Tag: Give

One Thing Lacking

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Adoration, Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Awesome God, Beyond Description, Blessing, Celebrate God, Needs, Praise, Praise-worthy, Recognize God, Worship1 Comment

DATE POSTED: Monday, August 21, 2023, and I was blessed to be at Dowling Park, FL when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. My Footnote will tell you how to find, read or listen to any and all episodes that I have shared over the years.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE FROM THE Living Bible (TLB) IS FOUND IN Luke 18:18-23

Once a Jewish religious leader asked him this question: “Good sir, what shall I do to get to heaven?”
“Do you realize what you are saying when you call me ‘good’?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good, and no one else. “But as to your question, you know what the Ten Commandments say—don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your parents, and so on.”
The man replied, “I’ve obeyed every one of these laws since I was a small child.”
“There is still one thing you lack,” Jesus said. “Sell all you have and give the money to the poor—it will become treasure for you in heaven—and come, follow me.”
But when the man heard this he went sadly away, for he was very rich.

MY INITIAL THOUGHTS: I believe that some may sit and gloat over the idea that we have our house in order and we could accept the fact that Jesus may return at any moment. But much like the case of the rich young ruler, I wonder what God might draw to our attention as that ‘one more thing’ or ‘just one thing lacking’. Let me encourage you to get totally honest with yourself as you examine your life against the Word of God in our study these verses today.

APPLICATION OF THE WORD: As a teenager, I pressured my mom to let me return to school one day early from lunch, because I knew there would be lots of guys my age waiting to play games right up to the time for the afternoon school bell. Reluctantly mom let me go early, but not too long into our fun time racing after each other, I fell and cut my arm on a piece of glass. I knew I would never hear the end of it if I went home to be doctored, so I went to a nearby aunt. When I returned home that afternoon after school, I walked in the house with my arm swinging behind me, hoping that mom wouldn’t notice the large bandage around my arm! Although almost comical, I was faced with a lot of ridicule from a loving and caring mother! Some of you might hold ‘secrets’ from your spouse, while others may hold secrets from your teacher and/or pastor, or the tax man. Why some may even think that they are hiding things from God. But this fits the same category as my scenario when I thought I was hiding my bandaged arm from my mother! Often, we sit on the edge of our seat when judgment is occurring about our wrongdoings, because way too often we did a lot worse than what others see. But guess what? The Bible reveals that God even knows our thoughts, so not only is He aware of our wrongdoings, but He also knows about what we thought about doing or saying. I believe that one of the most embarrassing things that could occur, is for us to lay all our ‘cards’ on the table, only to be corrected about the ones we thought we would hold back on. Jesus knew how stingy the ruler was with his finances, so He was quick to remind the young man about getting his whole house in order, and not just obeying the commandments that were easy to follow, or easy for others to recognize in his actions. Perhaps Jesus is drawing your attention to an area of your life in which you are lacking. Deep inside you know what that is, because Jesus is pricking your conscience. I would recommend that, like the rich young ruler, start with examining your giving. God will hold us accountable for the times we withhold our gifts because we are upset with the preacher, or because no one came to visit us, or because of the way the church is wasting money, or because 1/10th of our CD interest, sale of assets, or estate gift, would amount to way more than the $10 we have always placed in the offering plate. Dear friends, when we consider giving back to God for His kingdom work and for His ultimate glory, is there anything too good, or any amount too great, to not give to His local church? Jesus told the young man much like I believe He is telling you and I today: Get your priorities in order with your finances and in following God obediently – then come and be my follower and a true representative of mine. I know you are not perfect, but are you on track for following the Master today? What is that ‘one more thing’ that you lack?

BLESSINGS WORTH NOTING: Praise God for His continued love for us, even through our stubbornness. Praise God for His patience with us, even when our hearts are undetermined about following His commands. May we determine in our hearts to be obedient in every way to our Master and Lord.

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Lord Jesus, You are most loving and gracious to us. Yet we try to convince ourselves that we can withhold in our finances, and in the details of our wickedness and lack of commitment to Your will and way. I am convinced that nothing is hidden from your eyes and ears, so I respectfully ask that You please continue to work in me so that I might become more and more like You every day. You bless us with the good health and opportunity to enjoy good jobs with good income, yet we hang on to our income like we deserve it plus a whole lot more. Forgive us Lord for our greed and selfishness. Lord may our lives be like an open book before You and may we be so obedient that there will be nothing lacking in what else we must do to be obedient. To be Your representatives and Your ambassadors here on earth, we must look, give, sound and love just like You. Please grant this to us, all for Your ultimate glory! AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There’s another page on my website, entitled ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to this 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. If you would like to read more of my devotionals, or subscribe for a daily email containing each new devotional, please go online to NuggetsFromGodsWord.org. For my podcast, go online to Apple Podcasts or, using the Apple Podcast app, simply search for Nuggets From God’s Word to hear more episodes, or click ‘Follow’ to be notified of Podcast updates. Friends, please allow me to encourage you to find a church home nearby 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!

What To Expect from Children of God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Friday, 2022-12-23
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Luke 6:37-38
TRANSLATION: Amplified Bible (AMP)

BIBLE TEXT: 37 “Do not judge [others self-righteously], and you will not be judged; do not condemn [others when you are guilty and unrepentant], and you will not be condemned [for your hypocrisy]; pardon [others when they truly repent and change], and you will be pardoned [when you truly repent and change]. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return.”

APPLICATION: It wasn’t many years ago that I learned from the Word of God about how I will receive from God, based on the degree that I give to His work, and others, in His name. As I came across this Scripture in my meditation today, I was reminded that if we are to be like Jesus, obey His commands, and imitate His life lessons that He demonstrated to us while on earth, then we must prepare each day to live totally dependent on God, because only then will we be different in the eyes of those we meet. You see, it is clear that we respond to others based on the way they treat us or speak to us. If they are angry at us, it is almost impossible for us to respond with a humble and graceful response. If they are constantly after everything we own, it is just not humanly possible for us to offer them anything that they didn’t already demand from us. Store owners are consistently in their strongest defense mode, being afraid of shoppers stealing from them. It totally blows their mind when an honest shopper returns the extra change to them when a cashier made a mistake. But is this surprising to our Master? Of course not, He created us, and He is all knowing about what we will do and/or say today, tomorrow and in future days. That’s why He wanted to train his disciples, and also give us guardrails on how we might best respond, as His children, when Satan works hard on his gang to throw us in our Christian walk. I love the way that the Amplified Verson gives us additional commentary in brackets, as we read the Scripture. This is extremely helpful in opening our eyes to what Jesus meant in His teaching. And while I don’t need to offer additional commentary, I do want to emphasize the key points in today’s Scripture, as these are subjects that we tend to fear in our own lives. No doubt Jesus wanted to teach us that we must begin by personally breaking the cycle of fear and hurt in these areas, as we interact with others. In other words, act in the same way that you want others to treat you:
–> Judging – The world shows how wrong others are and demands how we must act if we are to ever expect to get it right. Jesus teaches that we will be judged at the same level that we judge others. That could get pretty severe, if we don’t seek the help of Jesus to leave the judging up to Him! Friends, we have a lot of fingers already pointing back at us when we point a finger at others.
–> Condemning – Similar to the above, how or why are we to condemn others, when we are not the perfect one here on earth? Show them the right way by teaching them the Word of God. It’s not our job to condemn others, while trying in ourselves to pattern our lives after Jesus.
–> Pardoning/forgiving – Grudges are unfortunately held for years against another Brother or Sister when they did something viewed as wrong in the eyes of the offended one. But are we ourselves perfect as Christ is perfect? Jesus taught is to freely forgive one another when they repent and change, for we also will one day need their forgiveness.
–> Giving – Jesus praised a woman who gave 2 cents, as it was everything remaining in her small piggybank. If, however, we give 2 cents from our large bank account, because we feel like that’s all the preacher is worth, or the rich church needs, what might we think when we receive just a very small portion of all the riches of heaven? I love the idea behind this lesson from Jesus, for it tells me that I set the level of what I might receive, by the amount that I give. We can never outgive God, dear friends, so be ready to give generously with a giving and loving heart. It’s not our job to hold back on what God has blessed us with because we feel like the church, or an individual, is unworthy of our sacrifice. Our command is to give, God’s job is to incent and subsequently judge how others use our gifts for His glory!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: We receive overwhelming because we give sacrificially and freely. No need to blame God, or accuse Satan, instead, look inward at our own heart and willingness to give monetarily, time and effort, forgiveness, condemnation and love!

PRAYER: Especially during this Christmas season, dear Lord, teach us to give – just like You gave in the manger at Bethlehem, from a heart of love for our fellow man. Thank You Lord for Your commands that teach us to live, love and respond like You showed us to. As we celebrate the baby in a manger, may the Jesus who hung on the cross for our eternal salvation be evident in everything about us. Shine Jesus, shine, through Your humble servants seeking to practice and carry out every lesson taught to us in Your Word, so that You may be lifted up and praised in everything we say or do. May this serve to draw mankind to You. 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!

Give To The Poor And Be Blessed

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Thankful, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Friday, 2021-07-30
WRITTEN AT: Hattiesburg, MS

SCRIPTURE FROM: Deuteronomy 15:10-11
TRANSLATION: The Message (MSG)

BIBLE TEXT: 10-11 Give freely and spontaneously. Don’t have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God’s, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures. There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors.

APPLICATION: I’m sure that all readers and/or listeners will agree with me in saying that we are always thankful for what others give to us. Hopefully most of you can say as I can, thank God that I have never been ‘needy or poor’. I believe this may challenge many of us, because it becomes very challenging to truly empathize with the poor and needy, if you can’t identify with them. But God, in His infinite mercy has blessed us with good health, good jobs and a regular income. Additionally, He has blessed us with good minds to properly budget our income so that we could pay our bills as they come due. Sure, we mess up at times and get ourselves way overloaded in debt and that makes it way more challenging to satisfy our budget than what God expects of us. However, from the very beginning of our receiving a paycheck, we make decisions on how that money will be spent. I had a prospective pastor ask our search committee for a copy of the church budget. He said that he could tell from that where the heart of the church leadership stood. That’s the same with our personal budgets, review it and determine where your heart is. If you’re a child of the King, then I believe that you look at only 90% of your paycheck to establish your budget, for you practice what God has ordained through His Word, that you should give the first 10% of your income to God’s work through your local church. What was that, you can’t afford to tithe? I beg your pardon, because Gods said that if we obey Him He will bless us. Don’t you know that God will help you meet so much more in your expenses with the remaining 90% than you could ever accomplish on your own with 100%? But challenging the use of your income even more, God said through Moses in our Scripture that when we help the poor and needy, He will bless us richly in everything we do. So are you feeling victorious today? Could it be that you are helping others, but with a resentful attitude? Could it be that you often tell God to not bless you as much so that you don’t have to help the poor? I know you have lots of tips to help that poor person, but God said in this same chapter that you are not to give grudgingly, but with a spirit of the One who blessed you in the first place. Think about it, what have we done to deserve the love of the God who created us and looks out for us each day? Just do what He says, and know that He will always keep His promises. Bless someone today and be ready for a blessing from God!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Bless others, and prepare for a blessing from God!

PRAYER: I may not be as rich as my neighbor, as handsome as the successful businessman, or as blessed as my pastor, but oh Lord, You have blessed me with more than I could ever desire or ask for, and I thank You from the bottom of my heart. Please continue Your work in my readers/listeners and myself so that we may see the needs of others, and feel compassionate enough to help them because of Your love and Your commands. Lord, may You be blessed today because we helped someone in need. 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!

Sacrifices That Please God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Giving, PraiseLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (God’s Word Translation – Hebrews 13:14-16): 14 We don’t have a permanent city here on earth, but we are looking for the city that we will have in the future. 15 Through Jesus we should always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, words that acknowledge him. 16 Don’t forget to do good things for others and to share what you have with them. These are the kinds of sacrifices that please God.

 THOUGHTS: For those of us still in the workforce, I believe it is very evident that we are to strive to please our employer, and especially our supervisor, if we are to be successful in our job and enjoy longevity with our employer. Often doing the things that appeal to us, or seems right to us, may not always be exactly what our supervisor is looking for, and will not result in deepest appreciation from them. Receiving a ‘pat on the back’ or hearing words of praise and appreciation makes our day complete and worthwhile! Similarly, in God’s Word we are cautioned to think about our eternal home, because our life here on earth is only temporary, compared to eternity. If we have reconciled our lives with the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted His lordship over us, then we are destined for eternity in heaven, otherwise our default destination will be Hell. If we belong to Jesus, then we should be doing our very best to please Him and do what He desires even here on earth. In these few verses we are given items that we should concentrate on here on earth, as sacrifices that will please God:

  • Praise – Verse 15 even spells out the meaning of this sacrifice: Words that acknowledge Jesus as Lord. I know that we often correlate this word with the lifting of hands and singing praises directed to our King, but I believe that our lives should be so impacted by our relation with Jesus that we will no longer attribute our successes to ‘good luck’, or the ‘man in the sky’ or any other fable, but we should freely attribute our blessings to God, no matter whose presence we might be in. Our unashamed expression of praise will not only please God, but may also impact an unsaved friend that might be in our presence;
  • Giving to others – God has blessed us with everything we claim as ours. If we are merely keepers of the joy that result from those gifts, and not sharers, of what value is that to the kingdom of heaven? In Matthew 10:8 we are admonished to freely give, as we have freely received from God. It’s not ours friend, we are just blessed to have the gifts God has wonderfully entrusted to us!

Based on this scripture, we know that these two sacrifices please God. Let’s not be so hesitant in offering these up to God through our actions today. I believe that God will acknowledge His appreciation by blessing us in return!

 PRAYER: Lord You are so good to us! Thank You Lord for all Your blessings that You pour out on me every day of my life. You were especially gracious to answer my prayer requests yesterday, but Lord I am thankful each and every day. May my sacrifices of praise and unselfish giving always be a priority in my everyday walk of life so that You may be pleased with Your servant. Please tender the hearts of the unsaved today dear Lord, so that they may openly witness Your blessings on Your people and the resulting sacrifices they offer back up to You. I’m So Glad I’m a Part of the Family if God! I pray that other’s reading this devotional can freely acknowledge this fact today. If you can’t friend, then may I recommend you spend some time reading my ‘Footnote’ below to make sound decisions towards accepting Jesus as your Savior? I ask all this in the wonderful and generous 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 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 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!