Tag: Government leaders

Leaders Needed Who Will Seek God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Seek God First, Seek God's Face, Seeking God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Wednesday, 2023-01-25
WRITTEN AT: Live Oak, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: 1 Chronicles 14:9-11; 13-14;
TRANSLATION: New Living Translation (NLT)

BIBLE TEXT: 9 The Philistines arrived and made a raid in the valley of Rephaim. 10 So David asked God, “Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord replied, “Yes, go ahead. I will hand them over to you.” 11 So David and his troops went up to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. “God did it!” David exclaimed. “He used me to burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” ….  13 … after a while the Philistines returned and raided the valley again. 14 And once again David asked God what to do. “Do not attack them straight on,” God replied. “Instead, circle around behind and attack them near the poplar trees.

APPLICATION: I found it interesting that within just a few verses, God chose to show us that there are times when He will agree with our decisions, but also times when He will not – due to circumcisions beyond our ability to know or understand. What then is our responsibility in these scenarios? I believe it is important for us to first of all remind ourselves why we seek the face of God in the first place. If we know what needs to be done, and we feel empowered to carry out the necessary actions, then why seek God’s approval? Fortunately, our scenarios fall into the same category as our tomorrows, and a song was written to help remind us exactly who knows about tomorrow. Listen to that song while you meditate on the remainder of this devotional – I don’t know about tomorrow! If we know there will be a ‘tomorrow’, and if we know what will transpire tomorrow, then we can say precisely what we will do tomorrow. If we knew that, unlike this story of David, God would always agree with our decisions, then we could feel safe and secure in proceeding into tomorrow as we decide to. If we knew that there was no one, or anything out there bigger or more powerful than us, then we would feel honored to tell our servants, armies or helpers to proceed with the actions we command. But the mentioned ‘if statements’ are huge, and something we will never know for certain. You see, David knew that no matter how close he was to God, he still couldn’t take God’s place in knowing whether he and his army could win over the Philistines or whether this was the right time to enter into battle against them. He remembered that it was from the Philistines that the giant came and held back a whole army of men. David was also smart enough to know that because God agreed for him to fight the Philistines, and win the battle at Baal-perazim, that God didn’t also give him approval to go into battle in the Valley at a later date, knowing that the same approval was still good for that battle. God gives permission for us to proceed with a request at the time, and for the purpose of our request, only. For we could never handle knowing what tomorrow will bring. At work, new circumstances will require new approval under the current circumstances. So, it is with God. I believe it is evident that David was under no pressure or worrying himself to death, when he sought God’s approval to battle with the Philistines. And while this could speak volumes to our daily decisions, my heart became burdened for our leaders as I read this account. Not just political leaders, but think of parents, teachers, pastors, youth leaders, local government officials and yes, parliamentary and national government leaders. What if we elected leaders who would study the effect of David’s practices and follow his lead in seeking the face of God, before making decisions – many of which are being made blindly, with no idea of what impact the decisions would have on their subjects. Perhaps this is why the Word of God states ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you’. What if we had that phrase as our national motto that all leaders and subjects will follow? I bet we will gain the respect of all other nations, for they will recognize that our leader is God Almighty! But let’s start at the very beginning – who is your personal leader? Our national leaders will only practice what they believed and practiced in their prime years of life, If God was their leader in their youth, then they will lightly look to Him as an adult and as a leader of many.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Take it to the Lord in prayer. As we do, we can relax and expect His decision to guide us into all truth and every success of life!

PRAYER: At the dawn of another day, we approach Your throne knowing that we want to accomplish a lot today, but in our own power we know that ‘man plans and God laughs’, because we have no idea what today or tomorrow holds. So Lord, I believe that my readers and listeners will gladly join with me in asking that You guide us in the path You would have us go today where the greatest impact may occur for Your kingdom’s sake. Without Christ, we are no different to all other men. But in the power, wisdom and truth of our Lord and Savior, we can proceed knowing that greater is He that is in our hearts than he that is in the world. You’ve got the whole world in Your hands, please help us to enter into that world knowing that you’re in control and that we must follow Your commands and Your directions so that we might accomplish Your will. As we pray for our leaders, may our families, churches, cities and our nation become stronger as a result of allowing You to guide and direct, and may Your people live in peace until You call us home to our final home with You and the Father! 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!

How to Pray

On By Ed AlgreenIn Obedience, Prayer, SalvationLeave a comment

The Holy Bible  (The Message – 1 Timothy 2:1-6): The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live. He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out.

Thoughts:  Like me, you may have thought that prayer is personal communication with God, so it is up to us what we talk to God about, right? While that may be a true statement, I believe that we must also be obedient to God’s Word. So when He instructed Paul to include his instructions to Timothy on how to pray for, and with, the churches that were organized, I believe that God wanted us to also take the same lead. While I believe that The Message does a great job of relaying these instructions simply and understandably, there are a few points that I would like to remind myself about, hoping that you also might be enriched by the Word of God today:

  • Pray in every way you know how, for everyone you know – friends we must be careful that our prayers are deeper than just responding to a prayer request by a friend by quickly responding that we will pray for them. Way too often that’s the extent of our prayer for them. Furthermore, if a non-believer asks for prayer, we must remember that their most important prayer need is salvation. Perhaps the need they are asking you to pray about will lead them to knowing the God that they are asking us to pray to, on their behalf. God works in mysterious ways, so He will hear our prayer and work out His plan in the lives of those we earnestly pray for, according to His perfect will. Our role is to pray;
  • Pray for rulers and their governments – friends, I believe that we spend way too much time in opposition to God’s desire for our government leaders. How? God never tells us to whine, complain, or bad-mouth our government leaders. Instead, in Romans He tells us that governments are ordained by Him, and their work will be a part of Him fulfilling His will for the people served by these leaders. God wants us to live humble, peaceful, prayerful lives imitating Him in every way possible. Our government leaders must know that Christians are praying for them so that they may properly lead us as Christ would have them do. This will not happen if they think or imagine that we are beating up on them at every opportunity. Please don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of corruption and greed in government, but I don’t believe we could find scripture to support that it’s our job, as Christians, to tear down and destroy governments who do this. Yes, we have the privilege to vote on whether we feel led by God to decline voting for ones we feel are not properly performing, but when they are elected, according to our prayers, it is not our job to step in and evoke, or recall those prayers and constantly be a thorn in the side of the politicians and/or God’s work through our political system. God really don’t need any help from us!
  • Pray for ourselves to be a channel that can be used by God to reach the unsaved – The latter part of this scripture relays what was on Paul’s heart, and again I believe that he was a mere messenger speaking the words from our Savior. God’s work and His heart is all about seeing the lost come to know Him as their personal Savior before it is eternally too late. In my opinion, this leaves an onus to constantly pray that we will be worthy vessels that God can use to extend His reach to our family, friends and other circles. We can only do our part of being used by God, for we can save no one. Let us therefore be in a constant cleaning mode and polishing our relationship with the Lord so that we might be attuned to His will and desire for us, and be usable vessels for Him to use.

Prayer is the key, and the answer, friends!

Prayer:  Dear Lord, thank You for the privilege of prayer! Thank You that we can pray to our Father who has time to acutely listen to us, and not distracted by the things of this world that plays such a distraction in our lives. Lord, You’ve given us direction on how to pray, and what we should be focusing on in our prayers. Yes, I am guilty of bogging down my prayer life with all the sickness and other depressing things that constantly bombard my life, but Lord I believe You are telling me today that although my concerns are important to You, there is direction given in Your Word as to how and what I should primarily pray for. Please help me to keep this foremost in my mind every day, so that I may pray in accordance with Your will and for Your sake, knowing that as Your people are touched by You, their lives will be capable of achieving Your perfect will. You are God, and we are not, so help us Lord to place full control in Your hands, as we stick to the will of the Father and pray as instructed in His Word. Bless us this day oh Lord so that we may pray aright and live like You, for I ask this in the all-powerful name of Jesus, my Savior, 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 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!