Category: Heaven

This refers to my new home in glory with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

God Has Plans For Us!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Heaven, The PlanLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – Jeremiah 29:11-13): 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

 

THOUGHTS: I believe that there is so much hope and encouragement for us when we realize that our employer has great plans for us while in his/her employment. It tends to bring us great hope about our future, and therefore a peace and a calmness about our present time with the company. In this story in Jeremiah, I found it interesting how God saw that His people were losing hope because of one calamity after another, so He decided to give them the ‘big’ picture! Friends, this is a picture of our loving God! Just imagine how awful things are in our world today, with crime and war taking such a toll on nations, on states and on cities, and how it all takes such prominence in our daily news. In fact, it often discourages many to just not listen to the news at all. For Christians who are struggling to see the difference God is making in our own neighborhoods, homes and churches, I believe that God might respond in very similar words to us. For I believe that He expects us to keep on believing, trusting and leaning on Him. Keep our eyes fixed on Him, knowing that all things work together for good, for those who trust in Him and call on His name. We are to never give up, or even become discouraged, for taking our eyes off God will cause us to fail and lose hope. I truly believe that God is the same today as He was yesterday, and for those who keep the faith, those who trust in Him through the good times and through the bad times of life, will receive the same assurance from God as He gave to the exiles in Babylon:

I have great plans for you, son. You are truly loved by me, daughter. Plans to lift you up, love on you, provide a glorious home for you, and bring you into my presence. So don’t give up. Be encouraged. Continue to pray to me, and I will continue to listen. But I don’t want you to be half-hearted in anything you do for me, think about me, or believe in me for. You will find me, and you will receive my attention to your needs. Remember, you have been bought with a price, and no one will snatch you out of my hand. I long to have you near Me and enjoy My presence.

Can you rejoice with me over the thought of all this friend? Can you sing that song with me “Oh That Will Be, Glory For Me“, or perhaps “What A Day That Will Be, when my Jesus I shall see“? I am thrilled and encouraged to know that my God has way bigger and better plans for me than what mere eyes can see or imagine today! To my readers, I have just one warning to this great news: the Bible is clear that this is reserved for those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Please read my ‘Footnote’ and ensure that you are included in the number that will rejoice around the feet of Jesus. You can have that assurance today!

 

PRAYER: Father in heaven I thank You for the encouragement I gain from Your Word, and the opportunity to share that encouragement with my friends through this channel. I believe that there are many, like me, who needed reminding of this promise today, because we easily become discouraged when we hear so much about Satan’s work around us, and insufficient about the plans that are in store for us who believe on You and have committed our lives to You. Thank You for the BIG plans You have for us! No matter our status in life today, we will be humbled at Your feet when You call us home to be with You. No matter what struggles beset us today – health, family issues, job woes, crime or misfortune, these will all be non-existent in Your BIG plan, for I believe there will only be time and space for our endless worship of You and to enjoy Your blessed presence. Please help us to stay focused on that, and therefore not allow the temporary ills of this world to get us down. The good times ahead cannot compare to the small challenges we face today here on earth, so as we center on that and minimized our attention to the earthly life, please help us to learn to glorify You today in all things, as we practice for the endless praise and adoration in a day to follow. That will be glory for me! Thank You Jesus for Your sacrifice and Your pure evidence of love for me! I humbly life up these petitions in Your precious and holy name, Lord 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!

How To Recognize the Last Days

On By Ed AlgreenIn Christ's Return, Come Soon, Heaven, Last DaysLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The New Living Translation – 2 Timothy 3:1-5): 1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

THOUGHTS: As I meditated on this, I realized that some will stumble across this and won’t have a clue what this is all about, because unless they have heard something about the second coming of Jesus Christ, they live each day without regard to their state of readiness. To some, this might be a reminder that they have a few ‘clean-up’ items to attend to before the return of Jesus. To Christians, we are to be reminded that our work and our witness has never been as urgent as it is today. Scripture tells us that the day of Jesus’ return is known only to God, so no one else really knows. However, the Bible tells us that only the prepared (those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior) will be accepted into heaven. Because of their commitment, Christians are to always be prepared to leave this old world and join with the millions who have also made a similar life-decision, to meet at the feet of Jesus and worship Him. We are also to be busy convincing those whom we love, and who we want to join us around the throne. For those who have not made it a priority to surrender your lives to Jesus, I believe that you will see from the warning signs in the scripture today, that we are living in the last days. Jesus could return before you complete the reading of this devotional. I have an obligation to also remind you that when Jesus returns to take His bride (believers in Jesus Christ) home with Him, it will not just be business as usual for those of you that are not ready. For the Bible says that you will be cast into a hot, burning, hell with Satan and his angels where you will spend a miserable eternity, without further opportunity to redeem yourself. On my phone I have a weather app that warns me of approaching danger – perhaps a tornado, or other such dangerous weather. This app was programmed to recognize these dangers based on certain conditions in the atmosphere and weather patterns. Please consider this scripture as a Biblical warning about the impending end of life as we know it today. Christians have read about heaven in the Bible, sung about it, dreamed about it and anxiously await the transition day. May I suggest to all not fitting in that category that you should consider this as a warning from God that His return is near. We are living in the last days, and He could come at any time. There will not be a shelter in which you can hide until He returns again. There are no plans for a third return. It will be heaven or hell. Where will you open your eyes in eternity? If there is the slightest doubt that it will be in heaven, may I encourage you to follow the steps outlined in my ‘Footnote’? Friend, Jesus loves you more than you can imagine and not only do I want to see you accept Him as Lord and be in the group going to heaven, but my whole idea of sharing these devotionals online, is my hope that you might be touched and prompted to join my band of fellow Christians as we await the coming of Jesus! Do it today friend! Be ready should He return before your very next hour!

PRAYER: Dear Father in heaven, thank You for providing a place for us to look forward to after our time here on this earth! In meditating on the signs in this scripture today, I am convinced that the return of Your Son to take His children home is very near, and I believe that many fellow Christians will join me in singing “Come Soon Lord Jesus“, for the stresses and heartaches resulting from these signs are hard on us. Please hear my cry today to speak to the hearts of my family and friends who have yet to accept You as Lord. They are playing such a dangerous game of procrastination. I humbly ask that You tender their hearts today, open their eyes of understanding and lead them to the truth contained in Your Word. Please, may this be the day of salvation for them? I pray that Christian friends reading this devotional today will also catch a glimpse of the urgency of which I speak, and that we may be busy about the work of the Lord today. Yes, many of us have jobs to attend today, but Lord, I believe that we are Your hands and feet on the ground, so may our lives portray Your unconditional love, and may our actions be proof of whose we are, for I believe non-believers must see living proof of a living Savior to convince them of their need. Use us oh Lord, and may Your kingdom come, for thine is the glory, for ever and ever, 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!

A Glimpse of Heaven!

On By Ed AlgreenIn HeavenLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.

(Bible Translation and Location: The Message – 2 Corinthians 5:2-5)

Thoughts:

I believe that as folk get nearer to retirement age here on earth, they begin to think about, they dream, and they start planning towards the day that they won’t have to wake up early every day to go to work, but more than that, to the good life ahead! I’m getting there, so I can tell you first hand!! Often when we visit Christians who are physically sick, they will share how praiseworthy it is to think about heaven with no main pain, heartaches or sickness. At farewell services for our loved ones, we often hear about the beauty of heaven and how Jesus is there to welcome His children home. In these verses today Paul is reflecting on his heavenly body and his eternal home. However compared to the real thing, our understanding from God’s Word mixed with our imagination and expectation of being with our Lord and Savior, is only like whetting our appetite! As I write this I am overly excited about the prospect of seeing my Savior, my Lord, my King and spending eternity with Him, how about you friend? So is this a place you can look forward to going, is the big question? In America, we will soon be voting to decide who will be our local leaders in government, and it is our combined vote that decides our future leaders. Very important stuff, because we could stand to see an improved government, or not. The deciding factor for which home we will find ourselves in at the end of this life here on earth is equally as precise, but much more important. Compared to one vote today politically, is the one deciding factor that determines whether you will see the glories of heaven, the face of our Savior and rejoice with the angels around the throne of God forever! The Bible tells us that we if make no decision (like not voting), then being born a sinner, we will unfortunately live, and deal with Satan, the deceiver, the evil on, the destroyer, forever in the pits of hell. However, if we decide to listen to that still, small voice, that speaks calmly to our soul about our spiritual condition, and we make a decision to accept the King of the universe, the Savior of this world, the Son of God, Jesus my Savior into your life and ask Him to forgive you of your sin, then you too will receive eternal life and can begin dreaming about and looking forward to one day retiring from this world into His kingdom with Him! This excites me friend! I hope that your life will be impacted enough to make a decision for Jesus TODAY, if you don’t already know Him in a personal way. Please use the footnote to receive help in your decision today. I would be overjoyed to help you and/or welcome you into the family of God, as we daily walk together towards the portals of heaven! How beautiful heaven must be!

Prayer:

Thank You dear Lord for this glimpse of heaven that I received as I meditated on Your Word this morning, and as I listened to the song hyperlinked. Thank you for not only sacrificing Your life so that I may have access to this wonderful place called heaven, but thank You for building that desire within my heart to accept You as my Lord and Savior. Thank You for blessing me with many family and friends who already know You as Lord, and thank You for the opportunities in also blessing me with family and friends that have not yet made this important decision. May I humbly ask that You bless me with the necessary love, boldness, words and actions to bless these ones with, that might encourage them towards making this vital decision. Here on earth we can make many plans and decisions for retirement, but we have no assurances of ever seeing it. You have assured us of our eternal home, based on our decisions today. Thank You Jesus! May we be smart, humble and obedient to You, is my humble prayer that I ask in Your holy and wonderful name, 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!

How’s Your Eyesight? Blinded?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Blinded, Heaven, HellLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

(Bible Translation and Location: New Living Translation – 2 Corinthians 4:4)

Thoughts:

I believe that God has directed me to share this verse this morning for two reasons:

  1. To my friends who do exactly as this verse says – you struggle with believing in God. A God you can’t see, hear, feel or touch. Paul is telling you in plain words here, that the power of Satan is so strong in your life that he is actually blinding your spiritual eyes. In other words, he controls your mind and your heart so strongly that you have made the choice to dishonor the God of this universe, the One who created you, me and the whole world from the bottom up. In addition to just sharing this verse with you today, I want to share what might be a secret to you. There is another verse in the Bible that contains God’s Holy Word through its authors, and this verse actually says that God is no respecter of persons. He actually loves you as much as He loves myself and others I will address in point #2. You see in John 3:16, God had recorded in His Word that He loves everyone who will call on His name to be saved, and that they will actually receive eternal life with Him in heaven. Friend, in the earlier days of creation, there was a lot of sacrificing that was necessary to be accepted by God and to live a Godly life. God saw that this was an obstacle to many, so He ordained a young virgin woman (Mary) to be the mother of a Son (Jesus), so he later miraculously made her pregnant. This Son (Jesus) later became the sacrifice for us, and it is through Him that we have access to the Father (God). Friend that is unconditional and sacrificial love demonstrated in the purest form ever. Love in its most desperate form to win the heart of God’s children that He designed, protected and loves immensely. He desires a relationship with you friend. He loves you way too much to see you controlled by the Evil one and sorely distracted from the best thing that could very happen to you. Our communication with Jesus is through prayer (an open conversation with the very Son of God). Won’t you do me a favor and at least have a conversation with Him? Pour your heart out to Him. Let Him know how you feel, and what you would prefer to see with your life regarding your eternal destination. It’s either Heaven or Hell friend. Do nothing and know that you will one day join Satan and his demons in Hell. Instead, I plead with you to trust what I’ve shared with you and ask Jesus into your heart so that You might be one with Him, and look forward to a glorious time in heaven with Jesus, me and lots of other folk who have already made this important decision. By the way, Jesus will also be with you every day while here on earth, through every trial, temptation and even the very best of times. He wants to be with you and available to you at all times!
  2. To my friends who have accepted Jesus as your Master and Lord, please pray earnestly for your friends who you thought of as you read this verse. I’m sure that you are aware that the time remaining on this earth is drawing to an end. Meaning that your friends will not have much longer to make this very important decision of accepting Jesus. The Bible is clear, that without this reformation, they will not enter heaven. So your prayers are more desperately needed now than ever before. Remember, it is not sacrilegious to pray over and over for these lost ones. I want to see God’s very best for my loved ones, and I’m sure you feel the same. Let us therefore pray without ceasing, that God might break that hold of Satan on their lives, tender their hearts and give them the desperation needed to surrender unconditionally to Jesus. Like me, I’m sure that you are anxious to walk through the gates of heaven and see all of our family and friends there! Let us pray, friends, let’s use this primary tool in communicating with God about our heart’s desire.

Friend, if you would like to discuss how this devotional has impacted your life, or if you would like a prayer partner to help you make this important decision, please use the information in the footnote. Myself or any other Bible believing child of God would be ecstatic to pray with you or chat with you regarding your questions!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me so much! Thank You for humbling me, melting my wicked heart, convicting me of the hold that Satan had on my life that was keeping me away from You, and for loving me into a decision to accept You as my eternal King! What a glorious day! I believe that it is because of my happiness in You, and my love for my unsaved family and friends, that I am so moved in this reminder this morning. Please keep me very alert and praying for my friends that need to know You. Please keep them evident in my mind so that I may continually pray for them. Thank You Lord for saving my soul! Thank You for a place called Heaven, where I will one day join You around the throne of our Father! What a Day that will be! Jesus, my prayers are humbly placed at You feet asking that You honor my requests to day, for I ask it in Your precious name, 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!

How To Know You Are A Child of the King

On By Ed AlgreenIn All have sinned, Ask and Receive, Born Again, Christian, God Cares For Us, Grace, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Hope, Knowing Christ, Listen to the Word of God, Repentance, Righteousness, Victorious LifeLeave a comment

The Bible – The Good news Translation

1 Corinthians 6:9–11

9 Surely you know that the wicked will not possess God’s Kingdom. Do not fool yourselves; people who are immoral or who worship idols or are adulterers or homosexual perverts 10 or who steal or are greedy or are drunkards or who slander others or are thieves—none of these will possess God’s Kingdom. 11 Some of you were like that. But you have been purified from sin; you have been dedicated to God; you have been put right with God by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Thoughts:

Do you ever stop and ponder if you are truly saved and destined for heaven’s portals one day to be with Jesus? Perhaps your parents reminds you of a time that you made a public profession, or was baptized, but questions have arisen in your mind about your salvation because you, personally, don’t recall making a decision to accept Jesus as Lord of your life? Friends, I want to help you clarify that in your mind today in light of these highlighted verses. First of all, do you recall the day you graduated from high school? What about the day you got married? I bet by now you are wondering if I am being ridiculous with you, because these are important dates that everyone remembers. But that’s my point, these important dates are remembered because there was a specific time that your life changed. Friends, neither of these dates are anywhere near as important as the day that you may have said no to this world and its evil ways, and yes to Jesus and all the glories of heaven. This is a decision where your life changes forever, because through the power of the Holy Spirit that takes up residence in your life at the time of salvation, you leave behind the sins of this world, such as those mentioned in these verses by Paul to the Corinthian church, and you march to a different Master, a righteous Leader and Lord, who changes you from the inside out and leads you in the path of righteousness – right living according to God’s terms in His Word. Secondly, I want to draw the attention of those who may have accepted Jesus as Lord of your life, yet in reading these verses this morning you are guilty of some of these sins. Friends, this is not an all-inclusive list of sins, these are just the ones Paul saw happening among the Corinthian church members. But think of it this way, all unrighteousness is sin; every actual sin, committed with design, and not repented of, shuts out the kingdom of heaven, for no sin is allowed there. We cannot hope to sow to the flesh, and reap everlasting life. Only the blood of Christ, and our desire to cleanse ourselves of sin, can take away all guilt. All who are made righteous in the sight of God, are made holy by the grace of God. If you are still struggling with the idea of whether you are secure in the kingdom of God, please use the information in the footnote to seek help. This is important enough that One Man gave His life to help you secure your eternal destiny, so please don’t delay!

Prayer:

Lord, I acknowledge that Your Word is very timely, appropriate and pointed – because only You know what we need, when we need it and why we need it. I believe that this is needed to help us recognize our sin, cleanse us of our sin, and redirect our more righteous lives to serving You as clean, strong, non-hypocritical servants before our lost family and friends. We just can’t be effective if we live just like them, accept the same sinful actions as they do and share in the same gossip rings that they participate in. We must represent You in spite of what appears to be acceptable to them, for we are a ‘New’ and a ‘Holy’ creation serving an awesome and sinless God. As You have opened our eyes in Scripture today, please tender our hearts to right decisions to seek Your forgiveness of our sin and to lives our lives acceptable to You and usable by You. Thank You for speaking to my heart today Lord, may Your perfect will also be accomplished in the lives of my readers today, is my humble and sincere prayer that I ask in Your name alone, dear 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.

Reasons To Worship

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Born Again, Celebrate God, Christian, Faith, God Cares For Us, Heaven, Pleasing to God, Praise, WorshipLeave a comment

The Bible – New Living Translation

Psalm 95:6–7

6 Come, let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the Lord our maker,

7 for he is our God.

We are the people he watches over,

the flock under his care.

If only you would listen to his voice today!

Thoughts:

As a child, we normally question ‘Why?’ as we learn new things or when people ask us something, or tell us to do something. Is it any different as adults? We tend to question a lot also, and we tend to object when we don’t understand why we are being asked to do something. In these focused verses from Psalm 95, David encouraged us to come, and let us worship God, let us bow down, and let us kneel before the Lord. Now, let’s look at our lives today and consider why we would want to follow this idea, or command, of David’s. After all, there is no way that we would do something like this without understanding why we are doing it! Here are some reasons I discerned from David’s command:

  • God is our maker – think about this, parents play an important role in ‘making’ their children. While they don’t demand their children to worship them, they do demand respect, honor and obedience. So when we consider God as our ‘maker’ should we not worship Him as part of our respect, honor, obedience and praise? In fact, these attributes are forms of worship!
  • He is our God – Sometimes I believe that we would sooner listen to the weatherman about Mother-Nature giving us a beautiful day, and offer up thanks to ‘Mother-Nature’ for blessing us with a great day! Friends, there is no ‘Mother-Nature’, there is God! He is the one that put this world together and created you and me to populate this earth. He is the One that created rain, the sun and all other things needed for us, and plant life, to live. He is the One who deserves our praise for the awesome days; good health; food on our tables; loving families, etc!
  • He watches over us – oh how thankful we are when sitters take such good care of our children for us. I know, we don’t worship them, but I do know that we are very thankful to them and honor them for their faithfulness to our kids. These are forms of ‘worship’ friends! If you came to church with these attributes towards God, you will be offering up praise to Him and could very easily be led into worship of Him.
  • He cares for us – I’ve been physically down a bit recently while recovering from surgery, and had to depend more on my wife, child, sister and church leaders than probably any other time in my life. Am I thankful to these individuals, and appreciate their unselfish acts in helping me when I can’t help myself? You bet I am! Do you see how this is the same way that God cares for us every day? Do you see how our hearts should be filled to overflowing with praise and thanksgiving to God when we come together to corporately worship Him?

Friends, based on the above, do you see any reason why we would need help in worshiping our God? Do you see any reason why our churches are not filled with the praises of God’s children when there are planned worship services? It begins with each of us friends, for we are the church. We are the ones that must draw close to God, so that He might draw close to us. We are the ones that must ready ourselves for corporate worship each week so that we can offer honest and heartfelt worship to our God. When the world sees this, they will be drawn to God. They must see something different than what they see in their everyday life on the streets or in secular jobs.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You for being my God. Thank You for loving me enough that You gave, so that I might have an entryway into Heaven. Thank you for watching over me and caring for me. Lord, please help me, and those that I worship with each week, to stop our busy minds, leave behind the concerns of this world, concentrate on You and worship You. Lord, this is very personal, so I believe each of us must purpose in our own hearts to give all of us to all of You, so that You may be lifted up, worshiped and praised in a manner pleasing to You. May You hear a sweet, sweet sound of personal worship from us daily, and especially when we come together for corporate worship. Thank You for hearing my prayer, oh Lord, for I am asking all this in Your precious and holy name, AMEN!

 

NOTE: 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.

Restore Your Church Oh God

On By Ed AlgreenIn All have sinned, Bible Believing, Celebrate God, Chosen by God, Christian, Encourage, Eternal Life, Evangelism, Faith, Follow Jesus, Forgiveness, God our Helper, Grace, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Humility, Imitator of Christ, Listen to the Word of God, Love God, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Power of Prayer, Praise, Repentance, Righteousness, Servants of God, Surrender, Trust, WorshipLeave a comment

The Bible – New Living Translation

Psalm 85:4–7

    4 Now restore us again, O God of our salvation. Put aside your anger against us once more.

    5 Will you be angry with us always? Will you prolong your wrath to all generations?

    6 Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?

    7 Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.

Thoughts:

In my first read through this passage of scripture I was touched by the prayer of David to save his people, and my heart was deeply touched by his prayer because I can clearly see how many around us, in our neighborhoods and in our cities, need the Lord. However, on closer study of this I realized that you can only restore something that at one time was resident there before. So my heart immediately went out to what David was really praying, because I believe that we are seeing churches dying today at a greater record than ever before in the history of our land. In part, I believe that this is because we need an equally as large evangelism effort to the once ‘saved’ who have fallen by the wayside, as we do to the ones who have totally disregarded the message of the cross. Like you, I am very concerned about all that is going on in our land, and in this world, where we are killing each other without any regard for precious life itself. However, this should come as no surprise to Christians, because even back in 2 Chronicles 7:14 it was declared that God is looking for His people, His children, to humble themselves and pray, before He would give consideration to healing our land. When Christians treat their relationship, their commitment, so flippantly, and when there is no humility in looking to God for His powerful, healing and restoring hand upon His people and our land, what is it that we should really expect differently? Friends, we are bringing damnation on ourselves, on our churches and on our land. Remember, God is still in control and His Word will endure to the end, so we must follow His plan if we ever expect to see God restore us again! What is your role? Are you following His plan, so that you might expect to see Him restore us again? Please, let us humble ourselves and pray…..

Prayer:

Jesus, my Lord, in all humility I pray that You might touch the hearts of Your people once again. Begin with me, I pray. May Your church be revived once again, I pray. May each person meditating on this devotional today realize that this is not the ‘place’ we call church, but the body of Christ that at one time or another made a sober decision to accept You as Lord and Savior of their life. May the places that we call ‘church’ burst wide open from the crowds that will be renewed/revived and reminded of their obligation to their Master and Lord. May Your ‘church’ truly come alive again, so that we may follow Your commands and humble ourselves before You and pray. Lord, may the uncommitted one that may be lead to read this devotional today realize the importance of surrendering themselves to Your Lordship today. We are in desperate need of a touch from You oh King, please hear my prayer and heal us. Please cause us to recommit ourselves to do Your perfect will. For I ask all this in the name of the only One with the power to do anything about our pitiful condition, Jesus, my Lord, AMEN!

NOTE: 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.

Blow A Trumpet For God!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Celebrate God, Chosen by God, Christian, Faith, God Cares For Us, Heaven, Our Help comes from God, Praise, Stregth, Surrender, Testify, Thank You Jesus, Trust, WorshipLeave a comment

The Bible – The Message

1 Corinthians 1:27–31

Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”

Thoughts:

God is nothing less than amazing! Do I hear an AMEN?!! Just when we are about to throw in the towel, or just when we think we are only a speck of dust in God’s overall kingdom, our eyes are opened with scripture like this that reminds us that we are royalty – children of the King of kings. We are also reminded that as in the case of an earthly king where the country men are subjects of the king, we too are subjects or servants of our King. Also, as in the case of a country being recognized for its valor and earthly production where the king is primarily recognized because of his leadership and his provisions that made the country what it is, so it is with our heavenly King. For it is only through the provision of the King’s Son, Jesus, that we are saved from our sin and accepted into His glorious kingdom where we will reign with Him forever. It is only through the power of this Jesus, that blind men regained their sight, the crippled began to walk again and the dead was brought back to life again. It is only through our faith in Jesus, that we are blessed with miracles even today. But friends, all these blessings come with somewhat of a warning, for we are told that although we may be the servant praying for the sick to be healed, or praying for an unsaved loved one, we can boast of no personal accomplishment in any turnaround seen in any of these cases, for we are only the beggar, the servant, asking for a favor from God Almighty. God is the healer, He sacrificed so that salvation might be available to us, our family and our friends. So as we see God’s hand at work, let’s intensify the praise and worship to our Lord, for it is He who is responsible for the miracles wrought! To Him be all glory and praise! Lift Him up before the people around You so that they too might be introduced to our Savior and Lord! Why not use your weekly worship services to especially praise the Father for His goodness? He is worthy, and deserves a lot more praise than what He hears in our labeled, ‘praise and worship’ services!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, who am I that You would send Your Son to die sacrificially so that I might easily find my way to You? Who am I that You would heal my body, or bless me with a job, a family, and a comfortable place to live? Lord, I realize that I will never understand the sincerity and depth of Your love, but thank You for opening my eyes, and reminding me of my obligation to offer constant praise and worship to You for all that You do for me. You are all powerful, but thankfully You are all loving also, because You forgave me of my sin and accepted me as Your son. Thank You Lord Jesus for being my King, my Savior and my deliverer. May I always be mindful of Your awesome presence and love for me, and therefore never beat up on myself when I feel like things are not going my way. The provision for life eternally with You has already been made, so anything that happens on this earth is really very minor and possibly even irrelevant. Please forgive me for missed opportunities to praise You and lift You up before my family, friends and coworkers. May they be  encouraged to look to You because of the evidence of Your love in and through my every action and/or word. To You be all glory, honor and praise, for I honor You and ask all this in Your precious name, Lord Jesus, AMEN!

NOTE: 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.

For The Sake of the Gospel

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Bold Confidence, Born Again, Celebrate God, Christian, Getting Along, Heaven, Imitator of Christ, Love your Neighbor, ObedienceLeave a comment

The Bible – The Message

Romans 15:15-16

So, my dear friends, don’t take my rather bold and blunt language as criticism. It’s not criticism. I’m simply underlining how very much I need your help in carrying out this highly focused assignment God gave me, this priestly and gospel work of serving the spiritual needs of the non-Jewish outsiders so they can be presented as an acceptable offering to God, made whole and holy by God’s Holy Spirit.

Thoughts:

Sometimes I believe that we read these passages in the Bible and we feel so sorry for the circumstances in which God’s messengers had to work, because we read where they were really challenged in many areas, especially the conflict between the Jews and the Gentiles (non-Jews). So let’s take a moment and rejoice over the many advancements that we have attained in our society and ministry today! Excuse me, but did I just give the impression that we have no issues like Paul faced? If I did, then I am totally wrong, because we are faced with issues that either hinder us from ministering to every man and woman, or we are faced with churches (people) that are opposed to having others of unmatched faith; or color or socioeconomic status, worship with them. Friends these types of prejudices hinder the spreading of the gospel as much as those Paul faced back in Romans 15. Just look around your workplaces, your circle of friends, your neighborhood, etc. We hear of folk that would go to vast extremes to hinder the possibility of folk like I referred to above from moving into their neighborhood, so should we expect to see any difference in our churches? Friends, there is only one God and there will be only one heaven, wouldn’t you reason that we should make every effort to try and work though some of these prejudices we’ve allowed Satan to entrench in our minds, while we are here on this earth so that we would be very comfortable in heaven among ALL of God’s people? Have you ever stopped to think that your reactions resulting from these various prejudices are actually hindering the gospel message? I would challenge you to think about how God might react to you obstructing the message of salvation when you come face to face with Him on Judgment Day. Based on scripture, I believe I have good authority in advising you that you might be surprised who might actually make it into heaven, for I believe there will be grave consequences for those who hinder one of God’s children from surrendering their heart to The Lord. Why not join me in asking God to look deep into our inner selves and expose any prejudice that might be found so that we may not obstruct those that we come into contact with that need to know The Lord, and also that we may be extremely welcoming to those that enter our church doors regardless of any differences that may be evident. People need The Lord friends, that’s the bottom line.

Prayer:

Thank You Lord Jesus for dying on Calvary’s rugged cross for sinners, yes even me. Although undeserving, yet You died for all, so that we may one day be with You in heaven for ever and ever. You placed no restriction on who might surrender their hearts to You, and my simple prayer this morning is that You might open our hearts, cleanse us of all unrighteousness – especially prejudices, so that we may be like You and accept all that may come into our lives, into our churches and into our realms of influence. Please continually remind us that Your judging will be based on our heart, and not any of the exterior things that we tend to look at and allow to interfere with our Godly influence. For I ask this in Your precious name, Lord Jesus, my deliverer, peacekeeper, and lover of all mankind AMEN!

 

NOTE: 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.

Sincere Godly Love, One for Another

On By Ed AlgreenIn Born Again, Christian, Encourage, Forgiveness, Fruit of the Spirit, Getting Along, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Humility, Imitator of Christ, Love, Love your Neighbor, ObedienceLeave a comment

The Bible – The Good News Translation

 Romans 12:9-10

 9 Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. 1 0 Love one another warmly as Christian brothers and sisters, and be eager to show respect for one another.

Thoughts:

In a world where family members are jealous of each other and can’t stand to be in each other’s presence; where coworkers are so competitive to reach the top or earn more commission and/or recognition, that they step right over another employee, and may even do certain things to keep them from doing their best; where church members want to be in charge or favored by the pastor or can’t have their own way, so we see churches split or families leave the church and move on to another; I wonder if the result would be any different if we were to follow the advice of Paul in these two verses? Friends, Christians are to be deep into the Word at every opportunity, but not less frequently than daily, looking over God’s instructions to be sure that we live and love like Him. You see, God’s Word contains our template for love, it tells us about our Role Model, Jesus Christ. Our responsibility according to the Word, is to go and minister to the world so that all may know Jesus. Don’t you know that we are actually teaching them our evil ways when we act like the above examples? Remember, our actions speak so loud that others will really not hear what we are saying to them. I believe Paul is saying that we are not to be hypocritical. If we claim Jesus as Lord, then we are to live like Him and seek to squish all the evil thoughts we might receive that make us act and rationalize to cause the above issues. Friends, Jesus is coming soon and we must live with that in mind. Don’t dare live like the devil and think you’ll have time to seek forgiveness when you hear that Jesus is coming down the street. The Bible says that we must live in a state of readiness, because Jesus in no way needs our permission that the coast is clear for Him to come and gather His bride (the church – us). This means that we are to live and love like Jesus demands of us today. Don’t delay, please?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, the creator of love, the One who showed ultimate love, please forgive me for making a mockery of living and loving like You exampled for me. Paul has reminded me that I need to live and love in ways that others might recognize and want to know You personally. This is difficult to do when I surrender to living and loving like the world. Father, please give me strength to be a victor in living my life according to the model You displayed. Please help me to stay so in tuned with Your Word that it will not only impact the words from my lips, but the desires of my heart and the actions of my whole being. Lord, sadly, I have ‘Christian’ family and friends that I know who are living in sin, because they are acting just like the above examples given. Please use this devotional today to speak to the hearts of those claiming You as Lord. Please also speak to those who have not yet accepted You as Lord, for today is the day of salvation, and there is no better time than today for them to seek Your power and Your strength so that they too might live and love like You. Lord, this old world is getting in extremely poor shape morally, for folk are becoming more and more hardened to their sin. Please, I beg You, do a mighty work in Your people today. Begin with us, Christians. Get us straight first, so that we may be Your hands and Your feet on the ground seeking to impact the lives of those that don’t know You. These things I ask humbly in Your precious name and for Your sake, AMEN!

 

NOTE: 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.