Jesus Christ – The Same Now and Forever!

On 2015-05-052015-05-05 By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Remember, TrustLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Good News Translation – Hebrews 13:7-8): ⁷Remember your former leaders, who spoke God’s message to you. Think back on how they lived and died, and imitate their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and for ever.

THOUGHTS: I remember the first time that I installed a pet door at our home, our dog would go up to it, but not touch it. We helped him by pushing him through the door a few times to show him that he could trust it, and now he zooms through it as if it wasn’t even there! Here are a few ways that we might learn to, or enhance our, trust in God as believers:

Meditate on His Word (the Bible), and see how God miraculously handled situations for His saints such as Abraham, Isaac, Noah, Moses and Paul, to name a few. Then read the verse captioned today – He is the same yesterday, today and for ever!
Listen to testimonies of God’s faithful servants today – Pastors, Missionaries, Bible School teachers, etc, and hear how they have experienced God at work in their lives – often in miraculous ways. Very often we can hear how God is still working in their lives and be reassured that God is the same yesterday, today and for ever!
Always be ready and willing to trust God – even in the small, or what may appear to be insignificant, things in life. I head a faithful Brother say at one time that as he trusts God to help him find such minimal things as his keys, it builds his faith to ask God for help and guidance in the major areas of His life. It then helps him to gain confidence that God is the same yesterday, today and for ever!

Warning – we must be extremely careful to not let Satan tempt us into believing that God ‘is not the same’ when our prayers are not answered the way that we have instructed God. Remember God is all knowing and all powerful, and we are not. When we take our petitions before Him we must be prepared for His answer, not necessarily the selfish, unthoughtful ways that we may have told Him to answer. Let us therefore place complete faith in God, and as we take our small or large requests before Him, rest assured that He is able, and that He will respond with us in mind, knowing that all things work together for good, for those who place their total faith and trust in Him. Another warning – you can only place your faith and trust in someone you have a relationship with. If you do not have this type of relationship with the God of this universe, please look carefully into the notes and hyperlinks offered in the ‘Footnote’ below. God is able friend!

PRAYER: How awesome it is to be reminded of Your power dear God, and the unending peace I gain each day by placing my faith and trust in You. Should there be one that You may cause to stumble across this devotional today who need You as their personal Savior, Lord Jesus, then I pray that You might convict them and draw them to You. Should there be one who has lost confidence in Your ability to still touch lives today, then I pray that You might deal in their lives and cause them to remember Your awesome power. Please continue to bless and draw mankind unto Yourself, so that we might be reinvigorated in our faith and become even more bold in our witness and in proclaiming how faithful You still are today! Lord, You are gracious, good and eternal. Thank You for reminding us again that You are still God! I trust in You oh God, and ask all these things believing, and in faith – in the awesome name of Your Son, 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 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!

An Unshakable Kingdom

On 2015-05-022015-05-02 By Ed AlgreenIn Reconciliation, SincerityLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Hebrews 12:25-29): ^25–27 So don’t turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn’t get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—he’s told us this quite plainly—he’ll also rock the heavens: “One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern.” The phrase “one last shaking” means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered.

^28–29 Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

THOUGHTS: Don’t you suppose that some of the super-powers in our world today wished they could say that they have ‘An Unshakable Kingdom’? We are warned that God shook up His kingdom once before when He showed the Israelites that although He preserved and cared for them in the wilderness for 40 years, most of them would not be allowed into the Promised Land because of their continued sin and disregard for God. Friends, here we are thousands of years later still being warned that we must listen and take note of the awesome God that we know and serve, because He has a side that imitates a raging fire, and just as He shook up the Israelites, He will once again shake up the earth’s population. In fact, it sounds like He is specifically speaking to the church here, because He refers to the many things we have put in place to supposedly encourage people to worship, yet those very things built and/or developed to attract our worship often breakdown the intended purpose for which we put them into place. Let me explain: many churches have split apart over the color of the church walls or the location of the piano, many more have split over the arguments that develop between members – the very persons that the ‘church’ was designed to bring together to worship and adore the one, true Lord that we all call ‘Our Father’. Friends, we are being warned in these verses that God has a much different kingdom in place for His children, but only after a good shakedown to cleanse His church – for those who are sincere in their relationship with God, and who prove it in their daily walk, talk and relationship with their fellow brothers and sisters. Where does that leave you Brother? Will you be in the group that is sifted out Sister, or are you secure in your relationship with God and His people? According to Deuteronomy 4:24, our God is not to be trifled with, for He is a consuming fire and a jealous God. We might fool our pastor or others in the congregation, but God knows our inmost thoughts and our every action – even the intent behind our actions. Often we might realize how those very close to us can see straight through our actions, so imagine how much more powerful God is. In all sincerity friends, let us get our lives in order and truly practice worshipping the one true God here on earth, so we will be ready for an eternity of praising Him in heaven.

PRAYER: With great reverence and with utmost respect I come before You this morning, knowing that in spite of Your loving and caring nature, yet You know my inmost thoughts, decisions and intentions behind everything I say or do. Please forgive me for the times that I have been less than upright or fully forthright before You and/or my fellow man. I am convinced that not only do I need You as my Savior and Lord, but I am in constant need of Your guidance, protection, wisdom and everlasting love. I need You Every Hour, as that good old hymn says. I cannot do this thing called ‘life’ without Your everlasting presence. I hope that my friends reading this devotional are in much better shape in all of these areas than I am, but I pray that You might clear the cobwebs from their minds and show them any shortcomings they might have. Lord, we don’t want to bury our heads in the sand and ignore our faults and/or our sins, because we want to stand before You one day and hear You say “well done good and faithful servant”, for we want to know that even today “It is well with my soul“. Thank You for this reminder Heavenly Father, please help us to be true to You and in our earthly relationships, and we will carefully give You all the credit and praise, for I ask these things in the matchless name of Jesus, AMEN!

Work At It!

On 2015-05-012015-05-01 By Ed AlgreenIn Holiness, Imitator of Christ, PeaceLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – Hebrews 12:14): ¹⁴ Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

THOUGHTS: God’s Word is so powerful, and God is so awesome to place verses such as this before us at a time that we need it most! I am so appreciative of a Father who understand the objects that He created so intimately that He knows that the only way we will live at ‘peace’ with all people and live a ‘holy’ life, just as He is holy, is for us to work at it! Notice that each command begins with those words! I compared this verse in several translations and some used ‘try’ instead of ‘Work at’. Personally the latter speaks more to an effort on my behalf that I am expected to put forth. I also found it interesting that God felt this was important enough to include an added emphasis to tell us that if we don’t work at it and therefore not live ‘holy’ lives, then we will not see God. Now, I believe that this particular verse is speaking to Christians, and I know that many would probably open your mouths in shock that God would have to say this to folk who are already committed to being just like Him and living in the image of His teaching and example, but friends I don’t want you to misunderstand: just because we may have accepted Jesus as Lord, does not mean that we stop facing temptations, or have anger issues or no longer sin. Unfortunately, as long as we are left here in this world of sin, we will most often live like sinful Christians who make every effort to live like Jesus. What I believe God is saying here is that we not settle for that, but instead constantly and consistently work at living peaceful and holy lives. In other words, seek to live so that our lives will reflect Christ in every way. May I challenge you for just a moment? This type lifestyle will not just happen, and it won’t just happen haphazardly. This is an intentional lifestyle in which we seek God, to know His will, and to constantly seek out His character and His lifestyle, so that we might follow in His footsteps and be obedient to His commands. Living with your spouse or relatives help you to understand their every intention, therefore we must have a daily relationship with Jesus also, if we expect to live like Him. Satisfying a tradition and/or a mom’s wish by attending church especially on holy days a few times per year is not what I’m talking about. I want to encourage you to have a daily relationship with Jesus and work at living like Him in every way. It’s only then that you will have the desire and power to live the kind of life referenced in this verse today. Know Jesus and receive the power for peace and a holy life, no Jesus and it will be impossible to attain either. Please use my helpful tips in the ‘Footnote’ for help in achieving this, friend!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I find it comical that world leaders would not consider giving a captain’s license for a huge ship to an inexperienced and/or High School graduate unlearned in the field. Yet some gain the false sense of security in believing that they will enter heaven without the proper credentials. For it is only if we know You (have accepted You as Lord and asked You to be our Guide, Protector and our example), and make every effort to live like You and live at peace with our fellow man, as You exampled for us in Your Word, that we would be welcomed into Your kingdom when called Home from this old earth. Please touch our lives today so that we may see our shortcomings and help us to have a deep, burning desire to be imitators of the only Perfect One, Jesus. Speak to those who are hardened, please tender their hearts unto salvation so that we all may one day join around your throne in praise and adoration. Please be especially sensitive to ‘Christians’ today giving us compelling reasons to follow in Your footsteps in peace and holiness. I ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, AMEN!

The Purpose of Discipline By God

On 2015-04-302015-04-30 By Ed AlgreenIn Discipline, Holy, SubmissionLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Century Version – Hebrews 12:7-10): ⁷ So hold on through your sufferings, because they are like a father’s discipline. God is treating you as children. All children are disciplined by their fathers. ⁸ If you are never disciplined (and every child must be disciplined), you are not true children. ⁹ We have all had fathers here on earth who disciplined us, and we respected them. So it is even more important that we accept discipline from the Father of our spirits so we will have life. ¹⁰ Our fathers on earth disciplined us for a short time in the way they thought was best. But God disciplines us to help us, so we can become holy as he is.

THOUGHTS: I believe that we can endure many things if we know why they are happening to us. This is the reason that we often complain, ‘why me Lord?’ However it is often difficult, and perhaps very ‘human’ to limit our sight to our current circumstances instead of looking for the possible good that God could achieve through our suffering or challenge. Friends if we are ever involved in making something – perhaps a piece of pottery or building something out of wood, we may have to smash it at times and start over. Similarly, God made us perfect, but He gave us free-will to do our own thing, so our sin nature often gets the better part of us and leads us down a path that could be destructive. Without having to smash us and destroy us, God, in His infinite wisdom and love, gets our attention, and brings us back on the road where we look more like Him again. This is called ‘discipline’. So if you get nothing more out of this devotional today, please memorize the words that are bolded at the end of the highlighted verses: “God disciplines to help us become holy, just as He is“. Why do we deserve such love, you might ask. I believe that the words that I first quoted as our main gripe, were also used in the title of a song that helps us voice our opinion to God but yet understand the great love shown to us by the Father. Listen to ‘Why Me Lord‘ as you ponder why God would love even you so much that He would send His one and only Son as a sacrifice for all your bad – your sin. Remember, He wants us to look just like Him and to be good representatives of His while on our path of life here on planet earth. His discipline serves an eternal purpose that only God knows, and that we may or may not ever see or understand. Just trust Him friend! I have been struggling with one challenge, or trial, after another recently, and yesterday while really feeling burdened, God sent a messenger to tell me that my trials are not to burden me or hurt me, but to strengthen me for greater and bigger things that will benefit His kingdom! Wow, what an inspiration! Our road to holiness is a challenging one while living in a challenging world filled with greed and sin, but our God can do all things in the lives of those who place their faith and trust in Him. Draw close to God, friend, so that He may draw close to you and help you on this challenging road of life.

PRAYER: What have I done to deserve God’s only Son? As I hear those words sung in the video reference above, I am reminded of all the love You have shown, both at Calvary, and through all phases of my Christian life, and I can only sit back and ask Why? Why me Lord? I may never know why You love me so much Heavenly Father, but I am compelled to say yet again today how much I appreciate all that You have done to make me more like You every day. I stand amazed in the presence of the King and Creator of this universe and humbly call You my Lord, my Savior, my Friend and my soon coming King! Please soften the hearts of the rebellious today. Please pour out Your love on those that may question why they are going through challenges. Draw them to Yourself in such a way that their rebellion will turn to pure love and submission, knowing that You only want us to be more holy, as You are. I love You Lord Jesus, and I thank You for first loving me! I ask all this in Your precious name, AMEN!

Important Things To Pray For Each Other

On 2015-04-292015-04-29 By Ed AlgreenIn Christ-Like, PrayerLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Century Version – Philippians 1:9-11): ⁹ This is my prayer for you: that your love will grow more and more; that you will have knowledge and understanding with your love; ¹⁰ that you will see the difference between good and bad and will choose the good; that you will be pure and without wrong for the coming of Christ; ¹¹ that you will be filled with the good things produced in your life by Christ to bring glory and praise to God.

THOUGHTS: Just as Paul had a deep desire for his church members at Philippi, I believe that God would have us do the same for each other. Please allow me to break down the above verses to show us two important end results that we should pray for each other:

That we present ourselves to God at His second coming without spot or wrinkle, and to help with that we should pray:
- That our love will grow more and more. This reminds me that we will never attain perfection in this area here on earth, because of our selfish desires and personal greed. However, this is of utmost importance to us when considering that one day we will come face to face with our Savior. This also tells me that this particular attribute should be a daily prayer of ours so that we might love more today than we did yesterday, and that we love sacrificially as Jesus did for us on Calvary;
That we bring glory and praise to God:
- In addition to the evidence of God’s love being reflected in our lives, I believe that verse 11 is pointing us to live a life that exudes a sweet savor of goodness, ordained and blessed by Christ. I believe the latter is important to avoid our selfish pride, and the possibility of doing good for personal attention and/or gain. I believe the type goodness referred to here is the same as mentioned in other scripture as ‘fruit’. In other words, our lives will produce ‘fruit’ or ‘qualities’ that immediately reminds the world of Jesus. When this type goodness, or ‘fruit’ is evident, not only will we honor and praise our Creator, but those to whom we minister will also praise Him.

Living Christian lives that please God, will be evident to those we come into contact with. This only happens when you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and personal Savior, for there is not enough ‘good’ in you alone to please God. Only the work of His Son in us produces the kind of life acceptable to God. If you have not taken this leap of faith yet, may I introduce you to my Lord today, please? It’s the best thing that could ever happen to you! Read the ‘Footnote’ below for more information on how you might go about accepting Christ, please?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, without You we would be forced to pattern our lives after the ‘good’ we see in each other, which would lead to chaos, greed and selfish desires. Thank You for showing us the way to pure happiness and a life of purity that would be pleasing to You. Thank You for touching the life of Your saint, Paul, and the desire You gave Him to share these words, looked at this morning, with the saints at Philippi first, then made available to so that we might gleam truth and direction for our lives. Lord, we want to be just like You. Thank You for showing us what that entails, and thank You for the assurance we have of Your willingness to help us achieve that. I place my life in Your hands and pray that You might cleanse me of all sin and characteristics that displeases You, and that You continue to bless me with the way to true perfection through Your Word. Please touch the life of each friend that will read this devotional today and draw them closer to You because of Your Word. Without full surrender to You we are way too much like this old world, please keep us focused on You every day, is my sincere plea, that I ask in the name of Jesus, my Lord and precious Savior, AMEN!

Choosing God Is Worth Far More

On 2015-04-282015-04-28 By Ed AlgreenIn Rewards, Surrender, Worth it allLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Good News Translation – Hebrews 11:24-29): ²⁴ It was faith that made Moses, when he had grown up, refuse to be called the son of the king’s daughter. ²⁵He preferred to suffer with God’s people rather than to enjoy sin for a little while. ²⁶He reckoned that to suffer scorn for the Messiah was worth far more than all the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes on the future reward. ²⁷ It was faith that made Moses leave Egypt without being afraid of the king’s anger. As though he saw the invisible God, he refused to turn back. It was faith that made him establish the Passover and order the blood to be sprinkled on the doors, so that the Angel of Death would not kill the firstborn sons of the Israelites. ²⁹ It was faith that made the Israelites able to cross the Red Sea as if on dry land; when the Egyptians tried to do it, the water swallowed them up.

THOUGHTS: Choosing God Is Worth Far More Than …. Can you think of anything that is more important? This chapter of Hebrews is filled with so much of the faith our forefathers displayed in the King of all kings and the Creator of all things, that our lives should be impacted to the extent that nothing will ever cause us to stray in our faith. For because of their faith we saw where mere, humble, man stood before a very powerful earthly king and demanded that the majority of his people that were being held in slavery, should be freed and surrendered to the leadership of one who had absolutely no experience with leading a mass of people. Because of his faith in, and obedience to God, Moses saw where the king crumbled to the overwhelming power of God and gave in to the demands of Moses. We see where this one miracle of faith led to many more, as Moses followed in obedience to God. The masses were fed, when there was no food source in sight; they drank water from a fountain when there was nothing visible other than a shepherd’s stick and a rock; they faced death with the natural eye, but yet saw the waters divided and a path provided for them to cross between two lands, then looked back in human panic to see how the opposing enemy was gaining on them, only to witness the battle being won for them as the divided waters collapsed on the enemy and drowned them all. Friends, in these verses it is plain to see that Moses placed his trust in God, rather than any other earthly treasures or resources available to him, because he saw that his present obedience and future rewards could only come from, and lead to eternity with God. I believe this is a wake-up call for us to reexamine our lives to determine if we are placing our faith in something, or someone that leads us to this type of eternal rewards that Moses chose, or are we struggling to turn loose of the earthly assets, or clinging to earthly values, or placing our faith in mere man rather than God? If you are misguided in your faith, then I pray that God would quickly open your eyes to show you what your eternal rewards might be. If you are misguided, I believe that, based on the Word of God, I can safely tell you that you might currently be so earthly minded that you will be of little Godly use in the life to come. Unless you plead with God to intervene and help you to turn your life around, may I ask that you be careful not to take on the guilt of others who might be following you? Please read Ezekiel 3:17-20 to understand how God threatened Ezekiel with the sentence of bearing the guilt of all he led, if he was disobedient.

PRAYER: Thank You for Your Word dear Lord. Thank You for loving us enough to show us the results of obedience to You and the effects of disobedience. We are again reminded of the rewards of choosing You as our personal Lord and Savior and being obedient to Your Word and Your commands. I know that “It Will Be Worth It All When we see Jesus“, so help us to live our lives in light of that truth and therefore surrender our lives totally and wholeheartedly to You in every aspect of our lives. All to You I Surrender. Thank You for hearing my heart and my prayer dear Lord, for I ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, AMEN!

Stop, Listen and Consider

On 2015-04-272015-04-27 By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, Listen, PriorityLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Good News Translation – Job 37:14-16): ¹⁴Pause a moment, Job, and listen; consider the wonderful things God does. ¹⁵ Do you know how God gives the command and makes lightning flash from the clouds? ¹⁶ Do you know how clouds float in the sky, the work of God’s amazing skill?

THOUGHTS: I’ve often said around my house that if my family could move to the garden in quiet solitude, without any electronics, including the house phone, and just listen to the birds sing, catch a glimpse of the beautiful creation that God has put in place for us, and after a period of quietness before God, just chat with each other, I believe we would draw closer to God and to each other – if we don’t go totally insane through withdrawal symptoms!!! Ever noticed how we must always be attached to a device of some sort, or have background noise to seemingly block out the quiet? It ‘kills’ me to call someone and compete with the loudness of their television set while trying to speak to them! Like Job, I believe that often someone may try to comfort us or share a message with us, and our minds are so busy that we hardly remember they were in the same room with us. Can this happen with God? Of course it could, for often it’s not until we are laid out on our backs, that we stop, listen, and look up to God to consider how helpless we are without Him. Unfortunately, it’s often not until we have tried everything and failed, before we finally decide to call on God and seek His help. Friends, I believe that it is critical that we make time in our day to get alone with God. We need time in His Word so that we can listen for His voice through the written Word, but we need to stop the busyness of our lives for a few minutes each day to stop and gaze into the wonderful face of our Lord and give welcoming time for Him to just minister to us. Please don’t try to convince me, or God, that you just don’t have time for one more thing in your already busy schedule. When challenged by your accountability partner about your time with the Lord, try saying that it was just not a priority for you that day. For not having time for something directly relates to those things you gave priority to, or didn’t make priority for. I believe that if you respond in this way, you will be quickly challenged by God to reconcile who really is first in your life!

PRAYER: Father, ashamedly I come before You recognizing that the above sermon was first preached to myself, for I allow my day to be filled with so much that I often fail to step away from all of the modern day devices and distractions to truly look into Your wonderful face and savor time with You. I thank You for Your Word, and Your help in giving me energy to meet with you very early each morning to hear You speak through the written Word, but I would love to have time alone, with no other activities or time constraints, so that I might hear You speak through Your creation. Like Job, I have deliberately imposed upon myself very tight and busy schedules. In fact, it may even appear that I have scheduled You right out of my life, and for that I must apologize and seek Your forgiveness. I believe that many of my friends reading this devotional may have developed the same bad habits, so I beg You to patiently speak with each of Your children today and remind us of the importance of our time with You. I could only imagine how You must wait for us each day, and wind up disappointed at how we’ve scheduled You out of our lives yet another day. Please forgive us Lord, and please don’t give up on us. We need Your powerful touch upon our lives, so that we might be revived in our spirits and return to making the ‘main thing’ the ‘main thing’ once again. I ask all this in the patient, yet all-powerful name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior, AMEN!

Faith Demonstrated

On 2015-04-242015-04-24 By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Hope, PeaceLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Good News Translation – Hebrews 11:1-2, 7): ¹To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. ²It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God’s approval. ⁷It was faith that made Noah hear God’s warnings about things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a boat in which he and his family were saved. As a result, the world was condemned, and Noah received from God the righteousness that comes by faith.

THOUGHTS: I believe that way too often we take this word ‘faith’ very lightly, for we tell others that we have ‘faith’ in them, or we might say that “yes, I am a person of ‘faith'”, however as we read these verses in Hebrews I believe it is evident that ‘faith’ is much deeper in meaning than the ways that we use it in light conversation. I believe that our ‘faith’ in God is developed first through the things that we learn about God throughout His Word, and because of the ‘faith’ developed and shared with us by great men and women of God that we have come into contact with. These experiences reinforces the ‘faith’ that we gain in God and therefore results in the surrender of our lives to Him through accepting His Son Jesus as our Savior. Understand, we have never seen God, nor have we seen Jesus, but because of all that we have learned, and in turn trusted, we have developed a ‘faith in God. I also believe that sinful man will have no desire to know anything about God, so when one starts to question, or when one becomes curious about this God we know and adore, this is pretty good evidence that God is actively working on them already, for the Word tells us that God will draw mankind unto Himself. He made us, and He has the power to open our eyes to Truth, and to draw us to a relationship with Himself. There were other great men of God mentioned in verses 3-6 of this chapter, so let me encourage you to read the whole chapter. But notice in verse 7 that Noah had to say ‘no’ to the whole world and ‘yes’ to God when he did the extraordinary – built a huge boat on dry land with faith to know that God will bring rain for the very first time in the creation of the world, and that the ‘boat’ would be required by he and his family, in order to survive. That is a demonstration of ‘FAITH’ friends! Is that truly the type ‘faith’ you have when you use that word? If not, may I encourage you to get into God’s Word and read about how He created the earth and how He created our first ancestors, followed by one miracle after another. Invite Jesus to open your eyes of ‘faith’ so that you might believe. Then invite Jesus to be your Lord and Savior so that your ‘faith’ might develop and draw you closer to God that will result in total surrender of your life – in faith! It’s the only thing worthwhile and meaningful to mankind today, and I sincerely pray that each of you reading this devotional will make this relationship of which I have spoken about, a reality today. Seek God, while He is near and while you are still able to, friend.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I pray that we might be like the father in Mark 9:23-24 who cried out to God with all the faith he had, but asked Him for even more faith so that any gaps in his faith might be filled. Some reading this devotional today may feel like they have no faith at all, while others may feel like they have loads of faith, but….. May I please ask that You, oh God, might fill us with as much faith as You know we can handle, and as much as we need for each day. Lord, we believe, but please help our unbelief. We know You exist, and we know about Your power and awesome love for us, but we need so much more confidence in our Christian lives before we can say like Noah, ‘Yes’ to God, in spite of the whole world telling us it just can’t be right. Fill us with all the faith that we need, and that You know we can confidently handle. For those You have led to read this devotional who may not even know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, please help them to understand that this is the first step of ‘faith’, and is critical to their life here on earth and for eternity. I ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, my Savior and my King, in whom I have placed my faith, AMEN!

God is Coming Soon!

On 2015-04-232015-04-23 By Ed AlgreenIn Eternal Life, Hope, SalvationLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Hebrews 10:36-39): ³⁶Learn to be patient, so that you will please God and be given what he has promised. ³⁷As the Scriptures say, “God is coming soon! It won’t be very long. ³⁸The people God accepts will live because of their faith. But he isn’t pleased with anyone who turns back.” (Habakkuk 2:3–4) ³⁹We are not like those people who turn back and get destroyed. We will keep on having faith until we are saved.

THOUGHTS: To some who will read the subject and the Bible verses, we might hear “Come Lord Jesus, come!”, and they may be referred to by their friends as Paul said of himself, “They have fought a good fight and they have kept the faith, enter now into the kingdom of heaven prepared for you by our Lord”. However, some will try to claim the victory and protest their position with the Lord because of their giving, or church attendance, or the faithfulness of their parents, only to sadly hear the words of Jesus reverberate “I never knew you”. There will also be some who will face eternity as lost as they are here on earth, because they consider the Word of God as ‘fables’ or ‘meant for the people of old who knew no better’. Friends, I believe that you should clearly understand the intent of the gospel – the Word of God, and this scripture serves as a great tool to remind us of that. An example to help explain this might be the need for a driver’s license to legally drive a vehicle on the public roads of any country. You know, and understand that driving without that legal document could lead to a prison term for you. You should also clearly understand that you are required to surrender your life of sin, and ask for forgiveness from the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. According to John 3:16, God loves us all, and if we Admit our sin, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and Confess our unworthiness and our ‘lost’ condition without Jesus, then we will become His very special child; saved from this sinful world and kept secure in His keeping until the day He calls us home to heaven to live with Him eternally. So compare the two scenarios given: driving without legal permission (a driver’s license) will send you to prison; living without ever personally accepting Jesus as your Savior will lead to eternity in Hell with Satan. The choice is clear, but it is totally up to you to decide your destiny, or what you will do. My desire is that God will soften your hardened heart and lead you to the cross of Calvary where you would see the great love expressed by my Savior to make your only positive choice a viable option. The plan is in place Brother and Sister, the choice is entirely yours. Please be smart and choose faith in Christ. I really want to see you in glory where we will kneel together at the feet of Jesus and praise He and His Father forever!

PRAYER: Lord God, we are given the liberty of making choices every day. Often some will lead to success, while others lead to failure, and possible destruction. In Your Word, You revealed our options about whom we will serve while here on this earth, and where that will ultimately lead us to in death, as we know it here on earth. I thank You and praise You that I accepted the best option available for my life, and that, based on Your Word, I have fore-knowledge about where I will spend eternity when the day comes for my graduation from earth to my new home in Heaven! I believe You have led me to clearly explain the above to my readers today so that they may KNOW in whom they believe, and with whom they will spend eternity. I humbly plead for Your help to those who are challenged with making a sound choice today. Please, may this be the day of clarity of mind and sound decisions, so that all who have received this challenge will walk away having made the only decision that leads to eternal life with You in heaven. I ask all this in faith, and in the name of Jesus, my Lord and soon coming King, AMEN!

Personal, Intimate Worship

On 2015-04-212015-04-21 By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiven, Praise, Sacrifice, WorshipLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Hebrews 10:16-18): ¹⁶“When the time comes, I will make an agreement with them. I will write my laws on their minds and hearts. ¹⁷Then I will forget about their sins and no longer remember their evil deeds.” ¹⁸ When sins are forgiven, there is no more need to offer sacrifices.

THOUGHTS: In Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah spoke about the coming Messiah and the power He had over sin, however He was speaking to a people with hardened hearts and who only knew one way of seeing sins forgiven, and that was through sacrifices made at the temple. To the Israelites, any other preaching on forgiveness of sin was heresy. In the New Testament, and particularly in this passage being studied today, we see where Jeremiah’s prophecy is being repeated again in verses 16 and 17, because the people had fallen into a rut and chose to believe, and practice the same old teachings of their forefathers. This made me question if times have changed any for us today? Do we still attend church out of tradition, and practice forms of worship as passed on by our forefathers, or have we truly connected with the Holy Spirit of God that resides inside of us, and gladly anticipate times of worship so we could truly speak to God through the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we in all honesty, and in close communion with Jesus, place ourselves bare before Him and seek forgiveness of our sin, and just melt away into honest and sincere worship of the King of this universe, giving thanks for His bountiful mercies and His amazing grace? Do we leave a corporate worship service wondering if anyone else was in attendance that day, because all we remembered was the sweet time of fellowship and worship of the Savior that we immersed ourselves into, with God’s help? Knowing Jesus as our personal Savior, and continuing a sweet, honest relationship with Him each day, involves times that we stop, recognize Him for who He is, and worship Him as Master and Lord over our lives and everything around us. I believe that if we struggle with the latter, then perhaps we need to return to the former and insure that we have a personal relationship with Jesus! Where do you stand friend? Please talk to Jesus about this and make sure that all is well between you two!

PRAYER: Father, thank You for making us so that we would have a relationship with You, and a heart and mind to worship You. Please forgive us for failing miserably in the aspect of personal worship, and so often blaming our lack of desire on our worship teams, or our pastors, or the tone of the services that we attend – if we find time to attend. We are such an ungrateful bunch dear Lord, please forgive us. You gave the very life of Your one and only Son as a sacrifice for us. You’ve brought us through many trials and burdens, yet we pitifully proclaim that we were not ‘led into worship’ at a church service. Father, I believe that my heart is filled to overflowing from the many blessings that You willingly pour out on me, and the overflow alone is enough to fill times of worship and adoration as I come before You. I praise You Lord Jesus for all that You have done for me. I thank You for forgiveness of my sin. I am again reminded that there is nothing I can place at Your altar in place of my sin, but because of the shedding of Your precious blood on Calvary, I can seek Your forgiveness and know that my sin is forgiven! Blessed be the name of the Lord, most high! I worship You, and I lift my voice… Please touch the heart of each one meditating on this devotional today dear God. May they release the offering of praise that is welled up inside of them! May I always give thanks for who You are, praise You for Your amazing grace, and place these petitions at Your feet, humbly asking all this in the wonderful name of Jesus, my King, my Lord and my wonderful Savior. AMEN!

Nuggets From God's Word

Tag: commitment