope that lives inside of you, be ready with an answer. Please don’t refer that person to your Bible teacher or preacher, they identify with you and want to hear your story. If you have to use the Word of God to tell the story, then always have a verse in mind that you feel explains your story. Develop a personal relationship with your Creator and be prepared to share your story with any that might ask, or need it.

PRAYER: Dear God, I believe that we are all challenged to say that we have attained full knowledge of You, for Your mercy is a daily thing and it endures forever. I believe that each time we open Your Word, You reveal new truths to us, but I also believe that it behooves us to always do our part by getting into the Word daily so that it might be a light unto our path for the day, and knowledge and leadership for sharing spiritual truths with all those that we come into contact with. Lord, please help us to strive for self-sufficiency and maturity in our relationship with You so that we might go on to be mentors to others who need You and not continue in our infancy stages of full dependency on our earthly spiritual leaders. I know that we will always increase our maturity under the teaching of our earthly Godly leaders, but I also believe that this only comes to those who have committed to a daily walk and personal growth plan in their personal relationship with You. Please have Your will and way in our lives today is my earnest prayer dear Jesus, that I ask in Your magnificent name, 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!