Category: Surrender

Live To Prove ‘To Whom You Belong’

On By Ed AlgreenIn Holy, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Ephesians 4:22-24): 22 You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. 23 Let the Spirit change your way of thinking 24 and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.

THOUGHTS: Evil people think evil, wicked things, so they live like evil, wicked people. Does your life show enough evidence of whose you are, that others will be convinced? When we surrender ourselves to someone, we generally release ourselves from the one to whom we were committed before. We become very miserable and confused when we detect any bleeding over of one allegiance into another. Think about it – when you marry someone and commit your life to that person, you are generally happy and living a blissful life together, until one of you start to reflect on an old flame, or perhaps another prospect that Satan has placed in your path. It just doesn’t work friend. The marriage is doomed to fail. Don’t you know then that the same thing happens in our walk with the Lord? Paul calls our mental escape from reality ‘foolish’, for we know that the minute we entertain a bad habit, it will pull us back into bad habits. The very moment that we give in to sin, we have taken our eyes off God, and it becomes easy for Satan to pull us back into his world. This is not abnormal for humans, that’s just the way we are designed. However, just as Paul teaches us in this scripture, we have an Advocate who is standing ready to help us overcome this weakness. It is the Spirit of the Living God that enters the believer, who helps us overcome our weaknesses and makes us into a new person. However, the Spirit does not take control against our will. We must willingly surrender ourselves to the Almighty God, and this is not just a one-time thing where you may have done so in a church service. This is a daily surrender of your will to His will and His control. This is the only way that we can possibly expect to be like our creator. What a reminder in verse 24 – we were created to be like God – WOW! However the ending of that verse is also important, as it is the only way that we stand a chance at getting to this achievement – we must strive to please God and to be truly holy, even as He is holy. When we live under the power and authority of the Holy Spirit, it will be evident to those that we come into contact with, to whom we belong.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your faithfulness to us, in spite of our weaknesses. Thank You for Your Word that teaches us the importance of living our lives to reflect our Master and our Lord, and for teaching us and warning us of the pitfalls that will distract us in our walk for You. Please continue to open our eyes and encourage our spirits so that we might be more determined than ever to live Godly lives, so that the lost might know that our Savior lives, and that Your love for them is unlimited and available. I ask all this in the precious and all powerful name of Jesus, my Lord, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. 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 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, Sebring, FL! 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!

Do You Believe?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Choices, Eternity, Salvation, Saved, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – John 1:10-12): 10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

THOUGHTS: Some of us tell stories about meeting our spouses, and those stories could sometimes sound somewhat like this passage. We struggled to get along with the person when we first met them, then they gained our confidence and we began trusting them. This followed with actually falling in love with that wonderful person and we wound up marrying them! With God, we tend to look at all the beauty around us; we hear of all the miracles He has performed, and sometimes we hear of the miracles performed in the lives of our loved ones even today. We come across folk who hate Him, yet we come across some who are crazy in love with Him. We just can’t escape knowing that God exist because of all the reasons mentioned but yet something still confuses us about wanting to fully accept Him for who people claim Him to be. Friends, may I tell you bluntly that Satan will do everything possible to distract you from trusting in his opponent, for when you believe in; trust in; and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Satan loses. However, let me draw to your attention the truth of verse 12. The verse speaks to the glory of becoming a child of God, if you believe in Jesus Christ and accept Him as Lord of your life. But let’s really look at this from a perspective of what happens if you do not believe in Him and accept Him. Doesn’t that mean that Satan wins? Doesn’t that mean that you have chosen instead to follow the ways of Satan and agree that you would rather go to the pits of hell with him to be punished eternally? In life, smart folk don’t make those kinds of choices deliberately, friend. Why would you knowingly settle for that? In religious based movies we hear of people facing death by an evil person if they say they are a Christian. Please hear your friend carefully today when I tell you that there is no known punishment that you can think of that will compare to the pain, anguish and punishment that will be for those who stand before the Lord and say that they have chosen the evil one. The Bible tells us this friend. Granted, you would never deliberately surrender to Satan, right? I bring bad news friend, unless you surrender your life to Jesus Christ, you have decided to accept the alternative, and Satan will do with you what comes natural to him – punish you throughout eternity. Only you can change your destiny friend, and God will help you, if you let Him. He loves you that much!

PRAYER: Lord God, this short passage can be a treacherous one to think about today, or we can chose to see it as a bright and glorious opportunity we have in being called Children of God, because we have surrendered our life to You, through Your Son Jesus. May our choice be a wise one today as we meditate on Your Word? Many will quickly say that they never deliberately make bad choices. Please open their eyes of understanding Lord, so that they may realize that anything less than making a choice to accept You as Lord of their lives, is deliberately making a choice to allow Satan to control their lives. We need You oh Lord, for we have family and friends who still don’t understand the impact of the choice they have made up to this point in their lives. Because they have not been promised anything beyond the present time, I sincerely pray that their eyes of faith will be opened and their hearts softened to allow them to surrender to You before it is eternally too late. I ask all this in the name of Jesus, and because I know that You are the only One who can truly have a positive impact on lives, even today. All glory to You oh Lord, my Savior, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. 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 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, Sebring, FL! 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!

One Way – Trust God!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Surrender, TrustLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Matthew 19:23-26): 23–24 As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom? Let me tell you, it’s easier to gallop a camel through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.” 25 The disciples were staggered. “Then who has any chance at all?” 26 Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”

THOUGHTS: In this particular story Jesus was confronted with a lot of questions from His disciples. In the immediately preceding example, a rich young man had stepped away sad after asking what he might do, any more than he was already doing, to be saved. Jesus knew the man’s heart and where his hang-ups were, and what was necessary for the young man to truly become as a little child in faith and full commitment to his Lord. In this young man’s case, it was his belongings – his earthly possessions that he was hung up on. I wonder what ours would be today. What is it that keeps us at a distance from Jesus? What is it that, although we may not brag about it, is the one thing that tends to devour our time and our commitment more than our relationship with God? What is it that we seem to think we can’t live without? We read earlier how Jesus told the disciples that unless they gave up mother, or father or siblings. Earlier, Jesus also illustrated that unless we become as a little child. In this story He is telling the disciples that unless this man is willing to give up his riches – his accumulated ‘stuff’. Friends I believe it is evident that Jesus is teaching us to fully surrender our lives to Him. In verse 26 He even explains that this is virtually impossible on our own, and that we need the power of God to guide us into eternal faith and trust in Jesus. It is very evident that money can’t help us to buy our way into heaven; and that relatives – no matter how awesome they are, can open the gates of heaven for us. Jesus is emphasizing once again that there is only One Way into His world, and into the gates of heaven, and that way is through the grace of God and the shed blood of Jesus Christ. It’s a personal, one-on-one relationship thing. Nothing other than our hearts, will substitute or enhance that decision that we must make to secure our passage. Don’t delay making this decision friend, for we are promised only the present moment. Make much of the present by making important decisions now that will make a difference for eternity. Please let me encourage you to read the tips I have included in my ‘Footnote’ to help you in this very important decision, part of which is my offer to personally help you, so feel free to contact me today friend!

PRAYER: Father, You created us, yet gave us the freedom to do our own thing. You gave us choices and consequences. Today You have reminded us that there are grave consequences for decisions we make to live life more aligned with the world than with Your commands and Your will for our lives. You’ve reminded us that there is only One Way to experience the love of God and the heavenly home you’ve prepared for us – just trust in Jesus and His shed blood. Money won’t do it, nor will family or friends or possessions. Lord, I pray that today the eyes of my readers might be opened to the truth of Your Word and the gift of eternal life that is only possible through total surrender of all things, and pure faith in and through Jesus Christ. Please have Your will and way in our lives today oh Lord. For I ask this in the precious and strong name 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. 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 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, Sebring, FL! 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!

Pay Attention!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Peace, Righteousness, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Matthew 13:37-43): 37 …The one who scattered the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seeds are the people who belong to the kingdom. The weed seeds are those who belong to the evil one, 39 and the one who scattered them is the devil. The harvest is the end of time, and angels are the ones who bring in the harvest. 40 Weeds are gathered and burned. That’s how it will be at the end of time. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everyone who does wrong or causes others to sin. 42 Then he will throw them into a flaming furnace, where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain. 43 But everyone who has done right will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. If you have ears, pay attention!

THOUGHTS: The disciples were getting frustrated with the many parables that Jesus used to draw attention to the matters He chose to share with them, so they asked Him about this. I believe that because of their culture, the disciples were particularly interested in understanding the parable of the farmer, the wheat and the seeds, as detailed beginning in vs 18. The whole reason Jesus used parables was to give His message to His audience in terms that they could understand and relate to. He wanted to make sure they got the point that He was trying to relay to them, and of course in this instance it truly struck a nerve with the disciples. Before proceeding with reading the rest of my remarks, may I suggest that you stop and read the subject verses very slowly? Then I want you to determine which category you fit into. You see, only you and God knows your true, personal, spiritual condition or status. I challenged you yesterday on trying to ‘fool’ me or your friends, but let me remind you that God knows even the very thoughts that you mull over in your mind. The NET Bible translation has vs 43 as ‘Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears had better listen!’ Please notice that there are only two types of individuals here: ‘The righteous (those who are right with God)’ and ‘The unrighteous (those who have not made peace with God, by asking His forgiveness of their sin and invited Him to rule and reign in their lives’. Just as the decisions are at totally opposite ends of the spectrum, so is the end results. The righteous will shine like the sun with the Son (Jesus) and His Father (God). The unrighteous will be thrown into a flaming furnace where others are crying and gritting their teeth in pain (vs 42 vividly explains this). Friends, I don’t want there to be any doubt or misunderstanding for you – a very good reason why I share these ‘Nuggets’ each morning. Please know that attending church will not make you ‘right with God’, however when you have surrendered yourself to God by inviting His precious Son into your life, and made yourself ‘right with God’ you will have a desire to attend church and be around God’s people. There is a help document hyperlinked in my ‘Footnote’ that will give you more details on becoming a Christian, however feel free to contact me should you have additional questions or would like a prayer partner. God truly loves you friend. You’re one of His dear children that He gave up His Son’s life for, so He would be tickled to welcome you if only you will ask. Are you listening? Pay attention friend!

PRAYER: Father, I just want to thank You for touching my life some 39 years ago and prompting me to a decision regarding my righteousness. Many will read this devotional today and have a need to seek Your righteousness, while others will celebrate with me about being right with You. This is a very personal decision that can only be made between a child and their Father (You). I pray that blinded eyes will be opened today and hearts touched in such a way that decisions will be made to surrender to You, the only way that leads to righteousness with You. I ask this very special request in the saving and all powerful name of Jesus, with thanksgiving, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. 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 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, Sebring, FL! 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 Rest of the Story!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Choices, Eternity, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Revelation 21:3-8): 3 I heard a loud voice shout from the throne: God’s home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. 4 He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever. 5 Then the one sitting on the throne said: I am making everything new. Write down what I have said. My words are true and can be trusted. 6 Everything is finished! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give water from the life-giving fountain to everyone who is thirsty. 7 All who win the victory will be given these blessings. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 8 But I will tell you what will happen to cowards and to everyone who is unfaithful or dirty-minded or who murders or is sexually immoral or uses witchcraft or worships idols or tells lies. They will be thrown into that lake of fire and burning sulfur. This is the second death.

THOUGHTS: For those of you who have followed Nuggets for a while will remember that we covered from the creation of the world, to the birth of Jesus, through the miracles and life changing events that occurred during His short life, then through His death/crucifixion and resurrection. All of this happened in perfect timing, and this information has been widely available for years, to show that although we are born into a world of sin and perhaps little hope, we realize when we read the last book of the Bible that all these happenings were for a reason. They brought us hope and a promise, that if we surrender our lives to Jesus – God’s sacrificial gift to man, then we would be included in the family of God referred to in verse 3. The whole plan comes together friends! For those who wisely surrendered their lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ during their lifetime, we can look forward to having God live among us in an atmosphere of peace, comfort and tranquility – no more tears, death, suffering, crying or pain. Everything new! Everything as we know it today will be finished! Fortunately we are also warned about what will happen to those who choose to do life their own way. In verse 8 these folk are given just the opposite treatment. Friends, we know the Bible is true, for it is one of the most widely printed and studied books there is, plus its content has been proven over and over again. In the financial world, if we know of impending doom we try to avoid it by investing much more conservatively. In our physical environments, we try to protect ourselves when we are warned of hurricanes and/or other acts of God. I am very concerned for the millions of people who have chosen to accept the latter conditions mentioned in verse 8. There are choices that our family and friends can make to improve their eternal destiny. Are we praying enough, or encouraging enough, or doing enough to help them make wiser choices today Christians? The end of the story is very exciting for those who have made arrangements to be in the presence of Jesus and His Father! It can be the same for those of you reading this who are not sure of your position/destiny. Please follow the steps in my Footnote to receive help and sure up your position about heaven or hell as your destination, and God vs Satan for your eternal master. I would welcome the opportunity to help!

PRAYER: Thank You Father for providing everything for Your children. It is unfortunate, but we believe that there are still many who have chosen to ignore Your gift of eternal life and settle for the Lake of Fire referenced in our scripture this morning. Many of these are our family, friends and coworkers, and we are very concerned about their sanity in this kind of decision. I realize that Satan is busy at work, distracting his followers from the truth of which I have referenced here today, but I am blessed and assured to know that Christians are following the same Savior today as will lead us on that day referenced in verse 3 above! Oh Lord, please use Your saints to be an influence in the lives of those who do not call You Lord. Please keep us from being stumbling blocks, but to stay firm in our belief and always lift up the name of Jesus in all that we do and say. May lives be impacted for You today, is my humble plea oh Lord. All this I ask in the bountiful name 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. 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 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, Sebring, FL! 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 Consequences of Disobedience

On By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiveness, Obedience, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Zechariah 7:9-14): 9-10 Well, the message hasn’t changed. God-of-the-Angel-Armies said then and says now: “‘treat one another justly. Love your neighbors. Be compassionate with each other. Don’t take advantage of widows, orphans, visitors, and the poor. Don’t plot and scheme against one another—that’s evil.’ 11–13 “But did your ancestors listen? No, they set their jaws in defiance. They shut their ears. They steeled themselves against God’s revelation and the Spirit-filled sermons preached by the earlier prophets by order of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. And God became angry, really angry, because he told them everything plainly and they wouldn’t listen to a word he said. 13–14 “So [this is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies said] if they won’t listen to me, I won’t listen to them. I scattered them to the four winds. They ended up strangers wherever they were.

THOUGHTS: I am fascinated how history repeats itself in spite of the lessons we should learn from our past. Much like Zechariah did when sharing the visions he was blessed with from God, our pastors today dig into God’s Word seeking what God might reveal to them that would bless and/or convict their church members. They share with us the consequences of disobedience by our ancestors, hoping that we would see the error of our ways, turn from our sin and obey God without the need for further consequences for us. A few sins were mentioned in verses 9 and 10, and not only do we still see these unfortunate sins recurring today, but they were also concerns mentioned in the New Testament. Several translations used the same verbiage in verse 11 that indicates to me that it is of grave concern to our Master. I believe that it truly concerns Him when He sees us plot and scheme against one another. When we look for ways to hurt one another. He announces this as pure evil and I believe this is something that we must not only be on guard for personally, but also look for ways to help each other fight against this awful sin. Let’s learn to pray for each other, that we would see the good in fellow humans and learn to celebrate it. Let us learn to pray for the parts of life where others find it challenging to do it just like Jesus would have done it, or perhaps expects of us. I believe the biggest thing that got my attention in these verses today, is the consequences of disobedience. The Word says “if we don’t listen to/obey God, He won’t listen to us” Oh my, oh my! Do you suppose that this is the reason we feel like we are hitting brick walls with our prayers, or feeling ignored by God? There’s an old spiritual that I learned later in life that I am reminded of as I meditated on these words today: “It’s me, it’s me oh Lord, Standing in the need of prayer“, it’s not my brother or my sister that I need to be most concerned about, but I need to get my act together first and take care of my personal cleansing before God first, before attempting to help a brother or sister where I easily see glaringly obvious sin. I don’t know about you friend, but I need God to listen to me, so it is imperative that I listen to Him and obey Him. Will you commit to doing the same? It is so critical that we have believers who are actually getting through to God with our needs and concerns. Let’s do our part in being obedient.

PRAYER: Dear God, please forgive us for so easily attempting to do Your job by zoning in on the wrongs of others, while overlooking the sin in our own lives. “It’s me, it’s me oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer – not my brother or my sister, but me….” I need thee every hour of every day, for in my own strength I cannot overcome the evil pull of this life. Please touch the lives of each one that will read this devotional. Please impact their lives with a desire to surrender full control of their lives to You so that we all may be usable instruments for Your kingdom work here on this earth. I humbly ask these things in the wonderful, and strong name 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. 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 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, Sebring, FL! 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’s Decree

On By Ed AlgreenIn Prayer, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Jeremiah 29:11-14): 11 I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. 12 “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. 13-14 “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. “Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.

THOUGHTS: Generally when we hear of a ‘Decree’ it involves certain actions that a king has ordered. This ‘Decree’ is then given to the king’s law makers to carry out the ‘Decree’ because it has been ordered by the highest law maker of the day – the king, and it generally has no conditions to it. The ‘Decree’ spoken of in today’s scripture is quite different, for God declares His unswerving commitment to His people and then follows with how the people might contribute to the end result of the promise. We are all very aware of how this world came into existence, and how it was almost eradicated at one point by a world-wide flood because of man’s sin. I believe that God wants us to know and understand that He has awesome plans for us to one day join Him in heaven. He has pointed out in various places throughout the Bible that sin cannot enter heaven, so in verse 12 He has assured us that He will listen when we come to Him in prayer. This is reassuring friends, because whenever we wrong someone, we tend to stay away from them in shamefulness, thinking that they will want nothing to do with us. Instead, God tells us that He will listen! Wow! We are also assured that there will be no trouble finding God, especially if we get serious about finding Him. Why do you suppose that God would add ‘when we get serious’ to this point? I believe there are times that we simply go through the motions, and for a quick response back to a person trying to nudge us along, might simply be that we just can’t find what we’re looking for. However, when the thing/person we are searching for is our idea, and we feel it/they will impact our lives, then we exert a whole new effort into the search. We become more determined or serious about our search. Perhaps the Word says it best – when we get so serious about finding God that we want Him more than anything else, then we will find Him. Friends, we can rejoice in knowing that as we exert this extra effort and become serious about our eternal destiny, God assures us that we will not be disappointed. So how is it with you today friend? Have you gotten serious enough about your relationship with God, or about your eternal destiny, that you are ready to seek God’s face in prayer and allow Him to love on you, care for you, listen to you and satisfy your earthly needs with a heavenly peace of mind? Only God can do it, and He will only do it if you let Him into your life. Please read my ‘footnote’ for ways you can get help with this, for this is of super importance.

PRAYER: When we’ve messed up so much that we’re not sure which way is up, then we tend to look to You for help, but Lord God I pray that we will learn to call out to You on a regular basis, because we are so helpless without You. Thank You for Your reassurance today. Thank You for our eternal home with You in heaven. Thank You for being accessible to us in prayer. Please don’t give up on me, for I need You more today than ever before. Please do the same for my readers who are serious in their search for You and willing to surrender their meager abilities to a life of total obedience to You and Your precious Word. Please have Your will and way in our lives today oh Lord, is my simple and profound cry that I ask in the strong name 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. 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 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, Sebring, FL! 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!

Who Is In Charge?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Power, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Easy-to-Read Version – Romans 6:12-14): 12 But don’t let sin control your life here on earth. You must not be ruled by the things your sinful self makes you want to do. 13 Don’t offer the parts of your body to serve sin. Don’t use your bodies to do evil, but offer yourselves to God, as people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used for doing good. 14 Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God’s grace.

THOUGHTS: I believe that the subject question is often asked in life, and quite often it is asked of married couples. I would like to challenge us to think about this question on a more regular basis – to help us evaluate whether we have given full control of our life to God, or whether we still allow sin to filtrate and wrongly impact our lives. I believe it would be a challenging exercise for us to reflect on our day and evaluate whether our actions and our words were God-inspired or sinful. In fact, won’t it be challenging for us to write down throughout our day each of our actions and the overall theme of our conversations, then at the end of the day place an indicator beside each whether it was of God – remembering that if it wasn’t then it could very well have been of our ‘old sinful self’? As Christians, we are to surrender our lives to Christ, and strive to be more like Him in every way. A life not fully surrendered will easily follow what it was – its old sinful self. I believe that since our natural life is swayed so heavily by sin, that the Christian life is a very intentional and surrendered life. We must surrender our own sinful self-will and allow God to take control. It is only then that we will allow Him to be our Master, and to guide us and use us in ways that will be pleasing and honoring to Him. God has ultimate power over every aspect of our lives, including sin, however He will not overstep our personal will and desire. I believe that it is critical for us to quickly recognize when sin is controlling us and even more critical for us to quickly approach the throne and ask God to assume, or resume control of our lives and be our Master and Lord. A fully surrendered life is one that God desires of us – are you there yet?

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for being such a strong and awesome God. Thank You for teaching us how to identify sin and how to seek Your help in overcoming and/or avoiding sin. It is so critical that You assume full control of our lives, otherwise we quickly fall back into a life of sin. As Christians, You have already rescued us from that life, so please patiently work on us to fully surrender ourselves to You and to wait on You as You mold us and use us for Your glory. Please give us wisdom and strength to stay focused on You and to stay clear of the sin that once held us captive. For those who have not accepted You as Lord, I pray that again today You might soften their hearts and show them Your power. Only You have the power to help us overcome sin and stay focused on You. We want to do just that today Father, but we can only do that through Your strength and with Your direction and power. All this I ask in the precious name of Jesus, Your Son and my Savior, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. 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 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, Sebring, FL! 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!

Instruments To Be Used of God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Humility, Instruments, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Romans 11:16-18): 16-18 Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there’s bound to be some holy fruit. Some of the tree’s branches were pruned and you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren’t feeding the root; the root is feeding you.

THOUGHTS: The scripture that includes the verses above is rich, for it reminds me that I must be careful that my faith and trust is so grounded in God that my life is a reflection of all that God shows Himself to be in His Word. I’ve heard folk say that a child is a branch off the old tree – meaning that the child reminds them so much of the parents that one can’t help knowing who the child belongs to. Friends, there is a God who loves us unconditionally and with such great love that He sacrificed His only Son for our benefit. When we surrender our lives to God and ask Him to be our God, and to live and work in and through us, we essentially ask Him to plant Himself steadfastly in us so that our lives might be a true reflection of Him. Paul explains in these verses that God is able to implant within us His Holy Spirit to guide and direct us – to make us holy – just as He is holy. However, we are immediately warned that when we recognize this added strength and wisdom, we are to never lose sight of where that new character comes from. It is the root, or strength of the Almighty that lives within us, and nothing that we ourselves can boast of. Friends, I believe that there is nothing more obvious to a non-Christian than a fake, or self-serving Christian living life in their own pride. We are what we become, only through the grace of God, and only because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Let us therefore learn to boast only of Him and give Him the glory for any accomplishments in and through our lives. It is only through the precious fruit that He implants in us and magnifies through us that result in our unsaved friends recognizing the source of our hope. It’s all about Jesus, friend. He is the root that supports our strength and feeds our growth. It’s Jesus that our unsaved friends need, not us. I pray that we will continue to be vehicles in which Jesus can travel as we come into contact with our friends and loved ones.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, Israel may have gotten cocky because of the manifold mercies You bestowed on them. I recognize that we may tend to get like that at times also, because for some reason we may feel like we have the power to save or touch lives that really need You. Thank You for reminding us through this scripture today, that we are only the branches that are plugged into the most powerful source available to mankind – the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ! Please help us to never boast of self, for we are nothing without our power source – Your sweet Holy Spirit. Please help us to always be available to be used of You, and never assume the leadership role hoping that You will jump on board our vehicle. Miracles, like that of new birth in the lives of our family and friends, will only be possible when You touch their lives, so please help us to take our rightful roles as Your instruments that can only work when the Master chooses to use us for His glory and His honor. People Need the Lord more today than ever before. May we be usable instruments in Your hands oh Lord. I ask this in faith and in the awesome and strong name 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. 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 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, Sebring, FL! 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 Joy of My Relationship With The Lord!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Relationship, Revival, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Contemporary English Version – Psalm 51:10-12): 10 Create pure thoughts in me and make me faithful again. 11 Don’t chase me away from you or take your Holy Spirit away from me. 12 Make me as happy as you did when you saved me; make me want to obey!

THOUGHTS: I heard a sermon recently about the need for spouses to revive the creativity within them in order to enliven their marriages. I believe that David gave us a Psalm here where we might consider doing something similar to reinvigorate our relationship with God. But let’s examine what may cause us to weaken in our relationship to that relationship to deteriorate in the first place. In the earlier verses of this Psalm, David had asked God to turn his head from the embarrassment of his sin and wash him clean. Friends, each day we become stained with the impact of sin. Not that we leave our homes with every intention of maximizing our exposure to sin, but our lives in this world is similar to a stick being dipped into a bucket of paint. It becomes covered in paint and even colored by the paint because of its contact with the paint. If the stick is quickly removed, washed, and wiped clean, one may not notice that it have been exposed to paint. However, if it is left inside the bucket of paint very long, you will find that the paint is saturated all the way through every fiber of that stick. This simple illustration is very representative of what happens in our lives when we, like David, plead before our heavenly Father to cleanse us and help us to develop filters that would help us stay as clean as we were the first day of our Christian walk. Satan is very deceiving in the way that he exposes us to sin and generates the evil desires within us very slowly, but surely. To defend against this, and to proactively seek to enhance our relationship with God, we must daily seek God’s touch on our lives – seek His forgiveness for our wandering eyes, thoughts and participation in ungodly conversations and actions; we must learn to fill our minds with the things of the one we want to follow; we must study the ‘rule book’ so we could stay true to it and find ways to please God in all that we do and say. In all these things we will become convinced that ‘greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world’! We will become instruments that are clean, and usable by God to further His kingdom here on this earth. In any good, healthy relationship, we always reflect back on the day we met because it helps to fill us with the joy of that first meeting date. I would suggest that we do like David and ask God to return to us today the joy of that day when we first met Him and gave Him control of our lives. Imagine the energy and excitement that will lend to our day and our ongoing witness for God!

PRAYER: Lord God, our joy is always complete when we reflect on a moment in our lifetime when our joy and happiness was at its peak! There may have been a few memorable occasions such as this, but I doubt that any could compare to the day that we received Your Son as our Savior and Lord, and asked Him to direct our happiness and our surrendered lives for His glory. This is something that we should strive for daily, so having been reminded of this by the psalmist today, I want to ask that You resume control of my life oh God. Please wipe away the stain of sin. Create within me a clean heart that can be used by You. Please make me well aware of Your Holy Spirit’s presence in my life so that I can be assured of the power, the comfort and the joy that resides within. May the joy of my salvation, and my relationship with You be very evident in and thru every word that I speak and every action that I take. While I can’t do this for my readers also, I pray that You may impact their lives with Your Word today so that they too might have a desire to allow You to regain Your rightful place in their lives. May Your army grow and gain in loyalty today so that You might be glorified and lifted up by everyone who claim You as Lord and Master! I ask all this in and through the precious and holy name 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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. 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 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, Sebring, FL! 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!