Tag: Know God

Unless You Turn To God – WARNING

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Adoration, Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Awesome God, Beyond Description, Blessing, Celebrate God, Needs, Praise, Praise-worthy, Recognize God, Warning, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED: Thursday, 2023-04-06
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Luke 13:1-5
TRANSLATION: GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

BIBLE TEXT: 1 At that time some people reported to Jesus about some Galileans whom Pilate had executed while they were sacrificing animals. 2 Jesus replied to them, “Do you think that this happened to them because they were more sinful than other people from Galilee? 3 No! I can guarantee that they weren’t. But if you don’t turn to God and change the way you think and act, then you, too, will all die. 4 What about those 18 people who died when the tower at Siloam fell on them? Do you think that they were more sinful than other people living in Jerusalem? 5 No! I can guarantee that they weren’t. But if you don’t turn to God and change the way you think and act, then you, too, will all die.”

OBSERVATION: The ministry of our churches is in vain if you attend and don’t hear the gospel of Jesus Christ taught and preached. This means, telling the whole story of the Bible, not just the parts that speak encouragement into our hearts. We can be the best people in the world when it comes to helping the poor, or the disaster stricken, but unless we are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus is teaching that we could be in an equally disastrous situation when life here on earth is over. Open your heart’s door to hear the Word of God today!

APPLICATION: I believe that statistics will show that good news books are read much more than doom and gloom books. Easter is a time of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It thrills our heart to know that we serve a living and powerful God who raised His Son, Jesus, from the grave. But this couldn’t happen without His death and burial. There are inspirational speakers and pastors who will preach the Good News of Jesus Christ while avoiding that there were some very tough and challenging times that led up to the resurrection of Jesus Christ; the raising of Lazarus from the dead; the healing of blind Bartimaeus; and the transition of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. Without the challenges, there would be no success story, or happy ending. In today’s Scripture, notice how the crowd was anxious to see what Jesus would do or say in response to the news that Pilate had killed some who went to the temple to sacrifice. Perhaps they were expecting Jesus to miraculously strike down Pilate and his men. On a personal example, it seemed like when my wife and I raised our daughter, she would pop challenging news or questions on us just to see how we would react! I’m not sure whether her eyes were opened to the way we handled ourselves in responding, but I’m pretty sure that the people sitting under Jesus’ teaching did not expect the answer that Jesus gave. But, I am convinced that Jesus gave them the right answer, and the one that they needed to be challenged with at this particular time in their life. Jesus could have stayed very positive and upbeat by going on to emphasize how wrong Pilate was, and how awful his guards were to kill worshippers. Jesus could also have told the people how the awful ending of those worshippers would compensate for the sinful things they did while alive. And the people would have rejoiced and frequently repeated the awesome things that Jesus told them, but would the people have benefited regarding their eternity? As for us, we must find a place we could go to worship our Savior and Lord. A place where we could freely lift up holy hands as we sing praises to our risen King! But unless we come away from our worship services with a renewed sense of oneness with our Lord, and unless we were challenged on the wicked things we’ve said; the awful thoughts that filled our minds; the grudging attitude of forgiveness we rendered to those who despitefully used us; and the new or renewed knowledge of God’s Word regarding life in general, then we may have just missed the value in attending church. Pastors, I know you don’t want to ‘beat up’ on your church attenders every week, but because Jesus found it important to tell His audience about the importance of making their heart right with God, then your attenders may wind up leaving your services without being reminded of their eternal doom without Jesus. Please consider reminding us every week that our lives are doomed for Hell unless we surrender our all to the Lord Jesus Christ – the Savior of the world. If your challenge saved some from Hell and helped them ensure a sure way to Heaven, then that represents the best news you could possibly share with them! please do cheat your parishioners of the opportunity to ensure Heaven is their home, Jesus is their Lord, and God is their everlasting hope.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Praise God that I turned to Him and gave Him control of my life in 1976!

PRAYER: In spite of the warnings given in Your Word dear Lord, I am eternally thankful that You made a way and encouraged me to surrender my life to You and accept Your call on my life. Many are taking Your warnings way to casually because they are not seeing the consequences of their decision this side of heaven. Please teach us to trust in You and to take You at Your word. We know there is a heaven and a hell, and we know from Your Word that those who have not accepted You as Lord are destined for hell. Lord, I am thankful that my destiny is in heaven with You. Please teach me to live in light of my destiny and in line with Your instructions for life here on earth. I would also be eternally thankful if You would soften the hearts of the unsaved readers and/or listeners to this blog, and all my family and friends, so that they may also find You and live with heaven on their mind and You as their Solid Rock and Redeemer. 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!

The Difference – Babies vs Adults

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Intimate with God, Mature, Maturity, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Worship1 Comment

DATE WRITTEN: Sunday, 2020-09-27
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Hebrews 5:11-14
TRANSLATION: New Living Translation (NLT)

BIBLE TEXT: 11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word.[c] You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

OBSERVATION: I hope that you won’t skip over meditating with me on this devotional, based on the subject that I chose! But Paul used this analogy to help explain the difference between Christ-Followers Right inside the churches that he started, and helped to grow. In fact, I believe that there is a lot we could meditate on regarding our own maturity as we study these verses today, so hang in there with me!

APPLICATION: It’s easy for us to look at other church members and evaluate how they are doing in their Christian walk, but in reading God’s Word, I believe He intended for us to look inward and evaluate our own weaknesses. When we do this, we could establish goals and timelines on when we hope to see a better realignment with God’s expectations for us. You see, we are very much aware of what God expects from us, for He left that for us on the pages of His Book – the Bible. The greatest challenge is to acknowledge that we have not attained, for I don’t believe that there are adults that will walk through your church doors with a pacifier in their mouth, because they want you to identify them still as an infant in their faith. However, I believe that one of the hardest things for an adult to do, is to acknowledge:
1. That they are ignorant about, or at least lacking in, their knowledge of the Word of God. Having worked in the business world, where my employer was under the close scrutiny of three or four government regulating bodies, I quickly found that it was not acceptable to tell an examiner/auditor that we just didn’t know about that law being referenced by them. Ignorance was no excuse for the law! But what will you say to God after years of knowing Him? Did you have a Bible? Can you read? Did you ask a Bible teacher or pastor to help you understand? Did you make it a priority to read the Bible regularly, and seek God constantly for wisdom to understand the Word?
2. That they are related to excellent Bible teachers, so they didn’t see the need for them to also be an expert in the Bible? Friends, if you know God, then you should personally desire to know Him more intimately. The Bible is a full account of God, and His Son Jesus. Study the Book and you will grow to know the God of the Book.
I am convinced that the more we know of God, the more excited we become about wanting to obey His commands, and follow His instructions like an obedient child. As you do this, the pastor and Sunday School teacher will pass over the basics (milk) and teach you more deeply about the Master. As His truth begins to bubble over in your life, others will want to know about your God, and it is then that you will begin to teach others. If you are to grow and mature in the Word of God, it will be up to you to commit and desire it.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You for saving my soul and thank You for providing Your Word that is filled with all Truth and knowledge for the child of God. Please Lord, speak to Your church again today through this devotional, and again today as church doors open for regular worship services. Help Your children become serious about their relationship with You – serious enough that they will want to know everything You provided in Your precious Word for their good. Oh that we all may be reminded from this Scripture today, that saying ‘Yes’ to Jesus, begins a life of growing to be more like You. We mature in this as we learn more about You, and more about what You desire of us. This is all covered in the Bible, so may we commit afresh to dig into the Word daily and become more aware of what You left for us to learn. As we mature, fill us with a new joy to share our faithful Lord with everyone we know. Thine be the glory, for ever and forever. 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 Miraculous God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Awesome God, Believe, Know and Believe, Miracles, Miraculous, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Trust, WorshipLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2019-06-12

Bible Reference: Luke 1:18-20
Translation: The Passion Translation (TPT)

Bible Text: 18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How do you expect me to believe this? I’m an old man and my wife is too old to give me a child. What sign can you give me to prove this will happen?” 19 Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel. I stand beside God himself. He has sent me to announce to you this good news. 20 But now, since you did not believe my words, you will be stricken silent and unable to speak until the day my words have been fulfilled at their appointed time and a child is born to you. That will be your sign!”

OBSERVATION: Way too often we pray for God’s wisdom; His healing; His direction; and His protection, yet when God is on the move we tend to find explanations on why certain activity is occurring, or we may even attribute the turn in events to ‘good luck’. Oh my, where is our faith truly at? Who is our God? I have two similar Biblical characters to consider today that reacted surprisingly to God’s orders/miracles. Let’s examine our own hearts as we look at this.

APPLICATION: In my Old Testament reading today, there was the story of Balaam. He spoke to God about whether he should visit with king Balak. God directed him not to go. However, Balak was persistent and he sent back a different team of messengers to plead with Balaam to change his mind. Although having been given a Word by God, Balaam went before God each time that Balak’s team of men asked. I can’t imagine God changing His mind, neither telling Balaam that He had made a bad call in His first response. But eventually God saw the need to teach Balaam a lesson by letting him go with the messengers. Then I turned to my New Testament study and found this story of Zechariah, who encountered a similar discipline to that received by Balaam. I’m sure it is easy for us to look down our noses at both of these servants of God and in shock wonder how on earth could they possibly respond in the way that they did. But are we truly any different in our response to God and/or His miraculous work? I don’t think so, for I believe we are equally as bad, or perhaps even worse. Now think about this: we have learned from Balaam, we have learned from Zechariah, and I’m sure there are many other similar examples throughout God’s Word, but way too often we place God in a box only as big as our vision and our capacity. How often do we go beyond those borders? I have a very personal experience, I can share with you from my church: our leaders are stretching and testing their faith in trying to solve a challenge of overcrowding. Through faith in our all-powerful and fully capable God, they are led of God to find property to relocate, or expand our ministries to meet the needs of adequately ministering to the people He is sending our way, and will send our way over the foreseeable future. To approach our God for something like this – something that is several times larger than what we have; something that will meet the needs of ongoing ministries way beyond our ability to imagine – this requires a persistent faith that is strong and immovable. Please consider praying with BFC, Sebring, FL about this need. We want to see Jesus lifted up and glorified, even through our humble efforts. We are convinced that God has blessed us with the crowds He has sent our way, even in spite of a community that is largely unchurched. However, we take the Scripture very seriously, and He has encouraged us with the words, that if I am lifted up, I will draw the people unto myself. We are in a continual mode of lifting up the name of Jesus in all that we do. As for you, may I suggest that you stand in awe of who God is, and all that He has done, plus all that He has the power to do again. Try looking beyond things that your natural eyes can see, and try trusting God in the small and in the great things. Try listening to what God wills, and allow Him to stretch your vision and your faith so that you will openly allow His work to be done for His glory alone.

PRAYER: Thank You Lord Jesus for saving a sinner such as I. It is hard to imagine that a miraculous working God like You, who has the power to do all things, and see all things that are yet to come, yet You loved me enough to use even me in Your mighty work. Lord, my readers and I stand in awe of You. We want to experience your awesome work, and we want to participate in the many blessings that You shower on us each day. Please teach us to pray. Please strengthen our faith to believe and deepen our trust in You for all things. May Your kingdom come, and Your will be done, so that You may be glorified in all things. Thank You Heavenly Father for loving even us. AMEN!

Who Is God To You?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Honest Relationship, Relationship, Rewards, TrustLeave a comment

Saturday, 2019-02-23

Bible Reference: Psalm 18:1-3
Translation: The Passion Translation (TPT)

Bible Text:  1 Lord, I passionately love you and I’m bonded to you, for now you’ve become my power! 2 You’re as real to me as bedrock beneath my feet, like a castle on a cliff, my forever firm fortress, my mountain of hiding, my pathway of escape, my tower of rescue where none can reach me. My secret strength and shield around me, you are salvation’s ray of brightness shining on the hillside, always the champion of my cause. 3 All I need to do is to call to you, singing to you, the praiseworthy God. When I do, I’m safe and sound in you.

OBSERVATION: As I read the words of the Psalmist, I could feel how important God was to him. It made me ponder what my three verses might look like as I described who God is to me. Let us ponder that for a few moments today.

APPLICATION: I wonder how well we do at recognizing God in everything, rather than the tendency to whine and complain about everything. For it is easy to sit and demand our own advantages and require our own selfish desires, but imagine the blessings we lose out on in doing that. It is so easy to totally miss God’s blessings and God’s careful direction for our lives when we selfishly demand our own way and limit our vision to only our own capabilities or imagination. For we must always be reminded that the ways of our God is far greater than anything we could even imagine! His power far exceeds our wildest imagination, so we need not place Him in a box the size of something we construct in our minds. So, as we stop and reflect on His handiwork, shouldn’t we recognize His awesome power, His careful instruction and His guidance through all of the uncertainties of this life? Friends, as we do, and I’m sure we will, let’s stop the crazy busyness of our lives and just spend some time expressing our gratitude to Him, and thank Him for loving us enough that He would select us for our participation in His marvelous and miraculous work. Please allow me to suggest that you read our focal verses several times to make sure that you allow the heart of David to saturate your very mind and allow you to identify with the sincerity of this great man of God. I bolded the number of times David emphasized his personal, heartfelt feelings towards his God, his Deliverer, his Savior, his Strength, his Rock, etc. Friends, if we gather nothing else from this Scripture today, may it be enough that we recognize, and be reminded of, the personal relationship that is encouraged with the God of this universe. If you have surrendered your life to my God today my friend, let me encourage you to join me in a deep desire to meet with Him often and not only recognize His goodness and His special love for us, but be sure to recognize God at work, and stop attributing the wonderful blessings sent our way as mere luck, or perhaps things that we deserve. For those who may have only heard of God, but haven’t personalized that relationship with Him, please read my Footnote and follow the directions on how to know my Savior personally. There is nothing He would desire more, than to have His creation – His child, return to Him in obedience and with a desire to know Him personally. He truly loves you dear friend! Allow Him to shower His love on you in miraculous and amazing ways!

PRAYER: Precious Lord, thank You for loving this mere sinful man enough that You were willing to sacrifice the life of Your one and only Son, for the forgiveness of my sin, and the promise of eternal life in heaven with You and Your Father. Being reminded of my personal blessings and the awesome relationship with my heavenly King, I am forever grateful that You loved even me dear Lord. Please touch the heart of all those who will read this devotional today, Jesus. May it be a life changing event for them, and not just another chore that they could check off their to-do list. Knowing You is to have a real, honest and sincere relationship with You. May You be glorified in everything You accomplish through us today dear Lord. AMEN!

Importance of The Father and The Son

On By Ed AlgreenIn Know Jesus, Sacrifice, Share, Share God’s WordLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Tuesday, 2017-10-31
SCRIPTURE

From:

 John 8:19-20 (TLB)

Text:

 19 “Where is your father?” they asked.

Jesus answered, “You don’t know who I am, so you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew me, then you would know him too.”

20 Jesus made these statements while in the section of the Temple known as the Treasury. But he was not arrested, for his time had not yet run out.
OBSERVATION:
It is difficult to see the truth or know the man when you don’t trust him or spend time with him. This is what happened to the Pharisees when they were looking for ways to arrest Jesus. They were so intent in looking for the worst in Jesus, and for possible reasons to arrest Him, that their eyes were blinded to the fact that the God of this universe was actually one with His Son, Jesus. I believe that God still wants His children to seek after His Son. Let’s develop an appropriate application for this Scripture….
APPLICATION:
Often when a person is in trouble, their first instinct is to call on God. This will often include non-Christians and saints. I believe that one of the messages included in this Scripture today is that you are to know Jesus, if you truly want to know the Master of this universe, God. We will hear friends and loved ones asking for our prayers when there is trouble going on in their lives or in the lives of their loved ones. Who is this ‘God’ to them? One who stands ready to save the lives of those who crucify Him again and again each day through mocking and despising His Son? Friends, when there is One who loves you so much that He was born with a specific purpose in mind – His Father wanted to provide a means for us to make it to heaven. He saw where the sacrifice of animals was just not cutting it, so He miraculously sent His Son through a human mother, so that we could see and understand that He was just like us – born of a woman. The Bible records many miracles so that we could see that Jesus was also God. However, just as recorded by the prophets of old, Jesus also died a very cruel death at the hands of mankind who despised Him and didn’t want Him around. We tend to practice a type of crucifixion ourselves when we want to do our own thing, without the accountability of God – the One who loves us beyond anything we could ever imagine. To my readers, some of whom might be my own blood relatives, I want to plead with you to reconsider this Jesus who showed ultimate love for us, through His death on the cross at Calvary, so that we might enjoy life abundantly with He and His Father in heaven for all eternity. If you have yet to surrender your life to Jesus and receive this ultimate gift of love, please do that today. Our time here on earth is not assured beyond the very moment that you read this blog, so please don’t procrastinate, bow your head and invite Jesus into your heart right now and ask Him to forgive you of your sin.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, thank You for providing the means for us to spend eternity with You and Your Father, God. A sacrifice that we will probably never fully understand. However, for those of us that have accepted that free gift of love, we are eternally grateful to You and we look forward to the day that we can look full into Your wonderful face and enjoy the sweet communion with You and our Father, God. Please give us wisdom on ways that we could help to touch the hearts and lives of those that have yet to make this decision, for we want to see all of our family, friends, coworkers and acquaintances joining with us in celebration around the throne on that great homecoming day! 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 could 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 to 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, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! 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!

To Know That He Is God!

On By Ed AlgreenIn First Hand Experience, Know Jesus, Knowing ChristLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Wednesday, 2017-07-12
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Luke 7:22-23 (ERV)

Text:

 22 Then he said to John’s followers, “Go tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind can see. The crippled can walk. People with leprosy are healed. The deaf can hear. The dead are brought back to life. And the Good News is being told to the poor.23 Great blessings belong to those who don’t have a problem accepting me.”
OBSERVATION:
The prophets foretold the coming of John the Baptist, and the people followed his teachings. However, John knew that one was coming who was much greater than he was, so when questioned by his followers about the teachings of Jesus, John sent them to inquire. Our Scripture today is Jesus’ response to John’s followers. But how do we determine for ourselves who Jesus is?
APPLICATION:
At some time in our lives we are faced with the question about who God is, and then there’s the importance of evaluating what our relationship is with this awesome God. John knew from Scripture that Jesus was coming and when he heard about all that Jesus was doing, he was anxious to know if this was really the Christ. I truly believe that almost everyone in the world has probably heard about Jesus, but like you and I, they have to find out for themselves whether He truly exists, and then decide what they will do with Him. I thought that Jesus’ response was outstanding! He didn’t send the disciples to study what the prophets had foretold, nor did He quote Scripture for them. He simply told them to share with John all they had seen and experienced. Friends, if I told you about a news report I saw of an earthquake in Africa, and another friend told you of a time they were visiting California and an earthquake came in the middle of the night, which story do you suppose might be more convincing and interesting? I believe we will all agree that for those of us that not only have accepted Jesus as Lord, but have truly developed a personal relationship with Him, we can speak of Him from the heart. John’s followers experienced the awesome power of Jesus, so can you even imagine how excited and convincing they were when they returned to John? Do you suppose that he doubted for a moment whether they were telling him the truth? Friends, I believe that God is teaching us in this Scripture today, that we can attend church every day of the week, and hear the very best of preachers, but until we have developed our own personal experience with Jesus Christ, our witnessing will consist more of storytelling, than it would of a personal experience. Each man, woman and child must decide for themselves who Jesus is to them; develop and maintain a personal relationship with Him; and then let the joy that comes from that relationship overflow to all those that we come into contact with. We all need Jesus. Once you have confirmed that personal relationship, reach out to a friend that also needs Him and share your story. That’s real, personal evangelism!
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us enough to sacrifice Yourself on the cross so that we might have the means of one day seeing You and the Father. Please forgive us for the times that we have kept that joy of knowing You bottled up inside. Lord, may our cups overflow so that the world will know that that You are very much alive, because they see evidence of it in us! We love You Lord, and again thank You for providing a way for us! 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 could 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 to 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, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! 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!

Answers to Life’s Dilemmas

On By Ed AlgreenIn Acknowledge God, Eternal Life, Heaven, Know and Believe, Know Jesus, Salvation, SecurityLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Tuesday, 2017-05-09
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Psalm 32:6-8 (TLB)

Text:

 6 Now I say that each believer should confess his sins to God when he is aware of them, while there is time to be forgiven. Judgment will not touch him if he does.

7 You are my hiding place from every storm of life; you even keep me from getting into trouble! You surround me with songs of victory. 8 I will instruct you (says the Lord) and guide you along the best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your progress.
OBSERVATION:
Clicking on the Scripture reference above will give you all of the verses in chapter 6. You will see that before David went into telling his readers what they should do, he shared his own personal experience. David knew from first hand experience that a life fully surrendered to God is one that rests peacefully in the arms of Jesus, blessed by, and enjoying His love and protection both here in this life and in the next.
APPLICATION:
The words of many preachers ring in our ears, “if ever we needed a Savior like the one described by David, it is now”. I believe we hear those words and quickly brush them off our shoulders convinced that they are meant for the person behind us or besides us, because of all the issues they currently have. However, I have also heard saints of God rejoice in the fact that they are ever so thankful that they had a loving and caring God by their side as they went through various aspects of life that might otherwise have taken some people under. Friends, because of my relationship with my Savior, I can safely say that it is well with my soul. My sins have been forgiven, and I am not only a child of the King of all kings, but He has given to me His very own Protector and Guide, through the Holy Spirit that has taken up residence within me. I am destined for a perfect place with a perfect God, and regardless of anything that might come my way here on this earth, nothing can change my eternal destination nor my Master and Lord. With that kind of peace and eternal security, I am constantly concerned for those in my family and circle of friends who have decided to do this life on their own. I can therefore identify with David in verse 6. For I too am concerned about all that are outside of the fold, without hope, without security and without relationship with the Savior of the world.  Friends, know God and be convinced about who’s in charge of your life today and throughout eternity. Without God, your suffering and complexities of life are only beginning, for there is no mercy, no love and nothing to look forward to under Satan’s control.
PRAYER:
Thank You Father for making provisions for us to find peace in this world through Your Son Jesus. Thank You also for the bright hope that we have in tomorrow when we have a personal relationship with Your Son. Please touch the hardened hearts of family and friends who have yet to accept You as their Savior and Lord. Please don’t give up on them for, like David, it is my desire to see them overcome the tug of Satan on their lives and to see them give total control to You. Lord, please find ways to once again speak to them today. May this be the day of salvation for all in need of You, who will read this and need the hope of eternity. May they find peace in knowing You, 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 could 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 to 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, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! 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!