We Are Accountable To God

On 2019-09-30 By Ed AlgreenIn Accountability, Honest, Honor, Powerful, Respect, The WordLeave a comment

Monday, 2019-09-30

Bible Reference: Hebrews 4:12-13
Translation: The New Living Translation (NLT)

Bible Text: ¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

OBSERVATION: Some may tend to look at the Bible as a book of stories about events from long, long ago. Some may stop to consider how odd it is that prophesies foretold hundreds of years earlier, actually came to fruition during the span of time the Bible was written. While others, like me, may actually live our lives today in honor of what the Word of God says, because we feel like it is the living Word of God, already proven accurate in numerous ways. And so we await the completed work of God, based on the rest of the story. Let’s meditate on what today’s story tells us about accountability!

APPLICATION: Ever get frustrated by someone telling you something, but not really telling you enough to help you understand the full impact of what they mean? Imagine telling a blind person that the sky is not blue today? Would that really help them understand what color the sky really is today? I got the impression from this scripture that the Word of God is still very much alive today as it always has been, meaning that it’s fresh, current, discerning, applicable, and will not cut any punches, but get straight to the point for us. It is through this same Word that God actually touches our heart, prompts our thoughts and energizes us towards living Godly lives that resemble His example. Think of it as us being an open book before God! So why is this important Christian friend? Surely God is saying to us that as a child we look to, and obeyed our parents in order to live obedient and upright lives, following in their example as much as possible. God is like our parent, helping us continue to determine right from wrong. Additionally, He sent His Son, Jesus, to set an example of the life that He would like for us to live. If we have invited Him to be our Savior; our Father; our deliverer; our leader in life; then we are His children, and He will hold us accountable to all that He teaches and expects of us. How are you doing with that, dear friend? Are you in the Word enough to allow it to teach you the ‘right’ way to live – to walk, talk and act like Him? So then, why would this be important to you who have not accepted my Lord as your Savior? I believe that there is no reason for doubt about the way you should live your life. Without Christ, you will live by every shift of wind, and very much according to those around you and the circumstances that surround you. This will often lead to confusion, frustration, evil and hatred – just as the world lives. A choice to live a committed life to God, is a will to be obedient in ways that will please and honor God, to live according to the example He set for us while here on earth, and the excitement of living in the awesome expectation of one day being face-to-face with Jesus in glory. It’s the comfort of knowing that you are loved, protected and cared about by the God of this universe! How awesome is that friend? May I have the honor of introducing you to my Friend? Please read my ‘Footnote’ for additional direction. To all my readers, please read the last sentence carefully and understand that we are accountable to God for our decisions, our actions and our obedience. Is there anything you would dread if you were called before God today?

PRAYER: Dear God, we are so frivolous to believe that we can live our lives any way we please because of our freedom to choose. You gave us the freedom of choice, but we are accountable to You for the choices we make, and the resulting consequences or rewards for those choices. Please forgive us for our littleness in thinking that it’s nobody’s business but ours what we do with our life, for You sent Your one and only Son to the cross to show us Your love and how much You care about our choices. Please awaken us and keep our eyes focused on You in all of our choices, and may this reflect in the way that we live, so that others might be drawn to You through our surrender, obedience and witness. I realize this is an awesome and powerful request Oh Lord, but because I am asking this in the name of our most awesome and powerful Savior, Jesus Christ, I am comforted that I can ask this in confidence and with thanksgiving. AMEN!

Rejection By God? Really?

On 2019-09-28 By Ed AlgreenIn Acceptance, Living with purpose, Love, Love God, Love others, Reflective of Jesus Christ, RejectionLeave a comment

Saturday, 2019-09-28

Bible Reference: Jeremiah 14:10
Translation: The Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Bible Text: My people, you love to wander away; you don’t even try to stay close to me. So now I will reject you and punish you for your sins. I, the Lord, have spoken.

OBSERVATION: I believe that we hear so much about how much God loves us, that it might be challenging for us to imagine that He will tire of our attitude and our rejection of Him. Perhaps this verse is an eye-opener for those who may feel like they could do anything they want, because God will still love them. As we meditate on this one verse today, I pray that our eyes might be opened to God’s true identity and character!

APPLICATION: Unless we know the full extent of our God, we may otherwise assume that He is much like a puppet that our kids play with – He is placed in the corner until we call for Him. It’s interesting that God pointed me to this verse today, because in another Scripture reading today, in 1 Samuel 4-6, the Philistines found out that God was quite capable of showing His power all on His own, and without their commands or intervention! It is so easy to see how God became angry with the Philistines for their disrespect of the Ark of the Covenant, and with the Israelites for their disobedience, and the sons of Eli assuming roles that represented God, but yet they operated in total darkness. However, I believe that God wanted to remind us today that He is still God and that He has, or will tire of our sin and total disregard of Him – the One who sacrificed it all, His only Son, on the cross at Calvary, so that we may live in full hope of eternity with Him. He did not want us to use the excuses of those gone on before us and live in fear of the many laws of Moses, or for that to be a roadblock for us to enter heaven’s gates. The awful thing that I believe that God sees today though, is probably worse than what He saw in His people back in the days of Jeremiah, or Moses, or Eli. For in spite of the extra effort, and tremendous outpouring of His love, yet what God sees today must truly break His heart …….. perhaps even to the point of lifting His hand off us and rejecting our plea before Him. So often we should be praising God in thanksgiving for His divine intervention in our decision making, yet so often we permit the selfish ways of man to influence us, and we step out on that merit instead of faith in God, the creator of this universe. Why has God not given up on us a long time ago? Friends, I don’t believe that I need to spell out the evil that is prevalent in our world today, for we have it happening in our own backyards, and we hear about it every time we watch the evening news. We have many churches that are closing down because of poor attendance. I believe that we have more folk who’s only Christian activity, might be attending a church service over the weekend, if they could fit it into their busy schedules. Imagine if you only ate physical food once per week? Imagine if the only communication you had with your spouse or parents was once per week? There wouldn’t be much of an influence in your life from either of these sources, nor would you have reason to brag on either of these, because they would play such a minimal role in the remaining days and hours of the week. Yet I’m afraid that we have ‘Christians’ who do exactly this, and expecting their lives to be changed by God. Friends, be realistic – one hour per week with God and 167 hours in the heat of evil and the works of Satan. Which do you think will influence our lives more? Who then are we pleasing? Who then are we more apt to reflect in our attitudes and actions? It is extremely frightening to think about rejection by God or the possible fatal judgment of God, because He saw how we totally rejected and ignored Him – His love, His direction, and His awesome gift given for us. On the other hand, we have lots of verses that tell us things like: Draw near to God and He will draw near to us; If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, I will hear from heaven and….. Friends, know that God loves you very much today. Please don’t reject Him. Please don’t take your relationship with Him lightly. We want to see His eternal blessing on us, and not His rejection and punishment.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You loved me so much that You gave Your very own Son so that I may have eternal life in Your presence. Please forgive me for the times that I take Your love for granted. Please speak to the hearts of my readers so that they too might examine their lives to ensure that they are in close communion with You, and not letting the vile of this old world take prominence in their lives. Please help us all that we may spend the necessary time with You for a happy and healthy relationship with You. Lord, we want to live more like You every day, and we realize that this only comes from spending more time with You than we do with this old world and its master, Satan. I pray that today it may be evident to those that we come into contact with that we have been with the Lord, and their lives might be impacted in such a way that they would either draw closer to You in relationship, or come to accept You as Lord of their life. Have Your way in our lives today Lord, and lead us towards You, for this is my humble prayer that I ask in the name of Jesus Christ, 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. 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!

As We SEE Jesus, Let Us Worship Him

On 2019-09-27 By Ed AlgreenIn Acknowledge God, Awesome God, Power of God, Powerful, Praise, Recognize God, See God, WorshipLeave a comment

Friday, 2019-09-27

Bible Reference: Matthew 28:16-17
Translation: New Living Translation (NIV)

Bible Text: ¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!

OBSERVATION: I hope that our eyes will be opened to the risen Christ during this devotional today, for we see Him in various ways each and every day. These encounters are way too important for us to brush off as anything else, for I believe God deliberately gets the attention of those seeking Him. As we meditate, let’s be sure to look inward at the opportunities we have to worship our King – the King of all kings!

APPLICATION: In our scripture reference today we see one of many instances where folk saw Jesus, and they bowed and worshiped Him. I acknowledge that this particular instance is so miraculous that it would give reason for anyone to ‘worship’ the Master. Note that Jesus was crucified, died, buried, and three days later He arose from the dead, to now stand in the very presence of His disciples. However, we should acknowledge that we often stand in the presence of the Lord Jesus, but do we always acknowledge Him and/or offer up our sacrifices of praise to Him? Matthew Henry in his commentary on this verse says “All that see the Lord Jesus with an eye of faith, will worship him.” I could almost imagine by now you are dumbfounded as to what I might be getting at here, because although the Lord Jesus stood in the presence of the disciples, you probably can’t remember the last time that He did that to you, right? Dear friends, we are presented with reminders of our Lord Jesus every day and we make personal choices as to what we do with that. If you pick up the precious Word of God and read it, you will be flooded with evidence and overwhelmed by the presence of God as you read about Him, but do you stop to worship Him and acknowledge His greatness? If you walk out of your home and stop complaining about the humidity, or the cold, or the heat long enough to see the beauty of all that God has provided for you to enjoy, you might consider raising your hands in praise to Him for His miraculous touch on everything from the heights of the skies to the beautiful green grass and flowers that you see, to the cattle that produces dairy products and/or beef for your plate. If you enter God’s house of worship and hear the stories of how God has miraculously healed and/or touched His children, you will worship Him knowing that there is still hope for Him to also miraculously help you through your challenges that seem insurmountable to you at times. Friends, it is time for us to stop whining and start praising. It is time for us to stop attributing God’s miracles that occur all around us every day, to happen-chance, or good luck, or any other worldly credit, and truly SEE God and then worship Him in deep sincerity like the disciples exampled for us in this Scripture today. Jesus is still alive and He is looking for opportunities to bless you, if only you will let Him into your world. Won’t you do that today friend?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your presence each and every day. Please forgive us for the times that we find every other reason in the world why something special occurred in our life, before we finally realize that it truly was the God of this universe that stepped in and blessed us. You have provided lots of evidence of your miraculous hand at work in our lives and all around us. Please open our spiritual eyes so that we may SEE Your goodness, Your miracles and Your love that You want so badly for us to accept and envelope. Lord, may we truly learn to worship You in every way, because of all that You place before us as evidence of Your presence. Please also open the eyes of the non-believer today so that they will realize that there is no other explanation for the miracles around them other than the awesome power and greatness of the Almighty God. Lord I pray that our worship and our praise will come naturally, as we recognize the originator of our blessings. Thank You for being so good to us! I ask these things in the gracious and blessed name of Jesus, AMEN!

Who Are You?

On 2019-09-26 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Truth, Truthful, Unashamed, WorshipLeave a comment

Thursday, 2019-09-26

Bible Reference: John 1:22-25
Translation: Living Bible (TLB)

Bible Text: ²²“Then who are you? Tell us, so we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you have to say for yourself?”
²³He replied, “I am a voice from the barren wilderness, shouting as Isaiah prophesied, ‘Get ready for the coming of the Lord!’”
^24-25Then those who were sent by the Pharisees asked him, “If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?”

OBSERVATION: John the Baptist was in a position where he was recognized by the local authority as one who was different, and one who seemed to be honoring another king – Jesus. Was he a threat to the current leadership? Perhaps, but who exactly is he? Those were the questions needing an answer by the Pharisees. John could have run, out of fear, or he could have chosen to brag on himself. As we meditate, on this Scripture, let’s contemplate how we might have responded! Furthermore, how would we respond to similar questions today!

APPLICATION: I believe we should examine ourselves and decide how we would answer, in a variety of settings, the question posed to John the Baptist. Who are you? for we need to tell those who have sent us. OK, in a church setting where an elder or a deacon approaches you with that type of question, I believe you will first respond with your name, and perhaps your family relations, if you are from the local area. If they continue to gaze at you for more information, perhaps you will continue by giving them your past church affiliation, if any, otherwise you might share where your parents attended church. Next, you might share about your employment. Unless further provoked, I believe that’s about as much as you might voluntarily share. If specifically asked about your relationship with Christ, some might freely share, while some might squirm a bit, as they are uncomfortable talking about their religious beliefs – mostly afraid of follow-up questions, I believe. So that might be your response in a safe, Christian-type environment. What if questioned at your job, or in a public place where others are being asked the same questions? Will you respond as you did at church? Think carefully, because while in a ‘safe’ environment, it is easy to give honest answers to almost any question. One thing I would like to remind us about today is that in every scenario on earth, God is there, and listening to every response. While we hope that He will always be proud of us as we respond boldly like John the Baptist, I feel like we must always pray that we would not respond like Peter ‘I never knew the man’. Peer pressure will lead you to respond like you believe they want to hear from you. But remember, God said ‘look, I will send my Son to the cross to provide you forgiveness of your sin, and I will send Him now, even while you are still very much a sinner’. I believe God might be expecting us to be as bold as He was – willing to claim Him privately, and in public, regardless of any implications that might follow. Friends, be aware that there are times where people in the audience might chuckle about you claiming Christ as your Savior, for they may never have attended church, or been challenged with the gospel. May I encourage you to still be honest about the best relationship you will ever encounter? For there might also be one in the audience who heard of Jesus, but never experienced Him, nor anyone who has experienced Him. For you to wiggle your way out of an honest response tells that individual that there is no value in one’s relationship with Jesus Christ, and that He may not even exist. Who are you, dear one? I pray that your relationship with Jesus is at the very top of explaining who you are!

PRAYER: Dearest Lord Jesus, I humbly ask that You fill Your children with an extra dose of boldness today. I am thankful that in my country I can freely attend church, freely accept You as Lord, and declare you in public – free from the law of the land. Unfortunately, my friends and I are often challenged internally to talk about You in public places because of ridicule and our personal pride. So if asked publicly who we are, I’m not sure what automatic responses might come forth. In heaven, I believe that only one response will truly matter, so please help us to live in the light of eternity and therefore respond to earthly questions in much the same way that we will do when we stand before You. Speaking the truth, in love, may very well speak volumes to the one asking, and we want them to know Jesus more than anything else. We need Your strength Lord, because we want our boldness and honesty to speak Truth at all times. Please help us oh God! AMEN!

Our Desire For God

On 2019-09-25 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2019-09-25

Bible Reference: Psalm 63:1
Translation: English Standard Version (ESV)

Bible Text:
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

OBSERVATION: Is it just in times of despair or urgency that we seek God, because we really need Him to take care of the impossible for us? Do we satisfy our God-fix by sacrificing an hour on Sunday to attend a church service? Do we work on relationships with our spouse or best friend, but feel satisfied that God is always there, if we need Him? I could see a lot more urgency and personal desire in this Psalm by David, so meditate with me as we search for relationship builders between us and God.

APPLICATION: I would love to hear from you if your church has more people out to a midweek prayer and Bible Study, or to Sunday School, or at your Sunday evening services, than you do at a Sunday morning service. If you worship on a different day of the week, I would love to see you apply this same principle also. Of course, what I am really after here is – I want you to explore whether your weekend worship service is one that you attend to culminate a week of worship that you already had with God. So often we hear people complain about the worship songs, or the loudness of the praise & worship time, or the poor orator who shared the sermon. I know that none of mt readers would be guilty of this, but I needed to throw that in!!! But seriously… With the heart that you might see in David based on his words in this Psalm, do you suppose that he may have complained about corporate worship times? There is a song with the words “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You, God“. Would the words of this song, and a reminder of the words of David in Psalm 63 tend to remind us of the reason we worship, and the One whom we should adore and worship? Think for a moment how your heart flutters when you walk into the presence of your spouse, verses any other of the same sex. Do you feel that same special, awe when you walk into God’s presence? At your church services, are you looking forward to seeing your friends, or for the time you can spend in God’s presence? As we develop a true heart of worship on a daily basis, when prompted by God’s Word, or when encouraged by a fellow Christian, or when we recognize God’s handiwork in nature, do you take time to thank God for being so good, so faithful, so true to you – even when life seems so dry and void of anything worthwhile. Friends, always remember that our God created us, and loved us enough to sacrifice His only Son for us so that we could look forward to life eternally with Him. There is nothing to compare with that here on this earth! So as you recognize God today, stop and praise Him; as you receive answers to prayer, both yes and no answers, let your lips be filled with praise from a thankful heart. I believe that these types of habits, will soon motivate us to look forward to the benefits of our God and to appreciate His blessings like any good child would. I praise you Lord for being such an awesome God to me in every way, every day! May my lips always be filled with praise!

PRAYER: May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable to You oh God, my Rock and my Redeemer. May all who read this devotional today receive Your blessings, Your direction and You peace, so that they may be drawn to You in ways that will show others the living Christ! AMEN!

THE Most Important Commandment

On 2019-09-18 By Ed AlgreenIn Commandments, Important, Love, Love others, Loving God, PrioritiesLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2019-09-18

Bible Reference: Matthew 22:36-40
Translation: The Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Bible Text: ³⁶ “Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ Jesus answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. ³⁸ This is the first and most important commandment. ³⁹The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” ⁴⁰ All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments.

OBSERVATION: Often when we are bombarded with a multitude of orders, we will either ask, or sometimes evaluate, what we need to concentrate on most, or at least first. I believe that God knew we needed direction in every aspect of life, so He gave us His Book of Instruction (the Bible) to do just that. However, seeing that God created us, I’m sure that He was the first to know that we need the priority items right up front, so that we don’t get overwhelmed and give up. These verses seem to do just that, so let’s pay very close attention to these two commandments today.

APPLICATION: Jesus knew that He and His Father had given us many commands over time, but here He chose to show us what constituted a priority for us. In fact, He teaches that these two particular commands will help us ensure that we are following all of the other commands given to us over time. Let us therefore examine these two very carefully:
1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind – Love comes from the heart, so to love the Lord with all of our heart means that we must love Him with all that we are. To consider this being a priority, means that all other things, or people, that attract our love is below the level of love that we have for the Father. In fact, Jesus goes on to say that we must love Him from the very depths of our soul – our very innermost being. And from our mind – in other words, be thinking of ways to love Him more and more, or ways to love Him better and better, than anything else.
2. Love others as much as we love ourselves – It is very natural for us to love ourselves. Often this love is prideful, and could easily lead to our greatest sins (envy, boasting, jealousy, etc). However, there is also a sincere self-love that is expected, because of the mere fact that God made us in His own image, and He loved us enough that He sacrificed His only Son to make us right with Himself. So if He loves us that much, ought we not to also love our own selves? Of course we do, but Jesus is teaching here that with that same love, we are to also always love others. In other words, love them because you recognize that God loves them in the same way that He loves you.
Isn’t it interesting that God added at the end of this revelation, that if we concentrate on these two important things, that we will master all other commands? I thought ‘yes’, I can see that, because I wouldn’t dare consider lying, or stealing, or murdering, or being envious, or any other wrongful act against God or against anyone else that I love as much as I love myself. So friends, I believe it all boils down to these two things, just as Jesus taught us. Can we put these at the top of our daily prayer list, and at the top of our to-do list, and at the very top of our personal priorities? If you are one to place stickers around the house filled with very important reminders, then these two priorities should probably be at the header and footer of each of those notes, so that you will be reminded of the most important things, before looking at the item you want to accomplish that day! Can we do this? Can we do it on our own? Why would we try, when we have been promised that God is always there to help us achieve the desires of our heart? Lean on Him friend, and let Him be your guide and your help, especially with these things that He told us are key commands that He wants us to do.

PRAYER: Father please forgive us for being so anxious to set our daily priorities, with so little attention to Your priorities You taught to us. I know that You are Master, Creator, Almighty God, and that You display ‘Love’ in its truest form, so there is every reason for me to be obedient to Your teaching, knowing that You have my best interest at heart. Please help Your children who might meditate on this devotional today, and myself, to put our selfish desires aside and dedicate ourselves to following Your commands, especially Your two primary commands taught in this lesson. May we love You, and those that we come into contact with today, with the love that You have shown towards us. For I ask these things in the precious and holy name of Jesus, my Savior, with thanksgiving, AMEN!

Needs – Through God’s Eyes

On 2019-09-17 By Ed AlgreenIn Mercy, Needs, Recognize Needs, SensitiveLeave a comment

Tuesday, 2019-09-17

Bible Reference: Matthew 20:29-32
Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

Bible Text: ²⁹ As Jesus and the disciples left the town of Jericho, a large crowd followed behind. ³⁰ Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” ³¹ “Be quiet!” the crowd yelled at them. But they only shouted louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” ³² When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, “What do you want me to do for you?”

OBSERVATION: I’m sure there are others like me, who glance right over something that I am searching for, only to be told that if it was a snake it would have bitten me!! But how often do we do that in life? We want Jesus to help us be faithful servants who care about everything that He cares about, yet we will turn a blind eye to the needs of others that we pass by every day. Jesus shows us in this Scripture today that He cares about each of us, and about the things that concern us. Meditate with me, with these things in mind.

APPLICATION: We may never care to acknowledge this, but in spite of us being one of the smartest generations that ever lived, yet we are so desensitized to the needs of mankind. Unfortunately, probably more desensitized than ever before. Let’s look at the scenario in our scripture reading. Here are two blind men who had hoped that if they could only get the attention of Jesus as He passed by them, then perhaps they too might stand a chance of being blessed, or healed by Him, especially in light of all the other miracles they had heard about Him performing. Notice ‘us’ though; for the crowds looked at these men from the lens of mankind, you know, where we tend to look at helpless people as just standing in our way. After all who ever heard about a blind man receiving back his sight. I believe that the Holy Spirit spoke to me through this and challenged me to think about those that I might brush over during my daily path thinking that surely they don’t stand a chance of getting the Master’s attention, or His healing, from the kinds of issues they are dealing with. You know the kind that we have placed inside a box of impossibility. These blind men were rejected by society, as there is no indication that the crowd tried to help them in any way to achieve the position they desired that would place them in the path of Jesus. I believe that we are so afraid of being taken advantage of, or pestered by beggars asking for something that we feel we have worked so hard for, earned, or just deserve? These things often cause us to steer clear of people who seem really ‘needy’ in our eyes. In fact, we tend to take on the role of God and decide whether they deserve help or not. It made me think of whether we might also be guilty of this in our churches. How often do we ‘church folk’ pass over ordinary folk looking for a place where they would be accepted – a place with ‘real’ people who remind them of what they have always heard about Jesus Christ? Ever stopped to think that one of them that we tend to leave along the wayside of life could actually be Jesus himself, stopping in to check us out and see how receptive we would be to Him being in our midst, or to see how welcoming we would be to that Brother who looks slightly different to us? The disciples brushed away the children who tried to get to Jesus, and He had to correct them. Now the crowd was trying to silence these blind men who were also trying to draw close to Jesus, but Jesus had to demonstrate what we should do in such a scenario. I wonder what Jesus would have to correct us on? Another sermon in this passage of scripture is the phrase I bolded. These men were blind, and I’m sure this would have been obvious, yet Jesus asked what could He do for them! We must be careful to not assume anything about a cripple entering our churches. They may need Jesus in their heart a whole lot more than restored strength, or healing, in their legs. A clean heart filled with Jesus will get you into heaven, while two good legs and a heart without Christ won’t. Friends, let’s learn to be discerning Christians who care about the things that Jesus cares about. To the unbeliever, may I encourage you to not give up on Christianity because of imperfect Christians? Learn to look to Jesus, for He cares for You. If He can use an earthly servant to help you – fantastic! But please don’t allow Satan to use an imperfect example to destroy your joy and your chance to life eternally with the Master of this universe.

PRAYER: Father God, You are awesome beyond anything we deserve, or that we can even imagine. Thank You for looking beyond our faults and seeing our need for You. Thank you for placing opportunities in our path of life to open our eyes and challenge us to a closer and more intimate walk with You. Lord, may our eyes be opened to the needs around us today? May we not be so distracted by sin that we miss opportunities to listen, or to share Your love with those that we come into contact with? Please touch the hearts of those that need You today. May they find You, in spite of the mess ups of those who claim You as Lord. Please have Your will and way in our lives today, and especially in the lives of those who need to accept You as Lord. I ask these things in the precious and all powerful name of Jesus, the One who cares for ALL of His precious children. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!

Be Faithful in Following Jesus

On 2019-09-13 By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, Committed, Faithful, Sold out, True, Unwavering1 Comment

Friday, 2019-09-13

Bible Reference: Matthew 4:18-22
Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

Bible Text: ¹⁸ One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. ¹⁹ Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” ²⁰ And they left their nets at once and followed him. ²¹ A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. ²² They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

OBSERVATION: Accepting Jesus because mom pressured you to do so, or because your prospective father-in-law only wants his daughter to marry a believer, would receive a totally different commitment from you, than a personal encounter with God, where He called you to repentance for the way that you have totally ignored His gift of salvation. In our example today from the Scripture, God had a personal encounter with the disciples. I believe that you should also listen closely for the call of God on your life, and that you should quickly respond.

APPLICATION: Imagine for a moment if Peter and Andrew had concluded after meeting Jesus that He was a good man and would make a wonderful Savior for many people, especially for those who had time to follow Him around and observe His marvelous works. Imagine how little impact Jesus would have had on these two men if they chose to continue making a living and left Jesus alone to go and impact the brothers up the road who had nothing better to do. James and John had similar choices to make in verses 21 and 22, but like Peter and Andrew, these guys immediately dropped what they were doing and followed Jesus. Friends these stories were included in the Word to show us the impact of total surrender. I don’t believe for a moment that God intends for every Christian to give up our jobs to be obedient followers of His. However, I do believe that God is showing us that it is important for us to take a 180 degree turn from what we did as a sinner, so that we might prove to whom we now belong. We don’t need to prove it to God, for He knows our very inmost thoughts and desires, but we need to convince ourselves that we have seriously redirected our lives to following the Savior, the King of all kings, Jesus Christ. We need to prove it to our friends. We can’t continue doing the things of this world (Satan approved things) and still expect our friends to see a difference in our lives. Think about everyday scenarios: what do you do when you go on a diet? You can’t lose weight eating the same junk food and sweets that brought you to your obese state in the first place. What do you do when you get married? You can’t hang out with your buddies until the wee hours of the morning and expect to go home and find your new spouse happily waiting for you. So what about the Christian walk? I would dare say that you can’t live like the Devil and say that you are a Christian. We have to leave the garbage behind, much like the disciples left their nets and their boats behind, and choose to give God our all – our undying allegiance, our unwavering love and dedication. Show Him that You are serious about the decision you made to follow Him – perhaps He will use you like He did in the case of the disciples mentioned! Won’t that be awesome!

PRAYER: Gracious Lord, thank You for being patient with us. I’m afraid that too often we tend to try and continue doing what we’ve always done, yet expect different results, or worse still – try to convince ourselves that our allegiance has changed. Lord, I believe that these four disciples were so sold out to you that they gave up their fishing careers to become ‘fishers of men’ in your kingdom work. I am convinced that we need more folk like this today Lord, so that the world might know without a doubt who rules in our lives. Please work on us today and convict us of any shortfall You see in our lives and our commitment to You. May we be usable instruments in Your hands to reach the lost. I ask this in the strong and unwavering name of Jesus, AMEN!

What If God Turned His Back On You?

On 2019-09-10 By Ed AlgreenIn Choice, Trust, Unashamed1 Comment

Tuesday, 2019-09-10

Bible Reference: Judges 10:9-14
Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

Bible Text: ⁹…. The Israelites were in great distress. ¹⁰Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.”
¹¹The Lord replied, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, ¹²the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you. ¹³Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. ¹⁴Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!”

OBSERVATION: We have become such a spoiled people, that we seldom ever think of God turning His back on us. We hear it all the time: Oh, well, I will just ask God to forgive me; Oops, I shouldn’t have done that, but God will forgive me; God always forgives me; etc, etc. I’m sure you may have even uttered these words as well, so I hope that our Scripture passage will not be a shock to you today, for God told the Israelites “NO”! Meditate with me friends, for we must know the truth about God, and His plan of forgiveness.

APPLICATION: We hear so much about death-bed conversions – that is, folk who do not want to make a decision while they are healthy and enjoying life, but when they know that there is no choice and they are indeed dying, then they ask to know and accept Jesus. Friends, I’m not saying that those decisions are necessarily hopeless, but there are at least two dangers:

1. Who knows whether you will survive a fatal crash and have the ability, and possibly last opportunity, to accept Jesus before passing away from this world? We could be snatched from this world instantly and without further opportunity to accept Jesus.

2. The Israelites in this Bible story, were blessed by God, protected, guided and loved dearly, but they were easily led by Satan to follow other gods. However, when they got into serious trouble and needed rescuing, they didn’t turn to these ‘little’ gods for help, but rather turned to the Almighty God. The good thing is that, like the prodigal son, they came to their senses and they realized that they needed something/someone greater – God.

Words that I wish no one meditating on this would ever hear, “Go away for I never knew you” or “I will not accept you, because you rejected me and worked against me so much during your lifetime”. But the Israelites heard similar words because of their stubbornness and ungodly acts.

I would beg all that may meditate on this today, and especially all that I know and love, to not delay in surrendering your life to Jesus. Please know that He loves you, and loved you enough that He gave up life itself so that you may have life everlasting with Him in glory. That’s a gift offered to you today, but its only yours if you accept it. Please respond to this post if you would like to learn more about accepting the gift of eternal life with Jesus, I would be overjoyed to help you biblically with this. Alternately, you are free to read every detail in my Footnote, and follow the plan outlined in the Bible.

PRAYER: My prayer today is that I will always be steadfast in my faith and my commitment to Jesus. May He find me faithful. My prayer for family and friends who may read this devotional and might be afraid of giving up a life of ‘fun’ to accept Jesus, I pray that God would open your eyes and help you see that there is never as much fun when you are living in fear. Living life without the fear of hell and the fear of dying unprepared is a life of peace and assurance – a life worth living! Friend, know God and know peace! When there is no God, there is no peace. May God grant you the boldness and the strength to make the right decision today. AMEN!

Nothing Is Impossible With God

On 2019-09-05 By Ed AlgreenIn All-powerful, Miraculous, Possibilities, Righteousness, StrengthLeave a comment

Thursday, 2019-09-05

Bible Reference: Genesis 15:4-6
Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

Bible Text: ⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” ⁵ Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” ⁶ And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

OBSERVATION: I’m sure that like me, you are challenged daily with things you don’t know; things you have no power over; and circumstance you simply don’t understand. But imagine being told that a childless couple just received word from God that they would have enough children to start up another nation? I believe that as you meditate with me today, you will be reminded that we serve a great big, limitless God. Don’t you feel like you need Him every day?

APPLICATION: In spite of all the special skills given to man, there are still times that we throw our hands up and surrender to the fact that a problem is beyond our God-given abilities, or out of our reach. Yet very early in the pages of this awesome book that God has inspired to be our guide through life, we have already learned that God took a mass of darkness and formed this world – earth, water, stars, etc.; He created man, followed by a help mate – woman; He took a couple who was childless, and promised to make a great nation from their offspring. In this passage today I was also encouraged to note that no matter how much power is revealed to us by God, yet He is always still so very mindful of us, and desiring our sincerity and obedience so that we may draw close to Him. In fact, Abram believed that God would do what appeared impossible to him, and this resulted in God considering him ‘righteous’ (right with God). To gain what I believe is the best meaning of a phrase, I like to consider its impact if the opposite were true. So in this case, if Abram would have laughed at God or showed doubt about what God would do, then perhaps God would have considered Abram ‘unrighteous’? How often would God consider us ‘unrighteous’ because of our unbelief and doubt? Friends, unbelievers may laugh at our faith, because they simply have not been around this awesome God of ours, to build faith in His abilities and to understand His unlimited and awesome love for us. But for those of you that know Jesus, what’s your excuse? Can God consider you ‘righteous’ because of your overwhelming faith in Him? Do you truly believe in Him? If not, may I introduce you to this Savior that I know, love and adore? Remember, only those who are right with God (righteous) will be allowed into heaven. May I count on seeing you there friend? I have provided a guide for you in my ‘Footnote’, and would be thrilled to personally help guide you towards meeting my Lord in a very personal and intimate way. Please make this choice a priority today, it truly is that important!

PRAYER: Father God, Your ways are so much greater than our ways, yet You have sacrificially provided the means for us to overcome sin and one day join You in heaven. Please forgive us when we doubt, and use those incidences as stepping stones to lead us into a deeper faith that will draw us even closer to You. Lord You are good and Your mercies endureth forever and forever. Please keep our ‘faith’ tank filled and energized to trust in You in all circumstances of our lives. You have proven that things that seem impossible to us are handled with just a spoken word by You. Again today I am reminded that Nothing is Impossible when I place my faith and trust in You. Please touch the heart and life of each one that will meditate on this devotional today. May we all draw strength from being reminded of the awesomeness of our mighty God again today, and may we use this to help us confidently spread the joy of our salvation with all those we come into contact with. I ask in the wonderful, powerful and loving name of my King, the King of all kings, Jesus the Christ, AMEN!

Nuggets From God's Word

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