Category: Faithfulness

Being Faithful To God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Faithfulness, Forgiveness, SubmissionLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – 1 Peter 4:1-2; 7-8): 1 Christ suffered here on earth. Now you must be ready to suffer as he did, because suffering shows that you have stopped sinning. 2 It means you have turned from your own desires and want to obey God for the rest of your life….. 7 Everything will soon come to an end. So be serious and be sensible enough to pray. 8 Most important of all, you must sincerely love each other, because love wipes away many sins.

THOUGHTS: I believe that couples enter into a marriage because of the couple’s love for each other. However, to sustain a good marriage, and a strong relationship with each other, the couple learns the likes and dislikes of their spouse and, as said in marriage vows, leaving all other relationships behind them, they devote themselves wholeheartedly to their spouse. These types of marriages go on, again as promised in marriage vows, until death do they part. Similarly in the life of a Christian, we know that Christ died to destroy sin; and though he cheerfully submitted to the worst sufferings, yet he never gave way to the least sin. Temptations could not prevail, were it not for man’s own corruption; but true Christians make the will of God, not their own lust or desires, the rule of their lives and actions. And true conversion makes a marvelous change in the heart and life. It alters the mind, judgment, affections, and conversation. When a man is truly converted, it is very grievous for him to think how the times past of his life has been spent. One sin draws on another. It is a Christian’s duty, not only to keep from gross wickedness, but also from things that lead to sin, or appear evil. The responsibility is ours fellow Christian, to live in light of whose we are, in respect of the One who made it all possible for us to enter into heaven’s portals, and with expectations of all that we will be when we are called away from this old earth. We have a hope, friend! Praise to the Almighty, the King of glory! Let us therefore be ‘sensible enough to pray’ as Peter advocates, because we need our Lord and Savior by our side every day and every hour. What a Might God We Serve!

 PRAYER: Great is thy faithfulness oh God! You sacrificed Your One and Only Son so that we might have eternal life, yet often times we take that precious gift for granted and still live our lives without enough thought or appreciation for that precious gift. Thank You for not giving up on us Jesus, and thank You Father for Your precious Word that You place before us on days like this to help us realize how help is just a prayer away. Please forgive us for not always getting the point the first time, Thank You again for Your patience and consistency in always being there for us. Please today touch our lives with renewed strength, so that we might realize the truth of Your Word and be reminded of Your awesome power that is available to us. As we do this, may we gain additional appreciation for You and further commitment to renewed faithfulness to You like never before. Bless Your children today oh Lord. May You find us acceptable in Your sight oh Lord, so that we might be used as Your instruments in reaching the lost for You. I ask all this in the wonderful and faithful 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 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!

Nothing is Too Difficult for You, Lord

On By Ed AlgreenIn Faithfulness, Humility, UnderstandingLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Good News Translation – Jeremiah 32:16-18): 16 ….. I prayed, 17“Sovereign Lord, you made the earth and the sky by your great power and might; nothing is too difficult for you. 18You have shown constant love to thousands, but you also punish people for the sins of their parents. You are a great and powerful God; you are the Lord Almighty.

THOUGHTS: Jeremiah had been faithful to God and followed every command and word given to him by God. In fact he was imprisoned because of obediently delivering a word from God to the king. However, Jeremiah was still human, and as such had to depend on God and His providence, even though His actions perplexed Jeremiah. I believe that can, and does, happen to us quite frequently, for we glory in the power and majesty of God, and for all that He delivers us from, yet we see where good faithful followers are shot in their homes, crash in car accidents on the roads, lose very young loved ones, and agonize over fatal illnesses of family members. How do we possibly explain that God loves them? How can we possibly understand the love of God in such horrific situations? I love what Matthew Henry says in his commentary about this prayer of Jeremiah, and I will quote it for you: “Jeremiah adores the Lord and his infinite perfections. When at any time we are perplexed about the methods of Providence, it is good for us to look to first principles. Let us consider that God is the fountain of all being, power, and life; that with him no difficulty is such as cannot be overcome; that he is a God of boundless mercy; that he is a God of strict justice; and that he directs every thing for the best. Jeremiah owns that God was righteous in causing evil to come upon them. Whatever trouble we are in, personal or public, we may comfort ourselves that the Lord sees it, and knows how to remedy it. We must not dispute God’s will, but we may seek to know what it means.” This spoke volumes to me, because I believe that we must often return to the cross when we don’t have all of the answers. God showed His love boldly at the cross – yes, through the suffering, crucifixion and death of His very own Son. So let us return to the Word when in question about why God is doing something that we don’t understand. Let’s go back to the basics and first Biblical principles. We KNOW that He loves us, so we KNOW He would do nothing to harm us, therefore let us give thanks for His mysterious work and depend on the outcome bringing glory to Him. This is difficult friends, but just remember to trust in God, no matter what we see, feel or witness occurring around us. This may often be a point at which an unrelated Brother or Sister might step alongside, encouraging you to keep the faith, so be prepared to also do that when you see difficult situations arise in the life of someone else.

PRAYER: Dear God, I am reminded that You are sovereign and that You created this earth and all that is in it. You were pleased with all that You created, so I can’t imagine why one of your small pieces of clay could find room to complain or find fault in what You did, or what You might currently do in managing all that You have made. Your servant Jeremiah has reminded me that nothing is too difficult for you, so once again I am reminded that even in those times when I don’t see the reasoning for something happening, to know and understand that You are still in control. Please touch the lives of Your people once again today with the sobering reminder that You are God, and we are not, therefore we must trust You to do what You know to be the best for us, and that will bring glory to You. I know that we would really screw things up in a hurry if You left it all up to us, so please have Your perfect will and way in my life today. Please be especially near and dear to those who are hurting today and wondering if You are still there. Draw them close to You and comfort them with Your love and reassurance. I ask this in the precious name of Jesus, my King, in all humility, 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!

Concentrate on the Essentials

On By Ed AlgreenIn FaithfulnessLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Titus 3:8-10): I want you to put your foot down. Take a firm stand on these matters so that those who have put their trust in God will concentrate on the essentials that are good for everyone. Stay away from mindless, pointless quarreling over genealogies and fine print in the law code. That gets you nowhere. Warn a quarrelsome person once or twice, but then be done with him.

THOUGHTS: Paul knew that Titus would face the same challenge that we see in many of our church meetings today, because he (Paul) had been there and experienced it personally. I believe that there is so much in the Bible for God’s people to learn, and so much there to help us grow and mature our faith in, that old Satan becomes very upset and throws a wrench in the wheel of pastors’ efforts through ‘chasing rabbits’ and sidelining Godly growth for often meaningless chatter about various world events or even unrelated theological myths and questions. Paul referred to these disruptions as ‘mindless and pointless’, and that really describes the value often achieved from such discussions. I sincerely believe that there is no substitute for the Christian hearing the unadulterated Word of God taught and/or preached. This may become repetitive to the teacher and/or preacher, but for the Christian, or for those interested in learning the truth about God, real ‘meat’ is served and growth in Christ is achieved through such means. I believe it also teaches us that our answers to life’s issues are contained in the Word of God, and He is our source of strength, direction and wisdom. Last evening I participated in a Marriage Enrichment class, and the Bible was interspersed throughout the teaching. That reminded me that I invited God into my marriage on my wedding day, and God is still as necessary in the success of my marriage even today. So it is with life, friend, for I believe that as we allow our God to direct our path and motivate us with His love and His direction, then others will experience His love shining through us in word and deed. It is then that our witness might be relevant to that unsaved friend that we come across during our day. It is then that family members might learn to respect our stand on life’s issues and might actually create a trust between them and us about the sincerity of the relationship we have with God. Paul assured us that being blown away by the distractions will get us nowhere. I believe that we are way too smart to spend our days going ‘nowhere’, so may I encourage you to stand firm in your faith and speak up when you feel like a class is being distracted with useless, mindless discussions and/or quarreling. A day that starts seriously in God’s Word, grows through interaction with other believers, and reinforced by teaching and/or preaching from God’s Word, is a successful day for the believer! Are you there yet, friend? If not, you now have tips on how to correct those things that may distract you in your walk with the Lord!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word that drew me to the foot of the cross where I begged for forgiveness of my sin and acceptance through the shed blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ. My life since that day of conversion has been enriched by the teaching and preaching of Your Word, not by mindless and/or pointless distractions. Please help me to stay on track in my teaching others about Your love and Your grace in all aspects of our lives. Please give my pastors and/or teachers a very similar goal dear God, so that our time here on earth will be well spent and used to glorify You and/or encouraging others towards the cross where we first found You and accepted You. Thank You for the seriousness of Your life and Your sacrifice so that I might have eternal life. May we be found faithful in sharing that same love, and in directing others to You, so that Your kingdom might be fulfilled. 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 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!