Tag: Happy

Want to be Truly Rich?

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: Wednesday, May 31, 2023, and I was blessed to be at O’Brien, FL when God inspired me to write this blog post. My Footnote will tell you how to read or listen to this devotional or any past episodes.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE FROM THE Living Bible (TLB) IS FOUND IN 1 Timothy 6:6-9

THE BIBLE TEXT IS: 6 Do you want to be truly rich? You already are if you are happy and good. 7 After all, we didn’t bring any money with us when we came into the world, and we can’t carry away a single penny when we die. 8 So we should be well satisfied without money if we have enough food and clothing. 9 But people who long to be rich soon begin to do all kinds of wrong things to get money, things that hurt them and make them evil-minded and finally send them to hell itself.

MY INITIAL THOUGHTS: Rest assured that this is not another of those ‘get rich’ schemes that you may receive a lot of emails and spam calls on, so it is safe to meditate with me on the full devotional today! Newbies can easily be trapped by schemes or ‘feel good’ ideas, so Paul wanted to prepare Timothy for everything that might cross his path while ministering in the field without Paul by his side. Perhaps we will find something to help prepare us for the unknowns of each day as we meditate together, so stay with me for the full devotional.

APPLICATION OF THE WORD: Some of you may have experienced some of the same challenges of my wife and I, who faced many scenarios and many people of different backgrounds as we moved from one place to another during my working career, and also through our obedience to the voice of God after we entered into retirement. We failed in our faith, closeness to God, experiences of life, and our attitude in our Christian walk at times, but we were also challenged in our faith to new experiences and ministry opportunities, even though I worked in the financial sector. I believe that Paul is indicating possible results like we saw, for he wanted to open his co-laborer’s mind, and ours, to truly understand the meaning of ‘being rich’; contentment; personal value; and the power of God’s love, wisdom and direction in our lives. I’ve heard of parents who sent their children to distant lands for their education, because of the unstable, wicked and evil surroundings of local schools. Guess what? If that child was prone to mix with bad company and become involved in wicked behavior in their current environment, then they will do the same with a different bunch of friends, in their new environment. I believe that’s why Paul wanted to prepare Timothy’s heart and fill him to overflowing with wisdom in so many areas of life. He wanted him to be independently bold, committed, and trained to detect and protect against evil the minute it became evident. Please let me encourage you to take this on yourself. First of all, prepare yourself by reading God’s Word regularly and follow in obedience to what the Master points out to you in His Word. Then, pass that along to your children, and to anyone that seems to be following in your footsteps. The Bible tells us that we are to train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are older, they will remember, and apply, their training. This is also true in the ways you mentor someone, whether they’re your child, coworker, partner or whomever. Because of the poor financial position of my parents, I learned to be satisfied with what I had. Although I have not perfected that yet, I still share that with my child and those who may look up to me in one way or another. Paul is reminding us that we came into this world penniless, and we survived. Let’s be sure to always remember that no matter how hard we work in life today to earn more, our casket will still only carry our skeletal remains – no money, gold, silver or worldly assets. What will matter, is the lives that we touched and the growth that occurred in others as a result of our love, our example, and the wisdom we shared with them. So, listen to Paul my friends, let’s be rich in the good you do and be sure to let your happiness rub off on others, for the sake of the Kingdom.

BLESSINGS WORTH NOTING: We are rich because of whose we are, and truly happy and good because of the royal blood that runs through our veins in being a child of the King of all kings!

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Holy Spirit, thou art welcome in this place. Fill me and make me holy thine. Flow through me to touch the lives of those that I make contact with. Make Yourself at home in the lives of those who accept Jesus as Lord and make them truly rich with all that You have to offer. Help us Lord to live today with the end in mind. We all will die, and we all will meet our Savior face-to-face. I pray that You will see our rich qualities spurred on by Your divine touch, and You will be overjoyed at all those who were touched by the gifts we receive from You. Have Your will and way oh Lord, my Rock and my salvation. 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. 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. Please allow me to 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!

True Happiness Is…

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Happiness, Obedience, ObedientLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Monday, 2020-10-19
WRITTEN AT: Bostic, NC

Bible Reference: James 1:25
Translation: New Century Version (NCV)

Bible Text: 25 … the truly happy people are those who carefully study God’s perfect law that makes people free, and they continue to study it. They do not forget what they heard, but they obey what God’s teaching says. Those who do this will be made happy.

OBSERVATION:   There are probably more books sold and more seminars attended on this subject than anything else imaginable. I believe that the primary reason for this might be due to the fact that Satan, the ruler of all evil on this earth, is constantly battling for our attention and our affection, and that is a genuine recipe for disastrous unhappiness. But the recipe for happiness taught by James here is not new, for you will find this revelation throughout the Bible in many of the teachings and illustrations placed there for our good. As we meditate on the importance of this today, may we truly find real and lasting happiness.

APPLICATION:   I often compare illustrations on marriage to help illustrate the relationship we should strive towards with our Lord. In marriage, many couples attend marriage enrichment classes, or take cruises geared towards married couples, or read books on ways to refresh our marriages. We are looking for ways to refresh our love for each other. Without this, we tend to start taking each other for granted, we relax our initial commitment to love and uphold each other through good times and through the challenging times as well. In fact, many who make no effort to keep their marriages fresh, tend to result more into divorce than ever before. James is teaching us here in this Scripture today that true happiness for mankind is found in carefully studying the perfect laws of God, as outlined in His book of instruction – the Bible. Throughout the Bible, we are taught and reminded that God loves us more than we could even imagine. He showed His love for us in many ways, but the ultimate love was shown when He willingly went to the cross as a sacrifice for us. But why did Jesus go to the cross? For all who existed at that time were not saints, nor were they deeply in love with God, but instead they were ‘dirty’, ‘filthy’ sinners. But, in love, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross knowing that it would be the means of forgiveness when we ask for it. So knowing that someone loves us so much, and without conditions placed on why He would love us, why do you suppose we would not want to obey His commands? James reminds us that through obeying God, we not only receive His wondrous love, but we become sons and daughter of the greatest person that ever lived, our Lord and Savior. The contentment this brings to us is pure, unadulterated happiness. Now if we are serious about this kind of commitment to Jesus Christ, and the happiness that results, James said that we would want to continue to study and learn from the teachings of Jesus. Further, we must always be mindful of what we have studied, for it is intended to guide our lives into total Truth. As we learn, and discern God’s will for our lives, may we strive to obey it and live it out in our lives. You see, I am convinced that God created us to illustrate to the world, what a loving, caring God looks like. How do you suppose you are doing with that? It’s very easy for us to see the good, the bad and the ugly in others, but I would suggest that we look inward today and, based on what James is teaching us, evaluate whether you think that others are seeing the ultimate happiness of our loving Lord in us!  If you feel like you are not the epitome of Christ’s happiness, then we are taught in this verse to get back to the Book and study what God intended for us.

PRAYER:   Precious Lord, thank You for Your sacrifice at Calvary. Thank You for loving us enough to offer Your life as a sacrifice for our sin. Thank You for providing Your Word so that we may be reminded of Your love, and also how we may maintain our happiness in You. Please give all those who will meditate on this devotional today, the boldness to demonstrate Your love for us, to all those that we come into contact with. May we be committed to reading Your Word, understanding it’s truth, and practicing it’s values every day in the way that we live and interact with others. May You be glorified through our humble lives today oh Lord. 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!

Blessed is the One Who…

On By Ed AlgreenIn Blessing, Committed, DedicatedLeave a comment

Friday, 2019-06-21

Bible Reference: Psalm 1:1-3
Translation: New Century Version (NCV)

Bible Text: 1 Happy are those who don’t listen to the wicked, who don’t go where sinners go, who don’t do what evil people do. 2 They love the Lord’s teachings, and they think about those teachings day and night. 3 They are strong, like a tree planted by a river. The tree produces fruit in season, and its leaves don’t die. Everything they do will succeed.

OBSERVATION: I believe that everyone alive might have a desire to know what it takes for them to live a happy and fulfilled life. In fact, I believe there are times that we clip reminders on our refrigerator to help remind us of what’s best for us, and what should we try to avoid that day. God does exactly that through the Psalmist, so let’s meditate on this Scripture and see how it applies to our individual lives.

APPLICATION: In the Word of God, we are told that God himself called David a man after His own heart. In other words, David’s life imitated what God expected from His creation. I believe this should be every Believer’s goal, for we know that when we follow God’s commands and His teachings to us in His Word, then it must be pleasing to God! In this very first Psalm, David gives us some attributes, or indicators of a blessed person, and I wanted to draw attention to these qualities so that today we may strive to achieve these qualities ourselves:
1).  They don’t listen to the wicked – this might happen when we listen to what the world is directing us to for happiness. Unfortunately, every time we turn the TV on we are given these options;
2).  They don’t go where sinners go – don’t go to a place where you would be embarrassed to take Jesus with you. Remember, you invited Him into your heart. Remember He lives and reigns in us, through His Holy Spirit. Will you really take Him into a questionable place?
3).  They don’t do what evil people do – these are folk that don’t know Jesus and have no concern for Jesus in the things that they do. Our actions are to be compared to what Jesus did or what He taught us to do. Pilots and doctors follow their text book for obvious reasons. We should be doing the same thing – those things that God has taught us to do or that His Holy Spirit is directing us to do. These will be totally opposite to what the evil person might lead us to do;
4).  They meditate on the Word of God, love His teachings and continually think about them – God’s Word is our textbook. It is our guide to living like Jesus expects of us. To keep it fresh in our minds and to follow its directives, we must make it a priority to read it and meditate on it regularly.
When we follow the above, we become strong in our faith and committed to God’s commands. We will not be easily eroded away like a tree beside the water’s edge, but we will stand firm so that others might catch a glimpse of what Jesus actually looks like, and how, through faith, our lives are living examples to the unsaved.
Let me encourage you to reflect back on your life over the past few days, who have you imitated? Does your life reflect the ways of Christ, or just the general public (this world)? Did your life show enough of the qualities of Jesus that you were accused of being a Christian? Friend, you shouldn’t have to tell someone you are a Christian, they should know you are by your actions, your speech and your demeanor. Let us all commit to live our lives with the teachings of the Psalmist very prominent in our character and our actions. Then, perhaps, others will see Jesus and want to know Him personally.

PRAYER: Lord, we your children need You, and we need you desperately. To live in this world, yet to not live like the world, is very challenging. It’s like swimming upstream. It’s like doing just the opposite of what the rest of the world does. And this has become quite a chore for us. Please mold us into the person that You need here and now to touch the hearts of the folk that are still in need of you. We need the same power that gave David the strength to be called a man after Your own heart; that gave Moses the fortitude to stand firm for You, even when his people were plotting to kill him. I know that You can still give that kind of strength to me and also to my friends that are committed to serving you today. Please have Your will and way in our lives today, I humbly plead in Your precious and holy name, AMEN!