If You Obey, I Will… Otherwise I will ….

On 2021-05-282021-05-28 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Obedience, Obedient, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Friday, 2021-05-28
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Leviticus 26:3-16
TRANSLATION: Contemporary English Version (CEV)

BIBLE TEXT: ³Faithfully obey my laws, ⁴and I will send rain to make your crops grow and your trees produce fruit.
⁶I will bless your country with peace, and you will rest without fear.
⁷You will chase and destroy your enemies, ⁸even if there are only five of you and a hundred of them, or only a hundred of you and ten thousand of them.
^14-15If you disobey me and my laws, and if you break our agreement, ¹⁶I will punish you terribly, and you will be ruined. You will be struck with incurable diseases and with fever that leads to blindness and depression……

APPLICATION: God provided freedom to His people, the Israelites, who were enslaved in Egypt. To make the transition, I’m sure God had to lead them in every walk of freedom, including those things that trigger His gifts and generosity. Often as we tune in to the evening news and hear of everything that is creating havoc for our respective families and country, we may be forced to ponder what on earth have we done to deserve all the bad things that occur every day. For the sake of brevity, I only included highlights from Leviticus 26. Let me encourage each reader to click on the Scripture reference above and read the whole chapter. There are things promised by God that I’m sure we would wish to enjoy and flourish in today. However, there are also warnings that God gave about His reaction to our disobedience, and we could only stand back in shock about how real these are even in our current day situation. Notice that God warned about incurable diseases that He will allow to affect us – perhaps cancer, COVID, or other such diseases. Weather conditions that will impact growth of our natural food items. And these forms of punishment will be multiplied as we continue our stubborn and disobedient streak. Friends, I found this extremely interesting as I read this today. Yes, this related how God spoke to the Israelites. But I believe it was placed in His Book of Instruction, so that we might know how He operates. Simply put, I believe God is saying to us that if we recognize Him as our Creator/God and we obey His commands, He will bless us beyond our ability to comprehend. However, beginning in verse 14, God is telling us that if we choose to go our own way, ignore the Almighty God who created us, and live according to the world’s standards and beliefs, then He will release His fury on us. No doubt we will ponder why on earth will anyone choose to be punished. Ever since the very beginning of time, Satan has misled mankind into thinking that they know better than the God who created them. Unfortunately, Satan is still whispering words of deceit to many today, for until some are challenged with unusual or burdensome things that serve to destroy them or their families, they usually opt to continue their rejection of the Great I Am. I believe that it is extremely obvious as to God’s intentions, and His positive reaction to our obedience. But He is strongly against our disobedience, so if it’s up to you, then why would you choose death over life; or evil over goodness; or damnation over the goodness of a loving and caring God? Friends, God has made His decision on the outcome, it’s up to you now to choose your ultimate destination and whether it will be blessings in store for you, or curses. I know you are smart and that you will make the right decision, God being your helper and provider.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: In spite of accepting us in a very sinful state, God saved us from the pit of Hell and, as promised to the Israelites in today’s Scripture, He has many, many blessings in store for His children. We serve such an awesome God!

PRAYER: Thank You Lord for saving my soul…. Thank You also for Your promises of ongoing blessings just like You promised the wicked Israelites who stubbornly worshiped idols, even while You provided their food and passage to a new and wonderful, free land. Please Lord, touch Your people once again today so that our eyes might be opened and our hearts refreshed to Your many blessings. Please give us boldness to stay in Your Word and apply it to our lives every day. May the source of our strength and our divine guide be obvious to all those around us, so that they may also seek after You. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please 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 might 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 Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

Actions That God Hates

On 2021-05-272021-05-27 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Things that make God angry, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Thursday, 2021-05-27
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Proverbs 6:16-19
TRANSLATION: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

BIBLE TEXT: ¹⁶The Lord hates these seven things:
¹⁷    eyes that show pride,
    tongues that tell lies,
    hands that kill innocent people,
¹⁸    hearts that plan evil things to do,
    feet that run to do evil,
¹⁹    witnesses in court who tell lies,
    and anyone who causes family members to fight.

APPLICATION: As a child we learn very quickly to avoid those things that our parents hate, or strongly oppose. In school we tend to do the same in respect to our teachers. And of course, we especially try very hard not to provoke our lifetime partner in life, our spouse, from becoming upset over us doing those things they hate. But what about God? We tend to hear more about His sacrifice; His commands; His direction to His disciples and other Bible saints; and His unconditional love for us. But in the Proverbs today we are given some things that God hates, and I believe it deserves our undivided attention:
~ Eyes that show pride, or prideful eyes, as some translations read. Jesus was the most humble person on earth, and we are to imitate Him, so where might pride come from? Satan reinforces this characteristic in those that He wants to lead astray, so he makes them proud of their personal achievements, and convinces them that they needed no help arriving at their goals. For the Christian, we recognize the source of all good things, and we live in subjection to our King. There is no room for pride, without first recognizing our source of life and all that has been provided for us by Him;
~ A tongue that tells lies – One of the names that Jesus is called in the New Testament is ‘Truth’. So when we seek to know the truth about something, we must first consult Truth – the one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The world is known for its lies as a primary source of deception. If you belong to God, then you listen to Him and act like Him in telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth;
~ Hands that kill innocent people – Murder is never acceptable by God. He taught us to never do this in the Commandments He gave to Moses for the Israelites, and now it is reemphasized by Solomon in the Proverbs. No matter how wrong someone is, and no matter how much we learn to dislike them, we have no right to take the life of an innocent man created by God;
~ Hearts that plan evil deeds – God is in control, and not us. He will revenge the guilty, so there is no need for us to plan evil against anyone. Live like Jesus and seek to do good during your lifetime and love one another, just as Christ loved us;
~ Feet that run to do evil – Just as in the previous point, God despises the looks of evil, so anything we do to create an atmosphere of evil is an abomination to God;
~ Witnesses in court who tell lies – Witnesses in most courts will be sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. How dare us make a sworn promise to God that we will tell the truth, then turn around and lie. I’m surprised that God don’t strike those guilty of this sin down right on the spot, like He did to Ananias and Sapphire;
~ Anyone who causes a family to fight – Many families are struggling to get along today. Often it is caused by at least one of the sins mentioned in this list. However, it takes one member deliberately trying to provoke trouble, arguments, and all sorts of unrest to create disharmony and internal fights among family members. God is not happy with such family members – in fact, He hates the idea of anyone causing fights among His loving family units.
FRIENDS, if you are trying to live a Godly life, then you will make every effort to seek God – His power, His wisdom, and His mercy to help you live like He intended, and not as Satan and his cohorts of this world lives. God will help you do that, if you call on Him to guide you.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: God loves us way too much to see His children fail in life. He only hates our actions when He recognizes that we are trying to live life under our own terms. Keep this list handy so that you will quickly recognize when you are guilty of something that God hates!

PRAYER: Oh Lord my God, thank You for creating perfect individuals! Thank You also for not giving up on us when we fail. Today we have learned about the things You hate. Please strengthen us and embolden us to stand firm in our faith, and live lives disciplined to please You in every aspect of life. Many others need the Lord. May they see You so vividly in us that they will be encouraged to seek You while You still may be found. Please bless my readers today with a new invigorating faith and desire to live like You and serve You faithfully until You return to take us home to glory! AMEN!

What It Means To Be A Follower of Jesus Christ

On 2021-05-262021-05-27 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Cross, Follower of Christ, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Wednesday, 2021-05-26
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Mark 8:34-36
TRANSLATION: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

BIBLE TEXT: ³⁴Then Jesus called the crowd and his followers to him. He said, “Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you for following me. ³⁵Any of you who try to save the life you have will lose it. But you who give up your life for me and for the Good News will save it. ³⁶It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are lost.

APPLICATION: Some are afraid to get married, because they’re afraid of the freedoms they would lose as a single, unattached person. Some are hesitant to accept Jesus as Savior, because they are hesitant to give up their worldly freedoms. So what does it mean to actually surrender your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ? Some will tell you that it is the only way of getting into heaven when you die, and I agree with that. However, I believe that there are many more reasons for us to consider aligning ourselves with the Creator of the universe. For you see, there is no one else in the history of mankind that ever agreed to give up his/her life to show how much they truly love us. And why was this deep love so important? Well, God saw that mankind was struggling to follow His commands and therefore show themselves worthy of aligning themselves with Him, so He miraculously formed His very own Son to be born of a virgin. The reason for His coming, was that He would live among men, perform many miracles that would help affirm His infinite mercy and power, then die a cruel death on a cross, whereby showing how the sins of His believers would also die and therefore make them holy, just as He is holy. This was so important to God that He declared this would be the only means of sinful man aligning themselves with Him. The only means of forgiveness of sin. But in our Scripture today, we are told that moving from the world to becoming one with Him, would involve sacrifice. Not the kind of sacrifice that Jesus showed on the cross, but God wanted to see the heart of man being willing to sacrifice everything this world has to offer, in order to give up ourselves wholeheartedly to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Carrying that type of guilt and the burden of sin from this world was referred to as our ‘cross’ by Jesus in our Scripture today. So Jesus told His disciples and the crowd gathered, and He still tells His children today, that we are to give up our earthly cross – that burden of sin, and follow Him. In other words, make a 180 degree turn in our lives. In being of this world, we are following the likes and teachings of this world. A way of life in total opposition to that of Jesus Christ. So Jesus said that we must be willing to give that up and take on our new ‘skin’, a life dedicated to God and following the teachings and sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. The value for the child of God in giving up our earthly idols, practices and evil desires – our cross, is that we take on a new life fully committed to the life, teachings, unconditional love and forgiveness of a loving and sacrificial Savior as we head towards the place He has already prepared for us in heaven! IT WILL BE WORTH IT ALL dear friends! Let’s encourage one another as we give up our cross and follow Jesus!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: There is no greater love than for a man to give up his life for another. Jesus did this for us. Praise be to God for His wondrous acts of love to an undeserving people!

PRAYER: There was a chorus I learned as a very young person – ‘Oh the love of Jesus’! Although very challenging for us to understand that love where You so freely gave of Yourself on Calvary for us Lord, yet I know without a shadow of doubt that You would have it no other way. You created us and I believe that Your ultimate goal is to have us worship You and lift up Your name ever day until we join You in heaven one day soon. Please forgive us for ignoring that love at times and claim that we are enjoying things offered by this world. It is obvious that this world has nothing to offer us that compares to Your amazing love for us. Please continue to be patient with us as we learn to give up this heavy and burdensome cross of this wicked world, and learn to follow You in righteousness, love and concern for one another. We long to be where You are Lord. Please help us to overcome the world and live as children of our awesome God! AMEN!

Who Am I?

On 2021-05-252021-05-25 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Tuesday, 2021-05-25
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Mark 8:27-29
TRANSLATION: The Passion Translation (TPT)

BIBLE TEXT: ²⁷Then Jesus and his disciples walked to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way, he posed this question to his disciples: “Who do the people say that I am?”
²⁸They replied, “Some say John the Baptizer, others say Elijah the prophet, and still others say you must be one of the prophets.”
²⁹He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”…..

APPLICATION: Peter and his fellow disciples had been with Jesus when He did some miraculous wonders. But knowing that the Pharisees wanted Him dead, regardless of the miracles He performed in their communities. Jesus may have wondered if these mixed feelings were getting to the disciples, so He asked Peter a very important question in our Scripture today – ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Jesus could also have asked this question of Peter based on his experience to date with the Master. I wonder how we might answer that today? If we have been committed to a personal, deep relationship with the Master, then we would have rejoiced on many occasions because of His love, because of His miracles, His wisdom, His calm assurance, His wonderful blessings and His direction in helping us lead lives that mirror His example – in spite of the very challenging situations of life here on earth. For the believer who lives this kind of life, I believe that we would rejoice in our King, our Savior and our Lord, even when we are still dealt a challenging hand. I find myself using very complimentary descriptions when responding to questions about my parents, or my spouse, because they have been good to me. But do believers always paint the picture of a perfect God each time that they respond to questions about their God? Unbelievers are expected to give unkind remarks about our God, because they have chosen to turn a blind eye to Him and His unconditional love. So we expect them to respond negatively to someone who means nothing to them. But I believe that our BIG question today is not only to try and understand where Jesus is coming from with this question, but to think about where we are in our relationship with Jesus. This will determine how we respond to the question. If we are in a sweet relationship with Him, then we may be frustrated in trying to get out the many compliments stored up in our hearts. But think about this. We will also boast on our God when we are filled with happiness and the overwhelming appreciation that we feel for who He is, and for all that He has done, and continues to do for you. But I would dare say to you friend, that this same internal relational excitement will win, or convince the unsaved world that your God could be of value to them. So may I encourage you to evaluate on a regular basis ‘Who is God – to you?’ Remember, even when His answer to your prayer is different to what You asked for, He’s still on your side and, I believe that He is still providing way more for us than we deserve. Oh that we may glorify God for who He is to us – in the good times, and in those times that we don’t understand what He is doing for our good. For He is still God!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: God cares for us and wants to know that we are understanding His love for us, even though His answers to our prayers are way more amazing than we could ever think, imagine or ask for!

PRAYER: Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all thy hands have made! I realized, Lord, that there are things You have made for my good, that I would never have thought to ask for. And so it is with my daily prayers, You don’t always answer my prayers in the way that I asked You to, for You love me way too much to only give me the scraps from Your table. You have way more in store for me than I could ever think or imagine! Lord, there is no God like my God! Please help me to be keenly aware of that, and to openly share Your goodness with those around me, so that they too might catch a glimpse of Your goodness. Lord, You are good and Your mercies are endless. Please help my readers and I to be aware of this, even when You answer our prayers in Your way and for Your glory. AMEN!

Come Together To Worship

On 2021-05-232021-05-23 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Priorities, Priority, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Sunday, 2021-05-23
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Leviticus 23:23-25; 36-37
TRANSLATION: Contemporary English Version (CEV)

BIBLE TEXT: ²³The Lord told Moses ^24-25to say to the people of Israel: The first day of the seventh month must be a day of complete rest. Then at the sound of the trumpets, you will come together to worship and to offer sacrifices on the altar.
³⁶For seven days, sacrifices must be offered on the altar. The eighth day is also to be a day of complete rest, as well as a time of offering sacrifices on the altar and of coming together for worship.
37 I have chosen these festivals as times when my people must come together for worship and when animals, grain, and wine are to be offered on the proper days.

APPLICATION: I was amazed at finding so many times in my Old Testament reading where God emphasized how He expected His children to ‘come together to worship’. I shared just a few examples from the verses I read today, but there are many more instances where God told Moses to share this expectation with the Israelites. Was this word just for the Israelites? Just as I believe the Bible is for all to read and adhere to God’s commands, I also believe that God wanted us to pay attention to what blesses Him. Readers may tend to believe that I specifically chose this Scripture and theme because of this being primary days for corporate worship. That’s not the case, but I strongly believe that God will place His Word before us when He desires for us to read, understand and obey His Word. I also believe that we will be drawn to important commands of God when we see Him repeat it multiple times in His Word. So what might God have to say to us today about assembling ourselves together for worship?
~ Firstly, that it is important for us to worship our Maker. He created us; loves us unconditionally; cares about our every need; cares about our ability to overcome sin so that we may one day join with Him in Heaven, and He did this by sacrificing His very own Son. I believe that worshipping together is important, because a brother may bless you by sharing what all God did for him during the week. And you may bless a sister by caring about the stresses of life that she is dealing with. Promising to pray with her, and/or check on her to make sure she handles that stress properly. That might be just what she needs to deal with her stress and overcome;
~ Secondly, the Israelites sacrificed animals in their seeking after forgiveness and in blessing God for His mercies. We may have to sacrifice certain things to enable specific time for us to rest, and to come together to worship God with other believers. This may mean taking full advantage of our other day(s) off to hit the beach or the theater, etc. This may mean shutting down our devices so that we may concentrate on everything that God has blessed us with. This may mean looking out for the needs of others, as a reminder of all that God does in looking out for us;
~ Thirdly, God set worship times as a requirement for His people. I believe that God might want us to also establish not only daily worship to Him, but also an established time to come together with other brothers and sisters to worship. Friends, we grow spiritually when God helps us, and when we help others. So establish a time to worship corporately and make it a priority to stick to that schedule. Satan will do everything possible to distract you and draw you away from worship.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Those who recognize their blessings from God will be drawn to worship Him. God demanded that the Israelites come together to worship, and I’ve grown to also see the importance of corporate worship!

PRAYER: Way too often we tend to sit back in our own little world and assume that everything is ‘peachy’ with everyone else. Thank You Lord for reminding me today how important it is for us to obey Your commands and come together with other believers to worship. It seems like fellow believers bless me and encourage me way more than I could ever have hoped for. So I pray that You might give each reader and myself wisdom on ways to be a blessing to others so that we may all celebrate Your many gifts together. You are precious in our sight oh Lord, please touch our lives and help us to share that with You as often as we should, and may that time always be a priority. AMEN!

Faith Supercharged

On 2021-05-222021-05-22 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Evidence of Faith, Faith, Faith in Action, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Saturday, 2021-05-22
WRITTEN AT: Nassau, Bahamas

SCRIPTURE FROM: Mark 8:1-4
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: ^1-2One day about this time as another great crowd gathered, the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples to discuss the situation.
“I pity these people,” he said, “for they have been here three days and have nothing left to eat. ³And if I send them home without feeding them, they will faint along the road! For some of them have come a long distance.”
⁴“Are we supposed to find food for them here in the desert?” his disciples scoffed.

APPLICATION: I believe that you can read up on a doctor, or a banker, or a pastor all you want, but try speaking to one who sat under their care and you get to hear the heart of that professional. The reference could speak from experience. But does it work that way in Christianity? Why, look at the disciples and consider the first-hand experiences they encountered while working along with Jesus. Remember, Jesus had healed the sick; fed several thousand people from just one or two people’s lunch; opened the eyes of the blind; and from just a touch of His garment, people were healed. Try placing yourself in the shoes of the disciples. You heard Jesus say that all power was given to you to perform the same miracles and even greater. But feeling no greater power inside of you, there has always been doubt about those words of Christ. In fact, Jesus Himself put your faith to the test by telling you that He wanted your cooperation so thousands of followers could again be fed miraculously from just what you and they had in your possession. You personally had fed your family before on very limited food, but thousands of people? Friends, this opened my eyes and heart to consider how much help I am to those whom God has called to a relationship with His Son. I’ve been in my relationship with Jesus for about 45 years, but I wonder if it is evident in my faith; in my witness; in my everyday walk; and in my answers to their questions. Do I encourage their decision to surrender their life to Jesus, or am I a stumbling block? I’ve read multiple times about the many miracles performed, but have I developed a strong faith to believe that He is still God, and could do the same thing even today? Or am I more like the disciples still wondering who could mend the ills of my friends, or save a wicked sinner like some unfortunately show in their behavior? Jesus said that if we had faith, the size of a minuscule mustard seed, we could command a mountain to move. I believe that I have faith, but do I permit myself to act on that faith, trust in God and believe that He could do ALL things through His children that believes, trusts and obeys Him? Not sure about you dear one, but I believe that my prayer should be for God to help me to apply the faith that He has already blessed me with. Many are looking for Jesus in His children who claim to belong to Him. Oh that others may see, and believe, as a result of their encounters with other believers and myself today. Allow me to suggest that faithful followers of Jesus Christ consider doing the same thing today. The world needs Jesus, and if we might help to influence and encourage them as they seek Him, God’s Kingdom will increase and He will be glorified!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Jesus was well aware of the needs of the thousands who sat under His teaching, and He ordered the disciples to feed them. He also knows our needs today, and I believe that He will miraculously supply our needs also!

PRAYER: Thank You Jesus for placing us in a world where thousands still desperately need You as Lord of their lives. No doubt You have placed us here to feed Your Word to a hungry, hurting and desperate people. Please embolden us to simply tell our story, and in faith, believe that You will shine so much through our story, that friends will want to accept and know You personally. Oh that You may be lifted up oh God, as a result of others seeing You in our actions and through our words. AMEN!

Faith and Persistence

On 2021-05-212021-05-20 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Faith, Faith in Action, Needs, Persistence, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Friday, 2021-05-21
WRITTEN AT: Nassau, Bahamas

SCRIPTURE FROM: Mark 7:25-30
TRANSLATION: The Passion Translation (TPT)

BIBLE TEXT: ²⁵… a woman whose daughter had a demon spirit heard he was there, she came and threw herself down at his feet. ²⁶She was not Jewish, but a foreigner, …. She begged him repeatedly to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷Finally he said to her, “First let my children be fed and satisfied, for it isn’t fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
²⁸She answered, “How true that is, Lord. But even puppies under the family table are allowed to eat the little children’s crumbs.”
²⁹Then Jesus said to her, “That’s a good reply! Now, because you said this, you may go. The demon has permanently left your daughter.” ³⁰And when she returned home, she found her daughter resting quietly on the couch, completely set free from the demon!

APPLICATION: It is important that we not only read today’s Scripture, but also read Matthew 15:21-28 to hear the extra details offered by Matthew’s perspective. There were several things that I believe the Holy Spirit ministered to my spirit about in this story, and although you may receive even more enlightenment as you read the Scripture, I wanted to share my thoughts with you, in hopes that you might be encouraged:
~ In spite of feeling like a foreigner to the ministry of Jesus, this mother still knew about the power of God through His Son, and because of her desperate need, she dared go to Jesus with her issue. For us, I am impressed that she didn’t go to the priest for prayer for her daughter, nor to ask that him to accompany her when she journeyed to see Jesus. It seems like we are so quick to call the pastor, or an official of the church to ask them to pray for our sick child. And while I know that the prayers of the righteous children of God availeth much, we should never expect that kind of request to supersede our deepest moments in prayer to the powerful God that we know, and believe in. Remember, the veil has been removed, and we have direct access to the Father. He wants to hear from us and to minister directly to us, in addition to any needs that we may bring before Him;
~ In spite of the disciples pushing her away and trying to protect the time of their Master, she was persistent enough that she caught the attention of Jesus. While helping our daughter to find a job, we asked a young waiter in a popular restaurant how did he secure his job there. I believe I will always remember his response: ‘I am convinced that because of my persistence, my employer saw that I truly wanted the job, and if I was that persistent about my application, they could only imagine how persistent I would be about my job, if employed by them.’ Do you convince Jesus that you truly care about, and want a response from Him because of your persistence? If you are a church leader, are you ever guilty of ‘pushing a desperate parishioner away’ because of the way they look, smell or act, or do you help everyone seeking Jesus to truly find Him and develop a relationship with Him? Please don’t be a stumbling block to any of Jesus’ children seeking to draw near to Him;
~ In spite of Jesus’ first response to this mother, she insisted on making sure that there was no misunderstanding about what she wanted. Her daughter was terrorized by a demon, and she wanted that stopped. Knowing that Jesus was the only one who could perform that miracle, the lady continued in persistent faith to call on Jesus. Don’t you feel like we often give up too soon when we are pleading our case before the Lord? Although the Bible teaches us to not continue in repetitive prayer lines, I am convinced that this refers to recorded lines by local religious officials. I know that when I pray from a sincere heart, because of a strong personal relationship with my Lord, He will hear my cry and He will respond in ways that will keep me in the center of His will.
Dear friends, Jesus is not deaf to the pleas of His children. Seek earnestly today and be persistent in asking according to Your desperate needs. Jesus loves you as His very own child and He will strive to show that love better than our earthly father or mother could ever have done. Keep on keeping on, my friend!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: We are all God’s precious children. Although not a Jew, Jesus still found time to visit with the desperate mother about her daughter who was terrorized by a demon. I believe He still listens keenly and intently for the cries of His children today!

PRAYER: Often we feel like our problems are too minor to bother the Creator of the entire universe, but Lord, I believe that You are way more concerned about every issue that bothers us. Our earthly fathers try hard to provide for our needs and love us unconditionally, but because of earthly distractions they sometimes failed. Praise God, Your love for us is greater than anything we could imagine, so I must ask that You kindly place a refreshing spirit within us to call on You, and chat with You about our every need, and to never neglect to praise You for Your many blessings on us. Your action on those things that we consider ‘minor’ will build our faith to seek only You in those serious times that seem impossible to us. Please draw us close to You oh God and deliver us from the evil of this world in which we live, so that our relationship with You will be enriched and we will come to depend on You as our constant source of help in our time of need. AMEN!

How’s Your Heart Doing?

On 2021-05-202021-05-20 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Heart, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Thursday, 2021-05-20
WRITTEN AT: Nassau, Bahamas

SCRIPTURE FROM: Mark 7:20-23
TRANSLATION: Contemporary English Version (CEV)

BIBLE TEXT: ²⁰Then Jesus said: What comes from your heart is what makes you unclean. ²¹Out of your heart come evil thoughts, vulgar deeds, stealing, murder, ²²unfaithfulness in marriage, greed, meanness, deceit, indecency, envy, insults, pride, and foolishness. ²³All of these come from your heart, and they are what make you unfit to worship God.

APPLICATION: The Pharisees tried hard to keep a thumb on their people that they felt a responsibility for, and as such, they tried to tell them what they thought was right from wrong. Jesus, on the other hand, made it a point of helping mankind think for themselves, using His Word as their guide. This often meant explaining His principles so that the crowd would fully understand what they were reading. This is very similar in what honest, Bible-teaching churches are trying to accomplish today. In today’s Scripture, Jesus wanted His audience, and us, to understand that many rules are made to supposedly help people live according to His commands. For example, some teach that the foods you eat will defile your body, and may even defile your relationship with God through disobedience to the old laws of Moses. While Jesus did not bash the teachers of His day, He went on to explain why a proper understanding of His commands was way more important. While some foods may make certain people sick, and they may choose to refrain from eating that particular item ever again, Jesus is way more concerned about our heart, and He wasn’t referring to heart disease! When Jesus taught about the ‘heart’, He referred to the very soul and being of mankind. This is why Christians say that they invited Jesus into their ‘heart’, meaning into their soul and being. So according to the teachings of Jesus, we are to be more concerned about what things affect our ‘hearts’. Unlike many other questions where the answer is left up to man’s opinion and interpretation, Jesus actually gave us several things that will result from a ‘heart’ exposed to sin and opposition to His teachings. So I would encourage you to meditate with me in considering what sorts of things provoke us into doing the things mentioned in verses 21 and 22, for those are the things that cause us to sin, because they directly impact the ‘heart’ of man. Further, we must clearly understand that when we react to these things in the examples given by Jesus, we are really out of fellowship with Him and would truly hurt His heart to see us in acts of worship with such unconfessed sin impacting our emotions and our reactions to things of this life. Friends, I believe that we can all discern that such conditions of our ‘heart’ cannot be corrected by a mother, spouse, good friend nor our pastor, for we can hide these things from almost every other person on earth. As already stated, these things prevent us from having an open and sincere relationship with our Maker, so our sin is really against the One who gave His very life for us. Pretending to the world that everything is good with you and your relationship with Jesus Christ, is about the worse thing you can do, and bear upon yourself. Throughout the Word of God, we are told that we all will sin while here on earth among sinners. However, the Bible goes on to tell us how to deal with that sin. For Christians, the Holy Spirit – that part of God that lives inside of the Christian, will prompt us to seek forgiveness from the Father. For the unbeliever who does not know God, you are constantly being prompted to personally see God, and draw close to Him by accepting His Son, Jesus. Surely you would never ask a stranger for such a daunting thing as forgiveness of your sin. So let me encourage you to seek the Lord while you still have breath and abilities to do so. Become fit to meet the King of all kings, and then enjoy the benefits of heaven one day. My God will never fail you, my friend! He created you, He loves you unconditionally, and He has a place prepared for you when life here on earth is over. But you must personally accept Him as Lord and Savior. If you can remember the time when you surrendered your life to His lordship, then praise Him for His goodness and reconcile any sin that may hinder your relationship with Him.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Only God can forgive us of our sin and give us the peace that we are destined for our eternal home with Him in glory. He loves us unconditionally!

PRAYER: Thank You dear Lord for Your unconditional love. Please forgive us that wait for others to fix our issues, and draw us close to You, Your Word, and a clear understanding of everything that corrupts our relationship with You. Please Lord, deal in the heart of the one who may read this devotion and have not accepted You as Lord yet. Draw them to Yourself and convict them of their sin. Touch the heart of each believer that may be reminded of Your caution today. Please help us all to keep an open, honest and clear relationship with You. May our ‘hearts’ be clear of earthly hindrances, because of You and because of Your almighty power. AMEN!

Be Different – HOLY

On 2021-05-192021-05-19 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Holy, Holy Living, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Wednesday, 2021-05-19
WRITTEN AT: Nassau, Bahamas

SCRIPTURE FROM: Leviticus 20:7-8; 24; 26
TRANSLATION: Contemporary English Version (CEV)

BIBLE TEXT: ⁷Dedicate yourselves to me and be holy because I am the Lord your God. ⁸I have chosen you as my people, and I expect you to obey my laws.
²⁴…. I have chosen you to be different from other people.
²⁶I am the Lord, the holy God. You have been chosen to be my people, and so you must be holy too.

APPLICATION: So what do you suppose would have happened if the Israelites went into the Promised Land without this warning from God? Don’t you think that the inhabitants would have been stirred into anger and seek unending revenge on them? So what happens when we step into our communities and in talking with friends when we tell them about our church life, and about us being a Christian, yet they continue to see us in our workplaces cheating our customers, stealing from the boss, and being very rude and obnoxious with our coworkers? Will they believe what we say, or what we do? Although being unbelievers, they would still discern our differences in character from the God they heard about. I know, you try to act as close to ‘normal’ in the eyes of your friends so that you won’t stand out, right? But what happened at your point of asking Jesus to be your Savior? Hopefully you didn’t tell Jesus that you would still have to follow your old convictions and act like your friends? My dear readers, there are multiple places in the Bible where we are told to ‘come out of the world and follow Jesus’. This means that you not only say with your mouth that you believe in God and accept Jesus as Lord, but that you have a desire to follow His commands and imitate His very character so that your life would now look like your new Master, and not burdened with the sin of this world and the desire to please mankind. Jesus said that because He rescued us from our sin, we are to be like Him – HOLY, just as He is holy. You cannot be like the world, and also like Christ. Those are complete opposites. God chose you to be His son/daughter, so He demands that we strive everyday to be just like Him – holy. If you say that there is no way you could be holy, you will be absolutely correct. It is only through the power of God, and the Holy Spirit that lives within you, that you could ever achieve holiness. For the reader who belongs to Jesus, then this will act as a reminder of what God always expects from you. For the unbeliever who has been touched by the spirit of God to surrender your life to His lordship, I am hoping that this devotional may have given you one more reason to make this important change in your life. My friend, know Jesus today and know the peace that passeth all understanding. It is only through this peace and redirection in your life, that you can ask the Master to give you wisdom and everlasting strength to live in total obedience to Him and to be holy like He expects. If you would like to know my Lord, please: see a local pastor and ask for help; or respond to me using the link in my Footnote; or simply read the Scriptures mentioned in my link ‘To Know Jesus’ included in my Footnote.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Holiness is achievable in this life, if we place our faith and trust in the lord Jesus and allow Him to guide us into holiness – just as He is holy.

PRAYER: From a world’s perspective, being holy is totally unattainable. But I thank You Lord for the gift You left with us – the Holy Spirit. I know that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, You know how challenging we have it here in this wicked world around those who want nothing to do with You. Please Lord, enrich us with a deep desire to allow Your Holy Spirit to work through us in every aspect of our lives, so that we may be holy, just as You are holy. In turn, may the world see You very prevalent in us, causing them to desire a close and intimate walk with You. Have Your way in us Lord, so that You may be glorified on earth as You are in Heaven. AMEN!

In Spite Of It All – Trust God!

On 2021-05-182021-05-18 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Trust, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Tuesday, 2021-05-18
WRITTEN AT: Nassau, Bahamas

SCRIPTURE FROM: Psalm 31:14-15
TRANSLATION: New Living Translation (NLT)

BIBLE TEXT: ¹⁴But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God!”
¹⁵My future is in your hands.…

APPLICATION: So many times we may have experienced, or perhaps heard about, situations where someone will lose their minds, or all hope in the future, because of the circumstances they have encountered. It might be a huge argument between family members that may cause at least one member of the family to move hundreds of miles away in order to never come in contact with that family member again. It may be that we were looked over for a promotion at work, so we decided to quit our job, even though we have no prospects for a possible alternative. It may be like David, where it seems extremely obvious to us that someone is out to kill us, or perhaps get us fired from our job, separated from our spouse, etc. Friends, we all have probably experienced extreme responses to these things by the world and our unsaved loved ones. But I pray that you are reading this devotional today because you are looking for the reaction that God would prefer, or that He demonstrated and/or taught in His Word. I believe that David demonstrates something that we see repeatedly throughout the Bible, that for the man/woman who places their trust in the God of the universe, and depend on Him for their walk here on earth, that we are to not only praise Him when we are on the mountain top experiencing His outstanding blessings, but we are also to be reminded that this same God is also there to hold our hands and help us through the toughest times of life. He alone could calm our minds at these very challenging times, and He alone can show us that every little thing is going to be alright. I believe that we look at our circumstances way too much, and we look for worse-case scenarios that could impact us because of those times. But shouldn’t we be reminded in this Scripture today that as a prince/princess of the most Holy, Righteous and Powerful King every known, that He will care for His own, calm our nerves and anxious fears, and give us confidence to go on knowing that He has a future planned for us, if only we will stay focused and stay committed to His lead. Consider the stress that David encountered with so many of king Saul’s army being in hot pursuit to capture him and/or kill him. However, in this chapter we could see that David resigned himself to the fact that no matter what happens, he was content in knowing that the Lord God was His master, and whether He chose to bless David then, or in heaven, there was no need to fear! As a father myself, I can’t think of anything that would stop me from protecting my daughter, or ensuring that she is safe and cared for. Can you even imagine how much more our Heavenly Father cares for us? Oh that we could finish each day by brushing aside the concerns of that day and repeating similar words to those of David ‘… but You are my God, and I place my today and my tomorrows in Your hands’. I believe that this might allow us to lay aside our troubles and sleep content in knowing that our great big God is watching over us and caring for us!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Circumstances will come every day. We have a choice practiced by the world where they are out for revenge, or for those who know Jesus as Lord, we have peace in saying like the Psalmist ‘You are my God, and my tomorrows are in Your hands’!

PRAYER: Thank You precious Lord for not only saving my soul, but also for caring about me each and every day. No matter what comes my way, may I also stand strong in my faith knowing that You’re in control and You will still be God. Help my readers and I to stay focused on You, the one true consistent source of strength, wisdom and love in our todays and our tomorrows. You alone are God, and I pray that we will trust You in every circumstance of life. AMEN!

BLESSINGb(S) NOTED: ^