Who Done It?

On 2016-11-262016-11-26 By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Christmas, Faith, Humility, Obedience, Prayer, Righteousness, Sin, SurrenderLeave a comment

Saturday, 2016-11-26

Scripture

Bible Reference: Genesis 3:6–8

Bible Text: 6 The woman stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some to him, and he ate it too. 7 Right away they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves.
8 Late in the afternoon a breeze began to blow, and the man and woman heard the LORD God walking in the garden. They were frightened and hid behind some trees.

Bible Translation: The Contemporary English Version (CEV)

My Take

On reading the title, you might conclude that I am about to introduce an old TV show by the same title! That’s not my intention, so no need to close the blog without reading today’s devotional!!! This scripture got my attention though, because we see in the three examples in this story how each party, Adam, Eve and the serpent, all found excuses for the cause of this very first sin that we read about in the Bible. In each case they quickly threw the blame, or cause of their action, on someone or something else. Unfortunately, in spite of all that transpired in this story, added to the enormous blessings that God has showered on us, I am amazed how little mankind has changed. I wonder today how much of our prayer time is spent on explaining to God who may have caused us to sin, or how it was possible for the infraction? Look at how Adam even went to the extent of trying to pass the responsibility of this sin to God Himself, for had God not sent the woman to Adam in the first place, then Adam thinks that he would not have sinned! eeeennnk! I don’t believe so Adam! Think about our many excuses, men blame their distractions at work or even at church, on the pretty lady who wears very short dresses or very tight pants, for leading them to infidelity. I wonder when God looks at the deepest part of man’s heart what He must find is really happening, to cause such sin to erupt in a man’s heart? Yes friend, you read that right. God considers even our wicked thoughts when He judges us! Men, may I plead with you join me in fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith? May I suggest that we commit ourselves more to the idea of drawing closer to God and being obedient to His Word, then perhaps our minds would be more focused on eternal matters than on the sinful things of this world? Ladies, I know you are not exempt from this condition, so please consider the gist of what I just shared and apply it to the challenges you face. God in His mighty wisdom actually distracted me on to the thoughts I just shared, because my initial intent was to actually introduce the Advent season into my blog over the next 24 days. Friends, we are introduced in this scripture today, to the very first sin – also known as the fall of mankind. You will quickly recognize that it was from the very beginning of time that God saw the need to send a Savior into the world to save fallen man. This ‘Savior’ of which I am referring is God’s very own Son that He sent – Jesus. It is the miraculous birth of Jesus that we celebrate each and every Christmas. Perhaps this should be the season of Thanksgiving when we consider the precious gift given for our benefit, and because of our weakness to sin!

Prayer

Father, from the time of our very first ancestor, sin has been a problem – a challenge for us. We are weak, and very gullible to sin, then we are so quick to reflect the cause of that sin on anything, or anyone else that we could think of. Please open our hearts to the awesome reminder of how You not only saw our sin, but You did everything to help us seek forgiveness of that sin in preparation for standing before a holy, sinless God. You alone are God in heaven, and yet You loved us enough to make the way clear for us to be with You! Thank You Heavenly Father, thank You Jesus, and thank You Holy Spirit. We are truly a blessed people. May Your kingdom come oh Lord, and may each person meditating on this thought today be ready to see You face-to-face on resurrection morning, all because of Jesus! AMEN!

Footnote

If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!

Our Faith, Our Prayer, But His Results

On 2016-11-24 By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Faith, Humility, Imitator of Christ, Love, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Righteousness, SurrenderLeave a comment

Thursday, 2016-11-23

Scripture

Bible Reference: James 5:13-16

Bible Text: Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.

Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)

My Take

Just yesterday I shared on the importance of including ‘So That…’ in our prayers. In our scripture today we see where God used James to tell us that there are times when we just need to pray. In the first instance, James is teaching us that when we are suffering, or having hardships, or hurting, we should pray. Even though I believe that God would have us share one another’s burdens, I also believe that this scripture is telling us that it is way more important that we go directly to the master Healer and the One who cares about our hurts and misfortunes. In this instance the Bible doesn’t say ‘instead of…’, yet I believe we can conclude that without heeding to this advice, our normal action would probably see us resorting to whining and complaining to the extent that no one wants to be around us! Another instance that James advised on, is when we are sick then we should call on the elders of the church and have them anoint you with oil and pray over you. Now I would ask that you careful read this, because the Bible went on to say that based on the faith of the individuals and the prayer offered in faith, GOD will do the healing. Please, please, please don’t ever put a religious leader in a position where you thank them for the healing, or think for a moment that there is any power in their human touch. James clearly reminds us that Elders/church leaders are simply instruments that God uses to be His hands and feet on the ground. Now I believe all of what James has said so far, and I believe this would make most of us happy. However, in verse 16 James adds that although he shared with us how very possible it is for God to heal us physically, yet we must also realize that we have a deep responsibility to live a life pleasing to God so that we may be healed spiritually. To do this, we are taught that we must confess our sins one to another and pray for one another SO THAT we may be healed. Friends, I believe this is where we are reminded of so many other references in the Bible that confirms that we cannot be burdened down with the sin of the world, when we approach our holy God. We must be prepared to cleanse the inner man, if we expect to approach God for in all honesty for physical healing or any other prayer requests. I often reflect on the point that God and/or His Holy Spirit will not reside, or become involved where sin abounds, so if we want healing, or if we want God to intervene in any way in our lives, then we must be prepared first of all to deal with our sin. Remember, the earnest, effectual prayer of a righteous man, availeth much. Could there be reason for you feeling likes your prayers sometimes hit a brick wall and are ineffective?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I often wonder how such a righteous and holy God would put up with such a mess as You see in our attempt to live life here on this earth. I just can’t comprehend the love that You not only portrayed on Calvary for us weaklings, but the love and patience to put up with our failures each day. In Your Word You have challenged us today to not only seek physical healing for ourselves, but to first work through the misfortunes or our failures with each other. Please forgive us Lord for our inadequacies and our failures. Please build us up to not only be confident in our witness for You, but to be instruments that are usable by a holy and righteous God. Lord, may our lives, and may the words from our mouths, and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, our Rock and our Redeemer – all for Your ultimate purpose, and plan. AMEN!

Footnote

If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to http://www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!

An Object Of Cursing

On 2016-10-19 By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Curses, Faith, Humility, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Righteousness, SurrenderLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2016-10-19

Scripture

Bible Reference: Jeremiah 44:22–23

Bible Text: 22 It was because the LORD could no longer bear all the disgusting things you were doing that he made your land an object of cursing—a desolate ruin without inhabitants—as it is today. 23 All these terrible things happened to you because you have ….. and sinned against the LORD. You have refused to obey him and have not followed his instructions, his decrees, and his laws.”

Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

Just from the title you probably had no incentive or desire to open this devotional and read more. That’s pretty normal, because we are creatures of so much stress each day that the last thing we want to hear is another challenge or critical point of view. Sorry friends, but as followers of Christ we must be obedient to the Holy Spirit and stop to meditate on a passage of scripture such as this, when presented with it, because God could very well be getting our attention to warn us of what our own outcome may look like, if we continue in sin and disobedience to His commands. Based on scripture, I believe that God wants us to turn away from our sin (stop doing it and look at God’s plan for us), humble ourselves before the almighty God, seek His face and His heart’s desire for us, and pray for a revived spirit within us individually and as a family, as a church, as a city and indeed as a nation. Friends, at this time of the year we become so caught up in politics that I’m afraid that we lose our passion for what is really critical in God’s eyes – that we know Him; honor Him; obey Him and seek sincerely to follow Him. In doing this friends, we will earn a deep, sincere, desire to see our family and friends also ‘make the cut’, or generate a desire to know the Savior that we love, adore and live in great expectation of uniting with Him in glory one day! Friends, as we grow closer to God and live more like Him here on this earth, perhaps He may save our land from desolation and destruction. Most of us would desire that God bless our respective native country, so I sincerely believe that we would also truly regret it if God removed His hand of blessing from us because of our neglect of God and His commands. God says in His Word that He puts our leaders in place for His purposes. Let us therefore be sure that we seek His face as we vote on our leaders, and more importantly, let us seek to know God better, understand His directions for us, and seek to follow His will and His way. I believe that this will please God and perhaps earn His blessing rather than His curse, as He did with the disobedient and rebellious Israelites.

Prayer

Lord, please forgive us for getting so caught up in our own agendas at the expense of our obedience to You and Your commands to us. I am convinced that You are far more interested in our heart, and the desires of our heart, than any earthly concern that we may have influence over. We love our respective home-country and would ask that You bless us immensely in every way. That’s a selfish request because we happen to live here, and whatever happens to our country, affects us. Lord, I also want to ask that You touch the hearts of Your children today so that we may be a vital Christian influence in our country that is representative of the Savior who loves and controls us. I realize that we don’t deserve this Lord, but I ask this so that Your work might be accomplished in our midst and in our country. I pray that Your children will lift Your banner high so that the world might know! AMEN!

Footnote

How Will They Know, If You Don’t Tell Them?

On 2016-10-18 By Ed AlgreenIn Accept Jesus NOW, Bible Believing, Christian, Faith, Imitator of Christ, Obedience, SurrenderLeave a comment

Tuesday, 2016-10-18

Scripture

Bible Reference: Romans 10:9–10; 13-14

Bible Text: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved…. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” 14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?

Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

Each of us have responsibilities in this world. A dad is obligated to take care of his family, and lead his family towards a life in Christ. Mothers share in that responsibility with dads to help ensure that kids are raised healthy in body through nutrition, and in soul through their manners and beliefs and practices. Work managers have a responsibility to the owners of their company to ensure that they develop the best employees that will lead the company to great success. There are lots of other examples I could give, but as I read this scripture today, I was reminded that in life, if we fail in our responsibilities, we see failure – sometimes devastating failures. For the believer in Jesus Christ who fails to share with others the path to success in achieving eternal life, or the expected results from disobedience to the Word of God, then we are probably most disappointing to God, and I can only imagine that it will be very disappointing for us, and our friends, as we face God and acknowledge our shortcomings that resulted in the eyes of good friends never having been opened to the truth of God’s Word. Friends, I believe that it is challenging for Christians to share their faith, for various personal reasons. But may I remind each of us today that this scripture reminds us that unless we tell others about the joy of our salvation and how it is available to them also; unless we warn them of the consequences of their non-acceptance of this free gift, they may very well never hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. As you meditate on this devotional today you are in one of two positions: 1) You have accepted Jesus and are on your way to heaven, praise the Lord! or 2) You may or may not have heard the Good News of Jesus Christ, and you have yet to believe on Him and declare His glory to the world around you. Those in group (1) have a responsibility to God and to those in group (2) to share the Good News of Jesus Christ that leads one to acceptance, and ultimately to Eternal Life. Our friends in group (2) may never hear or understand, if we are disobedient in sharing. You may be taking all of your other responsibilities very seriously friend, but this is by the far the most important task for each of us in this life. Remember, we can’t save anyone, but we have a responsibility to share our story and the Word of God, so that He may speak to their heart and save them.

Prayer

Oh Lord, may we who know You, make it our primary focus today to share the Good News of the gospel with an unsaved loved one today. There is no reason that we could ever come up with, that would hinder us from being considerate of our friends and sharing the simple plan of salvation with them. No theological degree necessary, just simply share the gift that we were blessed to find, and that changed our lives for eternity. Embolden us heavenly Father, and help us to quit finding excuses and just share our story with a friend today, so that they too might have the information necessary to make a decision to accept You. You alone are God, and I praise You for Your all-gracious love, power and wisdom. I pray that You may use even me today in Your plan to reach my friends. Please touch the hearts of each one that will read this devotional today. May Your kingdom grow because of our concerted obedience to Your Word. AMEN!

Footnote

How To Stay Encouraged In A Challenging World

On 2016-10-17 By Ed AlgreenIn Christian, Faith, Humility, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, SurrenderLeave a comment

Monday, 2016-10-17

Scripture

Bible Reference: Philippians 4:8-9

Bible Text: ⁸Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise. ⁹You know the teachings I gave you, and you know what you heard me say and saw me do. So follow my example. And God, who gives peace, will be with you.

Bible Translation: Contemporary English Version (CEV)

My Take

Perhaps before you walk out of the door to your home this morning you already realized that there will be many challenges that you will deal with today. Perhaps there is overflow from the challenges you dealt with yesterday. There may even be unresolved contention that you know you must deal with today. You may be deliberating: why is it that you must awake from your ‘perfect’, ‘protected’, ‘uncomplicated’ dream of contentment and peace at home, and face the reality and cruelty of this wicked world. Friends, I want you to be encouraged with the words from God, through His messenger Paul, for I believe this can apply to all who are reading this devotional today:

First of all, to the believer in Jesus Christ, here are some tips on how to handle life under God’s leadership, strength, wisdom and guidance today:
- Don’t allow your minds to be swayed by this world and it’s leader – Satan. Instead, aim towards being like Jesus, for He is true (so important in this world filled with lies, hatred and deception); pure (there is no ‘make-believe’ with Jesus Christ, for He is the real deal. He loved us when we were still steeped in sin, and He gave up His own life to provide the means of us living eternally with the Father in heaven); right; holy (remember Jesus is one with God, so He is holy just as God almighty is holy); friendly; and proper;
- Think about everything that is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise – in other words, we are to seek God’s help to not be pulled into the gutter of gossip; hatred; and the evil deeds associated with Satan himself. In other words, if we find ourselves thinking about something that we cannot truly praise God for, then we are probably ‘off-track’ with what God is teaching us here. For we are to think on those things that are ‘worthy of praise‘ to our heavenly Father!
Secondly, I believe that there is help here for the non-Christian. Think about it friend: how can you possibly deal with life without the power of the Holy Spirit who is busy in the life of the believer? Without the power of Christ, Satan is free to beat up on you all he wants. Christians are not super beings with the capability of handling every aspect of life that is thrown at them. However, we are super excited about the promise that we can do ALL things through Christ, who strengthens us and guides us to all truth, through the awesome power and guidance of His Holy Spirit who controls us. I believe that your encouragement today is knowing that as long as you have life, there is hope in the option to also accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Know Jesus and know peace! That’s my recommendation to you today so that you may gain His everlasting joy and contentment in everyday living here on this earth.

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for providing for Daniel and all those who were touched by his life, because He was obedient to You. You have reminded us today that we too are Your special design, Your chosen children, and that there is much to be done and many to be reached for Your ultimate glory. I immediately thought of that contemporary song ‘I’m Yours Lord, everything I am, everything I have‘. Lord, may Your children recommit themselves to be totally Yours today, so that You may enact Your plan to reach our lost loved ones and friends, even through us. You used others we know to reach our hardened hearts, and I have every reason to believe that You can use us also – all for Your ultimate glory. I ask these things in faith, and for the enrichment of Your kingdom oh Lord, AMEN!