Category: Reflecting Christ

A Promise To The Righteous

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Ask and Receive, Bible Believing, Born Again, Christian, Eternal Life, Faith, Follow Jesus, Forgiveness, God Cares For Us, God’s Word, Heaven, Listen to the Word of God, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Peace, Reflecting Christ, Righteousness, Surrender, Things that make God angry, Victorious LifeLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE Studied: Genesis 5 – 7 

OBSERVATION (What is God saying here?)

17 “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die.18 But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives.19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood.20 Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive.21 And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.” Gen 6:17-21 (NLT)

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

Although I have heard and read the story of Noah many times before, I was touched by this again today. God made man in His own image and in these chapters studied I found where men were still having sons well over 100 years of age, plus living in excess of 900 years. However God became very upset over the increasing evil that He saw in man and vowed to maximize his life to 120. Still, evil continued to the extent that it angered God into wiping out all living things made by Him on this earth. However, He was able to find one righteous man, Noah. The covenant He made with Noah is similar to the one that he makes with those of us that accept Him as Lord and then strive to live righteous lives. Throughout all the destruction of all living things – water on this earth of more than 22 feet above the highest mountain, yet He kept Noah and his family plus a limited number of animals, safe. Later in God’s Word He provides another covenant for those of us that accepts His Son as Lord of our lives, and this covenant is that we may live eternally with Him in glory! I don’t know about you, but to have the love of the Father – our creator, poured out on me as a child of His here on this earth, plus to also be assured of eternity with Him in glory is enough to make this life tolerable and  worth every moment of every day facing the everyday challenges of this temporary world. Noah was saved, together with his family, because He followed the will of God and lived a righteous life in the eyes of God. We can do the same today if only we will follow the plan outlined by God. Do you know this Savior of whom I speak of here? The invitation is open to ALL who believe and accept Jesus as Lord of your life. Read John 3:16 to understand the full depth of God’s promise. Won’t you covenant with God today friend? Read though this help page for directions, or contact me by responding to this post. Jesus loves you, and so do I!

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

Father, You have shown in Your Word how important it is for Your creations to dedicate themselves to their creator. Thank You for the awesome job You did in wonderfully making me and then providing a means for me to have life eternally with You. I pray that everyone that reads this post today will be convinced of Your love, and that their hearts will be troubled enough to not let the sun set today before making a commitment to accept You as their Lord and Savior and to live a righteous life in Your sight, during the time they have left here on this earth. May You rule and reign in every aspect of our lives today!

Is it evident to whom you belong?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Born Again, Christian, Faith, Follow Jesus, Humility, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Power of Prayer, Reflecting ChristLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: 1 John 2 

OBSERVATION (What is God saying here?)

1 John 2:3-6 ~ And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By obeying his commandments. If someone says, “I belong to God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and does not live in the truth. But those who obey God’s word really do love him. That is the way to know whether or not we live in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did. (NLT)

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

John knew that there would be times that we doubt our salvation, as did the saints of his day. Therefore he told us a way that we could be sure that we belong to Him. Friends there is no way that we could belong to Christ and go on living like the devil. Compare this to being married. If we are happily married and trying to live a life totally dedicated to our spouse, we will not wander around or hang out with our old buddies that led us into the places where we met members of the opposite sex. So it is with our relationship with God, we will want to obey all that He tells us – because we know that it is for our own good, and it leads us to an even closer relationship with Him. How then will we learn of His commands? Yes, I know that anyone reading this devotional could also read the Bible, but friends I know from experience that it helps to be around like minded people – we call it “our church family”! Furthermore, I have found that God will not only try and get His point across to me in His Word, but also through other believers and through the preaching or teaching of His Word. He also uses some of these methods to confirm what I have read in His Word. In a marriage we talk to our spouse and they talk back to us. In our Christian relationship, we talk to God in prayer, and He talks back to us through His Word, through preaching, teaching and other believers. How has your communication levels been with God? Are you missing any of these communication links? To know and love Christ, we will want to obey His commands and follow His will for our lives. Are there things in your life that do not line up with God’s Word? In verse 5 the Word says that if we live in Christ we will live as He did! That’s a tall order, but it’s the Word. It seems impossible to us, but that’s when we should realize that God expects us to lean on His strength and not ours alone, so that we may live our lives in a manner pleasing to Him.

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

Father, I believe that as long as we live on this earth we will find that old Satan tugs away at us each and every day, causing us to stumble. This is our clue that we need to depend on You and seek Your help, Your guidance, Your strength and Your wisdom to live our lives like You intended – sold out to You. Please give me a fresh dose of Your love and direction this day so that I may live according to the path exampled by You. May there be no doubt to whom I belong today. May You rule and reign in and through me today, is my sincere prayer.

For, or Against Jesus?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Getting Along, Reflecting Christ, TeamworkLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Mark 9 

OBSERVATION (What is God saying here?)

Mark 9:38-41 ~ John said, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to force demons out of people. But he wasn’t one of us, and we told him to stop.” Jesus said to his disciples: Don’t stop him! No one who works miracles in my name will soon turn and say something bad about me. Anyone who isn’t against us is for us. And anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name, just because you belong to me, will surely be rewarded. (CEV)

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

First of all I believe that Jesus was referring to Christians here when He spoke of “anyone who isn’t against us”, because there are too many other places in scripture where He spoke about there being only one way into heaven and that’s through accepting Him as Lord of Your life. However, in reading this passage I thought about the many denominations that exist today and how we often work against, or at least ridicule each other for what we believe or practice. Last weekend I worked at the annual Noah’s Fall Festival here in Avon Park and I was blessed to see Christian brothers and sisters from all over our area working together, ministering together and meeting the needs of our community – in fact, over 3,600 of them! We cannot win the lost world while being busy looking down our noses and judging fellow Christians/churches! The world is looking for a better place to be; in fact they are looking forward to being with folk that could get along, love on each other and be evidence of Jesus in the flesh. In our own households we don’t necessarily believe the same way about each and every subject, yet we love and respect each other anyway. Why then should we expect anything different when we get outside our homes? Let’s remember what Jesus said in these verses, if they are not against us, there are for us! Let’s respect others’ belief on things that may be different to what we believe; sometimes they may actually be right!!! Remember, when we accept Jesus and learn to become more like Him, we will act like Him, we will love others like He did and we will have a burning desire to get along with all of God’s people and accept the fact that He alone is judge over what is right and what is wrong. Let’s do our part to live, worship and reflect Jesus so that the world will know that we are ‘For Jesus’!

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

Father, I believe that often Satan will send things, or even people our way to tempt us and make the world question whose team we are on. I also believe that if we ever intend to win our communities for You, it is super important to reflect to those that may be watching our every move, that we are for You, that our every move reflect Your will and Your teachings. I’m sure that the world will quickly recognize that we may not always be right on, but Lord Jesus I pray that Your hand will be so active in directing my life each day that they will know whose I am and who I am following and representing. May they see Jesus in me, is my sincere prayer today. May I not try to assume Your responsibility and judge others myself, instead may I welcome fellow Christians and their efforts to also become more like You. May solidarity be evident in our efforts to reach and win the lost in our community.