Category: Hope

Where Is Your Hope For Tomorrow?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Hope, Tomorrow, TrustLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Are you hoping for riches, or for your boat of good luck and good fortune to magically come in? There is only One in whom we can place our faith and our trust for all things heavenly! May I encourage you to read this devotional in light of what you know for sure about your tomorrow?

Today’s Bible Reference: Psalm 146:3-5
Today’s Bible Text: Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there. When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them. But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God.
The Bible Translation: The New Living Translation

My Take Away: Friends, I don’t know about you, but I have had a very challenging week in the eyes of man. In reading this scripture today, I believe that God has humbled me to think on my blessings instead of my challenges, and be reminded of where my strength comes from and where my hope lies. Let me share with you how God has proven Himself faithful this week without even sharing what my challenges were, because I want you to join me in always depending on God in every circumstance of life, and to always look for His hand of mercy in all that happens to us. I’m sure that you can also stop and fill a page with ways that God has blessed you and been present with you this week, and I encourage you to do that, but here are are some personal blessings my family and I received this week in spite of our challenges:

  • We are all safe, in spite of something that could have taken at least one of us away;
  • We had opportunities to reflect a witness of our faith. Without saying anything about our faith, we suddenly had a medical technician talk with us about the Lord, as if we had been co-laborers in the faith all of our lives. He obviously felt led of the Holy Spirit that we were followers of Christ. No Bible under our arms nor any sermons from our lips, but apparently our actions spoke louder than our words could ever have done. What a calming peace came over us;
  • We had a call very early after our incident offering food for our afternoon meal. Children of our King lovingly came to comforts help us by providing meals for us each day. Friends, this is evidence from our Master how He takes care of us, and this is evidence of our Lord working in and through His precious children. Read the verses above again and consider where else we could possibly have been blessed like this, apart from the love and grace of our precious Savior!
  • God sent Angels to encourage us – phone calls, emails, texts, Whatsapp, etc. Messengers being obedient to the voice and will of God.

Friends, We saw the church in action. We witnessed the hands and feet of Jesus in very visible and practical ways. We have truly placed our faith and hope in the Lord God Almighty, and I pray that you have also. Perhaps you have had a fairly smooth week, and I thank God with you for that, but a week ago I had no idea what this week would hold for us. Please let me encourage you to draw close to God. Place your hope in the Lord Jesus Christ for He cares for you. He has promised that He would never leave you alone. That’s a lot more than you can say about anyone else you know here on this earth friend! Furthermore, He has prepared a wonderful eternal home for us when we retire from this earth, and it’s in the presence of royalty, for our God is King over all kings that ever lived or reigned! What a mighty God we serve!

Prayer: Father, I pray that each of my friends reading this devotional today will be reminded of the everlasting, most loving God that we serve. I pray that there will be some that will take time to read this, that don’t know You as their Lord and Savior yet, and that the Holy Spirit will imprint the words from the Psalmist upon their minds and give them a glimpse of the hope that could be theirs, if only they would trust You as Lord of their life. This next week could end very differently for me, and it could also do the same for a reader. Father, I pray many will pray to You today for understanding, and Your mercy will draw them into the fold of Your loving care and protection. No matter what our earthly circumstances might be, I pray that our heavenly arrangements are in order, and that our Hope is fixed in You dear Lord. Touch lives today as only You can, for I ask this in the precious and loving name of my Master and Lord, AMEN!

Footnote: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. 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 http://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!

2016

Be Ready to Say Why….

On By Ed AlgreenIn Hope, Rewards, Speak upLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Today you will be encourage to openly share where your hope comes from. Can you do it? Read today’s devotional and seek to obey God’s Word. He will reward you for speaking up about the hope that lies within you! Recognize your blessing today and be ready to share it with someone else, friend!

Today’s Bible Reference: 1 Peter 3:15–16
Today’s Bible Text: Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope. Give a kind and respectful answer and keep your conscience clear. This way you will make people ashamed for saying bad things about your good conduct as a follower of Christ.
The Bible Translation: The Contemporary English Version (CEV)

My Take Away: The very first sentence in our scripture today is a given, but a great reminder – that we must honor our Lord Jesus, by the way we live. It should be evident whether we are living free of any restrictions, without any type of guardrails at all, or whether we have a purpose in life and that our direction for getting to our goal consists of a very narrow road with lots of guardrails to help prevent us from running into issues. We are reminded that when we live this way, others might question us about the hope and determination that we have, and where could our strength possibly be coming from to live so differently in a world that is filled with evil, crime, hatred, envy and strife. It is at this point that we should feel honored to share exactly who is incenting our actions, why did we choose to take the route we are taking, and what we know that we can expect at the end of our journey here on earth. Most of all, although we know that we will have trouble containing the excitement, we must learn to share our response with deepest respect for the one asking and in the same love that Christ first spoke to, and encourage us to redirect our lives. Friends, throughout God’s Word we are reminded that God rewards those who obey and live by His commands, but He envies those who don’t and will bring eternal damnation on them. Will you make Him proud today because you had the audacity to speak up about the hope that lies within you? Pray that I will, as I continue to lift my readers up in prayer, especially with these encouraging instructions today!

Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name in all the earth, as I sing Your praises for all that You do in my life each day. Praise God that my readers and I enjoy this same blessing, because we serve the same God! As the world recognizes that very special gleam in our eye, or reactions in our demeanor, may we be quick to share with them the source of our joy, our strength and our everlasting hope. May it not be the norm today where friends get together to tear someone apart, but may we instead share the hope of eternity, and the source of our joy and hope about living a joyful life today because of the hope of tomorrow, all because of Jesus our Lord! I celebrate You, Master and Lord! May I do that in humble adoration with deepest respect for all that we come into contact with, for I ask this in the name of Jesus, my Lord, AMEN!

Footnote: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. 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!

2016

Faith That Leads To Action

On By Ed AlgreenIn Confidence, Faith, Faithful, HopeLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: James 2:17; 21-22
Today’s Bible Text: 17 So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good works is no faith at all—it is dead and useless…..   21 Don’t you remember that even our father Abraham was declared good because of what he did when he was willing to obey God, even if it meant offering his son Isaac to die on the altar? 22 You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to; his faith was made complete by what he did—by his actions, his good deeds.
The Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)

My Take Away: I believe that many may find reason to argue over this particular scripture, but then I also believe that Satan looks for opportunities to put Christians in a mode of confusion when it comes to reading Truth, and applying it to their lives, for it presents greater challenge for Satan to complete his work. Friends, God spoke through His humble servants, such as James, to help clarify questions and/or doubt that He knew would cause us to ponder. I believe that often we would disagree with James because we might tend to swing this truth all the way around and think that perhaps James may have been saying that ‘faith’ is unimportant – as long as we show our works/deeds. There is no need to try and change the context of what James is saying here. He is merely telling us that faith is not just an event that occurred in our lives, but rather it is a change of character and mindset. For, because of our unique relationship with God, we have developed a confidence in Him, or totally enhanced our faith in Him, so that we know that we are changed because of His awesome, powerful, all-sufficient, Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us. We’ve read about and may have even seen the miracles performed by God, so do we have faith to believe that He can miraculously heal us or someone we love? Of course we do! We believe the Word of God where we learned that Jesus walked on water, raised the dead back to life, healed the blind and much, much more, so are we prepared to step out in faith and allow Him to once again miraculously work in us and through us? Of course we would! Jesus is very much alive, and for those of us who have placed our faith and trust in Him as our living Lord, we KNOW that we can step out in faith through whatever action He directs! We have moved beyond just talking about it, we can act on what we know to be true, secure and filled with the power of our God! Our faith is secure in knowing the God of all power and truth!

Prayer: Thank You Lord for Your Word. Thank You for the awesome obedience of Your faithful writers who shared Your experiences here on earth, and who were obedient to the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit to pen the words that You knew we would need to better understand Your mighty works, and to grasp what faith in You is all about. Please touch the hearts of Your people as they meditate on this devotional today. May this help to clarify, and not confuse what You would have us to know. Lord, may our faith grow so strong that our actions will show evidence of our faith, so that others might see and believe. I ask these things, in faith, and through the awesome 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. 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!

2016

God – Our Hope, Our Rock & Our Fortress

On By Ed AlgreenIn Fortress, Hope, Rock, TrustLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

The Bible Reference: Psalm 62:5-8
The Bible Text: Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: David, the Psalmist, achieved a whole lot, and could have done a lot of boasting about his great works, but instead he is known throughout the Psalms for his humility before God. In these verses today, I feel like God is directing us to:

  • Slow down from the busyness of our world, as it will only distract us from the things He has planned for us;
  • Quiet ourselves so that we can concentrate on Him and His greatness. Our blessings and our goodness comes from our God who loves and cares for us. Furthermore, this results in an enhanced walk, talk and overall witness for our Master, who we represent;
  • Remember, our God is as solid as a rock in that He is immovable, unchangeable and He never changes, or wavers from His mighty stand as God!
  • Remember, He is our fortress in whom we can depend – as our shelter, our protector and our shield. While sheltered there, no enemy can reach or touch us, praise the name of our Almighty God!

Friends, we serve an awesome God! We can trust Him with our lives – and everything that affects us. Just wait before Him, trust Him and obey His commands. He can be Your God, if you humble yourselves and let Him. Won’t you do that today?

Prayer: Father God, we are humbled by the awesomeness of Your almighty hand and yet, Your extreme love and care for us. Wow, what a blessed people we are! Please continue to be patient with us as we work through and accept our weaknesses and unworthiness. We know that You are in control and that You can handle everything that we need, if only we will surrender our will to Yours. Touch the hearts of Your people who will read this devotional today oh God, and we will be careful to praise You for all things. I ask these things in the name of Your Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ, 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!

2016

Hope For Tomorrow!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Hope, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – The Living Bible (TLB) ~ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ~ That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our inner strength in the Lord is growing every day. These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won’t last very long. Yet this short time of distress will result in God’s richest blessing upon us forever and ever! So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

THOUGHTS: No one had as much opposition as Paul did, yet he found hope in knowing that there was great hope in all that he was doing. A greater purpose; a God to please – one who sacrificed His very own Son to bring hope, salvation and ultimate love for mankind. In fact, as much as we despise rules/commands/guidelines, yet it is obvious that God’s commands are to help us; mold us into His image; and prepare us for the day when we graduate from this earth into our new, eternal home, with Jesus in Heaven! Friends, when we realize that kind of hope, when we are reminded of the joy that is ours to see our blessed Savior face-to-face and receive His blessing for things we have done, or people we have touched because of His love inside of us, then we have a new determination to serve Him all the more while here on earth. I am in no way minimizing your struggles here on earth Brother, nor the backbiting, envy and strife that you may face Sister, but what I am telling you is that no matter what we face today, it is nothing compared to the joy that will be ours when we are welcomed into the presence of Jesus! There’s an old hymn entitled ‘Oh That Will Be Glory For Me“! Friends, there may be trouble for a time, but if You are a committed child of God, there is joy that comes in the morning. So let’s endure the day, knowing that there is hope ahead for the Christian. This is known as one of the most stressful times of the year. A time that more folk become terribly depressed. May I remind you, as I have in my thoughts so far, these struggles are only for a moment. We have brighter days ahead! Much brighter, if you have invited Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior and Lord! If you haven’t made this step friend, please read my ‘Footnote’ carefully and know that I am available to pray with you or help you in any way that I can.

PRAYER: Lord, I rejoice in the fact that there is hope for the Christian! I thank You that You gave Your all for me. Please help me to not complain about the challenges of life that I face in this world, because they are nothing compare to the persecution that Paul faced, or the torture that You went through for me. The great news is that, like Paul, I too can survive the stresses of today knowing that my hope lies in what is yet to come – graduation to heaven where I will live eternally with You! ‘Oh I want To See You, Look Upon Your Face‘! Lord, please remind Your children of the hope that is ours, so that we might easily deal with the issue while here on this earth. Please especially humble the hearts of those yet to acknowledge You as Lord. May they find peace in knowing that they can surrender their lives to You even today. Tomorrow may be too late, as You have not assured us of tomorrow. I rejoice in know Jesus as my Savior and Lord. I pray that all of my readers can do the same, or make a decision today that will give them that assurance. I ask these things in the wonderful name of Jesus, the new-born King, 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!

Hope For Our Greatest Fears!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Fear, Hope, Reflection, RememberLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – 29–33 I tried to relieve your fears: “Don’t be terrified of them. God, your God, is leading the way; he’s fighting for you. You saw with your own eyes what he did for you in Egypt; you saw what he did in the wilderness, how God, your God, carried you as a father carries his child, carried you the whole way until you arrived here. But now that you’re here, you won’t trust God, your God—this same God who goes ahead of you in your travels to scout out a place to pitch camp, a fire by night and a cloud by day to show you the way to go.” ~ Deuteronomy 1:29-33 ~ The Message (MSG)

THOUGHTS: I believe that we can all easily identify with the fears of the Israelites, and that we all need a ‘Moses’ word every now and then to reassure us and get us back on track! As I meditated on the Word today, and saw the fears that Moses had to deal with, God reminded me that we are still very much like the Israelites, as we worry a lot about everything that God has not answered yet, at least in the way that we have instructed Him to. Think about it friends, God has been so merciful, kind and supernatural to, and for us. In fact, if we stop to consider the ways, we will quickly ascend to the clouds in awe and thanksgiving. However, for those things that really concern us, and for those things that God has yet to answer in the way we have asked Him to, we unfortunately fall into depression, thinking that God turned a deaf ear to our requests. I believe we need to quickly remind ourselves who is really in charge here. Whose timing is best? Why would God place a ‘pot of gold’ in our hands today when He knows so well how we will gloat in our accomplishments? In His time He will make everything beautiful. We belong to Him friend. Our lives are His, our family is His, our church is His, our country is His, including our government leaders, and truly our future is His. Will He really send us down the wrong path? Do we think for a moment that He has lost His power and can no longer handle everything that goes on in this old world, in our lives and every other concern that we might have? Moses reminded the Israelites, and I believe God is reassuring us today through the words He gave to Moses, that we are to reassure ourselves, based on His accomplishments this year, that we can anticipate even greater works in 2016, yes even in spite of how dismal things may appear to the carnal man right now. Let me remind you friend, that Our God Reigns, we just need to align our thoughts and our ways with His, and allow Him to reign in full power and majesty. Let’s prepare ourselves to meet Him and receive His blessing for having trusted Him fully each and every day. Let our times of reflection on all that He has already done, be our comfort for tomorrow, God being our helper!

PRAYER: Father God, You are so awesome, and You shower us with Your love each and every day, even in spite of our tendency to doubt and fear. Thank You Lord for being our awesome, Great BIG wonderful God! We’ve seen time and time again that it was not just the Israelites that You parted the waters for, and provided water for them from a solid rock, but Lord You are still God, and You have worked miracle after miracle among us also! Unfortunately, we have allowed the clouds of doubt and worry to overshadow the mighty works that You have performed in our lives, our families, our churches, our communities, and even in our country. May I humbly ask Your continued patience with us while we adjust our mindset to the awesome power of our wonderful God? Satan has no place in our lives, please give us strength and fortitude to stay so focused on You Father, that the doors to temptation, discouragement, lying, cheating and sin as a whole will find no footing in our lives. Lord, You are Good, and Your mercies endures forever! Praise be to the wonderful name of Jesus, in whose name I ask all this, 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!

Keep On Keeping On!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, encouragement, Hope, MotivationLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The New Living Translation – Hebrews 10:23-25): 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

THOUGHTS: These verses follow a teaching where Christians were being warned about the impact of ignoring the faith, in which they once believed. This was also covered in a devotional shared yesterday, so we see where this was really a concern in the early church, as I am confident it is today. It seems like we are very spoiled, and when things are not going our way, or the way that we have instructed God, we pack up our toys and move on to more fun that, hopefully, will be more appealing to us. This is very unfortunate in so many ways friends. Jesus went to the cross for us, not because it was the most fun thing for Him to do at the time, but in obedience to His Father and because of pure love for us. There is evidence after evidence where Jesus kept His promises throughout the Bible. This was not only to show us that He could be trusted, but also to show us the love and commitment He had towards us. So what about us? What makes us waiver in our commitment? What makes us so determined to please self rather than holding true to our commitment with Jesus Christ? We are like spoiled brats, aren’t we? Direction is given to us in these verses that would serve to help us overcome this weakness. First of all we are reminded that our faith and trust is in the strong hands of the Almighty God. What have we to fear when we know who is at the helm of our ship? When it is the One who has designed and created us; sacrificed His own life for our benefit; and the One who has promised to prepare a wonderful place for us to spend eternity with He and the Father, what have we to fear? Secondly, we are to meet together with like believers, and not neglect doing that at every opportunity possible. This helps us to receive encouragement from others traveling this same road that we are on, and it helps us to get our minds off our own struggles while we look to help and encourage others who are probably facing things a whole lot worse than we are. Friends, when we follow this advice, we regain strength and encouragement from, and see extreme value in, the Savior in whom we first believed. We identify with other Christians who we find are just as needy as we are, or many times they are a lot more needy. And we appreciate ourselves more, as we will quickly realize that there is no case where we would trade our sorrows and our struggles for anyone else’s that we come into contact with. We will quickly realize that we truly are blessed beyond anything we deserve, and become more determined to keep on keeping on!

PRAYER: Lord God, You are good and Your loving mercies endures each and every day and in every way. Please help us to get over ourselves and gain a deep understanding of how blessed we truly are. Help us to look for ways to help others with more intensity than the effort we put towards pulling ourselves down. We are a child of the King! Created by You, loved by You, cared for by You and thought of in advance by You regarding our eternally destiny. Thank You Lord Jesus for loving even me! Please intervene in the lives of all those that You will lead to this devotional today. May the redeemed gain strength and encouragement to keep on keeping on, and may the stubborn and unsaved be reminded that it is in You that we have hope for tomorrow and can therefore live today as a people who are blessed and lifted up! I ask these things in faith and in the strong 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 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 www.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!

Promised Help From The Lord!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Hope, PromiseLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – Psalm 130:1-5): 1 From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help. 2 Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer. 3 Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? 4 But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you. 5 I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word.

THOUGHTS: David was known as one of the great men of God in the Old Testament, yet he faced struggles and he needed help. I’m sure this sounds all too familiar, as each of us are face with challenges daily that are beyond our reach or ability to satisfy the need. This is why I believe that God drew my attention to verse 5 in particular. One translation actually relays the understanding that David called on God for help because He had promised it. This translation basically says that David was depending on, or had placed his hope in, God’s Word. Friends there is an old song that says something along the lines of, if I never had a problems, I wouldn’t know what God could do. I don’t believe this means that we intentionally invoke problems so we could prove God’s power, but like David, we should be so comfortable in God’s Word and in our relationship with God, that we could be reassured that even in our struggles, or hard times, or even challenging times, we know that God is there for us and has the power and desire to help us through our challenging times. I would encourage us to just remember that we serve an all-powerful God – the One that spoke this universe into existence, the One who raised the dead back to life, the One who placed Jesus into the womb of a virgin, the One who raised Jesus back to life after 3 days. What is the challenge you are facing again? Does it even come close to any of these examples I just listed? Yet we know the full story – that each of these overwhelmingly challenging things were met with resolution by our supernatural God! What an awesome God We Serve! Perhaps one of my readers might not be comfortable with placing your faith and/or trust in this God that I love and trust so dearly. May I recommend that you contact me so that I might pray with you about your relationship with God? Please use the information in my ‘Footnote’ to contact me and request prayer.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You have promised that You would never leave us or forsake us. You proved Your undying love for us, by sacrificing Your one and only Son on a cruel cross so that we might be acceptable to Your Father and have the promise of eternal life in heaven with You one day. Awesome! Powerful! Love like we have never witnessed or seen demonstrated again. Thank You Lord Jesus! May we learn to place our faith and our trust in You and allow You to guide our daily footsteps and to have confidence that our life challenges require only a touch from You or a spoken word, as You did on the Sea of Galilee to calm the waters. You are an awesome Father, and I thank You for the love that You show to me and my readers every day that we are allowed to open our eyes and see the beauty and majesty that You provide for us. Bless us again today and help us to trust always in Your promises, for this I humbly ask in Your precious and strong 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 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 www.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!

Faith Is The Victory!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Hope, Surrender, VictoryLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – 1 John 5:3-5): 3 We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow. 4 Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. 5 No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.

THOUGHTS: The subject probably sounds like a catchy Christian term that you’ve heard in an old hymn “Faith is the Victory“, plus you may have heard saints of God refer to this in sermons and/or Bible teaching. However, this phrase became alive to me this morning after being led to this passage of scripture immediately after reading Daniel 1, where I read about a determined young man named Daniel and three of his partners who, because of their faith in God, were determined to be obedient to God, in spite of what the king had dictated for them to eat and live by. Of course, in this very first chapter, by verse 15, 17 and 19 it was very evident that because of their faith and determination to be obedient to God, even under very challenging circumstances, He rewarded these young men with extraordinary health and wisdom in the eyes of the king. Friends, no matter what circumstances we face, and no matter what up-hill challenges we may see ahead of us, we must realize that God has a plan for His children. How many of us will consciously seek to do anything other than bless our children? How much more do you suppose that our heavenly Father seeks to do the same for us? Our part of the blessing is to place our faith and trust in Him, knowing that He is for us, and He will not harm us but instead seek to bless us in every way possible. Daniel was just one example of how God blessed His saints mentioned in the Bible. There are also many ‘Daniels’ around us here on earth that have been blessed of God through victories beyond anything man could explain. If you are His child, having invited Jesus into your life and committed yourself to Him in faith, then I firmly believe that You could very well be next in line for God’s rich blessings. However, it takes ‘FAITH‘ to defeat the evil one of this world and to overcome his effects on our lives (see verse 5). So the question is, my friend: do you believe on the King of all kings and Lord of all lords? If so, will you place your faith and trust in Him today so that He might have freedom to lift you up and set you on solid ground, above the evil dished out by this world? Like in the case of Daniel, He wants to be your God also friend, will you let Him!

PRAYER: Dear Father in Heaven, it sounds almost ludicrous for us to beg You for mercy and grace today, for You have shown through Your Word that if we have faith in You, and allow You control of our lives, we will be victorious. Daniel was just one example that we came across today in Your Word, I know of many saints who can be considered ‘Daniels’ for they too have been protected and delivered from the evil one and the setbacks of this evil world. Their faith have found them the necessary victory that only You can offer. Many of us reading this devotional are facing overwhelming challenges, yet we hold the key to the necessary power to help us be more than conquerors, for we have access to You in and through our faith. Please touch the heart of each one that might read this devotional today and who might have a need for Your mercy and Your precious grace. Please touch Your children once again today. For those whom You have directed to read this devotional today that have not surrendered their lives over to You yet, may they find yet another reason to seek You for salvation. I ask all this with a heart of thanksgiving, in the strong name of Jesus, my Savior and Lord, AMEN!

 

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or 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 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!

No Fear of The Day of Judgment

On By Ed AlgreenIn Day of Judgment, Faith, Hope, LoveLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – 1 John 4:16-19): 16 ….God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the Day of Judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19 We love each other because he loved us first.

THOUGHTS: If we are faced with a court case, we will no doubt live in fear of the outcome, especially on the day that the Judge concludes the case and issues the sentence. If we are summoned to the boss’s office at work, our natural tendency is to well up in fear, as our first reaction is to question in our minds if we have done anything wrong. In our daily walk here on earth, whether we know Jesus personally or not, we live in hopes that our lives would not be in vain, but instead, a blessing to someone else. For those who have invited Jesus into their heart, we live each day praying that we would please God in the way that we live, in total harmony with Him, and in total obedience to all that He has commanded in His Word. John summarizes this for us in these verses today, by saying that we must live in love, for as we do, we will live in the image of God, who loved us sacrificially and unconditionally, in spite of who we were in character and entrenched in sin. When we make it our mission to live like Jesus taught us, our love becomes more perfect (more like the love expressed by Jesus, and expected by Him of us). And when this occurs, we live with a clear conscience and without fear of the Day of Judgment when we stand before Jesus. You see, ‘Judgment’ can result in one of two types of emotion for us: Gladness/happiness/joy as we are declared ‘not guilty of the crime, or sin; or sadness/disappointment/rejection/fear as we are found guilty of the crime, or sinful and without a Savior. So friends, we do have a choice – do nothing about your eternal salvation and be found guilty of sin – without a Savior – with the advanced knowledge that our sentence is eternity in Hell with Satan; OR we can say ‘Yes’ to Jesus, live in obedience to His Word, expressing love to all those we come into contact with and representing the King of all kings in everything we do and say – with a known sentence of eternity in Heaven with Jesus where we will worship and adore Him and His Father (God) forever and forever, amen!! The choice seems obvious to me, but my sole reason in sharing these devotionals each day is in hopes that Jesus will touch the heart of my readers so that you also might come to know Him intimately/personally and therefore live the rest of your life in Hope! In a state of constant celebration and in joyous anticipation of our Judgment Day when we stand for the King. Make it right friend, and make it today, while you are still able to.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, Your Word is very powerful! As You have touched my heart today and spoken to me through Your written Word, please also impact the lives of those that will be led to this devotional that I have shared under Your direction. May Your children be Your children – a splitting image of You in every way – especially in our love for others. However, there will be some who will read this who may be trying to live life on their own and love others as just the right humanly thing to do. Please tender their hearts today oh Lord and help them to see You – the originator of perfect love. May they realize that they too can become Your child if they choose to surrender themselves wholeheartedly to You. May this be the day of great decisions oh Lord, and may all glory be offered up to You for the great work that You will accomplish, because of Your Word being shared. I ask all this in perfect faith and in the name of Jesus, my Savior, 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 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!