Tag: Dedication

Carry On With The Master’s Work

On By Ed AlgreenIn God's Work, WorkLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (Good News Translation – Philippians 1: 3-6): (3) I thank my God for you every time I think of you; (4) and every time I pray for you all, I pray with joy (5) because of the way in which you have helped me in the work of the gospel from the very first day until now. (6) And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus.

My Observations: I believe that it is true in every Christian based group, that you will find: A ‘Pastor’ or minister or priest or similar leader; A ‘Support Team’, such as elders, deacons or other such leadership group; and the ‘People’ (you and I). Although not scriptural, I am saddened that many of the ‘People’ see themselves as spectators and therefore, the work of the Lord is squarely on the shoulders of the ‘Pastor’ or the ‘Support Team’. You might wonder why this would sadden me. I don’t believe that you will find this thought supported anywhere in scripture, instead you will find many other references to the ‘People’ being cautioned, encouraged and led to take what they have learned in the church and to go and share/minister to others who are not at church. In our scripture this morning you will see where Paul is giving thanks to God for the good work accomplished by the ‘People’, and he quickly acknowledged that it was God who began, and continued, the work in them. Don’t you see that there might be obvious disobedience, if we choose to ignore the desire God places in us, and shows us through the need for ministry and the ongoing spiritual needs of others? Many might quickly respond that they feel so unprepared to minister to someone. May I remind you that it is only through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit that we are to move out in ministry on God’s behalf? Please don’t interfere with the work of the Holy Spirit by refusing to obey the opportunities He deliberately places in our path. Please don’t offer to take that friend to church next week so they can have their needs attended to. Yes, one of their deep needs might be to fellowship with other believers through church worship services, but the last thing I believe that any Christian would want to hear by our Savior, is the disappointment over the missed opportunities to minister to a friend who never lived to see the next worship service. I can easily understand how we all have different qualifications and gifts, but remember that God would never ask us to do the job of our ‘called’ pastor. All He would expect of us is to make ourselves open and available to be used by Him to minister to lost and/or hurting people who need a Savior. God will use our availability far greater than any earthly taught abilities. Let’s be open to allowing God to do His work in and through us friend!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please forgive me for feeling inadequate to minister to my friends and family, and for not allowing You to take control of my life, my words and my actions. I want to represent You and freely open the doors of my life so that my words might be yours and my actions controlled by You and used by You as appropriate. You spoke to my heart through a wonderful messenger of Yours, may others receive You, and/or be renewed in You because of what You might accomplish in and through me. Like Paul gave thanks for those who listened to You and were used by You, I pray that my readers would also acquire the desire to be used by You also. May Your name be praised and lifted high this day and throughout 2015 is my heart’s cry that I ask in the precious name of Jesus, 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!

The Traps That Ensnare Us

On By Ed AlgreenIn PrioritiesLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

9 But now you know the true God. Really, it is God who knows you. So why do you turn back to those weak and useless rules you followed before? Do you want to be slaves to those things again?

(Bible Translation and Location: New Century Version – Galatians 4:9)

Thoughts:

I believe that there is nothing Satan hates more, than to see one of his children come to know Jesus and accept Him as Lord of their life. I also believe that in spite of God’s power, Satan is constantly trying to win us back, so there is a constant tug-of-war going on in our spiritual lives. For example, our religious practices forbids idolatry, yet many ‘Christians’ practice spiritual idolatry in their hearts. For what a man loves most, and cares most for, that is his god: some have their riches for their god, some their pleasures, some their favorite sport, and some their lusts. Many ignorantly, and unknowingly, worship a god of their own making; a god made all of mercy, and no justice. For they persuade themselves that there is mercy for them with God, though they repent not, but go on in their sins. It is possible for those who have made great professions of faith, to be afterwards drawn aside by Satan from purity and simplicity. Friends, just as in marriage you don’t walk out of the church saying “I do” and walk into oblivion believing that love and unity will grow in your marriage whether you live together or not, so it is with Christianity and your kinship to God. Sure, God is with you always and everywhere you go, but what good is it if you ignore Him? Please remember, our God is a jealous God. He gave the ultimate gift of His precious, and only Son, to show His love for us. I am personally convinced that He deserves our unwavering commitment, our intentional worship and daily, or more frequent, communion with Him. There are several scripture references that would support my statement that God is to us, based on what we are to, and for, Him. Could this be why so many churches and ‘Christians’ are in trouble today? If we only grudgingly give God an hour on Sunday (or Saturday), why should we expect any more from Him? There’s a hymn entitled “I Need Thee Every Hour”, why then should we only worship Him for one hour (or less) in a 168-hour week, and expect Him to be there for us?

Prayer:

Dear Lord, we have become such a spoiled and rotten bunch. We open our arms to receive from You 24/7 365 days per year, yet we can’t make time to thank You daily, or to worship and praise You at least one hour per week. We continually ask for so much from You, yet we complain when we try to give even an hour per week back to You. Please forgive us for our unworthiness, selfishness and pride. We make time for everything else in life, yet way too busy to find time to stop and pray. Our priorities have become very warped, and Satan is really catching a grip on weak Christians. Father, I am thankful for what You did for me at Calvary. Please continue to guide me into all truth and keep me on a path of righteousness, for Your name’s sake. I love You Lord and I lift my voice to Worship You, Oh my Lord, Rejoice….. I respectfully ask all this with a thankful heart and in the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or 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!

The Precursor To Unreserved Giving

On By Ed AlgreenIn GivingLeave a comment

The Holy Bible Says….

    They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians. This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives.

(Bible Translation and Location: The Message – 2 Corinthians 8:3-5)

Thoughts:

During the recession we are just now coming out of, we saw many banks fail and we saw many churches close their doors, but the reasons for failure may be different for each of these. For banks I believe that greed and lack of proper management got them in trouble. Fortunately in the US there was a big brother (FDIC) looking over the shoulders of financial institutions, with financial support to avoid loss to their depositors. In the case of the churches, I’m afraid that through lack of commitment, lack of continued outreach into the community, and subsequent lack of financial support by their members, they had insufficient resources to continue operation, so they died. Throughout my years of growing up in the church, and even as an adult, I remember the church always begging members to give more so that the church could be the church in local communities and throughout the world. I believe Paul’s explanation on what enabled the church in Macedonia to give so generously, might have a lot to do with failing vs successful churches today. The church ministered to by Paul gave generously from their hearts because they had first given themselves unreservedly to God. Now, for churches that are still failing today, could you see the correlation in their members vs what Paul witnessed in the Macedonian church? There may very well be a strong need for our members today to first give themselves unreservedly to God before we could once again see vibrant outreach, missions, teaching, making a difference in our communities, attendance and commitment from all age groups in the church, before we could see members getting their eyes off self and their worldly worth, and instead focus on the needs of the world to know Christ in a very personal and committed way. Friends, in God’s Word we are commanded to give generously from the heart (a heart committed to God and His work here on earth), and a guideline of at least 10% of our gross income is given to us. In these verses nothing is directed of the church leaders to use the funds in a way pleasing to you, so please don’t use that as an excuse not to give as commanded. Our church leaders are held accountable by God to use His resources wisely for the ongoing work of the church. Let’s answer to God in response to what is demanded of us, and let our church leaders be accountable to God for their responsibilities. Satan is the chief of all sinners and of all lies. He will temp you with every reason not to be obedient to God and His precious Word. Plant your faith firmly in God friend, listen to His voice and His commands through His Word, and allow these things to guide you in your living and in your giving. Just as God has dealt in your life to give, He will also deal in the lives of those with the fiduciary right to use those funds in a way pleasing to God. They are accountable to God, just like you are, so don’t let Satan prompt you into not giving as God commanded you to do. First of all, give yourself unreservedly to God, all else will fall into place after that!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, please touch the hearts of Your children today, for we have allowed Satan free reign in our lives that are supposedly given wholeheartedly to You. Please help us to realize our sinfulness, and to seek Your face and Your perfect will for our lives. Please teach us about commitment, because I believe that as we commit ourselves unreservedly to You, not only will we see our giving realigned to Your perfect will, but also our lives will become an open book reflecting You before our lost family and friends. Please work on us daily so that we never lose ground in our faith, our beliefs, and most of all in our unreserved commitment to You. Lord, You are worthy, and deserving of all of us. May we constantly strive to have all of You in our lives so that all of You will naturally flow from us in words and actions. Thank You Jesus! I am asking all of this in Your wonderful and powerful name, 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!

Things That Prevent Total Dedication to God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Faith, RighteousnessLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 3

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man,
should her first husband come back to her again? If he went back to her, wouldn’t the land become completely unclean?
But you have acted like a prostitute with many lovers, and now you want to come back to me?” says the Lord.
“Look up to the bare hilltops, Judah. Is there any place where you have not been a prostitute?
You have sat by the road waiting for lovers, like an Arab in the desert.
You made the land unclean, because you did evil and were like a prostitute.
So the rain has not come, and there have not been any spring rains.
But your face still looks like the face of a prostitute. You refuse even to be ashamed of what you did.
Now you are calling to me, ‘My father, you have been my friend since I was young.
Will you always be angry at me? Will your anger last forever?’
Judah, you said this, but you did as much evil as you could!” (Jeremiah 3:1-5 NCV)

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

I wonder how close we are is what goes on in our country today, compared to what was happening in Judah during the day of Jeremiah? Sometimes I wonder if it is possible that a nation could have been any worse, especially when I turn on the evening news and hear story after story about the various crimes that have taken place in some of our cities. I become even more disturbed when I hear about the discord among people in churches, in families and in work places, and when I see people so dedicated to everything that may incidentally come up instead of to God and His ideals for their lives. After reading this passage I can only ask if God is not calling us a lot worse than what He called Judah. We find so many other Gods beside Him. We dedicate ourselves to so much else except the only One that could truly shower His blessings on us. Oh how we need to reassess our purpose and the things that truly receive our attention.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Lord God, I am a part of this earthly people who respond to earthly things that distract me away from Your ideals and from following Your ways and Your teachings. I call myself a child of Yours, yet I am so easily distracted by things that really shouldn’t matter in the long scheme of things. Please redirect my thoughts, my desires, my weakened commitment to stay on course for You through thick and thin. You allowed Your Son to die on Calvary just so that I may enjoy life eternally with You. There is no greater sacrifice than that. No greater way of showing Your love for me. Oh that I may now dedicate myself to that kind of devotion to You. Please be my ongoing Guide and Strength to achieve the goal of total dedication to You.

*Words underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com