Perseverance Pays Off

On 2015-07-162015-07-16 By Ed AlgreenIn Obedience, PerseveranceLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New International Version – James 1:12): ¹²Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

THOUGHTS: We hear about ‘fair weather’ Christians, where we find it very easy to praise God when we feel like everything is going our way. We also hear about ‘hard times’ Christians, for it is only then that many of us look up to God and truly seek His face. Friends, as I read this verse this morning I felt like God was saying that He will truly bless us and/or reward us if we stick with Him while He is blessing us with riches and good fortunes, or testing our faith through very tough times. There’s a song that has lyrics similar to this “if I never have a burden, how would I know that God can truly pull me through“. I believe that ‘to persevere’ is to be consistent and/or dedicated in spite of our circumstances. Imagine taking a road trip from one location to another. You don’t turn around and head back home if your car has a flat tire, instead you have your problem repaired and then you travel on to your destination. On those trips when you’ve travelled hundreds of miles and arrive without incident, hopefully you then take time to thank the Lord for safety and protection on the road. These types of scenarios are similar to those that we face each and every day, and indicative of our walk with the Lord. If you are not already a praising person, may I encourage you to learn to ask God to bless you each day! Ask Him to use you as His faithful witness here on planet earth and to bring glory to Him in all things. Don’t place any conditions on that, such as “if things go my way” or “if there’s no setbacks”. Learn to praise God (persevere) in all circumstances and look for the lessons that He is teaching you, or how He uses those circumstances to redirect you into His perfect will. Oh that we may learn to let go of self and let God have His perfect will in our lives. Let’s commit to honor God, worship Him, serve Him and follow Him in spite of our circumstances. Obeying God in every circumstance, no matter where He leads, is an important way of showing our love towards God for His rich blessings, protection, guidance and leadership. This scripture assures us that when we do this, we are sure to receive a crown that God has promised to all who love Him.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, thank You for Your love and Your assurance of being our Guide, our Protector and our Provider each and every day. Please give us strength and fortitude to let go of our selfish desires and self-will to do ‘our own thing’ instead of leaning on the everlasting arms of the One who created us and who knows what lies ahead for us and the ones we need to help. Lord, may we learn to be as instruments in Your hands so that You may accomplish Your will through us in every circumstance of life. We are appreciative of our promised reward, but Lord, may we be content in knowing that we are obedient followers of the One who has this whole world in His hands and under His control. We are Your children Lord. We love You and long to be obedient in following Your plan for our lives. I ask these things in faith and in the precious and all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving 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.

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!

Prepare for Praise and Worship!

On 2015-07-152015-07-15 By Ed AlgreenIn Heaven, Praise, Worship2 Comments

THE HOLY BIBLE (Contemporary English Version – Revelation 4:8-11): ⁸ …Day and night they never stopped singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, the all-powerful God, who was and is and is coming!” ⁹ The living creatures kept praising, honoring, and thanking the one who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever. ¹⁰ At the same time the twenty-four elders knelt down before the one sitting on the throne. And as they worshiped the one who lives forever, they placed their crowns in front of the throne and said, ¹¹ “Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. You created all things, and by your decision they are and were created.”

THOUGHTS: If we were to give advice to an Olympic swimmer hopeful, it would be that they practice, practice and practice some more, right? So what if you were to give advice to a Christian who might be questioning what they could do to best prepare themselves for their eternal home in heaven? God has shared the above verses with us to give us a glimpse of what it will look like in heaven, our eternal destination. It seems like our preparation might be along the lines of constant praise and worship, to the Lord in whom we have placed our total trust, while here on earth. So how could we possibly prepare for such an awesome time as that? Perhaps like the Olympian swimmer, we should aim at practicing this praise and worship while still here on earth, and like the swimmer would try to improve his/her time, we too should look for ways to draw closer to God and express that closeness through our increased effort to lift up our praise and worship to our King. I believe that if I asked most Christians if they do a fair job at praise and worship already, I would probably receive some ‘canned’ responses, such as “yep, I attend worship services every weekend, and we have the best praise team in town”, or “we don’t need praise and worship at our church because our pastor is such a phenomenal preacher – we can just sit and listen to him endlessly”. I wonder sometimes if our first misconception of praise and worship, is that it can only occur inside a specific building at a specific time. Isn’t it amazing how we believe God is on duty to handle our prayer requests 24/7/365, yet our praise and worship to this same God is limited to specific times and places? Here’s something that Matthew Henry shared on this passage: All true believers wholly ascribe their redemption and conversion, their present privileges and future hopes, to the eternal and most holy God. Thus rise the for-ever harmonious, thankful songs of the redeemed in heaven. Would we on earth do like them, let our praises be constant, not interrupted; united, not divided; thankful, not cold and formal; humble, not self-confident. I believe that while here on earth we should learn to worship our King based on our heartfelt response to Him for His manifold blessings and in deepest sincerity and honesty to our Savior. This should not be something that is only turned on in time for our weekend services, but may our weekend services instead be filled with the overflow of our personal praise and worship to our King. May it not surprise God to see You lift up holy hands to him in church, or to hear you cry out in praise to Him during the church service, because He is so accustomed to seeing and hearing similar acts of praise and worship from you throughout the week. Friends, we are preparing for the greatest day in history, and to meet the awesome God who created mankind and everything in this world, let us be busy readying ourselves by doing all that we are should be doing here and now!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, it is so exciting to think about a time when we can bow before you with no external interruptions and just worship You as if no one else even exists. For those who are accustomed to lifting You up in praise and worship here on earth, this will be a natural transition. For those who depend on external resources to trigger their worship of You, they may find that they have missed out on an awful lot here on earth, and the idea of personal one-on-one worship may seem challenging. Lord, please open our hearts and our minds to be very aware of Your presence and Your unlimited blessings that You bestow on us daily. May it then come natural to us to burst into praise and worship of You, no matter where we are or who we are with. You deserve our praise today, and every day, as we move closer to the time when we will humble ourselves at Your feet in heaven. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever and forever! These things I ask in the name of Jesus, the name above ALL names, 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 might 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.

The Impact Our Life Has On God

On 2015-07-142015-07-14 By Ed AlgreenIn The Church, WitnessLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Revelation 3:15-17): “I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

THOUGHTS: The church at Laodicea was one that appeared perfect to the world around them. They were a wealthy church, no doubt able to pay their bills and perhaps even help the poor. We have many churches like that today, and we thank God for their ability to chip in and help, especially when many of the smaller churches are struggling to make it financially. However, in these verses, it is clear that God was unhappy with this church at Laodicea, for it was so concentrated on its riches and good fortune that it’s people provided to the church, that they lost sight of who blessed them with such things as: salvation; healing; promises of a place called ‘heaven’; the Master of the universe who was with them ALWAYS; good health; a good mind and multiple other attributes that originate from God alone. In fact, there was every indication that the general membership may have felt that if God totally separated Himself from them, they would still be OK. But wait a moment, could we still have churches (people) that still act like this today? Do we still have ‘Laodicean’ churches in our towns even now? What are some of the indicators we must be careful of, or watchful for, so as not to make God sick to His stomach with our church? It was spelled out for us in this same scripture:

Bragging about what we have – let us never lose sight that whatever we are blessed with as a collective body of believers, it was provided by God, and for His ultimate glory. I believe that if we brag or boast about our riches, we tend to believe that we had something to do with us having it, and/or we are anxiously waiting to see how we might spend our riches in a way to personally receive maximum glory;
We lose sight of whose we are and from whence we came – God knows that in and of ourselves, we are as pitiful as a blind beggar, without clothes to cover our nakedness.

So unless we leave this devotional feeling like there is little hope, or that all ‘Godly’ churches can only be poor and needy, I want to remind you that ‘the church’ consists of individuals, so the change of heart must happen in our personal lives. Remember, God created us; He provides air for us to breathe every day; income opportunities for us; family and other believers to comfort and cheer us every day and a promise that even when all the joys of this earth are over, still He has prepared an even more glorious home for us to spend eternity with Him, where we might worship Him endlessly. Money can’t buy any of these things, so let us continually lift up our Lord and Savior who provides ultimate joy and happiness for us in this world and in His kingdom that will soon be our new home.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, what an eye opener this morning, for You have shown me how careful we must be to glorify You in all things. You may choose to bless us with riches, so that we may pass those riches on through helping others in need of a Savior, or so that we might clearly recognize Your awesome power and blessings through even us. Lord You are good and Your mercies endureth forever. Please help us to remain humble, and never attribute blessings to anything that might bring recognition or praise to us. You alone are our King and our Provider, we glory in all that You are and all that You do for us each day. Our ultimate goal is that we be found worthy in Your eyes, when You call us home to be with You. Use us for Your glory while we remain here. Be blessed in all that we say or do, is my humble prayer that I ask in the strong and everlasting 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 might 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.

Protect Your Crown

On 2015-07-132015-07-13 By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, Distractions, HeavenLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Revelation 3:11): ¹¹“I’m on my way; I’ll be there soon. Keep a tight grip on what you have so no one distracts you and steals your crown.

THOUGHTS: On this earth, when we become careless with something, we lose it. If you observe children carefully, you will notice that they might hide their favorite toy when a friend is coming over that they know might love that toy, and possibly fight to take it with them when it’s time to leave! Christians have found the answer to this world’s sin problem, in the person of Jesus Christ. Satan is most upset over having lost the battle with these children of God and he is waging war against them by trying to steal their joy. This process by Satan is intended to distract Christians from the joy of their salvation and, in this passage, God is warning that we had better be careful that Satan not pull us down to the extent that he reaches out and snatches our crown of glory from us. Friends, if you think about a race – the opponent has two ways they can win – they can do better than you and reach the finish line before you, or they can trip you up so that you don’t stand a chance of winning, or earning the prize. Sin can’t enter heaven, so Satan doesn’t stand a chance of getting there. Child of God, may I please encourage us today to hold firm to our faith. Stay committed to the Lord Jesus Christ through thick and thin, in every circumstance of life, for He cares for us and He wants us to win the prize laid out for us in heaven. Let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and not the distractions that will come our way. All things are possible through faith in Jesus, our Lord. So let us keep our eyes on the prize – our crown! Let us seek out Jesus in every circumstance of life, so that the circumstances not turn into distractions that Satan can use to steal our joy and our eternal crown. Distractions will come when Satan sees opportunities, or slippage in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Let us therefore stand firm in our faith, determined to live for Jesus, depending on His strength to help us through every circumstance of life. There’s a song with lyrics: “Oh I want to see Him, look upon His face, there to sing forever of His saving grace…..” I am looking forward to the day that I reach the shores of heaven and look beyond my relatives already there, to see the face of my Master and King! This is a prize/crown worth living for and is worth every ounce of effort and determination to live for Jesus today! How is it with you friend? Please watch for the distractions of Satan, and remember that greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. With Jesus being in control of your life, you can do this friend!

PRAYER: Thank You Father for the promise of heaven, a time when we will see You face to face! A time when we will worship and adore You without the distractions of this old world and its leader, Satan. Dear Lord, You know how strong the advisory is here on earth, especially in lives where there might be lack of commitment. Please touch the hearts of Your children today oh Lord and renew within us a right spirit and a desire to stay firm and committed to our faith in You. There is no one stronger than You, nor more loving that You, nor caring than You, so I know that as I place my faith and trust in You, that You can do all things. Please have Your will and way in my life today oh Lord, rule and reign in every aspect of my life, especially when I’m weak enough to let distractions sneak in and set me back. Touch the lives of my readers today also oh Lord, as I’m sure that many of them are walking similar paths as me today and will face these same distractions. Give us strength for our walk and renew a right spirit within us so that our eyes might remain fixed on the prize that awaits us in glory. I ask all this in the precious and strong name of Jesus, AMEN!

Are You Ready To Be Presented To God?

On 2015-07-112015-07-11 By Ed AlgreenIn Prepared, ReadinessLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Good News Translation – Revelation 3:3-5): ³
Remember, then, what you were taught and what you heard; obey it and turn from your sins. If you do not wake up, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not even know the time when I will come. ⁴But a few of you there in Sardis have kept your clothes clean. You will walk with me, clothed in white, because you are worthy to do so. ⁵ Those who win the victory will be clothed like this in white, and I will not remove their names from the book of the living. In the presence of my Father and of his angels I will declare openly that they belong to me.

THOUGHTS: Before I can invite anyone to my home, I must get clearance from my wife, because she wants to make sure that our home is in order and presentable to our guests, without creating embarrassment to her! If auditors are preparing to come into my workplace, we spend time getting everything in order, so that we might obtain best results from their audit, and look good in their sight. In these verses today, Jesus is declaring that some in His church will be presented proudly to His Father because He is proud of how well they are doing in staying clear of, or clean from, sin. Friends, I want to reiterate that these verses are referring to the ‘CHURCH’ at Sardis, not the marketplace. Please be reminded that going to church will not save you from the pits of Hell, even though church attendance is the best thing you can do. Hanging out with the right friends (even Godly friends) might be very pleasing to your parents, but their goodness, or even their Christianity, will not rub off on you and clear the way for you to be accepted in Heaven, even though they may influence you towards accepting Jesus as your Savior. Now for those who have accepted Jesus as Lord, I must ask, as a result of this passage, are you ready, or do you feel like you will be a good candidate for Jesus to include in His parade and be bubbling with pride to present you to His Father? Are you ashamed of anything that you would rather get straight before feeling comfortable for Jesus to do this? Jesus said He will come unannounced – like a thief in the night. This means that you will not have time to further prepare, or to clean up your act, or better align yourself with Him. This means that we must remain in a state of readiness – our lives always clean and presentable to Him. Here on earth we burst with pride when we are lifted up by family, when recognized by our employer, or bragged on by friends. Can you even imagine the unbelievable pride that will fill our hearts when Jesus, the resurrected Savior of the world, presents us to His Father – God, and He tells Him how proud He is of you and how well you kept the faith, obeyed His commands and represented Him so well while living here on earth, even among the temptations of sin and evil? I tell you what, I cannot think of prouder moment that could ever be my fortune. How is it with you friend? Got a few things that you need to work on today? Remember, Jesus could come today!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You provided the sacrifice and the means by which we could be saved. You promised to be our protector and strength so that we might live life pleasing to You, yes even among the evil of this world and its leader, Satan. Unfortunately we are a people who love to procrastinate, so we often feel like there will be time for us to seek forgiveness and depend on You – later. This is a deceit of Satan, because You have declared that no man knows the day or the hour of Your return, so Lord Jesus, I pray that You will allow Your Word to penetrate the hearts of Christians who are playing with sin, and I pray that You will penetrate the hearts of those who feel like they can wait for the trumpet call before surrendering their lives to You. Please help us to be a people ready for Your return, even if it happens today. May our lives always be pleasing in Your sight and may we be presentable before You and by You oh Lord. I ask this in the precious name of Jesus, AMEN!

Renew Your First Love

On 2015-07-082015-07-08 By Ed AlgreenIn First Love, Love, Rededication, RenewalLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New English Version – Revelation 2:2-5): ² I know your works as well as your labor and steadfast endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have even put to the test those who refer to themselves as apostles (but are not), and have discovered that they are false. ³ I am also aware that you have persisted steadfastly, endured much for the sake of my name, and have not grown weary. ⁴ But I have this against you: You have departed from your first love! ⁵ Therefore, remember from what high state you have fallen and repent! Do the deeds you did at the first;….

THOUGHTS: In reading verses 2 and 3, I believe that most of us would be envious of the testimony of a church that does that well! I believe that most of us are very proud of our churches, but personally, we are such poor members – in that we are overly obligated in our homes, work and community and barely find time to attend a church service, much less becoming actively involved in the ministry of the church to our community. But wait just a minute. Isn’t that exactly what God is referring to in this message to the church at Ephesus? That they have allowed other things to interfere in their relationship with their ‘First Love’? Well, let’s examine some of the attributes of our ‘first love’. I believe that if we remind ourselves of our first earthly love (girlfriend or boyfriend), I believe we will quickly reflect on how ‘our world’ stopped so that we could cater to that first love. We couldn’t move without that person being at our side, and our minds were just consumed with finding more ways to show that person how much we really love that person! When we first accepted Jesus as our Savior, it was very similar. For we would have climbed the highest mountain for Him or sailed the roughest seas to spread the word about our very best Friend. In fact, we were consumed with the things of God and looked in every way to find bigger and greater ways of showing our love for Him. So what happened? Where did our gusto go? I believe this is exactly the point that God is giving to the Ephesian church in verse 4, for it seems like they had, as we have, lost our ‘first love’ – our enthusiasm and love for our Lord. Friends, losing our enthusiasm for the Lord is similar to what happens in a marriage when divorce, or at least marriage counseling is approaching. We need help! Whether in struggling marriages or in a Christians spiritual life, this loss of our ‘first love’ feeling leads to an easy door for sin to enter, and that will lead to even greater division. In marriages, we are normally counseled to spend more time together; look for creative ways to show our love and appreciation for our spouse and open the lines of communication. May I recommend that we try and do the same in our spiritual lives when we recognize that we are not as excited about our ‘first love’ (Jesus) as we were the day we got saved? Spend time together – this is not always equal to church attendance, although I feel that is super important, but get into God’s Word and get direction from Him for your life. Understand His character and aim to imitate it as best you can. Creative way to express you love for God – this entails thinking about how you can love Him more, and how you can show that love through every word and action. This will impact the lives of those that you come into contact with, as it will be evident to whom you belong! Communicate with God – pray, pray, pray! This includes praising Him for His manifold blessings; praying for His direction for Your life (His perfect will) and for His miraculous hand upon your witness and in every aspect of your life.

PRAYER: Dear God, ashamedly we come before You realizing that we have really slackened in our relationship with You – our ‘First Love’. Thank You for drawing this to our attention in scriptures such as this one today. Just as it is of super importance that we renew and refresh our first ‘earthly love’ with our spouse, we realize that it is even more important that we do the same with You. This begins with asking your forgiveness – as we have turned our backs on the One that first loved us; the One who loved us even when we were unlovable by the world; the One who sacrificed Your only Son so that we might have life eternally with You and Your Father. Please renew within us a right spirit, so that we might desire Your Truth/Your Word and that we might rededicate ourselves to living in light of Your commands and for Your sake alone. You gave Your very best for us, and we deserve to give our very best to You. Please help us to do just this with every ounce of our being. Renewing our ‘First Love’ relationship could make us brand new disciples in this old world that is so enveloped in sin. Please grant us faith, power and the will to do just this today oh Lord. For I ask this in faith, and in the name of Jesus, my Savior, AMEN!

Persistent Faith Leads To Victory!

On 2015-07-032015-07-03 By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Overcomers, Persistence, VictoryLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Contemporary English Version – Daniel 6:19-23): ¹⁹ At daybreak the king got up and ran to the pit. ²⁰ He was anxious and shouted, “Daniel, you were faithful and served your God. Was he able to save you from the lions?” ²¹ Daniel answered, “Your Majesty, I hope you live forever! ²² My God knew that I was innocent, and he sent an angel to keep the lions from eating me. Your Majesty, I have never done anything to hurt you.” ²³ The king was relieved to hear Daniel’s voice, and he gave orders for him to be taken out of the pit. Daniel’s faith in his God had kept him from being harmed.

THOUGHTS: I love that old hymn “Faith is the Victory“, for one line in that hymn states “Faith is the victory that overcomes the world”. This is the kind of faith that Daniel demonstrated. He and his companions had earlier been cast into a pit of fire because of their conviction to not eat the king’s food, but came out unscathed. Later, Daniel’s very jealous peers had a law enacted to trap Daniel into a definite arrest by the king. However, Daniel had a commitment to worship His God and that included praying to God at least three times per day. This led to his arrest and being thrown into a den of hungry lions. By this time in the king’s relationship with Daniel, he had gained confidence in Daniel’s God and therefore prayed that God would protect Daniel from the lions that he had him thrown into! Of course, it was a time of glorious praise when it was discovered next morning that God responded to the prayers of the king and Daniel by protecting him, even among very hungry lions. I believe where God got my attention in this story, and the area that I would like to challenge my readers on is: How secure or solid are we in our faith? Peter had enough to walk on water; Moses had enough to stand at the river’s edge and believe that he could lead thousands of people across to the other side without danger; Daniel had enough to be persistent in his actions of food choice and in his prayer habits to know that in all things he could bless the name of the Lord – whether in the fire pit or in the pit of lions. I was challenged to consider where I am in my level of faith, and I want to challenge you to consider the same question friend. Jesus said that if we have the tiniest little bit (the size of a pin head – a mustard seed) we could move even mountains. I believe that our ‘mountains’ are as pin heads (mustard seeds) to God. But do we have the faith to place our needs and concerns solidly in His hands and the faith to believe that “all things are possible with God”? I see no reason why we shouldn’t friend! For He has proven over and over in His Word that He is able! Why don’t we let Him be God in our circumstances today? We can celebrate with way more fireworks of praise than anyone in our country can for Independence Day this weekend!

PRAYER: Lord God, You’ve created the heavens, the earth and each human being. You provided a written account of all that You have blessed our early ancestors with and the miracles performed in their lives, just to show us that You care about Your children and that You would move mountains, if necessary, in order to display Your miraculous works. With so much to support our reason to have faith in You, yet we doubt at times. “Oh ye of little faith” is what you must constantly say to us weaklings, just as You said to Peter when He took His eyes off You. Please touch Your children once again with the miracle of life, healing, overcoming government oppression and overall confidence that You are still God and that You are still in control. Often things seem so out of control, that I believe we become depressed and feel defeated, as if You must have stepped away. Unfortunately, these may be times that You are challenging us to look inside and see if we have stepped away from our faith in You. Oh what a wretched people we are, for we are so often challenged to keep our eyes fixed on You and the wonder of our awesome God. Please forgive us oh Lord, and give us strength, power and will to keep our eyes fixed on You, in spite of what might be going on around us. You alone are God, and we are not. May we give You the rightful place in our lives today, is my humble prayer that I ask in the powerful name of my most awesome Savior and Lord, 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, please go to 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 Unshakable Devotion to God

On 2015-06-292015-06-29 By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, Dedication, Devotion, UnswervingLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Century Version – Daniel 3:28): ²⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Their God has sent his angel and saved his servants from the fire! These three men trusted their God and refused to obey my command. They were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god other than their own.

THOUGHTS: From the subject, I hope that no one gets the impression that this faith of ours is automatic, or that because of our faith in God, all Christians are as devoted to, and stands firm in their faith like Daniel and his buddies did. Yes, we should all be that devoted to our God who sacrificed so much for us, but I believe that for many Christians, we stay way too long in the transitionary stage of releasing all of Satan’s pull on our lives, to a full and dedicated, unshakable faith in God. The reason I believe this is true, is because I don’t believe there are very many people today who, claim that they are ‘Christian’, will be willing to ‘take a bullet’ for their faith. I believe I am safe in going as far as to believe that most church goers are probably in ‘the same boat’, for often we attend church as a ‘status thing’, or as a way to please someone else who places pressure on us, rather than attending to return thanks, worship and learn from the preaching of the Almighty God through His earthly servants. Friends, just take a moment and meditate on the chosen verse very carefully. Notice how the same king who despised the god of Daniel and his friends, was totally changed and even broke out into worship and praise to their God, when he saw their faith in action? Let us remember, that there are no other Gods besides our Master and our King. Daniel was willing to go the distance with his God, even if it meant being burned to death in a fiery furnace. There is no indication of Daniel’s thoughts as he was thrown into the furnace, but I get the distinct impression that there was not a worry of any sort on the mind of Daniel for he knew, like other saints have declared in the Bible, that whether he lived or whether he died, blessed be the name of the Lord. He knew that if this was the time that God would declare him absent from this world, he would be welcomed into a new world in the presence of Jesus and His Almighty Father. A better world, prepared for all of God’s true followers! A bright future that we can all look forward to! The question for each one today is: are you dedicated enough in your walk with the Lord, that you are willing to risk everything – all worldly desires and pleasurers, to truly show Jesus, and this world, to whom your life is devoted, committed as you live in anticipation of His call to join Him at the Father’s feet soon? This type of devotion solidifies our relationship with God and has an awesome impact on those around us who might be watching to see if we are a sincere, truly dedicated child of God, or just another hypocritical, wishy-washy person who claims the title of ‘Christian’ when convenient, or needed? If you are doubtful as to where you stand friend, then it would benefit you to read my Footnote and sure things up with the Lord. In spite of all who you might fool about your relationship with the Lord, He knows the ‘real’ you and wants to help you be truly committed to Him today and until the day He calls you home to himself. Get ‘real’ with yourself friend, for God knows the ‘real’ you!

PRAYER: Father, I believe that there is nothing more disgusting in Your sight than to look at a self-serving, uncommitted, wishy-washy person who claims the name of Jesus for personal gain, rather than in total commitment to You and available for ministry in spreading Your love to all that they come into contact with. Lord, Daniel has shown us that being ‘real’ and standing firm in our commitment to You, will impact even the most challenging persons, as Your love is expressed through Your servants, encapsulates the sinner, and convinces them of Your perfect love, and Your unswerving desire to see them totally surrender themselves to You. Thank You for not giving up on us, but instead expressing unexplainable love towards us while we serve out our time here on this earth. Please use us as Your servants, Your agents of change, Your representatives, as we walk our talk each day. You are in control, so we totally surrender our self-will to You and ask for Your perfection in us as You guide, protect and use us. I ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, my Master, my King and soon coming 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 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 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!

Acknowledge God In All Things

On 2015-06-272015-06-27 By Ed AlgreenIn Honor, Humility, RespectLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Daniel 2:26-30): ²⁶ The king asked Daniel, “Can you tell me my dream and what it means?” ²⁷ Daniel answered: Your Majesty, not even the smartest person in all the world can do what you are demanding. ⁷ But the God who rules from heaven can explain mysteries. And while you were sleeping, he showed you what will happen in the future. ³⁰ However, you must realize that these mysteries weren’t explained to me because I am smarter than everyone else. Instead, it was done so that you would understand what you have seen.

THOUGHTS: Leading up to these verses, the king had declared that he would kill all ‘wise men’ (magicians and such), if they could not tell him his dream and give the interpretation of what the dream meant. Yet, even under these very demanding conditions, Daniel stood tall in acknowledging God as the answer to his (Daniel’s) prayers and he identified God as the one who really interpreted the king’s dream. Now, to many this may look like a brazen young man who insisted on smearing in the face of the king that his God, whom the king despised, was the supernatural answer to all of man’s questions and precarious positions that we find ourselves in. However, I believe that Daniel had no intentions of doing anything spitefully, but merely to acknowledge his King, his Master, his Lord, in all circumstances and to everyone, even if it may have led to persecution. I mean, the life of Daniel, and other such men who considered themselves ‘wise’ before the king, were literally on the verge of extinction, yet it seems like this had no impact on Daniel and the way that he responded to the king. I sincerely believe that Daniel would have responded this way if he was the greatest aid in the king’s court, or if he was brought from a dungeon prison to speak before the king. He acknowledged that his God was responsible for the answer given, and that it was given for His glory and ultimate design, and nothing at all for the glory or benefit of Daniel himself. Friends, God spoke very loudly to me in this passage today, for I was reminded that in all things we must give God preeminence, and honor, and glory, and to always endeavor to praise Him and give Him credit for all that is accomplished in and/or through us, for He is our Guide, our Deliverer, our Creator and answer to all of life’s circumstances. We are as clay in His hands, molded in every way by His might works, for His glory and the advancement of His kingdom. I am here to encourage all of God’s children to join me in humbling ourselves and praying, seeking God’s face and His ways in all things, and turn from our wicked and selfish ways and desires. I believe that it is only then that we will hear from heaven and see our land healed, forgiven and lifted up (2 Chronicles 7:14). This is something that we need personally, corporately as God’s church, and nationally as a hurting, struggling country that seems to be heading down a very ungodly path. Are you willing to be like Daniel today and give God His rightful position in your life? I would challenge you to do this friend. He wants us to stand in awe of Him and represent Him here on this earth, and our nation needs this, especially at this time in our history.

PRAYER: Dear God, we have strayed so far away from You and become so self-sufficient in our own destructive ways. Please forgive us, and in Your own miraculous way, direct our paths and humble us to our rightful position, where You might once again rule and reign over us individually, and as a nation. I sincerely believe that You must first of all impact the lives of Your children, and in turn impact our nation. I acknowledge that You don’t need us in order to impact our nation, but I believe that if our nation is convinced – like king Nebuchadnezzar was, that You are ruling and reigning in the lives of Your children, then they too will know without a doubt that they can surrender their lives to You and, in turn, the nation that they were assigned to rule/lead. We need You Heavenly Father, please forgive us, hear our prayers and heal our land. All these things are possible through Christ, so it is in His name that I plead, seek Your face and ask these petitions today, with thanksgiving, 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 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!

Faith Is The Victory!

On 2015-06-252015-06-25 By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Hope, Surrender, VictoryLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – 1 John 5:3-5): ³ We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow. ⁴ Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. ⁵ No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.

THOUGHTS: The subject probably sounds like a catchy Christian term that you’ve heard in an old hymn “Faith is the Victory“, plus you may have heard saints of God refer to this in sermons and/or Bible teaching. However, this phrase became alive to me this morning after being led to this passage of scripture immediately after reading Daniel 1, where I read about a determined young man named Daniel and three of his partners who, because of their faith in God, were determined to be obedient to God, in spite of what the king had dictated for them to eat and live by. Of course, in this very first chapter, by verse 15, 17 and 19 it was very evident that because of their faith and determination to be obedient to God, even under very challenging circumstances, He rewarded these young men with extraordinary health and wisdom in the eyes of the king. Friends, no matter what circumstances we face, and no matter what up-hill challenges we may see ahead of us, we must realize that God has a plan for His children. How many of us will consciously seek to do anything other than bless our children? How much more do you suppose that our heavenly Father seeks to do the same for us? Our part of the blessing is to place our faith and trust in Him, knowing that He is for us, and He will not harm us but instead seek to bless us in every way possible. Daniel was just one example of how God blessed His saints mentioned in the Bible. There are also many ‘Daniels’ around us here on earth that have been blessed of God through victories beyond anything man could explain. If you are His child, having invited Jesus into your life and committed yourself to Him in faith, then I firmly believe that You could very well be next in line for God’s rich blessings. However, it takes ‘FAITH‘ to defeat the evil one of this world and to overcome his effects on our lives (see verse 5). So the question is, my friend: do you believe on the King of all kings and Lord of all lords? If so, will you place your faith and trust in Him today so that He might have freedom to lift you up and set you on solid ground, above the evil dished out by this world? Like in the case of Daniel, He wants to be your God also friend, will you let Him!

PRAYER: Dear Father in Heaven, it sounds almost ludicrous for us to beg You for mercy and grace today, for You have shown through Your Word that if we have faith in You, and allow You control of our lives, we will be victorious. Daniel was just one example that we came across today in Your Word, I know of many saints who can be considered ‘Daniels’ for they too have been protected and delivered from the evil one and the setbacks of this evil world. Their faith have found them the necessary victory that only You can offer. Many of us reading this devotional are facing overwhelming challenges, yet we hold the key to the necessary power to help us be more than conquerors, for we have access to You in and through our faith. Please touch the heart of each one that might read this devotional today and who might have a need for Your mercy and Your precious grace. Please touch Your children once again today. For those whom You have directed to read this devotional today that have not surrendered their lives over to You yet, may they find yet another reason to seek You for salvation. I ask all this with a heart of thanksgiving, in the strong name of Jesus, my Savior and 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 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 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!

Nuggets From God's Word

Tag: Christians