Tag: All are precious in His sight

You Are Precious

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

DATE WRITTEN: Thursday, 2020-12-24
WRITTEN AT: Paul B Johnson State Park, Hattiesburg, MS

BIBLE REFERENCE: Zechariah 2:6-9
TRANSLATION: New Century Version (NCV)

BIBLE TEXT: 6 “Oh no! Oh no! Run away from Babylon, because I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven,” says the Lord.
7 “Oh no, Jerusalem! Escape, you who live right in Babylon.” 8 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “After he has honored me and sent me against the nations who took your possessions—because whoever touches you hurts what is precious to me— 9 I will shake my hand against them so that their slaves will rob them.”
Then you will know that the Lord All-Powerful sent me.

OBSERVATION: God referred to His people (the Jews in Babylon) as being ‘precious’ in His sight. Based on His sacrifice and various indications in the New Testament of His love for those who have accepted His precious Son, I believe that we are also considered ‘precious’ in His sight. No doubt many of you are struggling with many things that seemed to have hit us this year and we all need to be encouraged by the fact that we are the apple of God’s eye, as some translations put it, or precious to God, as other translations did. Oh my, who are we that the God of this universe should consider us so special? Wow!

APPLICATION: After bringing the Israelites safely through the wilderness in a journey lasting over 40 years, God disbursed those who had not learned a lesson in obedience and worship to Himself. However, Zechariah was ordained by God to begin calling His people home. It sounds to me that this is in preparation for His return, because He said that Jerusalem would be bursting at its seams – overflowing with people and animals (food). This being the case, I believe that those of us that have accepted the Lord Jesus, and are still alive, will also be called together with God’s people, for we are considered His children, or His chosen ones, and we have been promised a grand meeting in the air when He calls us home to glory. Friends, we have a wonderful time ahead of us, no matter what we suffer or endure here on earth, for the King is coming, and He’s coming for you and I! Surely after the trials of 2020, we are all hoping that this will be sooner than later, but as a friend of mine says at the end of each Bible verse he posts: Keep our eyes on Jesus and our mind in the Book! For God is the only One who knows the day, the hour and the minute of His return, so our best clues will come from the Book! The other thing about today’s verses is the reminder of how precious we are to God. I love to see the emotional return of our troops when they greet their children for the first time. It’s like they don’t want to let them go. Don’t you know that the greeting by our Heavenly Father will be with the same intensity, warmth and love? One of my favorite hymns about that greeting is: Oh I want to see Him, look upon His face. There to sing forever of His wondrous grace...! I can hardly wait dear friends! I hope that you are prepared and also ready to meet our Creator when He returns to take His precious children (the church) home. You are the apple of His eye, so He is waiting to hear from you. If you have doubts, please look at my Footnote and particularly click on the link ‘To Know Jesus’. I have include multiple Biblical references that will help guide you to the throne of grace and accept Jesus as your Lord. Of course, you can always click on the link for Nuggets below and contact me. Share your decisions with me and/or ask questions that might help you make decisions. I would be overjoyed to introduce you to my Lord, or help in any other way that I can.

PRAYER: Oh the joy of knowing that there is more to expect than the challenges of this earth that we encounter from day to day! Praise God for His promises – always true and always with us in mind. To be considered a son, and precious in the sight of the Lord is an awesome honor and a warm hope, unrivaled with anything else available to mankind! Thank You precious Lord. Please speak with all my readers and give us assurance that our loved ones will also be ready to meet You, for we are very concerned about those we love. We want to see You dear Lord, and we want to worship You in Your place at the right hand of the Father. Come Lord Jesus, come! AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org 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 or listening to this devotional, please go to 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. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. 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!

Jesus’ Definition of ‘Greatness’

On By Ed AlgreenIn Children, Greatest Need, Humble, Our Great BIG GodLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Sunday, 2017-07-23
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Luke 9:46-48 (TLB)

Text:

  46 Now came an argument among them as to which of them would be greatest in the coming Kingdom! 47 But Jesus knew their thoughts, so he stood a little child beside him 48 and said to them, “Anyone who takes care of a little child like this is caring for me! And whoever cares for me is caring for God who sent me. Your care for others is the measure of your greatness.”
OBSERVATION:
It seems like Jesus’ definition of ‘greatness’ is quite different to ours. So we will look at this a little deeper today to make sure that we are not only getting the meaning of this word from Webster or some other English dictionary, but also to make sure that we are following God’s desire for our ‘greatness’ in this world.
APPLICATION:
In this world, and even in dictionaries, we learn that ‘greatness’ is considered: superior; or possess a natural ability to be better than most; illustrious; important; famous; etc. However, from everything we know of Jesus, He never showed any of these characteristics. He was born in a lowly manger in a cattle stall, and for the rest of His life there is no talk of Him living, or desiring to live anywhere near a palace. He simply obeyed His Father and served all mankind with sincere love and admiration. Yet He was the greatest man that ever lived! In our Scripture today Jesus is teaching His disciples that for them to evaluate who among them is the greatest in the kingdom of God, they must consider who is the greatest servant, for simply looking through worldly eyes at what they each might be famous for, will only impact what the world thinks of them and expects from ‘great’ people, in their terms. Let me suggest that we stop and consider how concerned, helpful and caring we would be towards a little child as they go helplessly down a river. Now think about the child, they are totally dependent upon you to keep their heads above water and from the harm of all rocks or debris, plus keep them warm once they are ready to exit the water. I believe Jesus wants us to care for everyone here on earth in much the same way as we would for that child in the river. This includes those who are very close to us, those that we think are above us in status and especially those that we know society always look down their noses at.  ALL are precious in His sight. Jesus also wants us to be like the child going down the river: fully dependent on Him; begging for His helping hand to guide, protect and keep us; and willing to accept help from anyone that stretches out ther hand to help us. At the end of life’s road when we meet Jesus, we will all be considered children of God, or not. There will be no ‘greatness’ that will get us there, only the simple invitation of Jesus into our lives. What’s your position today friends? Do you know my Jesus personally? Are you serving Him faithfully in all phases of your life and with whomever you come into contact with? If so you may one day stand to hear: ‘Welcome my child, you have been faithful over many things on earth, now come and dine with me and my Father as we rejoice together  throughout eternity!
PRAYER:
Lord, thank You for all that You have demonstrated through Your example, and from all that You have taught us through Your precious Word. We will meet many that are different in many ways from us. Please teach us to always welcome one another with the same grace that You welcome us. It is unimaginable that a King would willingly sacrifice His life for my sin, and my opportunity to spend eternity in heaven. Yet You did just that. Thank You Lord Jesus! Now may I, and all my readers be prepared to act in similar fashion and accept even those who persecute us; who have more money than us; who may live in mansions; and who may live under bridges. All are precious in Your sight, and so should they be in ours. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever, 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 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 Nuggets From God’s Word 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!