Category: Worship

The Basics Of Prayer

On By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiveness, Glorify, Prayer, WorshipLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: Luke 11:2–4
Today’s Bible Text: Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this:
‘Father: May your holy name be honored; may your Kingdom come. Give us day by day the food we need. Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who does us wrong. And do not bring us to hard testing.’ ”
The Bible Translation: The Good news Translation (GNT)

My Take Away: There are some basic elements to this lesson from Jesus on how we should pray, that I believe, we should all pay close attention to, and incorporate into our prayer lives:

  • Father – Address the One to whom you are praying. This is not a general prayer to the church where you are asking for volunteers to help you with certain concerns of your life;
  • May Your holy name be honored – Our God is worthy, and is to be honored for the awesome God that He is. In spite of the most serious prayer concerns that we could possibly have for God, yet there is so much that we can recognize in His goodness and mercy towards us. Take time to glorify Him and worship Him;
  • May Your kingdom come – What’s your heart’s condition? Would you be ready to go with Him if His kingdom came today – if He came for you today?
  • Give us…, forgive us…. – Recognize that you are a needy person in desperate need of a most worthy God. Place your needs at His feet and ask His forgiveness for all your failures and shortcomings;
  • Forgive others – Recognize that you are asking God’s forgiveness because you have been faithful in forgiving others;
  • Hard testing – Know that the only thing that separates you from the challenges, trials and testing this world/Satan dishes out, is the grace of God. Ask for God’s strength to properly handle those things and to protect you from them. Remember, He is worthy!

Friends, I believe that many of you may struggle with how to pray. That’s not new, for Jesus responded to the same dilemma that His followers had – as in our subject verses today. I hope that this will help you.

Prayer: Praise God that we serve such an awesome, all-powerful God! Jesus, please touch our hearts again today as we deal with such elementary, yet very powerful, subjects as ‘prayer’. We are a needy people who desperately need an all powerful Savior to hold our hands and direct our thoughts, our actions and our words today. In thanksgiving, I ask these things for my readers and myself dear God, 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!

2016

Evidence of Our Righteousness

On By Ed AlgreenIn Glorify, Obedience, Righteous Living, Righteousness, Worship2 Comments

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: Isaiah 26:7–8
Today’s Bible Text: 7 But for those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of them. 8 LORD, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: I believe that first impressions of my subject may cause you to think that you can easily impress people (family, friends, loved ones, coworkers), so this act of being righteous has to be an easy challenge today. Well, if your heart is right and you are sincerely doing everything possible to exemplify Christ in every aspect of your life, then you may be right. I was challenged by the two simple ways Isaiah shared that we could show proof of our desire to be righteous:

  1. Obeying God’s laws – friends I believe that our challenge with this, is in trying to get to the root of God’s intentions in His laws. Society, and yes many churches, have put their own spin on what the Word of God is actually saying to His people. Many ‘teachings’ tend to ‘water down’ the real intent of the scripture to something that man feels is possible or sounds most logical for followers. We must be sure that we are truly understanding the heart of God and His full intentions, for His ways are pure, true and righteous in every way. Let’s be careful to not sprinkle a little of our own philosophy into the Word to make it sound good or palatable. God gave His words to His messengers in precisely the way that He meant for us to understand and obey it. Our obedience to His laws, or His teachings, or His Word is evidence of our righteousness. Do I dare say that anything less is clear evidence of how messed up we truly are?
  2. Our heart’s desire is to glorify God – We have no idea what kind of worshipping, or praising, or glorifying God takes place in the privacy of homes, or at our jobs, or other areas of our life, but may I dare suggest that from the evidence we see at church services, it’s probably very minimal? Some seem very excited about being at church on Sunday mornings and this reflects in their worship. Most seem to attend out of tradition; satisfying a spouse’s invitation/demands; and some just to say that they want the rest of their week to go well, so they give Jesus some time on Sundays. On Sunday evenings or Wednesday night prayer and Bible Study meetings churches might only see 20% of the Sunday morning crowd. I wonder whether our ‘desire’ is to glorify God. I wonder if we could join Isaiah in appearing before God on Judgment Day and asking Him to please consider our times of glorifying Him as evidence of our righteousness while on earth?

These are only two factors in evidencing our righteousness, but I believe they are huge ones. God knows our heart, regardless of what we might evidence before mankind. Draw me close to You dear Lord, never let me go. My heart’s desire is to know You and draw closer to You. Please touch the lives of those that will read this devotional today. May they draw ever so close to You and may their lives be filled with righteousness and servitude towards You dear Father.

Prayer: Lord, we commit ourselves to You and pray that Your Holy Spirit will constantly impress upon us the need for obedience to Your laws, and an undying desire to glorify You in all aspects of our life. 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!

2016

Committed – Through ALL Circumstances

On By Ed AlgreenIn Stuff, Surrender, WorshipLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: Job 1:20–22
Today’s Bible Text: Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!” In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: Some Spoiled kids fall face to the ground and bang their heads on the ground while screaming, when things don’t go the way they want. I’ve seen where adults have left the church; hit a wall so hard that it broke their hand; Pouted all day when their angers flare up; and I’ve also seen where folk will go into total depression when they lose someone or something important to them. In this chapter of Job, I believe we can understand how Job could have responded in any of the above ways, based in the many disappointments and losses that he faced at one time, and we would have totally understood his actions. But friends, if you are not fully familiar with the story of Job, I must share briefly what caused him to tear his robe and shave his head. Various servants came in to Job one right after the other excitedly telling of certain disasters that had occurred with his Oxen; his sheep; his camels and his children. In each case, each of these had been killed together with the servants who watched over them. So I must ask you to consider: what would you have done if you were in Job’s place? In purple I highlighted the words of Job’s prayer to God. Could you have done that? Friends, I’m afraid that we place so much emphasis on the ‘stuff’ that we own and the precious gifts that God has blessed us with in family, that it becomes a thing of pride and boasting about what we did to achieve all that we have. When Jesus hung on the cross, about to die sacrificially for our sin, His only concern was that His mother be taken care of. There was no real estate or equipment or cattle for Jesus to worry about. Unless Jesus comes back first, we will all die; and based on decisions we made while alive, we will wind up just like Job, where we stand before the throne of God, just as we came into the world. This could happen this very day friend, so may I encourage you to emphasize on what’s really eternally important to you today. May I suggest that your relationship with the God of this universe, the One you will face after life here on earth, is the most important thing for you to concentrate on. Only then will you be able to separate yourself from the chaos of everyday earthly greed, and keep your eyes fixed on the one who truly holds tomorrow. Jesus loves you friend, and He wants your undivided attention. Job did it, and so can you and I.

Prayer: Father it seems almost farfetched how faithful Job was, especially as we get so attached to all that we are blessed with here on this earth. But Lord, our attachment to ‘stuff’ takes away from our total attachment to You. Please forgive us for all that we have allowed to distract us in our walk with You. Please teach us to place You first in all things, so that our priority in this life here on earth will be to worship, adore and serve you. May we stay focused on You so that earthly belongings and desires will become secondary in our lives. Fill us with so much of Yourself that it will become very evident whose we are, and may this serve only to promote You in all aspects of our character. Praise the name of the 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 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!

2016

Prepared For Worship

On By Ed AlgreenIn Musicians, Participators, Praise, Worship2 Comments

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: 2 Chronicles 5:11–14
Today’s Bible Text: Then the priests left the Holy Place. All the priests who were present had purified themselves, whether or not they were on duty that day. And the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and all their sons and brothers—were dressed in fine linen robes and stood at the east side of the altar playing cymbals, lyres, and harps. They were joined by 120 priests who were playing trumpets. The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the LORD with these words:  “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!”    At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the LORD. The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple of God.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: A momentous occasion – the first service in the beautiful, huge, worship center designed by King David and built be his son, King Solomon. However, I want to draw your attention to the readiness of the people, and I want you to reflect on what might need attention at your church, in order to possibly witness God’s holy presence, or see His mighty works at your church. Catch a glimpse of these highlights from today’s scripture:

  • A new temple/sanctuary carefully built with the very best that was possible in that day;
  • The ark of the covenant had just been taken in. This represented a very special promise, or agreement between God and His people. In fact, I could only imagine all sorts of emotions filling the hearts of the people as this placement materialized;
  • All of the priests had purified themselves for the occasion;
  • All the Levite musicians, together with their sons and brothers, dressed in fine linen robes, stood on one side of the 30’ altar playing musical instruments;
  • 120 priests/trumpeters joined the Levites with their trumpets blasting to the glory of God;
  • Other musicians joined with cymbals and other instruments; and
  • A choir of singers joined in;
  • As they all played and sang in unison together, praising God with the words: He (the Lord) is good! His faithful love endures forever!

Friends, if you were able to immerse yourself in the middle of that worship service described above, is there any wonder that God came down in a mighty way that day? His Spirit filled the temple, as a cloud. This was all so awesome that the priests were awestruck and had to pause the service. Can you even imagine the awe of that moment? Can you even imagine this happening at your worship service this coming weekend? Are you prepared in your heart for the holy presence of God? Are you praying for the purity of your church leaders and musicians as they lead your congregation in worship? The piece I found interesting about the story relayed here, is that there was no mention of onlookers, or pew warmers. There was only mention of participators and worshipers! Which one of those roles will you take on in you upcoming weekend services?

Prayer: Lord God, You are so worthy of our praise each and every day, yet we often take on the role of an onlooker during our worship services. Please forgive us for our littleness in such important times as when we get together to recognize Your goodness, Your mercy and Your grace. Help us to put self aside and instead recognize You for who You are and for all You have done. Although You have no obligation to give more of Yourself in return for our worship, I would humbly ask that You fill our hearts with praise, and our worship services with Your sweet Holy Spirit, and may it be so evident to us that we would be stopped in our tracks of selfishness and pride. Oh Lord, may our eyes become fixed on You and our hearts so in tuned with You that Your presence may be evident to those who we come into contact with. May it be convincing to You that we have surrendered ourselves to You with all of our heart, soul and mind. For it is in the precious name of Jesus that I ask these things, 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!

2016

Start Your Day Off Right

On By Ed AlgreenIn Praise, Sovereign, WorshipLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! Read on and be blessed friend!………

The Bible Reference For Today: Psalm 59:16–17

The Bible Text: But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: In almost every aspect of life, a good beginning sets the stage for a good ending, and everything in between. Take for instance the construction of a house. If care is not taken to get the foundation perfectly level, can you imagine the disaster you will be faced with in every other phase of the construction, and even when you try to live in the house? So what happens then to your day when you wake up disgruntled, start by grumping at the dog and being less than respectful to your spouse? Can you possibly turn that around when you arrive at work and find the air conditioning or heat broken and the first employee to arrive prepared to quit your company and move on in their career? What if we had to imitate David and begin our day reflecting on, and singing about God’s power? You know, the same God who showed His gracious love for you by sacrificing His only Son, Jesus, to facilitate your way into heaven? You know, the same God that you witnessed bringing sunshine to your previous day – especially when you stopped and reflected on the number of friends and family who seemed doomed for an eternity in Hell and, had no hope here on earth? You know, the One who helped you to reflect on the satisfaction of having a job to go to and subsequently support your family – especially when you stopped and considered the relatives and friends who did not have a job? You know, the One who made sure that you had a safe place to rest your head the night before – especially when you turned on the news channel and saw stories of some sleeping under bridges or in tents? Friends, I believe we would have no difficulty at all finding a number of things to praise God for each morning, if only we could concentrate on the precious gifts that He gave to us the previous day. Yes, we live in an imperfect world, and I’m not naive enough to believe that everything went perfect in your previous day, but what I do know, is that if we learn to praise God for His many, undeserved, gifts then the stuff we didn’t like wouldn’t look near as bad. Furthermore, reflecting on the miracles, and the blessings, and the good things, and giving God credit for all that He did for us, gives us a sense of assurance to present our new day to that same God and plead His presence, His refuge, His guidance and His blessings on us as we strive to represent Him in every aspect of our lives. Imagine placing yourself in the hands of the Creator of this universe! Can you imagine any mountain that may be too tall or too tough for Him? Your anticipated path may seem impassable to you, but just remember friend, our Designer and Creator put those mountains in place for a purpose, and if we are to walk over, or through those mountains, He has the power to level the ground for us to pass! Praise the wonderful name of the Lord!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, glorious and almighty in all Your power, we are humbled before You today, feeling a little ashamed about how we tend to concentrate so much on the impossibilities of life instead of the accomplishments that were obviously handled by You on our behalf. Lord, we are so weak and helpless, but praise to Your wonderful grace, we who have accepted You as Lord, can praise You today for Your powerful hand intervening in our lives and protecting us from Satan’s destructive and misleading hand. Father, please inspire within us the desire to praise You with all assurance that You’ve got control of all things in the life of a believer, and for that reason we should always recognize Your power and Your might in all things, because of Your love for us. You are holy and so worthy oh Lord, and we are so needy. We humble ourselves before You in recognition of these things. Thank You for being our God, our Deliverer, our Protector, our Guide, our Savior and soon coming King! 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!

2016

The True Worshipper

On By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiveness, Give thanks, Sincerity, WorshipLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider even us, to nourish us for His glory! Read on and be blessed!………

The Bible Translation: The Good News Translation
The Bible Reference: Psalm 50:22-23
The Bible Text: “Listen to this, you that ignore me, or I will destroy you, and there will be no one to save you. Giving thanks is the sacrifice that honors me, and I will surely save all who obey me.”

My Take Away: In my first read through these verses I was convinced that verse 22 was referring to a non-believer and verse 23 to a believer in Jesus Christ. If you got the same impression, may I encourage you to click on the scripture so you could see the whole chapter. You will quickly agree with me that the whole chapter is referring to those who ‘worship’ God. This was quite an eye opener for me, for I quickly recognized that just as David saw people coming to the temple to offer a sacrifice to the living God, I believe there are still some today who offer similar sacrifices through the money they give to the church, thinking that surely God will be satisfied with them if they give a little from the excess they have earned. There may be others who give, or ‘sacrifice’, of their time, or even attend church services. Friends, when your heart belongs to God, it means that you have surrendered your whole self to God – body, soul and spirit. If everything about you belongs to God, then who do you suppose owns your money? There is no ‘sacrifice’ in what you give to God, when you truly belong to Him. Perhaps, instead you are to be thankful for the 90% that He allows you to keep for your earthly obligations. When you surrender your all to Jesus, you are acknowledging that everything you are, or have, now belong to God, so you are in a continual mode of thanksgiving for the mighty works that you recognize Him doing through you. Why else would you be blessed with a job, when so many others are struggling to find one? Why else would you have the opportunity to witness to someone for Jesus, when they live right next door to the pastor? God has vowed to destroy, or as some translations read, “He will rip you apart” if you ignore Him and His gracious hand in your life. There’s no pretending, lying, or hiding anything from God friend. You are an ‘open book’ in His eyes, and therefore it really upsets Him when you think for a moment that you could ‘pull the wool over His eyes’. A totally surrendered life will be one looking for ways to worship God for His awesome power and love to you. It will be one to recognize God’s handiwork and His blessings in your life and praise Him continually for His unmerited grace. This is what pleases God and honors Him. This is what is referred to in verse 23 when we see God reaching out His hand to save us! Is there anything you need to clear up before approaching the throne of God friend?

Prayer: Lord God, You are so merciful to us. You are so patient with us, especially when we try to convince ourselves that it was our knowledge, or our health or because of the people we know, that we are surviving in this rough old world. Please sober our confused minds for ever thinking that we could do anything, or survive any day, without Your ongoing grace in our lives. There is no way that we can save anyone, but based on Your Word Lord, I believe that You will work through those who have presented themselves before You with a heart that is contrite, and has been washed by Your blood, and that is totally surrendered to You. Please allow Your Holy Spirit to work on us today so that we may clear up any misconceptions that Satan may have planted in our minds. It is only then that You will find room to work through us to minister to Your children. Lord, please open the hearts of my readers today, so that they might draw closer to You and present themselves faultless before the Father one day. These things I ask in the strong and sacrificial name of Jesus, the Christ, 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!

2016

The Essence of Worship

On By Ed AlgreenIn Church, Praise, WorshipLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider even us, to nourish us for His glory! Read on and be blessed!………

The Bible Translation: Common English Bible (CEB)
The Bible Reference: Psalm 48:9-10
The Bible Text: We dwell on your faithful love, God, in your temple. Your praise, God, just like your reputation, extends to the far corners of the earth. Your strong hand is filled with righteousness.

My Take Away: As I meditated on the Word today, I tried to think about where my worship time is today, versus where it should be after reflection on these two verses. I believe that most of us will automatically think of our church services when we think about ‘Worship’. However, it would be extremely challenging for any of us to come to a ‘Worship’ service and be impacted by God if we only sit and listen to the many ways that our Worship Leader, or our Pastor saw God’s faithfulness throughout the week. Could you possibly imagine that praise would exude from God’s people all over the world, if only our Pastors were being touched by God? Friends, in these verses the Psalmist is encouraging us individually to reflect on the faithfulness of God. As we do this all across this vast earth, can’t you see where our thunderous acts of praise and worship in unison, could possibly be compared to the Israelites that marched around Jericho as told in Joshua 6? Our obedience, our actions, our faith and our love for our blessed God would result in many walls of doubt, sadness, and unbelief being collapsed. Please join me in making every effort to recognize God and His handiwork, and to worship and show our appreciation to Him every day. For as we become a worshipping and praising people, we will automatically do that as we meet corporately in our respective churches. Yes, our Worship Leaders and our Pastors will still make every possible attempt  to lead us into corporate worship, but guess what, you and I will have so much joy bottled up inside of us because of us already dwelling on God’s faithful love, that our hearts will explode into worship and praise to our wonderful and magnificent God. Friends, we may be a very needy people, but let me assure you that our awesome God is very worthy of our praise and worship at every opportunity. In our key verses today, it seems like the Psalmist may have completed the following sentence: At my church, our service is …… May I encourage you to try the above for a few weeks then complete this sentence yourself? Always remember, the joy in your heart is not placed there by an exciting corporate Worship Leader, or a young and vibrant Pastor, it’s the result of all that God has blessed, and still blessing, you with! That’s why He is worthy of your personal praise!

Prayer: Dear God, I pray that You may continue to bless us, Your children, but I also pray that You will create within us a clean and contrite heart, so that we might always be filled with appreciation that will result in expressive worship to our Provider, our Redeemer, our Faithful One, our Savior and our Lord. You are so worthy of our praise Lord. Please forgive our lack of appreciation by not responding in constant praise and worship to You. May there be a change in us, oh Lord, and may it be evident in our churches as we fill its pews each week. I ask these things in total appreciation for all that You do each and every day for me. In the precious 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 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!

2016

Discouraged? Sad? Here’s Hope!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Discouraged, encouragement, WorshipLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – New Living Translation (NLT) ~ Psalm 42:11 ~ Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again – my Savior and my God!

THOUGHTS: One of the translations I compared as I read this verse, used the word ‘depressed’ in lieu of ‘discouraged’. Friends, I come from the background of a quiet and quaint little town, and while there were challenges with gossip, there was little to get stressed over. It seems like today, we have become such a ‘worldly’ people where we desire everything that our neighbor shows off, and we have become a people who refuses to say ‘no’, so we place way more stress on ourselves than we could possible handle calmly, that all we seem to hear about is friends who are discouraged, depressed, sad and even suicidal. It appears to me that David felt himself leaning towards a low in his life, and he shares with us how he felt his Physiologist advised him to handle this! When discouraged, seek God. Not to ask for a handout of encouragement or special blessings, but to praise God! When you are feeling sad, remember that it is not God who is making you sad, so praise Him for His daily goodness, and the people and things that He places in our lives to bring us joy! Friends, let’s learn to praise God in all of our circumstances. Let’s learn to encourage one another in love and good works, for this will not only lift them up, but it will lift our spirits and give us more reason to worship our God! Think of His rich blessings friend, and I believe you will quickly conclude that the reasons you might feel depressed, is really insignificant in comparison. God has provided the means to our happiness and encouragement, may we be careful to be a thankful people that will break out in constant praise and worship for His goodness! Friends, please know that I am not underrating depression, because I realize that there are some folk receiving serious help for this ugly decease. I am merely pointing you to God and to sing His praises in the midst of your storm, so that He would be glorified for the awesome work that He performs each and every day for His dear children. I am hopeful that when you follow David’s (the Psalmist) prescription, you will fix your eyes on Jesus instead of your circumstances.

PRAYER: Lord, you are so good to us, and yet we seem to overlook that, and instead groan in self-pity to a state of depression, and/or deep sadness. ‘Low’ times were evident even in the heart of David, yet he found peace and revival in lifting up Your most worthy and awesome name. My deepest prayer is that You might remind Your children how important it is to look into Your eyes and praise You, way more than to seek You with outstretched hands asking for more of Your kindness and mercy. Lord, may we learn to personally worship You more, and may we incorporate the help of our Christian Brothers and Sisters by joining them in corporate worship at every opportunity. I love You Lord, and I look forward to observing Your goodness and Your greatness, so that I might worship You with all my mind, spirit and soul. Please touch the hearts of my readers, so that their spirits might be uplifted because of times of praise and worship. You are worthy, oh Lord, and we are so needy! Bless Your holy name, 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 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 Response to the Christmas Child – Jesus

On By Ed AlgreenIn Christmas, Committed, Faithful, Worship, WorthyLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – The Good News Translation (GNT) ~ Deuteronomy 10:20-21 Obey the Lord your God and worship only him. Be faithful to him and make your promises in his name alone. Praise him—he is your God, and you have seen with your own eyes the great and astounding things that he has done for you.

THOUGHTS: If you have not discovered this already, I believe that as you read the Word of God, you will recognize that mankind has not changed a whole lot. Yes, in spite of all that we read about that happened in the days of Moses, you and I are still just a stubborn and sinful as our ancestors were. The Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness, which you would have thought was plenty enough time for God to work on them. Plenty enough time for them to see God at work, in how He provided for their every need, and how He fought their battles for them, protected them from harm, and loved them enough to see them rise from the life of slavery they were subject to in Egypt. Now that they are in sight of the luscious, fruitful, beautiful land to which God had led them, wouldn’t you think that they would probably be flat on their faces before God in praise and thanksgiving? But wait just a moment, we have learned about the great works of God all of our lives; we have the added knowledge about Jesus and how he came miraculously as a child, then 33 short years later was murdered at the hands of folk just like you and I – all for the forgiveness of our sin. In fact, during His short life, and even still today, He has performed mighty miracles in many forms. If we had done a better job than the Israelites in learning from our past, I believe that one would conclude that we must be building churches every time you look around to accommodate appreciative Christians. You know, the ones who can’t wait on church doors to open for corporate praise and worship services; and who are so anxious to attend midweek corporate prayer services, if only to lift up holy hands and hearts in an attitude of thanksgiving. Friends, I don’t know about your church, but this is not what I am seeing at my church. I don’t know what conclusion you have come to, based on the excuses you hear why our friends and/or family see no need to prioritize this important act of worship, but in most cases it’s very similar to the Israelites: “it’s the only time I have for myself”; “my husband has a cold and I needed to stay with him”; “my kids had a sleepover”; “this is the only day of the year that I could possibly make it to the beach”; “my favorite sports team is playing this afternoon and I had to prepare for friends coming to watch the game with me”, etc, etc. Would you please remind me again why we are so tough on the Israelites who messed up time and time again in the wilderness? What do you suppose God is comforting His Son with when He hears some of our excuses? Might He be wondering again why it was necessary to die for such an ungrateful bunch? We are in the Christmas season, and you would think that we are on our way to the manger to worship the new born King, but where again are the majority of folk you know? Can’t you hear the many, many excuses much louder than the carols of Christmas or the message that the angels first proclaimed? Isn’t it unfortunate that we hear the cash register dings, much louder than the Christmas bells proclaiming the birth of our Savior? Moses pleaded with his people who were about to make some important choices as they left him, to be faithful to the God who brought them through. I would humbly plead with all those reading this devotional, to be faithful to the God that loves you so much that He gave you everything He had, and it wasn’t even Christmas! How do you plan to react to that kind of love?

PRAYER: Lord God, thank You for taking such awesome care of our ancestors while traveling to the land You had promised them. May I humbly ask that You tender our hearts today and help us to recognize the outstanding God that You are to us each and every day? Please help us to ‘Think God First’ so that nothing else will come between us and our times for praise and worship to Your powerful name. Lord, You are good and Your mercies endures forever! Thank You for having loved us when we were unlovable. Thank You for loving us in our current state, and praise to Your wonderful name Heavenly Father. Thank You for loving us enough to provide a promised land for us – heaven, where we will one day soon united with You and worship You through all time and eternity. We are so needy, but praise God You are so worthy! Blessed be Your wonderful and powerful name! AMEN and 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 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 blogger.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!

In Awe of Our God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Awe, Praise, WorshipLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – New Living Translation (NLT) ~ Psalm 33: 6-9 The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.  He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.  Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him.  For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command.

THOUGHTS: I believe that if the news channels announced that a certain man was coming to our town who could do miraculous things, we would probably all head out to the largest stadium in the area to see him, witness his miracles, and even take our sick and disabled to receive a touch from him, with hopes that they would be healed. In fact, we would probably even go as far as kneeling before him as we plead for his touch, and I know we would brag about him all over town as we see his works performed. I also believe we would pay good money to get into the stadium to see this man. But wait a minute, the last time I went to church I was told about a man who did the same thing as already described, and the audience (congregation) didn’t seem anywhere as excited as if they would have attended the stadium that I mentioned above. In fact, their lips seemed sealed when they left the sanctuary also. What’s with that? Friends, the Psalmist is reminding us again today that our God made everything that exists today, right down to the very air that we breathe, the sunshine that we enjoy and depend on for certain vitamins, the rain that blesses our crops, the cold that ripens our citrus, the family that we often hang around and the boss that created job opportunities for us. In fact, nothing would exist had it not been for God. But take note of this as you celebrate Christmas this year – our God is so awesome that He miraculously impregnated a virgin girl with a baby boy – His Son, we know as ‘Jesus’ – the One who ultimately gave His life so that lost sinners like you and I could have the means of getting into heaven to live eternally with He and the Father (God). The Psalmist suggests that as we recognize the awesome power, love and protection of our God, then perhaps we would stand in awe of Him, worship Him with thankful hearts, have a yearning to know more about His teachings, and praise Him for all that He provides for us every day. Collectively, these very actions constitute ‘church’ friend. It’s not a big secret place set aside for only a select group, for this God that I described, and that the Psalmist described, is supreme to all inhabitants of this earth. One God, for us all. So please be encouraged to visit a church this weekend as we stand in awe of our God and celebrate the many blessings that is ours, because of who He is and for all that He does for us!

PRAYER: Father God, so often we lose sight of the awesome God that You are, especially at those times when everything around us appears to be so huge and insurmountable. Yet, the Psalmist has reminded us that You created everything from nothing at all, just using the awesome power of the only true God of this universe. What a privilege it is to call You Father, for who are we that such an awesome God should consider sending His only Son as our redemption from sin? Obviously You loved us more that we can humanly imagine. Thank You Father! Thank You Lord Jesus! May we always be found in an attitude of worship, and may we always seek opportunities for corporate praise, worship and a message from Your Word. In humble thanksgiving and awe, I praise You Heavenly Father, and ask these requests today, 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 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 blogger.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!