It Takes Faith!

On 2018-01-01 By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Faith in Action, Faithful, Faithfulness, Genuine FaithLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE FROM: Hebrews 11:6-7 (ERV)

TEXT: ⁶Without faith no one can please God. Whoever comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who sincerely try to find him.

⁷Noah was warned by God about things that he could not yet see. But he had faith and respect for God, so he built a large boat to save his family. With his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong. And he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.

OBSERVATION: In this chapter of Hebrews we see where faith in God brought new life, new concepts and new miracles to all who believed in Him. In the example shown in verse 7, Noah had faith to believe God that He would send something to the earth for the very first time – ‘rain’. In fact he went further by believing that God would send so much rain that the whole earth would be flooded, so he set out to build a boat to protect the lives of he and his family. Soon God wanted Noah to build that boat much bigger to also include two of every living species. Can you imagine the mockery that Noah experienced during this construction? Yet his faith remained strong! How’s your faith?

APPLICATION: There are many that God has sent us to minister to, who will tell us that we must be nuts to believe that Jesus died, and actually arose from the dead. Yet they will ask us to pray when their loved one is sick or possibly dying. What kind of faith are they expressing in each of those cases? In some home countries of my readers, non-believing leaders have closed the door to prayer in our schools, yet for the next exam they encourage their kids to pray hard for good grades!! Faith – what is it to some folk? They will say they have no faith in God, because they can’t see Him. Yet they fill their gas tanks in their cars, and although they never see the gas or the tank, some gauge inside tells them how much is in their tank, and they have faith to believe that! Friends, God has proven Himself in many ways to us in 2017, and for those who will trust Him, because they have faith in His existence; His promises; and His all powerful hand; we can look forward to all that He will have in store for us in 2018. Faith means that things are not necessarily all planned ahead for us, although God has the foreknowledge and power to do that, but as we place our faith and trust in the One who loved us enough to sacrifice His life for us, and as we place our faith in the One who promised to never leave us alone, and faith in the One who promised that He has prepared a place for us, so that we may rule and reign with Him while worshiping our blessed Lord, then we will know that 2018 will be filled with anticipation of all that God has in store for us, to bless us, to love on us, and to provide encouragement for us to continue living for Him until He returns to take us home! Praise the wonderful name of Jesus!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, we have no reason to doubt Your love and Your almighty power towards Your children. Knowing that You can do ALL things, just as you have already proven to us, gives us faith to place our full trust in You. Please help our unbelief and touch the lives of those that have chosen to ignore the mighty works of our King. Lord, I’m sure that we will need you more in 2018 than we’ve ever need You before. Please help us to stay strong in our faith, and to always stay connected to You in everything. You are a awesome God – one that we can place full faith, trust and deliverance in. 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 Sebring, 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!

Preconceived Ideas vs Faith

On 2017-12-21 By Ed AlgreenIn Evidence of Faith, Faith, Faith in Action, Faithful, Faithfulness, Genuine Faith, ObedienceLeave a comment

Post Date:	Thursday, 2017-12-21
SCRIPTURE
From:	2 Kings 5:11-12 (ERV)
Text:	¹¹Naaman became angry and left. He said, “I thought Elisha would at least come out and stand in front of me and call on the name of the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over my body and heal the leprosy. ¹²Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than all the water in Israel. Why can’t I wash in those rivers in Damascus and become clean?” He was very angry and turned to leave.
OBSERVATION:
Naaman was a very important man to the king of Aram, for he was the captain of his army. However having a terrible skin disease caused Naaman to seek after help. He was told that there was a man in Israel who could heal him, but because of his elevated status, he had his king send a letter to the king of Israel, commanding that Naaman be healed. To Naaman’s surprise he was referred to a simple prophet, Elisha, who treated him like any other citizen, and sent his servant out to Naaman to tell him what to do to be healed. Let’s compare what happens next with what we might expect to do in a scenario like that.
APPLICATION:
Like Naaman, I believe that we often have our preconceived ideas about how life happens, and how each process should happen as we work towards the results we want. Whats sometimes challenging to deal with, is that we will encounter different opinions for each person you chat with about the problem you are having. I believe that Naaman’s pride came into play when Elisha sent his servant out to give Naaman the word on what he needed to do. After all, he was an important man, and now he was being treated like any other human being by Elisha. From that, it seems like Naaman’s attitude went south. In verse 11, we read about the contrary thoughts Naaman had about Elisha and his commands. In fact, if it was up to him (Naaman), there would have been some different ways of handling the same orders given by Elisha! What about us friends? Aren’t we the same way, in wanting to put our own little twists to things? Now I agree that we will never expect to see different results by doing things the same way that we’ve always done it, yet there are times that we could totally disrupt the spirit of all accomplishments by changing things just to have our name attached to it. Often what happens to churches is that they take their eyes off Jesus and start to look at what they think will make them different to the church next door. Friends, let’s stay true to the Word of God, let’s seek to follow Jesus in all that we do and lets be ready to praise God for His blessings on us. Naaman would not have been near as upset if he had followed the commands given by God’s messenger without a lot of questioning and suggesting. The same is true for us. Obedience to the will of God brings answers from the heart of God.
PRAYER:
Thank You Lord for Your blessings on me! Lord, please speak to the hearts of my friends and I as we meditate on this devotional today. Please fill us with the will to obey, without questioning, so that we may place total faith and trust in You and Your commands. For I ask these things in the precious name of Jesus, 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!

Faithful – Like David

On 2017-12-072017-12-07 By Ed AlgreenIn Evidence of Faith, Example, Example of Christ, Faith in Action, Faithful, Faithfulness, Genuine example of Jesus, Genuine Faith, Godly exampleLeave a comment

Post Date:	Wednesday, 2017-12-06
SCRIPTURE
From:	1 Kings 14:7-9 (ERV)
Text:	⁷ ….this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jeroboam, I chose you from among all the Israelites. I made you the ruler of my people. ⁸David’s family was ruling the kingdom of Israel, but I took the kingdom away from them and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David. He always obeyed my commands and followed me with his whole heart. He did only what I accepted. ⁹But you have sinned worse than anyone who ruled before you.
OBSERVATION:
There was a lot going on in Israel with so many wicked kings that ultimately resulted in a wicked nation. In the case of Jeroboam, he sent his wife to the prophet Ahijah out of desperation over the serious illness of his son. However, Jeroboam had his wife disguise herself, because he wasn’t sure that he wanted to hear the lecture back from Ahijah. But what God had planned was carried through to completion, and a strong awakening message was returned to Jeroboam about his impending judgment. God sees and knows all things about us. I wonder what’s in store for us?
APPLICATION:
We are always opposed to being compared to someone else, for we feel like a unique individual who should be allowed to think outside of the box and achieve the end result in our own unique form, correct? A huge difference in this for the Christian, is that God has already established a ‘standard’, and we should always be striving to please God by reaching for that ‘standard’. I believe that successful people will look for someone who has already achieved a ‘standard’ in something they are developing, and they will follow that example to the best of their ability. Now because of our uniqueness, we will try some tweaking to see if we could improve on that which we are following, but we already know that the principle idea is proven. God had the privilege of looking over time and people to see who had made the best strides in following His commands, and in leading a country, He determined that David was that person. Suppose that God would look at our world and find a current-day success story? Could it be you that he would choose for your peers to look to for guidance and leadership in a godly fashion? Think about it – for those very things that you find extremely challenging to do, someone else has already successfully achieved, and from their testimony, you are aware that they depended on God through their whole mission. and remained faithful to Him. Will you have a degree of faith in following that person? Friends, let’s always be aware that we serve a God who placed the stars just right in the evening sky; He not only gave us eyes to look at those stars, but He also created our whole being. Those are pretty complex and amazingly wonderful things, aren’t they? Then remind me again why you think that He can’t handle your most difficult and complex situation? One big reason that we meet together as God’s church, is to share with each other the success stories in our relationship with God. If someone else has been successful in achieving a part of God’s plan, then we should flock to them and find out what they attribute their success to, because we want to follow that plan. God knew of David’s success, so He expected the same from all other kings who tried to fill the same role. You might be another ‘David’, where others are following in your footsteps. Please be sure that you seek God’s face every day, so that you could remain strong, faithful and always in a thankful and praising mood. God is able, and always faithful to those who love Him and are faithful to obey His commands. Oh that we may please Him in all that we do and say as we represent Him faithfully every day!
PRAYER:
Dear Lord, I believe that through this Scripture, You have reminded us to be faithful to You in all things and to be obedient to all Your commands that You put in place as a guide for our journey. In doing these things, we will not only please You, but we may help in guiding others who are floundering. Thank You Lord for placing us together as a body of believers (the church) – a support arm for each other so that Your church might be strong and bold in our witnessing to the lost in our communities. Oh that we may be found faithful when Jesus calls us home to Himself!
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!

A Message of Faith and Hope

On 2017-10-192017-10-19 By Ed AlgreenIn Evidence of Faith, Faith in Action, Genuine Faith, Hope, True witnesses, WitnessLeave a comment

Post Date:	Thursday, 2017-10-19
SCRIPTURE
From:	John 6:61-65 (TLB)
Text:	⁶¹Jesus knew within himself that his disciples were complaining and said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶²Then what will you think if you see me, the Messiah, return to heaven again? ⁶³Only the Holy Spirit gives eternal life. Those born only once, with physical birth, will never receive this gift. But now I have told you how to get this true spiritual life. ⁶⁴But some of you don’t believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who didn’t believe and knew the one who would betray him.) ⁶⁵And he remarked, “That is what I meant when I said that no one can come to me unless the Father attracts him to me.”
OBSERVATION:
Jesus’ disciples were hearing Him speak of things that they never knew or understood, and they definitely couldn’t see how it would be possible for them to ever accept. For example, Jesus spoke to them about the Lord’s supper, and all that it represents. Many gave up, because they knew that they would never consider eating flesh and drinking blood of anyone. Many give up, or refuse to hear the truth of God’s Word today also, so let’s ‘dig in’…..
APPLICATION:
I believe that ‘Christians’ struggle to understand, or believe, that friends and family wrestle with believing in the God that we love, adore and look forward to spending eternity with. Think about it friends, we are challenged to understand how non-Christians go on in life without a Savior, and they are challenged to understand how we could possibly believe in a God that we have never seen. Let me suggest that, as God’s children, we have no authority over making our friends believe in God. However, if we truly believe in God; love Him; worship and adore Him; obey His commands; and brag on His faithfulness and miracles that touch us, then I believe that our friends will see evidence of what God is actively doing in our lives. They need to know that our God is alive and active today! Of course when we practice drinking the cup and eating the bread, through communion or the Lord’s Supper, we are merely practicing what Jesus taught us to practice, for as we do that we remember His blood that was shed for us and His body that was sacrificed on the cross of Calvary. As we are reminded, we should be re-energized to go out and tell the world that we have a Savior who sacrificed His life and shed His blood, so that we might receive forgiveness of sin, and live eternally in heaven with He and the Father. Friends, the evidence that our friends need concerning the Savior that we believe they need, must be reflected in everything we do or say, otherwise they continue to doubt His effectiveness on humans. If its to be, it’s up to us, friends! Let God fill You so that we may honestly reflect Him in all aspects of our lives.
PRAYER:
Lord, many have predefined ideas of what You look like and what You are capable of doing. Please touch Your representatives (us Christians) once again today, and empower us to reflect You in all aspects of our life, especially in spite of all the sin and strife around us while here on earth. We have friends who are dying and going to Hell Lord, and we want You to make a difference in their lives. My humble prayer is that You might please use us as Your instruments to touch lives today for 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!

Don’t Worry, God’s Got You!

On 2017-09-06 By Ed AlgreenIn Faithful, FaithfulnessLeave a comment

Post Date:	Wednesday, 2017-09-06
SCRIPTURE
From:	Luke 21:14-19 (CEV)
Text:	¹⁴Don’t worry about what you will say to defend yourselves. ¹⁵I will give you the wisdom to know what to say. None of your enemies will be able to oppose you or to say that you are wrong. ¹⁶You will be betrayed by your own parents, brothers, family, and friends. Some of you will even be killed. ¹⁷Because of me, you will be hated by everyone. ¹⁸But don’t worry! ¹⁹You will be saved by being faithful to me.
OBSERVATION:
Having a crowd gathered, Jesus thought to share with them that not all will appear ‘peachy’ for those who choose to follow Him. In fact, things will get very uncomfortable, as even to close relatives will betray them. In fact, everyone will hate them. However, their peace; their comfort; and their overriding joy in Christ should help in committing them to stand strong in the faith and be faithful to God in all circumstances. This is still very applicable to us today, so let’s examine this more closely….
APPLICATION:
Often it appears like we are fair-weather Christians. In other words, as long as everything is going well, we feel comforted that Jesus is on our side and taking good care of us. But as soon as we see things happening that we didn’t expect, we immediately wonder why Satan entered the scene and is trying to destroy us. Friends, I have seen some ‘terrible’ things happen which brought unsaved relatives to the Lord. My dad was a good example of that, His nephew fell from the top of a street-side electrical pole to his death. My dad’s eyes were opened to the condition of his soul and he surrendered his life to Jesus. A young man serving on the battlefield promised God that if He would see him safely through the gunfire that was killing his buddies all around him, that he would serve Him for the rest of his life. This Brother just retired from the ministry after a number of faithful years serving/leading local churches through which he led many unsaved people to the Lord. Jesus tells us in our focal Scripture today that those who are faithful to Him will be saved. You know, I believe that means that if we truly know God; if we truly trust Him with everything; and if we are solid in our faith; then we will look for the ways that God is working in all of life’s circumstances and not concentrated at all in poor me, or what God could do better for us. Let’s be encouraged friends that if the God of this universe accepts us as His very own child, and if He allows us to participate in His miraculous work here on this earth, then we should not hesitate in saying, ‘Yes Lord, thy will be done’. Let’s remember Brothers and Sisters, those who remain faithful to the end will be saved. Will you be considered among those saved?
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, please allow Your Word to work in our lives today. Please open our hearts to accept You fully and to be totally faithful to You until You call us home to glory. We have every reason to trust You and to depend on everything that You have promised to us. Lord, may we be faithful to You til the very end. 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!

Who’s Responsible For Your Faithfulness?

On 2017-09-052017-09-05 By Ed AlgreenIn Committed, Faithful, Faithfulness, Totally committedLeave a comment

Post Date:	Tuesday, 2017-09-05
SCRIPTURE
From:	Judges 8:33-35 (TLB)
Text:	33 But as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelis began to worship the idols Baal and Baal-berith. 34 They no longer considered the Lord as their God, though he had rescued them from all their enemies on every side. 35 Nor did they show any kindness to the family of Gideon despite all he had done for them.
OBSERVATION:
Through Gideon’s faithfulness, commitment to God, and his dependency on God to do all that He said He would do, God was very faithful and brought Gideon and his people through many difficult and challenging times. As long as the people were reminded of the love and power of God, they listened to Gideon and followed him. The real proof of their faithfulness came when Gideon passed from the scene and was no longer with them. We are challenged by this, because we also face similar times as the Israelites faced, so let’s see how we should apply this…..
APPLICATION:
Vacation time is probably one of the greatest tests of our faithfulness. Of course we should sleep in, we’re on vacation! We won’t have to worry about the embarrassment of having to respond to the pastor when he calls to check on us, and because we told the Sunday School class last week that we would be on vacation, no one will call us. If we are vacationing near the beach, why the ocean waters have not been this calm since we started our vacation. The skies are clear and the beaches are extremely inviting. Oh but wait a moment, you slipped it out in conversation with another couple in the pool that you attended XYZ church back home, and they might question where you went Sunday morning while on vacation? Friends, what about your commitment to God? In return for hearing the gospel message and feeling a tug on your heart’s door, to accept Jesus as your Lord, you surrendered your life to Him. Now when you are looking for excuses to escape being in His presence, and He sends circumstances your way to make you question your whole relationship with Him, don’t you know that He makes Himself even more aware to you and causes you to re-evaluate your true commitment to Him? The Israelites were face with a very similar decision, and they decided to do it their way. What about you friend? Will Satan win the battle, or will you stay true to the Master and be a witness for Him even on vacation? Remember, when we cave in to our old desires, not only do we stand in question by God, but also those who are following our example and our lifestyle. Are you leading them astray, or towards a closer and more committed relationship with their Savior? Another consideration is that the source of the Israelite’s encouragement disappeared when Gideon died. Before you condemn the Israelites, be careful that you are not one who will run when that charismatic preacher is no longer in the pulpit, or that fun and powerful voice is no longer on the praise team, or your best friend who invited you to church moves away. Always reflect on the reason that you got saved; the reason that you go to corporate worship; and the ones who are using your walk with the Lord as their example and encouragement. Remember also that Jesus would have gone to the cross if you were the only one that needed the forgiveness of sin. He never doubted or wimped out for a moment or looked for excuses. Oh that we may be as committed and faithful to Him!
PRAYER:
Lord You are so good to us and Your mercies endures forever and forever. Please forgive us when we falter and fail. When we look for excuses to not follow You or worship You. You have always been good to us, always been faithful to us and went to the extreme to show Your love for us. Lord, please help us to always do the same in return. We have no reason to turn our backs on You, please help us to not listen to the enemy and look for ways. I ask these things in the powerful and almighty name of Jesus, my Savior. 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!

Qualities of a Child That Adults Need

On 2017-08-24 By Ed AlgreenIn Children, Faith, Faithfulness, qualities, TrustLeave a comment

Post Date:	Thursday, 2017-08-24
SCRIPTURE
From:	Luke 18:16-17 (TLB)
Text:	16-17 Then Jesus called the children over to him and said to the disciples, “Let the little children come to me! Never send them away! For the Kingdom of God belongs to men who have hearts as trusting as these little children’s. And anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get within the Kingdom’s gates.”
OBSERVATION:
Men has a predetermined idea of the qualities needed to do a job, and the type of person to do it – perhaps even the age of the person. Jesus tried to break that idea by showing that there are qualities even in a child, who has not really experienced a lot in life yet, that we need to take note of. Let’s have a closer look at those qualities and see what we might learn from them.
APPLICATION:
It is so challenging for a group of adults to sit in a room and come to a unanimous decision. Even more challenging for a group working on a project and agreeing to accomplish the necessary tasks in unity. Jesus pointed out two qualities that He recognized in children that, I believe, we need to have a closer look at: Trust: When our child was very young, we were told that it was the best time to teach her to swim, because she had not built up the fear of the water yet. I believe it was more like, she knew that her mom and the teacher were keeping such a close eye on her that she felt safe. Put a child on a wall and tell them to jump to you, and generally they will jump without a second thought, because they trust their mom or dad, who’s asking them to jump. You tell a child about God, and although, like us, they never see God, they are convinced that God is always there watching over them. Listening to a child’s prayer will blow you away, because you could easily tell how much trust they have developed in God. Faith: Although very similar to trust, a child’s faith seems to never waiver or fail – until they are old enough to see our weakness in faith! Think about this, we tell children about God before they could ever talk back to us, and they have faith to believe it, even though they have never seen Him. We tell them about Santa, and every Christmas they are excited with anticipation about him coming. Friends, we sing hymns and we hear Bible teachers and preaches say it often: have faith in God. This means that: We should easily believe that God exists, even though we have never seen Him; We should easily believe that heaven is real, even though we have never seen it; However, when we approach God with things we think are impossible, we tend to believe that it is impossible with Him also. Friends, my God is the One who parted the waters of the Red Sea and the waters of the Jordan River so that His people could march across on dry land! What is it again that you feel He cannot handle for you? Is your faith where it needs to be? Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you friend.
PRAYER:
Father God, Creator of heaven and earth, All powerful and almighty in strength and power, we exalt You and we lift up Your name on high. We come before You with thanksgiving, knowing that we serve an awesome God who loves and cares for His children. Please enhance our faith Lord, so that we may trust You with all of life’s ups and downs. Lord we need You every day and in every circumstance. We need You every hour dear Lord. Thank You for Your faithfulness and love. 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!

A Faith That Heals and Saves

On 2017-08-212017-08-21 By Ed AlgreenIn Evidence of Faith, Faith, Faith in Action, Genuine Faith, Healing, ThankfulnessLeave a comment

Post Date:	Monday, 2017-08-21
SCRIPTURE
From:	Luke 17:14-19 (MSG)
Text:	^14-16Taking a good look at them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”They went, and while still on their way, became clean. One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan. ^17-19Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.”
OBSERVATION:
This is known as the story of the Ten Lepers. Leprosy is a dreaded decease where those afflicted were placed outside the city gates in order not to infect others. However these 10 lepers had heard about Jesus, and had some hope that He would heal them, if only they could get close enough to let Jesus know their heart’s cry. This happened as they had hoped and wished for, but the healing demanded a lot of faith from the lepers. Let’s examine this closer and see what God might say to us through His Word….
APPLICATION:
For every person that passed within eye-shod of these lepers, I’m sure that 99.99% of them turned their heads and went on their way to avoid any type of contact with this dreaded decease. However, just as He does when He looks at the sinner today, Jesus looked beyond the physical needs of these lepers and saw the cry of their hearts; their desperate need; and their sincere need of salvation and healing. For the lepers, I could only imagine that the words of an old gospel hymn may have been written based on their mindset: ‘Where could I go but to the Lord’. I want us to look very carefully at the way this healing was performed. Without anything changing in their lives, the lepers were told by Jesus to go and show themselves to the priests. To humanly look at their skin, nothing had changed, yet they obeyed Jesus by going to the priests, as demanded. How many of you would be prepared to do that? Imagine that in one of your church services, one comes forward for prayer with obvious signs of an incurable skin decease, and I have researched and found that in spite of today’s excellent research and medical advancements, there are still incurable skin deceases. So after much prayer by your pastor, elders and leaders of your church, the pastor jumps up and demands that the afflicted ones leave at once and confirm with their doctors that they have been completely healed. As the afflicted look at their skin and notice that nothing has changed, what do you suppose they will do? As the congregation looks on, do you suppose they will stop praying and start celebrating? The Bible says that nothing occurred until the lepers started their journey towards the priests to whom they were sent, but the important lesson is that they acted on their faith in the healing process. If they had not, they would have gone back to their caves and brushed aside all they had heard about Jesus as a farce. Friends, if we believe on the One who died for our sin, then we must be willing to act on our faith. When we do, we will earnestly pray for those in need of healing, and when we ourselves are pressed with hardship and affliction, we will quickly follow the Master’s commands, in faith, knowing that only Jesus can heal, and only He can love the vilest sinner as His very own righteous son/daughter. Do you know this Jesus of whom I have spoken in this blog, friend? If you don’t, or are unsure, please click on the link in my Footnote entitled ‘To Know Jesus’, otherwise follow the other tips noted in my Footnote. Jesus loves you friend, and He want’s You to place your trust in Him. Whether you have never accepted Jesus as Lord, or if you are facing leprosy, cancer or some other decease, Jesus loves you and would like to see you surrender your life and your circumstances to Him. May I encourage you to seek the face of Jesus today for whatever you may be facing?
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us in spite of who we are and all that we may have done in our lifetime. You cared about the lepers who cried out to You, and I am convinced that You care for each of Your children who call on You today. Thank You for loving us unconditionally. Please guide us to a love like that, so that we may not only love You in the same way, but also our fellow man. Your willingness to heal men who were rejected by society, is yet one more reminder that You also love each of us today, and would be willing to heal us if we call on You. Oh that we will show our appreciation by allowing You control of our lives. 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!

Your Response To God

On 2017-08-02 By Ed AlgreenIn Faithful, SurrenderLeave a comment

Post Date:	Wednesday, 2017-08-02
SCRIPTURE
From:	Deuteronomy 32:3-6 (CEV)
Text:	³ Join with me in praising the wonderful name of the Lord our God. ⁴The Lord is a mighty rock, and he never does wrong. God can always be trusted to bring justice. ⁵But you lie and cheat and are unfaithful to him. You have disgraced yourselves and are no longer worthy to be his children. ⁶ ….the Lord is your Father, the one who created you, but you repaid him by being foolish.
OBSERVATION:
Moses recognized that people respond differently to circumstances. In these verses we see where some will honor the truth and show their thanksgiving for all God has done for them, while some will still lie, cheat and be unfaithful to Him, no matter how much He does for them. This causes me to think that not a whole lot has changed since the day of Moses, so we will explore this in our application today.
APPLICATION:
Often we hear, or see where people will lift up high those who do things for them, or has helped them at some point in their past. Why there are even holidays that recognize the efforts of others towards mankind, and in some cases statues, or monuments have been carved or erected so that the special efforts of some might be remembered. In fact, in our Scripture where the matter of recognizing God for all He has done, Moses encouraged us to join him in worshipping God and lifting up His name on high. Would you agree that today fewer and fewer people will stop to visit the church of God to corporately thank Him for His goodness and recognize Him for His love and faithfulness towards us? Moses concluded that there are those who will recognize God for His goodness, and those who are unfaithful and have disgraced themselves beyond recognition as God’s children. Fortunately it is not our job to judge who is, and who is not a child of God. However, there is no doubt that each of us know individually whether we have sought the face of God, sought His forgiveness of our sin and committed our lifelong dedication to serve Him faithfully. If you have never made that decision for yourself friend, then according to Scripture you’re in the latter list and not worthy to be called His child. Please read my Footnote carefully and seriously consider surrendering your life to Jesus. There is nothing I would love more than to know that I will unite with all of my readers when we meet around the throne before our Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
PRAYER:
Lord, decisions were made by each reader today. They either know You as Lord, and agreed to continue that walk with You, or they don’t know You and have agreed to surrender their life to Jesus, or they have recklessly decided to continue their life of sin and living for the evil one. Lord, I pray that You would soften hearts today and create a deep desire in the unsaved to know You personally. I pray that You would touch my life and help me to be totally committed to You in every way, so that others may witness my speech and actions and seek Your face. 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!

Just A Touch Can Do!

On 2017-07-182017-07-18 By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Faith in Action, Genuine Faith, HealingLeave a comment

Post Date:	Tuesday, 2017-07-18
SCRIPTURE
From:	Luke 8:45-48 (TLB)
Text:	⁴⁵“Who touched me?” Jesus asked. Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, so many are crowding against you. . . . ” ⁴⁶But Jesus told him, “No, it was someone who deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” ⁴⁷When the woman realized that Jesus knew, she began to tremble and fell to her knees before him and told why she had touched him and that now she was well. ⁴⁸“Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
OBSERVATION:
Jesus was on a mission headed towards the home of Jairus to meet the need reported to Him by this father. While enroute, there was a large crowd following, and they pressed in on Jesus’ personal space because they didn’t want to miss anything that He did. By this time, many had heard so much about the power of Jesus, that they were willing to do things such as merely getting close enough to touch His clothing, such as noted in the verses today. This took real faith! Do we have what it takes?
APPLICATION:
As I read this Scripture today, I believe that Jesus prompted me to reflect on how we might go about ‘touching the hem of His garment’ in our world today. Think about it friends, we often think of a ‘touch from God’ when we’re sick, or about to face surgery, or lost a loved one, or can’t see ourselves through financial struggles, or things at work seems impossible, but there is no ‘hem of Jesus’ garment’ for us to go and touch, is there? Well, let’s reread the verses again and see if the answer came in touching Jesus’ garment. In verse 48 Jesus actually tells the woman what actually healed her. It was her faith! I believe this lady knew Jesus, knew of His awesome power and compassion on those in need, and I feel pretty sure that she probably knew the miracles He had already performed. So do you suppose she left her home that day with a good luck charm hoping that these rumors she had heard about Jesus could also possibly touch her life? Do you suppose that the thought may have crossed her mind that she perhaps could stay at home in her bed and if Jesus wants to, He would heal her? Let me share with you what my thoughts are: I believe this lady knew Jesus personally, and I believe she had lots of faith – enough to believe that Jesus could do for her everything that she had heard about Him ever doing for anyone else. However, I believe she wanted a close-up experience with her Master. Seeing that Jesus was thronged by so many people, she felt like she could never get His personal attention, but she knew that if she could only manage to get close enough to touch Him or any part of His clothing, she would be healed. Friends, that’s a lot of faith! That’s like us having faith to call on Him in our time of need, or asking our church elders to pray over you with oil, as spoken of in the New Testament. May I remind you again today that Our God’s Not Dead, Nor Has He Lost His Power To Heal! If He’s your God today friend, call on Him in your time of need. Celebrate Him when You remember His goodness and recognize His miracle working hand.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, we are so amazed by Your awesome power, and often wonder why You would consider even us for Your miraculous work. Please teach us the wonder of faith and the unlimited power of our wonderful God. May we always come to the Savior for salvation; the Healer with our illnesses and to our Eternal God with our desire for eternity in Heaven with You. Thank You for loving us so much dear God, our Heavenly Father! 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!

Nuggets From God's Word

Category: Faith