Category: Missions

Commissioned to Go, Tell and Heal

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Evangelize, Healing, Missions, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Monday, 2023-01-30
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Luke 9:1-5
TRANSLATION: The Voice (VOICE)

BIBLE TEXT: 1 Jesus convened a gathering of the twelve. He gave them power and authority to free people from all demonic spirits and to heal them of diseases. 2 He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3-5 These were His instructions:

  1. Travel light on your journey: don’t take a staff, backpack, bread, money, or even an extra change of clothes.
  2. When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that city.
  3. If a town rejects you, shake the dust from your feet as you leave as a witness against them

APPLICATION: There is at least one other place recorded in Scripture where Jesus gave His disciples the necessary power and ordered them to go and tell the Good News (Matthew 28). In our Scripture today, Luke records that Jesus, called His disciples in to Him, gave them the necessary power that they would need, then instructed them to go, tell and heal as necessary. There’s a few things that caught my attention:

  • a). Jesus had been the One doing all the healing, but now, in what appears to be a delegation of power, He gave His disciples the power to meet the needs of the sick that they would come into contact with. Throughout the New Testament there are references to various gifts that are given to believers. But I wonder when, and under what circumstances Jesus still passes this power to heal on to believers today.
  • b). No matter how established the church may have been at that time, Jesus ‘SENT’ the disciples out. In other words, don’t wait for the people to get the urge to attend church, go to where they’re at. I believe this command is just as applicable to the church today as it was for these first disciples.
  • c). Tell them the Good News of Jesus and what He could do for them. I believe He wanted them to also tell the people what Jesus had done for them personally. For you see, they would rather hear how God is working today, rather than what He did for Moses when he led over a million people to a point where there was water ahead and an oncoming army approaching from the rear, or for Noah when God was about to flood the earth. Because of Jesus, and what He has done for us, we still have an awesome message to tell. Let’s go and tell the Good News fellow believers. This is too good to keep bottled up inside when we know of folk dying each day without any hope of eternity in Heaven.
  • d). Heal the sick – whether this refers to those that were physically sick without any hope of recovery, or those who were sin-sick without any hope for eternity, Jesus is the answer to all of man’s deficiencies. As a child of the Great Healer, let’s seek His power and pray, while laying holy hands on the sick. With a touch from God for their physical condition, many will also seek God’s face for healing of their spiritual condition. While this is not something we can boast of, we must be sure to extend the power of our God as He sees fit to bless us with that anointing.

But to top this whole message off, Jesus gave His disciples a few conditions that would generate supreme trust in the Almighty God. I went with a group of missionaries from my church to Mexico for a week. Other than finances, the next greatest challenge was in packing minimally as space would be limited on flights and in the vans used for ground transportation. So can you imagine trying to ‘GO’ under the restrictions ordered by Jesus in (1) noted above in our Scripture? Homes were opened to accommodate the missionaries, as there were no provisions for commercial accommodations, if any existed. This has become a huge problem today, as most church members will refuse to have a missionary or visiting preacher in for a meal, much less opening their home to one. I trust that you can appreciate the difference. Most of us will do everything possible to be accepted by the townspeople in which we minister. But what do you do if you are not accepted? Jesus knew this would happen and probably disappoint His disciples, just as it would impact us, so He prepared us in advance in (3) above for such an unfortunate event. Bible scholars will tell you that Jesus didn’t just tell His disciples to go some foreign place and, when you get – tell and heal. But instead, He told them in their language that as they GO, tell and heal. It is so important that we represent God and tell the Good News everywhere we find ourselves, not just at one specific building, street corner, country or city. As you go each day, brothers and sisters, in every way possible, tell the story of Jesus and His love for everyone you meet, God being your helper and guide.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: You now have the power, go, tell, and heal in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

PRAYER: Thank You Lord Jesus for entrusting Your disciples with the power to heal the sick as they ministered along the way that they were directed by You. I believe that if anything changed in the methods You used, as applied to us, You would have told us so. But that leaves us with a deep and awesome responsibility as your disciples. We need You Lord Jesus to endow upon us the power to represent You in every phase of ministry as we promote the Savior that we accepted as Lord of our lives. Teach us Lord to trust in you each and every day, and in carrying You with us, may we be sure to depend on You for every word we speak and for every action that opens itself to us. Have Your will and way in the lives of my readers, listeners and myself, so that Your mighty works might be revealed through our efforts. 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 might 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 subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. 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!

About Following Jesus

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Follow Christ, Follow Jesus, Missions, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Submission, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Wednesday, 2022-02-02
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Matthew 8:18-22
TRANSLATION: The Passion Translation (TPT)

BIBLE TEXT: 18 At the sight of large crowds gathering around him, Jesus gave orders to his disciples to get ready to sail back over to the other side of the lake. 19 Just then, a religious scholar approached him and said, “Teacher, I’ll follow you wherever you go!”
20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens, birds have nests, but the Son of Man[n] has no true home in this world.”
21 Then another man spoke up and said, “Lord, I’ll follow you, but first I must take care of my aged father and bury him when he dies.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Now is the time to follow me, and let those who are dead bury their own dead.”

APPLICATION: We once had a friend who would agree to go with us anywhere we invited them to go. However, when it was time to go, we found that something more attractive came up and that friend backed out on their commitment to us! In essence, that individual was saying yes to us, provided that nothing better comes up in the meantime! Perhaps you are also guilty of this, but today I want us to assume that we are a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I hope that many of you are exactly that. Let’s continue to assume that Jesus is about to leave our town and make His way to a nearby town. Initially I believe that many of us would agree to the initial invitation from Jesus to come along with Him. But supposing that you hear about the long walk to get there? Suppose you hear of the daily visiting with the town’s officials as you seek to challenge them on their pagan beliefs? Suppose you hear the whispers from group members about the sleeping conditions once you leave home? Suppose you hear that there are no organized meal times nor food items being taken along with you? Are you starting to look for excuses yet that might help you get out of the commitment you made at first? In our Scripture, the religious leader liked what he saw, and he was convinced that he wanted to go along, so he immediately agreed to go along/follow the Great Healer/Master/Deliverer. But Jesus warned that it won’t be pretty. You see, Jesus didn’t want this leader to assume that there would be lavish hotels along the way with scrumptious meals. It wasn’t like that at all. One who called themselves a disciple of Jesus, suddenly remembered that his ailing dad would have no one left to take care of him and bury him. But Jesus said to this disciple what I believe He says to each of us today: Enough with the excuses, these things will take care of themselves. My work is most urgent, because it involves saving souls. Nothing is more important. No excuse in delaying response to my calling. Perhaps to some of you reading this devotional, Jesus may be saying to you: today is the day of salvation, tomorrow will be too late; My work revolves around saving souls from the pit of Hell and from the evil one. Imagine looking into the eyes of one that you ‘didn’t have time’ to minister to, and see them fade away into eternity with Satan? Are you sure you have something more important to do right now than to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ? Perhaps your church is calling you to join them in ministry. Perhaps the Missions committee wants you to join them on a trip to share Jesus with a group living way out in the country. Will you go, or are you still searching for excuses?

BLESSING(S) NOTED: The rewards for following Jesus are ‘out of this world’! Praise God, Jesus loved us enough to forgive us of our sin and reveal Himself in all of His righteousness to us, so that we may desire to know Him personally and eternally! Oh what joy to trust in Jesus!

PRAYER: Thank You Lord for supplying every need to those of us that are in need. Thank You for considering to use us in Your service/ministry here on earth. We are no different to the Religious Scholar in today’s Scripture, nor the disciple who felt it more important to stay and take care of his dad, for we all search for excuses to avoid doing things we may presume will be uncomfortable for us. Please Lord, embed into our minds the importance of seeing a lost soul come to know the Lord Jesus. In agreeing to follow Jesus, we will be led to times that we may have to challenge someone about their lack of faith in Jesus. We will probably end up in very uncomfortable living conditions as we travel to, or stay over in their town. Please remind us as You did in today’s Word – TODAY is the day to follow Jesus – whether it’s across the waters to a new mission field, or whether it’s in the darkest neighborhood of unfriendly nations. We ALL need Jesus and to know Him personally, if we ever hope to join Him and the Father in heaven when we die to this world. Use us Lord in Your challenging service, so that others might see proof of one who knows You personally. 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 might 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 subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. 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!

Characteristics of Your Mission Field

On By Ed AlgreenIn Characteristics, Deliverer, MissionsLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   2 Timothy 3:1-5 (MSG)

TEXT:  1-5 Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.

OBSERVATION:   How many of us would stay focused on our mission if we knew that we would be dealing with folk, like the ones described in our Scripture today? I know, your mama didn’t raise any fools, so you would never be caught in a complex situation like that, right? Well guess what, these are the same attitudes and characteristics that we see in our communities, and even in our churches today! So let’s see how we will deal with this….

APPLICATION:   I believe that we all are apt to share our witness with our family, our friends, fellow church members and perhaps our coworkers. So we might wonder why this might be a big deal for us to think about this challenge Paul has placed before Timothy and ourselves. Well, think for a moment how friendly your circle of influence might be for you, then for just a moment allow yourself to consider a world where some Christians are in prison for spreading the gospel in certain places of the world; think about a world where Christians have been murdered because of their faith; think about Christians who are insulted daily because of their faith. Friends, much of this occurs in our very own country, and in own states. You see, the gospel of Jesus Christ offends the masses, because it opposes evil, and hatred, and other acts of Satan that would tend to also break mans’ laws, and principles of the ordinary citizen who disowns Christ. So lets remind ourselves, that just because we were blessed by sharing our faith yesterday in certain places that we visited, that in no way predicts that tomorrow will be the same, or in the next state it will be the same. We must remember that in this world that we live in, it is controlled by Satan, and he is extremely busy trying to win our population. However, we can also remember that good thing that has turned our lives around. We must also remember that the same Jesus that died on Calvary’s cross for our sins, was also done for the sins of our friends. So while our aim is to see our friends come to Christ and seek His forgiveness of their sin, we must also remember what Ephesians 6:12 tells us 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So let’s not take each day for granted, let’s not assume that every circumstance or situation will be the same. This is why it is so important for us to remember whose mission we are on, and if we are to be obedient to God’s mission, then we need constant communication with Him, and follow only the direction we receive from Him. In certain stunts we are told that we must not attempt those stunts at home. Let me remind you, that our walk with the Lord is never something that we should take for granted. He went to great lengths to bring us salvation, and it is only through His infinite power and direction that we should attempt doing His work for the good of His kingdom. Call on Jesus my friend, and He will direct your path, your words and your ultimate witness, so that He might be glorified. Only then will God’s work be accomplished, and we should never lose sight of whose work it really is that we want to accomplish.

PRAYER:   Lord, we come humbly before You, knowing that only You really know the extent of the evil in our world, yet only You have the power to overcome that evil and get into the hearts of Your people. Dearest Lord Jesus, You gave up Your precious life at Calvary for sinners such as I, yet You also gave me freedom to make decisions  of my own. With great selfishness, and a strong inclination to the things of this world, mankind is trapped in doing everything that brings them worldly happiness. So Lord, we need Your power, Your grace and Your direction each day as we try to influence our friends of this world towards a Savior who loves and cares for them. We need You desperately Lord, and we depend solely on You as our Rock, our Savior and our Deliverer. 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 Sebring, 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 God Prepares Us For His Service

On By Ed AlgreenIn God's Will, Humility, MissionsLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   Acts 10:33 (VOICE)

TEXT:   33 I wasted no time, did just as I was told, and you have generously accepted my invitation. So here we are, in the presence of God, ready to take in all that the Lord has told you to tell us.

OBSERVATION:   In the preceding verses, in a dream, God caused Peter to see a sheet with many kinds of animals. Peter was astonished by this because some of these animals were ones that they (the Jews) didn’t approve of eating or being around. However God was working on Peter’s attitude, because there were certain people that they (the Jews) looked down on. This lesson was very practical, and very much needed by Peter. I wonder what God needs to work on in our lives to make us ready for His service to everyone, no matter where He sends us?

APPLICATION:   We have become so accustomed to the things that we eat, the places that we sleep and the friends that we hang out with, that it might be challenging for us to overcome those familiarities and adjust to a different culture. Let me give you an example: let’s assume that you were saved in your local church, and within a year or two you made it know that you felt God was dealing in your heart to work in His vineyard overseas. Your church sent you for some local training to help you understand the culture and the language of the country to which you have been assigned. Not long into this training you realize that there will probably be some huge adjustments that you would need to make, that you never thought possible. Perhaps it’s the food that they eat, or the plain mud houses that they live in without air conditioning, or perhaps no electric at all. Of course, no doctor within a 50 mile radius is frightening, and so is the lack of telephones or internet. In fact you are beginning to wonder how on earth does people survive in that type of environment. However, you are quickly reminded of a missions trip that you took part in when you were just a teenager. It took you into a very poor third world country where you were challenged with some very strange food, and where you really doubted if you would ever survive that short trip. However, you remembered the sweetest people there, and when it was time to leave you had the hardest time leaving them behind. Suddenly the ‘stuff’ they didn’t have became a fading memory for you. Friends, we quickly assume that when we are called to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, and especially to a third world country, that it’s not just ‘those poor people’ there that we need to go and try to help, but as we open up our hearts and minds to the Gospel, Jesus will also use those same ‘poor people’ to pour into us the richness of His unconditional love, under very different circumstances to those we are used to. Let’s be very careful to not place any conditions on the places we will go, or the types of people we will help. God sent Jesus for the sins of all who would believe in Him. That’s unconditional! We should love in the same way if we are striving to be more like Jesus everyday.

PRAYER:   Lord, thank You for dying for sinners, even though many are just like me, and deserve nothing more than Hell itself. But Lord, You reached down in love and heard my prayer for salvation and responded to me in love. Having been personally forgiven and loved beyond all measure, who am I to put others in a box and place them below me? Lord please help me to love others in much the same way as You loved me. Please help Your children to humble themselves and be willing to step into the place where unbelievers live, so that we could feel their pain and heartache and then show them Your unconditional love. To touch a heart for You, we should be willing to do anything that You direct us to do. May that be the case dear Lord, for I ask this in the precious name of Jesus, my Lord, 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 Sebring, 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!

 

Refocused By Jesus

On By Ed AlgreenIn Missions, Prayer, SalvationLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Thursday, 2017-12-14
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Acts 1:6-8 (ERV)

Text:

 6 The apostles were all together. They asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time for you to give the people of Israel their kingdom again?”

7 Jesus said to them, “The Father is the only one who has the authority to decide dates and times. They are not for you to know. 8 But the Holy Spirit will come on you and give you power. You will be my witnesses. You will tell people everywhere about me—in Jerusalem, in the rest of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.”
OBSERVATION:
It is apparent that the apostles were getting distracted from their mission, so Jesus quickly decided to reel them back in. He wanted the apostles to know that their first and foremost charge, was to accept the gift of power given to them, and the challenge placed upon them to be His witnesses, both locally, regionally, nationally, and throughout the world. Should there be time for distraction or boredom with such a huge challenge or job description?
APPLICATION:
I believe that the church today is still in the same quandary as the apostles were. For we will find time for elections to disrupt our fellowship (our workforce); we find it necessary to teach about other religions so that we could know what we’re up against when we chat with someone of a different faith; we have taken on the same practices of many failing businesses today, where we fail to go out and invite the lost to join us. It is so much easier to just open the church doors and allow anyone to stroll in, but when we place so little emphasis on what Jesus told His us to do in verse 17, then we become focused on our own goals and tend to ignore the fact that those folk who really need Jesus, will stay distracted unless Jesus or His disciples go out and encourage and invite them to join us. When something is going on in our communities, we become so caught up in this, that we tend to relax our efforts to obey Christ, and instead help to get the county, state or country straight for God! Christian friends, the Bible is still our only guide to life. The commands of God are still our mission statement. Anytime we relax from our mission statement, the end result is not achieved. We have no time to waste Brothers and Sisters, so let us stay targeted on what God commands, and what He desires of us. I believe that hearing God say ‘welcome good and faithful servant’ would apply to those who were obedient to His commands, not those who went out and did their own thing.
PRAYER:
Lord, please work in Your churches. Even this Christmas time, please keep us focused on our mission statement – the one You made clear in our Scripture today. The mission field is filled with folk who need You, Jesus. There’s no time to play around in doing our own thing, if we truly belong to You and have chosen to obey Your commands. You’re in control Lord, may Your perfect will be done in and through Your children today, beginning with me. 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!

Is God Pleased?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Missions, Pleasing to God, Reaching the LostLeave a comment

Monday, 2016-07-25

Scripture

Bible Reference: Ezekiel 22:30–31

Bible Text:  30 “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. 31 So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

There was so much going on in the day of Ezekiel, that God was hopeful that He would find a good cell of churches or Godly people that would convince Him not to destroy those who promoted the evil of the day. This led me to question whether God might feel like we (the church) are doing enough in our day that He might feel like the sacrifice of His precious Son was worth it. I am encouraged when I hear of what churches are doing outside of their four walls, but this is often limited to very few. Unfortunately, most churches are so caught up in denominational-ism that they are not allowed, or unwilling to tarnish their beliefs by joining hands with another group for the good of the community. In God’s statement through Ezekiel, He was looking for some hope that His message was penetrating the hearts of the people. Nothing was said about which ordinances we adopted or how we decided to administer them. Friends, I believe that we get so caught up in the small things of our specific churches, that we forget there are people in our community who have not accepted the simple love of Jesus, so they are dying and going to Hell without ever being told otherwise. Often we acknowledge needs across the world, and we send missionaries thousands of miles away to minister in God’s name, but do we do enough in our own communities to satisfy the concern of God? Are we truly bridging the gap in our own communities for God? Will God find us faithful to the tasks He has laid out for us, and indeed save our land? If we are satisfied that we have reached our communities, then we need to make sure that our state and our country is also in order. We need to be willing to let God work through us at all levels, so that all will hear and believe, God being our helper!

Prayer

Lord thank you for placing us in our respective communities with lots still to be done. How will the people know, if we don’t go out and tell them, is the thought offered in another part of scripture, that I feel is so applicable to what is taught in this lesson today. Please help us to continue thinking outside of the box of selfish desires and outside of the four walls of our respective churches, so that the world will know who Jesus is. Please make us keenly aware of the needs of our communities more than any other mission efforts we may undertake. For as our hometown people know and believe, we can join hands to reach the state, country and the world. Thank You Lord for the opportunity to serve in Your army. Use us now to be Your instruments of change. In Jesus’ name, 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 Are You Doing?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Evangelism, MissionsLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (The Contemporary English Version – Isaiah 42:6-7): 6 I chose you to bring justice, and I am here at your side. I selected and sent you to bring light and my promise of hope to the nations. 7 You will give sight to the blind; you will set prisoners free from dark dungeons.

Thoughts: The words used in the subject of this study today, is widely used by many folk today as we address each other, and although we answer that question very flippantly, I want us to closely examine that question in light of God’s words through the prophet Isaiah in the highlighted verses. How are you doing at bringing justice? It appears like more often we bring judgment on friends rather than making every effort to bring justice. How can we turn that around so that our God might be happy with our actions and reactions, especially considering the tag where God says that He will be at our side guiding and protecting us? Does our lives produce enough ‘light’ – glory of God, or a witness of the King of all kings and Lord of all lords? Do we reflect enough of Christ that others living in the darkness of this world will see the real light of Christ shining through us, and desire that light? Can you even imagine that God would use His children to reflect His image in such powerful ways that the lives of others might be impacted? It’s not something we can or should publicize, for it is God working in and through us that reflects Himself through us, and He is not a puppet that we can turn on at will. So let us fill ourselves with so much of His love and His character that our actions and our words will reveal the ‘Light’ that lives inside of us. A Light that can impact and change the lives of others.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are my Light – according to Your Word, and as evident in the hope that I see in knowing and serving You. Thank You for revealing Yourself to even me. Thank You for using even me as You impact the lives of my family and friends that I come into contact with. Please help me to stay so attuned to You through daily communication in prayer and meditation on Your precious Word, that my life might be a living documentary of You and Your love for mankind. Lord, some will read this devotional today and be reminded of this same assurance and promise shared by Isaiah. Please use this time to draw them closer to You for use in Your ongoing service here on earth. For the ones who will read these words and want to know this ‘Light’ of whom I have shared, please touch their very hearts and direct them to a relationship with You. In Your Word You have shown where You have impacted the lives of the vilest of sinners, and turned their lives around to sincere ministry for You. Please help me to come boldly before You with great expectations of being used by You. Please also touch my life and help me to never judge a child of Your for whom You died. Instead, please help me to simply allow Your love and Your light to shine through me so that You may impact their lives. Lord, You are precious to me. May I be used for Your glory is my humble prayer that I ask in Your precious and holy name, 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!