Tag: Identity

Identify Yourself With Christ

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Preach, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Friday, 2022-03-18
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Romans 1:1-4
TRANSLATION: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

BIBLE TEXT: 1 Greetings from Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus.
God chose me to be an apostle and gave me the work of telling his Good News. 2 God promised long ago through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures to give this Good News to his people. 3-4 The Good News is about God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. As a human, he was born from the family of David, but through the Holy Spirit he was shown to be God’s powerful Son when he was raised from death.

APPLICATION: You’ve heard it before, a long detailed biography is read for a politician who is about to speak at a meeting you might be attending. Generally you will hear everything about the politician, their parents and everyone that might make his or her life appear important enough to gain our confidence, and ultimately your vote. For a new pastor being introduced to our church, we will hear about his largest congregations, his achievements, his theological degrees earned in seminary, and we may even hear his testimony. Paul’s primary focus was on his relationship with the Master, and how God was instrumental in his desire to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As I looked at what commentators had to say about this introduction, and the Gospel in particular, I felt like I must share the best one I found: John Courson said:

‘Truly, the gospel is Good News—not just good advice. A lot of preachers, authors, and speakers try to make Christianity a bunch of good advice. Most best-selling Christian books today are full of good advice about child-rearing, financial planning, or marriage counseling. But remove the name of Jesus Christ from most of them, and it won’t affect the book at all.
We’ve got something so much better than good advice, folks. And I would encourage you to be on guard against sermons or authors, churches or organizations that give you good advice. If you can take Jesus Christ out of a sermon without affecting it, you’re probably wasting your time listening to it. If you can take Jesus Christ out of a book without affecting it, you’re probably wasting your time reading it. Paul wasn’t separated unto the good advice of Christian living. He was separated to the Good News of God.’

But to top this whole message off, Jesus gave His disciples a few conditions that would generate supreme trust in the Almighty God. I went with a group of missionaries from my church to Mexico for a week. Other than finances, the next greatest challenge was in packing minimally as space would be limited on flights and in the vans used for ground transportation. So can you imagine trying to ‘GO’ under the restrictions ordered by Jesus in (1) noted above in our Scripture? Homes were opened to accommodate the missionaries, as there were no provisions for commercial accommodations, if any existed. This has become a huge problem today, as most church members will refuse to have a missionary or visiting preacher in for a meal, much less opening their home to one. I trust that you can appreciate the difference. Most of us will do everything possible to be accepted by the townspeople in which we minister. But what do you do if you are not accepted? Jesus knew this would happen and probably disappoint His disciples, just as it would impact us, so He prepared us in advance in (3) above for such an unfortunate event. Bible scholars will tell you that Jesus didn’t just tell His disciples to go some foreign place and, when you get – tell and heal. But instead, He told them in their language that as they GO, tell and heal. It is so important that we represent God and tell the Good News everywhere we find ourselves, not just at one specific building, street corner, country or city. As you go each day, brothers and sisters, in every way possible, tell the story of Jesus and His love for everyone you meet, God being your helper and guide.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Being ‘in Christ’ and directed by Christ, helps us better identify that we are qualified to tell the Good News about Jesus Christ. With Christ, we are more than conquerers. Without Christ, we are nothing at all!

PRAYER: Lord, thank You for all You did on Calvary, for the sake of Your precious children. You created us, and because of Calvary You identified with us by fulfilling our need for a Savior, so that Eternal Life might be within reach for us. Without a Savior we would be destined for the pit of Hell. Please help us to never dissociate ourselves with that love shown through Your sacrifice. Oh that we might be like Your servant Paul, and tell the world that because of our relationship to You, and our association with You, we are more than conquerors and therefore well qualified to share the love of Jesus Christ with them. Help us to turn a deaf ear to the teachings of the evil one, who would rather us be afraid, timid, withdrawn, ashamed, and ignorant of the things of God. Your precious Holy Spirit is within us and will embolden us to overcome all of the above and instead stand firm on our faith in You – Almighty Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The world needs You. As Your representative, may we never disappoint them! AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog might indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

Why Jesus Came

On By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiveness, Salvation, SaviorLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Hebrews 2:14-18): 14 We are people of flesh and blood. That is why Jesus became one of us. He died to destroy the devil, who had power over death. 15 But he also died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying. 16 Jesus clearly did not come to help angels, but he did come to help Abraham’s descendants. 17 He had to be one of us, so that he could serve God as our merciful and faithful high priest and sacrifice himself for the forgiveness of our sins. 18 And now that Jesus has suffered and was tempted, he can help anyone else who is tempted.

THOUGHTS: There once was a gentleman running for governor who went to various job sites and worked at least a day in the workers’ shoes in order to see what he needed to correct or improve upon when we became governor. There is a local rehabilitation center that sends out it’s trainers to various job sites, so that when their clients are hired, the trainer will know exactly how to best train them for that specific job. I am in awe of how, the God of this universe could easily call into existence any and everything for us to benefit from, or protect us from the greatest fears that we might have, yet He knew that we would more easily accept someone who has been there and done that. He foreknew that this would be super important when it comes to us taking our petitions and our fears and our needs and our frustrations before Him! We are reminded in this scripture today that Jesus, God’s only beloved Son, was sent to earth for us and only us. He became just like us, so that He could witness firsthand why we would feel so despondent when coming before Him over the loss of a family member or friend, for He witnessed this through the death of His dear friend Lazarus. Or how we must feel when we are left alone to fend for ourselves, perhaps because of our blindness or because we might be crippled or otherwise immobile, for He stopped a procession to speak with, and heal a man waiting along the roadside, because the crowd chose to quiet him down rather than help him up. Remember that He also placed simple dirt on a man’s eyes to restore his sight? Friends, I believe this scripture is an awesome reminder that when we take our burdens, our concerns, our heartaches and share how despondent we are, before our gracious, all powerful, almighty God, we will know that He can identify with us. Jesus was saddened to tears when His friend Lazarus died, don’t you know that He also feels our pain when we hurt so badly at times because of life’s circumstances? For those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, may I remind you that we have a definite hope dear friend? We have a Savior, who not only hears our cries, but has already prepared a place for us in Heaven where we will spend eternity with He and His/our Father! This is exciting, and fills my heart with hope, especially as I deal with so many of life’s circumstances each day. For those who have not surrendered your life to Jesus yet, may I suggest that there is nothing to compare to the hope and joy of knowing Jesus. It’s like looking forward to the end of the day knowing that you have a peaceful home to go to with a loving spouse who awaits you! Jesus is ready to welcome you home friend, but you must make the first move in the ‘free-will’ given to you over your life by God. May I encourage you to take advantage of the day and hour in which you might read this reminder? Jesus tells us in His Word that “Today is the accepted day”. Won’t you be obedient to His call?

PRAYER: Father, there are many days when life here on earth seems so hopeless to many of Your children. May this be a reminder today that because of Your love for us, You have made every provision for our future. May the unsaved be reminded that this is not an automatic protection for every person, but rather for those who would like to see a brighter future and have accepted Your offer of salvation – the only means for us to enter an eternal future in heaven with You. Thank You for coming to earth to better identify with our challenges. May this serve to help unbelievers more openly share their heart with You and accept the love that You offer. With a heart of thanksgiving and love, I want to thank You Lord for hearing my prayer, for I ask this in and through the strong name of Jesus, the name above all other names, 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!