The Prescription for Success

On 2022-03-142022-03-14 By Ed AlgreenIn Devotion, For His Glory, Glory of God, God's Glory, LoyaltyLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Monday, 2020-03-14
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

Bible Reference: 2 Chronic les 31:20–21
Translation: Good News Translation (GNT)

Bible Text: ²⁰Throughout all Judah, King Hezekiah did what was right and what was pleasing to the Lord his God. ²¹He was successful, because everything he did for the Temple or in observance of the Law, he did in a spirit of complete loyalty and devotion to his God.

APPLICATION: I can hardly imagine what our families, our churches, our cities and our nation would be like if we had men following the example of King Hezekiah today! We are told in verse 21 that this king was extremely successful because….. everything he did was in a spirit of complete loyalty and devotion to God! Wow! In Bible Studies we are often reminded about the importance of loving our spouse in complete loyalty and obedience to God, and we might hear testimonies about the difference these characteristics make in the life and marriage of couples who remain in love with each other through good, and yes, even through challenging times. I could only imagine how much better our workplaces would be if we (Christians) went to work with a spirit of complete loyalty and devotion to God. Friends, I know that many employers will not allow Christianity to be promoted within the confounds of the workplace, but what is inside of us cannot be taken away! We take Christ into our jobs through our lives – our actions, our stands on certain things, through our sincere dedication to our work and our bosses. Christians should be the best employees for any employer, if we do our jobs in complete loyalty and dedication to God. He will stop us from cheating, stealing, lying, gossiping, and any other ungodly actions. God will drive us towards being the best in everything expected of us by our employer. In addition to committing yourself to loyalty and devotion to God, please remember to daily pray God’s blessings on your supervisor and on your employer. Yes, even the boss that may seem hard and uncaring towards you. Just as Jesus made a difference in your life, He will also impact the life of your boss, or that difficult supervisor! As you meditate on this devotional and consider following this commitment, please notice that Hezekiah had no conditions to his commitment, and I believe we could deduce that his commitment was evident in every aspect of his life. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, but our churches, our families, our workplaces, our schools and our social clubs are all suffering from the lack of commitment by those who tell the world that they belong to God. The Word says that as a result of Hezekiah’s commitment, many conditions changed for the good, and he was successful in everything he did. So will you join me in committing to be completely loyal and devoted to God in every aspect of your life? The world so badly needs Jesus, perhaps one dedicated child of God making a difference in their workplace, their homes, etc. will bring hope to those who need the Lord. Do your part dear friend, and pray for the same success that Hezekiah had!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus I’m sure that You never intended for us to be an image of You for others to look on, but rather that we might imitate You in everything You have taught us though Your Word and Your actions, so that they may be convinced of their need for Jesus. Thank You for the life of Hezekiah and the commitment displayed by this servant in loyalty and devotion to You. This impacted his world! But still today, our world is in trouble and many need to see a few good men and women who are dedicated to the One they say they belong to. Lord, may they see from our commitment, loyalty and devotion to You, that Jesus is alive and well, because of the evidence they see each day in us. Please forgive us Lord for the times we have acted just like the world, and not been a pure replica of You. Please help us to never be a stumbling block that prevents Your impact on the lost. Oh that You may be glorified and recognized in us, and may You be glorified on earth, as You are in Heaven! 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!

Lukewarm – Neither Cold nor Hot

On 2020-12-032020-12-02 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Loyalty, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Thursday, 2020-12-03
WRITTEN AT: Paul B Johnson State Park, Hattiesburg, MS

BIBLE REFERENCE: Revelation 3:15-17
TRANSLATION: The Voice (VOICE)

BIBLE TEXT: ¹⁵“I know your works. You are neither cold with apathy nor hot with passion. It would be better if you were one or the other, but you are neither. ¹⁶So because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷You claim, ‘I am rich, I have accumulated riches, and I need nothing’; but you do not realize that you are miserable, pathetic, poor, blind, and naked.

OBSERVATION: It seems like the church at Laodicea must have felt like they had everything ‘they’ needed to make it in life, and if they needed God for anything they would simply call on Him. I’m not sure that our churches today could identify totally with this, because we are constantly reaching for the stars, and money is usually needed for that. However, I believe that God didn’t see where they were actively pursuing His goal for His church. In fact, He considered them ‘lukewarm’. Do you suppose that applies to you and/or your church?

APPLICATION: It may be difficult for us to recognize the challenges of the church today, compared to what it was 1 year ago, because COVID challenges have given the corporate body such a different look. However, I believe we should first of all look inside at the attitudes and mindset of ourselves and think honestly whether God might consider us to be on fire for the Lord, or as this translations puts it, are we truly ‘hot with passion’ for God, and the things of God. For the temperature of our respective churches could only be measured by the total temperature of its members. But the challenge for you and I is to understand what must be happening if we are not hot with passion, for if we are not, then we are either ’cold’ or we are ‘lukewarm’. When a child of God comes to a place in their lives where their conscience is not affected when they sin, then I believe they have really become ‘Cold’ to the Spirit of God and couldn’t care less if they proceeded with action that they know will displease God. Oh how sad that must be for God to see such neglect from His children, for whom He sacrificed His one and only Son on the cross, out of the unconditional love that He had for us. But perhaps, you might consider yourself elevated from a point of being Cold in your relationship with God, but you are definitely not one of those Christian ‘fanatics’, as some call ‘sold out’ believers. Then I believe that you might be at a point where you like the idea of being associated with Jesus Christ, but you would just as soon keep that to yourself. You may attend church, but see no reason to attend every Sunday, as you do pretty good on your own. You believe that the Pastor and his lead gurus are the ones assigned to visiting the sick and doing the chores around church, so since you pay them for that, you see no reason to get involved. Friends, would someone with all those calculations impress you as a ‘sold out’ child of God? Remember, God knows every little detail about us, including our very own deepest and private thoughts. So when we do things to impress others about our relationship with God, we may succeed in pulling the wool over their eyes, but can you imagine the heart of God when He knows how His children could be so alive in His presence, yet choose to mislead and create falsehoods in the eyes of mankind? Is it any wonder why He said that the church at Laodicia made Him sick? Friends, the world needs Jesus, and unless they see Him in all of His glory through those who are called by His name, they may continue to believe that He is just a myth. Are you striving to nullify that myth for those you come into contact with, or are you helping to confirm to them that they are correct? There’s only one life to live here on earth dear friends, and you are living it each and every day – for Jesus, against Jesus, or as if you are really not sure. What might Jesus say about you? Will His heart melt from the love you portray, or will He vomit because of your contradictions and hypocrisies?

PRAYER: When I truly learned about all that You did for me on Calvary, I invited You into my heart to stay, precious Lord. My intent has always been that You might work miraculously in and through me, so that others might see very clearly that the God of this universe is alive and well. Please open my eyes to the things that distract and dilute my vision of You and therefore causes me to relax in my walk with You. Lord, I want to be a part of Your church body that is hot for the Gospel, hot for imitating my Father and hot for seeing my lost friends and family come to know You as Lord and Savior, before its too late. On behalf of my readers and I, please Lord renew Your church again. May our hearts burn within us for the urgent work of the Master in our communities and in our churches. We know that You will return soon to take Your church on home to glory. May we be found faithful, loyal and true right to the very end. AMEN!

Successful Men Look Like This

On 2020-03-14 By Ed AlgreenIn Devotion, For His Glory, Glory of God, God's Glory, LoyaltyLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Saturday, 2020-03-14
WRITTEN AT: Paul B Johnson State Park, Hattiesburg, MS

Bible Reference: 2 Chronic les 31:20–21
Translation: Good News Translation (GNT)

OBSERVATION: I don’t know that you will learn anything new from this devotional today, but I believe that you will be reminded of why you might have an employee who is very successful and doing well for your company, or you might be challenged with something that is lacking in your life that prevents you from succeeding in your job. The formula is spelled right out in our Scripture, but fearing that you might gloss right over it, I want us to meditate on the necessary qualities, and how these were evident in king Hezekiah.

APPLICATION: I can hardly imagine what our families, our churches, our cities and our nation would be like if we had men following the example of King Hezekiah today! We are told in verse 21 that this king was extremely successful because….. everything he did was in a spirit of complete loyalty and devotion to God! Wow! In Bible Studies we are often reminded about the importance of loving our spouse in complete loyalty and obedience to God, and we might hear testimonies about the difference these characteristics make in the life and marriage of couples who remain in love with each other through good, and yes, even through challenging times. I could only imagine how much better our workplaces would be if we (Christians) went to work with a spirit of complete loyalty and devotion to God. Friends, I know that many employers will not allow Christianity to be promoted within its confounds, but what is inside of us cannot be taken away! We take Christ into our jobs through our lives – our actions, our stands on certain things, through our sincere dedication to our work and our bosses. Christians should be the best employees for any employer, if we do our jobs in complete loyalty and dedication to God. He will stop us from cheating, stealing, lying, gossiping, and any other ungodly actions. God will drive us towards being the best in everything expected of us by our employer. In addition to committing yourself to loyalty and devotion to God, please remember to daily pray God’s blessings on your supervisor and on your employer every day. Yes, even the boss that may seem hard and uncaring towards you. Just as Jesus made a difference in your life, He will also impact the life of your boss! As you meditate on this devotional and consider following this commitment, please notice that Hezekiah had no conditions to his commitment, and I believe we could deduce that his commitment was evident in every aspect of his life. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you, but our churches, our families, our workplaces, our schools and our social clubs are all suffering from the lack of commitment by those who tell the world that they are involved with one or more of these groups. The Word says that as a result of Hezekiah’s commitment, many conditions changed for the good, and he was successful in everything he did. So will you join me in committing to be completely loyal and devoted to God? And that we will ask Him to prompt us into a strong commitment in everything that we do, so that there would be an impact on those around us for the glory of Christ!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus I’m sure that You never intended for us to be an image of You for others to look on, but rather that we might imitate You in everything You have taught us though Your Word and Your actions. Thank You for the life of Hezekiah and the commitment displayed by this servant in loyalty and devotion to You. This impacted his world! Yet today, our world is in trouble because of our lack of commitment, loyalty and devotion to You. Please forgive us Lord, and as we seek Your face, please be faithful to show us the way. We desire nothing personal in any of these things, but that You might be glorified and recognized by those impacted by our actions. Your is the glory, and all for Your kingdom’s sake, oh Lord. AMEN!

A Love Test

On 2019-11-21 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Dependable, Dependence on God, Love, Love God, Loving God, Loyalty, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

Thursday, 2019-11-21

Bible Reference: John 14:15
Translation: Amplified Bible (AMP)

Bible Text: ¹⁵“If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments.

OBSERVATION: Ever heard a parent say to a young child: ‘Now, if you really loved me you wouldn’t do that’? To another adult, that sounds funny, but in my reading in John 14 today, the words of Jesus, as shown in our Bible Text, really got my attention. Let this penetrate your heart also as we meditate on these words today. Join me, won’t you?

APPLICATION: I believe that each and every day many of us drift back into the ways of the world, and allow its principles to overrule our beliefs that we were convinced God had embedded into our hearts. Peer pressure and our deep desires to impress our spouse, or other loved ones, will often cause us to do or say those things that we feel will elevate us in their eyes. Take for example the idea of being the only one in a group of friends that feel an obligation to stay for church on a Sunday, instead of heading out to the beach. Deep within, you may feel a deep obligation to be at church to welcome those friends you invited to join you on a given Lord’s Day. But your other friends that you hang out with for games and fun times, are mindless to the things of Christ, and they want you to join them on a trip to the beach. It’s their only day off, and they need to unwind from their busy week. What will you do? Your coworkers brag about never having to purchase rubber bands, paperclips, pens and pencils at home, because there is an abundant supply at work that just sits in their desk drawer. You work for the same company, and you see the same availability of supplies, so what will you do? These are just a few simple examples, but for the man/woman of God, who knows God’s Word, your conscience is being severely impacted about doing what you feel God has commanded you to do. You remember Scripture around teh subject of: Assembling yourselves together with other believers; Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel; Those who know Christ will see heaven, vs those who don’t is headed to a dreadful Hell; Thou shalt not steal; etc, etc. In our Scripture today, Jesus said that if we love Him, we would honor His commands; be obedient to His Word; show our love for Him, or prove that we love Him, by doing what He says. These are just a few examples I used to help you think more about the things that you do and what God may say to you either directly or indirectly about your actions. But as His sons and daughters, I believe the question for our consideration today is: Do I truly love God? Would He know that I love Him, based on my actions and my words? Will the world, who I am trying to witness to, know that I love my Lord? As a son, is it evident to my Father that I really love Him? What choices would we truly make in the above scenarios, and the many other similar scenarios that are presented to us every day? If our love for Him will be judged based on our obedience to His Word, will God know that we truly love Him? Once again, the scripture today says: “If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments”.

PRAYER: With a guilty conscience, I can honestly come before the Master today and ask for forgiveness. Dear Lord, You know my weaknesses and You know my coward desire to please others, instead of always standing strong in my faith and truly committed to my Savior in all decisions. Please forgive me. As I recognize my weakness, I am humbled to once again ask for Your strength when I am weak; Your boldness when I am meek and cowardly in my approach to sharing my King with an impossible sinner; Your insight, when I approach situations awkwardly blinded by the desires of those whose aim is to please Satan alone. Lord, I need more of You each and every day, so that my love for You will be evident in the easy things of life and when the challenging times present themselves. In the event that my readers are similar in their personal analysis, I pray that You might humble their hearts to seek Your face and pray for a closer walk with You. Lord, please bless them with a deep desire to obey You, and that through this effort it will be very evident to You that their love for You is sincere and very determined. Please bless those who are carefree and choose to do their own thing. Draw them close to You, flood them with Your Word, and show them Your love in ways that will impress upon them a desire to please You. Oh that Your kingdom may be enriched today, because of our commitment to be better, and more dependable servants. AMEN!

Things That Make God Angry At You

On 2017-12-022017-12-02 By Ed AlgreenIn God-honoring, Honor, LoyaltyLeave a comment

Post Date:	Friday, 2017-12-01
SCRIPTURE
From:	1 Kings 11:9-10 (ERV)
Text:	⁹So Solomon did not remain faithful to the Lord, the God of Israel, even though God had appeared to him twice. The Lord became angry with him. ¹⁰He had told Solomon that he must not follow other gods, but Solomon did not obey the Lord’s command.
OBSERVATION:
In the first half of the story of king Solomon, we read so much about how the king was endowed with wisdom like no other man on earth, and about how successful Solomon was in building an awesome temple for the Ark of God to reside in. It was also the place for the people to worship the Lord God at. The king tried in many ways to honor God, like his father David did, and to carry on his legacy for the Lord, like his father David had demonstrated. However, Solomon started sneaking in a few things that God had ordered him not to do, and this ultimately led to his downfall.
APPLICATION:
Most of us, as kids, tried many of the things that our parents warned us to stay away from! Often it was because of friends, or out of thinking that our parents were so archaic that they really didn’t know the good about each thing they warned us to stay away from! Obviously Solomon was one who had to prove things for himself. However, this got him into some deep trouble. God has also warned us throughout His Word about things that we should stay away from, and what do we wind up doing? Take for example a possible warning to protect our bodies, which is the temple of the Holy Ghost, yet we take His temple into all sorts of places, we expose it to all sorts of arguments and bad words not suitable for any man to be exposed to; we gorge on food until we make ourselves sick; we are unkind to folk that Jesus bled and died for; we expose the temple to poisons like alcohol abuse and cigarette smoke that not only do these tend to poison our Savior’s presence, but these are also known to destroy families and key parts of our body. So please don’t look down on Solomon until you have sought the face of Jesus to help you clean up your own acts. Friends, the whole idea of God entering our bodies through His Holy Spirit, is to help us live pure and honest lives that aligns with the Word of God and is pleasing to our Master. Do you suppose that I might be correct in assuming that even after learning these lessons from Solomon, we are still pouring more ‘poison’ into our bodies, than we are doing with praises or things that are pleasing to, and appreciated by God? I believe that very much like Solomon, we too need to have a little talk with Jesus and make things right! Make this your aim today dear friends.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, I know that You must often look at mankind and shake Your head in wonderment as to whether we will ever learn from our mistakes and from lessons learned from the mistakes of others. Lord, You created us and You know our weaknesses all too well. I humbly ask today that You may use this lesson today to tender the hearts of all my readers so that we all may learn from Your servant Solomon. He meant well when doing everything that brought praise to You, but in his weakness, he also rebelled against You in doing the very things that You warned him not to do. Lord, I’m afraid that many of us are just the same today. We need your forgiveness and we need even more of Your strength and guidance to be more like You. Please hear our prayer and grant our request as You see fit dear God. AMEN!
FOOTNOTE:
There are two more pages on my blog 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 this devotional, please click on 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. 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 Nuggets From God’s Word 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!

Guilty of Betrayal

On 2017-03-28 By Ed AlgreenIn Betrayal, LoyaltyLeave a comment

Post Date:	Tuesday, 2017-03-28
SCRIPTURE
From:	Matthew 26:14-16 (NIV)
Text:	¹⁴Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ¹⁵and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
OBSERVATION:
Perhaps Judas is one of the most talked about disciples of Jesus, because of his betrayal of his Master, and all for just 30 pieces of silver. I wonder if the other disciples were 100% sold out to Jesus and never once betrayed Him. We will look deeper into our stance on Jesus and how sold out we are to the King of the universe, the holy Son of God.
APPLICATION:
It is so easy for us to criticize Judas for the bad boy that he was, in betraying his Master, our Lord, the only Son of God. However, I will share with you the meaning of that word ‘B E T R A Y A L’, because I believe that we easily slip into the shoes of Judas more often than we care to admit. The online Free Dictionary gives the following meaning to our ‘word of the day’: To be false or disloyal to: betrayed a cause; betray one’s spouse; \| To divulge in a breach of confidence: betray a secret; \| To make known unintentionally: Her hollow laugh betrayed her contempt for the idea; \| To lead astray: deceive. After reading these meanings, I’m sure that another disciple comes to mind – Peter – when he was ‘disloyal’ to Jesus after His arrest and Peter, for fear of his own life, claimed to have ‘never known The Man’! But I really want us to take time in our meditation with the Lord today and ask Him to point out to us the opportunities that we ‘blow’ when, instead of witnessing about the miracles of the Lord, or boasting on the handiwork of our Maker, we fit into the expectations of those that we are in the company of. In doing this, those witnessing opportunities become times that we wish the person better luck next time, or perhaps ‘fate’ is just not on your side. The miraculous turn of events may become ‘you are one ‘lucky’ person, I wish that I could be that lucky. Another form of betrayal is when we shake the hand of our pastor, or teacher, and tell them how well they did, then another listener pulls us aside and shares how they will start going to another church because they could never get anything from the pastor/teacher’s lessons. Will you always stick to the same compliment you just gave to the leader, or will you betray them and go along with the listener who has a different twist on the lesson? Friends, remember that you will only get as much out of a lesson or sermon as you personally have invested into it. Did you bathe that leader in prayer that they might put self aside and clearly receive a word from the Lord that you and other listeners need to hear from God? Did you give that leader an extra boost of encouragement to let them know you had prayed for them before they taught? Friends, if we’re not careful, we could be doing a whole lot worse than Thomas. May the sincerity of your heart be evident to all those around you, and especially to God, who knows the innermost thoughts, words and deeds of each of us 24/7/365.
PRAYER:
Precious Lord, please give us boldness today to declare the Lordship of Jesus Christ in as many ways as possible today. Too often we become like Thomas and change our witness, our story, our ‘colors’ to match that of the crowd that we are caught associating with. Lord, may we be found faithful in all walks of life. In fact, may we become stronger and even more vocal for You as we enter into the world where many do not have a relationship with You. Lord, may we always declare Your glory, Your honor, Your miracles, Your love, Your presence and Your ultimate Lordship over everything, regardless of the biggest, badest, most vocal objector in the crowd. May You never be forced to challenge us on having betrayed the precious Son of God – our Lord and our Savior. Instead, may You always be praised and honored in all walks of our life, each and every day, for Your glory alone. AMEN!
FOOTNOTE:
There are two more pages on my blog 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 this devotional, please click on 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. 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 Nuggets From God’s Word 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!

Tough Love

On 2016-10-20 By Ed AlgreenIn Love, Loyalty, Prayer, Salvation, Saved, SaviorLeave a comment

Thursday, 2016-10-20

Scripture

Bible Reference: Jeremiah 48:35–36

Bible Text: 35 “I will put an end to Moab,” says the LORD, “for the people offer sacrifices at the pagan shrines and burn incense to their false gods. 36 My heart moans like a flute for Moab and Kir-hareseth, for all their wealth has disappeared.

Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

As parents we are often pressed to express tough love with our children, as they are so clever in trying to manipulate us into spoiling them and providing everything possible for them. Because we have invested so much of our lives into our kids, and because of the deep love that we have for them, it is extremely challenging for us to say ‘no’ or handle them with ‘tough love’. Imagine then how challenging it is for the God of this universe to destroy parts of His creation that He made with such pride. Imagine the love expressed when He provided the ultimate sacrifice (His Son, Jesus) for us to overcome/throw off the filth of sin, and become eligible for His kingdom. In our scripture today we see an example of God’s tough love with the people of Moab. God loved them with such heart-felt love, that His very heart moaned in agony for their well-being. However the people were so immersed in sin that they chose to worship the gods that they could see – the ones that other leaders placed before them to worship and supposedly provide for them. As we read this account, we may be challenged to see the issue here, because we may quickly conclude that the Moabites deserved destruction because of their stubbornness, disobedience, worldly affection and for having taken their eyes off God. However, let me be quick to warn you friend, that in our world today, we are probably as bad, or worse than the Moabites. Please, no throwing of rotten eggs! Let me explain: a well-known verse of scripture that many have heard, and many may even be able to recite, tells us: (John 3:16) – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Please carefully note what that verse says, and hopefully you can rejoice in the promise that lies ahead for you, because you have surrendered your will and your life, to believe in the one true God, through His Son, Jesus. In comparison to the scripture on the Moabites, I want you to read John 3:16 again, and particularly notice what it does not say. Notice that the Word says that if you believe, or for those who believe, they will have eternal life. BUT, what do you suppose that verse is saying about those who don’t believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Friends, recent statistics revealed that only 9% of Americans believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you suppose that the Moabite statistics were worse than that? May I remind you friend, that there are only two options for us, just as it was for the Moabites. We know from John 3:16 that the eternal destination for those who Believe on Jesus, is heaven (Praise the wonderful name of Jesus!!). However, scripture also tells us that all others are living for Satan and will join him in Hell for an eternity of damnation and destruction. I believe that God is very sad to know that so many of His kids have decided to live like the devil and settle for such damnation. Unfortunately, that’s 91% of Americans, and probably a similar percentage for other countries. For Christians who have sincerely yearned for the ‘heart of Christ’, I believe that our hearts are likewise saddened by this reality today. So much so, that I am hoping that you will join me in prayer for the unsaved today. 91 out of every 100 people that we come into contact with today could potentially be in danger of eternal destruction. Friends, let us pray……..

Prayer

Lord Jesus, Redeemer, Savior of this world, God’s very Son: thank You for the sacrifice You made so that we might have eternal life. I can only imagine how Your heart is saddened by the number of Your children who have chosen to reject that sacrificial gift of love that You have made available to them. Like the Moabites, many have chosen to ignore, refuse and reject the gift You have offered, and to worship the gods of entertainment, sports, pornography, self-fulfillment and lust that saturates their minds through constant advertising and frequent pop-ups on computer screens. It is so unfortunate that often it takes a disaster of some sort to really get the attention of many folk, but Lord in a proactive approach today, may I ask that You please burden the hearts of Christians to frequently bow their knees before You in prayer for their unsaved family and friends. Because the necessary decisions can only happen through changed hearts, we acknowledge that our part can only be in loving these ones, and lifting them up to You on a regular basis, so that You may impact the heart. We are concerned dear Lord. Please ease our concern as we pray. For I ask these things in the name of the only One who can change hearts, Jesus, the Christ, AMEN

Footnote

If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!

What Goodness Is

On 2015-08-052015-08-05 By Ed AlgreenIn Fairness, Humility, Kindness, Loyalty, ObedienceLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Easy-To-Read Version – Micah 6:6-8): ⁶ What must I bring when I come to meet with the Lord? What must I do when I bow down to God above? Should I come to him with burnt offerings and a year-old calf? ⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Should I offer him my first child to pay for my wrongs? Should I sacrifice my very own child for my sins? ⁸ Human, the Lord has told you what goodness is. This is what he wants from you: Be fair to other people. Love kindness and loyalty, and humbly obey your God.

THOUGHTS: One commentary said that verse 8 relays the meaning of ‘spiritual reality’ compared to mere ‘ritual worship’. I believe that helps me to understand what God was saying through Micah here. Weekly we see where thousands of people attend church, but in our experience with them throughout the week, we see unchanged lives – seldom do they exude the love of Jesus in every way through every phase of their lives? Micah chose to expose some of the things that the Israelites brought to the temple, or shared in normal conversation, when describing how they thought they could please God or seek His forgiveness, or just to get right with God. Micah explained that it was not necessary to reinvent what God had already made clear to them. Friends, I believe these words are extremely applicable to us today also, for some of us may feel like our church attendance makes us right with God, or perhaps the offering we give, or perhaps the way we express ourselves over right vs wrong. However, what God relayed through His prophet in verse 8 are some very simple and basic things:

Be fair to other people – Try to understand others. Appreciate where they might be coming from in their thoughts and their actions. Never think that you have all the answers to everyone else’s wrongs. Think about them like God thinks of us – we may be unworthy, but He loved us enough to sacrifice His one and only Son so that we may stand a chance at eternity with Him;
Love kindness and loyalty – This involves being kind to those that Jesus loves. This may involve folk that appear to hate your guts or despise what you believe or stand for. This may involve folk who live totally different to the way you do. But imagine, if you can live beyond what they expect, how will you prove that you are any different to them? Be loyal as if you were serving the King, not just enough to get by in the eyes of those that might observe you.
Humbly obey the Lord – Set pride and personal aspirations aside and obey what the Master desires of you. Humility means emptying yourself of self and refilling yourself with God. I love that old hymn normally sung as an invitation – “I surrender all”, for I feel like my life should be in a constant state of surrendering all of me to all of God.

Anything you need to work on friend? Anything that will help you enhance your spiritual reality while here on earth? Examine yourself and decide to surrender all to Jesus today. When you do, refill yourself with the attributes of God so that He might be able to use you even more while here on earth.

PRAYER: Lord God, Your Word is all powerful and very applicable to our lives today. I therefore believe that You placed this scripture before me today to enhance my walk with You, and to use this blog to help others to also recognize where their strength lies, and the direction that you would have them go in order to become more like You in the eyes of those that they will witness to today. This old world needs Jesus, and we only get in the way when we try to give them more of ourselves. We need to be an open book that Jesus can fill and use its pages to speak to the unsaved. Lord, please have Your perfect way in our imperfect lives, so that the miracle of rebirth might occur in the lives of all that we will touch today. I ask all this in the precious and life-giving name of Jesus, AMEN!

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

Nuggets From God's Word

Category: Loyalty