Category: Love

Love Like This…..

On By Ed AlgreenIn Love1 Comment

The Holy Bible

 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 and Location: The Message – Ephesians 5:1-2)

Thoughts:

I am constantly amazed about how easily we model ourselves after others who have an influence over our lives. Now for those of you that disagree with me, let me be quick to say that I agree with you, that some are worse than others! So when I read this passage this morning, I was reminded that there is an ideal for us to follow, for in the last words of the 2nd verse, we told that we are to “love like that”. So let’s probe into the ideals by which we are to love, according to Your Word:

  1. Imitate God’s love – watch what He did in the Bible and what He does in the lives of His children today, then love in that manner. As a reminder, we are to love in such a way that:
    1. We don’t mind sacrificing our very best for the benefit of others;
    2. We are compassionate about others, for Jesus wept over a friend who had died; He healed the sick; fed the hungry and loved the lowliest of folk;
  2. Let love fill our lives – for ‘mostly what God does is love’. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be known as a person who ‘loved’ unconditionally?
  3. Love extravagantly, not cautiously – In being careful not to get hurt by someone, we may tend to be overly cautious about extending our love for them. This is not a godly example friend, for God loved us and sacrificed for us, even while we were yet sinners;
  4. Love unselfishly – never expect anything in return for the love that you show towards others. Jesus freely gave His life for us because of what the Father wanted, and because He first loved us, not because of anything that He could benefit from, in return for showing His love.

So friends, we are being instructed to love in this manner, if we are to be known as children of God. Caution! Don’t try this on your own, seek God’s help and surrender to His will. Open your life and allow Him to love through you. Strive towards being a person filled with, and expressing the love of God in and through your life at all times!

Prayer:

Ultimate love was shown for us at Calvary when You sacrificed Your one and only Son dear God. Thank You for that gift of salvation offered for us, and thank You for showing us the extreme that You were prepared to go to in order to show Your love for us. Today we want to be your example. We want to be Christ-like. We want to imitate You in our love for others. However, Lord I believe You are well aware of the challenge that we face in our desire to love like You did, for at times we ourselves are miserable and unlovable; at times we are selfish in the reasons that we love and often Satan is in the forefront of causing havoc between family and friends, instead of the harmony and love that You offer through us. Please forgive us for the times that we lose sight of our strength and guidance offered by You. Please touch Your children once again with the miracle of love, one for another, so that we may live in unity and look more like Your children than ever before. We need You, oh Lord, and we depend on You. For it is in the wonderful and blessed name of Jesus that I pray, 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!

The Most Intimate part of our Life!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Christian, Christmas, LoveLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

29 Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.

30 Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted. 31–32Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.

(Bible Translation and Location: The Message – Ephesians 4:29-32)

Thoughts:

No doubt Paul was facing challenges at the churches he was ministering at much like we experience today. However, what was made abundantly clear to me this morning as I read these verses is that we not only hurt our Brothers and Sisters by the things we say and do, but the Holy Spirit is very hurt by our harsh words and our unloving actions. The reason I believe that the Holy Spirit is grieved and disappointed in us, is that God the Father sacrificed His one and only Son in order that we might have a new life in Him, one that is free from the filth and dirt of a world stained by Satan. It just crushes the heart of my Savior when, from all appearances, we have disregarded this precious gift of God, and still continue to live like the devil. Worse still, God expects this type behavior out of those who know no better, because they don’t know Him nor His expectation for their life. However, the real disappointment comes when a person says ‘yes’ to Jesus and then continue on with their old lifestyle. It’s like saying to God, this is my life and I will live it as I please. Friends, as children of God, we not only have His assurance of being always present in us and with us through every circumstance in life, but we are also endowed with:

  • His love – to love others in the same way that He first loved us;
  • His power – to overcome the Evil one and all the distractions and attractions of this world;
  • His humility – to love even the person that may have hurt us or tried to humiliate us; and
  • His understanding – that opens our eyes to right vs wrong; love vs hatred; peace vs war/envy/strife.

Friends, I believe it is suffice to say that with God’s Holy Spirit residing inside of us, there is nothing that we can’t overcome and nothing that prevents us from showing the love of Christ to all that we come into contact with. We celebrate Christmas because of the precious gift given to us through the Lord Jesus, so that we might be overcomers; children of God and one with Him. Let’s choose to die to our old selves and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us with His qualities, so that we may represent Him before a lost and dying world, won’t you?

Prayer:

Lord, You gave us the greatest gift possible when You sent Your Son as a child in Bethlehem. For at that time You purposed in Your heart that Jesus would be our SAVIOR. You did this in spite of our sin, our unworthiness and our nature. It was mere love for a race that You created to love, honor and worship You, however a race but still chose to do otherwise. With this type love as a backdrop in our lives, please help us to always strive towards imitating that type love. Your ultimate love was shown on the cross, where You allowed the ugliness of sin and darkness to win, so that Your life might be sacrificed for mankind. Please help us to sacrifice all that we feel is important to us, and instead allow Your love to envelope us and express itself through us, so that others will see Jesus in us and want to know Him personally! Jesus, thank You for coming to earth, so that we may one day come to heaven to live with You forever! I love You Lord, and I ask all these things believing in 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 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!

God’s Love Remains – In Prosperity and Hard Times

On By Ed AlgreenIn Love, Prosperity, UnconditionalLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

13 Accept the way God does things,

for who can straighten what he has made crooked?

14 Enjoy prosperity while you can,

but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God.

Remember that nothing is certain in this life.

(Bible Translation and Location: New Living Translation – Ecclesiastes 7:13-14)

Thoughts:

The last verse in this chapter, Ecclesiastes 7:29 reads: 29This is all that I have learnt: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated. I believe that this verse sums up our human race so well, for we are never satisfied with just the facts, we have to prove they are true, and that the speaker or the author had no bias towards what they said! Friends, our key verses today is basically reminding us that our God is way more powerful than we could ever imagine, in fact Solomon went on to illustrate the majesty and power of God by reminding us that no one can straighten out the curves in this universe made by God. Therefore we should continue to trust Him through our praises and celebrations when things are prosperous and going well for us. However, although we often neglect to stop and praise Him for our everyday happiness, safety, family, friends, work, knowledge and so much more, we seem to do just the opposite when it comes to those hard times in our lives. We are reminded in verse 14 that ‘everything’ comes from God, both the good and the challenging times. Think about it friend: if God loves His dear children, why would that differ when things are going wrong, vs the times when we are on cloud nine with joy and happiness? When we discipline our children, it is not because we hate them today vs yesterday. We discipline because we love them and want to help them do better. There’s a popular song out today entitled “I will Praise You in the Storm” that speaks very loudly and clearly to this unconditional love of God for which we are to be thankful and praise-worthy at all times. Will you join me in shifting our negativity during challenging times to more of a praise time because of God’s love to discipline us and show us a better way to live? Can we learn to praise Him in spite of our personal circumstances – good or bad?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You made us, so I am confident that You are well aware of our weaknesses, especially during those challenging times in our lives. Please touch Your children today and help us to be more of a thankful people. For I believe that if we did a better job of praising, thanking and celebrating during our ‘good times’ then, perhaps, we will more easily recognize that You are still God, still in control, and will do nothing to harm us, but rather continue to mold us during the times when we feel so out of control. You went through some very challenging times even as our supreme Lord, so help us to understand that these times will come. However, help us to follow Your example in dealing with our challenges, for You healed the ear of an attacker in the garden, and You prayed for the Father to bless those who hung You on the cross. Please help us to recognize You daily for the loving God that You are, knowing that You have our best interest at heart. Please continue to bless others through us, both during our prosperous times and especially through our challenging times, and may we continually praise You through every event in life, for I ask this in the wonderful 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 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!

Love The One You Got!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Love, Marriage, Surrender1 Comment

The Holy Bible

18So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the woman you married- 19pretty and graceful as a deer. Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love. 20Why should you give your love to another woman, my son? Why should you prefer the charms of another man’s wife? 21The Lord sees everything you do. Wherever you go, he is watching.

(Bible Translation and Location: Good News Translation – Proverbs 5:18-21)

Thoughts:

There’s an old hip-hop song with the same title I gave to our devotional today, because as I meditated on these verses this song came to mind, so I didn’t intentionally use bad English!!! However, God not only spoke to a man that He made to be the wisest man on earth, but He also inspired him to write down these wise words to share with folk that came along after he (Solomon) died. God, in His wisdom, knew that you and I should be told from His Word how to truly live holy and happy lives, even when it concerns our lives with our spouses. Now friends, there are a few things in here that really step on the toes of some that have supposedly convinced themselves of what God should have included in His Word, so they may become offended, but I would encourage them to politely and respectfully pray to God about those things. These verses follow verse 15 where Solomon gave us these words of wisdom: “Be faithful to your own wife and give your love to her alone”, so I believe that what God is drawing to our attention in order to have happy marriages, is that:

  1. Men must be the husband of one wife and find your joy with her – Notice the verse didn’t indicate “one of your wives” or “one of your women”. Also note that the verse didn’t say that you will find joy waiting for you, but rather you will “find joy”. That gives me the impression that we must seek after it, or work at it. If you sow in happiness, you will reap joy! Please note that to find joy with your wife, you cannot have other women trying to win your affection, otherwise you could never give your wife the attention and love that she, and you, deserve;
  2. Pretty and graceful as a deer – I’m sure that no one ever married a woman because she just wasn’t pretty in your eyes. So if she was pretty when you married her, and you have tried in every way to find joy with her every step along the way, why might she not be pretty now? I am reminded of something an elderly gentlemen told me at one time when I was finding fault with a vehicle I owned. He said, it is so interesting the fault we will find with our current vehicle when we have our minds set on a new one we want to buy! Funny, but very true words that also apply to our view of our wives! They are very pretty until we set our eyes on someone else that we are becoming attracted to. One word of advice to husbands and wives, don’t look elsewhere because you feel your spouse has lost their beauty, you are also growing old at the same rate of your spouse, and you may not be getting any more handsome either!!
  3. God is watching – God not only hears the words we speak, but He also knows our thoughts. You absolutely cannot straighten Him out with the poor excuses you give your spouse, so live upright, honest, loving and happy lives like God intended for you.

Friends, I am not a Marriage Counselor, but I am a Christian and would be happy to rejoice with you on any happy stories this devotional may have reminded you of, or if there is an area that you are struggling with, I would be happy to pray with you. So I encourage you to use the information in the footnote to contact me and allow me to pray with you about your marriage or your relationship with the Lord.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, unlike anything we can see, or ever imagine, about the condition of marriages and Christian life in general today, I am convinced that You see and know every little detail. I humbly ask that You help us to overcome our carnal minds and worldly desires. Please help us to keep our minds fixed on You, and make decisions inspired by You and for Your glory. Happy marriages will result in happy couples who will have happy children. This is not the case today, even from our eyes dear Lord, so we know that You see the weaknesses evident in Your children who claim You, especially when it is convenient or needed. Please touch the hearts and minds of Your children today, beginning with me. I believe that as we draw close to You and refocus our desire to please You in all walks of our lives, then we will live according to Your Word, without It becoming burdensome to us. Our marriages and our families are in trouble Lord. We need You more today than ever before, to heal our land, revive Your very own children, and to melt the hearts of those spouses that do not know You as Lord. Marriage is instituted and blessed by You, and I question how this could be possible if a spouse raises the stop sign to not allow You in. We need You Lord! I know that You have this under control, please give me peace to leave You at Your job, knowing that You are the Master of all things! I love You Lord, and I ask all of these things believing, and in the precious name of Jesus, Amen!

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

The Results of Getting Along

On By Ed AlgreenIn Getting Along, LoveLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

 How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!

    It’s like costly anointing oil flowing down head and beard,

    Flowing down Aaron’s beard, flowing down the collar of his priestly robes.

    It’s like the dew on Mount Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion.

  Yes, that’s where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life.
(The Message – Psalm 133:1–3)

When we worship the right way, God doesn’t stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches—no exceptions.
 (The Message – 1 Corinthians 14:33).

Thoughts:

I normally read an Old Testament reading and a New Testament reading each morning. I had already sensed that God wanted me to share the passage in Psalm 133 when I turned to 1 Corinthian 14, only to find the same theme. To those meditating on this devotional but have not yet surrendered their life to God, you might consider this a great coincidence. However, I believe that finding both readings to contain a similar theme only confirmed what God wanted me to share. For God is just that awesome! The first passage dealt with individuals, while the second dealt with harmony in the church. However friends, the church is made up of individuals, and if the individuals (church members) are not getting along with each other in their homes and in their family relationships, can we truly expect anything different in the church, or anywhere else that the individuals find themselves? I would dare say that there is little chance of seeing a difference in one venue vs another. So how important is this to God? In the Psalm, David calls the act of getting along as ‘harmony’. He then compares harmony to the dew that drops off the steep slopes of the great Mount Hermon, and he declared that God had commanded His blessing on that type harmony, and even ordained eternal life to it. Now think about this friends, we know that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can obtain eternal life, so obviously David was prophesying that those who accept Jesus as Lord (Christians) who live in harmony, will receive the eternal life that only He offers. You see, it’s very evident that living in harmony is a gift of the Spirit, and therefore if we live in disharmony, we should really go back to the cross and seek the face of Jesus so that He might pour out His Holy Spirit upon us and allow us to live in peace, in harmony with one another. For this results in the greater gift of eternal life that can truly be yours. For my Christian brothers and sisters who have allowed disharmony to sneak into your holy lives, let us go before the throne, ask for forgiveness, and seek a fresh anointing from our heavenly Father. Our aim should be to please Jesus in all that we do. Let’s make sure that we get along with others like He expects of us.

Prayer:

Lord, Your Word is extremely powerful and often used to correct areas of our lives that need attention, and truly needs be better aligned with You and Your awesome example detailed in Your Word. There is a powerful song “Lord, I want to be Just like You”, and I pray that this will not just be my desire today, but that Your Word might provoke the hearts of all that will read this devotional and also help them commit to living a more dedicated and committed life for You. Please help us to live in perfect harmony with one another, just like You would. I ask this in the precious 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 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 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!

Love Is….

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Love, Love God, Love your Neighbor, ObedienceLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

4 Love is patient, love is kind.
Love does not envy,
is not boastful, is not conceited,
5 does not act improperly,
is not selfish, is not provoked,
and does not keep a record of wrongs.
6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness
but rejoices in the truth.
7 It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Thoughts:

If we paid attention to the television, then we will know that ‘love’ is one night stands, beauty, riches, sex or even products, because we are fed all the advertisements that is prevalent way more than the actual movie that we are watching. So grows our children who stay fixed on television each day. But what about the adults, anything different for us? Of course not, unless we concentrate on the Word of God, embed it into our lives and be obedient to its teachings. I want you to think about a typical evening in the life of married couples, so that we can compare that to our understanding of God’s Word, and I believe it will be evident why our country is so filled with cohabitating adults and/or divorcees, from which more broken homes are developed by their kids. First of all, both parents are out working all day – sometimes late into the evening, they arrive home tired, stressed and ready for bed, but their habitual ‘meal clock’ tells them that it is time to eat. So a fast food item is placed in the microwave, or soup is warmed, to satisfy any hunger pangs. In the meantime, the television is on, text and/or Facebook messages are dinging in and demanding the attention of the modern day adults, while we sit down to gobble our food and prepare for bed. Did I forget to include the time needed to sit and truly give our undivided attention to each other to hear about their day, or whether they still have a job. Oh, and what about time to celebrate what God may have done in our lives that day? When this routine repeats itself day after day friends, can you see how verse 7 above can possibly be developed, or matured? Unfortunately, many homes are facing this challenge. Unfortunately many couples are finding little time to express love towards each other, because they have absolutely worked true ‘love’ out of the picture. There’s no time for it and even if there is a minute, our minds are so wound up that we just want to be left alone in a corner with some peace and quiet. Has Satan sneaked his way into our marriages and into our homes to destroy something that God has designed? I believe that Satan would like nothing better friend. Please re-read the above verses, reflect on God’s design for true ‘love’ one for another, and don’t look at what needs to change in the life of your spouse or children, but what do you/I need to do personally so that we may be true followers of Christ and His commands. Our spouse, our families and our world deserves better. Can we do it? What does ‘love’ mean to you? What must be realigned in your life to help you align you life with the true plumb-line – the Word of God?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You have inspired great writers like Paul to share Your Word with us so that we may be better aligned with Your expectations for Your children. I can only imagine how You must shake Your head in disgust sometimes at the mess we have made of life in today’s society. I know for sure that we need You more today than we have ever needed You before. I know for sure that we have really failed to do this thing called ‘love’, in its truest form, and that we need Your powerful hand upon us for the strength, guidance and overwhelming power to overcome the evil one. We need the encouragement of Your loving arms around us to cheer us along and to give us the confidence that we need to lay the things of this world aside and truly give our undivided attention to our spouses, our children, our family and all those that take time to listen and/or share with us. I’m afraid that if we are to truly be Your example, we must overcome these weaknesses and depend on You for strength to be the man/woman that You intended and the ones that You can use to minister to unbelievers today. Please be my strength and my guide today dear Lord. Please forgive me where I have failed to express my love to You and to others. Please touch the hearts and lives of Your children who will meditate on this devotional today Oh Lord. We all need You! I place my desires at Your feet and ask all these favors in the precious and loving name of Jesus, my soon coming 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.

You Have All That You Need

On By Ed AlgreenIn All have sinned, Bible Believing, Christian, Eternal Life, Faith, Follow Jesus, Fruit of the Spirit, God our Helper, God our Provider, Helper, Holy Spirit, Humility, Imitator of Christ, Listen to the Word of God, Love, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Pleasing to God, Praise, Purity, Reflecting Christ, Righteousness, Trust, Truthful, Victorious LifeLeave a comment

The Bible – New Living Translation

1 Corinthians 1:7–9

7 Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thoughts:

I was reminded of my working career where, from time to time, I go off to conferences or training seminars to sharpen my skills and make me a better employee. These verses made me think about this, because when we surrendered our lives to the lordship of our Lord Jesus, we were given everything that we need to succeed as a Christian. So why do we go to church? Much like I said in my career, we go to church to receive that ‘tune up’, that personal accountability where we allow God’s Word to challenge our lives and show us what we need to do differently in order to be best aligned with His will. Furthermore, Paul reminded the Corinthians of the importance to be blameless when Christ returns. This is vitally important for two reasons: 1). We don’t know the day or the hour when Jesus Christ will return, so we need to be ready and watching at all times, and this must be in a blameless fashion if we are to join Him when He returns; and 2). We need to be holy as Christ is holy, so that we can be the proper representation of Him to our lost family and friends, while we are still on this earth. If we are not blameless before them, we will be considered hypercritical and undesirable to anyone else. The reassurance in these verses can be found in verse 8, for Paul reminds us that God will keep us strong to the end! Praise God that He watches out for us and directs us as needed so that we may remain strong in Him. Now all we need to do is to free ourselves of any rebellion and allow Him to do His mighty work in us. May it be so, God being our helper!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, it is so very interesting to see how your people are the same today as they were in Paul’s day. We still tend to rebel at times and pretend like we have everything under control. Unfortunately, we know full well that we can do nothing without Your strength and Your guidance. Thank You for our pastors and church leaders who teach us Your Word and gently guide us into the path of righteousness so that we may stay aligned with Your Word, accountable to You, and a bold, honest example to our lost family and friends. Lord, may Your perfect will be made whole in my life today, and may Your presence be so bold in the lives of those that may read this devotional, and in the lives of those that we come into contact with. As Paul reminds us in this scripture this morning, You are faithful to what You have said in Your Word, so I rest in the comfort of Your loving arms and depend on Your guidance and perfect will to be accomplished in all things that I may be involved in today. I serve an awesome God in whom I rejoice today! Praising Him and asking for ongoing guidance in the precious and loving name of Jesus, my Savior, AMEN!

 

NOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray.

Strength is for service, not status

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Encourage, Follow Jesus, Helper, Holy Spirit, Humility, Imitator of Christ, Love, Love your Neighbor, Obedience, Pleasing to God, Service, Status, StregthLeave a comment

The Bible – The Message

Romans 15:1-6

1-2             Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”

3–6           That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it.

Thoughts:

Our reaction to someone’s problems is that we normally feel very sorry for them, followed by: “we will pray for you”. Personally I am very guilty of forgetting that promise as soon as I am out of the person’s presence. Not intentionally, but often because I feel like this is my Christian responsibility to tell them that I will pray for them. But it is very unfortunate that I have taken this serious responsibility so very lightly, especially when my mentor, Jesus, cared for people so much that He didn’t worry about food for himself, but for the 5,000 that had followed Him. It gets even worse, because people will share their worry with us about them not having food to eat or money for the electric or clothing for their school kids, and so often we say how sorry we are to hear that, or perhaps that we will tell our pastor about their problem. Sometimes, that’s the most that some of us can do at the time, but often it is because we do our best to shrug the problem off and leave it for the leaders of our church to handle, since that’s what they are getting paid for! Friends, I believe that God places us in a situation that requires our help, not to simply pass the buck, but to follow through and do our part. It might be a growing experience for us! Let’s remember that we are a Christian not just for the status in our family, workplace and community, but we are to follow the example of our Lord and Savior and serve others as given the opportunity. Can you do more in this respect? I know I can, God being my helper!

Prayer:

Father, often we look at other ‘Christians’ and look down our proud noses and say how sorry we are for them and their circumstances. I am sorry for the times that I have fit into that mold dear Jesus, but I must say that I am not proud of that, and I want to dedicate my life to being a true example of You in every way. I know that this will sometime lead to certain things not pleasing to self, but it’s You I live for Jesus and You that I want to please and follow. Please help me to be Your hands and feet on the ground, so help me to characterize You in every way throughout my life. I believe that many of my Christian friends fit into the same mold as I do dear Lord, so I ask that you shower Your wisdom and Your power on their lives today as well, so that together, we may be Your church – your bride. Lord Jesus, I ask all this in Your name and for Your glory, Amen!

 

NOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray.

How To Handle Evil Against You

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Bible Believing, Disciple, Encourage, Forgiveness, Giving, Grace, Holy Spirit, Love, Love God, Love your Neighbor, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Power of Prayer, Reflecting ChristLeave a comment

The Bible – New Living Translation

Romans 12:17-21

 

17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” (Deut. 32:35) says the Lord.

20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” (Proverbs 25:21-22)

21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Thoughts:

 

Friends, these words are intended for children of God, because they are not the normal course of action for the person who has no Godly influence, or help to handle situations in just the opposite manner that one would normally expect. The actions mandated in these verses are God-inspired; God-directed; and only possible with God’s help, because in and of our natural selves we would normally lash back at those that misuse and abuse us. This is similar to another command given by God: when your enemy slaps you on one cheek, don’t lash back, turn the other cheek and let them slap you there also. Again, this is not a normal reaction to the natural sinful man. I believe a good question for the Christian would be: “why would God demand something so totally opposite to the norm?” Friends, I believe that God saw His only Son beaten, hung on a cross and crucified, but didn’t send down 10,000 angels to rescue Him, because it was all done for the purpose of showing the world (us) that His love for us extended even to the extent of crucifying His Son. Similarly, when we allow the grace of God to work in our lives and we subsequently behave like Jesus would have, we are showing the world that the grace by which we are driven is one filled with a miraculous love, a divine love. You see, what would the world learn if we reacted just like they would and expect? That we are no different to any other man, right? Now Brothers and Sisters, is this an easy thing? Absolutely not, but for those who are in the Word daily and learning about the ways of God, and constantly being reminded of things like Deuteronomy 32:35 (quoted above), then we know that the love by which we are driven is nothing like the love known by the world. Our actions are totally unexpected by the world, but we are to be obedient servants and follow the commands of Christ, knowing that He will not see His prized possessions taken advantage of. Remember, the last word is God’s, and He will settle the acts against His children. Let’s do our part, knowing full well that God is faithful to His Word and will do His part at the appropriate time. Let’s endeavor to love even in challenging circumstances, not give in and act just like the world expects one of their own to act. Let’s show that God is in control of our lives and our circumstances and we have nothing to fear!

 

 

Prayer:

 

Lord Jesus, these are very challenging directions in these verses, but thank You for reminding me that the battle is Yours and that You will revenge, if needed. My job is to love through the good times and through the challenging times, to those that love me and to those that hate me. My obligation is to be obedient, in spite of my circumstances, knowing that You have everything under control and that through my obedience You might have another opportunity to minister to that person who means ill towards me. I must be obedient to You, no matter the circumstances that face me in this world, because it is often through the most difficult, or challenging circumstance that an unsaved person might be challenged to look heavenly and find the source behind this Christian’s strength, wisdom, endurance and love. Lord Jesus, in Your name, I ask for this strength, wisdom, endurance and love to be imparted and available to me, because You have already demonstrated this type of love, and You definitely have the authority and power to give it to me. May this all be used for Your glory and Your honor, AMEN!

 

 

NOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray.

Sincere Godly Love, One for Another

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

The Bible – The Good News Translation

 Romans 12:9-10

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

Thoughts:

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

Prayer:

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

 

NOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray.