The Best Employees

On 2015-08-172015-08-17 By Ed AlgreenIn Christian Principles, Honesty, WorkplaceLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Easy-To-Read Version – Colossians 3:22-24): ²² Servants, obey your masters in everything. Obey all the time, even when they can’t see you. Don’t just pretend to work hard so that they will treat you well. No, you must serve your masters honestly because you respect the Lord.²³ In all the work you are given, do the best you can. Work as though you are working for the Lord, not any earthly master. ²⁴ Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, who will give you what he promised his people. Yes, you are serving Christ. He is your real Master.

THOUGHTS: In searching for the best employees for their place of business, most employers will look for the same principles that the Christian upholds in being a person of the Word and a child of the King. In being the best employee possible, Christians/we are to first follow the principles taught to us by our King in His holy Word. We are to recognize that even though we can get away with certain things because our earthly bosses may not be able to track our locations and/or our work every minute of every day, yet we serve a God who can. If we were living according to ‘code’, and I’m talking about the code set out for us in God’s Word, then I believe that employers will be fighting for their Human Resources folk to hire staff with such high moral and ethical principles. So for those reading this devotional who may not identify with what I am referring to, let me give you just a couple principles that you should find in Christian workers: 1). There should be no worries about stealing, because we are taught by God that we are not to take something that belongs to another person without them offering it to us. Now this will pertain to physical things and such things as time – for if we are expected to work 8 hours per day, our employer should never have to check on us to see if we are giving them an honest 8 hours of work; 2). Honesty – some of this would be reflected in #1, but this characteristic also extends into trusting what we say and what we do. There should never be any doubt as to whether we are totally sincere in what we do or say, that we have the best interest of God at heart and our employer and his/her business. Now, will every Christian be perfect at these things and others that you might relate to the teachings of God’s Word? Probably not perfect, because the only perfect one is Jesus. However, should you recognize imperfection in the character of those claiming Christ as their Savior, may I encourage you to bring this to their attention? Satan has a way of working on Christians hard enough that he tries to make them feel like their wrongs become right if left unchecked long enough. You will help them return to the cross and seek God’s forgiveness for straying from His ideals. Christians, we work as for the Lord, let us be counted worthy by Him in all that we do and say – especially on our jobs.

PRAYER: As representatives of Yours, Oh God, we have our banner of expectations lifted high and we must live our lives pleasing to You not only at church, not only in the presence of other Christians, not only before our employers who might expect us to live differently, but especially before the lost world that we interface with every day, for they are looking to see what is different about us and what impact our proclaimed Savior is having on our lives that might be different to theirs. We don’t want to be hypocritical, but rather totally honest in our dealings with others. Because we know that Satan is rampant and will make every effort to distract us and have us look and live like his, then we must be all the more earnest in seeking Your strength, Your power and Your daily direction to look, live and act like children of God. Please especially help us to be great representatives in our workplace so that our bosses might recognize the differences and rejoice in the difference our God makes in the lives of His children. We need You dear Father to be our constant guide, our reminder and the means by which we can live differently – pleasing to You. I ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, and with thanksgiving and praise, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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 www.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!

The Best Rewards Program!

On 2015-08-062015-08-06 By Ed AlgreenIn Heaven, Rewards, SalvationLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Revelation 14:13): From now on, the Lord will bless everyone who has faith in him when they die.” The Spirit answered, “Yes, they will rest from their hard work, and they will be rewarded for what they have done.”

THOUGHTS: In the credit card world, folks will do whatever is needed to obtain rewards. I heard recently of one person applying for several cards just to check out their rewards program! I believe that many Christians are just extremely thankful that God got a hold of us, convicted us of our sin and loved us enough to forgive us of our sin, that seldom do we think of the rewards that are ours when we see Jesus. There are a few rewards not mentioned here: Imagine leaving this world of sin, hatred and envy to enter a new heaven with Jesus and His Father, our God! Imagine there being no more dying, no more pain or heartache! Imagine a crime-free place and a place where there will be no clock to watch for event after event and distraction after distraction! Now included in this verse are a few things that need our close attention. First of all, notice that the blessing is reserved for those who have faith in Jesus. Know that God made the ultimate sacrifice of sending His Son to us – Jesus born miraculously to Mary. Know that God allowed Him to die a cruel death on a cross, so that the shedding of His blood might be a constant reminder to us of His sacrifice for us. Be reminded though, that Jesus rose victoriously from the dead so that we might know that our God’s not dead, and that we serve a risen Lord! Know that one day we will unite with Jesus in heaven! In this verse we are reminded that the Lord will bless those who have faith in what I just described and have accepted Jesus as Lord and personal Savior! Secondly we are reminded that we will rest from our hard work and receive a reward for all we have done. Friends, this is a great indication that after we accept Jesus as Lord, we are not to just sit and sour, but to be active in the Lord’s work. Please don’t read into this that we are all to become pastors, although if you feel God tugging on your heart to become one, you must do everything to be obedient to His call. This is emphasizing that the faith that lives in us, must be expressed through us to others that we come into contact with. This is a natural part of a Christian’s life. Before Christ, we were not afraid to let the world know how sinful we could possibly be. After Christ, we need to have the same determination – show the world how awesome our Savior truly is. Introduce them to Him and convince them of their need for our Savior. On earth, we love being rewarded for our hard work. This verse reminds us that in heaven we will be rewarded for our hard kingdom work while we were on earth. Are you bursting with anticipation? We should all be filled with excitement as we wait for that day!

PRAYER: Father God, what a blessed people we are, for the creator of this universe to love us so amazingly and to not only prepare the way for us to overcome this sinful world, but for us to know without a shadow of a doubt that our future home is awaiting us and filled with rewards! Wow! Oh what a Savior! Please help us to overlook the trials today, and allow us to reflect the joy that is ours in knowing Jesus! May You be able to work through even us today in the lives of those that we come into contact with. Have Your way in and through us dear Lord, for I ask this in the precious name of Jesus, and for His sake, AMEN!

What Goodness Is

On 2015-08-052015-08-05 By Ed AlgreenIn Fairness, Humility, Kindness, Loyalty, ObedienceLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Easy-To-Read Version – Micah 6:6-8): ⁶ What must I bring when I come to meet with the Lord? What must I do when I bow down to God above? Should I come to him with burnt offerings and a year-old calf? ⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Should I offer him my first child to pay for my wrongs? Should I sacrifice my very own child for my sins? ⁸ Human, the Lord has told you what goodness is. This is what he wants from you: Be fair to other people. Love kindness and loyalty, and humbly obey your God.

THOUGHTS: One commentary said that verse 8 relays the meaning of ‘spiritual reality’ compared to mere ‘ritual worship’. I believe that helps me to understand what God was saying through Micah here. Weekly we see where thousands of people attend church, but in our experience with them throughout the week, we see unchanged lives – seldom do they exude the love of Jesus in every way through every phase of their lives? Micah chose to expose some of the things that the Israelites brought to the temple, or shared in normal conversation, when describing how they thought they could please God or seek His forgiveness, or just to get right with God. Micah explained that it was not necessary to reinvent what God had already made clear to them. Friends, I believe these words are extremely applicable to us today also, for some of us may feel like our church attendance makes us right with God, or perhaps the offering we give, or perhaps the way we express ourselves over right vs wrong. However, what God relayed through His prophet in verse 8 are some very simple and basic things:

Be fair to other people – Try to understand others. Appreciate where they might be coming from in their thoughts and their actions. Never think that you have all the answers to everyone else’s wrongs. Think about them like God thinks of us – we may be unworthy, but He loved us enough to sacrifice His one and only Son so that we may stand a chance at eternity with Him;
Love kindness and loyalty – This involves being kind to those that Jesus loves. This may involve folk that appear to hate your guts or despise what you believe or stand for. This may involve folk who live totally different to the way you do. But imagine, if you can live beyond what they expect, how will you prove that you are any different to them? Be loyal as if you were serving the King, not just enough to get by in the eyes of those that might observe you.
Humbly obey the Lord – Set pride and personal aspirations aside and obey what the Master desires of you. Humility means emptying yourself of self and refilling yourself with God. I love that old hymn normally sung as an invitation – “I surrender all”, for I feel like my life should be in a constant state of surrendering all of me to all of God.

Anything you need to work on friend? Anything that will help you enhance your spiritual reality while here on earth? Examine yourself and decide to surrender all to Jesus today. When you do, refill yourself with the attributes of God so that He might be able to use you even more while here on earth.

PRAYER: Lord God, Your Word is all powerful and very applicable to our lives today. I therefore believe that You placed this scripture before me today to enhance my walk with You, and to use this blog to help others to also recognize where their strength lies, and the direction that you would have them go in order to become more like You in the eyes of those that they will witness to today. This old world needs Jesus, and we only get in the way when we try to give them more of ourselves. We need to be an open book that Jesus can fill and use its pages to speak to the unsaved. Lord, please have Your perfect way in our imperfect lives, so that the miracle of rebirth might occur in the lives of all that we will touch today. I ask all this in the precious and life-giving name of Jesus, AMEN!

How to Hear From God

On 2015-08-032015-08-03 By Ed AlgreenIn Obedience, RelationshipLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Century Version – Job 33:12-14): ¹² … God is greater than we are. ¹³ Why do you accuse God of not answering anyone? ¹⁴ God does speak—sometimes one way and sometimes another— even though people may not understand it.

THOUGHTS: I believe that one of the most challenging things we face today is very similar to what Old Testament folk faced in the days of Job, and that is, our claim to silence from God when we need Him. For Christians, I believe that we often feel like we have a puppet who must respond every time we tell God what to do. For non-Christians, I believe most feel like there is a God and that He should be available to even them, in spite of their distance from Him in all other aspects of their life. Friends, I believe that we must first be reminded of who created us and who is the only one that not only knows what we are going through, but also knows what will result in our lives at a later time. Furthermore, we must be reminded of who actually runs this universe. Let’s remember that the sun doesn’t just rise on a whim. The ocean tides do not just occur based on a timer set by some super scientist somewhere, but is intricately controlled by the Master who created the waters and decided how sea life would best survive with moving waters. Now, for a moment just think about mankind, knowing that God created us in His likeness, don’t you know that He is also concerned about our well-being and our ultimate happiness? Don’t you know that God is there with outstretched hands waiting to receive us when we call on Him? I know, you cry out to Him all the time, right? Well, as I indicated above He is not a puppet. So for you to hear from Him and commune with Him you must first of all recognize Him as God and develop a relationship with Him. This can be done through daily Bible study, and/or becoming intimately involved in a local church. In other words, draw close to Him and allow Him to draw close to you. Ways that you would hear from God would be through prayer; Bible study; a God inspired sermon; a God inspired Christian Brother or Sister; circumstances in your life, etc. God has proven His love for you and will continue to love on you and direct your path, if you give Him control and let Him have His way in your life.

PRAYER: Lord God, we have drifted so far away from You and into doing so much of life our own way, on our own time, and with no one’s help. Yet when things come to a screeching halt, we often feel like we could conveniently call on You. The trouble is, we have drifted so far away from You that we can’t hear Your response. I know that You are there Father, and I know that You hold all of the answers and the power to perform miracles much like the ones we read about in Your Word. I pray that my readers and I will draw close to You and build such relationships with You, that we will call on You in our times of need and in many times of praise and thanksgiving. I pray that we will develop such a relationship that we will clearly recognize Your voice and discern Your direction for our lives. Thank You for being my Master, my creator and my Lord! I ask these things in the wonderful and strong name of Jesus, AMEN!

The Extravagant, Generous, Deep Wisdom of God

On 2015-07-302015-07-30 By Ed AlgreenIn Humility, Praise, WisdomLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Romans 11:33-36): ^33-36 Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.

THOUGHTS: How Great is our God! Our God is an Awesome God! How Great Thou Art! Great and Mighty is the Lord our God! What a Mighty God We Serve! These are all great hymns/songs written and made popular because they remind us of the awesome God that we serve! Very often here in this life we feel like we can explain everything away. We have great knowledge and we have tremendous research capabilities with the internet. However, like we are reminded by Paul in this scripture today, there is so much that we just can’t explain about the awesomeness of our God. Think for a moment the sun that rises each day – it provides life for plants, yet its intensity is enough to give mankind skin cancer or a stroke. Think about the rain – this dry thirsty earth needs rain to grow its plants and even provide an ongoing supply of potable water, yet we have no control over when it comes, or what areas of the earth it impacts. It’s a ‘God’ thing! I just returned from an area of the world where they only receive a total of 8 – 10 inches of rain per year. Compare that to other areas that might receive that quantity of rain in a good day of rain. Yet, plants and people survive in both areas with what God provides for them. This is the ingenuity of my God! I believe that we must learn to adapt to the blessings that God bestows on us where we are at, for His ways are not our ways. He placed us perfectly where He needs us and we must learn to praise Him in all circumstances. In all of life’s circumstances, let us learn to give God praise. It is evidence that we trust Him to do His job perfectly!

PRAYER: Father, You are awesome in every way. You provide the things that we need when we need them. Please forgive us when we try to intervene, instead of praising You from hearts of thanksgiving and appreciation. Please be especially good today to those who have sacrificed everything, to serve those who have nothing, because they want to allow Your love to be expressed through them and draw the unsaved unto Yourself. Please tender the hearts of Your children who are spoiled because of all the blessings You bestow on us, yet we find reason to whine and complain. May this devotional today be a reminder of Your mighty and wonderful impact on our lives, and may we therefore learn to be a thankful people filled with hearts of thanksgiving and praise. Only You are worthy Oh Lord. May we learn to recognize that and glorify You every day for allowing us to be a part of that! I ask all this in the strong and awesome name of Jesus Christ, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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, pleas.e go to www.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 Personal God!

On 2015-07-292015-07-29 By Ed AlgreenIn PersonalLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Isaiah 43:2-4): “Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end— Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you:

THOUGHTS: It seems like we are in very dire times where we often feel like we are in way over our heads – whether it’s finances, health issues, family issues, work challenges or just coping with everyday life. I was extremely happy to be reminded of the awesome love, power and overwhelming concern my heavenly Father has for even me, when I read these verses today. Friends, just imagine:

I’ve been redeemed by the King of all kings;
He has personalized our relationship to the extent that He calls me by name and reassured me that I am His!
I am assured that even when I feel like I am in over my head that He is there with me!
At times when it seems like the waters are rough and I struggle to see light at the end of the tunnel, God assures me that I will not go down, for my hand rests in the hand of the Rock of all ages! My Strength and my everlasting Guide. My Savior and my Lord! No worries about hitting a dead end!

Friends, I am reassured in the latter part of these verses that because God paid such a huge price for me, I can rest assured that He has my back and that I am in good hands. You can have this same assurance friend. Contact me using the information in the Footnote and allow me to introduce you to my Friend! My Master and my personal God!

PRAYER: Oh what a Savior, oh hallelujah! Thank You Father for loving me enough that You’ve allowed me to have a personal relationship with You, the designer and maker of this entire universe. Wow, who am I that a King would die and live for? I am so thankful that You drew me to You and rescued me from a world of sin – pointing me instead towards the joys of heaven and eternity with You in heaven. There is nothing more that I can live for Jesus! Thank You for the cross and for the joys of heaven that is mine, because of all that You did for me. Please touch the lives of all that will read this devotional today. May they also find joy in serving You and drawing closer to You every day. I ask all this in the awesome and powerful name of Jesus, AMEN!

Instruments To Be Used of God

On 2015-07-292015-07-29 By Ed AlgreenIn Humility, Instruments, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Romans 11:16-18): ^16-18 Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there’s bound to be some holy fruit. Some of the tree’s branches were pruned and you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren’t feeding the root; the root is feeding you.

THOUGHTS: The scripture that includes the verses above is rich, for it reminds me that I must be careful that my faith and trust is so grounded in God that my life is a reflection of all that God shows Himself to be in His Word. I’ve heard folk say that a child is a branch off the old tree – meaning that the child reminds them so much of the parents that one can’t help knowing who the child belongs to. Friends, there is a God who loves us unconditionally and with such great love that He sacrificed His only Son for our benefit. When we surrender our lives to God and ask Him to be our God, and to live and work in and through us, we essentially ask Him to plant Himself steadfastly in us so that our lives might be a true reflection of Him. Paul explains in these verses that God is able to implant within us His Holy Spirit to guide and direct us – to make us holy – just as He is holy. However, we are immediately warned that when we recognize this added strength and wisdom, we are to never lose sight of where that new character comes from. It is the root, or strength of the Almighty that lives within us, and nothing that we ourselves can boast of. Friends, I believe that there is nothing more obvious to a non-Christian than a fake, or self-serving Christian living life in their own pride. We are what we become, only through the grace of God, and only because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Let us therefore learn to boast only of Him and give Him the glory for any accomplishments in and through our lives. It is only through the precious fruit that He implants in us and magnifies through us that result in our unsaved friends recognizing the source of our hope. It’s all about Jesus, friend. He is the root that supports our strength and feeds our growth. It’s Jesus that our unsaved friends need, not us. I pray that we will continue to be vehicles in which Jesus can travel as we come into contact with our friends and loved ones.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, Israel may have gotten cocky because of the manifold mercies You bestowed on them. I recognize that we may tend to get like that at times also, because for some reason we may feel like we have the power to save or touch lives that really need You. Thank You for reminding us through this scripture today, that we are only the branches that are plugged into the most powerful source available to mankind – the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ! Please help us to never boast of self, for we are nothing without our power source – Your sweet Holy Spirit. Please help us to always be available to be used of You, and never assume the leadership role hoping that You will jump on board our vehicle. Miracles, like that of new birth in the lives of our family and friends, will only be possible when You touch their lives, so please help us to take our rightful roles as Your instruments that can only work when the Master chooses to use us for His glory and His honor. People Need the Lord more today than ever before. May we be usable instruments in Your hands oh Lord. I ask this in faith and in the awesome and strong name of Jesus, AMEN!

Justice, Fairness and Righteousness

On 2015-07-272015-07-27 By Ed AlgreenIn Righteousness, Things God lovesLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Amos 5:21-24): ^21–24 “I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.

THOUGHTS: I have just returned from a trip into another world, it seems, so I hope that my view on the scripture that really spoke to me this morning will not be too slanted! It was good to step back from our busy world and enjoy the peace, obscurity, simplicity and humbleness of all that God provides for us, if only for a week. Yes, we missed the conveniences and pleasures of this world and all that we are blessed with in our modern world. However, after being reminded by Amos in this scripture today about how God must feel when we feel obligated to provide everything that our world demands, just so that they might listen to the gospel message, then I wonder how much of God we must truly portray to the world. In these few verses, God not only said what He was displeased with, but He also told us what would really make Him pleased: Oceans of justice; Rivers of fairness and a true, honest, one-on-one, heartfelt song to the Master. Sounds fairly simple right? Sounds like something we do almost every day, but at least once a week during our church service, right? Friends, I believe that God is just as anxious today, as He ever was, to hear from us personally with our praise and worship and not just to raise our hands and voices in worship when asked to do so by our worship leader. Think for a moment how thought provoking it is to prepare a day of celebration for a loved one’s birthday or anniversary, yet how little thought we put into preparing for our daily worship of God, or even our weekly corporate worship time. Yes, we really put time into planning what we will wear to church, but do we stop to ponder what all God has blessed us with during the week so that we might truly look full into His wonderful face and just worship Him with a thankful heart? One translation includes ‘righteousness’ (right-with-God) as a characteristic in verse 24 that God is looking for in His people. May I suggest that as we look for justice in God’s form, fairness in His example and righteousness sampled after His righteousness, that we will have no trouble lifting up holy hands and hearts in worship to our King in a manner acceptable to Him?

PRAYER: Lord God, You alone are holy, just, fair and righteous. You have blessed us with so much and shown us how to live this life imitating Your characteristics in every way, yet we so easily allow this world to sway our thoughts, our character and even our appreciation of You. Please forgive us for straying so far away from Your ideals and the example You set for us. Please help us to return to the basics of what You have taught us, what You have exampled for us and what You expect from us – as detailed in Your Word. May we learn to be more like You every day and in every way, is my humble prayer that I ask in the precious and holy name of Jesus, AMEN!

The Tender Compassionate Love of Our Father

On 2015-07-182015-07-18 By Ed AlgreenIn Accountability, AppreciationLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Hosea 11:3-5): ³ I took Israel by the arm and taught them to walk. But they would not admit that I was the one who had healed them. ⁴ I led them with kindness and with love, not with ropes. I held them close to me; I bent down to feed them. ⁵ But they trusted Egypt instead of returning to me; now Assyria will rule them.

THOUGHTS: I believe that one of the most antagonizing things that a parent can experience is: after bringing a child up in the fear of the Lord, loving that child and teaching them to honor and respect mankind, giving them an education to help them succeed in life, then for you to stand by and watch them throw it all to the wind and lead a life of crime, or unconcern for their fellow man. Imagine what that does to a parent. Imagine how God must feel when considering that He went the ultimate step of sacrificing His own life for our benefit, yet we brush it all aside and do our own thing without any regard for His reason for blessing us in unimaginable ways – His deep, sincere, unconditional love for us. This is what it sounds like Hosea was referring to in this scripture today, for God blessed Israel and then blessed her over and over again. In verse 4 I can picture how an earthly father would show only endless love for his child, and not in any way punish or revenge his child for the times they turned against him. Why at every opportunity, the dad would hold that dear child close to him, bend down so he could look the child in their eyes and feed them. Loads of evidence that not only earthly fathers pour out love for their children, but also a very clear indication that God’s love is at an even greater level. How are we doing in acknowledging the love of our heavenly Father? Do we show appreciation for His love by trying to be obedient followers, and by loving our earthly brothers and sisters in like form? Or are we as bad as Israel, in that we have learned nothing from their experience? Are we still as obstinate as they were? Are we OK with receiving the judgment of God that will ultimately be forthcoming for those who reject God and/or show total disregard for His Word and His commands? Friends, I want to encourage you to accept this precious love of our Father today. I want you to know without a shadow of doubt that He loves you just as much as expressed by Hosea in this scripture today. He will meet your needs, He will meet you wherever you are in life and He will feed you, if hungry; He will encourage you, if discouraged; He will be your constant guide, if you feel you are floundering; He will love you when you feel like no one else does. This is what He sacrificed His only dear Son for friend. Run to His open arms today. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sin and total disregard for His love and sacrifice, and invite Him to be your Savior, Lord, King and eternal guide. Just make His day friend, and of course, make your everlasting eternity secure in Jesus!

PRAYER: Father, You showed such awesome love to Your chosen people of Israel, and we are thankful that we got to hear about and meditate on that awesome love today. We are also aware of that same unexplainable, unconditional, unending love for us, because we know ‘more of the story’, and the sacrifice You allowed on Calvary by Your very own Son, Jesus. Thank You Lord for Your Blessings on Me! Please touch this child with a desire to return that love through my obedience to You and through my love and service to others. Lord there’s a day coming when I’ll be presented to You. May my other readers striving to live this life of which I refer here, join me at Your throne and be blessed to hear “well done good and faithful servant”. Here on earth we call that ‘accountability’, Lord may we live our lives knowing that we are accountable to You, the King of all kings, the Savior of this world! I ask these things in the beautiful, strong and awesome name of Jesus, AMEN!

PLEASE NOTE: I will be out of town on a mission trip to be of service to our friends in Mexico during the week of July 19^th. I will not be able to publish these devotionals during that time. Please pray that God will use His servants, our group of 30, so that His children in this foreign land might be encouraged and drawn to Him through our honest and sincere representation of our Savior. May God be glorified in all things through our witness! I expect to resume these devotionals on Monday, July 27^th.

Be Faithful Until The End

On 2015-07-102015-07-10 By Ed AlgreenIn Faithful, Obedience, The EndLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Revelation 2:25-27): ²⁵ But until I come, you must hold firmly to the teaching you have. ²⁶ I will give power over the nations to everyone who wins the victory and keeps on obeying me until the end. ²⁷ I will give each of them the same power that my Father has given me.

THOUGHTS: My daily devotional scripture plan takes me into the depths of the Old Testament and into the light and glory of the New Testament. Often it amazes me how God uses the Old Testament reading to tie into the reading in the New Testament! Today was one of those cases, for I highlighted Daniel 12:13 because I was touched by God telling Daniel not to be overly concerned about everything that he saw in his visions, but to “be faithful until the end! You will rest, and at the end of time, you will rise from death to receive your reward”. Moving then to the New Testament reading I saw in verse 25 of Revelation 2, that until Jesus returns to take us home with Him, we are to hold firmly to the teachings given to us. In other words, be faithful until the end. Friends, please be careful, for these are times that Satan is trying every distraction in his book of tricks to derail Christians. He can’t stand the idea of us influencing his team of unbelievers in Christ. I believe that if God is concerned enough about us being faithful to Him until the end, them He must be concerned that there will be many things that will distract us along the way. Can you think of a few right off the top? Political views and stands is a huge distractor for the Christian, as we are taught in the secular world, and even the church, that we should vote and be a part of the decision making for our respective countries. Very important stand, but how can we remain faithful to the Word of God even among the filth and dirt that stigmatizes politicians? How can we take a stand in politics, yet remain neutral so that we can promote God to everyone that needs Him, regardless of what side of the fence they stand on in politics? This is just one of many issues that come along and often places a divide in God’s church and totally distracts the needed trust for us to be a witness to ALL that we come into contact with. Many of the other distractors you may have given thought to, might be equally as destructive. My take on the verse in Daniel, and the verses in Revelation is that we are to remain faithful in our relationship with God and hold firmly to His teachings. Everything else that occupies our minds, our hearts and our busy lives, are all distractors. Only God can change this sinful world, we are called to serve Him, obey Him and worship Him, not to do His job in trying to change the world. Let’s be careful that we remain faithful until the Master comes!

PRAYER: Dear God, I am so thankful that You gave of Yourself so that I might look forward to life eternally with You! I thank You for Your Word and how applicable it is to our lives right now. You knew that distractions would come our way, so You placed warnings in Your Word so that we might be alerted to these distractions. You have not only shown us how to best deal with these distractions, but You have also made promises about our rewards, if we remain faithful to You. My readers and I live in a world where there are so many distractions. I know that this is not a secret to You, but we need You Lord. We want to remain faithful, even though there are times that we must take a stand based on the values You have taught us. Please help us to never destroy our witness, because I believe that You would always want us to promote and lift up the name of Jesus with a clear conscience and without the possibility of having a finger pointed back at us by those we should be witnessing to. You must be first in all we do. If in marriage – You must be first; If in parenting – You must be first; If in working secular jobs – You must be first; If involved in our community – it must be obvious that You are first in our lives; If there is a need for us to become involved in the leadership of our churches, city, state or country, then it must be obvious that we first represent You, and it is for Your sake, Your glory and Your agenda that we are involved/taking a stand. Please help us to always be conscious of this as we serve You, love You, worship You and lift You up each day. For I ask this in the deepest honor, and respect of You oh Lord, and in the precious name of Your Son Jesus, AMEN!

Nuggets From God's Word

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