Category: Pleasing to God

In Faith, Believing

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Chosen by God, Faith, God our Helper, Imitator of Christ, Obedience, Pleasing to God, PurityLeave a comment

Scripture: Luke 1.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Luke 1:35-38 (NLT)

35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”

38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

In my last devotional I was drawn to a section of scripture that highlighted the unbelief of the disciples concerning the resurrection of our Lord. In this passage I rejoiced, and was encouraged over the humbleness and total faith of Mary who was honored by the presence of an angel and also by the miraculous message that she would bear a child, even though she never had relations with a man. In fact, it appears like Mary basically said to the angel: I am God’s and God’s alone, may He do with me what pleases Him so that He may be honored through me and bless others. Wow, what a powerful example of a totally surrendered, unselfish, committed life. This means that nothing in this world was more important, or had greater priority, than to follow the will of God and be used by Him. Even if it meant that the world may look upon her in disgrace, because they wouldn’t know the extent of what brought on the pregnancy. If there was at least one person in each church congregation that had these characteristics today, there would be no doubt that we are truly a Christian nation! Individually, can we work on our faith so that we may totally surrender our lives to the work of the Master? Can we turn loose of self and our desire to please a sinful world, and instead dedicate ourselves to pleasing an almighty God?

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, in reading this today I am reminded of how much I lean towards pleasing those around me rather than totally surrendering myself to You and allowing You to have Your will and way in and through my life. Please forgive me for my lack of priority and direction. Please help me to get on track in being obedient to You, the one that I have committed my life to and asked You to be leader, director and model for my every decision, movement and action. I am Your servant, may everything You desire to use me for here on this earth be accomplished in and through me in its most purest form.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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When You Pray….

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Faith, Obedience, Pleasing to God, Reflecting ChristLeave a comment

Scripture: Mark 11.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Mark 11:22-25 (NLT)

22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God.

23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.

24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.

25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

For those of us that consider ourselves ‘Christian’ and for those of us that pray, Jesus teaches a lesson in this scripture to the person praying. First, it is important that we have faith in the One to whom we are praying. Have enough faith to believe that the God who could move a mountain into the sea, could also answer whatever it is that we are praying for. One that could do, what seems to us as, the impossible, surely is capable of handling anything that we might pray about. Secondly, we must not only be a believer in God and have faith in Him and His abilities, but we must pray truly believing that it will happen. If we daily pray that God will direct our path and show us His will, then would we honestly be praying about something outside of His will? I doubt it. So Faith and believing are two key elements of our praying. Thirdly, we must approach the throne genuinely and clean before God. In other words, if we are holding a grudge against anyone, then we must forgive that person first and ask God to forgive us of our sin before we pray for another. Fourth, we must not pray for selfish motives but instead the things that we pray for should be for the benefit of the Kingdom. Friend, there is forgiveness, praise, relief, healing and just sincere conversation with God in praying. So few of us pray enough, yet it is one of the most desirable, rewarding and powerful tools we can use in our Christian life. Let’s get ‘plugged’ in brother. Let’s talk to Jesus sister. After all, with Jesus on the other end of the line, we need to talk with Him at every opportunity and in every aspect of our lives.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father God, thank You for providing a means for me to communicate with You. I know that considering all that You have done for me, it must upset You terribly to see the mess that I make of things. Yet, I am convinced that when I come before You with a sincere and contrite heart, You are willing and ready to listen to Your child and give me direction for improving my walk with You. You know before I even open my mouth how much I hurt sometime, and how much I fail at times, and how much I need Your touch at times, and how desperately I need Your direction at times, and how many friends I have to bring before You at times, yet I believe that You look at me like You did Bartimaeus and ask “What is that I can do for You”. This requires me to communicate with You, and prayer is that avenue for conversation between us. Please help me to always communicate effectively with You. Thank You for hearing my prayer even today!

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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What Can Jesus Do for You Today?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Honesty, Humility, Imitator of Christ, Pleasing to God, Reflecting ChristLeave a comment

Scripture: Mark 10.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Mark 10:51 (NLT)

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

In this story of Bartimaeus, often referred to as ‘Bartimaeus, the blind man’, he laid aside any and all pride and shouted over the crowd asking Jesus to have mercy on him. Now while he could have just as easy shouted out “Jesus, give me sight”, instead he chose to ask for mercy. I like this, because I get the impression that he was saying, “Jesus, whatever Your will is, may it be so. Just have mercy on me” There is another similar story where a man said to Jesus, “Have mercy on me, for I am a sinner”. In spite of the crowd and all they were doing and saying, and shouting, Jesus told the disciples to go and tell the man to come here. In our lives, we may feel like Jesus is much too busy with all the other important people of the world, and all the more critical needs that exist, but friend we must be bold like Bartimaeus and ask for what we need from God, but in all humility knowing that it is His will that we need to follow. The other thing that I am humbled and touched by in this story is that, like us, Jesus could easily have assumed that because this man was blind he must have been crying out for healing of his sight, but Jesus didn’t do that, He asked the man “what do you want me to do for you?” Oh that this may be a lesson for us today. Let’s not assume that we know what a person needs, because sometimes this may be totally different than what we might see or assume. What if we were asked by Jesus today, “What do you want me to do for you?” what would be our response? Remember, God sees and knows all things, He knows the desire of our hearts and what it would take to draw us closer to Him and be a better witness for Him, so we may as well be honest with Him and respond in a manner that truly reflects our heart. Instead of the selfish desire to be like, or have the toys like, our neighbor, I wish that we could consider what God can do to make us more like Him. Which walls can He tear down so that we may be humbled and so that we may represent Him better to the lost?

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father God, please have mercy on me. Please forgive me for the selfish desires that I may often have so that I may be more like my rich friend, or neighbor, so that I may be envied by my friends or family. It is You that I need. It is You that I want others to see reflected in my mannerisms and in my actions. It is You that I want them to accept as their Lord and Savior, so may I never be a stumbling block to them. Please have Your will and way in my life today, and direct me into Your path to do Your will today. Please provoke the hearts of those that may read this devotional so that they may lay themselves bare before You and surrender all that is not Godly in their character or their daily lives. As children of the King, we must always be representative of Your character and Your holiness. Please direct me into that path daily!

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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Observer, Criticizer or Participant?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Chosen by God, Christian, Getting Along, Obedience, Pleasing to God, Reaching the Lost, Reflecting Christ, Righteousness, Servants of GodLeave a comment

Scripture: Numbers 15-16.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Numbers 16:42-45 (NLT)

42 As the community gathered to protest against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the Lord appeared.

43 Moses and Aaron came and stood in front of the Tabernacle,

44 and the Lord said to Moses,

45 “Get away from all these people so that I can instantly destroy them!” But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

In these two chapters I saw several occasions where the people either were jealous of God’s appointed leaders, or they just didn’t approve of all that God was doing for them, so they protested. Before we raise our sanctified noses and feel like that was back then and we don’t have that type thing going on today, let me remind you of some of the ways that we protest against God today:

  1. When we withhold our tithes or offerings because we don’t approve what the church, or its leaders are doing. This is intensified when you consider that each member had equal opportunity to discuss and approve/disapprove the expense at a business meeting, but many chose to stay at home and …….;
  2. When we stay home from church because of who might be preaching that day. Are we saying that we could do better?
  3. When we gossip about the church, its members or its leaders. This is often done out of jealousy and especially because we are not a part of the action. Often if we had been at church and involved in the ministry, then we would have been a part of the action!

Now I would ask you/ourselves this: Can God be the same as He was in the days of Moses? Of course; not only could He be, but I can assure you that He is the same today as He was then. We may not hear many stories of fireballs being launched against church/ministry protestors, but God performs His discipline in various ways.

So how would this passage speak to us today: I believe that protests come from a jealous heart, and one that thinks that it can do a much better job than anything we see occurring today. How then shall we correct ourselves in this? Get involved in the ministry instead of being the official observer and criticizer! God’s job is to observe and judge the hearts of His people, let’s let Him do His job. Besides, we can do a much better job ourselves in our area of ministry if we do it without the strain of also doing or worrying about what someone else has been assigned to do for the kingdom of God.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, it is truly amazing how applicable Your Word is, even today. Thank You for directing me to this passage this morning, and thank You for opening my eyes to this particular piece of this scripture. Obviously this is a Word to me this morning, for I must allow it to penetrate my heart and deal with the very challenge that You have presented to me. I pray that You will not only give me the strength and the power to overcome my weakness in this area, but also that You would use this devotional to speak to the hearts of Your people throughout the world that may read this online today. May Your holy will be accomplished today, so that Your kingdom and Your ministry here may become more effective for You and more focused on You instead of what I/we may consider to be the weaknesses of others. My obligation is to maintain a right relationship with You and to portray You through my life to a lost and dying world. Please give me strength and power to do just that dear God.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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It’s What’s on The Inside That Matters

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Imitator of Christ, Our Help comes from God, Pleasing to GodLeave a comment

Scripture: Mark 7.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Mark 7:15 (NLT)

15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”

20
And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.

21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,

22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.

23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

We are often quick to judge someone by what they eat or anything else that we may see externally. Reading these verses gives good reason for us to concentrate on our own condition and leave the judging of others up to God. For Jesus said, that it all depends on what’s inside a person that determines who they truly are, and we all know that only God knows what is truly on the inside of a person. Bottom line is that we have a lot to worry about in trying to keep ourselves aligned with God’s will, His example and His expectation of us. So besides being incapable and unqualified to judge others, we have a fulltime job trying to read God’s Word, understanding it, and following God’s will for our lives. So let’s not be as concerned about judging others, because we will truly mess up in that. If we think that we see a weakness in our brother, let’s try praying for strength for him, so that he might overcome the temptation or sin and live victorious.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

A little chorus came to mind as I read this passage, Change My Heart Oh God, as I have a responsibility to see God’s face for His help in keeping my own heart aligned with His will and His precepts. Lord, it is my desire that I honor You and be more like You every day of my life. Please help me to seek Your face, Your will and Your direction for my life and to follow You in all sincerity daily. You are my King, my Lord and my deliverer. Be Lord of my Life, dear God.

 

àI would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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Sorry?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Discerning, Forgiveness, Getting Along, Imitator of Christ, Love, Pleasing to God, Reflecting Christ, RepentanceLeave a comment

Scripture: Numbers 4-5.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Numbers 5:6-8 (NLT)

6 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If any of the people—men or women—betray the Lord by doing wrong to another person, they are guilty.

7 They must confess their sin and make full restitution for what they have done, adding an additional 20 percent and returning it to the person who was wronged.

8 But if the person who was wronged is dead, and there are no near relatives to whom restitution can be made, the payment belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest. Those who are guilty must also bring a ram as a sacrifice, and they will be purified and made right with the Lord.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

I believe that today we use the word ‘Sorry’ way too lightly. We find this very easy to say when we have wronged someone. We find this very easy to say to God when we have disobeyed Him. It’s just seems like we say this word thinking that the action will be an automatic forgiveness by the other person and that in and of itself it can easily erase all that we have done, or not done. I was impressed with the way that God had the Israelites seek forgiveness, where they not only asked the word, but they also paid restitution. While I realize that paying restitution can also be another action that can be taken lightly, in addition to taking the word ‘sorry’ lightly, I just feel like when it costs us something to apologize for something or some way that we have wronged someone, it may impose greater emphasis on the action being taken by the one seeking forgiveness. This is similar to jail time, where a prisoner may go to jail to pay for the wrong he has done to someone. Often there is a lot of pain, anger, regret, hurt, loss of confidence and disappointment when someone is wronged. Saying something as simple as ‘sorry’ seems way too insignificant to help overcome the affect that this may have caused to another. Let us be reminded that we should do all we can to restore the love between us and the person we have wronged. If it still means paying restitution to them, then I see nothing in scripture that says we shouldn’t. The other thing I liked in this passage is that God’s representative, the priest, was also involved in the process of seeking forgiveness. I believe that today we as Christian leaders have taken the responsibility given to us by God way too lightly, and this has caused the people to lose confidence in us. I also believe that we, as people of God, have taken our responsibility of praying for, respecting, and honoring those whom God has placed in Godly responsibility over us. If God has truly constructed the leadership hierarchy of the church, who are we to question that? Let’s let God be God and we, in turn, be His obedient children.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, I know that I have wronged You in numerous ways by not being obedient to Your commands and biblical direction. Please help me to not only seek Your forgiveness, but to also seek help in being stronger through more consistency in Your Word and on my knees. As I seek to serve and honor You, I believe I can then do a better job of sincerely apologizing to a brother or a sister. Please help me to follow Your ways and be more like You in every way. May I represent You well, especially when I have wronged anyone. May Your love shine through me in such a way, that others will know that You are guiding me and working through me.

 

àI would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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Make God First in Your Life

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Imitator of Christ, Love God, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Pleasing to God, RighteousnessLeave a comment

Scripture: Leviticus 26.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Leviticus 26:1-12 (NLT)

1 “Do not make idols or set up carved images, or sacred pillars, or sculptured stones in your land so you may worship them. I am the Lord your God.

2 You must keep my Sabbath days of rest and show reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

3 “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. 5 Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land.

6 “I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear. I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out of your land. 7 In fact, you will chase down your enemies and slaughter them with your swords. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath your sword.

9 “I will look favorably upon you, making you fertile and multiplying your people. And I will fulfill my covenant with you. 10 You will have such a surplus of crops that you will need to clear out the old grain to make room for the new harvest! 11 I will live among you, and I will not despise you. 12 I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

This chapter presents the two paths of obedience and disobedience that God set before the people. The people of the Old Testament were warned over and over against worshiping idols. We might wonder how they could deceive themselves with these objects of wood and stone. Yet God could well give us the same warning, for we are prone to put idols before him. Idolatry is making anything more important than God, and our lives are full of that temptation. Money, entertainment, sporting activities, looks, success, reputation, security—these are some of today’s idols. As you look at these false gods that promise everything you want but nothing you need, does idolatry seem so far removed from our lives today? I feel like the Word is speaking directly to us. While I only copied the scripture for the results of obedience that God promised to His people, there are equally the number of disastrous things that would result if they disobeyed His decrees and commands. I have a saying that I try to follow in my life, and it is that instead of saying I don’t have time for something, say that it was not a priority to me at the time. If you follow this little rule, I believe that it will help you keep things/gods in perspective. For as we look the idols in our lives, we have basically said that it is OK to do those things because God will still be there when we need Him. Friend, remember that God must be first in your life. I believe that you will see from this passage that as we take care of our relationship with Him, He will take care of our needs. What are idols today may still be important in our Christian walk, but we must put them in perspective. God first! Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, I am reminded again this morning that I must make you first in my life. I must make sure that there are no other gods/idols that interfere with my relationship with You. Please forgive me for the times that I have allowed other things to interfere. Please help me today to begin anew by placing You first in my life. To allow everything else to be secondary, so that I may give particular attention to Your will and Your work and the needs of Your church to reach, and minister to the lost. On judgment day nothing else will matter. Even during my earthly walk, nothing else matters when I think about the many ways that You are looking to bless those that are obedient to Your decrees and commands. Thank You for loving me enough to remind me of this Nugget from Your Word this morning!

 

àI would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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Let Your ‘Light’ Shine

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Imitator of Christ, Obedience, Pleasing to God, Share God’s WordLeave a comment

Scripture: Mark 4.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Mark 4:21-23 (NLT)

21 Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine.

22 For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light.

23 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

Many Christians today are hidden from sight, reluctant to be identified as Christians. This sounds a lot like a beautiful lamp that I might buy from Walmart, but leave it in the box at home. It does nothing at all for the dark room that I wanted to light up. If that lamp isn’t used for the intended purpose, to be light in the dark room I bought it for, or to help me see while working or reading in that dark room, what good is it to me? What about us as Christians, do we let our ‘Jesus’ light shine so that others may know the light of Jesus, or that they may know that they need not continue to live in this dark world of sin? If not, I believe that we should re-examine our relationship with Jesus, because there are some serious ‘baskets’ that are preventing us. Let’s think about what those ‘baskets’ might be: how about disobedience, or embarrassment, or resentment, or stubbornness of heart or even complacency? Around our home we use a ‘snuffer’ to shut out burning candles, to shut out its light. Let’s examine our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit that dwells within us to help us determine what the ‘snuffers’ are in our Christian walk. Could Jesus possibly be proud of the way that we represent Him or promote Him in everything that we say or do? If not, we need to solicit His help and His guidance to remove the ‘snuffers’ from our lives and help us shine like never before, especially in the presence of our friends that have not accepted Jesus personally.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father there is so much that we can say about the ‘Light’ that shines in our lives since we met You and accepted You into our lives. May I remove any ‘snuffer’ that may block me from letting Your light shine through me. Without being boastful or prideful, may others see Your light shine in and through me in my everyday walk. People need the Lord. May You so shine through me that they may see You and want to accept You as their Lord and Savior so that Your light may shine through them. Please forgive me for any obstacles that I have allowed to block Your light from shining through me. May I example the true light of Jesus today, is my humble prayer.

Holiness in Personal Conduct

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, God’s Word, Imitator of Christ, Listen to the Word of God, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Pleasing to God, Reflecting Christ, Righteousness1 Comment

Scripture: Leviticus 19.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Leviticus 19:1-2 (NLT)

1 The Lord also said to Moses,

2 “Give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

The very first words I read in this chapter this morning caught my immediate attention. Let me set the stage and compare this to how applicable I see this to our lives today. God had just rescued the Israelites from the abuse of the Egyptians. He brought over 1,000,000 people through days, weeks, months and years of challenges through a wilderness travel experience. He kept them safe from theirs enemies, healed their sick, provided food and water in miraculous ways, and while not just proving Himself holy before these people, He provided many ways of showing them how they should live. Does this not sound like the way that our God still loves, protects and directs us today? In the verses observed here though, we can see how God seemed to have said to Moses: look, I want you to share with my people that they are set apart as my chosen people, they have seen my hand at work among them and they have seen that I am a holy God. I want them to live their lives imitating me, so they must be holy also. Wow, in applying this to our lives today, I believe that we can see that God is saying that we should leave the dirt and filth of our old lives behind us, and as taught in our decision to accept Jesus, we are to make a 180 and turn the other way, for we no longer follow the ways of Satan, the world and sin, but now serve a wonderful Savior that has shown us the way to finally be holy, loving, kind and destined for heaven. The rest of this chapter goes on to explain various principles that Moses was to bring to the attention of the Israelites, and these are still applicable to us today, because we have fallen into the same bad habits. Here are a few of the highlights that I feel are still applicable to us today:

  • Respect for our parents;
  • Observing a day of rest and worship – Son worship, not ‘sun’ worship!!
  • Helping the poor and needy;
  • Honesty in our dealings with others;
  • Careful in our speech – may others know whose we are through our speech and mannerisms;
  • Respect and help those who are handicapped – blind, deaf, etc;
  • Be a Christian boss and/or employer;
  • Don’t gossip – lift up, don’t tear down someone else;
  • Love your neighbor as yourself – physical neighbor, relative, anyone we spend time around;

Instead of highlighting the whole chapter, I hope that I have given you enough to encourage you to get into the Word and follow its teachings. As a practicing professional you would follow the guidelines and rules of the profession so that there will not be grounds for a suit. In Christianity, we follow the ways of God and His written Word (the Bible) so that we may honor God and look forward to His future rewards in heaven!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Lord Jesus, thank You for being my God. Thank You for showing me how to live my life pleasing to You. Help me to brush aside the ways of this world and stay focused on serving You, and practicing my everyday living in accordance with Your directions that are spelled out in Your guide/rule book, the Bible. Please may I be holy, even as You are holy!

Do You Have Judas Traits?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Bold Confidence, Eternal Life, Faith, Imitator of Christ, Obedience, Pleasing to God, Reflecting Christ, Repentance, Righteousness, Separation, Thank You JesusLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 26.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Matthew 26:14-15 (NLT)

14 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests

15 and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

Although a familiar passage, I was reminded this morning about how little it takes for us to betray Jesus. We look down our pious noses at Judas, call him a traitor and all sorts of bad things, but which of us are better today? Stop and think about this friend, Why do we have so many church members that never see the doors of a church week after week? Could it be that they accepted the bribes of worldly pleasure, or bribes from family to spend more time with them, or the bribes of Satan that this is the only day for them to rest, or the only day for them to do what they want to do? In my opinion, this betrays the love of, and dedication for, Jesus in return for these types of bribes/excuses. Have you asked the question that Judas asked recently – “what will I benefit from turning away from God (betraying Him)?” Money/greed was the motive behind Judas’ betrayal. What’s your motive/excuse for betraying Him today?

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, with everything You had to offer, You showed Your love for me, You sacrificed everything so that I might live eternally with You. Please help this child of Yours to stand firm on the decision I made some 35 years ago, and to follow You wholeheartedly each and every day. In fact, may I follow Your ways and Your commands so closely that non-Christians would recognize You in me and in my actions. More importantly, may You find me faithful, worthy to represent You to the unsaved that I come in contact with, and encouragement to those that have accepted You as Lord of their life. Lord, please correct my attitude and/or actions long before I ever get near enough to even think about betraying You. Thank You for loving me, now may I love You in return without any hint of betrayal.