Category: God’s Nature

Be Filled With The Nature of God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, God's Nature, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, The Mind of Christ, Worship2 Comments

DATE POSTED Monday, 2022-10-17
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Ephesians 3:16-19
TRANSLATION: Good News Translation (GNT)

BIBLE TEXT: 16 I ask God from the wealth of his glory to give you power through his Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, 17 and I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, 18 so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love. 19 Yes, may you come to know his love—although it can never be fully known—and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.

APPLICATION: I was deeply moved by Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church. What do you suppose would happen if our pastors today had such a deep commitment to their churches, that they would pray that each member or attendee might be filled with the nature of God. Can you imagine the impact this would have on a community, to encounter family, neighbors, friends, and coworkers that not only say they are Christian, but whose nature reflects the Christ that they claim to belong to? At a previous church that I attended, there was a group study that I missed because of work obligations. It was entitled ‘The Mind of Christ’. If we were impacted by Paul’s prayer, or if we tried to imitate the life and teachings of our Lord, can you imagine the difference we would find in our homes, workplaces, local stores, the customer support associates that we deal with over the phone, and yes, even our fellow church members? Friends let’s remember that it’s not just Paul, or our pastors that should pray for such acts of God among His people, it’s folk like you and I that should pray for a move of God first and foremost in our own lives, then in the hearts and lives of those we know. Additionally, if we are committed to be more like our Master and Lord, then we would make it a priority each day to study His Book of Instruction – His Holy Word. For that is where the Holy Spirit inspires us to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, so that all these things will be given to us. Let me encourage you to make it your personal goal to be filled with the nature of God, and aim at having the mind of Christ in all that you think, do and say. Set the example for others to follow. Let them see Jesus in you, so that they too may desire a walk that exemplifies Jesus Christ. Unbelievers often need to see this practiced before they could believe something preached to them, or that they may even read for themselves. Let them see and experience Jesus when they meet you, my friend.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Trees and plants thrive and are productive when their roots are embedded in soil that is rich in nutrients. I believe that our lives will become much more productive for the Kingdom, when our lives are completely filled with the nature and mind of Jesus Christ!

PRAYER: Lord, please have Your perfect will and way in the lives of Your children today. For I believe that if we stop interfering with your work, perhaps more family and friends will see You at work in us and want a personal relationship with You also. You placed us here on earth to facilitate Your work, not to obstruct its effectiveness to the unsaved. Lord, for those who have surrendered our hearts to You, please give us a burning desire to be just like You while allowed to remain on earth. Please fill us with Your precious nature and Your heart, so that we might represent You in ways that others will desire in order to know and accept You as 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!

We Have Everything We Need

On By Ed AlgreenIn Everything We Need, God's Nature, Intimate with GodLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – 2 Peter 1:3-4): 3 We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learned that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness. 4 God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.

 THOUGHTS: What a glorious thought! Can you imagine the self-confidence that will conjure up inside of you the next time that you are faced with the temptation to sin, or the impossibilities of life, when you can brush Satan aside and say confidently that greater is He that in in us, than he that is in the world? Wow! Can you even imagine the awesomeness of God to give us these promises with the intent of our character becoming more like His? Verse 4 declares that “His nature would become part of us”! Friends I don’t know about you, but I pray for that every day, that I might become more like Jesus, especially through my words and actions. As additional clarification of this, verse 4 ends with telling us that this special gift from God will serve to help us escape evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world. So why then do we (Christians) get caught in so many traps of sin? Could it be that we are so far from a true relationship with God that we are insensitive to the work of His sweet Holy Spirit in our lives? Yes, I know that you go to church at least once a week, and yes I know you give more money to your local church than ever before, but friend, God works in and through a real and intimate relationship with Him, not through a casual experience or through things we do to please our mother or perhaps the pastor. Relationships are developed through intimate, daily interaction in unison with the wishes and desires of the person with whom we have chosen to build a relationship. Let’s get serious about our relationship with God, and perhaps He will get serious with His blessings and miracles in our life! To the non-Christian reading this, you will not be able to identify with much of what I have shared. That’s because this type of relationship is only available to those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord. That can include you, starting right now! Please click on my hyperlink below on “How to Know Jesus”. Please contact me with any questions or just to pray with you about your relationship with God. He loves you deeply and wants you to have everything you need to live life like He intended!

 PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You so much for loving Your children so intimately that You would reassure us through Your servant Peter that You have given us everything we need to live our lives pleasing to You. Often this seems impossible, but praise God You know what we need more than we could ever begin to imagine! Please anoint Your children with this confidence today as they are reminded of Your Word, Your promise. May we live like children of the Most High today, so that others might want to know You, or be drawn closer to You. Father, please tender the hearts of the unsaved today, so that they might see the need for a Savior and want to live in the light of Your sweet promises. Have Your will and way in our lives today dear God, for I ask this in the strong name of Your Son, Jesus my Savior, and for His sake only, 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!