Category: God’s Work

God May Be Working Through You

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, God's Work, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Wednesday, 2021-03-17
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Exodus 9:13-18
TRANSLATION: The Message (MSG)

BIBLE TEXT: 13-18 God said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘God, the God of the Hebrews, says: Release my people so they can worship me. This time I am going to strike you and your servants and your people with the full force of my power so you’ll get it into your head that there’s no one like me anywhere in all the Earth. You know that by now I could have struck you and your people with deadly disease and there would be nothing left of you, not a trace. But for one reason only I’ve kept you on your feet: To make you recognize my power so that my reputation spreads in all the Earth. You are still building yourself up at my people’s expense. You are not letting them go. So here’s what’s going to happen…..

OBSERVATION: Way too often we may look at a situation and accuse a person of being much too stubborn to ever hear God, or allow Him to work through them. At other times we may think that God is being excessively harsh on our friends. But today I want us to meditate on how we tend to respond when God is possibly ready to work through us to reach others.

APPLICATION: The stubbornness of Pharoah to obey God and let the Israelites leave his country is almost unbelievable. But did this come as a surprise to God? Of course not, for God told Moses up front that this would happen, and He reminded Moses of what to expect with each demand made of the king. One might wonder how Moses could continue to be persistent in obedience, knowing that with each demand he carefully delivered to the king, it would once again be mocked and/or disobeyed. Friends, the answer to that is no different to the job of a pastor each week when he delivers the Word of God through sermons. For the pastor spends hours preparing his heart and mind to share from God’s Word, knowing full well that his sermon might impact only a very small percentage of the congregation, and an even smaller percentage who will actually respond in obedience to the Word. However, I believe that Moses and our pastors have developed, through experience, a sense of urgency in obeying God and knowing that it is sufficient for the call on their life to simply listen and obey the voice of God, knowing that He is God, and that He will be honored through our sincere obedience in doing what He instructs. So where does that leave us? I believe it is important for us to know that our relationship with the King of Glory demands a heart that will please God. We do that through: Meeting with God regularly in prayer – a time that we could converse with God about the complexities of life, and to share our heart of thanksgiving with Him; Reading His Word and applying it to our life, before ever thinking about who else would benefit from it; and Obeying His instructions that we have discerned from the Word. When we do these things, we will open up ourselves to be God’s hands and feet here on earth. We will make ourselves available as His instrument to those who need Jesus, and for those desiring to draw closer to God. Notice that the Christian life is all about God, and our willingness to allow Him to use us like He did with Moses. I don’t believe that God would fill us with more of Himself if we only plan to keep it to ourselves. He’s not looking for another ‘Red Sea’, but for a river that gushes forth with the love of Christ in every action we take, or word that we speak. You too can be another ‘Moses’, if only you are willing to honor God through obeying His commands, knowing full well that, in time, He will be honored and His work will be accomplished on earth, as it is in heaven.

PRAYER: Precious Lord, please take our hand and guide us into total obedience to You, even when it seems like no one is listening or trying to change because of what we share about You. Moses never gave up, even though he initially found many excuses. It’s no different with us, for we are the first to give in and see nothing but failure ahead. You told us that: ‘With Christ all things are possible’. May we be constantly reminded that all power comes from above, and that our job is to listen to, and obey Your commands, knowing that You will do the rest. Use us Lord, as You did with Moses, to change the world for the glory of God. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org 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 or listening to this devotional, please go to 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. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. 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!

Think About Your Life Work

On By Ed AlgreenIn Consistent, God's Work, Work Til Jesus ComesLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   2 Chronicles 29:11 (MSG)

TEXT:  Children, don’t drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in conducting and leading worship—this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well.

OBSERVATION:   Our challenge is: Children, don’t drag your feet in this! God has chosen you to take your place before him to serve in ___________________ – this is your life work; make sure you do it and do it well.”

APPLICATION:   Friends, I believe that God has a work for each of us to do, so I would encourage you to fill in the blank above, then repeat that verse as many times as you care to, so that God’s message might get through to each of us today, that He has a work for us to do, and He wants us to consider it a life work, because He wants to see us commit to doing it well! I’ve heard friends say: but I’m not a preacher; and – but I can’t stand in front of people and teach; and – but I can’t even pray in public; and – but the preacher will have to talk to them about salvation, because I’m not intelligent enough to do that. Now I realize that there is a comeback for each of these excuses, but I will only encourage you today to simply tell your story. If God leads someone to you, then I believe that He obviously has a plan for you to share something about your faith with them, so that He might be glorified. Think about this: if God leads someone to you and you tell them that you really can’t share with them the secret of God’s grace, or how He saved you, they may wonder if what you think you have is real. Ask any of us if we are married, when we got married, where we got married and how long we’ve been married, and most spouses could respond in a heartbeat. But we can’t answer the same questions about our relationship with the Savior of the world? May I dare say that your latter relationship must either be a farce, or you are a puppet who simply did something or said words dictated to you, or you receive no nourishment and/or companionship from the relationship? Friends, your testimony/story should include what your life was like before Jesus; How you met Jesus; and what your life has been like after accepting Jesus. If you then invite your friend who is asking to know this Savior of yours, then you have just done the equivalent of what pastors do week after week in our pulpits. I believe you can share your story, if you want to and if there is a story to tell. Please don’t talk yourself into being a Christian because of peer pressure or any outside influence, as that will create false hope. There is only one way – invite the Lord Jesus to forgive you of your sin and become Lord and Master of your life, through your faith in this simple act. You will grow in your faith through studying the Word of God, so that He could speak to you; have an active prayer life, so that you could speak to God; and fellowship with other believers (most believers do this through obeying God’s Word – where He tells us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together). In doing the latter we grow from each other and remind each other of the wonderful works of our awesome God! Friends, God has placed us here on earth to complete His work for His glory. This is our life work that he expects us to do for His glory until the very end. Let’s do it well!

PRAYER:   Lord, thank You for blessing Your children beyond anything that we could wish or ask for, beginning with Salvation itself. Help us to activate the love you have instilled in us, and be willing to share the many blessings that You have given to us. Lord, if you see fit to bless us in return, like you promised to the sons of Hezekiah, then we will be forever thankful, but please help us to bless others, and be diligent about our life work. 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!

 

Reassurance To Participate In God’s Work!

On By Ed AlgreenIn God's Work, Miracles1 Comment

Post Date:

 Monday, 2017-09-04
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Judges 7:13-15 (TLB)

Text:

 …. “I had this strange dream,” he was saying, “and there was this huge loaf of barley bread that came tumbling down into our camp. It hit our tent and knocked it flat!”
14 The other soldier replied, “Your dream can mean only one thing! Gideon, the son of Joash, the Israeli, is going to come and massacre all the allied forces of Midian!”
15 When Gideon heard the dream and the interpretation, all he could do was just stand there worshiping God!
OBSERVATION:
In order to encourage Gideon that everything was aligning just as God said it would for the battle against the Midianites and their allies, God told Gideon to sneak down by their camp and he might overhear something! This was the last piece of encouragement that Gideon needed, but before he proceeded to battle, he first stopped and worshipped the Lord God for being so patient with him and for the awesome God that He was! A great lesson for all of us….
APPLICATION:
I would encourage you to read the whole chapter on this, because Gideon was just like us in doubting that he was really hearing from God, and about His mighty works. God went through a time of testing by Gideon, that allowed him to prove that it was really God telling him to go to battle. Then Gideon put together the size army that he thought he would need, around 32,000 men. In verse 2 God told Gideon that He wanted to make sure that his army would never boast of their own works in this battle, so God ordered Gideon on how to reduce the army to…. 300 men! Can you imagine how blown away Gideon must have been? But Gideon was very obedient and did as God said. Just in case Gideon was still having some doubt, God gave him yet another piece of encouragement, by sending him to the outskirts of the enemy camp so he could overhear how they were feeling. Friends, I know that we read story after story in the Bible that might frighten us about our lack of faith in the all-powerful God that we serve, but this story reminded me of the peace that we can have in our totally patient God. He is awesome in power and could independently win battles with, or without us. His love for us is outstanding. His patience for those that He created is strikingly amazing! There is no god like our God! There is no love, like the love He has for us! Praise God that He encourages us through our humble pittance that we could attribute to His work, knowing full well that more often than not, we probably just get in His way. Yet He is patient and willing to teach us each time that we are willing to participate in His work! Friends, if we are going to be the image of Christ to unbelievers, we must be engaged in His work. Yes, we know that we are not able to do a whole lot using only our God-given talent, but just as God told Gideon, He wants it to be evident that God performs the miracle, or the work, even though He may have allowed us to be involved here on earth!
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, You are awesome in every aspect of life! It blows us away that You would even use such simple folk as us to accomplish Your work, and that Your mighty work can be accomplished through us, if only we would humble ourselves and let You. Just as we read about the miracles you performed through Gideon, I have faith to believe that You can also do the same through Your servants today. Many who will read this devotional today know You personally. Please use us in Your work here on earth in some form, so that Your work might spread throughout the earth even through us. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, 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!

Our Awesome Lord!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Dependence on God, Envy, God's Work, Trust, TruthLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Monday, 2017-06-05
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Psalm 37:3-7 (NCV)

Text:

3 Trust the Lord and do good.
    Live in the land and feed on truth.
4 Enjoy serving the Lord,
    and he will give you what you want.
5 Depend on the Lord;
    trust him, and he will take care of you.
6 Then your goodness will shine like the sun,
    and your fairness like the noonday sun.

7 Wait and trust the Lord.
    Don’t be upset when others get rich
    or when someone else’s plans succeed.
OBSERVATION:
This is a very positive Psalm where David gives those of us who trust in the Lord some very positive actions: Do good; Feed on the truth; Enjoy serving the Lord; Depend on the Lord; Trust in the Lord; Wait on the Lord; Don’t envy others who get rich or succeed. In concentrating on these things, our goodness and fairness will shine like the sun!
APPLICATION:
I found that some of these very things that David mentioned, are some of the very things that Christians struggle with today. So I believe that it is important that we take note of key points that David teaches us on how to achieve favor with God and be happy in our life experiences:

  • Trust in the Lord and follow His ways – always do good;
  • While living here on earth aim at filling your mind with truth. Ultimate truth is from God almighty, so feed on His Word daily. News reports are so twisted and slanted anymore until listening to their reports will give you impartial truths, and often untruths. Look for truth and don’t be so quick to accept what the world says;
  • Seek out work that benefits the Kingdom, and enjoy what you do for the Lord. Churches are always looking for volunteers, and often it is so challenging to get that help. God attaches a reward to this point, that He will give you all you want!
  • Another point with a promised reward, is that when you Depend on the Lord and trust in Him, He has promised to take care of you!
  • Don’t be so quick to look at the riches in others or their ability to succeed, God has a reward for you that is ‘out of this world’!

Friends, verse 6 sums up our rewards in ways that this world cannot understand or appreciate: our goodness will become obvious, and our fairness will be recognized just as the noonday sun! In other words, our efforts to be like Jesus and show His goodness to the world will please God and ultimately bless us in return! Glory to God for His goodness to us, His humble servants!
PRAYER:
Dear Father, thank You for using Your servant David to encourage us to live our lives pleasing You and blessing others. Lord, You bless us in so many ways and we are eternally thankful. May we be encouraged through Your Word today to be Your hands extended to those in need, and may we love and encourage just as You have done for us, so that You may be glorified in all that we do and say. 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!

Enjoy Your Work

On By Ed AlgreenIn God's Work, Teamwork, Work, Work Til Jesus Comes, WorkplaceLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Tuesday, 2017-04-25
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Ecclesiastes 9:9-10 (ERV)

Text:

 9 …. Enjoy every day of your short life. God has given you this short life on earth—and it is all you have. So enjoy the work you have to do in this life. 10 Every time you find work to do, do it the best you can.…
OBSERVATION:
Our attention is drawn to the fact that God has given us the ability to provide for ourselves – the strength, knowledge, pride and desire. We are encouraged to take advantage of that and not look at it as punishment, but rather a blessing. Wow, if only we could find employees who enjoy coming to work every day because they consider it a God-given privilege and joy! Perhaps we should lead the way, right?
APPLICATION:
For the child of God, we find verses like these that God uses to spur us on to be the best we can be in our work places and to show that we actually enjoy our jobs. We often use phrases like ‘TGIF’ or ‘Hump Day’ that indicates to the world that we are glad to see this chore, called ‘work’ nearing an end. For the unbeliever, there might be a variety of feelings, including feeling unappreciated, underpaid or perhaps overworked. Isn’t it amazing how unimportant all of these things become when we hear of our competition closing their doors, and many dear friends or family losing their jobs? Or perhaps we apply for a job elsewhere and see that we are not worth anywhere near what we thought we are worth monetarily? Friends, I believe that the Scripture is telling us to appreciate the gifts that God has given to us; the blessings that God has poured out on us to have a good job; the interesting challenges that we face on our jobs that come to stretch our minds and give us the ability to grow in knowledge and understanding; the awakening of being faced with a menial task sometimes, so that we could appreciate what subordinates face each day; the occasional walk through a hospital, assisted living facility or a prison so that our eyes might be opened to the fact that but for grace of God, it could very easily have been one of us in that facility. I truly believe that the person who sits idle and unappreciative of work, is the one who says to God ‘thanks, but no thanks’! Friend, God has blessed you with gifts, abilities and a desire to provide for yourself and your family. Is he proud of what you are doing with all that He has given to you? Can you praise Him and thank Him even today for the work that you do? I pray that you will not be ashamed to stand before the throne and thank God for all your accomplishments resulting from all that He blessed you with!
PRAYER:
Lord, with my hands; my mind and the many gifts that You have blessed me with, I lift them to You in praise and thanksgiving. I pray that You will help each of us today to use our talents to provide for ourselves and our families, and that we will never hide them under a bushel because we feel like someone else is much more capable than us. I pray that our eyes will be opened to the gifts You have specifically blessed us with, and that we will see the purpose for which You have placed us where we are at for such a time as this. You have never made a mistake Lord Jesus, please help us to stop finding excuses for why we can’t…. but instead look for all the blessings You have given to us that allows us the abilities to accomplish great things! 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!

Respond To The Work Assigned By God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Committed, God's Will, God's WorkLeave a comment

Monday, 2016-07-04

Scripture

Bible Reference: Acts 20:22–24

Bible Text:  22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. 24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

This is a lot for us to think about on this special day – US Independence Day! Let’s first look at Paul’s scenario: He was on his way for a ministry that he was convinced God had called him to. Where? –  Jerusalem; Job Description? – Unknown; Fringe benefits? Jail and suffering; Why should he continue on to do this? – because his life would be meaningless if he knew God had assigned something to him, and he chose to do anything else but that work. So let us look inward, and how we are responding to our God assignments. Would we be willing to go into an area of our own country that is extremely poor, or always in the news because of the extreme criminal activity? How about to another country where they have not been able to keep up with the modern day conveniences that we are accustomed to? Having your doubts? I probably would have also, but notice that there is no indication that Paul had any doubts. How about assignments right around your own church? Do you willingly accept them, knowing that your life might very well be miserable if you don’t accept the work that God has in store for you – to tell others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God? ‘Unqualified’ was your best response? May I encourage you to read the above verses again? Paul was headed out on a journey not knowing what God would have him do, so do you think he felt qualified to do it? Friends, as children of God, striving to obey the will of God, we make ourselves available to Him to be used for His ultimate glory. For such a specialized work as that, do you suppose for a moment that He expects you to do it in and of your own strengths and abilities? He wants our availability, not our abilities! Oh that we, the children of the most high God, might learn to move and act in faith, and learn to allow God to move mightily in and through us, perhaps then our relationship with Him might be stronger, and His work become more effective even through us. Won’t you consider being a ‘Paul’ today? Go where God sends you and do what He orders you to do, friend. It’s all for His glory anyway, so let’s facilitate the work, God being our helper and guide.

Prayer

Merciful Father, Master and Lord, You have everything under Your perfect control, yet You use even us – your children to work through us, like You did with Your servant Paul, to tell others about Your grace, Your love and Your saving power. Lord, please help us to respond to You with confidence, know that You can use even us to accomplish Your perfect will. Please give us strength to brush aside the attacks of Satan that cause us to find excuses when it comes to answering Your call. There was no excuse when You were ordered to the cross for our sacrifice. You did it because of Your love for us. Oh that we might love You enough to do Your will and share Your Good News with a world that is dying and going to Hell. Please touch Your children once again Lord, May it be today. 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. 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 www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org 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!

Carry On With The Master’s Work

On By Ed AlgreenIn God's Work, WorkLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (Good News Translation – Philippians 1: 3-6): (3) I thank my God for you every time I think of you; (4) and every time I pray for you all, I pray with joy (5) because of the way in which you have helped me in the work of the gospel from the very first day until now. (6) And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus.

My Observations: I believe that it is true in every Christian based group, that you will find: A ‘Pastor’ or minister or priest or similar leader; A ‘Support Team’, such as elders, deacons or other such leadership group; and the ‘People’ (you and I). Although not scriptural, I am saddened that many of the ‘People’ see themselves as spectators and therefore, the work of the Lord is squarely on the shoulders of the ‘Pastor’ or the ‘Support Team’. You might wonder why this would sadden me. I don’t believe that you will find this thought supported anywhere in scripture, instead you will find many other references to the ‘People’ being cautioned, encouraged and led to take what they have learned in the church and to go and share/minister to others who are not at church. In our scripture this morning you will see where Paul is giving thanks to God for the good work accomplished by the ‘People’, and he quickly acknowledged that it was God who began, and continued, the work in them. Don’t you see that there might be obvious disobedience, if we choose to ignore the desire God places in us, and shows us through the need for ministry and the ongoing spiritual needs of others? Many might quickly respond that they feel so unprepared to minister to someone. May I remind you that it is only through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit that we are to move out in ministry on God’s behalf? Please don’t interfere with the work of the Holy Spirit by refusing to obey the opportunities He deliberately places in our path. Please don’t offer to take that friend to church next week so they can have their needs attended to. Yes, one of their deep needs might be to fellowship with other believers through church worship services, but the last thing I believe that any Christian would want to hear by our Savior, is the disappointment over the missed opportunities to minister to a friend who never lived to see the next worship service. I can easily understand how we all have different qualifications and gifts, but remember that God would never ask us to do the job of our ‘called’ pastor. All He would expect of us is to make ourselves open and available to be used by Him to minister to lost and/or hurting people who need a Savior. God will use our availability far greater than any earthly taught abilities. Let’s be open to allowing God to do His work in and through us friend!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please forgive me for feeling inadequate to minister to my friends and family, and for not allowing You to take control of my life, my words and my actions. I want to represent You and freely open the doors of my life so that my words might be yours and my actions controlled by You and used by You as appropriate. You spoke to my heart through a wonderful messenger of Yours, may others receive You, and/or be renewed in You because of what You might accomplish in and through me. Like Paul gave thanks for those who listened to You and were used by You, I pray that my readers would also acquire the desire to be used by You also. May Your name be praised and lifted high this day and throughout 2015 is my heart’s cry that I ask in the precious 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!