Oneness – So The World Might Know

On 2015-07-172015-07-17 By Ed AlgreenIn Disciple, Oneness, UnityLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (God’s Word Translation – John 17:20-23): ²⁰ “I’m not praying only for them. I’m also praying for those who will believe in me through their message. ²¹ I pray that all of these people continue to have unity in the way that you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they may be united with us so that the world will believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me. I did this so that they are united in the same way we are. ²³ I am in them, and you are in me. So they are completely united. In this way the world knows that you have sent me and that you have loved them in the same way you have loved me.

THOUGHTS: In this chapter Jesus prayed to His Father for His disciples and the church at large. In these verses He prayed in all sincerity that those who know Him (Christians) would be in such unity that the people to whom they speak (the unsaved world) would believe in Him and accept Him as the Savior of the world sent by God the Father. Friends, I often reflect on what the opposite effect might be if the will of the Father is not accomplished. That leads me into considering what happens to the ministry of Jesus Christ when children of God can’t agree – when they fight and bicker among themselves so much that the unsaved world wants no part of the confused mess they see occurring in and among churches. Is it any wonder sometime why we stop and ponder why our ministries are ineffective? It seems like even among ‘friendly’ denominations, we go out to minister in Jesus’ name, and wind up putting down another denomination. Oh my, friend, that is not a sign of ‘oneness’. When our job description dictates that we spread the love of God, and our lives reflect the joy of the Lord living inside of us, doesn’t that mean that we should be so busy praising and bragging on our Lord that there will be very little time or desire to reflect on the beliefs of some that we may not agree with? In fact, when I reflect on this prayer of Jesus and really gain the breadth and depth of His heart as He prays to His father, I see where He really wants us to reflect the ‘oneness’ that He portrays with His Father. There is no where in scripture that Jesus puts down His Father or speaks evil against Him or disagrees with Him. Instead, it is just the very opposite, for He respects the role of the Father in ultimately making decisions (especially about the second coming of Jesus), and He speaks as one and the same when conveying the truth and love of the gospel. So where do we get off at in being His follower, imitating Him in every way, yet being critical of fellow disciples who are working towards the same goal of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ? This type behavior or ministry will not serve the ultimate wish of Jesus in verse 21 when He prayed that we will go out and minister in such unity that the world (the unsaved) would know that God truly sent the One in whom we believe, and the One we are spreading Good News about. ‘Oneness’ points to us truly representing Jesus, who was sent and is representing His Father. Anything else tears down the ministry of Jesus Christ and promotes the intent and heart of Satan. I believe we all know what we should be busy doing today and every day of our life. Let’s get to work – unified in the Spirit and in the name of Jesus Christ!

PRAYER: Father, please forgive us for our weakness in allowing so much of this world to indwell us and interfere in the ministry that You have aligned for us, and as these verses today reflect, that You have actually prayed for. Our lack of success in ministry is directly impacted by our disobedience to You and Your Word, and our selfish desire to tear down another while trying to promote our selfish goals. Reading these verses today causes me to seriously consider keeping these pinned in an obvious place for daily inflection, and as a guide towards my daily goal. Lord, I need Your power to overcome the desire to tear another down in order to promote self. May I ask that You grant me strength to overcome this weakness, but also to touch the heart of Your followers today and embed a deep desire within them to also do the same. Please strengthen and guide us towards ‘Oneness’ – the kind that You exampled before us in being ‘One’ with the Father. I ask this knowing that Your desire is that through our ‘Oneness’ the world will know that You were sent by the Father to save them. May this be accomplished today in and through your earthly representatives, for this is my pray that I ask in the name of Jesus, AMEN!

PLEASE NOTE: I will be out of town on a mission trip to be of service to our friends in Mexico during the week of July 19^th. I will not be able to publish these devotionals during that time. Please pray that God will use His servants, our group of 30, so that His children in this foreign land might be encouraged and drawn to Him through our honest and sincere representation of our Savior. May God be glorified in all things through our witness! I expect to resume these devotionals on Monday, July 27^th.

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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 www.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!

Perseverance Pays Off

On 2015-07-162015-07-16 By Ed AlgreenIn Obedience, PerseveranceLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New International Version – James 1:12): ¹²Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

THOUGHTS: We hear about ‘fair weather’ Christians, where we find it very easy to praise God when we feel like everything is going our way. We also hear about ‘hard times’ Christians, for it is only then that many of us look up to God and truly seek His face. Friends, as I read this verse this morning I felt like God was saying that He will truly bless us and/or reward us if we stick with Him while He is blessing us with riches and good fortunes, or testing our faith through very tough times. There’s a song that has lyrics similar to this “if I never have a burden, how would I know that God can truly pull me through“. I believe that ‘to persevere’ is to be consistent and/or dedicated in spite of our circumstances. Imagine taking a road trip from one location to another. You don’t turn around and head back home if your car has a flat tire, instead you have your problem repaired and then you travel on to your destination. On those trips when you’ve travelled hundreds of miles and arrive without incident, hopefully you then take time to thank the Lord for safety and protection on the road. These types of scenarios are similar to those that we face each and every day, and indicative of our walk with the Lord. If you are not already a praising person, may I encourage you to learn to ask God to bless you each day! Ask Him to use you as His faithful witness here on planet earth and to bring glory to Him in all things. Don’t place any conditions on that, such as “if things go my way” or “if there’s no setbacks”. Learn to praise God (persevere) in all circumstances and look for the lessons that He is teaching you, or how He uses those circumstances to redirect you into His perfect will. Oh that we may learn to let go of self and let God have His perfect will in our lives. Let’s commit to honor God, worship Him, serve Him and follow Him in spite of our circumstances. Obeying God in every circumstance, no matter where He leads, is an important way of showing our love towards God for His rich blessings, protection, guidance and leadership. This scripture assures us that when we do this, we are sure to receive a crown that God has promised to all who love Him.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, thank You for Your love and Your assurance of being our Guide, our Protector and our Provider each and every day. Please give us strength and fortitude to let go of our selfish desires and self-will to do ‘our own thing’ instead of leaning on the everlasting arms of the One who created us and who knows what lies ahead for us and the ones we need to help. Lord, may we learn to be as instruments in Your hands so that You may accomplish Your will through us in every circumstance of life. We are appreciative of our promised reward, but Lord, may we be content in knowing that we are obedient followers of the One who has this whole world in His hands and under His control. We are Your children Lord. We love You and long to be obedient in following Your plan for our lives. I ask these things in faith and in the precious and all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving name of Jesus, AMEN!

The Impact Our Life Has On God

On 2015-07-142015-07-14 By Ed AlgreenIn The Church, WitnessLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Revelation 3:15-17): “I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

THOUGHTS: The church at Laodicea was one that appeared perfect to the world around them. They were a wealthy church, no doubt able to pay their bills and perhaps even help the poor. We have many churches like that today, and we thank God for their ability to chip in and help, especially when many of the smaller churches are struggling to make it financially. However, in these verses, it is clear that God was unhappy with this church at Laodicea, for it was so concentrated on its riches and good fortune that it’s people provided to the church, that they lost sight of who blessed them with such things as: salvation; healing; promises of a place called ‘heaven’; the Master of the universe who was with them ALWAYS; good health; a good mind and multiple other attributes that originate from God alone. In fact, there was every indication that the general membership may have felt that if God totally separated Himself from them, they would still be OK. But wait a moment, could we still have churches (people) that still act like this today? Do we still have ‘Laodicean’ churches in our towns even now? What are some of the indicators we must be careful of, or watchful for, so as not to make God sick to His stomach with our church? It was spelled out for us in this same scripture:

Bragging about what we have – let us never lose sight that whatever we are blessed with as a collective body of believers, it was provided by God, and for His ultimate glory. I believe that if we brag or boast about our riches, we tend to believe that we had something to do with us having it, and/or we are anxiously waiting to see how we might spend our riches in a way to personally receive maximum glory;
We lose sight of whose we are and from whence we came – God knows that in and of ourselves, we are as pitiful as a blind beggar, without clothes to cover our nakedness.

So unless we leave this devotional feeling like there is little hope, or that all ‘Godly’ churches can only be poor and needy, I want to remind you that ‘the church’ consists of individuals, so the change of heart must happen in our personal lives. Remember, God created us; He provides air for us to breathe every day; income opportunities for us; family and other believers to comfort and cheer us every day and a promise that even when all the joys of this earth are over, still He has prepared an even more glorious home for us to spend eternity with Him, where we might worship Him endlessly. Money can’t buy any of these things, so let us continually lift up our Lord and Savior who provides ultimate joy and happiness for us in this world and in His kingdom that will soon be our new home.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, what an eye opener this morning, for You have shown me how careful we must be to glorify You in all things. You may choose to bless us with riches, so that we may pass those riches on through helping others in need of a Savior, or so that we might clearly recognize Your awesome power and blessings through even us. Lord You are good and Your mercies endureth forever. Please help us to remain humble, and never attribute blessings to anything that might bring recognition or praise to us. You alone are our King and our Provider, we glory in all that You are and all that You do for us each day. Our ultimate goal is that we be found worthy in Your eyes, when You call us home to be with You. Use us for Your glory while we remain here. Be blessed in all that we say or do, is my humble prayer that I ask in the strong and everlasting name of Jesus, AMEN!

PLEASE NOTE: I will be out of town on a mission trip to be of service to our friends in Mexico during the week of July 19^th. I will not be able to publish these devotionals during that time. Please pray that God might use His servants, our group of 30, so that His children in this foreign land might be encouraged and drawn to Him through our honest and sincere representation of our Savior. May God be glorified in all things through our witness! I expect to resume these devotionals on Monday, July 27^th.

Protect Your Crown

On 2015-07-132015-07-13 By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, Distractions, HeavenLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Revelation 3:11): ¹¹“I’m on my way; I’ll be there soon. Keep a tight grip on what you have so no one distracts you and steals your crown.

THOUGHTS: On this earth, when we become careless with something, we lose it. If you observe children carefully, you will notice that they might hide their favorite toy when a friend is coming over that they know might love that toy, and possibly fight to take it with them when it’s time to leave! Christians have found the answer to this world’s sin problem, in the person of Jesus Christ. Satan is most upset over having lost the battle with these children of God and he is waging war against them by trying to steal their joy. This process by Satan is intended to distract Christians from the joy of their salvation and, in this passage, God is warning that we had better be careful that Satan not pull us down to the extent that he reaches out and snatches our crown of glory from us. Friends, if you think about a race – the opponent has two ways they can win – they can do better than you and reach the finish line before you, or they can trip you up so that you don’t stand a chance of winning, or earning the prize. Sin can’t enter heaven, so Satan doesn’t stand a chance of getting there. Child of God, may I please encourage us today to hold firm to our faith. Stay committed to the Lord Jesus Christ through thick and thin, in every circumstance of life, for He cares for us and He wants us to win the prize laid out for us in heaven. Let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and not the distractions that will come our way. All things are possible through faith in Jesus, our Lord. So let us keep our eyes on the prize – our crown! Let us seek out Jesus in every circumstance of life, so that the circumstances not turn into distractions that Satan can use to steal our joy and our eternal crown. Distractions will come when Satan sees opportunities, or slippage in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Let us therefore stand firm in our faith, determined to live for Jesus, depending on His strength to help us through every circumstance of life. There’s a song with lyrics: “Oh I want to see Him, look upon His face, there to sing forever of His saving grace…..” I am looking forward to the day that I reach the shores of heaven and look beyond my relatives already there, to see the face of my Master and King! This is a prize/crown worth living for and is worth every ounce of effort and determination to live for Jesus today! How is it with you friend? Please watch for the distractions of Satan, and remember that greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. With Jesus being in control of your life, you can do this friend!

PRAYER: Thank You Father for the promise of heaven, a time when we will see You face to face! A time when we will worship and adore You without the distractions of this old world and its leader, Satan. Dear Lord, You know how strong the advisory is here on earth, especially in lives where there might be lack of commitment. Please touch the hearts of Your children today oh Lord and renew within us a right spirit and a desire to stay firm and committed to our faith in You. There is no one stronger than You, nor more loving that You, nor caring than You, so I know that as I place my faith and trust in You, that You can do all things. Please have Your will and way in my life today oh Lord, rule and reign in every aspect of my life, especially when I’m weak enough to let distractions sneak in and set me back. Touch the lives of my readers today also oh Lord, as I’m sure that many of them are walking similar paths as me today and will face these same distractions. Give us strength for our walk and renew a right spirit within us so that our eyes might remain fixed on the prize that awaits us in glory. I ask all this in the precious and strong name of Jesus, AMEN!

Are You Ready To Be Presented To God?

On 2015-07-112015-07-11 By Ed AlgreenIn Prepared, ReadinessLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Good News Translation – Revelation 3:3-5): ³
Remember, then, what you were taught and what you heard; obey it and turn from your sins. If you do not wake up, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not even know the time when I will come. ⁴But a few of you there in Sardis have kept your clothes clean. You will walk with me, clothed in white, because you are worthy to do so. ⁵ Those who win the victory will be clothed like this in white, and I will not remove their names from the book of the living. In the presence of my Father and of his angels I will declare openly that they belong to me.

THOUGHTS: Before I can invite anyone to my home, I must get clearance from my wife, because she wants to make sure that our home is in order and presentable to our guests, without creating embarrassment to her! If auditors are preparing to come into my workplace, we spend time getting everything in order, so that we might obtain best results from their audit, and look good in their sight. In these verses today, Jesus is declaring that some in His church will be presented proudly to His Father because He is proud of how well they are doing in staying clear of, or clean from, sin. Friends, I want to reiterate that these verses are referring to the ‘CHURCH’ at Sardis, not the marketplace. Please be reminded that going to church will not save you from the pits of Hell, even though church attendance is the best thing you can do. Hanging out with the right friends (even Godly friends) might be very pleasing to your parents, but their goodness, or even their Christianity, will not rub off on you and clear the way for you to be accepted in Heaven, even though they may influence you towards accepting Jesus as your Savior. Now for those who have accepted Jesus as Lord, I must ask, as a result of this passage, are you ready, or do you feel like you will be a good candidate for Jesus to include in His parade and be bubbling with pride to present you to His Father? Are you ashamed of anything that you would rather get straight before feeling comfortable for Jesus to do this? Jesus said He will come unannounced – like a thief in the night. This means that you will not have time to further prepare, or to clean up your act, or better align yourself with Him. This means that we must remain in a state of readiness – our lives always clean and presentable to Him. Here on earth we burst with pride when we are lifted up by family, when recognized by our employer, or bragged on by friends. Can you even imagine the unbelievable pride that will fill our hearts when Jesus, the resurrected Savior of the world, presents us to His Father – God, and He tells Him how proud He is of you and how well you kept the faith, obeyed His commands and represented Him so well while living here on earth, even among the temptations of sin and evil? I tell you what, I cannot think of prouder moment that could ever be my fortune. How is it with you friend? Got a few things that you need to work on today? Remember, Jesus could come today!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You provided the sacrifice and the means by which we could be saved. You promised to be our protector and strength so that we might live life pleasing to You, yes even among the evil of this world and its leader, Satan. Unfortunately we are a people who love to procrastinate, so we often feel like there will be time for us to seek forgiveness and depend on You – later. This is a deceit of Satan, because You have declared that no man knows the day or the hour of Your return, so Lord Jesus, I pray that You will allow Your Word to penetrate the hearts of Christians who are playing with sin, and I pray that You will penetrate the hearts of those who feel like they can wait for the trumpet call before surrendering their lives to You. Please help us to be a people ready for Your return, even if it happens today. May our lives always be pleasing in Your sight and may we be presentable before You and by You oh Lord. I ask this in the precious name of Jesus, AMEN!

Be Faithful Until The End

On 2015-07-102015-07-10 By Ed AlgreenIn Faithful, Obedience, The EndLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Revelation 2:25-27): ²⁵ But until I come, you must hold firmly to the teaching you have. ²⁶ I will give power over the nations to everyone who wins the victory and keeps on obeying me until the end. ²⁷ I will give each of them the same power that my Father has given me.

THOUGHTS: My daily devotional scripture plan takes me into the depths of the Old Testament and into the light and glory of the New Testament. Often it amazes me how God uses the Old Testament reading to tie into the reading in the New Testament! Today was one of those cases, for I highlighted Daniel 12:13 because I was touched by God telling Daniel not to be overly concerned about everything that he saw in his visions, but to “be faithful until the end! You will rest, and at the end of time, you will rise from death to receive your reward”. Moving then to the New Testament reading I saw in verse 25 of Revelation 2, that until Jesus returns to take us home with Him, we are to hold firmly to the teachings given to us. In other words, be faithful until the end. Friends, please be careful, for these are times that Satan is trying every distraction in his book of tricks to derail Christians. He can’t stand the idea of us influencing his team of unbelievers in Christ. I believe that if God is concerned enough about us being faithful to Him until the end, them He must be concerned that there will be many things that will distract us along the way. Can you think of a few right off the top? Political views and stands is a huge distractor for the Christian, as we are taught in the secular world, and even the church, that we should vote and be a part of the decision making for our respective countries. Very important stand, but how can we remain faithful to the Word of God even among the filth and dirt that stigmatizes politicians? How can we take a stand in politics, yet remain neutral so that we can promote God to everyone that needs Him, regardless of what side of the fence they stand on in politics? This is just one of many issues that come along and often places a divide in God’s church and totally distracts the needed trust for us to be a witness to ALL that we come into contact with. Many of the other distractors you may have given thought to, might be equally as destructive. My take on the verse in Daniel, and the verses in Revelation is that we are to remain faithful in our relationship with God and hold firmly to His teachings. Everything else that occupies our minds, our hearts and our busy lives, are all distractors. Only God can change this sinful world, we are called to serve Him, obey Him and worship Him, not to do His job in trying to change the world. Let’s be careful that we remain faithful until the Master comes!

PRAYER: Dear God, I am so thankful that You gave of Yourself so that I might look forward to life eternally with You! I thank You for Your Word and how applicable it is to our lives right now. You knew that distractions would come our way, so You placed warnings in Your Word so that we might be alerted to these distractions. You have not only shown us how to best deal with these distractions, but You have also made promises about our rewards, if we remain faithful to You. My readers and I live in a world where there are so many distractions. I know that this is not a secret to You, but we need You Lord. We want to remain faithful, even though there are times that we must take a stand based on the values You have taught us. Please help us to never destroy our witness, because I believe that You would always want us to promote and lift up the name of Jesus with a clear conscience and without the possibility of having a finger pointed back at us by those we should be witnessing to. You must be first in all we do. If in marriage – You must be first; If in parenting – You must be first; If in working secular jobs – You must be first; If involved in our community – it must be obvious that You are first in our lives; If there is a need for us to become involved in the leadership of our churches, city, state or country, then it must be obvious that we first represent You, and it is for Your sake, Your glory and Your agenda that we are involved/taking a stand. Please help us to always be conscious of this as we serve You, love You, worship You and lift You up each day. For I ask this in the deepest honor, and respect of You oh Lord, and in the precious name of Your Son Jesus, AMEN!

The Immediacy of Prayer

On 2015-07-072015-07-07 By Ed AlgreenIn Humility, PrayerLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Daniel 9:20-23): ²⁰I was still confessing my sins and those of all Israel to the Lord my God, and I was praying for the good of his holy mountain, ²¹when Gabriel suddenly came flying in at the time of the evening sacrifice. This was the same Gabriel I had seen in my vision, ²² and he explained: Daniel, I am here to help you understand the vision. ²³ God thinks highly of you, and at the very moment you started praying, I was sent to give you the answer.

THOUGHTS: I was touched by the words that I bolded in verse 23, for several reasons: 1). Notice with me that God sent Gabriel to give Daniel the answers to his prayers before he even asked for anything! Gabriel said that at the very moment Daniel began to pray, God sent him with the answer for Daniel! 2). Notice the content of Daniel’s prayer, compared to many of our prayers today. His prayer was about seeing God glorified and the people of the city forgiven. There was nothing geared towards self, other than asking forgiveness for his sin that he was confessing. I am well aware of the importance of Daniel in prophecy; in the writer of a very important book in the Old Testament; and in his close communion with God. But friends, I am reminded that we also are of equal importance to God. Just imagine: He saw our temptations coming; He saw our weakness towards sin itself and the sinful things of this earth; He knew that we would need lots of help overcoming evil and that we would struggle big time to ever make it into the glories of heaven, so He sent His very only Son to be born among us, live among us and face the same challenges that we face, but then to also die a very challenging death, all so that we might know that He went to the extreme to show His love for mankind. God did all this knowing that we would need to know about this kind of sacrifice in order to make it into heaven to be with Him. It’s like He ‘spoon fed’ His gift of salvation to us, knowing that all we have to do is like Daniel: acknowledge our sin; humble ourselves and pray for His forgiveness; and receive Him as our Lord and Savior – this ultimately being the only means of us getting into heaven to be with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Try reading this chapter friend, see and understand the heart of Daniel, and see how responsive God was to his humility, his prayer and the sincerity of his heart. This is the same God that we know, and have access to today! He’s not dead! He’s still alive and loves us with that same kind of love today! I believe He patiently waits for us to surrender our weak selves to Him, ask Him for His help from a heart of unselfish love and dedication towards the unsaved world and towards the ongoing glory of God, and His purpose here on this earth. Where do you stand friend? Are you so hung up on self that you have no time to plead with God about His concerns? If so, you may be way too distracted from the ‘real thing’! Seek God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you!

PRAYER: Dear God, You are awesome! Like Daniel, we too are weak and desperately in need of Your touch on our city, our state and our nation. We too yearn for a day when our people will praise Your holy name because of who You are, and not because of what You might do for us individually. Help us to seek Your face without placing our selfish desires before You. We are a blessed people. Please help us to always honor and praise the originator of those blessings and seek to worship and praise You through every means we can conjure up, and on every occasion accessible to us. I acknowledge that You are God, and You are so worthy of our continual praise. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever! These are my petitions and my offerings of praise oh Lord, may Your holy name be lifted up today, for I ask all this in and through the name of Your Son, Jesus, AMEN!

Ready or Not, Here He Comes!

On 2015-07-062015-07-06 By Ed AlgreenIn Heaven, Readiness, RessurrectionLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Good News Translation – Revelation 1:4-8): ⁴ ….Grace and peace be yours from God, who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits in front of his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first to be raised from death and who is also the ruler of the kings of the world. He loves us, and by his sacrificial death he has freed us from our sins and made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father. To Jesus Christ be the glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. ⁷ Look, he is coming on the clouds! Everyone will see him, including those who pierced him. All peoples on earth will mourn over him. So shall it be! ⁸ “I am the first and the last,” says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come.

THOUGHTS: Many of us react to warnings a whole lot differently to others. Some of us go overboard in stashing supplies to see us through a predicted storm, or natural disaster, while some of us travel hundreds of miles to escape the fury of a storm. Some of us are procrastinators and will wait until the 11^th hour to truly believe the weatherman, while others act on first warnings and take appropriate action based on the credentials of the weatherman. John took the first few verses of this book to explain his credentials so that we might not only hear his words, but trust the source from which we are hearing them. Jesus came to this earth through His miraculous birth to a virgin, and John is warning us that He will come again in miraculous form – from the clouds. Friends, this same Jesus that we have studied about in the rest of the Bible, He was before all time, He is with us today, yet He WILL return to collect His chosen ones, His bride (the church – the collective body of believers who have sincerely accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior). Yes we are being warned that we are in our last days of preparation, for He will return to take His children home to be with the Father and Himself for all eternity very soon. This leaves us with a sense of urgency to not only insure that we are ready for the ‘trip of a lifetime’, but also to reach out to all those we love, and to make sure that they are ready for the ‘trip’. Friends, the warning is clear, and everything is in place for the eminent return of our Lord. Are you ready? Will you be among the number that He will take with Him into glory? I made reference to a song last week “And oh, what a glorious day“, but this might only be glorious for those who will rise to accompany our Savior and Lord. For others this will be a day of horror, for they procrastinated way too long and thought they would wait to hear the trumpet sound. You CAN trust in God’s Word friend, so please heed to its truth and to its warnings. John shared this with us on good authority, there’s no need to go to the halls of the best libraries to research whether this could be for real. This is not brand new news that John is telling us about here, for it has been pointed to throughout the Good Book, God’s Word.

PRAYER: Dear Father, You have provided Your precious Word to reveal Yourself to us. You have told us about the special provision in and through Your only Son, and You have today warned us about how He will come back soon to take the prepared saints home to glory to spend eternity with Jesus and You. The alternative is not good at all Lord, so I am especially concerned about my family and friends who have taken the warnings to date very lightly. Noah looked out of the windows of the ark and encountered the dreadful sight of his friends suffering because of lack of belief and change. I sincerely pray that You will intercede Heavenly Father in the lives of those we love and respect, so that we would never witness the drastic results of their lost and uncaring condition. May You become so real in their lives today Heavenly Father, that their eyes might be opened and decisions made to accept Your plan of salvation for their lives. May today be the day Oh God. I humbly ask all this is the awesome name of Jesus, the risen Lord and the provider of all things, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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 www.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!

Emergency Preparations – While You Wait

On 2015-06-302015-06-30 By Ed AlgreenIn Preparation, Readiness, Ready, WarningLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Contemporary English Version – 2 Peter 3:10-15): ¹⁰ The day of the Lord’s return will surprise us like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a loud noise, and the heat will melt the whole universe. Then the earth and everything on it will be seen for what they are. ¹¹ Everything will be destroyed. So you should serve and honor God by the way you live. ¹² You should look forward to the day when God judges everyone, and you should try to make it come soon. On that day the heavens will be destroyed by fire, and everything else will melt in the heat. ¹³ But God has promised us a new heaven and a new earth, where justice will rule. We are really looking forward to that! ¹⁴ My friends, while you are waiting, you should make certain that the Lord finds you pure, spotless, and living at peace.
¹⁵ Don’t forget that the Lord is patient because he wants people to be saved….

THOUGHTS: Friends, if we were to receive warnings today that a hurricane was approaching the coast of Florida, or perhaps in your case some other natural disaster approaching the area in which you live, don’t you know that everyone will be franticly buying food supplies to see them through a possible time of power outages, or perhaps buying hardware items to help protect earthly belongings? As I read this passage of scripture this morning, I believe God wanted me to share with you a similar warning that He spoke through His New Testament writer to us. For these verses offer warnings to us that our time here on earth is drawing to a close, as this old earth is dissolved away. You see, we are in a time of preparation at this time, for what we do with our time now will determine what happens to us when the events of verse 11 takes place. Note that there is a distinct difference between what happens in the warnings we receive today from meteorologists and what Peter declares in our captioned verses. In the latter, we see no doubt as to what will happen – it is a sure thing that we know in advance, and have time to prepare for its ultimate fruition. When natural disasters are predicted today, there are lists of items available to us that might help us to be better prepared for the impending effects of the disaster. God used a similar format through His servant Peter, and I have bolded the preparation actions that Peter gave to us. Here’s what we are told to do in preparation for the times that will come:

Search out Jesus and accept Him as Lord of your life – Yes, I know this is not verbalized in the verses above, but friend there is no way that any of the warnings will be real to you, nor would any of the bolded actions apply to you, if you are not a child of God. You will be the primary objective of Satan, as you are today, and your destination is already set – in the pits of Hell. These preparation items only apply to those who expect to see Jesus, because of firm decisions to accept Him while here on earth;
Serve and honor God in the way you live – The joy and peace that’s inside of you will be externalized through the things that you say or do;
Live in expectation and excitement about the Day of The Lord – the day of His return – the day He comes to take you with Him!
Live pure and spotless before God and at peace with your fellow man – in other words, live as Jesus exampled for us.

Don’t you know that these are items that should be placed prominently before us each day so that we might constantly work on our preparation list for that great and wonderful day? Can you say today, even so Lord Jesus, come today? You should be in that kind of state of readiness friend, because it could be today that He will return to take His bride away with Him! I would love to help you make sure that you are ready for the events referred to in this devotional, please read my ‘Footnote’ and feel free to contact me if there is anything that you would allow me to help you with.

PRAYER: Thank You for the warnings Heavenly Father. The information shared in these verses today are way more critical than any report we might receive from our meteorologists this season. Please help us to take our preparation time very seriously, and ready ourselves for that great day of happy reunion with You in heaven. Help us to be busy in firming up our preparation plans and stand in a state of readiness for Your soon return. What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, when I look upon His face…. This is an exciting day that Christians live in anticipation of! Lord, may we not disappoint You in any of the things we might say or do as we live our lives this side of heaven, for we know that our words and actions will reflect the one who controls us. I pray that all of my readers can say without a doubt that greater is He that is in us than He that is in this old sinful world! It’s You I live for, everyday oh God. Fill me with Your joy, love, hope and happiness. For I ask all this in the strong name of Jesus, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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!

Evidence Of Whose We Are

On 2015-06-192015-06-19 By Ed AlgreenIn Believers, Honesty, Righteousness, SinLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Living Translation – 1 John 3:9-10): ⁹ Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. ¹⁰ So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

THOUGHTS: I remember at one point in my life I was at a gas station pumping gas, when suddenly someone called me by my dad’s name. My head quickly popped up to see who knew my family. Apparently there was enough facial resemblance, or actions, to remind the person of something he had seen in my dad! I find it exciting when I walk away from a sales clerk knowing that they must be a brother or sister, because their actions, their concern, their unselfish care for me as a customer, were all indicators that they must share the same faith that I do, and have the same Father that I have learned about over the years from His handbook, the Bible. Friends there are a few tests in these verses today that I would encourage you to use as a self-examination tool:

Do not make a practice of sinning – When we invite Jesus into our hearts and lives as our Savior and Lord, not only does He forgive us of our sin, but He shows us a new way to live – like Him. Through His example, we are guided and encouraged to live holy lives, even as He is holy. To depend on the power within (the Holy Spirit) to prevent us from performing the same sin that we may have committed without thought, prior to our conversion;
Do not keep on sinning – Very similar to the above, but the difference is that once we have been prompted by the Holy Spirit to stop doing something that He considers sin, we are to make every effort to not repeat that sin. We must not let it rule us. God’s Holy Spirit cannot reside where sin abides!
Live righteously – Live our lives ‘right with God’. We are shown throughout the Bible what God expects of us – what is right and what is wrong. With the awesome power of the Holy Spirit, we are to live our lives ‘right with God’!
Love other believers – We are to live life expressing our love and concern for each other, even if they don’t love us back, or show any appreciation for what we do for them. Sadly there is a saying that “Christians in particular, tend to shoot their wounded”. We are taught in this scripture that when the world sees us loving each other, they will know that we are different and controlled by a greater power. Selfishness and Satan-led malice, jealousy or envy will eat up our desire to love like Jesus did. The power of the Holy Spirit within us will help us to love even those who despitefully use us.

Friends, living like I described above will help us to internalize whether we truly did commit to accepting, loving, serving and practicing the love of God. It will also help confirm to the world that we are who we say we are. However, please remember that God knows our heart, so He knows whether we honestly dedicated our lives to Him. I believe He is ashamed when we act up, but our outward actions only influences the world, they’re not needed to prove anything to God.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help us to be a people who acts, responds and loves like the people we say we are. ‘Hypocritical’ is a word often used when we don’t. Furthermore, folk tend to mistrust us when they feel we are hypocritical, and this destroys our possibility to honestly witness to them. Please help us to live consistent, open lives that will represent You well. Beginning with me Lord, may Your children rededicate themselves to being transparent to those that we come into contact with. May they see Jesus in and through our words and actions so that they may be influenced to follow You, and so that Your kingdom might be glorified even now, here on this earth. Your love is amazing, and Your rich blessings are beyond compare, and more than anything that we can imagine. Please forgive us for the times we fail, and grant us strength and a quick rebound so that we might get back on track without causing damage to our witness of You. I need You every hour of every day, please continue to work on me oh Lord, so that I might be all that You need me to be for the ministry/witness You have in store for me. Bless my readers today with similar grace, so that You may be lifted up more than ever before, for I ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, my Lord, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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 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!

Nuggets From God's Word

Tag: Heaven