Category: Genuine

What You Genuinely Care About

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Genuine, Genuine example of Jesus, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Worship1 Comment

DATE POSTED Saturday, 2022-12-03
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Philippians 2:20-21
TRANSLATION: New Living Translation (NLT)

BIBLE TEXT: 20 I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare. 21 All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ. 

APPLICATION: Over the years I have served on many Pastor Search Committees, where we searched high and low, far and wide, in what seemed like, ‘a needle in a haystack’, for the next pastor to serve at our church. Also served on church Nominating Committees, where we looked over the church membership role to find qualified persons to fill the internal ministry needs of our church. I don’t recall this Scripture ever coming up in either of the above committees, but I wonder if, unconsciously, we weren’t led by God, like He did with Paul, to choose the candidates who were serious about the needs and work of the Lord, His people, and His church. I sincerely hope, in retrospect, that God turned our stomachs on the applicants who were after their own personal interests and just needed income to complete His mission here on earth. Nominating Committees always seemed so judgmental, because we based our decision on what we saw the individuals do in and around the church. Seldom do churches visit the homes of church families anymore, and seldom do leaders even call to check on their members. Covid? Perhaps! Busyness? Perhaps! Selfish and/or personal agendas? Perhaps! But how do you suppose that Paul knew the very heart of the men available to him for ministry? My gut feeling is that he spent some quality time with them. No devices to distract him. Keeping quiet enough to hear the heart of the individual he was visiting. Praying for each prospect in a very non-judgmental way, but always open to the voice of God on who His chosen workers will be. Friends, I believe you will say like many church leaders today will use for an excuse – ‘but these men and women who serve on our committees are just human’. Fortunately, that’s the correct answer! However, it gives them even more reason to seek the heart of the One they are serving. God has a plan for each of us, and for His ministry here on earth. We must present ourselves to Him as living sacrifices, meaning that we must approach him without a personal agenda, and sincerely make ourselves available to Him. We must surrender our will to His, and be willing to do whatever He commands, without excuses, that ultimately comes from fear and self examination. I want to challenge each reader, along with myself, to consider: if our church looked at us individually to serve in ministry, would they see someone interested in the ways, commands, and wishes of Almighty God, or just individuals centered on selfish desires and personal agendas. Just as Paul saw these awesome and trustworthy qualities in Timothy, I pray that our similar qualities are shinning brightly for God and everyone else to see, God being our helper and awesome Miracle Worker!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: May it be obvious to others what God already knows about us, and may it all be pleasing to God, and for His glory only.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You are worthy of all our praise. Please forgive us for not always acting in ways that would pleases and honor You, but way too often seeking after our own will and benefit. Paul needed someone who had a heart for the people he served and ministered to. Our pastors, and our churches still need folk like that today. Please humble our hearts Lord, so that we may always seek to serve You and represent You in all that we do, so that all the glory will be attributed to You alone. Please humble the hearts of those who need You today, and open their eyes to all that You are doing in their world, and possible even through us. Be glorified in us today, oh Lord. 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 might 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 subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

A Compassionate Heart

On By Ed AlgreenIn Compassion, Forgiven, Forgiveness, Generous, Genuine, Genuine example of JesusLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Monday, 2017-02-27
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Genesis 50:19-21 (TLB)

Text:

 19 But Joseph told them, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, to judge and punish you? 20 As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil, for he brought me to this high position I have today so that I could save the lives of many people. 21 No, don’t be afraid. Indeed, I myself will take care of you and your families.” And he spoke very kindly to them, reassuring them.
OBSERVATION:
Joseph had all the reason in the world to bring revenge on his brothers, and he had the power to simply say the word, and they would have been eliminated. Instead he chose to look at all that God had accomplished through him, in spite of all that his brothers had cruelly forced on him. A sincere man of God who showed the compassion of God under extreme circumstances.
APPLICATION:
It takes a great man/woman of God to withold revenge when they’ve been hurt, and instead to give God glory for all that He did even through circumstances that seemed extremely awful to them. There is another excellent example of this given in my New Testament reading today. In Matthew 18:26 and following, we see the story of a servant who received forgiveness of a huge debt that he owed, yet he was unable to forgive his debtor who owed him money. Just the complete opposite to the example of Joseph. Notice the difference, one case ended in forgiveness and with a true example of God, the One who gave His very own Son to pay the price for our sin. Using His God-given strength, He could have avoided the cross, plus He had every reason to seek revenge against those who had Him crucified, but instead He did the Father’s will so that we might have eternal life. In the other example, we see the heart of bitter, ungodly men today, for this world does a great job in teaching mankind about selfish desires and ungodly revenge. Which of these are closest to the response you might give to those who seek to offend you? Hopefully you have decided to seek God’s face for His leading in your life to best handle situations that may portray His compassionate heart. Please allow me to introduce you to my Savior. I really want you to know about this awesome Jesus of mine who not only shows compassion to His followers, but also has the power to help us be more like Him in being compassionate to even the vilest offenders that may cross our path today. There is scripture included in the link behind the words ‘To Know Jesus’ below, please take time to read what the Bible has to say about your salvation. Otherwise, please feel free to contact me via email or see a local Bible teaching pastor who would gladly show you the way to heaven. Showing compassion to one another is a means of proving that your relaionship with the primary Compassionate One, is evident.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, I believe that the world is dying to see a difference in Your children, compared to the rest of this cruel world. Thank You for the lesson in being compassionate today, and the great example through Your servant Joseph, who had every reason to lash back at his brothers, and had every authority at his command to totally destroy them. Yet as a man under Your authority, seeking to be like You in every way, chose to humble himself and praise You for the work You accomplished through him, rather than paying back through revenge. Lord, I strongly believe that we must seek Your powerful hand to help us in circumstances like this, because even in circumstances of forgiveness we still want You to be glorified. Although I might be first at your throne today in response to this lesson, I pray that You might also touch the hearts of each of my readers today and fill us with a heart like Yours, one that will show compassion and God’s love in every response that we give today. I ask these things humbly dear Lord, but also boldly knowing that You can humble even the vilest offender. May Your children be great imitators of their loving and compassionate Savior today, beginning with me, for this is my humble prayer oh Lord, 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!

Things That Impact Our Words and Actions

On By Ed AlgreenIn Clear Conscience, Genuine, HonestyLeave a comment

The Holy Bible  (The Good News Translation – 1 Timothy 1:3-7): Some people there are teaching false doctrines, and you must order them to stop. 4Tell them to give up those legends and those long lists of ancestors, which only produce arguments; they do not serve God’s plan, which is known by faith. 5The purpose of this order is to arouse the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith. 6Some people have turned away from these and have lost their way in foolish discussions. 7They want to be teachers of God’s law, but they do not understand their own words or the matters about which they speak with so much confidence.

Thoughts:  Timothy’s mentor, Paul, instructed him to stay in Macedonia to help keep religious leaders accountable to the Word of God. Paul found this necessary because the leaders were getting caught up in false doctrines, old stories that were often untrue, and ancestry. As it was then, so it is today friends, for the church was established to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ. Imagine how hopeless Christianity would be today if we went to church to have our ears tickled by words that may or may not be true, but which sounds real good to the hearer. But Paul didn’t just tell Timothy what was wrong, he gave him leadership on what to look for and what to teach in order to help these people. I believe that Paul’s words and leadership is just as applicable to us today, as it was for Timothy in taking the message to the Macedonians. Our actions and our words must be those from a loving and pure heart, a clear conscience and a genuine faith. Some might question how Paul knew what filled the hearts of the church leaders. I would dare say to you friends that most people will quickly tell when you are speaking from a heart of love and genuine compassion. From a heart that has experienced the gospel of which you speak. Conversely, others can tell quicker than you imagine when you are fake, trying to impress, or speaking the words written by someone else without it ever impacting your own heart. There is an old saying “you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time”! However, putting aside who you can or cannot fool into believing a lie of yours, how would you feel lying in bed at night knowing that you were not totally honest with those that you shared the Word of God with that day? Furthermore, what type of expression would you imagine seeing on God’s face if you were not genuine, faithful and truthful in declaring His Word to a lost person, who will probably continue in their lost condition until they could possibly hear genuine Truth? Missed opportunities will cause you more grief than you might care to experience, friend. For many, there is no time for dancing around the subject, for they may never see another opportunity this side of heaven ….…… or hell. I want to strive towards seeing a smile on God’s face as He listens in to my conversations and/or my teaching, also in my actions, love and concern for the non-Christian. How is it with you friend? Do you suspect there is a smile or disappointment on God’s face as He looks in on your life?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You paved a perfect path for us to follow. Slogans such as WWJD have helped to attune ourselves to Your guidance, but we often fail in reacting with pure intentions to every scenario in life, and we often seek to please and/or impress our audiences. However, I was deeply reminded today that I may as well come before You as a child, in honesty, purity, innocence and openness, for You know my very heart – my thoughts and my intentions. Please forgive me for the times that I have tried to be anything else to anyone, especially if I misrepresented You or falsely represented myself. I pray that it will not be necessary for You to provide a Paul or Timothy to clear up misrepresentations of myself or my friends who will read this devotional today, for I pray that they will deal with any impacts on their lives, for we want to be pure and holy before You and our fellow man. Please continue to work on us when we stray away from these ideals and help us to stay true to You in our everyday lives. I pray for Your help, Your guidance and in accordance with Your will. I ask all this believing on, and in, the 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!