Obedience To God’s Will

On 2019-06-08 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Obedience, Obedient, Praise, Recognize God, Service, WorshipLeave a comment

Saturday, 2019-06–8

Bible Reference: Numbers 20:6-12
Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

Bible Text: …. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to them, ⁷and the Lord said to Moses, ⁸“You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.” ⁹So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord. ¹⁰Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” ¹¹Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill. We ¹²But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”

OBSERVATION: Obedience to God’s will is vitally important, whether we understand His purpose or not. Remember, “God’s will: nothing more; nothing less; nothing else; at any cost”. Let us meditate on this thought for a few moments today.

APPLICATION: I shouldn’t have to apologize for including so much Scripture today, but it is longer than I usually include, and it’s because I wanted you to understand the basis that God’s reaction in verse 12 was based on. As I read the verses preceding the above, I was so impressed with the attitude of Moses and Aaron to fall on their faces before God in seeking His help for the situation at hand with the ungrateful Israelites. For every little hiccup, the Israelites protested the idea of Moses leading them away from their ‘safe’ life in Egypt, albeit slavery. However, I want us to watch what happens to Moses and Aaron when they delivered on the instruction ordered by God. In verse 10 Moses seemed to have delivered the miracle of God in anger, because he was upset over their grumbling, and absolutely couldn’t understand their need to complain. But more than that, Moses presented the plan to produce water – like it was something he or Aaron would do for the Israelites, in response to their dilemma, and that was wrong. Moreover, Moses took it upon himself to enact the miracle in his own way. But look at what our faithful God did, He still allowed water to flow forth from a rock! He stayed true to His word, even though he felt compelled to deal with Moses and Aaron for their disobedience in not carrying out His plan as designed. You see, God never told Moses to strike the rock twice, and since it was ‘GOD’ who was really behind the miracle, shouldn’t Moses have given credit to God, instead of making it sound like ‘he‘ was the miracle worker? You see, God knew what He was doing, and He gave the instructions to Moses very precisely. He didn’t need Moses to add in the extras. Commentaries also claim that this act of striking the rock, represents the New Testament story of our Rock (Jesus) being stricken, or crucified. And it was unnecessary for Jesus to have been smitten a second time. Friends, this story relays an illustration to us that as we receive a word from God, through His Son Jesus, we need no other confirmation. No other help, and no other word than what He has ordered. Our part is to be obedient to the will of the Father and simply obey Him. There is no need add or take away to God’s word. Let us take note of God’s discipline on Moses and Aaron, for what they did. Let us never forget that God could also discipline us for taking it on ourselves on how we will deliver the word, or action ordered by our Lord. He needs no help from us, than to carry out what He orders us to say or do.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for using even us to carry out Your work here on earth. Thank You for the reminder today, that You need us only to be obedient servants, and no need to add in our ‘two cents’ worth, in thinking that we could help You do it right. We acknowledge that You are God and that only You have the power to perform miracles. Thank You for loving us and showing us through your servants Moses and Aaron, that You may choose to use even us, if we are willing to obediently follow your Commands. Please make us useful for your serve and Your glory oh Lord! AMEN!

Who is Your Pilot?

On 2019-06-06 By Ed AlgreenIn Pleasing to God, Representation of the Master, Representative of ChristLeave a comment

Thursday, 2019-06-06

Bible Reference: John 7:16-18
Translation: Good News Translation (GNT)

Bible Text: 16 Jesus answered, “What I teach is not my own teaching, but it comes from God, who sent me. 17 Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority. 18 A person who speaks on his own authority is trying to gain glory for himself. But he who wants glory for the one who sent him is honest, and there is nothing false in him.

OBSERVATION: Jesus spoke the words of His Father. Are you still caught up in self-recognition, or are your audiences hearing the words of your Father? Meditate with me today in this Scripture and examine your own heart, as I do the same.

APPLICATION: The people recognized that Jesus was an awesome teacher. However Jesus wanted to make it clear that His words came directly from the Father. Verse 18 reminded me of some of our current day teachers, preachers and evangelists, where we see, or hear one speaking from a very selfish ‘me-ology’, instead of the unadulterated Word of God. Could that be the kind of person that Jesus was talking about – trying to gain glory, or draw attention to themselves, by speaking from their own authority? Let’s remember that our godly responsibility is to pray for those who teach us, not to judge them, or make fun of them or ridicule them. That’s where God takes over. Fortunately though, we also have preachers and teachers who display a true sensitivity to God and His Holy Spirit, and therefore there is a deep honesty and openness that causes them to lean on their Master and seek His will in their ministry. Did you notice that Jesus depended on His Father for the right words, and the best timing in which to say them? How much more should we do the same today? So you might wonder, what is there in this Scripture for laity, like you and I? 1). We have been given the litmus test to help us discern whether we are being fed the honest truth of God’s Word, or whether we are seeing a popularity contest, or perhaps self promotion. Honesty to ourselves will help us to place ourselves under the right preaching or teaching, so that we can be truly taught by God; and 2). Look inwardly and allow God to show you any faults that may be evident in your life. Perhaps you are the false teacher/preacher. Are you promoting self every opportunity, or are you standing behind the cross of Christ, with Him as your spokesman, His work will be accomplished? Let Him have His way in your life, friend. Don’t just let Him be the ‘co-pilot’ in your life, but give Him the wheel and let Him pilot you through this life. Let Him receive glory for all that is accomplished in your life and in your ministry.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, it is so easy to sit back and gloat on the praise that others may give us. Yes, I know it is meant to encourage us and lift us up, but dear Lord, in humility we need to constantly learn that it’s all about You, and not of ourselves. Oh that the people might always see Jesus, without attention being drawn to us. For without You in our lives, and without You guiding our every step, our impact on a lost world would be non-existent. Please continue to use our talents and our willingness to serve for Your glory, and hopefully for the growth of Your church. Please help us to display so much of You, that those that we come into contact with, may receive Your glory. Please forgive us Lord for those times that we may have promoted self instead of You, the One who makes this whole life possible, and worth it all! To God be the glory! AMEN!

What Hinders You From Knowing Christ Intimately?

On 2019-06-052019-06-10 By Ed AlgreenIn Garbage, Overcomer, SinLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2019-06-05

Bible Reference: Philippians 3:8-10
Translation: Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Bible Text: ⁸ Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ ⁹and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. ¹⁰All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life.

OBSERVATION: In our effort to reach the finish line well, we will face many temptations and the ‘filth’ and ‘garbage’ of this world on a daily basis. If we know the Master, then we are plugged into the powersource that will help us overcome the ‘garbage’ that may tend to hold us back. This is worth taking a few minutes to meditate on before God!

APPLICATION: Some of us are living ‘on top of the world’ – having the time of our lives with: great jobs; awesome friends; lots of ‘things’ for entertainment and/or enjoyment. However, there are some who are struggling to make it each day because they struggle to enjoy anything in life. At the foot of the cross, both types of individuals come with the same problem if they have yet to accept Jesus as Lord, for they come to the cross laden in sin. Believe it or not, Paul (aka Saul) was the chiefest of sinners in his day, yet God used him to show us through this scripture that just as he surrendered, or gave up everything to follow Christ, so will we have to give up the sin in our lives. Often this involves the things that have always led us to sin, or distracted us from knowing God. This challenged me, and I am sharing this with you so that you may be challenged, to think about this also. What is there in our lives that hinders our relationship with God? Is it time to throw out the ‘garbage’ so that our minds and our lives might be freed of the pull of sin? This could be hindering your acceptance of the Lord, or if we know Him already, this could be distracting and/or hindering our intimacy with Him. I want you to commit with me, as Paul did in verse 10, that from this very moment in life, we will reach for the finish line, to stand before God without any fear of shame, or rejection, or penalty from Him. The distractions that we will face getting from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ are the sins that we have to watch out for, and avoid, each day. Will you join me in going before Jesus each and every day to ask for His strength, His guidance and His power to overcome the ‘garbage’ that will try to trip us up each day? For we want to see Jesus! We want to know Him and the awesome power that raised Him to life! Let us therefore run this race of life with God at the center of all we do. Let us lean on His awesome power to help us stay ‘garbage free’ and strive to serve Him faithfully each and every day!

PRAYER: Lord You have allowed us to stay on this earth so that we might represent You and witness to others who need Jesus. You know all about the ‘garbage’ that we have allowed to enter our lives that really stinks and repels the sinner from wanting to know You. We are ashamed that we have been so weak and ineffective. I was convinced in Your Word today that others, in the heart of a ‘garbage’ pile, really don’t want more ‘garbage’, for they are looking for a way out, a cleansing, a new and better life. Lord Jesus, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life for those looking for a new life. Thank You for opening my eyes to this truth over 40 years ago. Please help me to keep my eyes and my life fixed on You and determined to avoid the ‘garbage’ that will easily and quickly pollute my life. Please touch the lives of my readers with a renewed desire to know You and to live for You in a closer and more dedicated way. May Christians today truly represent the God of their Christianity and fight off the distractions, or the ‘garbage’, that will try to trip them up and distract their walk with You. Please touch the hearts of those that do not know You, with a softened heart and a strong determination to dump the ‘garbage’ in their lives and refill it with Your holiness, love and compassion. I ask all this in faith, believing in the Son of God, for it is only He that can help us be all that He desires of us. AMEN!

Signs Of His Coming!

On 2019-06-04 By Ed AlgreenIn Accept Jesus NOW, Decisions, Don't Procrastinate, Reunion Day, Saved, signsLeave a comment

Tuesday, 2019-06-04

Bible Reference: Luke 21:25–28
Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

Bible Text: ²⁵ “And there will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. ²⁶ People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!”

OBSERVATION: How blessed we are to have been given tips, or warning signs, about the end of time, as we know it today. It is incumbent upon us to act on these warning signs and ready ourselves for the eminent return of Jesus Christ to take His bride (the church) home to glory with Him. To be a part of ‘The Church’, we must have accepted Jesus as our personal Savior. Failing to act on this will leave you in a state where Satan will continue to be your master, even through eternity in Hell. Please read on for help in avoiding such a pitfall in your life.

APPLICATION: I am not a meteorologist, but it seems like there are computers that are constantly analyzing the weather events of the past, so that based on certain wind flows and other conditions today, our favorite weather announcer could be prized with being the first to warn us about a predictable upcoming event, for our safety and security. Jesus shared with us in these verses today about various (obvious) WARNING signs that the Holy Spirit will cause us to stand to our feet and look up in full awe and anticipation to welcome our King – our Savior and our Messiah, as He comes to take us home with Him! Friends, when events such as this occur, there are often some folk who are waiting for the moment and are ready to go with the Master. However, there will unfortunately be those who have procrastinated, or refused to surrender their life to our Savior. Please consider me your biblical ‘meteorologist’ today, as based on God’s Holy Word, it is written that the first group mentioned above will be taken with Jesus to reside with His Father – our Almighty God, to live and reign with Him, to worship and adore Him throughout all eternity. This same Good Book also tells me to warn you that the second group will then cry aloud for the Savior, but because the decision was not made prior to His coming, He will have no choice but to disclaim them at that time and leave them behind with their earthly master, Satan. Friends, until the actual return of the Savior, you still have time to surrender your life to Him. However, because His return could be any minute now, you could very easily be totally out of time. May I encourage you to not tarry; please do not procrastinate; but instead make this a priority over anything else you have planned for today. Not sure how to handle this? Please read my ‘footnote’ for further instructions, or respond to me and I will personally give you guidance. This is way too important to procrastinate friend, please heed the WARNING!

PRAYER: Father, I am grateful that Your Holy Spirit visited with me and prompted me of the warning signs regarding my eternal destiny. Thank You for convicting me of my sin, and convincing me of my need for a Savior. I hurt today because of the multitude of friends and family that are playing with their commitment because they are not convinced of the warning signs. Lord, Your Word has been so clear and proven so true in so many ways. Please tender the hearts of my readers and those that are near and dear to each one of us today. May this devotional lead to a time of decision making by many as they listen to Your still small voice regarding your return and the certainty of eternity. We can only depend on You oh Lord, our Master and King, AMEN!

God Will Not Forsake His Saints

On 2019-06-03 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Trust, WorshipLeave a comment

Monday, 2019-06-03

Bible Reference: Psalm 37:4-7
Translation: The Passion Translation (TPT)

Bible Text: ⁴Make God the utmost delight and pleasure of your life, and he will provide for you what you desire the most.
⁵Give God the right to direct your life, and as you trust him along the way you’ll find he pulled it off perfectly!
⁶He will appear as your righteousness, as sure as the dawning of a new day. He will manifest as your justice, as sure and strong as the noonday sun.
⁷Quiet your heart in his presence and pray; keep hope alive as you long for God to come through for you. and don’t think for a moment that the wicked in their prosperity are better off than you.

OBSERVATION: Words spoken by a man with experience, are normally taken very seriously by those around him. For example, if I was to consider starting a woodworking project, I would listen very attentively to a carpenter friend. In our Scripture today, David is sharing from his personal experience, how trustworthy his/our God is. I believe it deserves our attention and our meditation today as we consider what he shared in this Psalm.

APPLICATION: Prior to these verses, David shared the challenges that the wicked face with so many challenges in life, yet they have no one of integrity or worth to run to. However, for the follower of Christ things are quite different – because we have a connection with the very Creator of this universe! But notice how David specifically directs us into having a very intimate and trusted relationship with the Master. In other words, the type of relationship that we are actively involved in, and not just one that we feel associated with, or that we could call on when we need some magical intervention in our lives. Friends, I love to compare our intimate relationship with God to that with our spouse. For you see, when I treat my Savior with the respect and trust that is required to share the joys and challenges of my heart, then I believe that I have built an intimate relationship with my Lord – one where I might trust in His goodness; plead for His guidance and His help; and believe in His power to handle the challenges of life that often seem overwhelming to me. I don’t believe for a moment that David was cheering us on to trust in a Savior that we barely know, or one that we meet with a few times a year when we visit church, or one that is tucked away and can be called on when we have trouble brewing in our lives. Read verse 4 again and meditate on the preface of this whole Scripture reading today. It begins with us delighting in, and desiring from, the very God that we have invited to lead and direct our life. So allow me to suggest that you make it a priority today to sure up your relationship with God. I believe that He is either King over all things in our lives, or He is not King at all to you. Only you will know how much of your life you have surrendered to God, but remember I said that He must be God of all, or else He will know that He is not really God at all for you. Trust in Him my friend, and watch for His amazing and miraculous works in your life. I love the words in verse 7, where David advised us to long for our Savior, and long for His goodness in our lives. I believe He longs for this type of relationship with us, but we must allow Him to do that. It’s now your turn dear one. What action will you take today to sure up your relationship with your Lord?

PRAYER: Thank You Lord, for Your mercies on me! For all You have done, in providing a Savior so that I may have life eternally in heaven with You, I say thank You Lord, for Your mercies on me. For watching over me each and every day, and providing me with the health and ability to carry on, I say thank You dear Lord for Your mercies on me. For the friends You have directed to read this devotional and draw closer to You, I say thank You Lord for Your lifelong mercies on Your children. Please speak to hearts today as each one is reminded of the words of David. May we all be reminded of the King of all kings, and Lord of all lords, who stands ready and willing to forgive us and accept us, if only we would sincerely ask. Thank You Lord for Your mercies on us. AMEN!

Appreciate The Good Things of God

On 2019-06-012021-05-31 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Generous, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving, WorshipLeave a comment

Saturday, 2019-06-01

Bible Reference: Numbers 14:21-23
Translation: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

Bible Text: ²¹But I tell you the truth. As surely as I live and as surely as the Glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, I make you this promise: ²²None of the people I led out of Egypt will ever see the land of Canaan. They saw my glory and the great signs that I did in Egypt and in the desert. But they disobeyed me and tested me ten times. ²³I promised their ancestors that I would give them that land. But none of those people who turned against me will ever enter that land!

OBSERVATION: It is so easy to read about the ungratefulness of others, especially in response to miraculous works by a leader that constantly shows their appreciation, love and direction to them. That’s the story of the Israelites as they traveled through the Wilderness under the watchful eye and protective hand of the Master. But what have we really learned from that story? Are we in constant awe and full of appreciation for what God does for us? Let’s stop to ponder that for a few minutes today.

APPLICATION: It is so easy to read about the rescue of the Israelites from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians, and to see the miraculous works of God as He led them through years and years of travel through the wilderness. There He saved them from slaughter by approaching armys; provided food for over 1,000,000 people; gave direction and protection to them as they traveled, and held a token out in front of them by their ultimate destination being a land of milk and honey. Isn’t it extremely upsetting to think of them grumbling in the midst of all the awesome things that surrounds this story? Isn’t it good to know that we are so much better at that than they were? BUT wait, are we?? I tried to place a positive spin on the title of today’s devotion, instead of what I was really feeling like God might say to us at times – ‘Just quit the griping and complaining’!! Just in case you are blinded to really see how little we have changed, let me suggest that not a whole lot has changed. Friends, using the backdrop of the awful complaining by the Israelites in response to all the good that God was doing for them, I want us to turn our eyes to our own lives and our challenges that we deal with each day. From the time that we awaken each day, from our comfortable beds in super cool air-conditioning, we may start by complaining that it’s so warm outside, and furthermore I have to get off to work. Let’s stop right there for a moment and remind ourselves that many have no choice but to endure that warm/hot air 24 hours per day; Some are currently out of their homes because of flooding, tornadoes or simply due to financial problems, and many of these may not be able to return to their homes. So do we have something to be thankful for? Then of course our complaining continues into the choice of food we have for breakfast, or the broken down vehicle that we drive to work, or the time of day that we have to report to work. While many others could only wish that they had each of the above. Friends, may I suggest to you that we should learn from the Israelites to appreciate all that God provides for us each and every day. Yes, our greed and our selfish desires always tend to want something different and superior to what we have, but as we look into the eyes of our Master, what can we truly say? Thank You, thank you, thank You Lord for Your mercy and Your kindness to Your humble servant. Who am I to deserve such grace, and such love from such an awesome God? Please forgive us for our ungratefulness Lord. Please help us to always look at all You endured so that we might have eternal life, and a home in glory with You. Your love for us, and Your daily gifts to us are beyond anything we could measure, so may we always find room in our hearts to praise You and rejoice in all Your tender mercies, for You alone are God!

PRAYER: Precious Lord, You are so good! We are such a needy people and we cannot do this thing called ‘life’ here on this earth without You. There are so many things that we take for granted, but that we know you have provided for our good. Thank You Lord for Your mercies on us. Mercies that will endure day after day! We really have no room to complain, for Your goodness deserves our praise and our daily echo of thanksgiving. We worship You oh Lord, and we long to see You face-to-face in heaven one day. Until that time, please give us grateful hearts that will express your praise at every opportunity. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org 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 or listening to this devotional, please go to 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. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. 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!

Representing God Here on Earth

On 2019-05-312021-06-01 By Ed AlgreenIn Awesome God, Eternal Life, Representation of the Master, Representative of Christ, SalvationLeave a comment

Friday, 2019-05-31

Bible Reference: Isaiah 48:11–13
Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

Bible Text: ¹¹ I will rescue you for my sake – yes, for my own sake! I will not let my reputation be tarnished, and I will not share my glory with idols! ¹² “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, Israel my chosen one! I alone am God, the First and the Last. ¹³ It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order.”

OBSERVATION: As a child of the King of all kings, we should constantly be mistaken for King, because of our actions, words, and our heart. But how often does that happen? Way too often our friends will see no difference between followers of Jesus Christ and the ungodly. Why do you suppose that might be? Well, in our Scripture today God said that He would not share His glory with the likes of this world. So wouldn’t that mean that we should be dedicated to the glory of our King and not just to pleasing our friends and the rest of the world? Let’s open our hearts to the Word of the Lord today as we meditate on Him.

APPLICATION: I believe that God spoke to me on two items in these verses this morning, and I wanted to share this with you friends:

1. The verses preceding those above spoke about God purifying His people with fire. Then He said something very powerful in verse 11: “I will not let my reputation be tarnished”. Friends, we may claim the name of ‘Christian’ or ‘follower’ or we may have a desire, and commit to live like Jesus. However, this may sometimes result in no change in our lives. I believe that God will then quickly step in to make sure that His reputation is not tarnished. We hear about Christian leaders being caught in adultery or some other sin, and we may sometimes wonder how did they get caught. Friends, God said that He will not allow His reputation to be tarnished. I believe that this still very much applies today! Christianity is not a ‘pretend’ thing, it’s a lifelong commitment to the very One who sacrificed His life for our salvation. He’s the One who holds our future in His hands, and may I remind you that He will not allow His reputation to be tarnished!
2. In verses 12 and 13 God reminds us of His awesome power and supremacy. Let’s try to keep in mind that this God that we serve, created the universe that we enjoy today. He is the ONLY God – the Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end. Let’s also note that it is just not the human race that is under the obligation of obeying our Master, but even to the stars that we enjoy looking at – God also made them and they are obedient to His call. When we think of the awesomeness of our God, do we need to go any further than to simply read His Word and savor the awesome descriptions of our Creator? May I remind you that we serve a strong, awesome God!

Friends, do you know this awesome God of whom I have spoken in this devotional? If you do, please enjoy His presence today and rejoice in the awesome God that He truly is. If you don’t know my God, please allow me to introduce Him to you. There is information in my ‘Footnote’ that might help you, but I would welcome your email asking for my help. It would be my honor to introduce you to the One who will make the difference between eternal life with the Creator of this universe vs endless death in the presence of the Evil One – Satan.

PRAYER: Praise God, I can rejoice in the joy of my salvation, the Creator of this universe and the One who lives forevermore! Lord, please deal in my heart daily so that I may never misrepresent You or tarnish Your name. Please touch the hearts of my readers today so that they may also commit to a pure, dedicated life that is totally sold out to You – a life that will never sacrifice or tarnish the wonderful name of Jesus. May others see Jesus through our actions and through all areas of our character, for I ask this in the precious and holy name of Jesus, AMEN!

Man’s Picture vs God’s Reality

On 2019-05-302021-05-29 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

Third day, 2019-05-30

Bible Reference: Numbers 11:21-23
Translation: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

Bible Text: ²¹Moses said, “There are 600,000 soldiers here, and you say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a whole month!’ ²²If we were to kill all the sheep and cattle, that would still not be enough to feed this many people for a month. And if we caught all the fish in the sea, it would not be enough for them!”
²³But the Lord said to Moses, “Don’t limit my power! You will see that I can do what I say I can do.”

OBSERVATION: Moses was blown away with what God said He would do, and this was partially due to the fact that Moses was looking through the lens of man’s physical limitations. But I believe that we think so logically, that we just find it very challenging to see beyond that. Let’s think about how God settled this for Moses, then think about the mountains in our own lives and how we need to surrender those to the Master.

APPLICATION: There’s a song ‘Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?‘. I initially typed ‘mountains’ instead of ‘rivers’, but I bet we all can identify with the song, no matter which object is used! For there are times when our challenges are much bigger than anything we have answers for, or that we could overcome. But friend of God, let’s be reminded that there is also another song that reminds us that ‘Nothing is impossible‘ when we place our trust in Jesus! The interesting part of the story with Moses is that God said He would feed meat to the Israelites for 30 days, and Moses took it as his responsibility to determine where he would get the meat from for God to do as He promised! That is almost comical my friend, for if God takes us to it, He will take us through it! He is not one who makes a promise and then turns around, scratches His head and tries to figure out how He will accomplish His work. If He said it, we could go to the bank with that, sit back and just watch Him accomplish whatever He said He would do. I’m sure that we are no different to Moses in wanting to be involved, wanting to help, and wanting to figure out how we could solve planet earth’s problems. But stop to remember how many other miracles Moses had already seen, and yet he still didn’t just take God at His word and sit back in wonderment while God accomplished the miraculous act that He promised. Friends, let’s remember that we serve an awesome God and that He can and will do everything that He has promised, and that He might promise you today. So let us therefore place our trust in Him, depend on Him, and be ready to praise Him as we see Him accomplish His work. Remember that mountains are only obstacles for us, not for our awesome God!

PRAYER: Lord, we have faith, but every day we need more, for we struggle to see beyond the limitations of our own eyes. I believe that each reader of this devotional will face mountains, or rivers of some form today. Oh that we might constantly be reminded that greater is He that lives inside of us than he that is in this world. In fact, You, Mighty God, created the mountains and the rivers, so You control them. Lord, as You look on feeble man today, please once again touch and encourage your children to keep our eyes fixed on You, our all-powerful God, through whom all things are possible! AMEN!

Lord, You are….

On 2019-05-29 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2019-05-29

Bible Reference: Psalm 36:5-8
Translation: Living Bible (TLB)

Bible Text: ⁵Your steadfast love, O Lord, is as great as all the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. ⁶Your justice is as solid as God’s mountains. Your decisions are as full of wisdom as the oceans are with water. You are concerned for men and animals alike. ⁷How precious is your constant love, O God! All humanity takes refuge in the shadow of your wings. ⁸You feed them with blessings from your own table and let them drink from your rivers of delight.

OBSERVATION: I believe that if we were exposed to God’s awesome love, as displayed in nature, rather than what we see on our television screens or devices, then perhaps we might become more appreciative, and creative in describing the awesome handiworks of our maker, like David did. For a farmer will probably describe something or someone in terms of what he experiences each day, while an artist will see, and explain things quite differently. Each one is correct, so let’s just remember to look for the handiworks of our awesome God and share that with Him – often!

APPLICATION: So if you were to describe your Master – your God, your Savior, to someone that you meet later today, what might be some of the adjectives you would use? Too often we will simply say that He is good, or we may even stretch it to say that He is awesome, but if you walked along the edge of a stream in a mountainous area, do you suppose that you might be able to add a more descriptive view of God? What about a view of God after sailing quietly in the clear waters of the Bahamas early one morning? What about doing this right after leaving the hospital and hearing your doctor say that you must have been healed, because he was unable to find that mass inside that showed so prevalent in the radiation reports? Friends, I don’t believe for a minute that God created us so uniquely, for us to just repeat what the Psalmist said. For I believe that from the depths of our heart and the experiences we have been blessed to encounter, we may have a lot more to say than David ever saw, or thought to say. I believe that in much the same way that spouses like to be told how awesome they are, and kids long for parental affirmation, God also longs to hear His children lift up their voices and lift up holy hands in praise and worship to our Creator. Do you do that often enough? Do you look for, and acknowledge all that He does in your life, and all around you? Great is the Lord, and worthy of praise! Great is the Lord!

PRAYER: You are so worthy dear Lord of our worship, our praise and our thanksgiving, for You are sooooo good to us. Lord You designed us to return thanks to You and to worship and adore You, but we have allowed pride and worldly attitudes to creep into our lives that hold us back. Beginning with the nucleus of friends that will read this devotional today, I pray dear Lord that You would create a right spirit within us, and fill us to overflowing with a strong hunger for more of You in our lives. For I pray that we will overflow with your goodness to such an extent that the world will see, hear and know that we are saturated with Your love. We are a thankful people oh Lord! May we express that more often in appreciation to You and so that people around us may know the source of our joy! AMEN!

Step Up To The Plate and Tell Your Story!

On 2019-05-28 By Ed AlgreenIn Humble, Humbleness, Humility, Personal Witness, Salvation, Saved, WitnessingLeave a comment

Tuesday, 2019-05-27

Bible Reference: Acts 22:7-11
Translation: The Passion Translation (TPT)

Bible Text: ⁷As I fell to the ground I heard a voice say, ‘Saul, Saul . . . why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸“I answered, ‘Who are you, my Lord?’ “He said to me, ‘I am Jesus, the Victorious. I am the one you are persecuting.’ ⁹“Those who were with me saw the brilliant light, but they didn’t hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. ¹⁰“So I asked, ‘Lord, what am I to do?’ “And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about all that you are destined to do.’ ¹¹“Because of the dazzling glory of the light, I couldn’t see—I was left blind. So they had to lead me by the hand the rest of the way into Damascus.

OBSERVATION: Saul lived a very dramatic life. He was known for persecuting and killing Christians of his day. However, in our Scripture today we can see where God completely turned this man’s life around. In fact, there was such a change that it involved Saul’s name being changed to Paul in order to identify the drastic change in the man himself. This kind of change may cause some to stay out of the public’s eye, because it would be so challenging for anyone to believe their story. But this was not the case for Paul, for he was overjoyed and wanted the world to know his story!

APPLICATION: There are several miraculous things about this experience shared by Paul:

It was Personal – Paul didn’t share a story with the group arresting him about a friend of his, or a story he had read in ancient transcripts, he shared his story;
Recognized it was God speaking – Paul’s first response to the voice he heard was “Who are you, Lord?” When God gets our attention, we know that it is divine, holy and very personal;
It was transformational – Paul, a persecutor of Christians and a destroyer of churches, immediately recognized it was God, and instead of cursing God, as he had been doing, he asked for further instructions!
It was shared without regard to the place or occasion – Paul didn’t wait until he was in the synagogue, or among fellow believers, or until it was church time. In fact, this seemed like a very odd time to share his testimony, but Paul shared his story anyway!

I believe that the whole purpose of Paul sharing his story was: that he not only wanted his captors’ eyes to be opened to the fact that he was a fellow Roman citizen, but also that they might hear, understand and come to know the God that touched, and ministered through, Paul. He was a true evangelist, both in the pulpit and out of it. Like Paul, we have a ‘story’ that we should share with folk. Often in conversations we step up to the plate and tell a story about an incident in our lives that we believe is far greater than anything said so far by anyone else. Imagine the quiet that would fill the room if, in the middle of discussions about sports, or hunting or family, we would jump in and share our story about our conversion? This is basically what happened here! Among all the confusion and excitement of calming the crowds and making an arrest, Paul asked for a moment to share his story. Wow! Friends, God can use us for His glory in any circumstance that He chooses, if we let Him. But it will only be impactful if we share our story for His ultimate glory and not ours. So why don’t we do that more often friend? We need to do this as often as we can, because we have no promise of a future moment with that individual or group that we are meeting with. Don’t be shy or afraid, God will never lead you into a situation that He will not help you through! Allow Him to do His great work through you! Be bold, yet humble in allowing all the praise to flow straight up to your Master and Lord.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, in Your precious and holy name, I come humbly before You to first say thank You for getting my attention back in 1976 and leading me to accept You as Lord of my life. Thankfully, You have since lead me through many situations and given me ample opportunities to share Your saving power with many people. Please forgive me for lost opportunities, and give me wisdom, humility, boldness and power to share my story with many more folk in all walks of life, so that others might see the glow of Your presence in and through me, and subsequently want to also accept You as Lord. Father God, it is only through Your continued grace that the wicked and lost of this earth can come to know a holy and righteous God, so I ask that You touch lives that I interface with today so that in something that I might say or do, You might impact their lives for Your ultimate glory. I ask all this in the name above all names, the King of all kings, Your one and only Son, JESUS. AMEN!

Nuggets From God's Word

Tag: God