Tag: Clear Conscience

Cleansed and Ready to Worship

On By Ed AlgreenIn Clean Heart, Cleanse me Oh God, Cleansing, Clear Conscience, Forgiven, Righteous, WorshipLeave a comment

Friday, 2019-10-04

Bible Reference: Hebrews 9:13-14
Translation: Easy-To-Read Version (ERV)

Bible Text:  13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a cow were sprinkled on those who were no longer pure enough to enter the place of worship. The blood and ashes made them pure again—but only their bodies. 14 So surely the blood sacrifice of Christ can do much more. Christ offered himself through the eternal Spirit as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will make us completely clean from the evil we have done. It will give us clear consciences so that we can worship the living God.

OBSERVATION: Too often we ‘attend’ a church service and then we tell everyone that we had been to ‘worship’. Really? Did you visit a place where others were worshiping, or did you really go there and worship with them? Try reading the Scripture for today and honestly evaluate if you were pure, or completely cleansed, from the evil and sin in your life, in order to stand in the presence of our holy God and ‘worship’ Him. According to our Scripture, it is only then that our consciences would be cleared so that we could honesty ‘worship’ the Master of this universe – our God.

APPLICATION:  I believe that every Bible Teacher or Pastor’s wish would be, that their hearers are getting as much from a lesson as they received when they studied the lesson being taught. I also believe that every Worship Pastor would love to know that the folk they are leading in a time of worship were participating from the deepest parts of their heart and receiving a blessing like they receive when leading us. Often we will go to our corporate worship services and while sometimes being totally blessed and pulled into the worship time through full participation, yet at other times we just attend but don’t feel a closeness to our Lord as we worship. These are the times we find fault with the person next to us or behind us, or with the worship leader, or perhaps the volume of the instrumentalists! But friend, if you especially read verse 14, you will notice that as long as we enter God’s house with stained consciences, there just may not be an opportunity for you to connect with God and His Holy Spirit that day in worship. You might remember from God’s Word that God will not be present where sin abounds. I believe that another way of understanding verse 14 might be in the following way: “One cannot worship the Living God without a clear conscience” or “Unless one has already settled with God concerning their sin, they cannot come face-to-face with God in a sacrifice of praise, or worship”. There’s a worship song that has been around for a long time “There’s A Sweet, Sweet Spirit in this Place“. After reading verse 14, I’m not so sure that we could experience that ‘Sweet Spirit’ and sincerely worship our Lord. Perhaps we should have a confession service first, then, perhaps, the Spirit of God might find clean hearts and consciences in which He is free to move and to bless. Let’s keep this in mind the next time that we go out of our way to ‘worship God’. Clean hearts will draw close to God, as it is the only way that He will draw close to you and I.

PRAYER: How dare us attempt to enter Your presence in sin, Oh God, especially thinking that we can block/hide the hindrances (our sin) while we attempt to worship You. It’s not enough for us to conjure up a time of ‘worship’ Lord Jesus, for we want to be where You are, and we want to worship You in sincerity of heart, soul and mind. Please forgive us for attempting to worship You, the One who never sinned, while we are yet burdened with sin in our hearts. Please cleanse me of all unrighteousness, so that as I might approach Your throne with a clear conscience and without sin. Please touch the hearts of my readers Lord, so that they too might be enlightened of any sin that not only separates them from You, but also blocks their true worship of You. Lord, may You rule and reign in every aspect of our lives and especially prepare us for frequent times of worship to You. I love you Lord, and I lift my voice and heart in worship to You alone. My prayer is offered in and through the precious name of Jesus, the only one is holy and worthy of our worship and praise, AMEN!

Be Ready to Say Why….

On By Ed AlgreenIn Hope, Rewards, Speak upLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Today you will be encourage to openly share where your hope comes from. Can you do it? Read today’s devotional and seek to obey God’s Word. He will reward you for speaking up about the hope that lies within you! Recognize your blessing today and be ready to share it with someone else, friend!

Today’s Bible Reference: 1 Peter 3:15–16
Today’s Bible Text: Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope. Give a kind and respectful answer and keep your conscience clear. This way you will make people ashamed for saying bad things about your good conduct as a follower of Christ.
The Bible Translation: The Contemporary English Version (CEV)

My Take Away: The very first sentence in our scripture today is a given, but a great reminder – that we must honor our Lord Jesus, by the way we live. It should be evident whether we are living free of any restrictions, without any type of guardrails at all, or whether we have a purpose in life and that our direction for getting to our goal consists of a very narrow road with lots of guardrails to help prevent us from running into issues. We are reminded that when we live this way, others might question us about the hope and determination that we have, and where could our strength possibly be coming from to live so differently in a world that is filled with evil, crime, hatred, envy and strife. It is at this point that we should feel honored to share exactly who is incenting our actions, why did we choose to take the route we are taking, and what we know that we can expect at the end of our journey here on earth. Most of all, although we know that we will have trouble containing the excitement, we must learn to share our response with deepest respect for the one asking and in the same love that Christ first spoke to, and encourage us to redirect our lives. Friends, throughout God’s Word we are reminded that God rewards those who obey and live by His commands, but He envies those who don’t and will bring eternal damnation on them. Will you make Him proud today because you had the audacity to speak up about the hope that lies within you? Pray that I will, as I continue to lift my readers up in prayer, especially with these encouraging instructions today!

Prayer: Dear Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name in all the earth, as I sing Your praises for all that You do in my life each day. Praise God that my readers and I enjoy this same blessing, because we serve the same God! As the world recognizes that very special gleam in our eye, or reactions in our demeanor, may we be quick to share with them the source of our joy, our strength and our everlasting hope. May it not be the norm today where friends get together to tear someone apart, but may we instead share the hope of eternity, and the source of our joy and hope about living a joyful life today because of the hope of tomorrow, all because of Jesus our Lord! I celebrate You, Master and Lord! May I do that in humble adoration with deepest respect for all that we come into contact with, for I ask this 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. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!

2016

Hindrances to Worship

On By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiven, Righteous, WorshipLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Easy-To-Read Version – Hebrews 9:13-14): 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a cow were sprinkled on those who were no longer pure enough to enter the place of worship. The blood and ashes made them pure again—but only their bodies. 14 So surely the blood sacrifice of Christ can do much more. Christ offered himself through the eternal Spirit as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will make us completely clean from the evil we have done. It will give us clear consciences so that we can worship the living God.

THOUGHTS: I believe that every Bible Teacher or Pastor’s wish would be, that their hearers are getting as much from a lesson as they received when they studied the lesson being taught. I also believe that every Worship Minister would love to know that the folk they are leading in a time of worship were participating from the deepest parts of their heart and receiving a blessing like they receive when leading us. Often we will go to our corporate worship services and while sometimes being totally blessed and pulled into the worship time through full participation, yet at other times we just attend but don’t feel a closeness to our Lord as we worship. These are the times we find fault with the person next to us or behind us, or with the worship leader, or perhaps the volume of the instrumentalists! But friend, if you especially read verse 14, you will notice that as long as we enter God’s house with stained consciences, there just may not be an opportunity for you to connect with God and His Holy Spirit that day. You might remember from God’s Word that God will not be present where sin abounds. I believe that another way of understanding verse 14 might be in the following way: “One cannot worship the Living God without a clear conscience” or unless one has already settled with God concerning their sin. There’s a worship song that has been around for a long time “There’s A Sweet, Sweet Spirit in this Place“. After reading verse 14, I’m not so sure that will even happen for us if we present ourselves for worship with sin in our life. Perhaps we should have a confession service first, then, perhaps, the Spirit of God might find clean hearts and consciences in which He is free to move and to bless. Let’s keep this in mind the next time that we attempt to worship God. Clean hearts will draw close to God, as it is the only way that He will draw close to you and I.

PRAYER: How dare us attempt to enter Your presence in sin, Oh God, especially thinking that we can block the hindrances (our sin) while we attempt to worship You. It’s not enough for us to conjure up a time of ‘worship’ Lord Jesus, for we want to be where You are, and we want to worship You in sincerity of heart, soul and mind. Please forgive us for attempting to worship You, the One who never sinned, yet with sin in our hearts. Please cleanse me of all unrighteousness, so that as I approach Your throne I can do so with a clear conscience and without sin. Please touch the hearts of my readers Lord, so that they too might be enlightened of any sin that not only separates them from You, but also blocks their true worship of You. Lord, may You rule and reign in every aspect of our lives and especially prepare us for frequent times of worship to You. I love you Lord, and I lift my voice and heart in worship to You alone. My prayer is offered in and through the name of Jesus, the only one worthy of my worship 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!

Things That Impact Our Words and Actions

On By Ed AlgreenIn Clear Conscience, Genuine, HonestyLeave a comment

The Holy Bible  (The Good News Translation – 1 Timothy 1:3-7): Some people there are teaching false doctrines, and you must order them to stop. 4Tell them to give up those legends and those long lists of ancestors, which only produce arguments; they do not serve God’s plan, which is known by faith. 5The purpose of this order is to arouse the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith. 6Some people have turned away from these and have lost their way in foolish discussions. 7They want to be teachers of God’s law, but they do not understand their own words or the matters about which they speak with so much confidence.

Thoughts:  Timothy’s mentor, Paul, instructed him to stay in Macedonia to help keep religious leaders accountable to the Word of God. Paul found this necessary because the leaders were getting caught up in false doctrines, old stories that were often untrue, and ancestry. As it was then, so it is today friends, for the church was established to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ. Imagine how hopeless Christianity would be today if we went to church to have our ears tickled by words that may or may not be true, but which sounds real good to the hearer. But Paul didn’t just tell Timothy what was wrong, he gave him leadership on what to look for and what to teach in order to help these people. I believe that Paul’s words and leadership is just as applicable to us today, as it was for Timothy in taking the message to the Macedonians. Our actions and our words must be those from a loving and pure heart, a clear conscience and a genuine faith. Some might question how Paul knew what filled the hearts of the church leaders. I would dare say to you friends that most people will quickly tell when you are speaking from a heart of love and genuine compassion. From a heart that has experienced the gospel of which you speak. Conversely, others can tell quicker than you imagine when you are fake, trying to impress, or speaking the words written by someone else without it ever impacting your own heart. There is an old saying “you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time”! However, putting aside who you can or cannot fool into believing a lie of yours, how would you feel lying in bed at night knowing that you were not totally honest with those that you shared the Word of God with that day? Furthermore, what type of expression would you imagine seeing on God’s face if you were not genuine, faithful and truthful in declaring His Word to a lost person, who will probably continue in their lost condition until they could possibly hear genuine Truth? Missed opportunities will cause you more grief than you might care to experience, friend. For many, there is no time for dancing around the subject, for they may never see another opportunity this side of heaven ….…… or hell. I want to strive towards seeing a smile on God’s face as He listens in to my conversations and/or my teaching, also in my actions, love and concern for the non-Christian. How is it with you friend? Do you suspect there is a smile or disappointment on God’s face as He looks in on your life?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You paved a perfect path for us to follow. Slogans such as WWJD have helped to attune ourselves to Your guidance, but we often fail in reacting with pure intentions to every scenario in life, and we often seek to please and/or impress our audiences. However, I was deeply reminded today that I may as well come before You as a child, in honesty, purity, innocence and openness, for You know my very heart – my thoughts and my intentions. Please forgive me for the times that I have tried to be anything else to anyone, especially if I misrepresented You or falsely represented myself. I pray that it will not be necessary for You to provide a Paul or Timothy to clear up misrepresentations of myself or my friends who will read this devotional today, for I pray that they will deal with any impacts on their lives, for we want to be pure and holy before You and our fellow man. Please continue to work on us when we stray away from these ideals and help us to stay true to You in our everyday lives. I pray for Your help, Your guidance and in accordance with Your will. I ask all this believing on, and 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!