Tag: Honesty

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!

Love The One You Got!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Love, Marriage, Surrender1 Comment

The Holy Bible

18So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the woman you married- 19pretty and graceful as a deer. Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love. 20Why should you give your love to another woman, my son? Why should you prefer the charms of another man’s wife? 21The Lord sees everything you do. Wherever you go, he is watching.

(Bible Translation and Location: Good News Translation – Proverbs 5:18-21)

Thoughts:

There’s an old hip-hop song with the same title I gave to our devotional today, because as I meditated on these verses this song came to mind, so I didn’t intentionally use bad English!!! However, God not only spoke to a man that He made to be the wisest man on earth, but He also inspired him to write down these wise words to share with folk that came along after he (Solomon) died. God, in His wisdom, knew that you and I should be told from His Word how to truly live holy and happy lives, even when it concerns our lives with our spouses. Now friends, there are a few things in here that really step on the toes of some that have supposedly convinced themselves of what God should have included in His Word, so they may become offended, but I would encourage them to politely and respectfully pray to God about those things. These verses follow verse 15 where Solomon gave us these words of wisdom: “Be faithful to your own wife and give your love to her alone”, so I believe that what God is drawing to our attention in order to have happy marriages, is that:

  1. Men must be the husband of one wife and find your joy with her – Notice the verse didn’t indicate “one of your wives” or “one of your women”. Also note that the verse didn’t say that you will find joy waiting for you, but rather you will “find joy”. That gives me the impression that we must seek after it, or work at it. If you sow in happiness, you will reap joy! Please note that to find joy with your wife, you cannot have other women trying to win your affection, otherwise you could never give your wife the attention and love that she, and you, deserve;
  2. Pretty and graceful as a deer – I’m sure that no one ever married a woman because she just wasn’t pretty in your eyes. So if she was pretty when you married her, and you have tried in every way to find joy with her every step along the way, why might she not be pretty now? I am reminded of something an elderly gentlemen told me at one time when I was finding fault with a vehicle I owned. He said, it is so interesting the fault we will find with our current vehicle when we have our minds set on a new one we want to buy! Funny, but very true words that also apply to our view of our wives! They are very pretty until we set our eyes on someone else that we are becoming attracted to. One word of advice to husbands and wives, don’t look elsewhere because you feel your spouse has lost their beauty, you are also growing old at the same rate of your spouse, and you may not be getting any more handsome either!!
  3. God is watching – God not only hears the words we speak, but He also knows our thoughts. You absolutely cannot straighten Him out with the poor excuses you give your spouse, so live upright, honest, loving and happy lives like God intended for you.

Friends, I am not a Marriage Counselor, but I am a Christian and would be happy to rejoice with you on any happy stories this devotional may have reminded you of, or if there is an area that you are struggling with, I would be happy to pray with you. So I encourage you to use the information in the footnote to contact me and allow me to pray with you about your marriage or your relationship with the Lord.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, unlike anything we can see, or ever imagine, about the condition of marriages and Christian life in general today, I am convinced that You see and know every little detail. I humbly ask that You help us to overcome our carnal minds and worldly desires. Please help us to keep our minds fixed on You, and make decisions inspired by You and for Your glory. Happy marriages will result in happy couples who will have happy children. This is not the case today, even from our eyes dear Lord, so we know that You see the weaknesses evident in Your children who claim You, especially when it is convenient or needed. Please touch the hearts and minds of Your children today, beginning with me. I believe that as we draw close to You and refocus our desire to please You in all walks of our lives, then we will live according to Your Word, without It becoming burdensome to us. Our marriages and our families are in trouble Lord. We need You more today than ever before, to heal our land, revive Your very own children, and to melt the hearts of those spouses that do not know You as Lord. Marriage is instituted and blessed by You, and I question how this could be possible if a spouse raises the stop sign to not allow You in. We need You Lord! I know that You have this under control, please give me peace to leave You at Your job, knowing that You are the Master of all things! I love You Lord, and I ask all of these things believing, and in the precious 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 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!

Search Me Oh God

On By Ed AlgreenIn HonestyLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.

5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

(New Living Translation – Psalm 139)

Thoughts:

I acknowledge that a lot more scripture has been given today that you would normally expect, but I wish I could have included the whole chapter for your meditation! May I strongly recommend that you click on the scripture reference link and read the whole chapter? Yes, even if you are a Bible scholar, I believe that God can still speak to you through this chapter, again! Friends, read these verses as they are written, but as you read please do not assume they are the words of David, the psalmist. Lay yourself before the altar of God and acknowledge/remind yourself that He is God indeed and that you cannot hide from Him, no matter where you might go. Imagine for a moment – I just took a business trip out to Arizona. God was with me here in Florida before I left. He not only protected me on my drive to Orlando airport, but thousands of feet into the air on that airplane. Crowded though that plane may have been, He was looking out for His dear child. I was routed through Detroit, Michigan for a connecting flight, and praise God, He watched over me even through those extra miles. In Arizona, where my wife could not see what I was doing or who I may have been with, God knew all about it, because He was there with me also. I won’t go on, but I believe you get the drift, right? Don’t for a squeaky moment think that because you are out of sight of your pastor or teacher that you can do whatever you please? They are just your earthly teachers and accountability partners, God is ALWAYS present and ALWAYS watching over you. Imagine if He wasn’t, could I truly have called on Him if my plane to Detroit ran into scary turbulence? Don’t you realize that if we expect to call on Him in an instant when we are in trouble, He is also there when we are getting into trouble/mischief/cheating? Like David, we need to acknowledge God as he did in verse 17, praise God that His thoughts about us and His omnipresence is very precious to us! I sent a copy of verses 23 & 24 to my work email, because I intend to print them out and attach them to my monitor as a constant prayer to God. You see, we can be real good Christians inside the church building, and almost as good at home, but when we walk in the doors of our workplaces, we are really entering our mission field. We don’t need to tell our coworkers we are Christian, we need to show them by our actions and through the things we say, so that they might know that we must be children of the King. Please don’t let them see you as hypercritical. I challenge you to put God back in charge of your life today friends!

Prayer:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” This is my sincere prayer before You today, oh Lord, and I ask this with expectations of Your help and strength, for I want to be Your honest representative, and therefore I am asking in Your precious name oh Lord, 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 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!

Do It For The Glory of God!

On By Ed AlgreenIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Bible – The Message

1 Corinthians 10:31–33

31–33          So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you’re eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory. At the same time, don’t be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren’t as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of everyone’s feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too.

Thoughts:

These verses sounds very similar to what we studied yesterday, but we looked at the aspect of being considerate of others as we celebrate the liberties of being a Christian. Today I want us to think about the phrase that I bolded in the above verses: “whatever we do, do it heartily and freely to the glory of God”. The first thing that I believe God prompted me to consider and that is my behavior at work. Friends, it is very easy to act godly inside the church walls, but as one church displayed over their exit doors, “You are now entering your mission field”. It would probably be frowned on by most employers to walk in to work with our Bibles under our arms, or for us to have our first sermon in the lounge while others stop in for their morning coffee. In fact, we would display our dishonesty in doing certain things at work, because we would encroach on the time that we are being paid to work, and that equals cheating our employers. In my opinion, being a representative of God at work means that we stand up for honesty – both in being a role model setting an example for those we work for, and in keeping our employees honest in giving of their best to our employer. Christians should be the best employees, in that they are to be honest, hardworking and setting an example for others to follow. Some might question why they should act this way when so many are taking long breaks, doing personal business at work, and not giving a solid day’s work? May I remind you from the word of God (above) that whatever we do, we must do it for the glory of God! Let’s not disappoint Him in seeing us acting or being anything other than following His footsteps, His commands and His will for our lives. Remember, non-Christians looking on at our behavior – in deed or word, will show them what God looks like, so that they may be encouraged to also want to know Him personally! Are you proud of the example you are displaying at work, or at any place where non-Christians are looking on? It’s not too late to change that attitude friend, or shall I say, not too late to seek God’s help and direction for ways you can change that. I would encourage you to call on Him while He may be found.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I wish that You would look on me today and be proud of my actions and/or words, because I have followed Your plan and Your design for this humble servant. Please work on me for a constant and consistent walk with You, especially in the midst of non-Christians. Of course, I also desire to be more like You in all aspects of my life, because I could be of encouragement to my fellow Christians in areas that they are struggling. Therefore I ask that You give me the qualities that I need to demonstrate Your love and Your example to all that I come into contact with. May You be glorified from all that I may do or say today, is my humble prayer and request. Please be especially strong in touching the lives of those that may meditate on this devotional today so that Your people will learn to be like You in all areas of life. I ask all this in Your precious and holy name, Jesus, my Savior, AMEN!

NOTE: 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.