Category: Sin

The Stain of our Sins

On By Ed AlgreenIn All have sinned, Bible Believing, Faith, Reflecting Christ, SinLeave a comment

The Bible – The New Living Translation

Psalm 51:1-2

 1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.

2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.

Thoughts:

I believe that David was so sorry for his acts of sin against Bathsheba and her husband that he was not only asking for forgiveness of his sin, but also that God might erase it from his memory – blot out the ‘stain’ of my sin he asked. Friends, although God forgives us of our sin, it seems like the impact of that sin, or its stain, appears to always be in the back of our minds, and will ultimately haunt us from time to time. While this may serve the purpose of reminding us of our sin, or especially to help us appreciate where God has truly brought us from, yet our inner man would just as soon forget the sinful acts. Therefore I can appreciate where David was coming from in this request. However, I believe that the biggest lesson for us to learn from this today is that God is our mediator. He knows what is bugging us, but I believe that He really wants us to seek Him, humble ourselves to ask for help and to seek His help in every aspect of our lives. As we live in this sinful world, we get dirty or stained from its impact, so keeping ourselves before our Maker in prayer is healthy for our spiritual well-being. Our physical bodies become dirty and we take daily showers, how much more should we seek a daily spiritual cleansing of our sin. This will not only help in keeping us clean from guilt, but it will keep the lines of communication open between us and our heavenly Father.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I repeat the words of Your servant David, please wash me clean from my guilt, and purify me from my sin. I want to be used by You in reaching those around me who are lost in sin. Please wash me white as snow so that I may represent You well as I share a witness for You. Please have Your will and way in my life is my humble prayer before the only One who can make a true difference in the hearts of mankind, for I ask this in Your worthy and all powerful name, Lord Jesus, my Savior and King, AMEN!

 

NOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray.

The Reward for Living Life Led By ‘The Spirit’!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Born Again, Christian, God Cares For Us, God Reigns, Holy Spirit, Imitator of Christ, Pleasing to God, Praise, Reaching the Lost, Reflecting Christ, Sin, SurrenderLeave a comment

The Bible –Good News Translation

Romans 8:13-14

13For if you live according to your human nature, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your sinful actions, you will live. 14Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children.

Thoughts:

We live our lives according to two principles: 1). Dedicated to, and led by, God’s Holy Spirit – This means that like me, you have given yourself totally and unreservedly to the Savior of this world – Jesus. And because He lives in You and gives you a desire for His Word and for a life dedicated to serving Him and imitating Him in character, deed and word, then according to vs 14 we are His children, and according to vs 13, we will live – meaning live forever with Him in heaven even after we leave this old world! Principle #2). Is that you do nothing about your sinful condition. In fact, it dominates your life, and every decision you make and every deed and action comes from the mind and life of human nature and not of God. Friends, it is plain in verse 13 that folk living under this principle are destined to ‘die’. For those of you that have resigned yourself to accept this principle must realize that Paul is not just referring to physical death – that we all must go through, but he is referring to everlasting death, and for those of you that refer to daily life as being hell on earth, I need to remind you that you ‘ain’t seen nothin yet’, for eternal damnation in hell after your life on this cruel earth, is one that would sadden God’s heart to see any of His creation become a part of. However, just as loving parents allow their children to make their own choices, God allows us to make a choice between principle (1) and principle (2). What would you wish for your favorite child? Would you consider anything less for yourself? Vs 14 declares that when we choose principle (1), we are considered God’s children. Fact – Jesus is King over all this world. Children of kings are known as Princes and Princesses! Secure your new title today friend, if you have not already made a decision for principle (1).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for the privilege of serving You, and for giving me guidance, wisdom, strength and boldness to live my life as detailed in principle (1) above. Although excited about each day and the opportunities available to me, I am overwhelmed and super excited about the expectations of eternal life with You in glory! However, while here on this earth I become very anxious about my family and friends that have defaulted to principle (2) because of their lack of concern for a better life; a richer quality of life; a satisfied life knowing that You have every little thing under control and a praise-worthy life acknowledging that all things come from You, for our good and benefit, and that You have this whole life thing under Your control, with no reason for us to worry. Lord, I’m Yours – everything I am, everything I have! Thank You for taking it (life) from here! These praises, requests and acknowledgments are all presented in Your holy name and for Your glory, oh Lord, AMEN!

 

**If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray.

A Very Personal decision

On By Ed AlgreenIn All have sinned, Ask and Receive, Bible Believing, Bold Confidence, Born Again, Christian, Eternal Life, Evangelism, Faith, Faith, Forgiveness, God Cares For Us, God our Helper, God’s Word, Hope, Listen to the Word of God, Obedience, Repentance, Righteousness, Sin, SurrenderLeave a comment

Scripture: Genesis 27-28 

OBSERVATION (What is God saying here?)

13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants.14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.15 What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”  Gen 28:13-15 (NLT)

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

God had blessed Abraham and his son Isaac with so much, yet in this sobering moment for Jacob as he pouted over losing out on the blessing intended for him from his father, God chose to bless Jacob in much the same way that He did for Jacob’s father and grandfather. It wasn’t enough to be the son or grandson of two very blessed, Godly men. Jacob had heard from God directly. This is much the same in our decision to accept Jesus and live in His will. This is something we must do for ourselves. We must individually make a decision to accept Him and serve Him. We cannot ride on the coat tails of our ancestors, for although they may have been very Godly people, it is our decision as to what we will do with Christ, that will decide our ultimate destiny. Please contact me by responding to this post if you would like direction on accepting Jesus as your Lord, or if you would like for me to pray with you about your relationship with the Lord.

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

I pray that no one reading this today will go away without settling the relationship between themselves and the Master of the universe, my Lord and my Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray that the importance of this personal decision will be evident and hold more importance and held to a much higher priority than ever before to each one reading this. I pray that decisions will be made today to accept Jesus as Lord, and that He will bless each one with the happiest 2011 as we rest in the peace of knowing our destiny, regardless of what might occur around us this year.

You Haven’t What?

On By Ed AlgreenIn All have sinned, Blood of Jesus, Follow Jesus, Forgiveness, Listen to the Word of God, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, SinLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: 1 John 1 

OBSERVATION (What is God saying here?)

1 John 1:8-10 ~ If we say, “We aren’t sinful” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. If we say, “We have never sinned,” we turn God into a liar and his Word is not in us.
(GWT)

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

In this chapter John shared what he had seen and witnessed the King, our Lord and Savior, and because of the joy that this brought to him, he wanted to share that with all those that would read this first chapter of First John. Having seen and witnessed the only perfect One, John was humbled in realizing how imperfect he truly was. He was also reminded of how imperfect everyone else would be and he is warning us to be careful of that. I had a good friend who once tried to convince me that his dad would go to heaven because of the good man that he was, and of course he went on to tell me some of the things that he did for his fellow man. Of those things, I never heard him say that he had surrendered his life to Jesus and was living a life dedicated to Him and for His glory. Later this friend of mine came to Jesus, and I never had the deep conversation with him again to see if he later realized that regardless of what we do for the good of mankind, it is only what occurs in our relationship with Christ that will last, and it is only because of that relationship that we could enter into heaven. John reminds us here that if we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves for the truth is not in us. But I am extremely happy to read and understand the later part of this passage – God is always faithful and ready to forgive us when we approach Him in sincerity and in a humble way. You see, He sent His only Son to die for us and our sins, so He welcomes all who would seek forgiveness of sin and receive Jesus as Lord of their life. Please don’t be lying, or basically calling God a liar, and refuse to recognize the sin in your life and then seek His forgiveness. God said we all have sinned, please don’t think for a moment that He is a liar. Seek His forgiveness today and be ready to meet the Master, your Creator, on the day that He calls you home. Please remember that you have no control over what day that will be. It could be before you finish reading this devotional. Jesus loves you and I a whole lot to have made such a sacrifice just for us. No matter what is going on in your life today, He stands ready to forgive you of your sin and support you as you seek to live a Godly life. Being good enough is not a way to enter heaven. Accept Jesus today and live a life pleasing to Him and you will automatically be living a life pleasing to mankind, for God is love! For more information from the Bible on how you can accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, please visit with your pastor or one of your church leaders, alternately visit our web site at

Instant Response to Prayer!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Christian, Forgiveness, Love, Obedience, Power of Prayer, Righteousness, SinLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Daniel 9

OBSERVATION

Daniel 9:20-23 ~ I was still confessing my sins and those of all Israel to the LORD my God, and I was praying for the good of his holy mountain, when Gabriel suddenly came flying in at the time of the evening sacrifice. …. and he explained: Daniel, I am here to help you understand the vision. God thinks highly of you, and at the very moment you started praying, I was sent to give you the answer.

APPLICATION

I admire the tenacity of Daniel in this chapter. After reading from his study of writings of Jeremiah the prophet that Jerusalem would suffer/lie in ruins for seventy years, Daniel showed his deep concern and sorrow by fasting and praying to the Almighty. He didn’t wait for the church to gather, nor did he wait to gather all of the other priests to join him in collective prayer for this news that would have a major impact on the history of this nation. After taking a personal stake in this, not just confessing his own sin, but begging God’s mercy on his nation, the angel Gabriel stopped by to encourage him and let him know that his prayer was heard by God. Wow! I know that we sometime feel like our prayers are hitting the ceiling, but to receive this kind of answer to his prayer must have been miraculous for Daniel. Two more things that God spoke to me on here:

  1. “At the very moment that Daniel started praying” is the actual quote from these verses. God knew the heart of Daniel way before he verbalized his concerns and petitions before God, but at the very moment that he (Daniel) did his part and prayed, God sent the angel Gabriel. This is very powerful! Awesome!
  2. I wonder if what Gabriel said to Daniel was a clarification of something that Daniel may have misunderstood from Jeremiah’s writings, or was it an answer to the prayers of Daniel. The duration of the penalty was reduced from 70 years to 70 weeks! I wonder if the verdict would have stayed as it was, if God didn’t see that at least one man cared enough about his nation that he took the whole concern on his shoulder and petition God for mercy. We were reminded last night that we often hear the Word of God and let it fly right over our heads, hoping that the individual behind us must be the intent of God’s wrath or challenge. However, a whole church, or even a whole nation could be impacted by our sin/stubbornness/rebellion. Conversely, a whole church or even a whole nation could be impacted if God’s people would get off their personal thrones/agendas and humble themselves and pray, because in 1 Chronicles God promises us that THEN He would hear from heaven and heal our nation.

PRAYER

Father I pray that I will not be a stumbling block for the wonderful work that You could perform in the lives of my family, my church, my friends and my nation. Please help me to search deep within and stay so in tuned with Your Word that I would be corrected of tendencies to block Your work. Instead Father, I pray that, like Daniel, I would come to You daily and not just pray for Your powerful touch on my life personally, but also that You would touch my family, my church, my friends, my city, my state and my nation. Please convict us of all sin that separate us from Your will for our lives. Please speak to us in such ways that we would become a people deeply committed to You and reflecting You and Your love in very evident ways to a lost and dying world. I am reminded of a secular song, ‘I want to Be Just Like You’, and would apply that principle to express the desire of my heart today, for I want to be just like You Lord. Please forgive me where and when I fail at that, but please grant me the strength and tenacity to succeed at that each and every day, for it’s You oh Lord that I adore and want to see lifted up and magnified in my life.

Going through Hard Knocks?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiveness, Humility, Love, Obedience, Sin, Worry no moreLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Lamentations 3

OBSERVATION

Lamentations 3:29-33 ~ Being rubbed in the dirt can teach us a lesson; we can also learn from insults and hard knocks. The Lord won’t always reject us! He causes a lot of suffering, but he also has pity because of his great love. The Lord doesn’t enjoy sending grief or pain.

APPLICATION

I don’t believe any human being looks forward to, or enjoys, discipline, but as in the case of parents disciplining children, our Father must always discipline us because we sin and consequently stray away from God’s ideals/teachings/commands. For the Christian it is comforting to know that because of God’s great love for us, He won’t always reject us and He will have pity on us at some stage. I believe that as we go through these tough times of correction we can always look forward to being re-pointed in the right direction while being blessed by an extra dose of humility. After all, it was because of our selfish desire to take the reins away from God that got us into that mess in the first place. If only we could stay on the right path in the first place and follow Jesus every day! But let’s take joy in knowing that if we slip, God is all loving; all forgiving and all powerful and because He finds no joy in punishing us, He is constantly looking for ways to help us overcome our weaknesses. He is not only one that can save us from our sin, but one that we can always place our trust in, because He is one that will always love us.

PRAYER

Praise God that He knows what I need and when I need it. Praise Him because He identifies exactly when I’m tempted to fail, and His outstretched hand is available to me when and if a need arises. He sent His one and only son so that I may have life eternal, yet He looks for opportunities to help me when I fail. Thank You Jesus for being the loving and caring God that You are. Thank You for caring for me. I can truly sing “

Know that You Have Life Eternal

On By Ed AlgreenIn Born Again, Christian, Eternal Life, Faith, Forgiveness, Heaven, Humility, Love, Obedience, SinLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: 1 John 5

 

OBSERVATION

1 John 5:13-15 ~ I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God so you will know you have eternal life. And this is the boldness we have in God’s presence: that if we ask God for anything that agrees with what he wants, he hears us. If we know he hears us every time we ask him, we know we have what we ask from him.

APPLICATION

Here are some words of encouragement for us today, some key points on which we can build our faith in Jesus Christ and reassurance for us as Christians to know that our living, powerful Savior is actively involved in our lives, as we give Him room and permission to. Here are the key points that really encouraged me:

  • Through God’s leading, with His direction, and through His grace, I accepted Jesus as my Savior back in 1976. God, through John is assuring me here that I have eternal life, therefore one day when life shall leave my earthly body, I will be taken away to forever be with my Savior in heaven! Although I already knew this, every time I am reminded of this it bring such a peace, reassurance and excitement to me. I can’t imagine why the Master of this universe would consider even me to one day join Him in glory, but I am satisfied that it will happen, praise be to God! As a side note, what is also exciting is that while this is an exclusive group that will get to join Jesus Christ at His right hand, the invitation to join the group is open to ALL who will accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life. This is something that no one should refuse. I constantly pray that I will see all of my family and loved ones there, so I am praying that they will accept Jesus today, while they are still able to. Why don’t you consider doing the same thing friend?
  • As a child of the King, we have the boldness while in God’s presence to ask for anything, that He agrees with, and we can be assured that He hears us. As the last sentence in theses verses says, if God hears our prayer and it is in accordance with His will for our lives, then we can consider it done. The verse actually says that we know that we already have it! While this is super exciting, one might ask well how will I know if it is God’s will for me? For those that ask arbitrarily without any type of relationship with God, this will probably be extremely difficult. After all, think about a marriage relationship – if after leaving the altar where you said your vows, the husband goes one way and the wife another, not only is there a lack of relationship between them (although they are ‘married’), but one of them will have no idea what pleases the other in three months when they get together for dinner! Likewise, to know God’s will we must be constant in prayer and Bible Study so that we may learn His heart’s desire for us. There is a group study called ‘The Mind of Christ’. This is something that you cannot discern from a distance, this requires an intimate relationship with Christ. One of the huge ways that one can be helped with this is by connecting with a body of believers (a bible believing/teaching church). Not only will you hear the Word of God preached and taught, but to network with others of like faith brings an enormous sense of love, accountability, boldness and strength that could help both you and them through daily challenges with life here in this wicked world in which we now live. If you are not connected already friend, I encourage you to give this a try. Believe me, it works!

PRAYER

  1. Lord Jesus, You are so awesome. You have provided the means for us to have eternal life. You hear our prayers, even though we tend to stray away from Your teaching so much. I often feel so undeserved of such love, but again today I want to thank You for that love. I feel especially blessed, loved and cared for by You and can easily say thank You for all that You do in my life. Forgive me for sometimes asking for things that may not fit within your will for my life at the present time, but thank you for redirecting me towards a right path pleasing to You. Please be my guide each and every day, for

How God will Sometimes Deal with Sin.

On By Ed AlgreenIn Christian, Forgiveness, Humility, SinLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE

Studied: 2 Kings 24

OBSERVATION

2 Kings 24:2-4 ~ The Lord sent raiding parties from Babylon, Aram, Moab, and Ammon against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah. This happened as the Lord had said it would through his servants the prophets. The Lord commanded this to happen to the people of Judah, to remove them from his presence, because of all the sins of Manasseh. He had killed many innocent people and had filled Jerusalem with their blood. And the Lord would not forgive these sins.

APPLICATION

In this short passage God showed me how the sins of one man could affect the lives of so many, and how bitter God could be towards sin. In this particular case I believe that God had warned Manesseh many times about his sin, but he continued to take the blood of innocent people in Jerusalem. We are told that God warned about this through His servants, the prophets, and then He sent raiding parties in to destroy Judah. Reading this today we may wonder if something like this could possibly happen today. I dare say that it could, and may very well happen to those that we know and love. God’s Word is full of His warnings, His prophecies, His statutes, His commands, yet we read right over, or through them and continue in sin. How much more of this will our righteous and holy God take? I know that He loves His people and because of that He is very patient with us, but I believe that some of our sins are so blatant and affect so many people that God will see to it that His chosen people, those that He loves so dearly, are not negatively impacted by people that are out to destroy the message of love and the saving grace of our Lord, that Jesus came to fulfill and deliver to the masses.

PRAYER

Lord may I always be a facilitator of Your work and not a stumbling block. Please continue to lead me against the vile of the Evil One and instead, fill my path with righteousness, love for my fellow man, forgiveness for those that offend me, and words to share with the unsaved that will lead them to You. Your ways are righteous and holy, may I be filled with qualities that will reflect Your holiness and righteousness in all that I say or do, and may I be granted boldness to share Your love with everyone, especially those that may seem undeserving at times. Please grant me strength to overcome my weakness in this area during those times that I am tempted to do otherwise, so that others may see You and not faltering mankind.