Category: Intimate with God

The Difference – Babies vs Adults

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Intimate with God, Mature, Maturity, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Worship1 Comment

DATE WRITTEN: Sunday, 2020-09-27
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Hebrews 5:11-14
TRANSLATION: New Living Translation (NLT)

BIBLE TEXT: 11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word.[c] You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

OBSERVATION: I hope that you won’t skip over meditating with me on this devotional, based on the subject that I chose! But Paul used this analogy to help explain the difference between Christ-Followers Right inside the churches that he started, and helped to grow. In fact, I believe that there is a lot we could meditate on regarding our own maturity as we study these verses today, so hang in there with me!

APPLICATION: It’s easy for us to look at other church members and evaluate how they are doing in their Christian walk, but in reading God’s Word, I believe He intended for us to look inward and evaluate our own weaknesses. When we do this, we could establish goals and timelines on when we hope to see a better realignment with God’s expectations for us. You see, we are very much aware of what God expects from us, for He left that for us on the pages of His Book – the Bible. The greatest challenge is to acknowledge that we have not attained, for I don’t believe that there are adults that will walk through your church doors with a pacifier in their mouth, because they want you to identify them still as an infant in their faith. However, I believe that one of the hardest things for an adult to do, is to acknowledge:
1. That they are ignorant about, or at least lacking in, their knowledge of the Word of God. Having worked in the business world, where my employer was under the close scrutiny of three or four government regulating bodies, I quickly found that it was not acceptable to tell an examiner/auditor that we just didn’t know about that law being referenced by them. Ignorance was no excuse for the law! But what will you say to God after years of knowing Him? Did you have a Bible? Can you read? Did you ask a Bible teacher or pastor to help you understand? Did you make it a priority to read the Bible regularly, and seek God constantly for wisdom to understand the Word?
2. That they are related to excellent Bible teachers, so they didn’t see the need for them to also be an expert in the Bible? Friends, if you know God, then you should personally desire to know Him more intimately. The Bible is a full account of God, and His Son Jesus. Study the Book and you will grow to know the God of the Book.
I am convinced that the more we know of God, the more excited we become about wanting to obey His commands, and follow His instructions like an obedient child. As you do this, the pastor and Sunday School teacher will pass over the basics (milk) and teach you more deeply about the Master. As His truth begins to bubble over in your life, others will want to know about your God, and it is then that you will begin to teach others. If you are to grow and mature in the Word of God, it will be up to you to commit and desire it.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You for saving my soul and thank You for providing Your Word that is filled with all Truth and knowledge for the child of God. Please Lord, speak to Your church again today through this devotional, and again today as church doors open for regular worship services. Help Your children become serious about their relationship with You – serious enough that they will want to know everything You provided in Your precious Word for their good. Oh that we all may be reminded from this Scripture today, that saying ‘Yes’ to Jesus, begins a life of growing to be more like You. We mature in this as we learn more about You, and more about what You desire of us. This is all covered in the Bible, so may we commit afresh to dig into the Word daily and become more aware of what You left for us to learn. As we mature, fill us with a new joy to share our faithful Lord with everyone we know. Thine be the glory, for ever and forever. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

Know God Intimately!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Intimate with God, Relationship, True witnessesLeave 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: 1 Chronicles 28:9
Today’s Bible Text: …. my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the LORD sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
The Bible Translation: The New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: If David was personally out of touch with God, or distant in relationship with Him, can you imagine the huge challenge he would have faced in pleading with his son Solomon to know God intimately and follow in His ways? I believe that most earthly fathers would seek after passing along the very best to their sons, and in most cases, they would probably want to see them in a better position spiritually and financially than they themselves were. However, have you ever tried recommending something to someone that you had not experienced yourself? It’s not as convincing, is it? You see, David was speaking from a heart filled with experiences with God. From the small sling that he used in battle against Goliath, the giant, to the largest army that he went to battle with, David knew the one common denominator who played a very key role in His victories. He was therefore able to speak with his son from tried and proven encounters. David also knew from first-hand experience that if his son would earnestly seek the face of God, he would find Him. However, I also believe that one of the hardest things to do in life, would be to tell your son that if he forsakes the Father, He will forsake/reject/leave him for ever. But we know from the Psalms that David often pleaded with God to please don’t turn His face away from him, or reject him, or ignore him. You see, even though you may know that God is there, if you know that you have forsaken Him and not maintained a relationship with Him, you tend to feel like you are pleading with someone else’s God. I heard something said about healthy eating recently: if you don’t eat healthy for your own sake, do it for the sake of your children and grandchildren. I feel like this emphasizes the awesome responsibility that Christians have today: let’s be in a position to speak with our children, or to those we would witness to, from a heart of personal experience, not from the words penned by another believer. We not only have an accountability to God, but to all those that we have a responsibility to witness to. Never have it said about you that you say one thing, but do another. Live the life that you would like for your child(ren) to live. Be the Christian that you invite a friend to consider. Allow God the freedom to work through you every day, because you have a clean and contrite heart, and you desire to invite others to have the same.

Prayer: Lord God, You created us, and You are the Master over everything that we are. Please help us to constantly seek Your face and allow Your accountability, so that we may honestly present You to our family and friends in the light of personal experiences, and not just a God from our Bible who did a great work in the lives of our ancestors. I have accepted You as my PERSONAL Savior. To me, that means that there is no other savior, and also it means that if You are Savior to millions others, yet You are very personal and intimate in Your relationship with me. Thank You Father for loving Your children in such personal and meaningful ways. Now may You rule and reign in us today so that we may be recognized as Your children, willing to share Your love with all those we come into contact with. I love You Lord! Thank You for Your love for me! In the precious name of Jesus, AMEN!

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

We Have Everything We Need

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

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

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

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

 

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to blogger.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!