Tag: Nurture

Gardening Faith: Growing While We Wait for Jesus

On By Ed AlgreenIn Accept Jesus NOW, Acknowledge God, All have sinned, Awesome God, God Cares For Us, God’s WordLeave a comment

DATE POSTED
Saturday, May 24, 2025, and I was blessed to be at Mariposa at Hunter Road, San Marcos, TX when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. My Footnote will tell you how to find and read any and all episodes that I have shared over the years.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Read James 5:7-12 in your Bible or click on it to read it online in the New Living Translation (NLT).

APPLICATION – as inspired by the Holy Spirit
With everything being done quicker and quicker these days, there is probably not a better time to be reminded about being patient. Microwavable speeds and Instant Pots in cooking. Supersonic speeds in our military jets. Instant results from medical procedures like blood tests, MRI’s, CT Scans, X-Rays, etc. So, a believer may tend to believe that after accepting Jesus as Lord, you may awake next morning in heaven! Well, guess what, that is so very near what God might do, for only He knows the date of His Son’s return to earth to take away His bride, the church (believers). However, what it seems like the Holy Spirit is teaching us through His servant James is, how we are to act, and what we are to do while we wait for the day we are taken out of this world and into the presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We may sing that wonderful old hymn, that never grows old, ‘When We All Get To Heaven’, a favorite of mine, and although that is THE most wonderful day a believer could fix their eyes, heart and mind on, we must believe that Jesus has a plan for our lives while we wait for that day. Let’s be reminded that idle minds could very easily be the workplace of the evil one!
Being from a farming environment, James used an example that the students of his ministry could immediately identify with. And while farming is still a viable example today, I beg you to think of relevant examples in your particular lifestyle and use it as an example to remind you of how productive, or non-productive, you become while you wait. My wife and I recently planted a very small garden, so this farming example is very relevant at this time! Here’s how I could explain it in light of the teaching by James:
–> We added a bag of miracle-grow soil to our gardening spot – For this little garden had been sitting nonproductive for several months with just weeds making their home there. So, we had to prepare the ground. This teaches me that as we prepare to share the love, and new birth found in Jesus, we may want to develop a relationship with the person, or people we feel may need to know Him as Lord. Prepare the ground for the Gospel.
–> We planted our seeds – all the while considering how much space that each particular vegetable would need to grow as the sed caught and the plant matured. In a church setting the method of evangelism stays pretty consistent, but as you survey those to whom you hope to minister, your consideration of their circumstances, education, religious background, and more, may all be varied. So, the Holy Spirit may use various methods in helping you establish a relationship of trust with the prospect first, before inviting them to know your Jesus. Also remember that many times you may plant the seed of faith into someone, but others may witness and celebrate the harvest!
–> Daily nurturing of the new plants – hydration, food (fertilizer), keeping external interference at bay – bugs, weeds, etc. Remember, no blossoms or fruit may show for days or even weeks, yet it is important to provide nurturing, if you expect to see fruit/vegetables at some point. Just as your salvation experience probably didn’t occur without some prior prompting by the Holy Sprit, so it might very well be with the prospect you are praying for and hoping to evangelize. Nonetheless, encourage them and root for them in every step of their walk with Christ.
Notice that all of the above steps teach us patience, as James genuinely reminded us in today’s Scripture. There is never an instant planting to harvesting ratio. Should I have opened the pack of seeds and let them empty on to the unprepared ground, then sat in front of my television each day and then expect to go out and harvest my vegetables, my wife would probably have admitted me to a, insane asylum! James is teaching us that while we wait for the BIG Day for all believers, the day that we see the face of Jesus together with His Father and the Holy Spirit, we must be about our Father’s business. Try fertilizing the soul with nuggets from God’s Word each day. God wants us to flourish in our Christian walk, so that we might be a fresh, growing, productive disciple for the Kingdom while still here on earth. For the unbeliever that may happen across this devotional, or that may be in search of hope from our Creator, please read my FOOTNOTE carefully and consider the helps provided. I have a second page to this blog also, ‘To Know Jesus’. please consider reading through it and the various Scriptures provided to help you understand how to change your life. This is my heart’s cry as I write each of these blog posts.

PRAYER
Dear Jesus, I am reminded that Your garden here on earth is very similar to my vegetable garden. Seeds for some people/plants are newly planted, and we patiently wait for them to grow above ground where they may be seen and recognized by onlookers. Some are growing slowly but need nurturing/encouraged along the way in order to make good, healthy and life sustaining plants/believers. While some are bearing fruit, for which we give You thanks, for only You can truly energize and nurture our plants and believers. Thank You Lord for not only being our Creator, but our sustainer, encourager, strength and everlasting hope while we wait for our time to join You in Heaven. To God be the glory! AMEN!

FOOTNOTE
If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please take advantage of the information provided on my page ‘To Know Jesus’. Alternatively, consider speaking with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. One of God’s servants will pray with you and offer help and encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. If you would like to read more of my devotionals or subscribe to receive a daily email containing each new devotional, please visit NuggetsFromGodsWord.org. Friends, I encourage you to find a Bible teaching church home near your residence and attend as frequently as possible. Get to know God and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk while you make every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider being a part of that while also growing in your faith as you worship with fellow believers!

Allow God’s Word to Nurture Your Hearts

On By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, Committed, Easter, Faith, Heart, Rewards, Trust2 Comments

Saturday, 2019-04-20

Bible Reference: Mark 4:8 & 20
Translation: Living Bible (TLB)

Bible Text: 8 But some of the seeds fell into good soil and yielded thirty times as much as he had planted—some of it even sixty or a hundred times as much!……..
20 “But the good soil represents the hearts of those who truly accept God’s message and produce a plentiful harvest for God—thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as was planted in their hearts.”

OBSERVATION: There are certain things that we hear, that will make no difference in our hearts, for the words simply go in one ear and out of the next. We are taught in this parable today that the extent to which we listen, absorb and use what we hear is a ‘heart’ matter. More on this as we meditate on the parable of the sower.

APPLICATION: I bet you remember as a child, that some things you were told by your parents were intended to hold a lot of significance, and there would normally be strong implications if you ignored or avoided following the instructions given to you. However, there were certain things that they told you not to do that you saw them practice almost every day, so you took those instructions very lightly. But thanks be to God, Jesus told this parable to help us better understand why some hear His Word without very little impact, while a friend who hears the same message, with a heart that is open and willing to let it serve its full God-given purpose, is fully impacted, taught and motivated to use that Word for the glory of God. Friends, I believe that this should speak to our hearts about how we are sometimes so out of tune with God, that we might be in the right venue (church); we might be under the right preaching (minister of the gospel); and we might have no problem with our hearing, yet we walk away without having heard, or at least without being impacted by the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Have you ever noticed that when there is purpose in your heart about a project that you want to do, how carefully you read instruction; how carefully you listen to teaching; how earnestly you seek after advice; and how ready you are to listen to the experience of others? So why is this not happening to us in our Christian walk, and our learning of God? Are we not serious about drawing closer to God, and desiring to do the things of God? Are we back in our childhood days, where we easily brush off, or ignore the things taught to us that oppose our fancy – even in the case of those things ordered by God? I believe that this would be a perfect day for us to have God cleanse our hearts and renew a right spirit within us, so that we might become fertile ground for His Word taught and preached tomorrow – Easter Sunday! Oh, may the words that we hear, be sent by God with the specific purpose of growing our relationship with Him, and for the enrichment of our souls that could then be used of God in our everyday lives, with our everyday friends. Father, please look down in love and be glorified by the work of Your Holy Spirit in the minefield of our hearts and souls. Friends, we are not here because God needed a drop-off place to put us until He returns. We are here as His hands, His feet and His mouthpiece, to be used for the salvation of the lost, and to bring glory to His Son, Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: Oh that we may be found faithful to the work that You have laid out for us to do, precious Lord. May the sincerity of our hearts, the words from our lips and every action that we take, be avenues of ministry to spread the good news of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and our faithful Redeemer. AMEN!