Tag: Eternity in heaven

Eternal Life in Heaven – How?

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Adoration, Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Awesome God, Beyond Description, Blessing, Celebrate God, Eternal Life, Eternity, Needs, Praise, Praise-worthy, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED: Friday, 2023-02-24
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Luke 10:25-29
TRANSLATION: Amplified Bible (AMP)

BIBLE TEXT: 25 And a certain lawyer [an expert in Mosaic Law] stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this habitually and you will live.” 29 But he, wishing to justify and vindicate himself, asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

OBSERVATION: Perhaps one of the most well-known verses in the Bible is John 3:16! One of the principal lines included is ‘whosever believes on the Son of God will have eternal life’. There may be many who will question Jesus like the lawyer did in today’s Scripture, because they want to ensure that in their life here on earth, they have prepared themselves for life eternally in heaven. So, let’s get our response from this important Scripture where Jesus addresses this exact question.

APPLICATION: Isn’t it interesting how, when we devote our time to certain lifestyles and we study certain subjects, we try to find our answers to life’s toughest questions in those things? In today’s Scripture our lawyer/friend, who was an expert in Mosaic law, felt like he had the right answer to this question that was impacting his mind, but since he had opportunity to speak directly with the One who had answers to all of life’s questions, he went ahead and tried to make sure that the answer was nothing more than what he discovered in the laws handed down by his ancestor, Moses. In John 3:16, Jesus said that ‘whosoever believes on Him, will have eternal life’. However, the lawyer didn’t want to trust just the laws of Moses with such an important question. He had to make sure that he had the most accurate answer possible, so that he could make sure of his eternal destiny after this life here on earth. I believe his reasoning may have been similar to what we still struggle with today, for it is obvious from the answer given by Jesus that something else will result for those who choose not to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’ Many have chosen to ignore the question of what happens after life here on earth, because they feel like the Maker and Designer of all mankind will not punish that which He has created. Friends, you are precisely right in your assumption should God have created us to be robots and do only what He tells us to. However, He created us in His own image, and gave us the option to choose what we will do about our eternity. For those who acknowledge His lordship and do as the Scripture says today, they will one day be rewarded with the likes of heaven where they will spend eternity with the Father (God), the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit (the 3rd arm of the Trinity). For the rebels who want to do life their way and ignore the very One who created them in His likeness, then our loving Father will sadly watch as they gain their reward – eternity in Hell with the master they chose – Satan. You might quickly retort that you never ‘chose Satan’. But dear friend, the way that this works is that unless you specifically chose to believe in Jesus and love Him with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself, then you will never change the trajectory of your life – eternity with the Evil One – Satan. My greatest aim with Nuggets From God’s Word, is to allow God to speak through my thoughts and prayers to impact the hearts of His kids. I pray that today will be no exception, and that the Holy Spirit will provoke your curiosity, just as He did with the lawyer in our Bible story, so that you may also seek after answers that will impact you for all eternity. This is one of those things that you can settle today – where will you spend eternity? In Heaven, or in Hell? It’s your choice, and your decision today will settle the issue for you for all eternity! Let me encourage you to choose Heaven, because I really want to meet each of you there, but most of all, I want us to celebrate Jesus as we bow in homage to Him for all eternity!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: The secret to eternal life in heaven, is to habitually love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbor as ourself!

PRAYER: Thank You Lord Jesus for the blessed hope we have of one day being in Heaven with You and our Father. Lord, I pray that everyone who will take time to read this devotional today may not only be excited about the prospect of seeing You and worshipping at Your feet, but they will make sure that they are indeed ready for the day when life here on earth is ended. A day that every human will face, if the trumpet is not sounded first. We work hard at readying ourselves for a good job, a high-profile banquet, or the arrival of our child, please lord, help us to be sure that our election is sure, and that our soul is secure so that when we close our eyes in death here on earth, we will open our eyes in eternity with You. Also, Lord. just as we would quickly do all within our power to help a friend prepare for an oncoming storm, help us to also make it a priority to challenge them and help them to be in a state of readiness for the day when You call them home to glory. Be glorified in all we do and say today, Lord, for Your kingdom’s sake. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please 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 might 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 Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

The Distraction Caused By Sin

On By Ed AlgreenIn Blinded by Sin, Distraction, Distractions, Pleasing to God, Without SinLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   1 Timothy 6:11-12 (NLT)

TEXT:  11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.

OBSERVATION:   As a mentor to Timothy, the apostle Paul tried to provide him the best advice possible to stay on track for the Lord Jesus – a mission to help him reach the lost in the communities in which he ministered, and to ensure that he personally remained a good witness for the Savior in whom he had found peace and steadfast hope. God knew that we would be in very similar circumstances today, so I believe that he had this advice included just for us. Let us therefore meditate on it and reflect on what God desires of His messengers.

APPLICATION:   Growing up at home, we were mentored by our parents to live life in similar form to what they lived. Of course, we probably thought that their ideas were archaic and that there were much better ways of handling circumstances, according to what we learned from our friends!! However, the older we become, we realize that our parents were very much on target with their beliefs, their practices and their advice. In fact, we see where they may have truly loved us more than we ever imagined, and the advice shared with us was not only godly, but also came with a whole lot of love, and resulted from many trial and errors by them. So imagine if we had similar mentorship in the church? Wouldn’t it be good to reflect on the advice given to us in love, knowing that God probably gave that Brother or Sister a mission to work on us and help guide us to righteousness and to Himself? Perhaps we could start by focusing on the advice that Paul gave to Timothy, for I am certain that it still pertains to us today, and could go a long ways in teaching us to be more like Christ in our walk here on earth. Here’s the advice that I believe God would have us pay attention to:

  • Run from the evil mentioned in the first 10 verses of 1 Timothy 6 – False teachings and wealth; 
  • Instead, learn and strive to do the following:
    • Live righteously – center yourself on being right with God, and live according to His example shown to us in His Word;
    • Test your faith, and grow in as you watch God at work in your life;
    • Pursue love – go after it. Look for ways to express the love given to you by the Almighty. Let others see the love of God, through the ways that you express that love to them;
    • Perseverance – Be so patient with others that they will see the power of God inside of you, working through you, for their good;
    • Pursue gentleness – something that takes the power of the supernatural. Especially when others try their best to trip us up and want to see us lose our patience and godly character;

Friends, I find it so exciting that Paul even goes on to remind us of the reward that’s in store for those who love the Lord, and have given Him full reign in their lives. I’m even more excited that, through God’s calling on my life, I am assured of those rewards! Are you, my friend? If not, please read my Footnote for tips on how to assure yourself of this wonderful gift from my loving Savior. He loves you dearly, and would rather nothing less than seeing you commit your life to His lordship. Why not today dear one?

PRAYER:   Heavenly Father, thank You for working in and through Your servant Paul. Thank You for having Paul share this discovery in writing so that we might read it and be reminded of its value to us today. Please speak to all those who will read this devotional, and especially to those who are ignoring Your precious love, or have chosen the road led by the evil one. Lord You are good, and Your mercies are precious to us in every way. May we be pleasing and acceptable in Your sight oh Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’.  If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please 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 Nuggets From God’s Word 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 Sebring, 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!

 

When Our Faith Is Put to the Test

On By Ed AlgreenIn Eternal Life, Eternity, Heaven, Resurrection Day, Victorious LifeLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Friday, 2017-11-10
SCRIPTURE

From:

 John 11:23-26a (TLB)

Text:

 23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will come back to life again.”

24 “Yes,” Martha said, “when everyone else does, on Resurrection Day.”

25 Jesus told her, “I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who believes in me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again. 26 He is given eternal life for believing in me and shall never perish….
OBSERVATION:
Jesus was a friend of Mary and Martha’s, yet when He came a couple days after Lazarus died, they struggled to believe that anything more could be done – even by Jesus. However Jesus reminded Martha that He is not only in charge of life here on earth, but for the believer in Jesus Christ, He is also the One who will raise those who have fallen asleep – died temporarily to earthly challenges and sin. For He will then usher them into life eternally with He and His Father in glory!
APPLICATION:
I believe with all my heart, that Martha was very much like her contemporaries today. For most Christians surrender their lives to the Lord Jesus with a very strong belief that one day He will take us on to heaven to be with Him. While on earth, I believe that most of us will pray to God, through our Lord and Savior, just like Mary and Martha did when they saw their brother’s health diminishing drastically. Because of miracles relayed in the Bible, or even ones we may have heard about around our church, we may even believe that extreme faith in Jesus, might even trigger His healing touch upon our family. And yes, we have seen tremendous victories through these types of prayer meetings. In fact I heard a story recently that reminded me of how casually we pray for the needs of a friend that asked for prayer for one of her kids with leukemia, versus us going before God in desperate prayer for our own daughter with leukemia. There comes a whole new level of serious and sincere prayer when the object of our prayer is personal and dear to our heart. I wonder if it would make a difference in our prayer life if we reminded ourselves of what Jesus consoled Martha with, that He, who is Lord on earth, will also be Lord in Heaven, because He is the Resurrection and the Life! Friends, I firmly believe that when we invite Jesus to be our Lord and Savior here on earth, it will be a joy to reunite with Him as we enter heaven’s portals. Please note that just like Mary and Martha didn’t know ahead of time when their brother Lazarus would depart from this earth in death, so it is with each of us today. We must be very much like our military, ready at all times for the moment that we are called on. The benefits for believers in Jesus Christ are ‘out of this world’!
PRAYER:
Thank you Lord for the wonderful, powerful name of Jesus, the One that came to save us from our sin and paved the way to heaven so that we may live eternally with You. Oh what a Savior! Please help us Lord that we would never put You in a ‘box’ of limited possibilities, for we are reminded in this Scripture today that we not only serve a master who cares for us here on this earth but that You are also the Resurrection and the Life for all who believe in You. We enjoy this wonderful earth that You provided for us, but Lord, we live in anticipation of heaven, where there will be no more pain or heartaches. ‘Oh that will be, glory for me, glory for me, glory for me, when by His grace I shall look on His face, that will be glory, be glory for me’! AMEN and AMEN!
FOOTNOTE:
There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’.  If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please 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 Nuggets From God’s Word 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!