Tag: Deliverer

Start Your Day Off Right

On By Ed AlgreenIn Praise, Sovereign, WorshipLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! Read on and be blessed friend!………

The Bible Reference For Today: Psalm 59:16–17

The Bible Text: But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: In almost every aspect of life, a good beginning sets the stage for a good ending, and everything in between. Take for instance the construction of a house. If care is not taken to get the foundation perfectly level, can you imagine the disaster you will be faced with in every other phase of the construction, and even when you try to live in the house? So what happens then to your day when you wake up disgruntled, start by grumping at the dog and being less than respectful to your spouse? Can you possibly turn that around when you arrive at work and find the air conditioning or heat broken and the first employee to arrive prepared to quit your company and move on in their career? What if we had to imitate David and begin our day reflecting on, and singing about God’s power? You know, the same God who showed His gracious love for you by sacrificing His only Son, Jesus, to facilitate your way into heaven? You know, the same God that you witnessed bringing sunshine to your previous day – especially when you stopped and reflected on the number of friends and family who seemed doomed for an eternity in Hell and, had no hope here on earth? You know, the One who helped you to reflect on the satisfaction of having a job to go to and subsequently support your family – especially when you stopped and considered the relatives and friends who did not have a job? You know, the One who made sure that you had a safe place to rest your head the night before – especially when you turned on the news channel and saw stories of some sleeping under bridges or in tents? Friends, I believe we would have no difficulty at all finding a number of things to praise God for each morning, if only we could concentrate on the precious gifts that He gave to us the previous day. Yes, we live in an imperfect world, and I’m not naive enough to believe that everything went perfect in your previous day, but what I do know, is that if we learn to praise God for His many, undeserved, gifts then the stuff we didn’t like wouldn’t look near as bad. Furthermore, reflecting on the miracles, and the blessings, and the good things, and giving God credit for all that He did for us, gives us a sense of assurance to present our new day to that same God and plead His presence, His refuge, His guidance and His blessings on us as we strive to represent Him in every aspect of our lives. Imagine placing yourself in the hands of the Creator of this universe! Can you imagine any mountain that may be too tall or too tough for Him? Your anticipated path may seem impassable to you, but just remember friend, our Designer and Creator put those mountains in place for a purpose, and if we are to walk over, or through those mountains, He has the power to level the ground for us to pass! Praise the wonderful name of the Lord!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, glorious and almighty in all Your power, we are humbled before You today, feeling a little ashamed about how we tend to concentrate so much on the impossibilities of life instead of the accomplishments that were obviously handled by You on our behalf. Lord, we are so weak and helpless, but praise to Your wonderful grace, we who have accepted You as Lord, can praise You today for Your powerful hand intervening in our lives and protecting us from Satan’s destructive and misleading hand. Father, please inspire within us the desire to praise You with all assurance that You’ve got control of all things in the life of a believer, and for that reason we should always recognize Your power and Your might in all things, because of Your love for us. You are holy and so worthy oh Lord, and we are so needy. We humble ourselves before You in recognition of these things. Thank You for being our God, our Deliverer, our Protector, our Guide, our Savior and soon coming King! 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

Refocus May Be Necessary

On By Ed AlgreenIn God's Power, RefocusLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – 2 Timothy 4:16-18): 16 The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death. 18 Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

THOUGHTS: Ever stood your ground on something, then turned around and felt like you were the only one standing? That’s similar to what Paul must have felt when he stood before the judge mentioned in this passage. However, for those who trust in God and make a stand in obedience to His calling, I am comforted in knowing that the same God that stood with Paul, will also stand with us! This is something that we can stand confident in the Lord about! However, may I also draw our attention to the remainder of verse 17, for Paul tells us that the matter of God standing by him was not for the purpose of Paul being lifted up in the eyes of his oppressors, but instead to give him protection, deliverance and strength to return to the ministry for which God had called him in the first place. Wouldn’t it seem natural that following such a rescue, we would assume that God might be telling us to escape the area to prevent a recurrence of getting caught by the Romans again? But look at what Paul shares with us: God rescued him and gave him strength so that he might go on to preach the Good News in its entirety for all Gentiles to hear. In other words, that he might go on to finish the job for which he was called! Distractions in ministry often tend to beset the ministry, however when we see God at work even in the distractions, we must stay on track and allow Him to carry on without regard to the circumstances being slightly different to what we originally thought. I believe that there are also times where God might cause distractions to cause us to return to Him, or refocus on Him, or draw even more strength from Him, so that we might be reminded of the true Commander in charge of our mission. Therefore, when commissioned by God, we must never lose hope, but instead surrender our all to the Commander and be prepared to accept instructions from Him, in His time, as we are on mission for His purposes! Like Paul, we will quickly celebrate our victories as we stand in amazement to the mighty works of God!

PRAYER: Father I believe that there may be times that we change ministry direction or focus, when instead You are merely trying to strengthen us and help us refocus on You as our leader. Please help us to examine ourselves and regain our focus on the Leader of our mission and the purpose for which You have called us. Please show us Your power so that we will not succumb to the distractions that Satan will send our way, especially while dedicated to Your work and Your will for our lives. Please continue to show us Your will and open our eyes to Your power, that’s absolutely necessary to help us fulfill Your will, so that everyone that we might come into contact with might see Your mighty works evident in our lives, and they may be convinced of their need for a Savior. I ask all this 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!