How to Pray

On 2015-02-202015-02-20 By Ed AlgreenIn Obedience, Prayer, SalvationLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (The Message – 1 Timothy 2:1-6): The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live. He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out.

Thoughts: Like me, you may have thought that prayer is personal communication with God, so it is up to us what we talk to God about, right? While that may be a true statement, I believe that we must also be obedient to God’s Word. So when He instructed Paul to include his instructions to Timothy on how to pray for, and with, the churches that were organized, I believe that God wanted us to also take the same lead. While I believe that The Message does a great job of relaying these instructions simply and understandably, there are a few points that I would like to remind myself about, hoping that you also might be enriched by the Word of God today:

Pray in every way you know how, for everyone you know – friends we must be careful that our prayers are deeper than just responding to a prayer request by a friend by quickly responding that we will pray for them. Way too often that’s the extent of our prayer for them. Furthermore, if a non-believer asks for prayer, we must remember that their most important prayer need is salvation. Perhaps the need they are asking you to pray about will lead them to knowing the God that they are asking us to pray to, on their behalf. God works in mysterious ways, so He will hear our prayer and work out His plan in the lives of those we earnestly pray for, according to His perfect will. Our role is to pray;
Pray for rulers and their governments – friends, I believe that we spend way too much time in opposition to God’s desire for our government leaders. How? God never tells us to whine, complain, or bad-mouth our government leaders. Instead, in Romans He tells us that governments are ordained by Him, and their work will be a part of Him fulfilling His will for the people served by these leaders. God wants us to live humble, peaceful, prayerful lives imitating Him in every way possible. Our government leaders must know that Christians are praying for them so that they may properly lead us as Christ would have them do. This will not happen if they think or imagine that we are beating up on them at every opportunity. Please don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of corruption and greed in government, but I don’t believe we could find scripture to support that it’s our job, as Christians, to tear down and destroy governments who do this. Yes, we have the privilege to vote on whether we feel led by God to decline voting for ones we feel are not properly performing, but when they are elected, according to our prayers, it is not our job to step in and evoke, or recall those prayers and constantly be a thorn in the side of the politicians and/or God’s work through our political system. God really don’t need any help from us!
Pray for ourselves to be a channel that can be used by God to reach the unsaved – The latter part of this scripture relays what was on Paul’s heart, and again I believe that he was a mere messenger speaking the words from our Savior. God’s work and His heart is all about seeing the lost come to know Him as their personal Savior before it is eternally too late. In my opinion, this leaves an onus to constantly pray that we will be worthy vessels that God can use to extend His reach to our family, friends and other circles. We can only do our part of being used by God, for we can save no one. Let us therefore be in a constant cleaning mode and polishing our relationship with the Lord so that we might be attuned to His will and desire for us, and be usable vessels for Him to use.

Prayer is the key, and the answer, friends!

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for the privilege of prayer! Thank You that we can pray to our Father who has time to acutely listen to us, and not distracted by the things of this world that plays such a distraction in our lives. Lord, You’ve given us direction on how to pray, and what we should be focusing on in our prayers. Yes, I am guilty of bogging down my prayer life with all the sickness and other depressing things that constantly bombard my life, but Lord I believe You are telling me today that although my concerns are important to You, there is direction given in Your Word as to how and what I should primarily pray for. Please help me to keep this foremost in my mind every day, so that I may pray in accordance with Your will and for Your sake, knowing that as Your people are touched by You, their lives will be capable of achieving Your perfect will. You are God, and we are not, so help us Lord to place full control in Your hands, as we stick to the will of the Father and pray as instructed in His Word. Bless us this day oh Lord so that we may pray aright and live like You, for I ask this in the all-powerful name of Jesus, 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 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!

Patience Without Limit

On 2015-02-192015-02-19 By Ed AlgreenIn Patience, Salvation, SurrenderLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (New Century Version – 1 Timothy 1:15-16): ¹⁵What I say is true, and you should fully accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶But I was given mercy so that in me, the worst of all sinners, Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. His patience with me made me an example for those who would believe in him and have life forever.

Thoughts: I believe that these verses speak very loudly to both the believer in Jesus Christ, and to the non-believer (if they would read and accept the written Word of God).

To the believer: I believe that Paul is helping his associate, Timothy, know that he needn’t go into ministering and causing folk to believe that he is superior in faith to them. To us (believers), I believe that God wanted Paul to get across to us that sin is sin, and where God brought us from is no better than where we see those that we are witnessing, or ministering to. However, we are reminded that because of the grace of our Lord Jesus, He looked down in mercy, and because of our separation from God, our unholy lives bore no resemblance to His, however in mercy He heard our prayer, forgave us of our sin and crowned us as children of the King of all kings. As we constantly remind ourselves of where we came from, friends we will better identify with the needs of the unsaved, and we can more readily share with them the kind of loving, merciful, forgiving God that we are recommending to them. Just as Paul shared, we are plain evidence of God’s love and mercy, and we were no more special than the person we are witnessing to, other than we humbled ourselves and surrendered to His call. We gave up that old life and now stand as princes and princesses of the greatest King, only God and Creator, Jesus the only Son of God! Praise be the name of the Lord forever!

To the unbeliever: I believe it is evident that God wanted Paul to make it clear that the same power is available to the unbeliever today that saved Paul, a sinner who was feared by the church because of his undying desire to persecute the church and destroy anything or anyone who claimed the name of the Lord. Yes, in the eyes of many you may be considered a very bad person, but God sees you as His creation, one for whom He allowed His only Son to die on a cruel cross, and one for whom God loves way too much to see you die and go to Hell. Friend, I can safely and accurately tell you this from my personal experience, because I realized some 40 years ago that I needed Christ, and He looked down in love and accepted my plea for forgiveness and oneness with Him. He did it for me, for Paul, and I have every confidence that He will do it for you also friend. Jesus is patiently waiting for your word, what will it be today? Remember, no word at all means ‘No’, and I believe that anyone led to read this devotional today will not make that kind of decision! May God deal gently, but boldly in your heart today, is my sincere and humble prayer for you friend …. because I know that God loves you, and so do I!

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for going to such an extreme to show Your unswerving love for me and all of mankind. Please help me to never forget where You brought me from, in hopes that I can better identify with those that might be far away from You today. I am concerned for my family, friends, coworkers and church attendees who still have not accepted You as Lord, because I firmly believe that Your return is not only eminent, but will happen at any time. I want to meet around Your throne with all my family and friends present. I plead with You today to please melt their hardened hearts and create a desire in them to fully surrender their lives to You, like Paul did and like I and many others have already done. May this be the day of salvation for them today, please, dear Lord. May the unsaved see Your mercy and grace in action today through the many miracles You perform each day in and around us. I bring my praises, these petitions and awesome thanksgiving in the name of the only Savior, Jesus my Lord, AMEN!

Things That Impact Our Words and Actions

On 2015-02-182015-02-18 By Ed AlgreenIn Clear Conscience, Genuine, HonestyLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (The Good News Translation – 1 Timothy 1:3-7): Some people there are teaching false doctrines, and you must order them to stop. ⁴Tell them to give up those legends and those long lists of ancestors, which only produce arguments; they do not serve God’s plan, which is known by faith. ⁵The purpose of this order is to arouse the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith. ⁶Some people have turned away from these and have lost their way in foolish discussions. ⁷They want to be teachers of God’s law, but they do not understand their own words or the matters about which they speak with so much confidence.

Thoughts: Timothy’s mentor, Paul, instructed him to stay in Macedonia to help keep religious leaders accountable to the Word of God. Paul found this necessary because the leaders were getting caught up in false doctrines, old stories that were often untrue, and ancestry. As it was then, so it is today friends, for the church was established to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ. Imagine how hopeless Christianity would be today if we went to church to have our ears tickled by words that may or may not be true, but which sounds real good to the hearer. But Paul didn’t just tell Timothy what was wrong, he gave him leadership on what to look for and what to teach in order to help these people. I believe that Paul’s words and leadership is just as applicable to us today, as it was for Timothy in taking the message to the Macedonians. Our actions and our words must be those from a loving and pure heart, a clear conscience and a genuine faith. Some might question how Paul knew what filled the hearts of the church leaders. I would dare say to you friends that most people will quickly tell when you are speaking from a heart of love and genuine compassion. From a heart that has experienced the gospel of which you speak. Conversely, others can tell quicker than you imagine when you are fake, trying to impress, or speaking the words written by someone else without it ever impacting your own heart. There is an old saying “you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time”! However, putting aside who you can or cannot fool into believing a lie of yours, how would you feel lying in bed at night knowing that you were not totally honest with those that you shared the Word of God with that day? Furthermore, what type of expression would you imagine seeing on God’s face if you were not genuine, faithful and truthful in declaring His Word to a lost person, who will probably continue in their lost condition until they could possibly hear genuine Truth? Missed opportunities will cause you more grief than you might care to experience, friend. For many, there is no time for dancing around the subject, for they may never see another opportunity this side of heaven ….…… or hell. I want to strive towards seeing a smile on God’s face as He listens in to my conversations and/or my teaching, also in my actions, love and concern for the non-Christian. How is it with you friend? Do you suspect there is a smile or disappointment on God’s face as He looks in on your life?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You paved a perfect path for us to follow. Slogans such as WWJD have helped to attune ourselves to Your guidance, but we often fail in reacting with pure intentions to every scenario in life, and we often seek to please and/or impress our audiences. However, I was deeply reminded today that I may as well come before You as a child, in honesty, purity, innocence and openness, for You know my very heart – my thoughts and my intentions. Please forgive me for the times that I have tried to be anything else to anyone, especially if I misrepresented You or falsely represented myself. I pray that it will not be necessary for You to provide a Paul or Timothy to clear up misrepresentations of myself or my friends who will read this devotional today, for I pray that they will deal with any impacts on their lives, for we want to be pure and holy before You and our fellow man. Please continue to work on us when we stray away from these ideals and help us to stay true to You in our everyday lives. I pray for Your help, Your guidance and in accordance with Your will. I ask all this believing on, and in, the name of Jesus my Lord, AMEN!

Get Rid of Idols

On 2015-02-172015-02-17 By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiveness, Idols, SinLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (The Contemporary English Version – Jeremiah 4:1-3): The Lord said: Israel, if you really want to come back to me, get rid of those disgusting idols. ²Make promises only in my name, and do what you promise! Then all nations will praise me, and I will bless them. ³People of Jerusalem and Judah, don’t be so stubborn! Your hearts have become hard, like unplowed ground where thornbushes grow.

Thoughts: While I believe there was a lot of value in these verses for Israel and the people of Jerusalem and Judah, I also believe that this passage of scripture was included in God’s Word to us for self-application also. Let me explain, I believe that God spoke to me as I read this, and had me substitute ‘Israel’ with the family and friends that I am praying for. At times when I feel distant from God, I believe that this passage also applies to me. Friends, I want you to read this carefully to make sure that you too understand that when God seems far away from you, examine your lives and see what idols (priorities; things) have you allowed to step in the way of your open communication and dependence on God. The kinds of things that get in our way might be:

Work – for we can become so absorbed in our job that we have no quality time to spend with God;
Church – yes, even church. We can become a slave to the work of the church and exclude our study and worship time with the Lord, for whom we are presumably working;
Family – even though this item is of super importance, if we’re not careful Satan can use this as a tool to keep us away from God. Let’s learn to take our family to church, instead of feeling an obligation to spend quality time with them on our Sabbath. After all, we had other opportunities during the week to spend time with them, but with Satan’s help chose not to. Men/dads this is our responsibility as God’s leader in our homes;
Activities – we all know that the beach is always better on our Sabbath day than any other day of the week, right? But does it fit with God’s command of what we should be doing on our Sabbath?!!;
Sports – why would we consider giving our time to sports on our Sabbath day rather than assembling ourselves together to worship God and to encourage one another?;
Weariness – the toils of the week have left us so worn out that giving one hour of our time to refuel spiritually, and to give God thanks for our jobs, and the good health to do our jobs, seems to be challenging for us – at least until we lose our job or some other crisis comes up, right?;

Friends, I’m not judging, for that is God’s job. I merely listed a few things that may cause us to think about the possible idols that stand in our way of communion with God. May I encourage you to examine your own life and see if there is anything that distracts you in your walk with the Lord? Be honest with God as you consider this, for He knows your heart and your very circumstances, and He is willing to help you tear down those idols, so that you may be drawn closer to Him. Remember, sin must be put away out of the heart, else it is not put away out of God’s sight, for the heart is open before Him. The good news with this whole thing is that others will follow us, and God will bless us! Read verse 2 again! Imagine, your actions might actually revolutionize your world!!

Prayer: Father, You know our hearts and You know our thoughts and our schemes. It is so unfortunate that in spite of Your goodness to us, we allow Satan to feed our thoughts, that often leads us to scheme and find reasons to not find time in the Word, in prayer and even church attendance. Please forgive us for our ingratitude and our unfaithfulness. You sacrificed Your very Son for our salvation, yet we find it challenging to make time to spend with You and/or Your people in corporate worship. Often this is just not a priority in our lives. Please forgive me oh Lord. Please touch the hearts of Your children who will read this devotional today, may they also be made aware of ‘idols’ that have become obstacles in their walk with You. Lord Jesus, we respect You and all that You stand for, however if we are to be true and honest representatives of Yours, we too must be living, walking and talking as You. We can only do this with Your help, direction and wisdom oh Lord, and we humbly seek that today. For this is my humble and gracious plea before You oh God, in the name of Your Son Jesus, AMEN!

Our Example

On 2015-02-162015-02-16 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!

Because of God’s Love

On 2015-02-142015-02-14 By Ed AlgreenIn LoveLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (The Message – 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17): ^15–17So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.

Thoughts: On a day that we celebrate ‘love’, and express our love towards our spouse or sweetheart, I am intrigued that my Bible reading would take me to a passage that encourages me to reflect on my love towards God, and my subsequent reciprocal actions towards God – The One who showed His love for me in a sacrificial way, by openly providing an attainable way to one day join Him in heaven! Not sure about you, but whenever I recognize love being expressed by my wife towards me, I quickly examine my life to see what I might be doing or saying to do the same towards her. If that’s a ‘normal’ reaction, and I believe it is, then I question if we (mankind) are truly and honestly recognizing God’s love towards us each and every day. Because if we were to react in the same manner as we do to our spouse, then this would be a whole different world we would live in. Imagine if only Christians did their part in expressing their love towards Jesus? Imagine if this rubbed off on all those that we come into contact with, and after seeing a better way to live, that they also tried to do better in their relationships? As God’s love fills us to overflowing today, I hope that we can pray as Paul did for his church members: May God, through His deep, unending and unmatched love, put a fresh heart in us, and may He invigorate our work for Him and enliven our speech so that God might be glorified, and others will be encouraged to know the One that we serve, love and adore. God loves us friend, and He wants our lives to be so affected that this evil world around us might be impacted. Take a firm stand today friends, will you?

Prayer: Your love is amazing dear God! Thank You for loving even me! Thank You for Your Word that brings refreshment to my heart and invigorates me in ways that I pray might be a blessing to others. Please enliven my speech so that I might depend on You for the very words that I speak, as my desire is that my life might influence others for my Master. Thank You Jesus for all that You are and all that You mean to me. Please influence the hearts and souls of Your children who will meditate on this devotional today, so that Your love may be very evident to them. May Your actions impress upon them the need to show Your kind of love to all that they come into contact with today. May this ‘lovers’ day, be one where friends will not only be invigorated in their love for their sweetheart, but also for You. I ask all this because of Your love for me, and in the name of Jesus Christ, 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!

Impossibilities to Man Are Very Possible With God!

On 2015-02-132015-02-13 By Ed AlgreenIn Obedience, SurrenderLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (The Contemporary English Version – Jeremiah 1:4-8): ⁴The Lord said: ⁵“Jeremiah, I am your Creator, and before you were born, I chose you to speak for me to the nations.” ⁶ I replied, “I’m not a good speaker, Lord, and I’m too young.” ⁷ “Don’t say you’re too young,” the Lord answered. “If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! And when I tell you what to say, don’t leave out a word! ⁸ I promise to be with you and keep you safe, so don’t be afraid.”

Thoughts: I find it interesting how Moses felt unworthy to be used of God for the awesome job of freeing his people from slavery. Excuses such as unable to even speak properly, much less being used by God to lead a large number of people. Again with Jeremiah as he was told by God that he would go and speak to all the nations, he also found excuses to give God about his inabilities. In the New Testament we are told about tax collectors, fishermen and doctors, to name a few, that were called to share the Word of the Lord with others. As I look closer to our current times, I hear of great pastors and evangelists whose parents, school teachers and/or friends would never have projected their future to be in the ministry of Jesus Christ. In trying to imagine how these men must have felt, I thought that perhaps the reason for their doubt, or initial refusal, may have been their humility. Imagine with me for a moment, that the King of all kings were to visit us and tell us to leave our workplaces, our homes, our friends and our families and head out to a foreign country to speak with their king about all that he is doing wrong. No longer than it took you to read this devotional I bet you would have your bags packed and ready to go, right? I bet that not! But yet that’s how impossible these awesome tasks were to these great men of God when they were first given their orders. Friends, I believe that our takeaway in this scripture today is to note that:

God can, and will, call the unqualified to do a work that must easily be credited to His mighty hand at work in accomplishing the task assigned;
God made us, and if He could make a donkey to speak back to a troubled servant of His, I’m sure He can provide the talent, boldness and means to accomplish the work He assigns to us;
God often chooses the most unlikely servants to do His work. It must always be evident that it is God busy at work, not some smart, talented bold servant that He could choose to do the work;
To decline an invitation given by God is actually disobedience, because He really has the work cut out for YOU to do, not the qualified theologian you feel better able to do the job.

Friends, my take on this is that we are to be so attuned to God each day that we will understand His will and His call on us to do His work, and when He calls, we must be ready to follow through in obedience to Him. Please consider making this a day of tuning your life into alignment with God!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please prepare us for the work You have in mind for us. Please keep us so aligned with You on a daily basis that we will easily recognize Your voice and Your commands so that we may quickly follow in obedience to Your call. Thank You for considering the most unlikely people, in our minds, to accomplish the great work that You are ready to do in our midst or through our lives. It is my desire to see Your will accomplished, and to welcome opportunities to use my talents and/or availability for Your service. Please tender the hearts of my readers to recognize You as Lord, and to follow in obedience to Your call, should You desire to use us for Your work and Your glory! Bless us again dear Lord, is my humble prayer that I ask in Your glorious and wonderful name, with thanksgiving, AMEN!

Choices Today Determines Future Destiny

On 2015-02-122015-02-12 By Ed AlgreenIn Choice, Forgiveness, GraceLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (The Contemporary English Version – 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10): Our Lord Jesus will punish anyone who doesn’t know God and won’t obey his message. ⁹ Their punishment will be eternal destruction, and they will be kept far from the presence of our Lord and his glorious strength. ¹⁰ This will happen on that day when the Lord returns to be praised and honored by all who have faith in him and belong to him. This includes you, because you believed….

Thoughts: I believe that the topic given to our study today could actually apply to any choice that we make today, but I want to zone in on the choices we make about whether we accept Jesus as Lord or not. First of all, I will break the easy, but worse news. If you make no choice about your salvation, then you are in the first group that Paul refers to in this scripture today. For Jesus will return for those who have made a conscious, clear and definite personal decision to accept Him as Lord. Unfortunately friend, when you decline the invitation to accept Jesus as Lord, you are openly accepting the call of Satan to be his follower, and this will lead to eternal damnation for you – far from the presence of our Lord Jesus. Not pretty. Very unfortunate. I would hate to see this for anyone that I know, care about or had opportunity to witness to. The only ones not fitting into this category, are those who have made a personal commitment to accept and obey Jesus while alive here on planet earth. These precious folk will represent the welcome party for the return of Jesus, for we will be the ones honoring and praising Jesus for returning to earth to take us home to glory with Him! Oh what singing, oh what shouting, on that happy morning! So I believe that it is evident that our choice about our eternal destiny is actually put in place while we are alive. Any idea how long you will be alive friend? Isn’t it astonishing how many young folk die through accidents or illnesses these days? Isn’t it true that we have no idea how much longer we will live here on this old earth? Doesn’t this leave you with a sense of urgency about securing your ultimate destiny while your life here is a sure thing – a current moment thing? Don’t delay friend, I would love to know that you will be among the praising and rejoicing before our Lord Jesus on the day that only His Father knows the details about!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for yet another reminder about decisions that must be made while there is still life in our bodies – today. This is way too important for procrastination. Way too important, with so many unfortunate repercussions to not care about making such a commitment. Thank You for softening my heart to surrender my life to You some 39 years ago. I am concerned about family and friends that I don’t get to spend near enough time with here on earth. I love them enough that I want to see Your very best for them, and I care enough about them that I would never want to see them face eternal destruction in Hell. May I please ask that You soften their hearts, like You did to mine, and lead them to all Truth, all Grace and Your all-sufficient, sacrificial Love, provoking them to a decision to accept You as Lord today? I would be eternally grateful dear Lord. Please provoke Christians meditating on this devotional today to a deep desire to pray for their loved ones also. We want to see You dear Lord, and we badly want our loved ones to be with us on that all important day. Your grace is enough, oh Lord. So I place my faith and trust in You believing that Your ultimate will might be accomplished today, AMEN!

Live In Constant Joy!

On 2015-02-112015-02-11 By Ed AlgreenIn Joy, Thanksgiving2 Comments

The Holy Bible (The Message – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22): ^16–18Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. ^19–22Don’t suppress the Spirit, and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.

Thoughts: I know that the subject sounds inviting, but I want us to be reminded that ‘Joy’ results from a happy heart – a heart filled with love for the Lord and from a heart stayed on constant prayer before the Master of this universe. This scripture reminds us to thank God in ALL things, I believe that this will result in an everlasting ‘Joy’ to bless us every day. Friends, I want to encourage you to always find something to thank God for. You may have a broken arm, but praise to the Almighty, you have a healthy arm to enjoy and help you through your day! Just last night I heard a brother praise God for allowing him to serve in the military many years ago. In spite of many who may have been hurt through their service, he was able to find reasons to praise God for his time in the service. May I encourage you to find reasons to praise God every day? Please let there be a word of praise always present on your lips and in your heart, that you are ready to praise God for, and bless another person with! I found it interesting to also note Paul’s explanation that showing a heart of thanksgiving is actually a responsibility of the Christian, in other words, it pleases God! Paul went on to remind us that we are not to quench, or suppress the Holy Spirit. Friends let’s think of the Holy Spirit as being a fire that burns. Paul is telling us to be careful not to throw cold water on that fire. The work of God, and His Holy Spirit is of utmost importance in the life of a Christian. When we feel Him tugging at us to do a certain work, or teach a certain class, or give witness to a certain work that the Spirit has performed in our lives, we wind up quenching the Spirit if we don’t follow through with what we felt He was leading us to do. Now for those of us who are very gullible, Paul teaches that we test and examine what we believe that the Spirit is instructing us to do. My advice is to: 1). Test it against the Word of God. For if it is Biblical, then you can be assured that it is God’s will; 2). If another believer (proven to be genuine over time) shares with you something similar to what you felt God leading you to do, then I believe that God is reaffirming His word to you; and 3). If confirmation comes through a sermon, or a Bible reading, then I believe that this is another indicator from God to reaffirm His word to you. Paul teaches that we are to act on the proven, and throw out the rest. Friends, as we witness God at work in our lives, we can be filled with the joy of the Lord to a degree that others will also be blessed by our words and by our actions, all for the glory of the only Master – Jesus our Lord!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, our eternal Joy and Peace, my heart is filled to overflowing, knowing that in spite of my inadequacies and failures, yet the King of all kings loves me enough to bless me with pure, unadulterated love and joy! I am eternally thankful for this! I pray that as You bless me with these qualities, that I will be a conduit for others to receive that same joy, and that they will search for a closer walk with You. For my family and friends that do not know You, I pray that this everlasting joy in me will be so evident to them that they will have a deep desire to know my Savior. Please use this devotional to bless the hearts of those who struggle to find joy every day, for I believe that it becomes extremely challenging for a non-believer to see Jesus in the life of one who claims Him, but displays no evidence of the joy that relationship brings. Bless us today in ways that will force us to rejoice in You, and express that joy to others who need it! I ask all this in the precious and holy name of Jesus, my Lord, with thanksgiving, AMEN!

Our Security!

On 2015-02-092015-02-09 By Ed AlgreenIn Hope, SecurityLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (The Message – 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8): But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.

Thoughts: In spite of all that is going on around us and around the world, Christians are not to be sucked in by Satan in his attempts to distract and worry Christ’s followers – for whether we live or die, we are, and will be with the Lord! Friends, I believe that Jesus has us on mission here on earth, until such time that He decides to call us home to be with Him! While most Christians believe that and look forward in great expectation to the day that we sit at Jesus’ feet in worship, praise and adoration, I believe that we often feel detached, lonely and in battle with Satan and his cohorts. Paul is teaching us in these verses that even here on earth we need to stand tall, knowing that we are children of the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. With this confidence, of whom then shall we be afraid? Paul reminds us that if we have accepted Jesus as our personal Savior, and claim Him as our Master, then we should act like it. We should stay attuned with Him and be constantly reminded that our faith in Him is not in vain, instead it is our foundation and our ongoing arm of strength – our support arm. And based on this, we are to live in hope knowing that the King of this universe has us in the palm of His hands, and loves us enough to care for us, protect us and guide us, until the day that He calls us home to be with Him. Sure we will still get discouraged here on this earth, but surer still friend, we are to be comforted to know that Jesus is with us through every day and every trial, because He loves us with such a deep, sacrificial and everlasting love. So I encourage you friend, to not just simply say that you love Jesus, but learn to depend on Him through the good times and the challenging times that seem so overwhelming to us at times. Our security is protected and reassured by the One who created this universe, who hung the stars in space, who created us and sacrificed His very life so that we may have a way into heaven to be with Him throughout eternity. So our security is surer and more secure in Him than in any military on this earth, or any leader that may govern even the strongest nation on earth. This is the God that I serve friend, do you know Him? Are you able to place your faith and trust in Him knowing that He recognizes you as one of His? Please read the ‘Footnote’ for tips on how you might make this a reality today. It is way too important to ignore friend.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your love, and the hope and security that I find in You! I was acutely reminded of this as I studied Your Word this morning. I sincerely need Your touch, Your hand, Your protection, Your security and Your guidance on my life each and every day, so that I can represent You well here on this earth, and be a light to those struggling in a world filled with darkness and sin. Thank You for sending Jesus so that I might have that hope. Please touch the hearts of those that will pass by and read this devotional today. May they be deeply touched, just as I was. May we be bolder in our experiences today and represent You so fully, that others will want to know the Savior who lives in and through us. May You receive honor and glory as a result of Your Word being shared today, is my humble and sincere pray that I ask in Your name, with thanksgiving, AMEN!

Nuggets From God's Word

Tag: Jesus