Category: Love others

Prove That You’re a Child of the King

On By Ed AlgreenIn Love, Love of God, Love others, Love your Neighbor, Unconditional loveLeave a comment

Thursday, 2016-11-03

Scripture

Bible Reference: John 13:34-35

Bible Text:  34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

We hear kids use this phrase all the time when they doubt what parents, aunts, uncles or friends them – “Prove It”!! At times there are things that grown kids might tell parents what they are going to do, however, based on past record, parents will sometimes doubt that the kids will follow through, so they might challenge them to “Prove It” and do what they said they would do. In our scripture today, Jesus didn’t just tell His disciples to ‘Prove’ to the world that they were His disciples, but He told them how they should prove their relationship with Jesus – “Love for one another will prove whose you are”! I believe that our churches are filled with awesome Christians when we meet on weekends, but I wonder what Jesus might conclude after these same ‘Christians’ meet with that contentious neighbor, or that challenging coworker, or that friend that always seem to get on their last nerve! Out in our ‘mission field’, is it obvious that we are a child of the King of all kings? Do we ‘Prove It’ daily that we’ve been with Jesus? We are told in verse 34 that we are to love one another just as Christ first loved us. In thinking that through, we will quickly conclude that Jesus’ love for us was proven in His sacrifice of His very life for us, even though we were yet sinners. This tells me that if we are to imitate that, we must show love even to those that don’t seem to love us, or even care for us. We need to love even those who tend to persecute Christians because of their beliefs, or love even those in prison – even though they may be there because of the most awful sins committed. Instead of lashing back today, can we aim to love someone even if they don’t seem lovable in return to us? Notice that was not a condition of the love Jesus wanted us to show to others – not if they make themselves lovable, but we love because Jesus first loves us. Because we want to replicate our Lord, we also must love one another. Let’s ask God for His grace and power to love even the unlovable, so they may stop and wonder where our inspiration comes from.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You have blessed us with another day, and brand new opportunities to prove to the world that we are a child of the King. Lord, we will be faced with loving the unlovable, just as You did when You went to the cross for me. We will be faced with folk who are uninterested in You – just as I was before You took hold of my life and showed me the way of the cross. You loved me in spite of my sin, and in spite of me following the ways of the world. Please humble me to love just like that dear Jesus, so that those that I come into contact with today will want to know the same Lord that makes a difference in my life. My readers have not attained perfection yet either Lord, so please touch them powerfully today so that they too may be encouraged to love others, just like You first lived them. Please help us to face this day with great boldness and determination to be just like You! 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!

The Commandment That Sums It All Up

On By Ed AlgreenIn Love, Love othersLeave a comment

Monday, 2016-10-24

Scripture

Bible Reference: Romans 13:8-10

Bible Text:  8 Don’t owe anyone anything, with the exception of love to one another—that is a debt which never ends—because the person who loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commands given to you in the Scriptures—do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not take what is not yours, do not covet — and any other command you have heard are summarized in God’s instruction: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Does love hurt anyone? Absolutely not. In fact, love achieves everything the law requires.

Bible Translation: The Voice Translation (Voice)

My Take

Often we hear people complaining about there being so much negative in the ten commandments, and the mere number of commands that God makes on, or expects from, His children. Of course, we hear this from folk who are looking for an excuse to do ‘their own thing’, and perhaps hoping to still receive God’s blessing! However, in our scripture today God highlights one commandment that basically totals the sum of all of the other commandments!  Powerful, but yet challenging even for the child of God, because ‘Loving our neighbor as we love ourselves means that:

  • We won’t put obstacles in the path of that one who never shows loves to us;
  • Others will never know that there are folk that we really don’t care a whole lot for, because with God’s help, we will love everyone equally;
  • We are able to overlook what earthly things folk believe, and still love them because, with God’s help, we will see them as God’s creation and one who is loved by Him;
  • We will pray for those who despitefully use usu;
  • We will pray for those in authority over us, even if it seems like they show favor to certain other folk instead of us;
  • We will love even those who are different from who we are physically. Perhaps of a different nationality or race, or even different in other ways.

Friends, I could probably go on with other reasons that normally stand in the way of us loving others the way that Jesus loves us, but I believe you are probably getting the point by now. The bottom line is that Jesus loved you enough while you were still steeped in sin, that He publicly showed that love on the cross at Calvary as a sacrifice for your good. If we have truly surrendered ourselves to Him, and depending on Him to help us love just like Jesus, then none of the above will be impossible. If you struggle with one or more of the above, then I would recommend that you go back to the cross and revisit the Christ who is known as ‘LOVE’, for the Word of God say ‘God is LOVE’. Ask Him to examine you and see if you are complete His. If you are, and His Holy Spirit lives within you, then you have the power to overcome your weaknesses of self-control and the artificial superiority you may feel over others. We are all equal at the foot of the cross friends, for we all have approached, or will approach, the God of ‘LOVE’, who is the only One capable of forgiving us of our sin.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You first loved us, and You showed Your awesome love sacrificially on the cross at Calvary. In this scripture today, You are simply asking us to love all those that we come into contact with – our neighbors, so that we can prove the love of Christ that lives inside of us. Please forgive us Lord for the many excuses we use, and for the pious look down our noses at others, as being less than us, or folk that we could never learn to love. You are ‘LOVE’, and if we truly have accepted You as Lord, then You live inside of us and gives us the capability of loving exactly as You did. Please examine our hearts oh Lord, and help us prove whose we are by allowing You to love everyone through us. In this way others will come to know the very Christ that we represent! God is LOVE, and as His children, we also can LOVE! 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!

Helping Others

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bless Others, Help, Helper, Love others, Needs of others, Others firstLeave a comment

Tuesday, 2016-10-04

Scripture

Bible Reference: Ephesians 2:9-10

Bible Text:  9 Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. 10 It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.

Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)

My Take

After reading this scripture today, I feel like we should carefully examine whether we are living as God intended – helping one another. It’s almost frightening to think how greedy, and self-engrossed we have become with living our days to get as much as possible out of life for self. It seems like we are always expecting the needed help for our friends or family to come from someone else. Friends, I believe that it goes with saying, that if God sent His Son, Jesus, through the miraculous means of a virgin birth, and then He followed years later with a cruel death on the cross and a supernatural resurrection, so that our sins might be forgiven and therefore attain brand new lives, that He must have had intentions far greater than anything we could imagine. Yes, I believe that part of this plan was to make it possible for us to attain assurance of our salvation and an eternal home with our Maker, but what do you suppose he meant for us to do until the day He calls us home? Our scripture today tells us that it was God’s intent from the very beginning that we use these ‘new’ lives to help others. Think about it friend, you can tell some folk how to receive eternal life, but for others you have to show them. If we are truly Jesus’ kids, then we will act just like Him and display the same characteristics that He did. He was loving and kind even to those who were against Him and despised Him. How are you doing friend? Are you being mistaken for just about any other ‘Joe Blow’ on the street, or is it evident that You have walked and talked with Jesus and living according to His purpose? Only what’s done for Jesus will last, friend! Make it count today!

Prayer

Dear God, we have become so self-centered and greedy for all that we can personally benefit from, that we truly needed this reminder from Your Word today. Praise God that You saved us from our sin! Now Lord, please use us for the purpose You intended right from the beginning, that we help others. You placed us here on earth as brothers and sisters, not as enemies and not as one to lord over another, but in humility that we might help each other. Please open our eyes to the opportunities available to us today, and may we make You proud as we pick up the banner and help others along the way. Thank You Lord for saving my soul, and thank You for touching the hearts of so many others out there. 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!

Important Tips on Prayer For Others

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bless Others, Love others, Needs of others, Others first, Power of Prayer, PrayerLeave a comment

Friday, 2016-09-23

Scripture

Bible Reference: Colossians 1:9-11

Bible Text:   9 We have not stopped praying for you since the first day we heard about you. In fact, we always pray that God will show you everything he wants you to do and that you may have all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives. 10 Then you will live a life that honors the Lord, and you will always please him by doing good deeds. You will come to know God even better. 11 His glorious power will make you patient and strong enough to endure anything, and you will be truly happy.

Bible Translation: Contemporary English Version (CEV)

My Take

Like any good, loving, caring, pastor/shepherd would desire for their flock, the apostle Paul wanted most of all to see the saints at Colossae :

  1. Honor God with their life;
  2. Be constantly vigilant for ways to help each other in good deeds; and
  3. Come to know God even better. 

Of course, these results are virtually impossible on our own when we live in Satan’s playground, filled with sin and sinful temptations to please self and pull the other person down. However, Paul knew that the secret for success in these objectives could only come from the Master himself, therefore prayer for the saints was foremost in Paul’s agenda. So in verse 9 above, Paul declares that he and Timothy have not stopped praying for the people, and that they always pray for God to show His people everything He wants them to do, and that they would be filled with wisdom and understanding that only the Holy Spirit could give them to discern the will of God. Friends, my heart melted with these words, and the desire of these two godly saints. What if our church leaders devoted themselves more to this type of prayer for their people, than about building the next largest church building, or to introducing the next ‘program’ that would attract more folk from the church around the corner? I believe that Paul recognized that for the church to truly come to know God better, and to grow in patience and a deeper love for God – that results in pure happiness, then they needed to draw closer to the Source of all wisdom, all peace, and all joy. No doubt Paul recognized that as this became very evident in their daily lives that it would ignite a fire in those that they would come into contact with. You see, I believe that Paul recognized that his mission was to promote God, and not himself. To draw the people to God and not to himself. I also believe that if we are to truly honor God in drawing the lost to Himself, then we must get off our personal soap boxes and promote the growth of the people in their relationship to God ONLY. Nothing else will do. When that fire is ignited, the lost will be drawn to that and our churches will grow!

Prayer

Lord, thank You for loving us in spite of ourselves – in spite of our selfish motives and our greed. Thank You for also providing Your Word to speak to our hearts and challenging us on our shortcomings. Please give us the wisdom, boldness and determination to always seek Your face and to desire the very best spiritual wisdom for those that we serve. Lord, may we never lose sight of the fact that our efforts and our mission is to praise and promote You. May we always learn to step aside so that our people will see You and You alone, so that You may increase and that their eyes may be opened to Your truth – their guiding force. With thanksgiving and my sincere love and admiration, I ask these things 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!

Love Like This…

On By Ed AlgreenIn Love, Love of God, Love others, Love your Neighbor, The Father's Love, Unconditional loveLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2016-09-21

Scripture

Bible Reference: Ephesians 5:1-2

Bible Text:  Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)

My Take

No doubt some of my readers have said it before, and if you didn’t say it then you probably thought it, ‘I will resume friendship with that individual, but I will be fully guarded at all times (cautious)’, but isn’t it interesting how God chose to show us in these verses exactly how we are to handle such situations? Friends, when God sent His Son as a child in Bethlehem, it was for the benefit of the whole world – as the that little Sunday School song reads – “red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world” – all children! When Jesus was led to the cross of Calvary, it was for all who believe on Him – no conditions other than that noted. In these verses today, Paul is reminding his readers that God was not cautious about His love for us, but instead showed every sign of extravagance in loving even the unlovable. He went to the cross knowing that it was for those who refused to accept Him, or were unlovable to His kids. Paul encouraged us to not look at our neighbor who also struggles to show genuine love, but to imitate God for the unconditional, extravagant, wholehearted love that He displayed, and continues to display for us every day. So when we find ourselves struggling to love someone, let’s ask God to help us love like He did – that perfect, unadulterated, uncompromising, unselfish, love for all mankind. He did it, and as His children – fully dependent on Him and aiming to follow His example, we can do it also. Commit yourselves to Him in wanting to love like He did, and ask for His help and guidance to do so, won’t you?

Prayer

Father it is humbling to be reminded that You created us to love and worship You, yet we fail so miserably at that. You created us to love one another, yet we fail so miserably at that, and try to place ourselves above our neighbor, our friends, and those we come into contact with. Please forgive us Lord, and help us to stay so intimately in Your Word that it will have a lasting impact on our actions and our sometimes misguided thoughts and deeds. We really want to be like You Jesus – our example and our guide. For You not only instructed us, but You showed us through Your actions how we are to love one another. Please keep us accountable for all that You have taught us to do and say. May the words of our mouth, and the meditation of our heart be acceptable to You oh Lord, and for Your glory alone, 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!

Most Important Commandments

On By Ed AlgreenIn Commandments, Love, Love God, Love others, Unconditional loveLeave a comment

Monday, 2016-09-05

Scripture

Bible Reference: Mark 12:28–31

Bible Text:  28 …..“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

Many are caught aback by all of the commands in the Bible, and especially in the ten commandments, folks looking for a reason to whine and complain, tend to complain about the negativity in the commands. While we don’t see any of that in these verses, there was strong curiosity as to which one(s) were most important from Jesus’ perspective. Hearing the response from Jesus, makes this something that I believe His followers today really need to pay particular attention to, as I believe these contain very important demands for us still today. So here they are:

  1. 4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5
  2. 18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18

There is an old pop song that included the words “All I need is love” throughout the song. I believe that the one characteristic that each of these important commands are built on is “LOVE”! In the first instance, we are told that we are to love our Maker, Creator, Savior and Way Maker with all of our being. Friends, it might strike some of you to ask, “well who wouldn’t”. Unfortunately there are many that don’t recognize our Master and Creator, so of course they have no reason to love someone who, in their opinion does not exist. May I remind you that many are looking at us to see whether we, who are called by His name, truly love God from the very depths of our being. What do you think? Would your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, be convinced enough through the love they see from you for your God? As we look at the second commandment, I want you to reflect on the last time you really got mad, or upset at yourself. Now, what did you do to yourself? Did you seek to hurt yourself or deprive yourself from some special treat or event? Did you tell others how evil you were and unlikeable you were? Did you build up strong fences or defenses to keep others away? Then friends, why do we do these things to our neighbors? Remember, neighbors are ones who we come into contact with. Sometimes they are sweet as ‘pie’ to us, and sometimes we get really upset at the things they do. You know, similar to what we probably do unconsciously to others! Jesus wants us to love these neighbors in spite of their faults – as much as we love our very own selves. How are you doing with that child of God?

Prayer

Lord God, thank You for first loving us. You set the plumb line as an example for us. So often we fall so short on demonstrating the sincerity of love that You showed for us, for You loved us, even though You had no sign of love in return. Please use Your Word today to encourage, challenge and provoke us into loving You unconditionally with all our being. As we do this, I believe it will be a lot more natural for us to love one another, but please help us with that also dear Lord, for I believe that we will quickly brush others aside when they show no signs of love for us. Help us to love like You love us Heavenly Father, for I ask this all for Your ultimate glory, 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!

How To Treat Others

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Christian love, Imitate Jesus, Love, Love others, Love your NeighborLeave a comment

Thursday, 2016-07-07

Scripture

Bible Reference: Zechariah 7:8–10

Bible Text:  8-9 So once again, I, the LORD All-Powerful, tell you, “See that justice is done and be kind and merciful to one another! 10 Don’t mistreat widows or orphans or foreigners or anyone who is poor, and stop making plans to hurt each other.”

Bible Translation: The Contemporary English Version (CEV)

My Take

As I reflected on these verses I thought what would God possibly add to this list for the world He reflects on today. We often tend to compare back to a day when we were younger, and then stand in awe about where the world is today. I believe that if we were privy to just the questions posed on Google each day, it might give us a glimpse into the mindset of our people. In another part of my study today, God challenged His people to even look at the reasons they fast and pray, for often this is centered around their selfishness, and not necessarily His will for His church, His disciples and His people. Friends, let us challenge ourselves to pray for the will of God. We are not qualified to tell God what He should do, or how He should fix the many things that we feel are totally broken. I believe that these verses also helps us to acknowledge that we are slow to accept God’s commands and obey Him, because we must always remember that the Bible is very much alive, and speaks to our current day issues as much as it tells a story about how God ministered to saints of old.  Please read the verses over again. Now please evaluate the portion of the verses that may not apply to us today. How many times do we whine about judicial or governmental decisions that are made and how we wish justice would be administered? Isn’t it because the decisions were not in our favor, or handled in a manner that we prescribed – often without all of the facts? Furthermore, who put those in authority in their place? Now before you pull out the books on me, to show who voted for who, let me first ask you to read Romans 13 and then answer my question. While some parts of the world may have made strides in taking better care of widows, orphans, the poor and foreigners, may I remind you that many of these depend heavily on the church and government programs in order to survive, because they have been abandoned by their own families? I believe that the very last point probably got my attention more than the rest. “Stop scheming against each other”, or “stop making plans to hurt one another”. This is not speaking to the friend or neighbor behind you, but rather to each of us. I believe the opposite of  this, may be better aligned with God’s Word: “make plans to bless someone today” or “think about how you might encourage someone today” or “show more love towards each other today” or “look for ways to help someone succeed today or feel better about themselves”. In a nutshell, I believe that we are being taught how we are to treat each other in ways that might better reflect the heart of God for His children. We can do this friends, because these are the ways that we would want to be treated. Let’s seek God’s power to help us be more like Him in every way – everyday!

Prayer

Father God, thank You for loving me, and for showing love through so many different folk, to encourage me in my walk for You. Your Word is always a lamp unto our feet, and today is no exception, as You have shown us how we might enhance our love for one another, and how we should be especially careful to scheme only towards love and good works towards one another. May we not only be Your hands and feet today, but may we love one another in much the same way that You showed Your love for us. This might be the greatest sermon we can preach today! Please have Your will and way in and through us today dear 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!

Saved… Now What?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Love, Love othersLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right?  May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for your blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: 1 Peter 1:22–23
Today’s Bible Text: You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation

My Take Away: In a Prayer Conference a few months ago we were encourage to sometimes say why we are praying for certain things. The way to pull that into our prayer is to use the words “so that…”. So I might pray for a missionary going to the Bahamas, so that the most hardened hearts might be touched with the gospel and that crime would decrease and the work of the Lord increase. Peter is reminding us that we should not only be thankful that we were touched by the Holy Spirit and redirected towards the Savior, but now that we are saved from our lives of sin and eternal damnation, we have an obligation to duplicate that love that reached down and loved us even in the self-destructive life that we were living, to now show that same love towards those that we come into contact with. In our attempts to duplicate God’s love for us, we should always be reminded that God loved us just the way we were – He didn’t change us first then love us. We too will be challenged to love those who may appear to be unlovable, or very challenging to deal with. Friends, God has commanded us to love one another – period! It’s a given that this will include those who are easy to love, and those who will challenge our real faith and trust in the Lord. Let’s remember that we are to trust in the Lord with all of our heart, soul and mind. As we do that, we will quickly realize that it is the power and love of God within us, that will reach out in love to those who may seem unlovable to mortal man. So I believe that we must love with all that is within us – especially the Holy Spirit. Because He first loved us, we have proof that He can also love the hardest person we know, through us. Through obedience to God and our dependence on His awesome Holy Spirit, we can love even the most challenging people, friends! Trust Him today and let Him be God through you in all that you do in His name, and for His glory!

Prayer: Dear God, thank You for loving each of us with such deep affection, that You were willing to give up Your Son in death on a very cruel cross, just so that we could have a chance at one day being with You in heaven. What amazing love, and what a sacrifice! Thank You Lord Jesus. There will be ones that will cross our paths today that we will stop and wonder how we could ever love them, or show them Your grace. With the same love that You showed for us, I pray that we will sincerely look to You for power and grace to love others. Thank You heavenly Father for using even us to touch the hearts and lives of others. May we be totally obedient and submissive today, all for Your ultimate glory, 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