Tag: Devotional

God Calls The Available

On By Ed AlgreenIn Service, SurrenderLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

7 By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News. 8 Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.

(Bible Translation and Location: New Living Translation – Ephesians 3:7-8)

Thoughts:

Paul is reminding us that as long as we make ourselves available to God and are willing to be used of God, then much like He did through Paul, He can also do through us. Friends, Paul is one of the largest contributors to the New Testament and he probably started more churches in his day than anyone else that we have record of in the Bible. So you might ask, why would God have used an unqualified person amidst so many others that were probably smarter and better prepared to handle the ministries that Paul faced. I believe the answer melds with sound doctrine, and is very applicable for the excuses that many of us lay persons come up with today. In using Paul, the power of God was very evident! Not only in the sermons he preached, or the miracles wrought through his ministry, but in his determination to minister successfully even in the jails, as he did to the Philippian Jailer. So what might God be saying to us through this passage? I feel like God is encouraging us to stand tall for Him, and be willing to step up to the plate when God lays a ministry on our mind. He is probably laying it on your mind so that you might become involved and, through total dependence on Him, see the lost receive hope and a new life in Jesus Christ. Please don’t refer a person to your church when God has placed them in your path. Become personally involved. Help them, even if the help ultimately comes from the church. You may have opportunity to minister to their personal and godly needs. Imagine for a moment if Paul would have said ‘No’ to God, the number of people who may not have been saved in that day! Imagine if Mary would have said ‘No’ to God when told that she would be impregnated by the Holy Spirit? Imagine the folk that might die and go to Hell, unless you are obedient to the Holy Spirit and do His perfect will with His awesome power and support?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, please forgive us for ‘passing the buck’ so often instead of being obedient to Your commands! How dare us be disobedient in that way. How dare us pass ‘the baton’ to someone else who You never intended to do the job given to us. How dare us pass the joy intended for us on to someone else. Lord, we are weak, but thank God You are strong! Thank You for working with us and prodding us along to be the children You intended us to be. Please don’t give up on us! Please continue to work on us so that we may learn to follow Your will and Your instructions as intended. Please help us to have hearts of mercy, that desire to see those that come into our realm of influence, come to know You in a very personal and committed way. Lord, You are good and Your mercies endureth forever! Thank You for choosing me to be Your child, and for using me in any way You see fit to grow Your kingdom here on earth. Please endow readers of this devotional with this same power and a strong desire to serve You in any way You desire through them. I ask all this in the worthy and precious 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!

A Fresh Start

On By Ed AlgreenIn Oneness, SalvationLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.

(Bible Translation and Location: The Message – Ephesians 2:14-15)

Thoughts:

I believe that God spoke to me through this passage this morning, like I hope He would to thousands of others that might read these verses today. Friends, it is very evident throughout the Bible that there were lots of enmity between the Jews and Gentiles. Paul explained to the Ephesian church that there is no such division after the birth of Jesus, because He came to break down the barriers that separated the two groups and make them one with Him. I am a firm believer that when we stand before God He will see believers and non-believers. Christians or non-Christians. I am saddened that although this was dealt with by God Himself by sacrificing His only Son so that these barriers might be broken down and sin dealt with once and for all, yet it seems like today we have grown further and further apart as ‘Christians’, because of denominational-ism and our strongholds on what our church believes. Is it any surprise that we seem to be losing the battle in winning the lost to Christ? They feel better off staying clear of the confusion and fighting that ‘Christians’ practice against each other. Let me give you a couple of examples that hurts my heart here on this earth regarding this issue: (1) There was once an effort to present a Christian alternative to a known evil celebration that the community was taking hold of, so churches got together to hold this alternative event. Some churches (group of Christian believers) refused to participate if certain other churches (group of Christian believers) were involved. (2) An elderly lady with dementia tried everything to prevent a relative spending time with certain other family members, why? Because she was certain they were not of her denomination. Friends this is really sad, because as Paul indicated in these verses and the verses around these, that God tore down these kinds of walls of which I referenced, so that we who know Him personally, might be ONE. Why are we practicing separation among ourselves? When we are made aware of our sin and accept Jesus as Savior, He is the same Savior for all the world who accept Him as Lord. Therefore if a person in one side of the world accepts Jesus as Lord, and someone else here in the US accepts Him as Lord, we automatically gain ‘son-ship’ with Him, making us Brothers and Sisters of the same Father. Who on earth should therefore divide us by wondering which church or denomination we belong to? At the point of salvation, we have a fresh new start – why not let us learn to worship OUR Father who art in heaven, and hallow His name, for it is His kingdom that we long for, forever and ever, amen! There is one Father and one book of instruction for life (the Bible), let us practice this oneness by being one with God!

Prayer:

Father in heaven, thank You for Your patience in dealing with us – our pettiness, our greed for having our own little group (church) with our own little twists to what we believe that Your Word teaches. This faith that we have is not about us, please teach us to be so focused on You that we will find Christian family anywhere in the world that we go, and in any church that we may choose to worship or associate with. Please help us to not place walls between us that prevent ONENESS in You. May You be central in our worship, and in our daily lives, so that we may learn from You how we should live so that we may replicate the life that You have taught us and exampled for us. Please help us to celebrate the One in whom we each believe, and pray for each other to better understand Your Word and therefore work out areas that we see things differently on, for we are a new creation in You. Blessed be the name of the Lord! 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!

God’s Perfect Gift!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Christmas, Gift, ObedienceLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

    Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

(Bible Translation and Location: The Message – Ephesians 2:7-10)

Thoughts:

I believe that most folk reading this devotional today would probably welcome the thought of a gift during this season of giving and receiving – ‘Christmas’! This may be a result of us relating to God’s perfect ‘gift’ to us through His Son, Jesus. A celebration called ‘Christmas’ that we have continued for years. However, did you ever stop and think about why this all happened? It becomes a whole lot more meaningful when we reflect on the reason, as explained by Paul in these highlighted verses. For we are reminded that the gift (Jesus) given to us was not at our request. It was God’s idea from start to finish. In fact, He made/created us with a purpose in mind – to worship Him and to join Him in His work of loving His creation and ultimately saving the lost in this world. In other words, after creating us with a purpose, He saw that through giving us free will, we chose to ignore His goodness and His mercy, and instead follow the evil path of sin and destruction. Therefore, He then gave us the gift of His Son miraculously, so that we might find power and strength to overcome our evil desires and be redirected to the original plan of joining Jesus in the work already explained. So is this gift given to us meaningful to us? You better believe it, for it is God’s very precious gift, given to benefit our return to Him. In the latter part of these verses you will note that I bolded the specific purpose for which we were created and saved. Will you join me in recommitting ourselves to join Christ Jesus in the work that He does – the work that He got ready for us to do? This would not only be a gift to God through seeing obedient children, but also a gift to others as we serve for their benefit and ultimate cause of Christ. This type commitment can create a very special Christmas for all of us and, based on this passage, can be done without breaking our budget! If you are reading this and finding this all very strange, please follow the contact information in the footnote to get in touch with me and allow me to introduce you to my heavenly Father. There is no better gift you can receive this Christmas!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I come humbly before You acknowledging You as my Savior, my Lord and my King. While I often search for a unique gift for my loved ones at Christmas time, I can truly say that I am a very blessed man today, because Your gift given in that manger in Bethlehem was given deliberately and with such purpose and love for me. Thank You dear God for loving me so much and for caring about what happens to me here on earth and even in the life to come, where I will be with You eternally in heaven. Thankfully, You have placed family, friends, coworkers and others in my path so that Your work might be fulfilled through me. Please given me strength, wisdom and an unrecognized boldness to openly share Your love and Your goodness with others that I come into contact with. Please help me to freely become involved in Your work, the work that You have prepared just for me, so that Your perfect will might be done, even through me! Lord, I believe that some will read Your Word presented herein and they will have lots of questions. Please tender their hearts and help them to accept You, the author and finisher of our lives. May they truly recognize the greatest gift ever given during this Christmas season, and may their lives be eternally impacted by You. I ask this believing, for I ask it 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!