Tag: Accountability

Accountability Time for Talents Entrusted To You

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, gifts, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Tuesday, 2022-04-05
WRITTEN AT: Astatula, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Matthew 25:14-15
TRANSLATION: New International Version (NIV)

BIBLE TEXT: 14 “Again, it (the Kingdom of Heaven) will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five (talents) bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.

APPLICATION: Ever been in a setting where the audience was asked to share what their talents were? How did you respond? It’s unfortunate, but so many of God’s children will respond that they have no special gifts/talents. For the Kingdom of Heaven to be likened to this story illustrated by Jesus, I am led to believe that in spite of the reminders from Scripture, pastors, family and friends about how valuable we are to God, I believe He will still challenge us with a very important question when He welcomes us home: what did you do with the talent and gifts that I gave to you? Pastors will sometimes let up when we say we have no talent, but in God knowing how He specifically blessed each of us, I believe His question will be a lot more pointed. Surely God must shake His head in disappointment when we acknowledge that He messed up and didn’t bless us with a gift. I believe it becomes evident to God, and to the world, that we are a ‘1 talent’ kind’a person, because we have satisfied ourselves with burying the gifts given to us by God, instead of making ourselves available in service to the growth of the Kingdom. Friends, some are encouragers, some are consistent on their knees praying for God’s workers, some are excellent evangelists, some care for kids, while some are happy to care for the elderly or visit the shut-ins. Some will choose to clean the classrooms, maintain the flag, clean the pews after each service, or stand at the door and welcome everyone in with a loving smile and encouraging word. Unfortunately I don’t believe God gifted any with the talent to warm a pew, gossip, find fault with everything everyone else tries to do, nor pick apart the pastor’s sermon or his whereabouts. The bottom line is that God has given each of us at least one talent. Have we buried that talent, or are we making full use of it for the glory and magnification of the Kingdom of God? May God be honored by all that you are doing today for an enriched and growing Kingdom tomorrow. May God welcome you home with the words ‘Well done my child, I blessed you with talent and you have made full use of it by blessing my people and winning the lost each and every day. Good and faithful servant, enter into my Kingdom for ever and for ever!’

BLESSING(S) NOTED: God blessed us all with talent to be used for His glory. May we all be found faithful!

PRAYER: While it is easy for us to look at and appreciate all the wonderful talent You have blessed others with, I am extremely thankful for the reminder today that You have blessed me also, dear Lord! I pray that every one reading or listening to this devotional today will search long and hard to ensure that they are making full use of the talents You have given to them, for I believe that when put together we all form the root of a church on fire for the Lord. Bless each one dear Lord, and magnify each gift as we put it to use for the furthering of Your kingdom. May it be obvious to the lost that Jesus is alive, because they see evidence in the lives of His children. May this encourage them to surrender their heart to You, Lord. 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!

God is able to Orchestrate Everything For Our Good!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Allegiance to the Lamb, Answered Prayer, Believers, Caring, Circumstances, Merciful Savior, Mercy, PerfectionLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2020-12-27

Bible Reference: Romans 8:27-28
Translation: The Voice (VOICE)

Bible Text: 27 Don’t you know that He who pursues and explores the human heart intimately knows the Spirit’s mind because He pleads to God for His saints to align their lives with the will of God? 28 We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.

OBSERVATION: As we approach the end of the year and begin thinking back to all that has taken place in our lives in 2020, unfortunately others may hear us moaning about the ups and downs of COVID or the hardships brought on because of that dreaded virus. However, there could be a much brighter view if we review the year based on our Scripture today. Join me for a time of reflection on the mercies of our awesome God!

APPLICATION: For some, who may have won the lotto, or been immensely blessed in many ways, it may be easy to reflect on how good God is, and the many ways in which He has blessed. But there are some who may have experienced great life events, that may have involved losing a loved one; or medical challenges that may have almost caused separation from life to death for a precious family member; or losing a house or a car because of devastating financial burdens; or any number of things that you may have wished were more ‘normal’ or in line with others. However, if we look at the year in light of what today’s Scripture is teaching us, how might we answer this question of ‘blessings’ more appropriately, or how might we understand more clearly how God’s hand was right plumb in the middle of our circumstances? Friends, the Word of God says that our Savior is ‘pursuing and exploring our heart’ and petitioning the Father on our behalf that we may stay aligned with His will for our lives. Is it any wonder why we reflect on circumstances and wonder why we chose to take a certain road home in lieu of another, after hearing of the awful accident around the time of our travel home? Or that we chose to go to the hospital for expert medical help, instead of playing doctor and treating our chest pains with aspirin? Or that we chose to share our testimony with our best friend, at a time that God was already working out His salvation plan in her life? Friends, for each of these examples we may easily brush them off as just being something you would have done anyway, or we may call them coincidence or good luck, but please notice again from the Scripture that neither of these words are used – not even in this modern translation of the Bible. There is nothing haphazard about God’s plan, or about His actions in working out His plan in our lives. Remember, we are His workmanship, and for those who have accepted Him as Lord, we are His prized possession on loan only to this world for just a little while longer. So let’s look for, and expect to see His love and His caring touch work through us in miraculous ways. Verse 28 is a commonly recited verse, but I pray that it takes on a more enriched meaning for you as you are reminded of these verses today. I love the way that the Voice has translated the condition in verse 28: ‘when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan’. So friends, whether you reflect on 2020, or look towards 2021, try creating a sense of accountability with God on whether you could honestly say that you have loved Him sincerely, and you have accepted His plan for your life. Learn to praise Him unconditionally for everything that has transpired in your life, even if something devastated you at the time, because you know that He has worked it out with the Father for your good!

PRAYER: Lord You are so good to us! You amaze us with Your love and Your goodness, so much so that we may tend to question ‘why me Lord?’. Thank You for the lessons taught in these special verses today, for we are reminded of Your unconditional love for us, and how You love us enough that You keep us constantly before the Father, for our good. Help us Lord to keep this awesome reminder in mind, especially when things don’t appear to be going our way. May we be encouraged to share that special love with those that we come into contact with today. AMEN!

God’s Plan Orchestrated For Our Good!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Allegiance to the Lamb, Answered Prayer, Believers, Caring, Circumstances, Merciful Savior, Mercy, PerfectionLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2018-12-26

Bible Reference: Romans 8:27-28
Translation: The Voice (VOICE)

Bible Text: 27 Don’t you know that He who pursues and explores the human heart intimately knows the Spirit’s mind because He pleads to God for His saints to align their lives with the will of God? 28 We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.

OBSERVATION: As we approach the end of the year and begin thinking back to all that has taken place in our lives in 2018, others may hear us moaning ‘poor me’ because of all that has happened. But let’s reflect on the year based on the focal verses above, and see if we could do any better in our time of reflection!

APPLICATION: For some, who may have won the lotto, or been immensely blessed in many ways, it may be easy to reflect on how good God is, and the many ways in which He has blessed. But there are some who may have experienced great life events, that may have involved losing a loved one; or medical challenges that may have almost caused separation from life to death for a precious family member; or losing a house or a car because of devastating financial burdens; or any number of things that you may have wished were more ‘normal’ or in line with others who were ‘truly blessed’. However, if we look at the year in light of what today’s Scripture is teaching us, how might we answer this question of ‘blessings’ more appropriately, or how might we understand more clearly how God’s hand was right plumb in the middle of our circumstances? Friends, the Word of God says that our Savior is ‘pursuing and exploring our heart’ and petitioning the Father on our behalf that we may stay aligned with His will for our lives. Is it any wonder why we reflect on circumstances and wonder why we chose to take a certain road home in lieu of another, after hearing of the awful accident around the time of our travel home? Or that we chose to go to the hospital for expert medical help, instead of playing doctor and treating our chest pains with aspirin? Or that we chose to share our testimony with our best friend, at a time that God was already working out His salvation plan in her life? Friends, for each of these examples we may easily brush them off as just being something you would have done anyway, or we may call them coincidence or good luck, but please notice again from the Scripture that neither of these words are used – not even in this modern translation of the Bible. There is nothing haphazard about God’s plan, or about His actions in working out His plan in our lives. Remember, we are His workmanship, and for those who have accepted Him as Lord, we are His prized possession on loan only, to this world for just a little while longer. So let’s look for, and expect to see His love and His caring touch work through us in miraculous ways. Verse 28 is a commonly recited verse, but I pray that it takes on a more enriched meaning to you as you were reminded of verse 27. I love the way that the Voice has translated the condition in verse 28: ‘when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan’. So friends, whether you reflect on 2018, or look towards 2019, try creating a sense of accountability with God on whether you could honestly say that you have loved Him sincerely, and you have accepted His plan for your life. Learn to praise Him unconditionally for everything that has transpired in your life, because you know that He has worked it out with the Father for your good!

PRAYER: Lord You are so good to us! You amaze us with Your love and Your goodness, so much so that we may tend to question ‘why me Lord?’. Thank You for the lessons taught in these special verses today, for we are reminded of Your unconditional love for us, and how You love us enough that You keep us constantly before the Father, for our good. Help us Lord to keep this awesome news in mind, especially when things don’t appear to be going our way. May we be encouraged to share that special love with those that we come into contact with today. AMEN!

Prove It

On By Ed AlgreenIn Committed, Proof-positive, TrueLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? In our lesson today we are reminded that if we claim Jesus as Lord, our lives will reflect it in everything we do or say. We will prove it – daily!

Today’s Bible Reference: 2 Peter 1:10-11
Today’s Bible Text: 10 My brothers and sisters, God called you and chose you to be his. Do your best to live in a way that shows you really are God’s called and chosen people. If you do all this, you will never fall. 11 And you will be given a very great welcome into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a kingdom that never ends.
The Bible Translation: Easy-To-Read Version (ERV)

My Take Away: I believe my readers will agree with me that there is nothing worse than a person saying that they are something but yet you never see evidence of that in the way they actually live. I believe there are two reasons God is indicating through Peter that we live out our testimony:

  1. So that others could be convinced of our changed lives – imagine if we announce to the church and the community that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but yet they see no change in our lives. For example the very next night we are at the same bar and with yet a different woman, while our wife and kids are at home worried about us? Would that convince those we told about our conversion that this is something they really would want to seek after?
  2. Accountability to ourselves to live the life we claim to have in Christ Jesus – Think about it friends: if we tell our friends that we got married over the weekend, they will want to see our spouse, and they would hope to not see you hanging around the streets looking for a different lady every night. In fact, you should feel really guilty if those friends saw you chatting intimately with a different lady at a nearby club. That guilty feeling is ‘accountability’ kicking in. So then, what would be the difference if you say that you had a life changing event happen over the weekend, where Jesus actually transformed your life, and you were convicted of your sin, and impressed upon you a need to give the Savior of the world total control of your life? Can you imagine what would happen, if on Monday morning you are back to the challenges of the work week, and you automatically put your ‘worldly’ hat back on to deal with the various challenging circumstances? Do you suppose anyone would believe that you changed? Friends, please allow your friends to help keep you accountable – Christian and non-Christian friends alike. Tell them about your new life in Christ, and live the life taught by the Bible, not the old life you were taught by the world. Live so that they never see you say or do something that would be contrary to Biblical teachings. Allow them to keep you accountable to the commitment you told them that you made. Some friends will try hard to pull you back into the sinful things of this world, but quickly recognize Satan’s pull for your life and know that greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world!

Friends, there are real rewards awaiting those of us who stay true to God, verse 11 says that God will welcome us warmly into His heaven, a kingdom that lasts forever and that has no temptation or weakness like we find at work each day. Won’t that be a glorious day fellow Christian? I long for that day, and I long to see you there!

Prayer: Thank You heavenly Father for providing a way for us to one day be with You in glory! Oh, what a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, when I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His wonderful grace! Thank You for loving me that much dear God. Thank You for touching my life and reminding me of the importance of living the life I claim to possess. Please also impact my readers with Your Word today, so that Your army might hit the road of life in good standing and stay true to the commitment we have made with You. We want to aid Your kingdom today oh Lord, and not be a hindrance in any way. Have Your way in our lives, I pray, 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

Know God Intimately!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Intimate with God, Relationship, True witnessesLeave 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: 1 Chronicles 28:9
Today’s Bible Text: …. my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the LORD sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
The Bible Translation: The New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: If David was personally out of touch with God, or distant in relationship with Him, can you imagine the huge challenge he would have faced in pleading with his son Solomon to know God intimately and follow in His ways? I believe that most earthly fathers would seek after passing along the very best to their sons, and in most cases, they would probably want to see them in a better position spiritually and financially than they themselves were. However, have you ever tried recommending something to someone that you had not experienced yourself? It’s not as convincing, is it? You see, David was speaking from a heart filled with experiences with God. From the small sling that he used in battle against Goliath, the giant, to the largest army that he went to battle with, David knew the one common denominator who played a very key role in His victories. He was therefore able to speak with his son from tried and proven encounters. David also knew from first-hand experience that if his son would earnestly seek the face of God, he would find Him. However, I also believe that one of the hardest things to do in life, would be to tell your son that if he forsakes the Father, He will forsake/reject/leave him for ever. But we know from the Psalms that David often pleaded with God to please don’t turn His face away from him, or reject him, or ignore him. You see, even though you may know that God is there, if you know that you have forsaken Him and not maintained a relationship with Him, you tend to feel like you are pleading with someone else’s God. I heard something said about healthy eating recently: if you don’t eat healthy for your own sake, do it for the sake of your children and grandchildren. I feel like this emphasizes the awesome responsibility that Christians have today: let’s be in a position to speak with our children, or to those we would witness to, from a heart of personal experience, not from the words penned by another believer. We not only have an accountability to God, but to all those that we have a responsibility to witness to. Never have it said about you that you say one thing, but do another. Live the life that you would like for your child(ren) to live. Be the Christian that you invite a friend to consider. Allow God the freedom to work through you every day, because you have a clean and contrite heart, and you desire to invite others to have the same.

Prayer: Lord God, You created us, and You are the Master over everything that we are. Please help us to constantly seek Your face and allow Your accountability, so that we may honestly present You to our family and friends in the light of personal experiences, and not just a God from our Bible who did a great work in the lives of our ancestors. I have accepted You as my PERSONAL Savior. To me, that means that there is no other savior, and also it means that if You are Savior to millions others, yet You are very personal and intimate in Your relationship with me. Thank You Father for loving Your children in such personal and meaningful ways. Now may You rule and reign in us today so that we may be recognized as Your children, willing to share Your love with all those we come into contact with. I love You Lord! Thank You for Your love 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

Accountability Matters

On By Ed AlgreenIn Faithful, gifts, ObedientLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The New Living Translation – Matthew 25:19,29): 19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.

THOUGHTS: In today’s society we are very investment conscious, because we want to see our retirement dollars stretch as far as possible. To make sure that this occurs, we are trained to look for the best investors – people we can trust to achieve the same goals that we set for ourselves, and we hold them accountable to do just that for us, or we consider changing to a different investor. This is similar to what occurred in this story, for Jesus used an illustration of giving three individuals money, then returning to see whether they were responsible with the money. May I suggest that God has also given each of us great talents, gifts, abilities and opportunities and He will one day look for our response on how well we’ve done with those gifts? There’s a popular saying that if you don’t use a gift you might lose it. I wonder how many of us have already lost most of what God has blessed us with, because we have refused to invest our lives into the needs of others. When we give a gift to a kid, then see them abuse it and destroy it in no time at all, it often frustrates us and makes us angry. Do you suppose that God should feel any different? In verse 29 Jesus said that if we choose to ignore and not use the gifts we are blessed with, we will lose them. Please consider using all that you have, to bless as many as you can. I believe it is clear from verse 29 that our remaining gifts will be multiplied, not the opposite like the world might expect. It matters to God what we do with our gifts, He holds us accountable. Let’s make Him proud today as we seek to serve Him by helping others.

PRAYER: Thank You Lord for Your blessings on me! Thank You for the gifts You shower on me and thank You for opportunities every day to use those gifts to bless others. Please touch the hearts of those who will meditate on this devotional today. May we all recognize our gifts and be willing to see them multiplied, by helping others in every way possible. We want to hear your words of affirmation “Well done good and faithful servant” when challenged by you with our accountability question. Please grant us grace to be obedient in every way to the needs You present to us every day. Thank You Lord for being so good to us. May we be faithful to You. For I ask this in the strong and faithful name of Jesus, AMEN!

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

Accountability for Gifts Given to Us by God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Spiritual GiftsLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

7 The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. 8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. 10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

(Bible Translation and Location: The New Living Translation – ! Peter 4:7-11)

Thoughts:

I believe that the easiest way for us to explain gifts from God, is to explain the attributes of one another, or at least those of a saint that we look up to and admire. However, I believe that the Holy Spirit, through Paul, is seriously wanting us to internalize the fact that God has blessed us each with a divine gift that we should seriously strive to use for Him every day. When we, individually, can be accountable for our own gift, don’t you suppose that we might be less apt to find fault with the other person’s use of their gift? Think about the way that we grill our children when we pick them up from school, on how good they were that day or how pleased the teacher was that day with their behavior or scholastic achievements. Wouldn’t it be interesting for us, as adults, to grill each other on how we may have blessed someone that day because of the wonderful, and undeserved gifts we have been blessed with? Do you suppose that way too often we hide those talents in order not to be teased by our fellow workers or friends? Or do you suppose that way too often we undervalue the power of God and consider ourselves unworthy of any special gifts that God could really have blessed us with? In verse 11, Paul gives two examples of God’s gifts, and how they might be used for His glory. May I challenge you today to look inside at all that God may have blessed you with, and be determined to use your gift(s) as an instrument of blessing to someone that you may come into contact with? Let’s learn to acknowledge God’s power and gifts, even through us, so that He may be praised and glorified by someone today, because of our obedience! Our God is holy, loving and caring, and deserves all of our praise! Let us bring glory to God today because of His gracious gifts to us!

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, I have so much to be thankful for, and I praise You with all my heart today! Thank You for giving me hope for a future with You in heaven! Thank You for considering me worthy of the gifts that You have blessed me with. Please forgive me for the times that I sit back and think that I have no gifts, and would just as soon see someone more gifted do the work that You have set forth for me to do. Please redirect my thoughts and my praise to You for all that You have given me, and for all that you have used me to do. Lord, I humbly ask that You bless me each day with Your power, and the encouragement to reach out and touch You, so that Your divine power might be evident in and through me. I believe that I may not be alone in finding excuses not to fully serve You with all of my heart and blessed by Your awesome hand. Therefore, I ask that You would bless all who might meditate on this devotional today, so that we each might be renewed in our trust and understanding of Your gifts that are so prevalent in our lives, and that we might freely allow those gifts to pass through us to be a blessing to all that we might come into contact with. People Need the Lord, but how will they know Him if we hide His divine nature from them. Please bless us with Your power, is my humble prayer today that I ask in the precious, and all powerful name of Jesus, my Lord, AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or 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!

Search Me Oh God

On By Ed AlgreenIn HonestyLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.

5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

(New Living Translation – Psalm 139)

Thoughts:

I acknowledge that a lot more scripture has been given today that you would normally expect, but I wish I could have included the whole chapter for your meditation! May I strongly recommend that you click on the scripture reference link and read the whole chapter? Yes, even if you are a Bible scholar, I believe that God can still speak to you through this chapter, again! Friends, read these verses as they are written, but as you read please do not assume they are the words of David, the psalmist. Lay yourself before the altar of God and acknowledge/remind yourself that He is God indeed and that you cannot hide from Him, no matter where you might go. Imagine for a moment – I just took a business trip out to Arizona. God was with me here in Florida before I left. He not only protected me on my drive to Orlando airport, but thousands of feet into the air on that airplane. Crowded though that plane may have been, He was looking out for His dear child. I was routed through Detroit, Michigan for a connecting flight, and praise God, He watched over me even through those extra miles. In Arizona, where my wife could not see what I was doing or who I may have been with, God knew all about it, because He was there with me also. I won’t go on, but I believe you get the drift, right? Don’t for a squeaky moment think that because you are out of sight of your pastor or teacher that you can do whatever you please? They are just your earthly teachers and accountability partners, God is ALWAYS present and ALWAYS watching over you. Imagine if He wasn’t, could I truly have called on Him if my plane to Detroit ran into scary turbulence? Don’t you realize that if we expect to call on Him in an instant when we are in trouble, He is also there when we are getting into trouble/mischief/cheating? Like David, we need to acknowledge God as he did in verse 17, praise God that His thoughts about us and His omnipresence is very precious to us! I sent a copy of verses 23 & 24 to my work email, because I intend to print them out and attach them to my monitor as a constant prayer to God. You see, we can be real good Christians inside the church building, and almost as good at home, but when we walk in the doors of our workplaces, we are really entering our mission field. We don’t need to tell our coworkers we are Christian, we need to show them by our actions and through the things we say, so that they might know that we must be children of the King. Please don’t let them see you as hypercritical. I challenge you to put God back in charge of your life today friends!

Prayer:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” This is my sincere prayer before You today, oh Lord, and I ask this with expectations of Your help and strength, for I want to be Your honest representative, and therefore I am asking in Your precious name oh Lord, my Savior, AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or 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 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!

Our Judge

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Holy Spirit, Obedience, Pleasing to GodLeave a comment

The Bible – New Living Translation

1 Corinthians 4:3-4

3 As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.

Thoughts:

Whenever a court case occurs, one of the first things that an attorney wants to know is “Who is the judge on the case”. Based on the attorney’s knowledge of the judge and his/her previous judgments, they have a better idea on how to present their current case. Friends, I want to remind us that we have the rules of the game of life all set out for us in God’s Word. We know the heart of the Judge, God, as it is evident throughout the Bible. Why is it that so many of us go through this life trying to impress the pastor, church leaders, or members? In the Word we are reminded that it is God that knows everything about us and everything we do or say, and it is He that will judge us on what really matters. So what is important? What is it that really matters? That at one point in our lives we listened to God who pointed out our sinful condition; That we asked forgiveness and surrendered the Lordship of our lives over to God; and That we live the rest of our lives following His commands and the desires of His heart, as taught in the Bible. Our reward for doing all of this is that we are allowed into God’s kingdom where we will live eternally with Him. That will be glory dear friends!!! Now before you get the impression that I am discarding the importance of our church leaders, please know that they play an important role in our lives, for they are ordered to teach us the ways of God; to explain the Word to us who find it difficult to understand certain teachings; and to hold us accountable to be the Christian warriors that we should be. The most important thing for us to gain from this lesson today is: if we stood before our Judge today, would we be found guilty of being the Christian that He expects of us? Would we have a lot of regrets over things that we wish we would’ve done differently? If you answered positively to the last question, then please examine yourself and continue to ask for God’s wisdom and leadership to help correct your ways and live in accordance with His perfect will for your life. Please live to please your Judge and in the light of His accountability through knowing all things about us – both word and deed.

Prayer:

Father God, we are weaklings in that we live our lives based on the environment in which we find ourselves, and not necessarily in line with Your Word and Your commands. Please forgive me for not being consistently Yours in every walk of life. Lord Jesus, I ask for the strength of Your precious Holy Spirit to help me walk in the Light of Jesus, in every phase of life and in all circumstances. I pray dear Lord that You might awaken our church goers and remind them of this truth also. I pray that You would begin with me, then all those that might read this devotional, then our regular church goers, then all those who have accepted You as Lord, but still live like the world. I also pray that as You touch the unsaved person that may be led to this devotional today, You might emphasize to them the importance of an honest relationship with You and not just another superficial pretense. Lord, I acknowledge You as God, and while I thank You for awakening me today, I also pray that You might become a moving revival in the hearts of those that regularly attend church but live in pretense. May Your church be the church, is my humble request that I ask in the only name worthy of honor and praise, Jesus my Lord, AMEN!

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