Category: Prayer

Prayer and Healing

On By Ed AlgreenIn Faithful, Genuine Faith, Healing, Power of Prayer, PrayerLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   James 5:16-18 (TLB)

TEXT:  16 Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as completely human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years! 18 Then he prayed again, this time that it would rain, and down it poured, and the grass turned green and the gardens began to grow again.

OBSERVATION:   Through first hand experiences and through the faith that he had developed in his Master, James shares with us about the awesome power of God. This starts with us humbling ourselves, before praying earnestly for the needs at hand. So I believe that we need to rehearse in our minds and hearts the need for healing that exists in our individual lives, as well as those we love and hold dear to us. The ones we really want to ask God for. Then as we endeavor to follow the words of James in these verses, let’s look for the power of God, and be prepared to celebrate the results.  

APPLICATION:   Numerous inventors have become famous, because they discovered a remedy, or solution, for one of earth’s nagging problems, and they found a great way to market that solution to many folk who were impacted by the nagging problem. My purpose in sharing through this blog today, is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, and to remind you of what He could do for you, and for me. At our midweek service last night, we heard about an accountability partner that one of our pastors have with a good friend in the Lord. I believe the purpose for something like that might be exactly like James is suggesting to us in verse 15. Think about it friends, when we admit our faults to one another, we are humbling ourselves and acknowledging that we are not the ‘Perfect One’, and that we still mess up on a regular basis. Not only does this empty us of pride, but it also leaves us bare before the Lord, so that He may fill us with His love, His grace, His mercy and His awesome power, so that our faith in Him may be renewed and supercharged. In fact, as we present ourselves bare before God, guess who is the only one who could then receive praise for the healing that might occur in our bodies, or the answered prayers that we may witness? The other encouraging thing about this Scripture, is that James shows us how important it is for us to reflect on God’s power that we had already experienced through our earlier prayers, or perhaps by other saints, or even by prophets of old. I believe we are reminded that if we are faithful to God, He would be faithful to us, just as He has already done for countless others already. So it’s like facing a friend who you are trying to convince about God’s power, you might say to them “show God your humbleness, empty yourself of all pride, ask Him in faith, and stand by for the answer to prayer that you will receive – yes, even to healing that can only come from God”. Friends, this is not the way we do things in school, at work, or perhaps even at church, but according to God’s Word, this is the way we do it when asking our God for His touch in our circumstances. We are looking for a miracle from God, so we must do things His way to receive His results!

PRAYER:   Lord, thank You for the reminder of how awesome our God is. Thank You for reminding us of the need to get self out of the way, so that God might perform His mighty deeds in our lives. Please touch our lives today. Please teach us humbless of heart, so that we can faithfully look up to You without anything to brag on, but fully dependent on You. You are our Rock, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Healer and our soon coming King! We are eternally thankful and look up to You in faith and love for Your perfect touch on our lives. Thank You 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!

Prayer – Our Most Powerful Tool!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Power of Prayer, Prayer, RelationshipLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Friday, 2018-06-08
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Daniel 9:20-23 (TLB)

Text:

 20 Even while I was praying and confessing my sin and the sins of my people, desperately pleading with the Lord my God for Jerusalem, his holy mountain, 21 Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, flew swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice 22 and said to me, “Daniel, I am here to help you understand God’s plans. 23 The moment you began praying a command was given. I am here to tell you what it was, for God loves you very much. Listen and try to understand the meaning of the vision that you saw!
OBSERVATION:
Unlike many of us that may spend less than 3 minutes in prayer, this whole chapter in Daniel highlights most of the content of Daniel’s conversation/prayer to God, for he was burdened for his people and his land and he knew that the only one who could do anything about the stubbornness of hearts, would be the Eternal God. Daniel took God seriously at His Word, that ‘If my people, who are called by my name, would humble themselves and pray, then God……’.  True to His Word, Daniel found out that the minute he humbled himself, opened his mouth in prayer, then God began acting in response!
APPLICATION:
A question often asked in Christian circles is: ‘Does God really listen to my prayers, and is it possible that He would ever act on ‘my prayers’? Fortunately we don’t control God, or the prayers that He chooses to answer. But as for our prayers, I would suggest a few tips that I believe Scripture teaches:

  • Don’t go to God as a stranger out of desperation. Go before Him reverently, acknowledging that He is God (in charge) and that you are His humble servant, saved only by His grace, in need of Him, once again today/this week/etc;
  • When no personal relationship exists, it is very challenging to have a sincere, meaningful conversation with someone – especially God. Relationships flourish when there is ongoing conversation between both parties; when there’s giving sacrificially to the other party, and receiving humbly from that party. God is no different, honor His Word by reading it daily and allowing God to speak with you and direct your paths; Pray to God about everything and be willing to accept His response, that may not always agree with our personal desire;
  • Be willing to act on what God directs you to do – obedience;
  • Learn to go before God looking at His face, and not for His outstretched hand. Yes, I believe He wants to give you the desires of your heart, but looking into His face will encourage you to worship Him and recognize Him for who He is. Then if you are in need of something, you will recognize that you are placing your most private thoughts and most urgent needs before a very worthy God.

God does answer prayer, friends. Do your part to ensure that you are asking of a very personal God with whom you have a very deep relationship with. Daniel did this and God acted immediately. Our God’s not dead, He’ll do the same for you!
PRAYER:
Lord, thank You for answered prayer! Thank You Lord for accepting me as Your precious child, and for Your continued care and answers to my prayers. On behalf of all who may read this devotional and myself, please continue to work on us with building a closer and stronger relationship with You. I believe that You care about every little concern of ours, so I pray that we will present our cares of all sizes at Your feet and seek Your will and Your blessing. Thank You for being there in so many ways for Daniel and thank You for the promise that You will be with us always. Praise to our wonderful 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 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’s The Difference?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Humble, Humbleness, Power of Prayer, Prayer, Reaching the LostLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   Nehemiah 9:3 (NLT)

TEXT:  3 They remained standing in place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God.

OBSERVATION:   The Israelites came to themselves, realized their hopeless condition, recognized that God was the only one that could help them, and they turned to God. What’s so different about them – and us?

APPLICATION:   Just like the Israelites, I believe that we are plenty smart enough to recognize that we have no control of everything that is going on in this world in which we live. In fact, we should all recognize that we really don’t have full control of our own world – the surroundings in which we find ourselves every day. Yet, in our stubbornness we try to convince ourselves that there are many others out there much worse than us, so we can’t be that bad after all. Here are some things that I would suggest we stop to consider and pray about:

  • Our lost condition – I know, mom took you to church as a young child and she introduced you to the preacher. It sounded to you like he had everything under control, and he made it sound like God cares for you, so you have nothing to worry about! May I remind you friend, that the Word of God says that unless you have personally invited Jesus into your heart and life and believe on Him as your Lord  and Savior, you are personally headed for a sinners’ Hell;
  • No time for church, Bible study or prayer – Notice that the Israelites spent a quarter of a day (3 hours) hearing from God, through the reading of His Word, and another 3 hours in prayer and worship. This was a great sacrifice from their day of work and/or family, but they made it a priority. Do you find time in your day to read God’s Word, pray, and worship your Father? At the end of each day, try bending your head in reverence before God and tell Him how none of that was a priority to you. If you then feel OK and able to sleep, then you are not yet ready to totally commit yourself to God;
  • Humbleness – Whenever we stop, listen to God and seek God’s face with humbleness of heart, we will recognize God for who He is, and be willing to listen to Him regarding who we are and who He wants us to be. Friend of God, we are to be His duplicate here on earth, so read His Word and learn the mind of Christ so that you will understand the character of our Lord. People need the Lord, not us.

PRAYER:   O what a Savior! O what an example for us to follow! Thank You Lord for saving my soul, thank You Lord for making me whole, thank You Lord for giving to me, Thy great salvation, so rich and free! Thank You also dear God for providing examples of the Israelites as we read in today’s Scripture, for it serves as a wake-up call for us, for it opened our eyes to our weaknesses today, and led us to the cross to seek Your face in forgiveness. Lord, now use the words of Your servant to also touch the hearts of those that may read this devotional today. Speak to Your children Lord and draw them close to You. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with 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!

 

The Impact of Sin by Our Leaders

On By Ed AlgreenIn Church Leaders, Government Leaders, Leadership, Power of Prayer, PrayerLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   2 Chronicles 24:18 (NLT)

TEXT: 18 The king and these leaders stopped worshiping in the Temple of the LORD, the God of their ancestors. Instead, they began to worship the Asherah idols and other idols. Because they did wrong, God was angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

OBSERVATION:   It is terrifying for God’s people to sit and watch while their leaders worship idols and foreign gods, because we know that our God is a jealous God and that He deserves all of our praise. However it is an awful thing when our leaders ignore God’s warnings and continue in sin to the point that God demands the punishment of all people under their rule. In our Scripture today, God was very angry with the people under the reign of these leaders, and I believe that it’s because they sat idly by while the leaders took the whole country to Hell with them. Don’t we feel the same way even today? Let’s look to the Scriptures!

APPLICATION:   Growing up we were warned about staying away from certain kids, because we are known in our community based on those we hang around with. There are many other things that parents wisely share with their children about our relationship with the wrong crowd: guilty by association; you will quickly become like those you hang around with; their evil intentions will rub off on you a lot quicker than your good intentions will impact them. So how then do we have any control over our leaders? Good question, right? Because we can disassociate from our friends, but we can’t as easily disassociate from our country, or our state, or city or church. Friends, I believe that it all comes back to the level of commitment we have with our Father. A ‘Christian’ who accepted Jesus because of peer or family pressure, will probably struggle with standing firm in their faith that they have supposedly committed their lives to. Compared to a saint that was called by God, and they accepted His call to be Master and Lord of their life. However friends, there are many times in the Bible where Jesus stood up for what was right, and publicly denounced what was wrong. Does congress have a clue that there are Christians out there that disagrees with a law they are about to enact? If your senator came to your city and stood on a street corner where there was open opposition to something you joined other believers in asking him/her to promote in congress, can you speak the truth in love at that public meeting? Because of the way our Scripture is worded, I really believe that God punished the two nations because they sat back and allowed these two leaders to do whatever they pleased, knowing full well that their actions would impact each citizen. When last have you prayed for the leaders of your respective country, state, city or church? If you haven’t, then God is answering your desire to care less about what these leaders do, or how it may impact you. If we don’t pray for our leaders, then we show that we don’t care about them or about how their actions may impact each of us. Friends, I believe it is clear that no matter how much we want to stay out of politics, we are obligated by Scripture to pray for those who rule over us. I believe it is also clear from today’s Scripture that there are consequences when we disobey God’s commands. 

PRAYER:   Lord, thank You again today for Your Word. May our minds always be opened to sharing our faith and praying for our leaders, so that the decisions they make may be influenced by You, and that they may ultimately serve to bless Your children while living here on earth. Give us boldness oh Lord. For I ask all this in the precious and strong name of Jesus, 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!

 

The Love of Our Wonderful God!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Healing, Humility, Power of Prayer, Prayer, Seek God's Face, Seeking GodLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   2 Chronicles 7:13-14 (TLB)

TEXT:   13 If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust swarms to eat up all of your crops, or if I send an epidemic among you, 14 then if my people will humble themselves and pray, and search for me, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.

OBSERVATION:   To build an awesome sanctuary, like Solomon did, and receive the blessings of God on it, must have been overwhelming for Solomon. But it was also made clear to him by God that the beautiful temple would not exonerate the people, should they continue in sin. In fact, God even warned that at times He may have to perform certain acts to get their attention, however in His love and compassion, He also gave Solomon the formula for the people to reconcile themselves with Him again. This living, loving, and caring God that we worship, has not changed, and I believe that He is just as ready to forgive us today, if we will also seek His face.

APPLICATION:   At times we may sit and ponder the trials that we face personally, then if we consider friends at church and all that you are praying for with them, you may wonder: “where is God?” After reading this Scripture today, I believe that we should be ever so thankful for the awesome God that we serve, for we are told that in spite of the beautiful sanctuaries we build, yet God will still finds ways to get our attention. However, He showed Solomon how the Israelites should recognize the correction of God, then how they should humble themselves and pray – in other words, don’t go before God in pride or as a know-it-all. But seek His face and ask His forgiveness, turn away from their sin and get over themselves. Then God – only God, will hear from Heaven and heal their land. Friends, we can hardly watch television news for the constant bombardment of crime that goes on in each of our communities. Could this be the correction of God for us? Have you tried humbling yourself before God, seeking His face and asking Him for His forgiveness? I can only assume that often we try to exclude ourselves from the sin, because we are far removed from the crimes. However, in all sincerity I believe that God is the only one excluded. For Christians allowed certain laws to be approved by sitting back and convincing ourselves that it was not meant for us, or we don’t want to offend others that could be impacted. Friends, its time that we stand up against sin and take responsibility for the evil works of Satan in our communities. It’s me – standing in the need of prayer. It’s you (Christian) – standing in the need of prayer. The verse states that ‘If MY people….’ – that’s you and I Brother and Sister. Let’s do our part, then we will be amazed at what God will do with His part!

PRAYER:   Thank You Lord, for Your blessings on me, and I believe that each of my readers could give an ‘Amen’ to that also. Thank You for getting our attention, and thank You for giving us the secret on how to adjudicate ourselves, so that You may hear from heaven and resume blessings on our families, our churches and our country. Lord, You are good, and Your faithful mercies last for evermore. I love You 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!

 

Tactics For Fighting Savage Wolves

On By Ed AlgreenIn Defense against the enemy, Power of Prayer, PrayerLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   Acts 20:28-30 (NIV)

TEXT:   28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.

OBSERVATION:   Paul called the elders of the Ephesian church together, as he was about to leave town. I wonder if they were aware of the items that Paul was about to warn them about? However, Paul wanted to make sure that they were aware of the challenges they might face, so he wanted to part some advice to them on those challenges. Knowing that our local churches today run so smoothly, with all ‘sheep’ super excited about they Lord and therefore getting along with each other, I know that it will be challenging to apply the truth declared in this passage, but let’s try!

APPLICATION:   Churches today split over such minor things, that I believe we could easily reflect on what God may have been showing Paul, and encouraging him to mentor the leaders he had developed in Ephesus. I believe that the easiest thing for church leaders to do today, is to bury their heads in the sand and falsely see everything working to the growth and benefit of the gospel at their church. Friends, I hate to burst your bubble, but if that’s happening, then the gospel of Jesus Christ is not being declared without compromise. For when the Word of God is preached under the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit, then it will cause men to whimper in their seats and hang their heads in shame. So what exactly might be considered ‘Savage Wolves’ in our churches today? How about: a). Gossip about pastors and elders; b). Teaching or preaching being so worldly based that the Word of God is hardly opened; c). Small Groups’ teaching material without the knowledge, or approval of church leadership; d). No follow-up or accountability to unbelievers attending, or on folks who are struggling; e). Members with other priorities, such as sports, fishing, hunting, etc; or f). lack of commitment to prayer, daily devotions, attending church, visit shut-ins, etc. It is so sad that often people have heard about the Lord, know His power, and will call on Him every time there’s an issue, but don’t expect to see them doing anything in return. Thankfully our God is much more forgiving than most of us, so He stands ready to receive Christians who have fallen prey to the above, and are now ready to serve God faithfully. Run to Him child of God, for the Savage Wolves’ are lurking at every point to distract you from your commitment to your Savior.

PRAYER:   Lord, we need You today more than ever before, for Satan has ramped up his attack on Your children. Please help us to be quick to run to You for help. We know that only You can fight the likes of Satan, and we know that anything that serves to pull us away from You, is of the Devil. Lord, we commit ourselves to You again, and we pray that our relationship with You will become so strong that Satan will have to clear all attacks through You before he could lay a hand on us. For I ask all this in the all powerful 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!

 

Our Response To Miracles

On By Ed AlgreenIn Give thanks, Miracles, Power of Prayer, Prayer, Thank You Jesus, Thankful, Thankfulness, ThanksgivingLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   Psalm 79:13 (MSG)

TEXT:   Then we, your people, the ones you love and care for, will thank you over and over and over.
We’ll tell everyone we meet how wonderful you are, how praiseworthy you are!

OBSERVATION:   In this Psalm by Asaph, he and his people had pleaded with God for several things that they felt very strongly about. These things were mostly in regards to abuse of the temple, so they felt really bad about the disrespect being shown towards God and His holy temple. However, after going through all this, and in confidence of God’s mighty hand, they immediately started praising the Lord! I wonder, does the church of God (that’s you and I) here on earth remember to return thanks?

APPLICATION:   At one time I was a part of Wednesday Night Prayer meetings, where the very first thing that we did was to celebrate things for which we should praise God. It was interesting in that we could verbalize the items fairly good, however when it came time to praise God for them in prayer, it became very challenging to just praise God, celebrate and rejoice in our gifts without slipping in our petitions. Mind you, there was always time later to take our petitions before the Lord! It was very challenging to JUST praise the Lord and give thanks. You know, in corporate prayer, some of our challenge today might be because we rush into our prayers, say very quickly what we feel others want to hear, then we finish so that others might have time. This verse that we are meditating on today seems like it may be showing us that we should savor our time with the Lord. Can you imagine sitting around in a circle, knowing that God is in our midst, and start with the words of this verse before naming a few of the things that each of us are thankful for? Imagine if we could do that without watching our clocks and feeling the need to rush through our time with the Lord. Wow, I could see us turning that time together into a great time of praise and thanksgiving, in the very presence of our Lord and Savior. Furthermore, I believe that by the time we have finished praising God for His gifts and blessings to us, our needs that we felt so burdened with when we first came into that Prayer Meeting would be minimized and not worth mentioning anymore. Friends, those of us that have an awesome relationship with our Savior already take advantage of these times with Jesus. Attending corporate prayer meetings allow us to share that celebration with others who may be slipping in their relationship with their Lord. Together, we could help each other draw closer to God. Are you attending your church prayer meetings? Others need you, and you may need strength from the experiences of others. Check out the designated time for your church Prayer Meetings, and be there!

PRAYER:   Lord Jesus, for those who have accepted You as Lord, we thank You for accepting us as Your precious children, and Your blessings in so many ways. How could I but praise you, my Savior and my Lord? Thank You for reminding us of this area of our lives that we are probably the weakest in. Please help us to always remember the source of our help and to always be in a state of Thanksgiving. Lord, we love You and we praise You for being so good to us! 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!

 

Sincerity of the Heart in Prayer

On By Ed AlgreenIn Dedication, Power of Prayer, Prayer, Sincere, SincerityLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   2 Kings 20:1-6 (ERV)

TEXT: 1 …. “The Lord says, ‘You will die soon, so you should tell your family what they should do when you die. You will not get well.’”

2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall that faced the Temple and began praying to the Lord. 3 “Lord, remember that I have sincerely served you with all my heart. I have done what you say is good.” Then Hezekiah cried very hard.

4 Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, he received this message from the Lord, 5 “Go back and speak to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I heard your prayer and I saw your tears, so I will heal you. On the third day you will go up to the Temple of the Lord. 6 I will add 15 years to your life….

OBSERVATION:   Hezekiah had been very diligent in serving God faithfully as he ruled over Judah, so the news of his impending death came as a quick, shortened life, decision to him. In fact, he was so determined to carry out more of his plans, that he quickly turned to God in very earnest prayer, to ask for more time. God gave him 15 more years, but take note in vs 5 that God not only heard his wish for more time, but He saw his tears. You may pray in secret to the Father, but always remember that He knows the innermost thoughts of each one who approaches His throne of grace.

APPLICATION:   Often we will allow anything to roll from our lips that we feel like the audience might expect to hear from us, or that we think they really need to hear at that moment. Unfortunately I believe that corporate prayer pulls that sort of prayer from saints. Friends, I believe that if we could go before the Master with all walls broken down, and in total openness and transparency, then God will hear the cry of our hearts without all the frills. In fact, I would dare say that we would be willing to share the ‘un-edited’ version of our prayers! Notice also that in a public setting, we may not be willing to allow our emotions to show. In our Scripture, the king (Hezekiah) prayed so sincerely that he ‘cried very hard’. This sounds like a prayer filled with emotion, and I believe that we will do the same when we pray to the Father in a private setting, just as we might do when discussing intimate things with our spouse. In other words, I believe that we would be more apt to be ‘real’ when in private and desperate prayer with our Father. Now friends, please know that I am not condemning corporate prayer, for it is times like that, where you will realize that God is still answering prayer, that He still hears the prayers of His children, and the sweetness in hearing someone else lifting up your prayer need before the Master and ultimate Healer. These are the times that young Christians learn to pray; they will also gain encouragement from hearing your prayer and knowing that they too can ask God for their own wishes. I heard someone say at one time, that we should pray for needs as if it was our son or daughter in need of prayer! Do you see how we might get more sincere,serious, and urgent about a prayer like that? I believe that it was that kind of deep sincerity that king Hezekiah went before God with.

PRAYER:   Lord Jesus, there are many needs that we may come before You with, and we will often keep them in such general form that I’m sure You must wonder how serious we are. I pray in deepest earnest that You may touch the hearts of each church member in my city, county, state and nation. If we were playing church, then we would become a member and continue doing what we’ve always done. While this may, unfortunately, be exactly what many have done, I want to plead with You from the bottom of my heart that the church will be ‘the church’ – ‘Your church’. Others will have no desire to know You, if they see us pretending, or uncommitted, or pleasing the crowd instead of preaching,  teaching and praying Your Word. Please touch the hearts of Your children today, and help us to seriously petition the throne of grace for the unsaved and the uncommitted, and may Your church catch fire from the revival that will result! I ask these things believing in the power of the Almighty, 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!

God is Capable of So Much More

On By Ed AlgreenIn Believe, Believers, Bible Believing, Know and Believe, Miracles, Miraculous, Power of Prayer, PrayerLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Thursday, 2017-11-09
SCRIPTURE

From:

 John 11:14-15 (MSG)

Text:

  14-15 Then Jesus became explicit: “Lazarus died. And I am glad for your sakes that I wasn’t there. You’re about to be given new grounds for believing. Now let’s go to him.”
OBSERVATION:
Earlier in chapter 11 the followers of Jesus had reminded Him of the danger in returning to Bethany, the town where His friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived, because the last time they were there they were stoned. Right after Jesus’ command His disciples to follow Him to Bethany, Thomas spoke what may have been on the hearts of most of the disciples, when he said “let’s follow Him so that we may die together”. However Jesus had a greater mission in mind, and I believe we could also learn from this….
APPLICATION:
It seems like our attention is often enhanced by the unexpected. Jesus could have healed His friend Lazarus while he was still alive; He could have brought him back to life as soon as He was told that Lazarus had died; He could have performed the miracle before a large crowd, or He could have done it in the middle of the night. However, I believe that Jesus saw the doubt and limitations being built by His own disciples, so He wanted to go beyond anything they had seen before, to make sure that lives were miraculously touched, and that God the Father received glory. This very much spoke to me about the normal church attendee today. We have come to expect a special order of service, the same speaker bringing the sermon and we have become so accustomed to getting out at a certain time, that we could easily plan our oven to complete cooking lunch at a certain time. Now IF God was programmable, all of this would work within His time-frames, but knowing that He’s not, what would happen if people started getting saved in every service, or Brothers getting healed, or sisters recommitting their lives to Christ in every service? Think about it, Jesus deliberately delayed His arrival to Bethany so that followers would see a different kind of miracle – one that would shake them up from their normal expectation, and they would be reminded that He truly is the Son of God, who could do ALL things. We too get ourselves into a box of believing that God can do only so much, because we have seen or heard of Him doing just that much before. Friends, I believe we are being taught here, along with the disciples, that the God who created us and placed the stars in the sky, is still very much alive and capable of doing way more than we could every dream or believe. I believe that our part is: to believe in the only One who could save us from our sin; trust Him to watch over, protect and guide us in the way of Truth daily; learn to worship Him, thank Him and depend on Him daily; trust Him by never putting Him in a box of limited possibilities; and get excited about the place He has prepared for us in glory. Do you feel like you are lacking in either of these things? Do you feel like you have placed complete faith and trust in Jesus, to accomplish way more than you could ever imagine? We tend to ask for only as much as we could believe, or have faith to ask for. God can do so much more than that friend!
PRAYER:
Lord, I believe that we are just as guilty as Your disciples were in the story of Lazarus, They followed you to Bethany, but they were so worried about their own lives that I believe it was challenging for them to truly appreciate the miracle that You brought about with Lazarus that day. We have become so accustomed to knowing the limitations of everything that we encounter, that we tend to place those same limitations on what our awesome God could do. Please forgive us for our littleness and for the blessings we miss out one because of our limitations. You are worthy oh Lord, please forgive us for our unworthiness and grant us new perspectives about You every day so that we may be overzealous in praise and thanksgiving. 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!