Tag: God-honoring

Life Before Christ, Now, and thru Eternity

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, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED: Thursday, October 12, 2023, and I was blessed to be at Advent Christian Village, 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 The Message (MSG) IS FOUND IN Titus 2:12-14

THE BIBLE TEXT IS:  Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.

APPLICATION OF THE WORD: When analyzing a crowd, what character strengths seems to help you decide if that person is a Christian or not? Many of you are already proficient in judging multiple individuals as you choose the right employee from a slate of prospects interviewed to fill a vacancy for your business. What helps you decide on who to hire? Paul is guiding Titus into ways to best minister to his flock who would look to him for spiritual guidance. In the earlier verses of this chapter, Paul shared some specific ministry tips for the men that Titus will deal with, and then he also went on to tell Titus how to minister to the women. In these verses, Paul recaps by reminding Titus that this glorious salvation, of which he spoke, is available to everyone – ALL who call on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, just as John 3:16 tells us. But what is demanded of one who believes? Absolutely nothing else is required. However, to the one who is living a new life belonging to Jesus, Paul teaches that there would be evidence that they have turned away from their previous lifestyle. No longer living a godless life, for they are one with Christ, since they committed to Him that they would instead live a life pleasing to Him. Friends, we just can’t do both. If we try to, then we have not committed ourselves fully to the Lord Jesus Christ and endeavoring to live according to His instructions outlined in the Bible. Remember, we will live the life that we are committed to. Children of God speak and act like children of God. Children without God will live like the world. You can’t live like the world, and say you are a child of the King, for you would be lying. When God fills you with Himself – His Holy Spirit, then you will want to live a life that honors the One who lives inside of you. Paul reminds us that we are living this Christian life in great expectation of the eternal life that follows – with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in heaven. I don’t believe that there is anything on this earth that compares to what we can expect in heaven, but I tend to carefully prepare time away, like vacations, family weddings, special occasions, etc, so I am convinced that I should believe Paul when he tells us that while on earth and being blessed by our Creator, we should liken our blessings to what we can expect for all eternity in our heavenly home! I pray that every reader and/or listener will be nearly as excited as I am about the prospects of heaven, and being in the presence of our Savior and Lord!

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Lord, we are thankful that You created us in Your image; prepared a paradise for us to enjoy; and promised us an eternal home with You in heaven! In Your Word today, you have used Paul to remind us of our future prospects, and long range plans to have us unite with You in glory! We are such a blessed people, and we rejoice at knowing You personally as we wait on that spec al day. Help us to bless others, just as we enjoy Your blessings every day, and direct us each day to pray for others who have not made it a priority to live in relationship with You. Lord, be glorified and lifted up through us, Your servants, every day in every way. 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!

Turn to God For Unconditional Love!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiveness, God-honoring, SalvationLeave a comment

Thursday, 2020-02-27

Bible Reference: Titus 2:11–14
Translation: The Message (MSG)

Bible Text: God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.

OBSERVATION: Ever heard a spouse, or a girlfriend or boyfriend say to their partner “And you did that for me?” You know – they are in shock that someone loves them enough to make a sacrifice on their behalf, just because they love them? It tends to put a whole new level of trust in that person, and a strong belief in your relationship! Suddenly you realize that they must truly love you! In our scripture today, Paul wants Titus to center his message around the love that Jesus showed for all who heard him preach. A message still very relevant today dear friend!

APPLICATION:  it seems like Paul felt it was important for the ministry of Titus that no matter what he felt the people already knew about Jesus, that he should remind them again that there is no secret about how much God loves them, and about the awesome sacrifice Jesus made at Calvary to prove His love for them. I feel compelled to share with you today the same message given to Titus, for it seems like depression in our friends and family is worsening, and impacting even children today. Don’t you realize friend that no matter how undeserving you may feel, there is only one place where you can look, or depend on for unconditional, everlasting love? It’s not on the internet, not in the nightclubs or local bars, or those friends who find answers in all the wrong places. God is ready to forgive you, and give you eternal life, filled with His wonderful love that is beyond human understanding or description? Don’t you know that you can be saved from your life of sin and disregard of God and take on a blessed, God-filled and God-honoring life? Don’t you know that this new life can begin right now, even though it may only be a sampling of the glorious life you will enjoy with Jesus when you leave this world that is so saturated with sin? Don’t you know that in spite of your present tendency to be mean and unforgiving towards others, that God will make you into a person energized in goodness? Friends, the above is not just vain promises that this Brother is offering to entice you into a relationship with God, although I wish there would be such an enticement possible, but I have merely expanded on the actual scripture written by Paul under the leadership and direction of the Holy Spirit. Please consider allowing that same Holy Spirit to guide you in your decisions today friend!

PRAYER: Father, You are merciful and so forgiving. For while we were still sinners, You went to the cross of Calvary as a statement of Your love for us, and faced public shame and disgrace by the same folk that You would later forgive them of their sin. Unfortunately we are no better than most of them that tortured You that dark day, because in spite of Your love for us, yet we openly sin and disgrace Your precious name. Please consider once again forgiving us of our sin dear Lord. Please go to the extreme once again to melt our hardened hearts and convince us of our sin and our need for the Savior. Lord, I pray that You would have Your perfect way in our lives today and in the lives of those that we love. May this be the day of salvation for many who will read this devotional today, I pray this in the precious name of Jesus, 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. If you are anywhere near the Sebring, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would highly recommend to you 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!

A God-filled, God-honoring Life

On By Ed AlgreenIn Filled With The Spirit, God-honoring, Honor, True witnesses, Witness, WitnessingLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   Titus 2:11-14 (MSG)

TEXT:  11-14 God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.

OBSERVATION:   In the first 10 verses of this chapter, Paul shares with Titus the importance of teaching older men, older women, younger men and younger women, how to live a God-filled, God-honoring life, and the importance of doing so. This teaching has never been more critical than it is for us today, so as we meditate on this, let’s try to apply it – for the kingdom of God is at hand!

APPLICATION:   Telling a politician, or a public figure to include something on ‘right living’ in their political agenda, would almost seem hypocritical compared to the backbiting, hatred and name calling they normally do. Telling an evangelist to hit the streets and demand this lifestyle of those coming out of the bars and dance halls would probably be meaningless to a people are already living the best lifestyle they know how to live. But I believe that just as Paul gave this advice to his fellow laborer and Brother in the Lord, and expected him to share this with those that he found in the local church, we too must be prepared to give this advice to our pastors, teachers and leaders of our churches today. The whole reason for this, comes down to our churches empowering our people not just with the awesome power of God’s Word, but also asking its parishioners to live and practice the life that they are being taught from God’s Word. So in effect, we are encouraging each one to become the church to all those that they come into contact with! I believe that it is our responsibility to live like ‘little Christs’, before all those we come into contact with, especially if we are God-filled, and if we are giving every effort to honor God with our speech, behavior and character. I just love the latter part of this Scripture where we are told that God gave up everything, when He allowed His precious Son to die on the cross for us, for He wanted to make it possible and easy for us to make Him proud of us. How do you feel about your day friend? Did you make God proud in everything that you did? Would others conclude that you are a ‘God-filled’ person, and that you honor God through the things that you say and do? The Word says that when we strive towards these things, we develop an appetite and excitement about the glorious day when our Lord will return! God saw the need for Titus to hear these words from Paul, and I believe that He wants us to also get the picture He is portraying for us today about our earthly condition, in preparation for our heavenly celebration and our eternal home!

PRAYER:   Oh that your people may know about You Lord! Oh that we, who are called by Your name, will seek Your face, humble ourselves and pray, and allow ourselves to be so filled with Your presence, Your character, Your love and to seek Your Holy Spirit for every decision in life, so that we may be God-filled and so that we may honor You in all things. Please anoint us today with Your power, so that we may look more like You in the eyes of those searching for the Master. 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!

 

Things That Make God Angry At You

On By Ed AlgreenIn God-honoring, Honor, LoyaltyLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Friday, 2017-12-01
SCRIPTURE

From:

 1 Kings 11:9-10 (ERV)

Text:

 9 So Solomon did not remain faithful to the Lord, the God of Israel, even though God had appeared to him twice. The Lord became angry with him. 10 He had told Solomon that he must not follow other gods, but Solomon did not obey the Lord’s command.
OBSERVATION:
In the first half of the story of king Solomon, we read so much about how the king was endowed with wisdom like no other man on earth, and about how successful Solomon was in building an awesome temple for the Ark of God to reside in. It was also the  place  for the people to worship the Lord God at. The king tried in many ways to honor God, like his father David did, and to carry on his legacy for the Lord, like his father David had demonstrated. However, Solomon started sneaking in a few things that God had ordered him not to do, and this ultimately led to his downfall.
APPLICATION:
Most of us, as kids, tried many of the things that our parents warned us to stay away from! Often it was because of friends, or out of thinking that our parents were so archaic that they really didn’t know the good about each thing they warned us to stay away from! Obviously Solomon was one who had to prove things for himself. However, this got him into some deep trouble. God has also warned us throughout His Word about things that we should stay away from, and what do we wind up doing? Take for example a possible warning to protect our bodies, which is the temple of the Holy Ghost, yet we take His temple into all sorts of places, we expose it to all sorts of arguments and bad words not suitable for any man to be exposed to; we gorge on food until we make ourselves sick; we are unkind to folk that Jesus bled and died for; we expose the temple to poisons like alcohol abuse and cigarette smoke that not only do these tend to poison our Savior’s presence, but these are also known to destroy families and key parts of our body. So please don’t look down on Solomon until you have sought the face of Jesus to help you clean up your own acts. Friends, the whole idea of God entering our bodies through His Holy Spirit, is to help us live pure and honest lives that aligns with the Word of God and is pleasing to our Master. Do you suppose that I might be correct in assuming that even after learning these lessons from Solomon, we are still pouring more ‘poison’ into our bodies, than we are doing with praises or things that are pleasing to, and appreciated by God? I believe that very much like Solomon, we too need to have a little talk with Jesus and make things right! Make this your aim today dear friends.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, I know that You must often look at mankind and shake Your head in wonderment as to whether we will ever learn from our mistakes and from lessons learned from the mistakes of others. Lord, You created us and You know our weaknesses all too well. I humbly ask today that You may use this lesson today to tender the hearts of all my readers so that we all may learn from Your servant Solomon. He meant well when doing everything that brought praise to You, but in his weakness, he also rebelled against You in doing the very things that You warned him not to do. Lord, I’m afraid that many of us are just the same today. We need your forgiveness and we need even more of Your strength and guidance to be more like You. Please hear our prayer and grant our request as You see fit dear God. 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!

He Did That For You!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiveness, God-honoring, Salvation1 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: Titus 2:11–14
Today’s Bible Text: God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.
The Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)

My Take Away: Ever heard a spouse, or a girlfriend or boyfriend say to their partner “And you did that for me?” You know – they are in shock that someone loves them enough to make a sacrifice on their behalf, just because they love them? It tends to put a whole new level of trust in that person, and a strong belief in your relationship! Suddenly you realize that they must truly love you! In our scripture today, it seems like Paul felt it was important for the ministry of Titus that no matter what he felt the people already knew about Jesus, that he should remind them again that there is no secret about how much God loves them, and about the awesome sacrifice He made at Calvary to prove His love for them. I feel compelled to share with my readers today the same message given to Titus, for it seems like depression in our friends and family is worsening, and impacting even children today. Don’t you realize friend that no matter how underserving you may feel, God is ready to forgive you, and give you eternal life filled with His wonderful love that is beyond human understanding or description? Don’t you know that you can be saved from your life of sin and disregard of God and take on a blessed, God-filled and God-honoring life? Don’t you know that this new life can begin right now, even though it may only be a sampling of the glorious life you will enjoy with Jesus when you leave this world that is so saturated with sin? Don’t you know that in spite of your present tendency to be mean and unforgiving towards others, that God will make you into a person energized in goodness? Friends, the above is not just vain promises that this Brother is offering to entice you into a relationship with God, although I wish there would be such an enticement possible, but I have merely expanded on the actual scripture written by Paul under the leadership and direction of the Holy Spirit. Please consider allowing that same Holy Spirit to guide you in your decisions today friend!

Prayer: Father, You are merciful and so forgiving. For while we were still sinners, You went to the cross of Calvary as a statement of Your love for us, and faced public shame and disgrace by the same folk that You would later forgive them of their sin. Unfortunately we are no better than most of them that tortured You that dark day, because in spite of Your love for us, yet we openly sin and disgrace Your precious name. Please consider once again forgiving us of our sin dear Lord. Please go to the extreme once again to melt our hardened hearts and convince us of our sin and our need for the Savior. Lord, I pray that You would have Your perfect way in our lives today and in the lives of those that we love. May this be the day of salvation for may who will read this devotional today, I pray 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. 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