Tag: Imitate God

Will others Be Impacted by God Because of Their Encounter with You

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Encounter with God, Impacted by the Word, Lives Impacted, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Friday, 2022-10-14
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: 1 Kings 8:59-61
TRANSLATION: The Voice (VOICE)

BIBLE TEXT: 59 May my words and everything I have requested of the Eternal our God be close to His heart continuously, both day and night, so that He will support His servant and His people Israel according to the needs of each day as it is today. 60 Then all the people of the world will understand for themselves that He is the only True God. 61 Give your entire heart to the Eternal our God. Walk the path He has intended for us, and keep His laws as you do today.

APPLICATION: I believe that everyone has a picture of God in their minds. For some, it might be that He is so perfect that they know that they should just stay clear, as they could never be good enough. For others, it might be the God of the Sabbath – Saturday. Although others might be convinced that we must worship the resurrected Lord on the day He arose – Sunday. Now, there are some who might also feel like He is just one of many gods. But friends, while I know that this short list is not all inclusive, I hope that it may be enough to open your minds to think about ‘who God really is’ to you. What impact does the God you have on your life, affect your life? Any impact at all? Now, the reason I write these devotionals is to help my readers and listeners attach themselves to the Creator God, the One who has all power over earth, all the elements, and even heaven. The only One who sent His Son, Jesus, to save us from our sin – the one thing that we cannot do for ourselves, yet the one thing that will keep us out of heaven. So as we consider the God that impacts our lives, let’s make sure that we are talking about the one, true, God. And as we consider how God is impacting our lives, let us consider if it’s enough for others to see Jesus in us, or do they see just the same old sinful self who strives for personal attention and selfish desires. We tend to live out who we are and the impact that others have on our character. If it’s Jesus impacting our lives, then others will see things like peace, love, joy, forgiveness, meekness, and all those things that we see in Jesus whenever we encounter Him in the Bible, or through our everyday lives. King Solomon prayed a very unselfish prayer for he and his people. Not only that God would have an everlasting impact on the people, but even if they sinned and got themselves in trouble, that God would hear their cry of repentance and accept their plea to return into His good graces. Solomon wanted that impact to be so drastic, that other nations would stand in awe and wonder what got into these people, or rather, who it is that is impacting their lives. The Christian walk is very different to the ways of this world. Others will notice and be impacted by it. Oh that they will see Jesus and want to know Him more intimately and in a very personal way. It’s your turn now dear reader and listener. Make your life count for Jesus by allowing Him to impact your life and minister through you.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: When others are blessed by God because of His grace being evident in us, it’s just like a gift that keeps on giving and blessing others. Only God can have this kind of impact though, and only if we open our hearts and lives to allow Him access, so He could bless others.

PRAYER: To run alongside a brother or a sister, we might encourage them to know that we care. But Lord, when You live inside of us, and You reach out and encourage that brother or sister, while giving them strength for every step, encouragement through all the storms of life, wisdom for how to best deal with situations that lie ahead, and love to warm their hearts in knowing that someone truly cares, then we will see lives being impacted for the Kingdom. It’s only because of You Lord. Please bless now all those who will read or listen to this devotional. May they feel your touch and know that You are near. Impact the lives of those that we touch, in Jesus’ precious name and for Your sake alone. 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!

Imitate God and Do Good

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Imitate Jesus, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Representation of the Master, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Tuesday, 2020-11-24
WRITTEN AT: Paul B Johnson State Park, Hattiesburg, MS

BIBLE REFERENCE: 3 John 1:11
TRANSLATION: The Passion Translation (TPT)

BIBLE TEXT: 11 Delightfully loved ones, don’t imitate what is evil, but imitate that which is good.[q] Whoever does good is of God; whoever does evil has not seen God.[r]

OBSERVATION: Living in this world we will come across those who are good and practice the ways and commands of God, but each day we are also subject to encountering those who are downright evil, and you would question if they may not have even heard of God. In the eyes of those that you come into contact with, they will also see you in one of these categories, based on your character and your attitude. I realize you don’t act in certain ways to please others, but as we meditate on this verse by John, let’s ask God to show us which areas of life we need to improve on in order to always look more like Him!

APPLICATION: Each day we are blessed to place our feet on the ground and encounter the world, others will be analyzing our character, our habits and our values. When we encounter praiseworthy things, others will see from the expressions on our face if we are thankful for those things, or if we are aggravated because we felt we were deserving of more. In a recent devotional, I used a verse from this same Book where John was thankful for the great testimony and works of Gaius. In the verses immediately preceding our focal verse today, John taught about the disappointing actions of Diotrephes in not respecting the work of the church leaders, and slandering those trying to further the work of the Lord. I wonder if John was not teaching from these very real examples when he taught that we should strive to do what is good if that is the testimony of God in our life. Then he may be warning us to be careful not to follow the evil practiced by some, like Diotrephes, for he acted like one who never even met God. But whether this was John’s intent or not, I do know that we will meet some in our path almost daily whose actions fit either Gaius or Diotrephes. Although we must be prepared with a mindset like our Lord to deal with others, we must daily prepare ourselves and determine in our own heart, with God’s help, whether we will portray God only in our attitudes and actions. If not, we will relax our guard and allow the natural self to just do and say what comes natural. I believe it is important to truly understand how John approached this – notice how he simply pointed out that doing what is good imitates what Jesus practiced here on earth and what He taught us to do in His Word. Doing evil demonstrates that we may not even know the King of all kings, but are mere imitators of our worldly master – Satan. Our lives will reflect whose we are. If you know my Savior, please aim to always imitate Christ in your life, dear one. Let’s not disappoint Jesus, the Messiah. Seek His help daily so that you will stand firm in the faith.

PRAYER: Lord You are good and Your mercies endure for ever and for ever, praise God! Please battle in our lives and work in our heart to help us represent You well. May we never dare to show evil towards our Brother or our Sister while also telling them that we are children of the King. For as children of God, may we always imitate and represent the Son of God so that others will be convinced of Your presence and Your work in our lives, Lord. John spoke this in its simplest form – if we do good, we are imitating God. If we do evil, we may not have ever known You. May it always be clear to the world whose we are. 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!

Our Example

On By Ed AlgreenIn Love, Patience, SacrificeLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – 2 Thessalonians 3:5): 5 I pray that the Lord will guide you to be as loving as God and as patient as Christ.

THOUGHTS: Although this was a prayer that Paul offered for his church, I am reminded that there is only One that we are to imitate. Only One that we are to follow as our example. Let’s ponder on this for a bit. God loved us so much that, although He created us, yet He allowed us freewill to do our own thing. He saw that it was difficult for us to be good enough to follow the many laws instituted throughout the Old Testament, so He miraculously brought Jesus into the world, proved who He was by giving Him power to perform miracles, then allowed for His crucifixion – all so that we could have a better way into heaven. This is the purest example of love that we could ever imagine or find, friend. So when Paul prayed that his church would love as God did, he was really praying that there would be no flaws or prejudices in their love one for another. I was reminded that I need to be the same way, and by sharing this with you I am suggesting that you also consider becoming a child of the King and love like He did. Then to be as patient as Christ, I think about the patience He showed when, although having the power of God, He allowed the abuse to continue during His trial and on the road to the crucifixion. He allowed evil men, for whom He was sacrificing His life, to beat Him, drive nails through His hands and hang Him on a cruel cross – all for our good friend. Don’t You know that He could have called legions of angels to His rescue, and angelic warriors to fight and destroy the evil ones that were beating and destroying His body? Instead He endured unbelieving patience because He knew it was all necessary for our good and ultimate purpose. So friends, we not only have an example of love and patience to follow, we are reminded that God Almighty went to great extremes to show His love for us and to provide a means for us to one day enter heavens gates to be with Him throughout eternity! For those who are feeling hopeless and unloved, please recognize through this discourse that there is One who loves You enough that He would die for you. There is no greater love, friend. May this be a reminder for our day to love like God did and endure the patience that Christ did

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for all that You did to show Your love for me and for Your ongoing love towards me every day. When I am feeling unloved, or when I am tempted to love only the lovable, may I be reminded of this short verse today. When I become impatient with those who persecute me, may I be patient and reminded of all that you endured leading up to the cross. Please encourage my friends who will read this devotional today, may they also learn to be more lovable and patient. May we follow Your gracious example. I ask this believing in You for all things, and for Your sake alone, with thanksgiving, 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!