Tag: God’s promises

Following In Your Footsteps

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Faith in Action, Follow Christ, Follower of Christ, Needs, Praise, Promise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Saturday, 2022-11-05
WRITTEN AT: Ormond Beach, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: 1 Kings 15:3-5
TRANSLATION: Good News Translation (GNT)

BIBLE TEXT: 3 He committed the same sins as his father and was not completely loyal to the Lord his God, as his great-grandfather David had been. 4 But for David’s sake the Lord his God gave Abijah a son to rule after him in Jerusalem and to keep Jerusalem secure. 5 The Lord did this because David had done what pleased him and had never disobeyed any of his commands, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. 

APPLICATION: There are several ‘wow’ moments in this Scripture today:
1. God kept His promise that He made to David, even though his great-grandson, king Abijah, din’t live up to the commitment God saw in David. Often we will be compared to our parents, but isn’t it amazing how Abijah’s judgment, his actions and his character is being compared to his great-grandfather? I believe the same applies to our influence in the lives of generations that will follow is. Is there anything we need to work on now – before it’s too late? Guide us Lord, so that You might shine through us in every word and action.
2. Even in today’s Scripture, it acknowledged David was not perfect. But we know that David had a heart after God’s very own heart, and he was committed to following the ways of God. But God made a promise to David, and he was not about to renounce his promise. Long after David died, God was still keeping His promise. We may become downhearted about letting our guard down and messing up on something we may have promised God, but what a reminder that even long after we have left this life, yet God will still maintain His promise to us!
3. For each of David’s relatives who became king, notice that the Scripture always compares them to the standards set by David. Future history will show that our children, or their children may be compared to us. Those we taught in Sunday School may be reminded of something we said in a lesson we taught. Our coworkers may be questioned about their principles, even after being taught more justly by us. I wonder, will we hang our heads in shame, or will we proudly rejoice before the Father when He questions those with whom we interacted?
Friends, we are guided along in this life by whatever enters our heart, mind and soul. And we act out, and speak, according to that which we have taken in. If we fill ourselves with hatred and bad worldly ideas, then it becomes virtually impossible to act and speak in love. Conversely, if we fill ourselves with the teachings of Jesus and the love expressed by Jesus in all that He did, and if we will seek to imitate Jesus in every way possible, then God will fulfill a good work in those who come after us, or that we minister to. Perhaps each day as we stop to communicate with God, we should analyze whether our words and actions of that day may have helped others live like Jesus, or the Devil. I trust that you would join with me in desiring that we live more like Jesus every day, and when others interact with us, they would feel like they’ve been with Jesus, or at least one of His messengers. Our world needs this, and so do we. Let’s make sure that our lives are worthy of following and that our time on earth was worth our being here. May God’s Kingdom be richer because of our involvement on His behalf here on earth.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Just as our Father continued to fulfill His promise to David even into the second and third generations, I believe He will do the same for us! We serve an awesome God!

PRAYER: There is no God like our God, praise the wonderful name of Jesus! What a reminder in seeing You bless even an unfaithful servant like Abijah. But Lord, I believe that You will do the same for us as we pass along Your good works to all who follow us. Abijah certainly didn’t deserved Your blessing, or the gifts You gave to him, but because of Your faithful promise to David, You blessed him. Lord, please work on us so that we may be worthy of our children following in our footsteps. May they see Jesus evident in our talk and in our walk. I believe that many of the unsaved are also looking for evidence of the Great ‘I Am’, and Lord I pray that they will catch a glimpse as they interact with us. Fill us with Your love and blessings each and every day Lord, and may we do the same with those we come into contact with also, for Your Kingdom’s sake. AMEN!

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

Our Promise Keeper

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

DATE POSTED Saturday, 2021-09-04
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Joshua 21:43-45
TRANSLATION: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

BIBLE TEXT: 43 So the Lord kept the promise that he had made to the Israelites and gave the people all the land that he had promised. The people took the land and lived there. 44 And the Lord allowed them to have peace on all sides of their land, just as he had promised their ancestors. None of their enemies defeated them. The Lord allowed the Israelites to defeat every enemy. 45 The Lord kept every promise that he made to the Israelites. There were no promises that he failed to keep. Every promise came true.

APPLICATION: God made a promise to His people that He would take them out of slavery and the ugly reign of the Egyptians and that He had a wonderful land prepared just for them. Although they never made it to that Promised Land personally, their successors were the recipients of the promises God made to their forefathers. As I read the verses that followed I thought of a parent’s love for their children, for I could clearly see how God loved His children enough to not only provide a country they could call ‘home’, but then He also gave them the necessary wisdom and protection against their neighboring countries. Doesn’t this remind you of a parent rising up against the enemy that crosses paths with their child, or children? Don’t you know that even today God is watching over us with deepest concern over all that we are facing? I truly believe that there has never been a time that so many were impacted by a dreaded decease that killed so many of their family and loved ones, like this Covid 19. Hospitals are filled, so I’m sure that loved ones are also dying because of their inability to receive proper medical treatment. Added to that, we then see hurricanes impacting areas where residents lose material things like their home and auto. Many leave their homes and become wanderers in search of a home, much like the Israelites must have been like in the Wilderness. But friends, I want us to be content in what we read in the very last verse today. For just as God fulfilled every promise that He made to the Israelites, I believe He also stands ready to help us, His children, today. Just because God is way more powerful and knowledgeable than us, we may see where He accomplishes His work differently to what we might expect. But for those who place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we must remember that He is for us, and not against us. He loves us way too much to place obstacles in our way, but instead He opens doors for us that we may never think are possible. Let’s be careful to trust in Jesus with all our heart, soul and mind. Then lets be ready to celebrate as we watch His promises come true for us. What promises? The Bible is filled with over 5,000 promises, so let me suggest that you join me in reading the Book each and every day, and as we do, let us be encouraged by the promises of God as we wait for His mighty work to be accomplished in His perfect timing.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: God fulfilled every promise made to the Israelites, and I believe that He stands ready to fulfill every promise made to us in His Word. Let’s be aligned with the King of Glory so that we might stand ready for His blessings!

PRAYER: In so many ways the world stands with open arms to receive every gift offered by their governments and by the Almighty, even though they may lack in commitment to each of these. Lord, as we have willingly accepted You as our Lord and Savior, we are once again assured that You will fulfill all of Your promises when the time is right. Please touch the hearts of my readers and listeners whose heart may not be standing in a state of readiness. You alone are God. May we be truly aligned with You each and every day as You seek to bless us in many different ways. May unbelievers see, and believe in the Son of God for the forgiveness of their sin. 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!

God Loves You & He Will Keep His Promises

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

DATE WRITTEN: Friday, 2021-07-22
WRITTEN AT: Canton, TX

SCRIPTURE FROM: Deuteronomy 7:5-8
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: 5 “You must break down the heathen altars and shatter the obelisks and cut up the shameful images and burn the idols. 6 “For you are a holy people, dedicated to the Lord your God. He has chosen you from all the people on the face of the whole earth to be his own chosen ones. 7 He didn’t choose you and pour out his love upon you because you were a larger nation than any other, for you were the smallest of all! 8 It was just because he loves you, and because he kept his promise to your ancestors….

APPLICATION: When you look at the largest issues around you, don’t you often sit back and question: Why Lord? What can I possibly do to help correct this? When you see sin occurring all around you, and often impacting your life, don’t you often question God as to why? and on what you should be doing to help correct the problem? Let’s stop for a few minutes and see what the Israelites were facing, and if God reassured them through Hi servant Moses, might He also have a word for us in the Scripture today. This huge body of people were enslaved in Egypt, and they were only released from that after God intervened and forced Pharaoh to release His people. They were led, fed and directed for over 40 years through the wilderness by God’s servants, because they had no control over their circumstances, nor could they do anything about their daily needs and dilemmas. The new, Promised Land, into which they arrived, were already occupied, and by nations much bigger than them, so we could only imagine that they felt as helpless as we do in the circumstances used in my introduction. But here’s where the answer comes in for the Israelites, and for us, I believe. Moses assured his people, and I believe that God assures us, that we are a chosen people. Drawn to the foot of the cross where Jesus forgives us of our sin and draws us into a sweet relationship with Himself. It is there that Jesus promises us a place in heaven where we will worship He and the Father for all eternity. Friends, our God will then watch out for us, just like He did for the Israelites. They were the smallest nation, facing huge challenges, but let’s be reminded that there is nothing too big for our God. If He told them through His servant Moses, that there were seven nations they would conquer (vs 1), it doesn’t matter what size they are, or how strong their army is, nothing could come against our God that He couldn’t handle. I am convinced that reminder is still very true for us today, so why do you suppose we struggle in realizing that our God will take care of us? We are part of the winning army, and we know that there is nothing that our God can’t do, so what’s the problem? We may not be facing seven nations, but for some reason our challenges sometimes seem larger than that. The answer is still the same, there is nothing that our God can’t do! If you know Jesus personally today, then you’re on the winning team. If you have chosen not to walk the path of righteousness, then you may very well join the opposing army. My desire is that You will see TRUTH in the Word of God today, and that you will make the necessary changes in your life. Know God my friend, and know the peace that surpasses all human understanding.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Many have prayed for our salvation. God will meet every need, because of what He promised in His Word, and because of what He promised to our ancestors who prayed for us. Rest assured, there is nothing that our God can’t do!

PRAYER: Lord, now I see why You look at Your children and remind us of the lack of faith that we possess. You could move mountains, and You facilitated multiple victories to the Israelites over armies much bigger than themselves, yet we withdraw into our corner and worry over not being able to handle an earthly situation. We serve the same God, so Lord Jesus, please give us faith to believe, to ask, and to receive. Please continue to be God to us, and give us the faith needed to overcome earthly doubt and fear. May we be Your people who the world will look at in wonder, and gain strength from, as they seek out the kingdom of 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 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!