Tag: Chosen

A Glorious Life That Never Ends!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Love of God, SalvationLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – 2 Timothy 1:9-10): 9 God saved us and chose us to be his holy people. We did nothing to deserve this, but God planned it because he is so kind. Even before time began God planned for Christ Jesus to show kindness to us. 10 Now Christ Jesus has come to show us the kindness of God. Christ our Savior defeated death and brought us the good news. It shines like a light and offers life that never ends.

THOUGHTS: From the time we think about having children we begin to dream and plan for all that we would like for them to be, and how much better we want them to do in life than we were ever able to do. But have you ever stopped to think that the Creator of you and I did the same for us? Wow! What an awesome God we serve! What an awesome thought for all who are considering accepting Jesus as Lord today! From the time we were formed in our mother’s womb, God loved us and had a plan for us. I love that song “He Knows my Name“, because in the lyrics of that beautiful song I am reminded that I am not here through any accident, and in spite of all that might take place in my life, I know that the same God who created me is the One who watches over me each day, loves me to the point that He sacrificed His only Son to die for me and thus provided the path for me to eternity in heaven. Whom then shall I fear? Why would I become discouraged when this evil world impacts my life in one way or another? This old earth is just my temporary quarters, with brothers and sisters who might choose to love me, or despise me, but my time here is limited! My goal is to love you like Jesus does, and to live my life in dedication to Him as I anxiously await His return to take me to my eternal home in heaven with Him! To quote a worldly saying for this heavenly joy of which I speak, I might say – ‘that’s what I’m talking about’!!! So friends, I want to encourage you today to slow down from the hustle and bustle of this busy life, and allow these words to soak in, penetrate your heart, and encourage you to live for Jesus, if you have already accepted Him as Lord. If you have yet to make the best decision of your life and receive Jesus as Lord, please don’t delay your decision, for my desire is to see you happy in the Lord today and throughout eternity with us in heaven! For help on how to go about the simple act of receiving Jesus, please refer to the ‘Footnote’. Drop a note to me so that I can pray with you, and for you. Jesus loves you, friend, and so do I!

PRAYER: Father, Your love is beyond anything mankind can imagine, and exceeds anything we are capable of understanding. You created this earth in such a way that Your kids would enjoy it and reap great benefits from it. You created us in Your own image for the purpose of worshiping You and declaring Your glory each and every day. In giving us a choice to accept this beautiful life offered by You through Your Son Jesus, I believe You wanted us to consciously recognize Your great love and have reason to worship You at every opportunity. Thank You for working in my heart to draw me to the vital decision to accept You as Lord of my life! Thank You for not giving up on me! I plead with You to please make me more effective in witnessing for You, and that You also touch each and every life that reads this devotional today. For those of us that have accepted Jesus, may we be encouraged by Your Word today and serve the purpose for which You have placed us here today. For those who have yet to accept Jesus, may Your Word bring encouragement to them, that will lead to a life changing decision to surrender their life to You. Thank You for creating us, providing for us, accepting us and loving us way beyond anything we deserve. I ask all this with deep respect for Your power and Your wonderful love for me, and I ask it in the 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!

God Chose Even You!

On By Ed AlgreenIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

I’m sure that you’ve heard the story of my earlier life when I lived in the Jewish way. In those days I went all out in persecuting God’s church. I was systematically destroying it. I was so enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and shoulders above my peers in my career. Even then God had designs on me. Why, when I was still in my mother’s womb he chose and called me out of sheer generosity! Now he has intervened and revealed his Son to me so that I might joyfully tell non-Jews about him.

(Bible Translation and Location: The Message – Galatians 1:13-16)

Thoughts:

When we recognize quality Christian leadership in a child today, and we happen to know that he is the son of a church leader, we almost instinctively whisper to our spouse, or friend, “there goes our next pastor”, right? However, have you ever been inspired to earmark a child for a future pastorate who may cause the worst problems in his school or is a terror in church, and possibly a mother’s nightmare? In these verses, Paul reminds us that we should never give up on a child, and might I dare say on an adult. You see, Paul (or Saul, as he was known in his previous life of sin) was every pastor’s nightmare, because he was dreaded by their church members for the evil and persecution that he brought to towns where he located himself. And it was in this setting that God chose Saul/Paul to become a follower of His, and to use those leadership and evangelistic qualities to serve God and not the opposing team leader, Satan. We read in scripture how Paul became quite the success for God’s ministry both to the early church, and to us through the many New Testament books that he authored. So let’s bring this into perspective. What type of evil is it that you are involved in for which you have been trying to convince God that He could never love and/or accept you? Who is that person that you have given up hope on, and that you have been trying to convince everyone about, that they are a ‘nobody’? When someone is at their worst, and we have totally given up on them, could God possibly reel them in, convict them of their sin, and use them to be a great leader for Him? Based on what we know about Paul, I believe that we can be encouraged to know that yes, God can convict even the chief of sinners, turn their lives around and use them for His ultimate glory! Think about it Christian, God chose even you and I while we were yet sinners, acting and looking quite the contrast compared to His perfection. Let’s not under-sell the future possibilities for that Brother or Sister that we have been praying for. God’s not dead and still very much in control of this world! Let’s trust Him for the possibilities He sees in us, not just the ones that we can see or imagine with our own eyes!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to thank You for seeing me for more than I deserved to be. Although not a murderer or criminal, yet my life was terrible amiss compared to the perfection that You had set before me in Your Word. Praise God, You saw me as a creation of Yours with the possibility of accepting You and serving You. In spite of this miracle in my life, and I’m sure in the lives of many of my readers, yet we still look on others and write them off, instead of witnessing to them about the love of Jesus that is also available to them. Please forgive me Lord for not seeing the possibilities that others can become, with You as their Guide and personal Savior. Please teach us to see others as You see them: sinners who, after being touched by Your hand, can become prime ministers of Yours to use their energies to reach the remained unsaved family and friends who also need You. Father, You are awesome, and I thank You for being such a forgiving, loving God! Please hear my prayer and answer within the confines of Your perfect will, for I ask this in the name of Jesus, Your Son, 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!