Tag: Healed

The Ultimate Sacrifice Paid Just for You

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, June 6, 2024, 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 Living Bible (TLB) IS FOUND IN Isaiah 53:5-6; 11

THE BIBLE TEXT IS: But he was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace; he was lashed—and we were healed! We—every one of us—have strayed away like sheep! We, who left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet God laid on him the guilt and sins of every one of us!
…. and because of what he has experienced, my righteous Servant shall make many to be counted righteous before God, for he shall bear all their sins.

APPLICATION OF THE WORD: You might recall that Noah was mocked, and many poked fun at him when he started building a huge ark (boat) in the middle of a land that had never seen rain. As we read through and meditate on the words of Isaiah, we should stop and ponder how he was empowered to speak with such authority about things that would happen many, many years in the future. However, we are once again reminded that our God knows all things, including those things that are yet to come! And while He works in the hearts and lives of individuals in unique ways that will ultimately result in glorification to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we find in our Scripture today that He chose to speak through His servant, Isaiah, about how the future of all mankind will change when God would choose to send His very own Son into the world to save the lost and wavering souls who are torn by Satan’s tyranny here on earth. As a child of the King, I find myself looking at a world filled with people that God must shake His head and wonder how on earth can they call themselves ‘Christian’, if they are truly looking to His Word for the meaning and lifestyle of a Kingdom child. Some that we know are cheating, lying, living an adulterous life, associated with the same sex in ways that the Bible calls an abomination, and yet they are members, and in some cases, even leaders in our local churches, the ‘bride of Christ’ as referred to in Scripture. Unfortunately, those who acknowledge that they are ‘without Christ’ look at these examples of current day ‘Christians’ and they decide to follow in their example, rather than the example of Jesus Christ as intentionally shown throughout Scripture. Now, some will say that if you read the Bible you will find where people today are no different to the people who lived in Bible days. While that is true, you will also find that your neighbor, or your fellow Sunday School attendee, and others that we rub shoulders with every day, still live today in ways that are contrary to Bible teaching. The key point for us today is the same as in days past. When God impresses upon us to seek Him while He is available to us, He convinces us that there is something wrong about the way we are living. There is no where in Scripture that God points someone to live like their neighbor, or parent, or coworker, etc. God directs us to be obedient children of the Word – His Book of Instruction. Think about it, a banker would not use the practices of a school teacher to do his/her job at the bank, but rather the rules of the bank and/or its regulators. Similarly, God would have us read, meditate, and try to understand His written Word, and to live by what He directs. In the last verse of today’s Scripture, it says that God’s aim is to have us live righteous lives that are pleasing to God. You and I gain nothing by trying to please those around us. God knows our heart, our thoughts and He is very aware of our actions and words. It is God that we must live to please, because only what’s done for Him will matter in eternity. Jesus paid the ultimate price so that we could live in the light of eternity. Are you truly living a life that is pleasing, honoring, and faithful to such an awesome God? If not, please consider waiting no longer to invite Jesus into your heart, mind and soul and honor Him every day of your life through complete obedience to His Word.

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Thank you Lord for anointing Isaiah, as Your messenger, to share the good news about a Savior that would come to prepare the way for us to enter into heaven some day. Unworthy, sinful, with the same mind as those who crucified You on that cruel cross, yet You sacrificed Your very own Son for us. Thank You Father, Son and Holy Spirit! Meditation on this Scripture invoked some very challenging thoughts for myself, plus the thoughts I shared in this devotional. Please Lord, teach us humbleness of heart and give us totally committed hearts that will learn to live out Your teachings and Your example so that the lost will catch a glimpse of Jesus without seeing the frailty of our attempts at obedience and with compromise and hypocrisy. Let there be nothing in us that will hinder the lost from seeing a holy and righteous Savior and Lord. 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!

What Precedes the ‘THEN’?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Roadblock, SinLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (The Contemporary English Version – Isaiah 58:8,14 and 59:1-2): 8 Then your light will shine like the dawning sun, and you will quickly be healed. Your honesty will protect you as you advance, and the glory of the Lord will defend you from behind.

14 Then you will truly enjoy knowing the Lord.

59:1 The Lord hasn’t lost his powerful strength; he can still hear and answer prayers.
2 Your sins are the roadblock between you and your God. That’s why he doesn’t answer your prayers or let you see his face.

Thoughts: This reading in Isaiah really impacted me today, and I would encourage you to read both chapter 58 and 59 so you could see the scope, and the happenings from which Isaiah prophesied. God got my attention to think about the things going on in my life that might need to be attended to before he would bless me with the things after the ‘THEN’ mentioned in verses 8 and 14. Based on this scripture, here’s where I believe God wants to bless those that take care of the sinfulness that comes before the ‘Then’:

  • The light of Jesus would shine brightly through us to touch the life of another (vs 8);
  • Quick healing would occur in our physical and/or spiritual lives (vs 8);
  • Our honesty/integrity would be solidified to impress the lost for Jesus (vs 8);
  • Our lives would be so filled with Jesus that His glory would overwhelm us and act as our defense (vs 8);
  • We would truly enjoy knowing the Lord (vs 14)!

Friends, these things are very applicable to each of us. In fact, in 59:1-2 we are told to stop trying to blame God for unanswered prayer, for our sins are the roadblock. I believe that this affirms what precedes the ‘Then’; what needs our attention before we could expect to receive His rich blessings. So friends, as I have been challenged this morning, I will also challenge you. Please talk to God, seek His forgiveness for the hindrances in your life, and then ask Him to speak very clearly and openly to you through these chapters. See what He has to say to You. By using the contact information in the footnote, I would love to hear back from you on how God spoke to you in this passage! Better still, reply to the blog on my website so others may also be blessed by your response. It could be in totally different ways to how He spoke to me, for He knows what each of us need in our lives and will meet our needs! God loves you friend, and He wants to shower you with His blessings so that you may go on to be His loyal and effective representative!

Prayer: Lord, I am constantly amazed by Your Word and how I can find such truth and relevant direction each day for my Christian walk and witness. Thank You for giving us a glimpse of Yourself and Your mighty works! I’m sure that there is much to clean up in my life before I could be purely used by You in Your service/ministry, for a holy and righteous God cannot reside in a sin-infested soul. Father, this requires strength far beyond anything that I am capable of, but in faith I come before You asking for forgiveness of my sin and asking that you replace that ugly void with the sweet aroma of Your grace. I badly want to get beyond the ‘THEN’ and see Your will being fulfilled through me for Your glory and to affect the lives of unbelievers so that they too might follow You. I Need You Every Hour of every day oh Lord. Please impact the readers of this devotional today for a closer walk with You, is my humble and sincere prayer dear Lord, for it is in Your name and for Your sake that I ask, with a thankful heart, 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!