Tag: Be on guard

Motivated & Inspired By God’s Love For Us

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Christian love, Faith, Faith in Action, Mature, Needs, On guard, Praise, Recognize God, Stand Firm, Unconditional love, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Saturday, 2022-07-02
WRITTEN AT: O Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: 1 Corinthians 16:13
TRANSLATION: Amplified Bible (AMP)

BIBLE TEXT: 13 Be on guard; stand firm in your faith [in God, respecting His precepts and keeping your doctrine sound]. Act like [mature] men and be courageous; be strong. 14 Let everything you do be done in love [motivated and inspired by God’s love for us].

APPLICATION: I have been blessed to serve at a church that sent off short, and long-term missionaries, and I have been blessed to serve on a short-term missions group sent to a country where the needs were great. Church leaders did an awesome job in ‘sending us off’ with their blessings and their prayers. But for the one who draws a blank on what advice to give such a group, I believe that you could easily adopt Paul’s words and be right on target. Some may choose to go on these trips for various personal reasons, but if we are truly going to represent God on a Mission’s trip where we intend to show the love of Jesus to those on the Mission’s field, and share with them all that God has done for you, then we must prepare our hearts and be willing to let God guide our footsteps, our words and our actions. However, if we try to speak the truth of God’s Word every day while on the trip, but our actions misrepresents what the people expect of Jesus, then their hearing will become blocked and their eyes will become very critical of our mission. In other words, our actions could become a stumbling block to the Gospel going forth to a people who need the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course this teaching very much applies to our daily lives also, for we meet family, friends, coworkers, restaurant and department store help that also need the Lord. Will they see enough of Jesus in us to convince them of what they are missing? In John 17:4, Jesus told the Father that He had completed the work that the Father sent Him to do and that God was glorified through His work. Can you commit to that kind of prayer at the end of each day, or at the conclusion of a Missions Trip? We may have had the best day, or we may have accomplished every goal set out by our Missions team leaders, but did we complete our tasks with a heart of love and represented the Master well? Finishing the work God gave Him to do wasn’t just an idea in His journal or a thought stirring in His mind. It was something Jesus did. Has God called you to teach Sunday school? Do it and stay with it until He leads you in a different direction. Has He called you to have a time of morning worship? Then do so. Has He spoken to you about spending time discipling your kids? Then do it. I believe the Lord wants every one of us to be hugely successful in the things of the kingdom. Be encouraged as you remember: His burden is easy, and His load is light. The only question is, will you stand fast? Let me encourage you to re-read the Bible verse we focused on today, and make it your aim to be on your guard, stand firm and always represent the One that sent you into the mission field to spread the Gospel. Be sure that your mission is aligned with the mission spoken of by Jesus. Know Jesus today dear friend, and allow Him to influence your life in every way so that you will represent Him fairly in all you do or say.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: What a honor and a privilege it is to tell the world about Jesus, and to show them through our actions, what it means to love Him and share His love with others who need Him!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, it is obvious that mere man will accomplish only man-sized efforts. Please impact the lives of those of us who strive each day to be Your representative here in our mission’s field. They need You oh Lord, not more of me. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You oh Lord, and use me to spread Your joy, Your love, and Your sweet communion with everyone I touch every day. For the believers reading this devotional, I pray that You would also pass this blessing on to them . For the unbeliever who may have happened across this devotional, I want to thank You for drawing them to learn more of You, but also ask that You would humble them to realize that it is only the blood of Jesus that will wash away their sin and ready them for eternity in heaven. Until we all leave for our eternal home, please bless us with boldness and a commitment to stand firm in our faith and committed to share it with others in Jesus’ name! 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!

Guidance For Any Kind Of Day

On By Ed AlgreenIn Guidance, The WordLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE – 13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. 14 And do everything with love. ~ 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 ~ New Living Translation (NLT)

4 Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name. 5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. ~ Psalm 30:4-5 ~New Living Translation (NLT)

THOUGHTS: Nearing the conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he continued to speak to them as a father would to his children, especially in light of everything they were facing at the time as a church under persecution. In light of everything that we face in our world today, I was extremely encouraged by Paul’s blessing, because here’s what I got from the first two verses above. Paul admonished the church to:

  • Be on guard, or be alert – Don’t you feel some days like it may have been better if you had just stayed in bed? It is so obvious that Satan is out to tear us down at every possible opportunity. Paul, in telling the Corinthian church, is also telling us, to be strong in our relationship with the Lord, so that we will be armed with God’s love and His power and His strength, to face any and all circumstances that Satan may fire our way. Imagine leaving home with an armed guard by your side, and one who knows all things, sees all things, made all things and who happens to be the one who loved you enough to have given His very life for you. Wouldn’t that be an ultimate way to guard your way and keep you alert to the attacks of Satan that are just lurching around the corner?
  • Stand firm in the faith – Friends, it’s impossible to do this if you don’t have faith. Likewise, if you don’t maintain, and grow in your faith, do you really have something that you can trust when under pressure? I would encourage you to get connected to God in Bible Study and Prayer, and further strengthen your faith by getting with folk of like faith as often as you can. ‘Iron sharpens iron’ is a phrase used in the Bible. I would suggest to you today that not only do you need the strength and encouragement of other believers, but they need you also. As your faith is sharpened and strengthened, you become better equipped to not cave in to the things of this world – Satan’s tools that he has placed to trap you;
  • Be courageous – I believe that we must be willing to stand up for what we believe, and often this will involve a courageous spirit, especially to one who is generally timid in life;
  • Be strong – This is especially important, because folk are judging whose inside of your heart based on your actions, your attitude and your words. When we consider all that God has done, all that He is doing and all that He has prepared for our future in heaven, and then to imagine that He is the one controlling us, protecting us and guiding us, whom then shall we fear?
  • Do everything in love – It’s so easy to do loving things for those who show love towards us, but we know all too well how challenging our job is when folk are unkind to us. Perhaps we should take our eyes off others and stay focused on God, then perhaps we will more easily ‘do everything in love’ knowing that God will be pleased with us? Imagine the smile on His face when He recognizes that we have depended on Him and done amazing things for others, knowing that we are aiming to please Him, regardless of how others may react to our actions?

I realize that I have gone a bit long today, but friends would you take note of these two verses and my commentary, then read the two verses I included from Psalm. Don’t you see that we serve a most awesome God, and that joy will come in the morning, regardless of what the night has revealed? My earthly energies are geared towards honoring, worshipping, pleasing and adoring the God that I plan to spend eternity with. Where do you spend your energies each day? The above information gives you guidance on how God expects you to spend your day!

PRAYER: Father, You are awesome, and I thank You for conveying Your principals, Your character, Your will and Your encouragement to us through your Holy Word. May it be a light to our feet and a constant guide to our path each and every day, so that others may see and believe on You. I ask these things in the name of the One who gave it all for me, 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! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!

Our Legacy

On By Ed AlgreenIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

13 Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous (brave). Be strong. 14 And do everything with love.

(Bible Translation and Location: New Living Translation – 1 Corinthians 16:13-14)

Thoughts:

I believe that most of us have a desire to leave a legacy of some sort. Yes, but I can also assure you that the way we live our lives today will be remembered by those who know us long after we leave this world, whether we specifically aim towards a planned ‘legacy’ or not. Sounds scary, but consider that thought carefully! If we are prone to do good, we will be referred to, in comparison, when someone else also does good to our loved ones. Unfortunately, the reverse also happens. After reading Paul’s admonition to his fellow Christians at Corinth during his farewell wishes, God really spoke to me through these two verses. You see, to me, each of the short phrases in these verses carry a very important message. Let me explain:

  • Be on guard: Always be ready. We are often told that we should never go to bed mad at our spouse. How much more powerful are these words when it comes to our relationship with Jesus? Always be ready to defend your beliefs. Always be in such close communion with God that You are ready (without regrets) whenever He calls you home. I was reminded last night of a friend who was watching TV and fell asleep. He woke up in heaven. There was no time to clarify and/or correct any misgivings. We must be on guard, for the Bible says that Jesus will come in an instant for us! Be ready, and stay finely tuned with the Master!
  • Stand firm: Know what you believe and stand firm in that. There are numerous agents of Satan that will attempt to lead us away from the Truth. It may even look and sound like the Christian faith, but without full knowledge and a close relationship with the Master, we might be easily misled.
  • Be courageous and strong: Those with opposing views to yours, will try to trip you up, ‘beat you up’ and try to force their point of view upon you. Don’t lose hope brothers and sisters. Let God be your guide. Be brave and proud that you are standing on the Word of God and representing the King of all kings! You are royalty, because your Father is THE KING!
  • Do everything in love: I find it very interesting how one person can say something and it creates havoc in a whole audience, while someone else can say the same thing in a different tone of voice, in love, and convince the audience of their need for change. Friends, we have the wonderful love of Jesus living inside of us. We represent the One who loved us enough to sacrifice His only Son so that we might live eternally with Him. When we surrender our hearts to Him, He sends His Holy Spirit to live inside of us. Think about the agony He must feel when we allow sin to govern us, instead of the One living inside of us. When we can’t figure out how to say something loving, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and give you the words. He’s as close as the whisper of His name. Friends, we must truly imitate Jesus if we stand a chance of impacting this world for Him!

If you are reading this and wondering how you might accept this Jesus of mine, so that His Holy Spirit lives within you, please read the footnote and allow a Christian Brother or Sister to help you. I would be honored to help!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You told us in Your Word that You did nothing without the direction of Your father, God. May we be Your faithful follower and do the same. Thank You for loving us enough for providing the means by which salvation is available. Thank You for assuring us of Your power and strength that can guide us lovingly through this life, yes even life today that is so filled with a multitude of sins that temp and bombard us in every walk of life. Your very nature is ‘LOVE’ and because You reside inside of us through Your Holy Spirit, we too can be loving in all we do and say. Please give us the boldness to do exactly that. May we be faithful examples of our Father and His Son, Jesus, because of whose we are! I ask this believing and trusting, in the 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 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!