Pride Comes Before A Fall

On 2015-03-312015-03-31 By Ed AlgreenIn Humility, Obedience, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Jeremiah 38:17-18, 28): I told him that the Lord had said: “Zedekiah, I am the Lord God All-Powerful, the God of Israel. I promise that if you surrender to King Nebuchadnezzar’s officers, you and your family won’t be killed, and Jerusalem won’t be burned down. ¹⁸ But if you don’t surrender, I will let the Babylonian army capture Jerusalem and burn it down, and you will be taken prisoner.”……. ²⁸ I was held in the courtyard of the palace guards until the day Jerusalem was captured.

THOUGHTS: I am amazed that we can look into God’s Word and not just see the amazing things that He did such as bringing people back to life, or miraculously healing them, but to also see some of the same characteristics in the folk of that day that compares to much like we see and experience today. In spite of knowing that he could possibly be killed for sharing with the king exactly what God said, yet Jeremiah was faithful and told King Zedekiah just that. In verses 19 thru 27 we are told how the king asked Jeremiah to handle the questions when asked by the palace authorities about the meeting between Jeremiah and the king, because the king found it impossible to concede to what God wanted him to do, as it would burst the pride of his kingdom. I found vs 28 interesting, because it gives the idea that Jeremiah waited in full expectation of what God said He would do, and in later verses we will read the rest of the story! I believe that way too often we go off in our own direction and, in spite of asking God for His advice, we are so filled with personal pride that we do our own thing, although His warnings and/or directions have been made plain to us. Friends, God is all-knowing and all-powerful. If we are truly His child, and we want to be truly obedient, then we will allow His will to override our wants and our pride. This requires a close walk with God and demands our knowing His very thoughts and plans, and allowing that sense of direction to lead us into all truth, even if it looks like it will probably lead to folk laughing at us, or thinking that we have lost sense with reality. God’s true messengers tell the story as they understand it from God, not as they have manipulated it to best suit their purpose. We are chosen to be God’s messengers of His truth, not to dilute it with our wants and/or benefits. I believe that God is watching as we decide today whom we will serve. What shall it be friend?

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for trusting Your servants to deliver Your Word to those that need it even today. You are well aware of how manipulative we are in still sharing that Word with our own personal prejudices and twists that help us to feel important and without including ourselves in the mix of all who need correction. Please tender our hearts, and please cause us to allow Your words to penetrate us first personally, before we ever think about sharing them with someone else. You are the Creator and ongoing Master of this universe. All things were made by You and are still under Your control. Please help us to understand that this will not change, even if we try to soften the reality of that, or not tell the whole truth of what it will take to draw mankind unto a saving knowledge of You. There is no need for us to be intimidated by others, for Your message is designed for us all. There is no gain for self, for Your Word is intended to draw mankind unto You, not unto us. Please forgive us for our littleness in trying to use Your message for our benefit. Please help us to wipe away self-pride and instead practice true servant-hood and be Your humble messenger simply delivering Your Word to lost mankind. Only the blood of Jesus can wash away the sin of mankind, nothing else. May Your will be done today in our lives, I pray, in the all-powerful and matchless 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! 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!

We MUST Worship Only God

On 2015-03-252015-03-25 By Ed AlgreenIn Adoration, WorshipLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Contemporary English Version – Jeremiah 32:37-41): ³⁷ I am angry at the people of Jerusalem, and I will scatter them in foreign countries. But someday I will bring them back here and let them live in safety. ³⁸ They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will make their thoughts and desires pure. Then they will realize that, for their own good and the good of their children, they must worship only me. They will even be afraid to turn away from me. I will make an agreement with them that will never end, and I won’t ever stop doing good things for them.

THOUGHTS: There’s a few important things that I believe God would have us discern from these verses today:

God can become angry – Notice in verse 37 how He became so angry at the disobedience of His people that He scattered them around the world? It made me stop and think how angry God must get at us today when He looks at the disobedience and disregard of not only sinners, but also many who claim Him as Lord. It seems like we take the attitude of leaving our leftovers for God. When we talk about time to worship, or Bible study, we often hear that folk will consider that, if they have time (left over time). When we look at giving, it’s a matter of giving the leftovers after we have spent all that we want to. When we talk about our men being spiritual leaders in their homes and workplaces, we hear how inadequate and untrained they are, but yet they have spent so much time in their favorite sport that they not only know every move, but they know the players so well that they call them by name and even know about their off-field likes and dislikes. Out on our jobs, coworkers find it difficult to discern Christians vs non-Christians in attitudes, work ethics or conversation. Should God be angry about what He sees and hears?
What will it take for people to turn to God, or back to Him? – God knew that He would one-day return the Jews back to their homeland, and that they would then be ready and prepared to worship Him with pure hearts and minds. What do you suppose it would take to see our people turn to God? Every day seems to be getting worse here on earth, I can’t imagine what it would take to truly get the attention of sinful people today, but I do know that Jesus is the answer, and that God CAN get our attention. We may not like it, but our God is a jealous God. He made us for the intended purpose of worshiping Him, yet we do everything else but that.

PRAYER: Father, please forgive us for our sin, our shortcomings, and our lack of desire to worship and serve You. You have done amazing things for us, yet we approach You, worship You and acknowledge You with such insignificant value. Although undeserving of Your precious love and the sacrifice You made for us, I want to especially say thank You today and offer my sacrifice of praise and adoration to You. Please draw us to Yourself and overshadow the evil things of this world that we tend to permit into our lives. May we instead by driven to You and recognize Your holy presence so that we may live according to Your will and in obedience to Your design outlined in Your Holy Word. We were created to worship You dear Lord, please help us to everyday strive to do just that. Please also touch the lives of my readers today so that they too might receive power from You to overcome the distractions of this world, and together we will worship You with thankful hearts. All this I ask in the precious name of Jesus, my Lord, AMEN!

Proper Attitude Towards Leaders

On 2015-03-212015-03-21 By Ed AlgreenIn Attitude, RespectLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Good News Translation – Titus 3:1-7): ¹Remind your people to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey them, and to be ready to do good in every way. ²Tell them not to speak evil of anyone, but to be peaceful and friendly, and always to show a gentle attitude towards everyone. ³For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and wrong. We were slaves to passions and pleasures of all kinds. We spent our lives in malice and envy; others hated us and we hated them. ⁴But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour was revealed, ⁵he saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us. ⁶God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Saviour, ⁷so that by his grace we might be put right with God and come into possession of the eternal life we hope for.

THOUGHTS: I find it extremely interesting that Paul had to draw Titus’ attention to the attitudes of his flock that he would shepherd, especially towards their leaders. This is because we still have the same issue today. I believe the best way for me to explain my position on this is to first draw your attention to verse 3. Paul is reminding us that we were once sinners, undeserving of anything that God, through His mercy might do for us through the sacrifice of His precious Son. However, in spite of our sinfulness, wrong doings, ugly attitudes and disobedience to God’s laws, yet God still saw fit to reveal to us a Savior who could cleanse us from our sin and give us new life. So if we were unlovable, sinful and undeserving, yet God loved us and gave His all for us, who are we to look at others as being any worse than us? Why would we judge them, and assume that God doesn’t love them at least as much as He loves us? Also, bear in mind that other scripture tells us that our leaders are placed in position because of God’s special design and will – see Romans 13, and if we believe God’s Word, then who are we to rebel against those whom God has ordained? He loved us and cared enough about us to encourage us and help us to turn away from sin, yet we are OK to stand in the face of God and ridicule or disobey a leader ordained by Him? How dare us! Throughout the Bible we are taught how we are to pray for others and love them with the love of God. Nothing is said about one classification of folk being any different to another. An unsaved leader is just as much in need of our prayers and support as any other person that God places in our path or who has authority over us. I believe that when we start to feel disregard or disrespect for a leader, we must quickly examine our own lives and our relationship with the Father, to see why we are feeling and possibly acting differently than what He expects of us. I believe that Christ’s children will live and act like He did, if not we need to examine our hearts and realign them with God’s Word. Are you living in honor of, and full regard for, the Word of God friend? Please endeavor to be God’s humble servant and not an activist for some political or personal stand you feel might be important.

PRAYER: Father God, please forgive us for so easily judging others. You loved us while we were sinful and unlovable. You continue to love and care for us, even though we are careless/uncaring and often disobeying Your commands. I realize that when we live such careless lives, we are more prone to judge others and treat them differently to what You expect of us. Our responsibility is to seek first the kingdom of God and Your righteousness. Lord, may we be so filled with You that our lives will reflect Your power, Your love and Your will for our lives. Please help us to not be obstacles of Your mighty work, but rather instruments worthy of being used to accomplish Your work. No doubt this will involve dealing with folk who are different, sinful and far from God. Please strengthen us with Your abiding love that will look beyond their faults and concentrate on their heart that needs You. Please use us as Your children so that others might see You and not align us as an activist or associated with a particular political party, for People Need The Lord, not our particular political preference. Thank You for caring and loving us enough to help us through these selfish and controlling attitudes, but rather giving us a heart like You. “I love You Lord, and I lift My Voice….“. I ask these things in the precious name of Jesus, AMEN!

Filled With Hope!

On 2015-03-202015-03-20 By Ed AlgreenIn Hope, SalvationLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Titus 2:11-14): ¹¹God has shown us how kind he is by coming to save all people. ¹²He taught us to give up our wicked ways and our worldly desires and to live decent and honest lives in this world. ¹³We are filled with hope, as we wait for the glorious return of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. ¹⁴He gave himself to rescue us from everything that is evil and to make our hearts pure. He wanted us to be his own people and to be eager to do right.

THOUGHTS: There are things in this life that excite us and causes us to be anxious about their effects upon our life. I have a friend who, together with his wife, they are expecting their first child. Lots of excitement and anticipation as they work through the remaining days of pregnancy, and they are anxious to finally hold that precious child. I have a friend who will be married soon – he has similar anxiety as he awaits the ‘big’ day, hoping for a very positive change in his life, with even increased happiness as he brings a life partner alongside him. For those of us that have accepted Jesus as Lord of our lives, we are truly blessed each and every day as we live in anticipation of what He might accomplish in and through us, for the ultimate salvation of our family and friends and for His glory. Because of the sweetness in our relationship with Jesus, and because we see God at work each day in such marvelous ways, we anticipate each day with a hope that Jesus might return today to take us home with Him, or anxious about what God might have in store for His servant today. Friends – Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, it just doesn’t get any better than that! But what about those who have chosen to go their own way and continue to live in the ways of this world, without Christ? We see and hear about the results of their careless living and we pray all the more for their eyes to be opened by God to see the need for a Savior. We also know that Jesus died on a cruel cross so that they too might accept Him as Lord and Savior. Therefore let us not grow weary in well doing, in praying for their hearts to be softened to the reality and results of their sinful life. Let us freely share the gospel with them in very meaningful ways – through our Godly actions and our kind, Godly words. Let them see Jesus in us, and pray that God will place an urgent desire in their hearts to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. To the unsaved person that God may have directed to this devotional in search of ‘hope’ in your life – please allow me to introduce you to the Creator of this earth, and each of us, the only One that ever loved us enough and was capable of providing redemptive means for our sin, and has the power to redirect us towards God the Father. I have details in the ‘Footnote’ that might help you overcome everything that you might be going through. God especially loves you, and sincerely wants you to commit your life to Him. Allowing Jesus into your heart and life is the answer to the turmoil, heartache and unnecessary anxiety you are encountering each day, for God is in control and can easily handle your situation, giving you extreme peace and tranquility. Please consider surrendering your life to Him today. Accept this Jesus of mine and allow Him to be Lord of your life. You too can have ‘HOPE’ today friend!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for the hope you have given me as Your precious child. Thank you for a day back in 1976 when You convicted me of my sin and my need for a Savior. I appreciate every day that You have blessed me with and I am excited about the prospects of each day, because I know that You can use even me to encourage my family and friends to meet You, and to listen to Your voice as You tug on their heart’s door. I believe that You have a plan for them dear God, and I thank You for looking beyond our faults and our sin, to see our heart and be concerned about our spiritual well-being. Thank You for being such an awesome Savior, loving Jesus and all-knowing, all-powerful God who can change even the vilest sinner. You rescued me from a life of sin and disregard, and I am convinced that You can do the same for my friends. Please speak to the hearts of those we will encounter today, so that our words and our actions might be acceptable to You and serve the purpose of drawing them closer to You. I ask all this in faith, and believing in the only true and loving God, in the name of my precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, AMEN!

The Complete Picture

On 2015-03-132015-03-13 By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Preach, TeachLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Contemporary English Version – 2 Timothy 4:1-4): When Christ Jesus comes as king, he will be the judge of everyone, whether they are living or dead. So with God and Christ as witnesses, I command you ² to preach God’s message. Do it willingly, even if it isn’t the popular thing to do. You must correct people and point out their sins. But also cheer them up, and when you instruct them, always be patient. ³ The time is coming when people won’t listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear. ⁴ They will turn from the truth and eagerly listen to senseless stories.

THOUGHTS: Paul offered a warning and a strong word of advice to Timothy about the urgency of preaching the Word of God, and to do it in spite of opposition or disinterest of the people to whom he would preach. He not only indicated the disinterest of the people, but also went on to say why they would appear to be like that. Friends, I believe that God got my attention to this and caused me to apply this to my life today. So I want to share my thoughts with you. I believe that we have some excellent pastors/shepherds today and I am convinced that we have some excellent teachers of the Word. I believe that some of these preach and teach from the depths of their heart as touched by God while in His Word. However, these men are mere humans and they will be tempted to please the crowds, and this may even extend to the pulpit where they might try to be politically correct in order to soften the impact of the Word of God to those who are living in opposition to Its teaching. There are some who preach only the good, the positive, the uplifting parts of the Bible, and this pleases the people, but it is NOT the whole teaching of the Word of God. From personal experience I can tell you that there was a time in my life where I just couldn’t see the importance of the Old Testament because of all the gory war and slaughter that is told in many of Its pages. However, today my study time involves time in both Testaments, and while I am still amazed at how fortunate we are compared to the strong actions by God in the Old Testament, yet I realize that lessons are taught throughout, and often meld with teachings by Jesus in the New Testament. I believe that the very portions that pastors refuse to teach on, could often be the portions needed by the church, but could perhaps ‘sting’ a lot because of the present spiritual condition of many in the church. Pastors are blessed with an awesome responsibility ordained by God to shepherd His flock. Being disobedient to any part of His commands are as bad as disobeying the whole. I pray that none will be guilty of this when they stand before Christ. Now for the flip side of this, vs 3 indicates that people will naturally resort to listening to a pastor or teacher who tells them what they want to hear. The good stuff, the encouraging words, the positive things, and one who never ‘beats up on them’ by pointing out their disobedience to God’s Word. I believe you might agree that these types of pastors are filling stadiums with people who could ‘put up’ with that type of teaching, right? Friends, please be aware of this when trying to decide on a church home. Please be sure that the ‘whole’ Word of God is taught. God speaks to us through the teaching/preaching /words of His Book of Instructions. When we don’t hear all of it, we are incomplete in our full understanding of the Word. Pray for your pastors and teachers that they would not feel pressured in any way to not disclose the full Word of God.

PRAYER: Thank You for Your inspired Word dear God. Thank You for all the reasons You wanted us to learn about the ups and downs of our ancestors, as well as the wonderful message of Your resurrection from the dead and the beauty of our future home, Heaven! I realize that our lives are much like this, where there are pieces that we would just rather not talk about, but things that are so uplifting and glorious, especially after we allowed You into our lives. However, to know us today without getting an appreciation for our past is not portraying the full picture of who we really are. Please help us to never be ashamed of any piece of Your message in the Bible, for I believe that it was placed there for our edification and understanding of the good things that followed. Our pastors and teachers are really pressured by us to ‘dance around’ certain teachings, but Father, we want to be complete in our understanding of Your Word and the intentions of Your heart for us. Please vitalize our pastors and teachers with an encouraging word today so that they may be reenergized and encouraged to teach and preach the whole, unadulterated Word of God for truth and good works. Because Your Word is a light unto my path, I must know the right path and the wrong path, so please continue to point out my wrongs and my incorrect path when I stray. Please bless us with good church leaders who serve You and teach Your principles. We continue to need You each and every day Lord, so I am asking again today for Your ongoing love and direction, for I ask all this in the name of Jesus, AMEN!

The Power of the Word of God!

On 2015-03-122015-03-13 By Ed AlgreenIn Correction, God’s Word, Self-DisciplineLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Century Version – 2 Timothy 3:15-17): ¹⁵Since you were a child you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right. ¹⁷Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be capable, having all that is needed to do every good work.

THOUGHTS: I am always amazed to see how God puts together a plan for us. In my Old Testament reading this morning I learned from Jeremiah how prophets will be destroyed because of declaring their own personal message to the people, as they would be deceiving the people while teaching them a lie. In the highlighted verses we see where God used Paul to tell Timothy, and us, that the only power we have in our teaching or preaching or witnessing, comes from the God-inspired Word (the Bible). For the Word of God has the power to show people what is wrong in their lives, show them corrective measures and teach them how to live right. In fact, just as the prophets in Jeremiah’s ministry was told – it is the Word of God that makes His messengers capable and powerful enough to share with those that come under their preaching, life-changing qualities that not only draw them to Jesus Christ, but gives direction for ongoing fruitful lives for the Master. So I believe our take from this is to look deep inside and to stay so close to the Word of God that our actions will reveal to whom we belong, and our Words might be mere reflections of what God has laid on our hearts to share with those that we come into contact with. I’m sure that much like you, I become personally concerned about my unsaved loved ones and friends, but I believe that way too often we try to help remedy that through our own personal worth, or ideas. This Scripture has taught me/reminded me that it is only God that can change lives or redirect people trapped in a life of sin, and while we all should know that God is very capable of changing lives on His own, I believe that we must always ask for direction from Him for what we should say or do to encourage the lost towards belief in Jesus Christ. Vs 15 reminds us that it is the Holy Scriptures that can fill us with this kind of wisdom. Are you personally in the Word seeking this kind of wisdom? If we are to share real TRUTH friend, we must be saturated in IT (the Word of God) ourselves. Are you concerned enough about your loved ones to personally do something about it? Get in the Word friend, and allow it to enrich you and fill you with the wisdom of God, so that you may share the gift of salvation with others. Vs 17 tells us that we will be endowed with everything we need to do this!

PRAYER: What a happy day, when Jesus came into my heart! Father, it is that kind of happiness that we so desire for our loved ones also. Thank You for Your precious Word, and the whole truth that it reveals to us every time we read it. Often our eyes are opened, as they were today, to things needed in our personal lives, not just in the lives of our lost family and friends. This is true from what you told us in 2 Chronicles 7:14 where you told us to take responsibility and humble ourselves, seek Your face and pray, then You would hear from heaven and bless our land. In today’s verses You are instructing us to saturate ourselves with Your Word, the power-source for our witnessing, teaching and preaching, then we could share from the overflow of that which we have been filled with. Lord, I pray that we can stop looking for someone to pawn off our blame to, and take full responsibility for our actions, weaknesses and shortcomings. Please give us strength, boldness, and the ultimate will to change self, so that You may have usable instruments to impact the lives of others so that You may change them also. Thank You for loving us enough to care about us, even when we fall short. We need You every hour of our lives dear Lord, for it’s You we live for and look forward to uniting with when this life is over! Praising You, and asking all this in Your most wonderful name dear Jesus, I remain Your humble and willing servant, AMEN!

Satisfied!

On 2015-03-032015-03-03 By Ed AlgreenIn Priorities, Satisfaction1 Comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – 1 Timothy 6:7-10): We didn’t bring anything into this world, and we won’t take anything with us when we leave. ⁸ So we should be satisfied just to have food and clothes. ⁹ People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them. ¹⁰ The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.

THOUGHTS: Life seems so simple when one has nothing, doesn’t it? I once heard an international missionary say about the poor people in the area they served: “but the people are happy, because they don’t know about what they don’t have”. That made me think back to my earlier childhood days, especially when I now hear my parents talk about the rough times we had back then. But the truth is: I never noticed that we were poor and were going without many of the things that others thought were so important to life. In this scripture today, and through his mentoring to Timothy, Paul is teaching us to be very careful to not let our ‘want-to-haves’ overpower our good sense. We are often taught in the Bible that our God will meet our ‘needs’. Paul is teaching us that basic needs are food and clothing. And although he didn’t mention it, I believe that shelter is also important. Way too often I believe that humans are caught in a growing need to want more, whether money or ‘things’. To achieve these, we fight over job positions, and often tear down another person to build ourselves up, or we find ways to use them as a stepping stone for us to move beyond them. We wind up being such a slave to our employers that we work ungodly hours that often keeps us away from family and church or relationship time with God. Friends, when we are lacking in these areas of our lives, everything worthwhile falls apart around us. Yet the one thing that we hold on to – our jobs, are quickly filled with a replacement when we fail to produce like we’ve always done! When we allow the busyness of life to affect our homes and/or our relationship with God, and yes this is evident in our church attendance, then we must stop and challenge ourselves what then are we really striving for? What is there that offers value to my life beyond my usefulness to my boss? Please don’t get me wrong, I am a devoted businessman, but I pray that I will always be a more devoted husband, father and worker for the Lord in His vineyard here on earth. I’m reminded of a gospel song that speaks about just this, listen as you finish reading! But how about you friend, what’s your status on priorities? Please take time to re-evaluate your life today and be sure that you have a right balance in these areas of your life!

PRAYER: Father in heaven, I believe that this scripture this morning probably applies more to the times we are now in, than ever before. For while many might be greedy towards making more money, in spite of the millions they would probably never live long enough to enjoy, yet there are some who worry about the financial aspects of their retirement years and therefore see the need to work at least one more year to ‘top off’ that spendable income during retirement. Not knowing how much longer we will live, I realize that this is just Satan’s way of pushing our families further apart, and closing down even more churches because of lack of attendance and/or commitment. I am convinced that You never intended life to be this stressful and complicated, so I plead with You today to help me keep the main things in life the main thing. Please continue to lead me into more quality time with my family. More quality time in Your Word and in faith building efforts around Your saints here on earth. May I be the person You can use to grow Your kingdom through the witness I might display while around others. Please touch the lives of my readers today and allow Your Word to penetrate their lives and impact them in a way that they too will seek Your perfect God-designed will for their lives. Please have Your will and way in our lives today, is my humble prayer that I ask in the name of Your Son, Jesus my Lord, with thanksgiving, AMEN!

How’s Your Eyesight? Blinded?

On 2014-10-252014-10-25 By Ed AlgreenIn Blinded, Heaven, HellLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

⁴Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

(Bible Translation and Location: New Living Translation – 2 Corinthians 4:4)

Thoughts:

I believe that God has directed me to share this verse this morning for two reasons:

To my friends who do exactly as this verse says – you struggle with believing in God. A God you can’t see, hear, feel or touch. Paul is telling you in plain words here, that the power of Satan is so strong in your life that he is actually blinding your spiritual eyes. In other words, he controls your mind and your heart so strongly that you have made the choice to dishonor the God of this universe, the One who created you, me and the whole world from the bottom up. In addition to just sharing this verse with you today, I want to share what might be a secret to you. There is another verse in the Bible that contains God’s Holy Word through its authors, and this verse actually says that God is no respecter of persons. He actually loves you as much as He loves myself and others I will address in point #2. You see in John 3:16, God had recorded in His Word that He loves everyone who will call on His name to be saved, and that they will actually receive eternal life with Him in heaven. Friend, in the earlier days of creation, there was a lot of sacrificing that was necessary to be accepted by God and to live a Godly life. God saw that this was an obstacle to many, so He ordained a young virgin woman (Mary) to be the mother of a Son (Jesus), so he later miraculously made her pregnant. This Son (Jesus) later became the sacrifice for us, and it is through Him that we have access to the Father (God). Friend that is unconditional and sacrificial love demonstrated in the purest form ever. Love in its most desperate form to win the heart of God’s children that He designed, protected and loves immensely. He desires a relationship with you friend. He loves you way too much to see you controlled by the Evil one and sorely distracted from the best thing that could very happen to you. Our communication with Jesus is through prayer (an open conversation with the very Son of God). Won’t you do me a favor and at least have a conversation with Him? Pour your heart out to Him. Let Him know how you feel, and what you would prefer to see with your life regarding your eternal destination. It’s either Heaven or Hell friend. Do nothing and know that you will one day join Satan and his demons in Hell. Instead, I plead with you to trust what I’ve shared with you and ask Jesus into your heart so that You might be one with Him, and look forward to a glorious time in heaven with Jesus, me and lots of other folk who have already made this important decision. By the way, Jesus will also be with you every day while here on earth, through every trial, temptation and even the very best of times. He wants to be with you and available to you at all times!
To my friends who have accepted Jesus as your Master and Lord, please pray earnestly for your friends who you thought of as you read this verse. I’m sure that you are aware that the time remaining on this earth is drawing to an end. Meaning that your friends will not have much longer to make this very important decision of accepting Jesus. The Bible is clear, that without this reformation, they will not enter heaven. So your prayers are more desperately needed now than ever before. Remember, it is not sacrilegious to pray over and over for these lost ones. I want to see God’s very best for my loved ones, and I’m sure you feel the same. Let us therefore pray without ceasing, that God might break that hold of Satan on their lives, tender their hearts and give them the desperation needed to surrender unconditionally to Jesus. Like me, I’m sure that you are anxious to walk through the gates of heaven and see all of our family and friends there! Let us pray, friends, let’s use this primary tool in communicating with God about our heart’s desire.

Friend, if you would like to discuss how this devotional has impacted your life, or if you would like a prayer partner to help you make this important decision, please use the information in the footnote. Myself or any other Bible believing child of God would be ecstatic to pray with you or chat with you regarding your questions!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me so much! Thank You for humbling me, melting my wicked heart, convicting me of the hold that Satan had on my life that was keeping me away from You, and for loving me into a decision to accept You as my eternal King! What a glorious day! I believe that it is because of my happiness in You, and my love for my unsaved family and friends, that I am so moved in this reminder this morning. Please keep me very alert and praying for my friends that need to know You. Please keep them evident in my mind so that I may continually pray for them. Thank You Lord for saving my soul! Thank You for a place called Heaven, where I will one day join You around the throne of our Father! What a Day that will be! Jesus, my prayers are humbly placed at You feet asking that You honor my requests to day, for I ask it in Your precious name, AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com 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!

You Are Royalty!

On 2014-10-072014-10-07 By Ed AlgreenIn Celebrate God, God Cares For Us, Listen to the Word of God, SurrenderLeave a comment

God’s Holy Word – Good News Translation
1 Corinthians 5:1-2

1 And now I want to remind you, my brothers and sisters, of the Good News which I preached to you, which you received, and on which your faith stands firm. 2 That is the gospel, the message that I preached to you. You are saved by the gospel if you hold firmly to it—unless it was for nothing that you believed.

Thoughts:
As I meditated on this I thought about all that a palace subject must encounter in any given day. I don’t imagine for a moment they ever arise, go to school or work and forget they are a prince/princess, or a child of the queen. I don’t imagine for a moment they ever doubt if they are protected and secure in their position. I bet that they are extremely careful to protect the sovereignty of their parent’s kingdom. Wouldn’t you imagine that they are ambassadors for the kingdom over which their parent rules, and therefore talk it up with everyone that they come in contact with? So friend, what’s the difference with any of the above thoughts and our position as children of the King of all kings? When we accept Jesus as Lord, we become His protected ones, as Satan nor the world has any hold on us anymore. We can proudly wear our breastplate of righteousness and feel adequately protected in our royal position. So why then do we find ourselves so often in the doldrums of this world’s trials and tribulations and feel so distraught and beaten up? After meditating on Paul’s message to the Corinthian church, I am convinced that we need reminding constantly that we might be in this world, but we are not of this world as we are looking to a much bigger Savior that didn’t just rescue us when we first believed, but is there each and every day to take our hand a lift us up, comfort, protect and love on us as His special and chosen children. Friend, stay in the Word every day, stay in communion with God often so that you might be reminded of His love and special care over us. Refresh yourself on the gospel, so that it may be your guide and encouragement, constantly pointing you to the One who not only died for you, but still watches over you every day. Assume your royal position friend. Remember, God sees you as His very own child, why should you see yourself as anything less!

Prayer:
Father, Daddy, Jesus, my Lord and Savior, thank You for Your gracious love for me. Thank You for the ultimate sacrifice You made for me. Thank You for adopting me as Your very own royal prince. I am truly blessed. Please help me to daily assume my royal position and represent You well. Please strengthen me to always allow Your love and character to shine through me in everything that I do or say, so that others might recognize You and want to know you as their Lord and Savior. For my friends meditating on this devotional today, please allow the words of Paul in this scripture to remind you of your royalty and your position as God’s very own. LLord, may Your children arise and be Your faithful followers today so that Your Word may come alive to the unsaved, is my humble pray that I ask in the name of Jesus, AMEN!

Footnote:
If you have read this devotional and do not know this wonderful Savior of whom I have spoken, may I encourage you to speak with a Bible teaching pastor or church leader today? If you know of none, I would welcome an email from you with information on how I may be of help to you, or how I might pray with, and/or for, you. You may reach me at nuggetsfromgodsword@outlook.com. If you are in the Highlands County area of Florida and do not have a church home, may I recommend my church home to you, Bible Fellowship Church? Let me know if you plan to attend and I will personally welcome you and help you feel at home with God’s people as we worship and learn more about His love for us!

Understanding and Obedience Of God’s Word

On 2014-09-24 By Ed AlgreenIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Holy Bible – Good News Translation

Psalm 119:18

Open my eyes, so that I may see
the wonderful truths in your law

My Thoughts:

Although only a very short verse today, I would highly recommend that you read Psalm 119:18-40 to really see the importance emphasized by David in understanding God’s Word. Friends, I realize that I may be a bit slower than you in understanding something that I have just read, but please be reminded that meditating on God’s Word has a much deeper dimension than just reading words from the Book’s pages. First of all, I would recommend, like David, that we always ask God to reveal to us the deepest understanding of the words we are about to read, secondly, that you have at least one other translation handy so that when you come across a word or sentence that doesn’t quite sound the same as our current day vernacular, then you can check the other translation to see if that clears it up for you. Bottom line is that we are not just reading The Word to say that we have completed a certain duty or heart-felt responsibility, we are trying to understand the mind and heart of Christ, and we are wanting Him to embed deep within our hearts and minds the desires of His heart for us. As a parent, we have a heart for our kids and their ultimate success in life. I believe that God also wants His very best for His kids – us. He gave us His Book of instructions, but it is up to us get our minds wrapped around the understanding, application and obedience of His teachings. I was always so proud to hear when my dad was pleased with my success in a life situation, or that I finally understood and applied something that he had taught me! I believe that every day our heavenly Father looks on us with a sense of pride about our accomplishments, and hopefully not too many times that He nods His head in disappointment that again we did it ‘our way’. I’m sure you are as excited as I am about one day standing before our Maker and hear Him say the words, “Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant”. Therefore friends, let us be diligent about understanding the instructions given by God, so that we can honestly work towards obedience of His will for us in every way. There is a prize ahead for all who believe and have obeyed! I am anxiously awaiting the day to see the face of my Savior and my desire is that He would have found me faithful. How about you friend? If you are not satisfied with your progress so far, may I remind you that where there is life there is hope! Now, because we never know when our life will end, I would greatly encourage you to actively seek the Lord and His perfect will for you while He is available. Today is the day of salvation and/or your commitment to obedience! Please contact me if I could possibly help you! It would be a joy for me to do so!

My Prayer:

‘Your Word is a lamp unto my feet’ dear God, and it impacts my decisions towards right and wrong, as it guides me based on total truth, and based on the desires of my heavenly Father. I believe that I really see the importance of not only reading Your Word, but even deeper importance in understanding it as my guide throughout each day’s challenges and in giving me insight into the heart and mind of my blessed Savior. Thank You Lord for not just placing me here on earth to figure everything out on my own, or based on everything that Your servants may teach me at church. But You have blessed me with Your Book of Instructions (The Bible), and also given me personal insight into Your desire for me as an individual. Please help me to always first come to the cross for me primarily, because I can’t help anyone else if I’m off-track myself. Please keep me in the center of Your perfect will, and I ask for boldness to help as many as possible along the way until You call me home to glory. Many friends that You have directed to this devotional today might have similar challenges. Please speak personally to them and also help them overcome any obstacles or other priorities in their lives that may prevent them from getting deeper into Your Word. I ask this humbly in the name of Jesus, my Lord and blessed Savior, AMEN!
**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.

Nuggets From God's Word

Tag: Bible