To Be Used of God

On 2018-02-192018-02-19 By Ed AlgreenIn Committed, Daily communion with God, Totally committed, Unconditional commitmentLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE FROM: Acts 20:8-12 (TLB)

TEXT: ⁸The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps; ⁹and as Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, went fast asleep and fell three stories to his death below. ^10-12Paul went down and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s all right!” And he was! What a wave of awesome joy swept through the crowd! They all went back upstairs and ate the Lord’s Supper together; then Paul preached another long sermon—so it was dawn when he finally left them!

OBSERVATION: Paul was indeed a special messenger of God. He was about to leave Troas, but wanted to enjoy the Lord’s Supper with the saints there before he left. That service grew into a time of Paul sharing the Word of God, and before they knew it, midnight was upon them, and folk were falling asleep, with particular attention on a young man who was sitting in the window. Of course Eutychus fell from the window after falling asleep, down three floors to his death. God used Paul to revive this young man. I believe that many question today, why won’t He also use us like He did with Paul?

APPLICATION: I believe that the question at the end of my Observation is a good one, why won’t God use us to perform miracles? Let me continue with a deeper self examination, hoping that we can get to the root of the problem: Why won’t God use me to speak the truth of God to my unsaved family members? Why won’t God promote me to a place of recognition by my fellow employees, that I’m a child of the King? Why won’t I testify of His mercy at our midweek or Sunday evening service? Why won’t God reveal Himself to me when I read His Word each day? Why won’t He answer my daily prayers to Him? Why won’t He give me the words to share when I meet friends at the store or restaurant? Why won’t He respond to my need to be prepared before I leave home for worship? Why do I get antsy when the preacher takes our service over the hour mark? Friends, could the answer to any of these questions be that it’s because you never do many of those things and therefore never take time to ask God to bless you in those ways? I know, doing any of these things I mentioned will not save you, right? In all humbleness, may I suggest that if you had a sincere relationship with the King of this universe, you would be asking for most of these things, because you would be so anxious to be in His presence and complying with His perfect will for you. For the child whose parent(s) are still alive, or for the spouse whose partner is still alive, don’t you try every day in every way possible to please them? Won’t you also want to do the same for the Prince of Peace, who sacrificed His life at Calvary just for you, because He wanted to ensure that you have everything you need to enter heaven’s gates to spend eternity with He and His Father? Read more into the Scriptures about Paul, and you will find that he went through immense struggles, and beatings, and jails, and mockeries for his faith in God, yet he stayed strong and unmovable in his faith. God may not be using us in the same way that He used Paul, because He may still not be convinced that we love Him more than anything or anyone in this world, and are willing to sacrifice anything in order to serve Him better, or more. Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you my friend.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You are so merciful and wonderful to me, yet I fail You in so many ways. Please forgive me and draw me close to You. My readers and I want to present ourselves as holy sacrifices to You, knowing that we can only do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We need You today Lord. Please guide us unto total Truth and embolden us to be Your witnesses wherever we go. You’re the One that matters oh Lord, and we need You more today than ever before. Into Your hands we commit ourselves anew. 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 Sebring, 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!

Just Do It

On 2018-02-152018-02-15 By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, Committed, Priorities, Priority, Totally committed, Unconditional commitmentLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE FROM: 1 Chronicles 28:9-10 (AMP)

TEXT: ⁹“As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father [have personal knowledge of Him, be acquainted with, and understand Him; appreciate, heed, and cherish Him] and serve Him with a blameless heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and minds, and understands every intent and inclination of the thoughts. If you seek Him [inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him as your first and vital necessity] He will let you find Him; but if you abandon (turn away from) Him, He will reject you forever. ¹⁰Consider this carefully, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be courageous and strong and do it.”

OBSERVATION: David was ‘a man after God’s own heart’, so we should pay close attention to his actions and his words. In these two verses we could tell how closely in tuned he was with God, because he spoke to Solomon as if directly from the lips of God. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we had an individual like David in our lives, who would be so open with us and share so honestly with us what God revealed to them, and especially what He revealed to them about us?

APPLICATION: For any of us that have, or had, parents that were so close to God that they would speak words of wisdom to us, and try to enrich our spirit at every opportunity with the love, protection and wisdom of God, we are truly blessed! Wouldn’t we have a special appreciation for them, and develop a spirit of trust, love and respect for them, that we would easily listen and quickly follow their advice? From memories of answered prayer, don’t you know that we would make it a point to follow their advice and return love to them in every way possible? Friends, as we meditate on these verses today, I believe that we will also receive a clear understanding of the intimacy of a true relationship with our Lord. For as we are filled to overwhelming with the Spirit of God and the sweet fellowship of His Holy Spirit, not only will it impact our own lives, but we would have a deep and sincere desire to see friends and loved ones do the same. I love the way that the Amplified Version of the Bible helps us to soak in the real meaning of every word, that we might otherwise have quickly read over and not given much thought to. I believe that these words that David shared with his son, are intended to enrich our experience with God and with each other. Who are you praying for, and when last have you gotten with them to see how they’re doing, and what God may have given you to share personally with them? Doesn’t it seem like this world has sucked us into the busyness of its demands, that we hardly have time in our busy schedules anymore to visit, or even call family and friends to show that we care, or to tell them what we feel God is saying to them? I’ve always said that it’s not a matter of time, but of priorities. So will you end the day in prayer by telling God that it really wasn’t a priority to visit that Sunday School member in hospital today? What if He challenged you back by suggesting that your television wouldn’t work tomorrow so that that member will receive more priority from you than the Olympic games? Please know that only God is perfect, so your Brother is being preached at just like you, as we think about the things that please God. I will end by repeating to us what God said through David to his son – Be courageous and strong and just do it!

PRAYER: Lord God, I am so sorry that we confuse priorities with the familiar excuse that we didn’t have time to do Your work. Please help us to practice changing our vocabulary to help us realize the impact of not making Your work a priority in our lives. May the work of Your Holy Spirit be evident in our lives today oh Lord, and may we always prioritize Your work above all else. All for Your glory, Your honor and Your praise, AMEN!

Your Decisions Will Cost You

On 2018-02-132018-02-13 By Ed AlgreenIn Decisions, Determination, Determined, directionLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE FROM: Acts 18:5-6 (NLT)

TEXT: ⁵ …Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. ⁶But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.”

OBSERVATION: Paul was a very patient evangelist of the Gospel of Christ. He had a passion for reaching the lost, and also those who allowed other teachings to hide them from the truth of the Gospel. However, he was a very smart man, and one who was closely in tuned with the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore Paul realized that he could not force anyone to believe on the name of Jesus, so he allowed God to direct him when to move on, so that the people would feel the absence of the Savior. This is still very prevalent today, so let’s dig deeper into this.

APPLICATION: One of the most joyous occasions in a church is to help welcome a new pastor to serve at your church. For those who dig in and work along with the pastor to accomplish the work of the Lord in His local church, one of the saddest events in a church is when a pastor feels compelled to leave your church. Way too often, it’s for reasons very similar to the scenario faced by Paul, for the people are steeped in tradition and refuses to accept the love and preaching from men who, they feel, don’t fit the mold of their personal ideals for a ‘perfect’ pastor. Unfortunately, this could mean that in spite of their gentle heart for the Lord and His work here on earth, yet the man presenting the gospel is a mortal man, and this is often reflected through his casual talk; the friends (church members) that he hangs out with during his downtime; the jokes that he uses to help demonstrate or illustrate the story being preached that day; and the casual dress throughout the week is even being brought into the pulpit. However, he has a passion for the lost; he is a student of the Word of God and faithfully communicates with God about His perfect will for your church. Friends, these same pastors leave our church because of silly things that hurt them and their family, and they go on to another church where God is at liberty to work through them to reach the people of that community. Often these pastors brush the dust off their feet when they leave your church – the dirt of distrust; lack of communication; lack of acceptance and cooperation; excessive gossip about them and/or their family; refusal to allow God in and use you as part of the ministry at your church. Oh that we might remember that we are all equal at the foot of the cross. While here on earth we should be preparing ourselves, with the help of God, to see our old selves changed into the likeness of God as we prepare for that day when we will see Him face to face. Our time here should now be spent getting rid of old habits and the tricks we played on people that hurt them so badly. Our time should be spent in developing an attitude like that of Christ, and getting along with all men and women, even those that the world might look at and wonder why do we bother. Friends, I wonder if the blood of others may not sometimes be upon our shoulders it we had a part in steering them away from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, it is so challenging to live here on earth and imitate You in every way. Often we find many excuses and reasons why we can’t, but Lord I humbly plead that You would melt our hardened hearts so that we might see our old selves with its flawed character, step aside as we assume the life that You have given to us and demonstrated for us. People need the Lord. They need to see You. They need to hear from You. If that’s not happening through us, then please teach us to step aside and not be a stumbling block to those You are trying to reach. I pray that You might be able to use me Lord, but I would rather Your will, not mine. To God be the glory, for all that You will accomplish! AMEN!

Love Is In the Air

On 2018-02-112018-02-11 By Ed AlgreenIn Jesus Loves you, Love, Love God, Love of God, Love others, Love your Neighbor, The Father's Love, The love of God, Unconditional loveLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE FROM: Mark 12:29-31 (NLT)

TEXT: ²⁹Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. ³⁰And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ ³¹The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

OBSERVATION: Jesus took the opportunity to declare and remind the teachers of the law again of the first and second commandment. In fact the greatest of all the commandments. I particularly like the way the New Living Translation put it, that ‘you MUST love the Lord your God.’ I love that! We will have a closer look at this matter of us loving our Master and loving our neighbor.

APPLICATION: I wonder how many couples would cancel their weddings if, during their premarital counseling they were told that ‘they MUST love each other if they expect that preacher to marry them’? Sounds funny, because we go to the preacher in the first place because ‘we love each other’, but when told that we must love, we tend to back off and question the authority of the preacher. The difference that Jesus was trying to explain to these teachers of the law, is that His Father is love. In other words, when we stop to consider the word ‘LOVE’, it is inseparable from God. Think also about John 3:16 where it is emphasized that God loved us so much that He willingly gave up His one and only Son, Jesus, to be crucified in place of our sin. Praise be to God that He loves even us – sinners saved by grace! Friends, we are thankful for God’s love for us, now we need to be extra sensitive to not gloat in that love, and keep it bottled up inside. Just as Jesus showed love to us, so we are to show love one to another – especially to those seeking for pure love – greater than anything they can find here on earth. This is the month of ‘love‘, and many will find unique ways of showing love to their spouse, or significant other. Oh may the world see Jesus more in us than any other characteristic that we may try to impart. He is love, and His love will satisfy the sinners heart. We simply need to be the willing, open servant that our Savior and Lord can work through!

PRAYER: Lord, please have Your perfect way in and through us today and everyday, so that others will see Jesus, and not this old sinful man. They deserve seeing God’s best. The One who died to set them free from the pit of sin, hell and destruction. Lord may many be drawn to You today, is my humble and sincere prayer. AMEN!

Spontaneous Worship

On 2018-02-092018-02-09 By Ed AlgreenIn Praise, Praise-worthy, WorshipLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE FROM: Psalm 86:11-12 (ERV)

TEXT: ¹¹Lord, teach me your ways, and I will live and obey your truths.
Help me make worshiping your name the most important thing in my life.
¹²My Lord God, I praise you with all my heart. I will honor your name forever!

OBSERVATION: David had a knack for speaking honestly to God. But one thing I observed is that if David started a Psalm in deepest concern and honestly sharing his upset mind, before the end of the Psalm he was praising God for who He truly is. I believe the emphasis in our Scripture today, is that David truly wanted to live and obey the truths of God, culminating into the most important thing of life – to worship God. To do this it seems like David realized that he should be saturated with the Word of God. Wow, what a desire!

APPLICATION: I wonder how many of us make it a priority to seek God’s face before each worship service and ask Him to open our hearts and minds so that we may understand and absorb His teachings! And as He does, do we promise to obey and worship Him sincerely? In fact, we want our worship to God to become the highlight of our day and the most important thing that we do. Notice I didn’t say the highlight of our Saturday or Sunday, but of every day! Can’t you imagine friends, that if we were led by the Holy Spirit each day during our time with the Lord, and we took time to just praise the Almighty and worship the Creator and King of this universe, then imagine what a time of rejoicing that will be when we lock arms with several others at our weekend church services? Oh my, I don’t believe that the four walls of our sanctuary would contain us! But isn’t that how true worship truly works? If you don’t learn to worship God each day in response to His Word, or His presence, or His handiwork, or in return for all that He has done for us, then you honestly feel like at our corporate services you will respond to a pastor or worship leader simply saying ‘OK, let us stand and worship God’? Is that the way you acted when you saw your fiancee only on the weekends? Can’t you see why so many worship services are dry and dull and often meaningless to so many? Let’s be sure to remember that we arrive at weekend services, after enjoying a daily, living and meaningful relationship with the One who loved us enough to send His one and only Son to die on a cross, just so that we would know that we now have the means of getting to heaven, through the Son, Jesus Christ. David concluded these verses by saying that he would praise God from the bottom of his heart, and that he would honor Him eternally. I believe that we can honestly boast of the same, if only we did better on our daily relationship with this wonderful Savior of ours! Ask Him to help you attain this worthy goal, friend!

PRAYER: To God be the glory, great things He has done! Lord we acknowledge that this is our daily cry of worship and praise, in response to all that You do for us daily. Please teach us Your Word, Your ways and Your will. Remind us of Your love for us and Your daily provisions that You provide for us, just like You do with the birds of teh air and the wild animals all over the world. As we worship You today Lord, may that effort be multiplied 10 times over on Sunday as we worship You with other believers who are also met to worship. You deserve our worship and our praise dear Lord. May we be obedient and bring our praises to You each and every day. AMEN!

Always Let Your LIGHT Shine

On 2018-02-072018-02-07 By Ed AlgreenIn Committed, Light, Totally committed, Unconditional commitmentLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE FROM: Acts 16:27-31 (TLB)

TEXT: ²⁷The jailer wakened to see the prison doors wide open, and assuming the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword to kill himself. ²⁸But Paul yelled to him, “Don’t do it! We are all here!” ²⁹Trembling with fear, the jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰He brought them out and begged them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹They replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, and your entire household.”

OBSERVATION: In order to quiet the witness of Paul and Silas, they were thrown into prison and the guards were ordered to take extra precaution in securing them. The mouths of Paul and Silas were left unbound, so in the darkness of the night they serenaded other prisoners with their sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to their Heavenly Father. God saw the need for salvation among those in that prison, so He sent an earthquake. The effects of the ‘quake opened the prison doors and broke the chains that bound God’s men there in that prison. Being accustomed to prisoners looking for every opportunity to escape, the guard was about to take his own life – until Paul spoke up in the darkness of that prison. Of course this had an enormous impact on that prison guard. Are you having a similar impact on those who witness your actions and your speech?

APPLICATION: I believe that the very times that we feel shy about witnessing, or feel like we are incapable of sharing the Word of God with anyone, it is then that the Holy Spirit ‘kicks in’ and says, ‘OK, now I can do the work of Him who sent me in this weakened vessel’. Friends, we are taught how to be comfortable in witnessing, yet we become timid in speaking up for our beliefs; we fear the evil one, instead of fearing the God of this universe; we are too quick to conclude that only ministers of the gospel could share Christ with others, for we tend to believe that it was surely a miracle that God saved us, so let’s not push our luck in believing that God could possibly use us to witness to a friend or family member. Friends, these myths are straight from the devil, for you won’t find in Scripture where God says to call your pastor or elder to go into all the world and share Christ. God ordained that all of His children should ‘go’ and ‘share as we go’, because He allows others to see Himself in our actions and through our character and speech. Friends, I believe that we should also question ourselves when we realize that we are not having a godly impact on others. For we should then strive to draw closer to God than ever before, through reading His Word – a message to us from God Himself; and commune with Him in prayer – open communication with our Father. We have nothing to be ashamed of, for the Kingdom of God is accessible to us! We have nothing to be ashamed of – for there is only one God, and we have personal contact with Him, through His Son, Jesus! – and God is the author and creator of all things. You talk about having a relationship and a connection with important people! WOW, this is THE Almighty God of this world!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, people recognize when we’re happy in life’s circumstances, and they notice when we are happy being around family and good friends. Oh that they may see the glow of You living in and through us as are obedient to You and sow love to You and them. To repeat what I saw taped on a previous pastor’s pulpit: ‘Oh that they see Jesus’. That is my prayer today Lord! Have Your perfect will and way in directing me, and in the lives of those that will encounter You through me. Oh that they see Jesus! AMEN!

Protect Your Heart

On 2018-02-062018-02-06 By Ed AlgreenIn Clean Heart, Heart, Protection, SurrenderLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE FROM: Proverbs 4:23-27 (MSG)

TEXT: ^23-27Keep vigilant watch over your heart;
    that’s where life starts.
Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth;
    avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip.
Keep your eyes straight ahead;
    ignore all sideshow distractions.
Watch your step,
    and the road will stretch out smooth before you.
Look neither right nor left;
    leave evil in the dust.

OBSERVATION: When we guard our heart, I believe that we are looking at our mind; thoughts; will; and our affections. For out of these things we will see the issues of life that lead to the effectual cause of all men’s actions. It is from our heart that others will see our spiritual condition; our happiness; our decisions that make us a good person in someone else’ eyes, or a bad person. On the contrary, others might also see our deceit; our evil actions; or our mean actions as well. Guarding, or protecting our heart, is leading us to filter what aspects of the above is welcomed into our heart to determine the type person that we want to be known as.

APPLICATION: The subject sounds like something my cardiologist might say to me, for without a good functioning heart there would be little chance of my survival here on earth. He would therefore give me exercises, or a certain diet to help me stay heart-healthy. Got created our heart, even the one we are speaking of here today, and I believe it is super important to Him that we keep our heart in sweet communion with Him, so that we may worship and praise Him eternally – as He originally intended. Unfortunately, sin came into this world, and in the effort of humans to always look around the corner for whatever seems most enticing, this divided the hearts and minds of people like you and I. This will often result in a life filled with worldliness, or in many cases a life trying to live for Jesus but being pulled back by the things of this world that we fall in love with. Friends, it is important that we stay away from sin, if we expect to have a noble spiritual life, where the Father has His will and way with us (Isaiah 59:2). For the natural man, I believe that our heart is susceptible to wanting the best things for us to enjoy here on earth. However when the Holy Spirit begins to work in our lives and draws us unto Himself, we have a decision to make – we either say yes to Jesus, which automatically results in us saying no the the world, or vice versa. There is no combo deal in the offer, it’s one or the other. A married couple will leave old boyfriends and girlfriends behind as they commit their lives unconditionally to each other. So it is with God, friends! When a spouse enters into marriage without having severed a relationship with an old ‘flame’, divorce will quickly follow, because there is mixed allegiance by that spouse. Similarly, our God is a jealous God and He will not settle for a ‘mixed allegiance’. Decide this day, my friend, whom you will serve, and then stay true to that commitment until death makes that commitment impossible. As a child of the King, I have heaven on my mind, and I want to live my life here on earth in total obedience to my Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit. My wish for the day, is that you will do the same Brother and/or Sister!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for making a way for us to one day see You in glory. Thank You for allowing us to enjoy Your presence while we wait here on earth, even among the many temptations of Satan. Please continue to protect our hearts dear Lord, so that we may stay true to You. Please touch hearts of those that may have made decisions just for grandma or grandpa, but never understood or totally committed their lives to You. These ones may think that they know You personally, but really have never personally sought Your face. Lord, we stand in awe of You, and we await Your return in deep anticipation! We want to see Jesus, the One who died for all! Glory to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, AMEN!

Overwhelmed by God!

On 2018-02-032018-02-03 By Ed AlgreenIn Heaven, Praise, Praise-worthy, Thanksgiving, WorshipLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE FROM: 1 Chronicles 17:16-18 (CEV)

TEXT: ¹⁶David went into the tent he had set up for the sacred chest. He sat there and prayed: Lord God, my family and I don’t deserve what you have already done for us, ¹⁷and yet you have promised to do even more for my descendants. You are treating me as if I am a very important person. ¹⁸I am your servant, and you know my thoughts. What else can I say, except that you have honored me?

OBSERVATION: In response to David’s idea of building a house for the Ark of God to permanently reside in, God shared with him some of the things that He had in store for David and his family in the future, and part of that plan included one of David’s sons building a temple. Hearing what God had in store for his family, combined with all that God had already done for, and through David, just took him ‘over the top’ in being reminded once again how awesome his God truly was. This forced David into the presence of God, where He shared the excitement of his heart and the thanksgiving of a grateful, but undeserving man.

APPLICATION: I once attended a prayer meeting, where the first thing the pastor asked us to do was to pray offering up praise and thanksgiving to God. It was amazing how quickly our prayers turned into asking, complaining, or griping about health issues. It was much harder than I would ever have imagined to just humble ourselves before an overwhelmingly awesome God, recognize His blessings on us and thank Him for those blessings. Some of this may have resulted from the habits learned and practiced, where we bring our petitions before God. But I truly feel like for every answer to prayer, we should return to the Father and give Him praise and thanksgiving. The other thing that I have learned from corporate prayer times, is that, when we seek God’s face, recognize Him for who He is and thank Him for all that He has provided for us, then we realize that we have no where near as much to ask Him for. Think about yourself with a broken finger. If you concentrate on the nine healthy fingers in your time of thanksgiving, and the importance of each one to your daily needs, plus you remember the young man that you saw in the grocery store that had lost his hand, I wonder how much you will labor in prayer when it comes time to pray for that one broken finger you have? Friends, we have much to praise God for, and we could very easily become overwhelmed in our praises as we recognize our many blessings before the God who showered them upon us. Just learn to praise Him, instead of building a wish list to present every time you bend the knee in prayer. We serve an awesome God, and there’s no need to act like beggars every time we speak to Him. Try instead to concentrate on these keywords: praise; thanksgiving; worship; recognition; blessings; rejoice; miracles; healing; omnipotent Father; Holiness; protection; unconditional love; etc.

PRAYER: Precious Lord, You are so awesome in all that You have done for us, all that You have prepared for us; and all that You proactively do for us each day. How can we but praise You loving, and all-sufficient Lord! You often make a way for us, when the path seems so impossible, based on our abilities, means and insight. Thank You Jesus, thank You Holy Spirit and thank You Father God. From the very beginning of time, You were. Today You opened my eyes, blessed me with strength to stand up and realize how blessed I am to have a roof over my head and a comfortable bed to lie in. This tells me that You are still God and still blessing, even me. In accepting Jesus as my Savior, I am assured of a glorious place, called heaven, where I will live forever and ever at the feet of my Savior and our Father, God, singing praises for all eternity. This reminds me that You are also God of an eternal future, praise the loving name of Jesus! You deserve our praise oh God, and I lift up Your name on high today – praise the wonderful God that I love and adore! Bless my readers with honor and praise for their God today. AMEN!

Where Would You Rather Be?

On 2018-02-022018-02-02 By Ed AlgreenIn Honest, Honest Relationship, Honesty, Relationship, Relationships, WorshipLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE FROM: Psalm 84:10-12 (TLB)

TEXT: ¹⁰A single day spent in your Temple is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a doorman of the Temple of my God than live in palaces of wickedness. ¹¹For Jehovah God is our Light and our Protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk along his paths. ¹²O Lord of the armies of heaven, blessed are those who trust in you.

OBSERVATION: It seems like the Psalmist was either relieved to be in God’s house, or he was tired of the hustle and bustle of life and longed for the peace and comfort of being with the Lord in His sanctuary. I can identify with that, and I could only imagine that many of you would, at many times, would wish for the same!

APPLICATION: My local church recently joined with several churches in our community to collectively pray for the spiritual needs of our community, our churches, the unsaved and for each other. We met strategically in places near to our homes, and it was so awesome to see walls of denominationalism and differences broken down, so that the people of God could get together and pray over common concerns, to the same Father. What a sweet, Holy Spirit filled time that was for the 21 days as we met and prayed! David was similarly filled with awe and expectation from this same Father, and I believe he longed to be in God’s house (temple) as often as he could, also. I’m afraid that many people, who attend church once a week when they could meld into a large crowd, often miss the intimacy of being in God’s awesome presence as He enjoys the praise, worship, prayers and gifts from His children. Would it be great to see worshipers jump to their feet and shout for joy when they feel God’s presence and see His mighty works, like they do when they see a millionaire running after a ball on the ball-field? Wouldn’t it be rewarding to hear a husband say that the extra 45 minutes in church last Sunday was nowhere near the uncomfortable feeling of sitting in his boat for 4 hours and not catching a fish? Friends, let’s be reminded that we serve an awesome and gracious God. He blesses us in so many ways and therefore the time that we have in His presence is worthy of our full attention, overfilled with worship and praise, and a longing heart to be in His presence forever. May every reader experience this mighty presence of God and have a hunger and thirst for opportunities to express their heartfelt praise and worship.

PRAYER: Like the Psalmist, I can join in with my gracious offering of worship and praise because of who You are, and how awesome You are in loving and caring for Your people. Thank You Lord Jesus! There are many that don’t know You as Lord, and therefore fight the thought of attending a church service to offer praise and worship to a stranger. Please draw them unto Yourself Lord. You created them, and You show Your blessings all around them. Please help them to know the Maker of heaven and earth themselves, and all things that were made by You. And Lord, please help Your own children to not become complacent in all that they know about you. May they also be refilled with a desire to be in Your house and find reason and hope in worshiping You in all sincerity. AMEN!

The Road To Zion

On 2018-02-012018-02-01 By Ed AlgreenIn Empowered, God's Power, Power of God, Power of Prayer, Submission, The power of GodLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE FROM: Psalm 84:5-7 (TLB)

TEXT: ⁵Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow your steps. ⁶When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains! ⁷They will grow constantly in strength, and each of them is invited to meet with the Lord in Zion.

OBSERVATION: I read these verses and their context in other versions, and I would encourage you to do the same, but it is obvious that the Psalmist was encouraged as he reflected on the various walks of life that he travels, and in each case he not only finds God there, but God also encourages him along to the final road that leads to Zion, where he will one day be standing with outstretched arms to welcome us home! Praise to the majesty of our Living God!!

APPLICATION: It seems like as we reflect on our day, or on the past week, month or year, we sometimes look to God and ask “Why did I travel down that road, precious Lord?” Sometimes these reasons become evident to us, but at other times we tend to question things like: the days I spent in hospital; the loss of a loved one; the challenges I face on the job; or the spit in my church. Friends, I believe it is important for the Christian to stop and remind ourselves that after salvation, all roads lead to Zion where we will meet with Jesus and His Father for eternity! As we look intently at our end goal, life becomes very much like a soccer game, for there are lots of obstructions along the way, and so are there distractions, setbacks, restarts, etc. The way that we handle each of these will either bring glory to God, or perhaps disappointment if we tried to do life without Him. Remember, at our conversion, He sends His Holy Spirit to live within us to direct and lead us in life here on earth. For us to ignore that gift and still do life in our fashion, in our own weakness, and under continued pressure from the evil one, would totally disappoint our Savior who sacrificed His own dear life, so that we might be over-comers in these very things. Friends, we can expect bumps in the road as we live in the light of heaven, but let’s always remember that there is nothing that our God cannot handle, if we are humble enough to ask Him and let Him.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that only You can fight the evil of this world and the adversary – Satan. Please help me to acknowledge that daily, so that I might be reminded to always seek Your face and ask for the blessings from Your hand. Thank You for sending the Comforter to be my guide, my protector and my encourager in this challenging life here on earth. Please help me to use all available resources from You, instead of trying to do life alone. With Your help, I can live in peace. In my own power, I will live under immense stress and constantly battling with the evil one. Lord, I’m pretty sure that I’m not alone in all that I’ve asked, so I plead with You to also bless my readers in this way as well. Lord, we want to be more like You, and we can only do that in submission to Your will, Your power and the direction of Your sweet Holy Spirit. We submit to You all over again today Lord. AMEN!

Nuggets From God's Word

Tag: Know Jesus