Tag: Gentle

Your Character Qualities Show Where You Gain Your Wisdom From!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Character, qualities, Witness2 Comments

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Please read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: James 3:14–18
Today’s Bible Text: If your heart is full of bitter jealousy and selfishness, don’t brag or lie to cover up the truth. That kind of wisdom doesn’t come from above. It is earthly and selfish and comes from the devil himself. Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.
The Bible Translation: The Contemporary English Version (CEV)

My Take Away: Often we will hear someone say that we don’t need to tell them who our parents are, because they had already determined that, based on the character qualities that they observed in us! Similarly, James is warning us that our character qualities will prove who we are being influenced by spiritually. Look at the qualities in these two columns and determine what the majority of your character qualities are telling the world about who is leading your life:

From The Devil From Above
Bitter jealousy Pure
Selfishness Friendly
Earthly Gentle
Jealous Sensible
Kind
Helpful
Genuine
Sincere
Will cause trouble & do all sorts of cruel things Will harvest justice (peace and righteousness)

Friends, I could only imagine that you may be feeling a lot more transparent than you ever planned to, but the Word of God is very clear. Another scripture tells us that by your fruits they will know you. May I remind you that these qualities of which we are studying about, comes from hanging around the key players. If you hang around God and His Word, you will learn and practice His characteristics automatically, because You want to become more like Him. I believe you are plenty smart enough to figure out what happens when you don’t hang around God, or read His Word, or try to live by the things taught in His Word, but please take particular note of the last line in each column above. Those are the results of the character qualities that you produce. We have both kinds of people in our world today. Which column do you fall into? Only God can help you improve your life qualities, if you’re not happy with where you are at. Please consider allowing Him to do that.

Prayer: Lord God, it’s You that I long to be like in every aspect of my life. Being reminded today of how glaringly obvious this is to everyone I come into contact with, drives me to a greater determination to make sure that they only see Jesus and your rich qualities that will draw mankind to Yourself. Lord, I pray that my readers will join me in saying that this life would be meaningless if we travel through it without impacting individuals for Your kingdom. Lord, may Your perfect will be accomplished in and through Your humble servants today so that the lost might see the King of all kings, even in us. You alone are holy Lord, so please have Your will and way in our lives, so that the unsaved may see and yearn for Your holiness. I ask these things in the precious and holy 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. 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

Qualities of The Lord’s Servant

On By Ed AlgreenIn Obedient, Servants of God, TeacherLeave 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! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: 2 Timothy 2:24–26
Today’s Bible Text: As the Lord’s servant, you must not quarrel. You must be kind towards all, a good and patient teacher, gentle as you correct your opponents, for it may be that God will give them the opportunity to repent and come to know the truth. And then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will.
The Bible Translation: The Good news Translation (GNT)

My Take Away: An important tip given to us at a conference last year, is that we look for the ‘so that’ in God’s Word, as well as remember that in our prayers when we are asking God for things. In the scripture today, it is important for us to note: So that people might see God and desire to know Him, it is important that Christians – especially Christian teachers, concentrate on a few important qualities:

  • Do not quarrel – remember, it takes two to quarrel! Sometimes it seems like Satan may have sent certain people into the classroom to disrupt the teaching of God’s Word, because it appears like they do their very best to get the teacher off track. God expects us to be understanding and not quarrel. The last thing we want to do is appear like Satan is getting through to us. Remember, our job is way more important in doing God’s work. If we commit to His work, and surrender our will to His, He will help us to deal with the troublemakers;
  • Be kind towards all – it is so human for us to love the ‘teacher’s pet’, but despise the troublemaker – the one who is constantly looking to put us on the spot with challenging questions, or disrupt the class;
  • Be a good and patient teacher – to be a good teacher, I believe it is important that we have sought God’s will for the class, studied the lesson well, and therefore excited about teaching all that God has taught you, to the students that God has placed before you at just that perfect time. To be patient, means that others in the room may have a word from God also, therefore they may have valuable input to add to your teaching. Being patient means accepting the fact that not everyone in the class will be at the same level you are at in knowledge or their relationship with the Lord;
  • Be gentle as you correct others – treat students as individuals that you want to help in the boat, not sit back and watch them drown. Show them that you want them to understand what you are trying to relay. Show them that you care about them.

Let’s be careful to always remember that we are representing the Master, as we try to share His Word with others, so let’s act like we believe He would act if He was standing before the class. Let’s look for His heart and try to imitate that same heart as we teach. God’s Word is very clear, that He would prefer that none of His kids should perish. Let us therefore do all we can to help prevent any from perishing because of their sin, or lack of spiritual understanding. God can use even you, friend! Please be obedient to whatever He should ask of you.

Prayer: Lord God, thank You for using even us to get Your message across to the lost, and to the stubborn who allows Satan to distract them. I agree that Your Word is very powerful, but I also know that often You will show one person something totally different to another saint, yet from the same passage. Please help us to always recognize that as a key indicator that Your Word is alive and will speak to different folk differently. Please help us to study Your Word and be ready to share how It spoke to our heart. May our teaching fall on good and obedient ears so that Your will might be accomplished in the hearts of those that so desperately need You. Touch the hearts of Your Bible teachers even now dear Lord, so that they may proclaim Your Word in power and in the full strength intended. You are awesome oh God, and I worship and adore You today for who You are and for all that You teach me through Your Word. Have Your perfect will and way today oh Lord in the lives of all who open Your Word, 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

Be Filled With Mercy

On By Ed AlgreenIn Imitating Christ, Mercy, WisdomLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – James 4:17-18): 17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

THOUGHTS: The love of God, and the wisdom of God combined with the sweet Spirit of God that indwells us, helps us to overcome the evil desires of this world and to live a life filled to overflowing with mercy that produces wonderful fruits of good works and deeds. How is this accomplished? Jesus said that if we abide in Him and He abides in us, we will be capable of doing many mighty things! So we must learn to call on, and depend on the source of our power, Jesus Christ. In these two verses we are told that God’s wisdom is:

  • Pure – when I think of this I think of our lives being free from the impurities of this world that is filled with hatred, jealousy and strife. Scripture refers to us presenting ourselves blameless before the Master. Pure!
  • Loving – Our Role Model loved everyone, even those who despitefully used Him. With God’s help, we must strive to do the same, for scripture tells us that even the adversary can love those who love and follow him. It takes God’s power to love those that seem to strive towards destroying us.
  • Gentle – I believe that God would have us approach others in a respectful and loving way, that will show consideration for the other person, and that you are looking out for their best interest. In this way, our approach and our handling of situations involving others will be filled with gentleness.
  • Yielding – Others first, you last. Be willing to give in to what the other person wants, if it aligns with God’s will and purpose for you. It doesn’t have to always be done your way!
  • Not showing favoritism – Similar to the characteristic of ‘yielding’. Treat everyone with the same respect as you would expect. Treating one sex, or one race or one nationality any different will not reflect the love that God has for ALL His children.
  • Sincere – Don’t do the above things because Brother Ed told you to do them, or your mom may have taught you to act that way since early childhood. Let these characteristics melt your heart and your way of thinking. Our natural character will reflect the ways of the world, however if we are truly a child of God, we will display the character of God.

Please be conscious of these characteristics each and every day. Ask God for a fresh indwelling of His Holy Spirit every day, so that you may think like Him and act like Him. Be filled with the holy wisdom of God, friend!

PRAYER: Father, as I listed those characteristics above, I was reminded of the awesome God that You are, because these describe Your very nature, yet they highlight our ungodly weaknesses. We need a touch from You Father. We need Your Holy Spirit to constantly work on our hardened hearts and to fill us with Your wisdom and Your grace. If others are to see Jesus in every aspect of our lives, we need help badly. I acknowledge that we will never be God, but I humbly plead for Your grace and Your power, so that we may consistently display the qualities taught and modeled by Your Son Jesus. I believe that the world must see a difference in Christians, if we ever expect them to see the need to change their evil ways. May we be Your ambassadors today Lord, is my humble plea that I ask in the name of Your awesome, powerful Son, 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 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 www.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!