Tag: Brand new

Redeemer

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

DATE POSTED Thursday, 2022-06-30
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Ruth 2:10-12
TRANSLATION: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

BIBLE TEXT: 10 Then Ruth bowed very low to the ground. She said to Boaz, “I am a foreigner, so I am surprised you even noticed me.”
11 Boaz answered her, “I know about all the help you have given to your mother-in-law Naomi. I know you helped her even after your husband died. And I know that you left your father and mother and your own country and came here to this country. You did not know anyone from this country, but you came here with Naomi. 12 The Lord will reward you for all the good things you have done. The Lord, the God of Israel, will pay you in full. You have come to him for safety, and he will protect you.”

APPLICATION: The book of Ruth is well known for the faithfulness of Ruth towards her mother-in-law, Naomi. This faithfulness developed in spite of Ruth’s husband, who was also Naomi’s son, being deceased. In those days, the the culture dictated that one of Naomi’s other sons would have married Ruth as part of his loyalty to his deceased brother, but there were no other sons. The remaining alternative would be that Ruth would return to her parents home until she would possibly date and marry again. But seeing that Naomi had also lost her husband and had no one to care for her, Ruth insisted on staying by her side to help her in every way possible. This included a move by Naomi back to her hometown of Judah. And despite Naomi’s insistence for Ruth to return to her parent’s home, Ruth was even more persistent to accompany Naomi and care for her for as long as she could. Besides the move to a strange land, Ruth was a Moabite by birth, and the Jews despised the Moabites. However this did not stop Ruth from trying in every way to support her mother-in-law. In trying to seek self help, Ruth tried being a gleaner in a nearby farm. She was surprised to see how well the farm owner cared about her – a foreigner and a stranger. For you and I, we might approach Jesus, the owner of all land here on earth, as a sinner, or a foreigner. After all, imagine approaching Jesus, the One who was perfect in every way, and whose teachings we may have ignored for years. However, having created us in His own image, and having died on a cruel cross for the forgiveness of our sins, I discern that Jesus sees no ‘foreigners’ or ‘strangers’ but rather a lost child without hope for a perfect Heaven to be with his/her Maker. Boaz was considered a ‘redeemer’ to Naomi and Ruth. Jesus is our ‘Redeemer’ for He is the only means of redeeming the ugliness and bitterness of our sin. Boaz never looked on Ruth for what her background was. In spite of our sin and separation from God, yet all He sees a gold mine in us when we seek Him, find Him, and ask Him to forgive our sin. Love came natural for Boaz, and even more so for Jesus when He looks on us. Dear friend, Just as Boaz accepted Ruth and ordered every blessing on her, so will Jesus accept you and redeem you of your sin, for He died and rose again, so that He could be your Savior and Lord, just as He is for me. Ruth sought help for she and her mother-in-law and she met their savior/redeemer (Boaz). I trust that you will not sit idly by and ignore the perfect Son of God – our Savior and Redeemer (Jesus)!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Jesus knows all about our good works and He also knows our hearts. He will reward us for coming to Him for safety and protection!

PRAYER: Thank You Jesus for watching over Your children and being so accepting of us in spite of our sin. Thank You for forgiveness of our sin. We acknowledge that You are the only One capable of forgiving our sins and loving us in spite of all the mean and hateful things we did prior to accepting Your lordship. Ruth was accepted by Boaz in spite of her background. Praise God that we become new creatures when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Please Lord, soften the hearts of those who will read this devotional today, but still living like the world. May each one find Jesus today – our eternal hope! 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!

Want To Be Brand New

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

DATE POSTED Saturday, 2021-10-16
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: 1 Samuel 10:9-12
TRANSLATION: The Message (MSG)

BIBLE TEXT: 9 Saul turned and left Samuel. At that very moment God transformed him—made him a new person! And all the confirming signs took place the same day.
10-12 When Saul and his party got to Gibeah, there were the prophets, right in front of them! Before he knew it, the Spirit of God came on Saul and he was prophesying right along with them. When those who had previously known Saul saw him prophesying with the prophets, they were totally surprised. “What’s going on here? What’s come over the son of Kish? How on earth did Saul get to be a prophet?”…..

APPLICATION: There are times that we seem to think that we have reached our capacity in our abilities, and when that happens we become unusable for advancing technologies, improvements to processes and everything in between. I recently shared a devotional of how exciting it was to read about how God brought Samuel and Saul together, and how He gave Samuel step by step details about how he and Saul would meet, and what he was supposed to say and do to Saul. In our Scripture today we are seeing some of these things materialize. Saul couldn’t see the reason to chat with Samuel about his lost donkeys, but to his surprise there was a whole lot more going on than he could ever anticipate. Samuel not only knew about his donkeys, but he had already prepared food, knowing that Saul will be visiting with him, and dining with him. Like most of us before we meet Christ, we seem to wander around with our own agendas and unsure of what might be our next adventure. Saul seemed to have entered Samuel’s presence somewhat like that, but the Bible says that as he turned to obey what Samuel had told him, God got a hold of him and changed his heart. Just as a lost person coming to Christ makes a 180 degree change in direction, so did Saul. The people were in shock to hear Saul join with the priests and prophesy. Saul was just not known for that type of relationship with God. Friends, I believe that you could identify with Saul and the crowd who witnessed his change, especially if you have also made the monumental change of redirecting your life from an eternal destiny in Hell, to that of now headed to heaven, and eternity with the Father and the Son. If you are in shock about the change in Saul, then perhaps you have not asked Jesus Christ to enter your heart and place you on a brand new path. God created us to not only worship Him, as our Creator and Savior, but He longs for the day for us to live eternally in heaven with He and the Father. We could read about the change that transpired in Saul’s life. I pray that you will seek after a relationship with Jesus Christ, so that all those in your circle of influence will also witness the change that transpires in your life. God will also make you a brand new man/woman!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I thank You for not only making such an awesome change in Saul’s life, but for also doing the same in my life. I am blessed to be called Your child, and privileged to call on You when I am in need. Lord I adore You for who You are, and for all that You do in my life. Just as you made Saul a brand new man, I pray that You will help me to always seek Your face and the blessings You have in store for me, as You make me anew each day. I pray that You will speak gently with my readers and listeners and seek to make them anew as well. I pray that they will hear Your voice and accept Your call on their life. May they, in turn, be a blessing to all those around them, so that You might receive honor and glory from many. 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!

A Brand New You

On By Ed AlgreenIn Changed, Dedicated, RevivalLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   Ephesians 4:22-24 (ERV)

TEXT:  22 You were taught to leave your old self. This means that you must stop living the evil way you lived before. That old self gets worse and worse, because people are fooled by the evil they want to do. 23 You must be made new in your hearts and in your thinking. 24 Be that new person who was made to be like God, truly good and pleasing to him.

OBSERVATION:   Paul recognized that many of those he had led to the Lord were still living their same old lifestyles as before they were saved. Our verses today helped his church get back on track, and I believe that it will also help us to be all that God has called us to be.

APPLICATION:   In today’s society, if a lady goes out and has her hair, fingernails and toenails done, and then come out of her bedroom all decked out in a new dress, we would know right away that she is going somewhere important, because she looks like a totally different lady than what you saw working in her yard yesterday. However, Paul is not talking about physical appearances, but instead about much deeper changes that occur in a person’s life. Changes that impact attitude; speech; willingness to help others; or speaking the truth in love. These are the types of changes that others will recognize as a change in you, without you having to tell them why you are so different today vs yesterday. I’m sure you heard the old adage, what goes in contributes to what comes out. In your old life, no doubt you enjoyed the things of this world, so your life was filled with its actions, attitudes and even its words. I believe that many of those things might be offensive to the Holy Spirit that now resides inside of you. Have you done something about that? God has provided His Word to us, so that we might not only have the best reading material in the world, but it is also our guide throughout this life; our encouragement as we reflect on the many scenarios where Jesus helped folk just like us thru issues just like ours; It is filled with example after example of how Jesus responded to various circumstances, and how His miracles encourage us that the same God of yesteryear is also the same God that we serve today! God has also opened up an avenue for us to have conversation with Him and to bring our needs and concerns to Him. In His Word, God spoke of His church and the importance of the church to Him. Mankind has formed many churches, so I would encourage you to connect with a good Bible Teaching and Preaching church near you, so that you may share in all that God is blessing you with, and in turn be blessed by all that God is blessing others with. Friends, let me encourage you to always chat with God about what you are doing or saying. Allow Him to help you control your life, so that the fruit of the Spirit may be evident in your life, that would result in God receiving all the glory and honor from all that you do or say!

PRAYER:   Lord, I believe it is harder for us to live in a way that mirrors Your attitude and actions today, than it was for the Ephesian church, because of all that is thrown at us by social media, television and other social events. Please prompt us to always seek Your will for our lives, and to try and determine what You would have done in various scenarios. Lord we want to bring glory to You, and we want our lives to reflect You in every way. We need You to help us be that kind of Christian, please? 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 Sebring, 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!