The Reason We Worship

On 2015-08-192015-08-19 By Ed AlgreenIn God alone, WorshipLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Revelation 19:10): ¹⁰ I knelt at the feet of the angel and began to worship him. But the angel said, “Don’t do that! I am a servant, just like you and everyone else who tells about Jesus. Don’t worship anyone but God. Everyone who tells about Jesus does it by the power of the Spirit.”

THOUGHTS: In this particular revelation (vision) John had been shown and told about the Wedding Feast of the Lamb and he was told to put it in writing that everyone is invited to the feast. John was so overwhelmed with joy about this that he dropped to his knees in worship to the angel revealing this. I believe that God particularly got my attention on what John was warned about, because I believe that we are so close to doing the same thing today in various ways. Think about the reason you give to someone you are inviting to church. Do you ever tell about the miraculous work that God is doing in and through the congregation? It seems to me that it’s always more about the beautiful church building that they must come and see, or the wonderful worship leader who provides the best entertainment this side of heaven, or the pastor who really has his act together and can keep your attention with exciting and humorous sermons. Is it any wonder why we hear of folk going to church and leaving empty, unfulfilled and getting absolutely nothing from the service, if they attend for the wrong reason(s)? I heard a young worship leader say that he always prays that he would not be a worship leader, but a leader that worships and others follow suite. I believe that many of our Christian leaders stand before us with similar heart desires. When we invite folk to come and see/worship the qualities of our leaders, then we are showing our leaders that they are totally ‘missing the point’ in their endeavors. I also believe that most unbelievers who hear us brag about anything other than Christ alone, quickly get the point that this is not what they are looking for. A lost person looking to return, or gain a relationship with Christ, wants to hear how open your church is in allowing you access, and leading you, to the Father. They find beautiful buildings around town, and they have leaders who draw attention to themselves at work every day. When the unsaved hear that we have found the King of kings and Lord of lords, and a place that we can connect with Him corporately each week, they want a piece of that because that can’t be found in their workplace or anywhere else that they frequent every day. Please join me in telling others about the joy of the Lord, not the happenings of our church, or the messenger God blessed us with to help point us to Him. Please click on the following link and be led into worship as the song plays and you prepare to address God in prayer: For He (God) alone is worthy of our worship!

PRAYER: You alone are worthy of our worship and praise oh God! May we keep our personal and corporate worship aligned with Your original design for us. May we find You in our worship, and not just a beautiful church building in which to worship, or a wonderful worship leader or pastor that has the ability to lead us into an atmosphere of worship. For it’s You that makes a difference in this world, and it’s You alone who can change a broken and contrite heart to be better aligned with Your original design. Please forgive us for allowing the things of this world to change us, instead of the creator of this world who truly has the power to change us. Please change our concept of how to invite others to corporate worship with us. Constantly remind us that it was You who changed our hardened hearts and not anything, or anyone else. As we are reminded of that, please help us to share the root of our salvation and not the after effect or result of our salvation. People need the Lord, not just another church or human leader. May we always point to You dear God, the author and finisher of our faith. I ask all these things in the name of the One who sacrificed His life for my sin, Jesus the Christ, AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or 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!

What Triggers Your Praise?

On 2015-08-182015-08-18 By Ed AlgreenIn Faithfulness, Loving-Kindness, WorshipLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Living Bible – Psalm 138:1-3): ¹Lord, with all my heart I thank you. I will sing your praises before the armies of angels. ² I face your Temple as I worship, giving thanks to you for all your loving-kindness and your faithfulness, for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. ³ When I pray, you answer me and encourage me by giving me the strength I need.

THOUGHTS: In this Psalm we can see where David was touched by, or reminded of the love of God and His undying faithfulness, and it triggered his worship of God. Notice that David said he faced the temple as he worshipped, but he didn’t wait until the next worship service where he could watch the praise team worship or the pastor rejoice over a passage of scripture that God spoke to him about. Friends please don’t get me wrong, each of these things I mentioned are important, but I truly believe that when we recognize the love of our God, when we feel His precious love for us individually and we realize that He is faithful to us in every aspect of our lives, then we will be moved to worship God on a very personal level. When we do that, I believe that our corporate worship services will take on a whole new dimension, for our churches will be filled with worshippers, not just Christians looking for a place to be electrified, or energized by a good worship leader or an awesome praise team. David goes on in these verses to say that he is reminded that all of the promises of God are backed by the honor of His holy name – the name above all names! He is also encouraged that the God of this universe answers his prayers and encourages him by giving him the strength that he needs to go on each day and live a strong and noble life for the Lord. These are all wonderful reminders for us to also worship our God, but this list is not all inclusive. For I think of the wonders of nature that He places before me as I drive to work, the beauty of another sunrise, the blessing of rain, of cows and wildlife playing in the fields and pastures. Most of all, like David, I am amazed that the God of this universe takes time to listen to my prayers and answers/comforts my concerns. Who am I that a Kind should bleed and die for? Yet, I am convinced that He would have sacrificed himself on that old cruel cross if I was the only one in need of a Savior. He loved me that much, and it is no different in the love that my Savior has for each of you today friend. Worship Him! Thank Him! Recognize His goodness and never attribute His careful and deliberate love for you as mere chance or good luck. Make every effort to be a personal, worshipping believer, not just one looking for a place for corporate worship of the Savior who loves you personally so very much.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, You have given us so much reason to worship You from the depth of our heart. Please awaken Your saints from the sleep of laziness, or dependence on others and/or other influences to invoke a heart of worship within us. Please help us to rest from the busyness of this life long enough to reflect on Your goodness, Your love and Your undying faithfulness. The Psalmist has triggered our minds and reminded us of the awesome joy in lifting up praise and worship to You, may this be a day that our eyes will be opened to reflect on Your beauty and Your goodness and may we recommit to a personal relationship with the God of this universe who loves us personally and cares for us intimately. Thank You Father for loving and caring for even me. These things I ask of You in the precious name of Your Son, my Savior and King, Jesus. AMEN!

The Best Employees

On 2015-08-172015-08-17 By Ed AlgreenIn Christian Principles, Honesty, WorkplaceLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Easy-To-Read Version – Colossians 3:22-24): ²² Servants, obey your masters in everything. Obey all the time, even when they can’t see you. Don’t just pretend to work hard so that they will treat you well. No, you must serve your masters honestly because you respect the Lord.²³ In all the work you are given, do the best you can. Work as though you are working for the Lord, not any earthly master. ²⁴ Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, who will give you what he promised his people. Yes, you are serving Christ. He is your real Master.

THOUGHTS: In searching for the best employees for their place of business, most employers will look for the same principles that the Christian upholds in being a person of the Word and a child of the King. In being the best employee possible, Christians/we are to first follow the principles taught to us by our King in His holy Word. We are to recognize that even though we can get away with certain things because our earthly bosses may not be able to track our locations and/or our work every minute of every day, yet we serve a God who can. If we were living according to ‘code’, and I’m talking about the code set out for us in God’s Word, then I believe that employers will be fighting for their Human Resources folk to hire staff with such high moral and ethical principles. So for those reading this devotional who may not identify with what I am referring to, let me give you just a couple principles that you should find in Christian workers: 1). There should be no worries about stealing, because we are taught by God that we are not to take something that belongs to another person without them offering it to us. Now this will pertain to physical things and such things as time – for if we are expected to work 8 hours per day, our employer should never have to check on us to see if we are giving them an honest 8 hours of work; 2). Honesty – some of this would be reflected in #1, but this characteristic also extends into trusting what we say and what we do. There should never be any doubt as to whether we are totally sincere in what we do or say, that we have the best interest of God at heart and our employer and his/her business. Now, will every Christian be perfect at these things and others that you might relate to the teachings of God’s Word? Probably not perfect, because the only perfect one is Jesus. However, should you recognize imperfection in the character of those claiming Christ as their Savior, may I encourage you to bring this to their attention? Satan has a way of working on Christians hard enough that he tries to make them feel like their wrongs become right if left unchecked long enough. You will help them return to the cross and seek God’s forgiveness for straying from His ideals. Christians, we work as for the Lord, let us be counted worthy by Him in all that we do and say – especially on our jobs.

PRAYER: As representatives of Yours, Oh God, we have our banner of expectations lifted high and we must live our lives pleasing to You not only at church, not only in the presence of other Christians, not only before our employers who might expect us to live differently, but especially before the lost world that we interface with every day, for they are looking to see what is different about us and what impact our proclaimed Savior is having on our lives that might be different to theirs. We don’t want to be hypocritical, but rather totally honest in our dealings with others. Because we know that Satan is rampant and will make every effort to distract us and have us look and live like his, then we must be all the more earnest in seeking Your strength, Your power and Your daily direction to look, live and act like children of God. Please especially help us to be great representatives in our workplace so that our bosses might recognize the differences and rejoice in the difference our God makes in the lives of His children. We need You dear Father to be our constant guide, our reminder and the means by which we can live differently – pleasing to You. I ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, and with thanksgiving and praise, AMEN!

The Best Rewards Program!

On 2015-08-062015-08-06 By Ed AlgreenIn Heaven, Rewards, SalvationLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Revelation 14:13): From now on, the Lord will bless everyone who has faith in him when they die.” The Spirit answered, “Yes, they will rest from their hard work, and they will be rewarded for what they have done.”

THOUGHTS: In the credit card world, folks will do whatever is needed to obtain rewards. I heard recently of one person applying for several cards just to check out their rewards program! I believe that many Christians are just extremely thankful that God got a hold of us, convicted us of our sin and loved us enough to forgive us of our sin, that seldom do we think of the rewards that are ours when we see Jesus. There are a few rewards not mentioned here: Imagine leaving this world of sin, hatred and envy to enter a new heaven with Jesus and His Father, our God! Imagine there being no more dying, no more pain or heartache! Imagine a crime-free place and a place where there will be no clock to watch for event after event and distraction after distraction! Now included in this verse are a few things that need our close attention. First of all, notice that the blessing is reserved for those who have faith in Jesus. Know that God made the ultimate sacrifice of sending His Son to us – Jesus born miraculously to Mary. Know that God allowed Him to die a cruel death on a cross, so that the shedding of His blood might be a constant reminder to us of His sacrifice for us. Be reminded though, that Jesus rose victoriously from the dead so that we might know that our God’s not dead, and that we serve a risen Lord! Know that one day we will unite with Jesus in heaven! In this verse we are reminded that the Lord will bless those who have faith in what I just described and have accepted Jesus as Lord and personal Savior! Secondly we are reminded that we will rest from our hard work and receive a reward for all we have done. Friends, this is a great indication that after we accept Jesus as Lord, we are not to just sit and sour, but to be active in the Lord’s work. Please don’t read into this that we are all to become pastors, although if you feel God tugging on your heart to become one, you must do everything to be obedient to His call. This is emphasizing that the faith that lives in us, must be expressed through us to others that we come into contact with. This is a natural part of a Christian’s life. Before Christ, we were not afraid to let the world know how sinful we could possibly be. After Christ, we need to have the same determination – show the world how awesome our Savior truly is. Introduce them to Him and convince them of their need for our Savior. On earth, we love being rewarded for our hard work. This verse reminds us that in heaven we will be rewarded for our hard kingdom work while we were on earth. Are you bursting with anticipation? We should all be filled with excitement as we wait for that day!

PRAYER: Father God, what a blessed people we are, for the creator of this universe to love us so amazingly and to not only prepare the way for us to overcome this sinful world, but for us to know without a shadow of a doubt that our future home is awaiting us and filled with rewards! Wow! Oh what a Savior! Please help us to overlook the trials today, and allow us to reflect the joy that is ours in knowing Jesus! May You be able to work through even us today in the lives of those that we come into contact with. Have Your way in and through us dear Lord, for I ask this in the precious name of Jesus, and for His sake, AMEN!

What Goodness Is

On 2015-08-052015-08-05 By Ed AlgreenIn Fairness, Humility, Kindness, Loyalty, ObedienceLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Easy-To-Read Version – Micah 6:6-8): ⁶ What must I bring when I come to meet with the Lord? What must I do when I bow down to God above? Should I come to him with burnt offerings and a year-old calf? ⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Should I offer him my first child to pay for my wrongs? Should I sacrifice my very own child for my sins? ⁸ Human, the Lord has told you what goodness is. This is what he wants from you: Be fair to other people. Love kindness and loyalty, and humbly obey your God.

THOUGHTS: One commentary said that verse 8 relays the meaning of ‘spiritual reality’ compared to mere ‘ritual worship’. I believe that helps me to understand what God was saying through Micah here. Weekly we see where thousands of people attend church, but in our experience with them throughout the week, we see unchanged lives – seldom do they exude the love of Jesus in every way through every phase of their lives? Micah chose to expose some of the things that the Israelites brought to the temple, or shared in normal conversation, when describing how they thought they could please God or seek His forgiveness, or just to get right with God. Micah explained that it was not necessary to reinvent what God had already made clear to them. Friends, I believe these words are extremely applicable to us today also, for some of us may feel like our church attendance makes us right with God, or perhaps the offering we give, or perhaps the way we express ourselves over right vs wrong. However, what God relayed through His prophet in verse 8 are some very simple and basic things:

Be fair to other people – Try to understand others. Appreciate where they might be coming from in their thoughts and their actions. Never think that you have all the answers to everyone else’s wrongs. Think about them like God thinks of us – we may be unworthy, but He loved us enough to sacrifice His one and only Son so that we may stand a chance at eternity with Him;
Love kindness and loyalty – This involves being kind to those that Jesus loves. This may involve folk that appear to hate your guts or despise what you believe or stand for. This may involve folk who live totally different to the way you do. But imagine, if you can live beyond what they expect, how will you prove that you are any different to them? Be loyal as if you were serving the King, not just enough to get by in the eyes of those that might observe you.
Humbly obey the Lord – Set pride and personal aspirations aside and obey what the Master desires of you. Humility means emptying yourself of self and refilling yourself with God. I love that old hymn normally sung as an invitation – “I surrender all”, for I feel like my life should be in a constant state of surrendering all of me to all of God.

Anything you need to work on friend? Anything that will help you enhance your spiritual reality while here on earth? Examine yourself and decide to surrender all to Jesus today. When you do, refill yourself with the attributes of God so that He might be able to use you even more while here on earth.

PRAYER: Lord God, Your Word is all powerful and very applicable to our lives today. I therefore believe that You placed this scripture before me today to enhance my walk with You, and to use this blog to help others to also recognize where their strength lies, and the direction that you would have them go in order to become more like You in the eyes of those that they will witness to today. This old world needs Jesus, and we only get in the way when we try to give them more of ourselves. We need to be an open book that Jesus can fill and use its pages to speak to the unsaved. Lord, please have Your perfect way in our imperfect lives, so that the miracle of rebirth might occur in the lives of all that we will touch today. I ask all this in the precious and life-giving name of Jesus, AMEN!

How Christians Are To Avoid Heartaches

On 2015-08-042015-08-04 By Ed AlgreenIn Focused, Heaven, WorryLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Living Bible – Colossians 3:1-3): ¹Since you became alive again, so to speak, when Christ arose from the dead, now set your sights on the rich treasures and joys of heaven where he sits beside God in the place of honor and power. ² Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here. ³ You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God.

THOUGHTS: When Christians worry, do you suppose it’s because we are worried that God will not do what He promised? When we doubt and stress out to the limit, do you suppose that we are concerned that God is unfaithful? When we feel unloved and like no one cares, do you suppose that we allow ourselves to ponder why God must have left us alone and no longer care about us? Friends, I believe that when we allow these types of feelings and/or thoughts to enter our minds, it’s because we have taken our eyes off Jesus and looking for the attention of earthly friends or loved ones. I believe it is times like these that Satan moves in for the attack, for he sees that we have taken our eyes off Jesus and allowing the distractions of this world to take hold in our lives. I would highly recommend these verses to all Christians today, for if we follow the advice in verse 2 and fill our thoughts with heaven – our future home, then we will be reminded that it is a place prepared just for us. A place where we will unite with Jesus at the foot of the cross and worship Him with unending praises. A place where we will hear the voice of the Father who will encourage us with words such as “well done good and faithful servant”! A place where the creator of love, especially love for you and I, will help us to appreciate His handiwork and find reasons to worship Him for it. A place where there will be no distractions, but instead attract our full undivided attention! I recently took a missions trip into another country, and we disconnected from cell phones for a week. Wow, what a release! Friends, I must remind you that we have allowed so much interference in our day that we not only lose sight of our one-on-one time with the Lord, but we also have lost sight of one-on-one time with our spouses, our children, our friends, our coworkers and all others. Is it any wonder that we have trouble evangelizing to them? If as verse 3 indicates, that our real life is in heaven, then I would dare say that our minds, our attention, our aim and our devotion should be there also. Does that describe you friend? If not, why not? Is this something you need to take time to talk with God about?

PRAYER: Lord God, we are such worry warts, but it’s always over things that really don’t matter – things of this world. Being reminded in this scripture that our minds are to be set on our heavenly home, and our time with You, we humbly come before You today asking for forgiveness for our misguided thoughts and worries. We realize that all these things do is distract us in our walk with You and our witness of You. For when we become solid in our faith and in our walk with You, we will influence those who follow in our steps. Lord I pray that You will do an awesome work in my life and in the lives of my readers, so that we might become healthy Christians focused on the ‘main thing’ – our heavenly home. I further pray that this new focus will have such an impact on others that Your name might be lifted high as Your children become better aligned with Your perfect will. I ask these things in the strong, mighty and holy name of Jesus, your Son and my Redeemer, AMEN!

How to Hear From God

On 2015-08-032015-08-03 By Ed AlgreenIn Obedience, RelationshipLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (New Century Version – Job 33:12-14): ¹² … God is greater than we are. ¹³ Why do you accuse God of not answering anyone? ¹⁴ God does speak—sometimes one way and sometimes another— even though people may not understand it.

THOUGHTS: I believe that one of the most challenging things we face today is very similar to what Old Testament folk faced in the days of Job, and that is, our claim to silence from God when we need Him. For Christians, I believe that we often feel like we have a puppet who must respond every time we tell God what to do. For non-Christians, I believe most feel like there is a God and that He should be available to even them, in spite of their distance from Him in all other aspects of their life. Friends, I believe that we must first be reminded of who created us and who is the only one that not only knows what we are going through, but also knows what will result in our lives at a later time. Furthermore, we must be reminded of who actually runs this universe. Let’s remember that the sun doesn’t just rise on a whim. The ocean tides do not just occur based on a timer set by some super scientist somewhere, but is intricately controlled by the Master who created the waters and decided how sea life would best survive with moving waters. Now, for a moment just think about mankind, knowing that God created us in His likeness, don’t you know that He is also concerned about our well-being and our ultimate happiness? Don’t you know that God is there with outstretched hands waiting to receive us when we call on Him? I know, you cry out to Him all the time, right? Well, as I indicated above He is not a puppet. So for you to hear from Him and commune with Him you must first of all recognize Him as God and develop a relationship with Him. This can be done through daily Bible study, and/or becoming intimately involved in a local church. In other words, draw close to Him and allow Him to draw close to you. Ways that you would hear from God would be through prayer; Bible study; a God inspired sermon; a God inspired Christian Brother or Sister; circumstances in your life, etc. God has proven His love for you and will continue to love on you and direct your path, if you give Him control and let Him have His way in your life.

PRAYER: Lord God, we have drifted so far away from You and into doing so much of life our own way, on our own time, and with no one’s help. Yet when things come to a screeching halt, we often feel like we could conveniently call on You. The trouble is, we have drifted so far away from You that we can’t hear Your response. I know that You are there Father, and I know that You hold all of the answers and the power to perform miracles much like the ones we read about in Your Word. I pray that my readers and I will draw close to You and build such relationships with You, that we will call on You in our times of need and in many times of praise and thanksgiving. I pray that we will develop such a relationship that we will clearly recognize Your voice and discern Your direction for our lives. Thank You for being my Master, my creator and my Lord! I ask these things in the wonderful and strong name of Jesus, AMEN!

The Extravagant, Generous, Deep Wisdom of God

On 2015-07-302015-07-30 By Ed AlgreenIn Humility, Praise, WisdomLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Romans 11:33-36): ^33-36 Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.

THOUGHTS: How Great is our God! Our God is an Awesome God! How Great Thou Art! Great and Mighty is the Lord our God! What a Mighty God We Serve! These are all great hymns/songs written and made popular because they remind us of the awesome God that we serve! Very often here in this life we feel like we can explain everything away. We have great knowledge and we have tremendous research capabilities with the internet. However, like we are reminded by Paul in this scripture today, there is so much that we just can’t explain about the awesomeness of our God. Think for a moment the sun that rises each day – it provides life for plants, yet its intensity is enough to give mankind skin cancer or a stroke. Think about the rain – this dry thirsty earth needs rain to grow its plants and even provide an ongoing supply of potable water, yet we have no control over when it comes, or what areas of the earth it impacts. It’s a ‘God’ thing! I just returned from an area of the world where they only receive a total of 8 – 10 inches of rain per year. Compare that to other areas that might receive that quantity of rain in a good day of rain. Yet, plants and people survive in both areas with what God provides for them. This is the ingenuity of my God! I believe that we must learn to adapt to the blessings that God bestows on us where we are at, for His ways are not our ways. He placed us perfectly where He needs us and we must learn to praise Him in all circumstances. In all of life’s circumstances, let us learn to give God praise. It is evidence that we trust Him to do His job perfectly!

PRAYER: Father, You are awesome in every way. You provide the things that we need when we need them. Please forgive us when we try to intervene, instead of praising You from hearts of thanksgiving and appreciation. Please be especially good today to those who have sacrificed everything, to serve those who have nothing, because they want to allow Your love to be expressed through them and draw the unsaved unto Yourself. Please tender the hearts of Your children who are spoiled because of all the blessings You bestow on us, yet we find reason to whine and complain. May this devotional today be a reminder of Your mighty and wonderful impact on our lives, and may we therefore learn to be a thankful people filled with hearts of thanksgiving and praise. Only You are worthy Oh Lord. May we learn to recognize that and glorify You every day for allowing us to be a part of that! I ask all this in the strong and awesome name of Jesus Christ, AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or 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, pleas.e 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!

Our Personal God!

On 2015-07-292015-07-29 By Ed AlgreenIn PersonalLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Isaiah 43:2-4): “Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end— Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you:

THOUGHTS: It seems like we are in very dire times where we often feel like we are in way over our heads – whether it’s finances, health issues, family issues, work challenges or just coping with everyday life. I was extremely happy to be reminded of the awesome love, power and overwhelming concern my heavenly Father has for even me, when I read these verses today. Friends, just imagine:

I’ve been redeemed by the King of all kings;
He has personalized our relationship to the extent that He calls me by name and reassured me that I am His!
I am assured that even when I feel like I am in over my head that He is there with me!
At times when it seems like the waters are rough and I struggle to see light at the end of the tunnel, God assures me that I will not go down, for my hand rests in the hand of the Rock of all ages! My Strength and my everlasting Guide. My Savior and my Lord! No worries about hitting a dead end!

Friends, I am reassured in the latter part of these verses that because God paid such a huge price for me, I can rest assured that He has my back and that I am in good hands. You can have this same assurance friend. Contact me using the information in the Footnote and allow me to introduce you to my Friend! My Master and my personal God!

PRAYER: Oh what a Savior, oh hallelujah! Thank You Father for loving me enough that You’ve allowed me to have a personal relationship with You, the designer and maker of this entire universe. Wow, who am I that a King would die and live for? I am so thankful that You drew me to You and rescued me from a world of sin – pointing me instead towards the joys of heaven and eternity with You in heaven. There is nothing more that I can live for Jesus! Thank You for the cross and for the joys of heaven that is mine, because of all that You did for me. Please touch the lives of all that will read this devotional today. May they also find joy in serving You and drawing closer to You every day. I ask all this in the awesome and powerful name of Jesus, AMEN!

Instruments To Be Used of God

On 2015-07-292015-07-29 By Ed AlgreenIn Humility, Instruments, SurrenderLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Romans 11:16-18): ^16-18 Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there’s bound to be some holy fruit. Some of the tree’s branches were pruned and you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren’t feeding the root; the root is feeding you.

THOUGHTS: The scripture that includes the verses above is rich, for it reminds me that I must be careful that my faith and trust is so grounded in God that my life is a reflection of all that God shows Himself to be in His Word. I’ve heard folk say that a child is a branch off the old tree – meaning that the child reminds them so much of the parents that one can’t help knowing who the child belongs to. Friends, there is a God who loves us unconditionally and with such great love that He sacrificed His only Son for our benefit. When we surrender our lives to God and ask Him to be our God, and to live and work in and through us, we essentially ask Him to plant Himself steadfastly in us so that our lives might be a true reflection of Him. Paul explains in these verses that God is able to implant within us His Holy Spirit to guide and direct us – to make us holy – just as He is holy. However, we are immediately warned that when we recognize this added strength and wisdom, we are to never lose sight of where that new character comes from. It is the root, or strength of the Almighty that lives within us, and nothing that we ourselves can boast of. Friends, I believe that there is nothing more obvious to a non-Christian than a fake, or self-serving Christian living life in their own pride. We are what we become, only through the grace of God, and only because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Let us therefore learn to boast only of Him and give Him the glory for any accomplishments in and through our lives. It is only through the precious fruit that He implants in us and magnifies through us that result in our unsaved friends recognizing the source of our hope. It’s all about Jesus, friend. He is the root that supports our strength and feeds our growth. It’s Jesus that our unsaved friends need, not us. I pray that we will continue to be vehicles in which Jesus can travel as we come into contact with our friends and loved ones.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, Israel may have gotten cocky because of the manifold mercies You bestowed on them. I recognize that we may tend to get like that at times also, because for some reason we may feel like we have the power to save or touch lives that really need You. Thank You for reminding us through this scripture today, that we are only the branches that are plugged into the most powerful source available to mankind – the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ! Please help us to never boast of self, for we are nothing without our power source – Your sweet Holy Spirit. Please help us to always be available to be used of You, and never assume the leadership role hoping that You will jump on board our vehicle. Miracles, like that of new birth in the lives of our family and friends, will only be possible when You touch their lives, so please help us to take our rightful roles as Your instruments that can only work when the Master chooses to use us for His glory and His honor. People Need the Lord more today than ever before. May we be usable instruments in Your hands oh Lord. I ask this in faith and in the awesome and strong name of Jesus, AMEN!

Nuggets From God's Word

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