Prayer – A Connection Between You and God

On 2016-11-14 By Ed AlgreenIn Blessings, Giving, PrayerLeave a comment

Monday, 2016-11-14

Scripture

Bible Reference: Matthew 6:14–15

Bible Text: “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.

Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)

My Take

I believe that most of us may have considered the idea of our conversation, or prayer, with God being a major connection point with God. However, Jesus reminds us in this passage today that it really makes no sense in us asking God for blessings that we are not willing ourselves to bless others with. The particular point mentioned in this scripture is ‘forgiveness’. We should not expect to receive God’s forgiveness, if we are unwilling to forgive others. Wow! Ever stopped to think about that before? After all, of what purpose would it serve for God to continue blessing, or forgiving us, if we bottle that up inside and never use that act of forgiveness, as humility and strength to help us forgive others? There is also similar scripture that reminds us about the act of giving. That scripture reminds us that our blessings received will be in proportion to our giving. In other words, don’t expect God to continue giving if you are stingy in what you give to His work and to His children in need. God is not a get-rich scheme,where all you have to do is ask, and He will pile it on for you. He blesses us so that we may, in turn, bless others. I believe that in verse 15, Jesus clearly reminds us that as we refuse to forgive others, or as we choose not to give of our earthly means to others, we create a division between God and ourselves. In other words, we cut ourselves off from the part that God would have blessed us with, if we were truly His hands and feet here on earth. May I encourage you to examine yourselves friends and see if there is something in your life that separates you from the love, and the gifts of our holy God? I’m sure that we all love to receive God’s richest blessings. To do so, we should be willing to shower those blessings, or pass them on to others!

Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, You were such an example for us to follow, for You forgave the very ones that beat You, and crucified You. How much more than should we be forgiving to others in obedience to Your words to us? Lord, the words in our text this morning are quotes from what You instructed us to do. Important for us to realize today, is that the world knows what to expect from us as followers of Christ, a whole lot better than we ourselves would care to acknowledge. Holy Spirit, please open our hearts and our eyes to the things of God at every turn today. This short scripture is just one reminder of what it means to be a true warrior and imitator of Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, may the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, our Rock, our Redeemer and our soon coming King! 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 contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!

Found ‘GUILTY’ of Praying?

On 2016-11-132016-11-13 By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, Dedication, Determined, PrayerLeave a comment

Sunday, 2016-11-13

Scripture

Bible Reference: Daniel 6:10-11

Bible Text: ¹⁰When Daniel learned that the decree had been signed and posted, he continued to pray just as he had always done. His house had windows in the upstairs that opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he knelt there in prayer, thanking and praising his God. ¹¹The conspirators came and found him praying, asking God for help.

Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)

My Take

Many of us meditating on this scripture today probably don’t have any state laws prohibiting us from any religious activities, but I wonder when last we could have possibly been found guilty of ‘praying’? Over in Philippians 4:6 we are told to not fret or worry about anything, but instead ‘pray’ about everything, yet in a country where we are free to pray and worship the God of this universe, we ‘worry’ so much that our doctors probably deal more with depression and anxiety than anything else. Daniel shows us that in spite of man’s efforts to hinder his relationship with his God, that nothing would separate him from the love of his Lord. I would encourage each of us to take particular note of this, because it doesn’t take much to hinder us in our prayer life. Of course I could only speak to our corporate prayer life, but it is sad that our midweek prayer and Bible study is attended by only a very small percentage of our congregation. In fact, so poorly attended that I am reminded by the words of a pastor in my younger life, who said that it looks like the church at large has voted to cancel the service, for the absence of the vast majority speaks volumes about how they feel about corporate prayer meetings. In fact, I wonder how God must feel when He looks at our corporate prayer meeting attendance, for He said through His servant in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 ‘Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.’ So friends I would challenge you to seriously consider and declare who you are claiming as your King; your Lord; and your Master. Have you personally accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? God’s Word tells us that if you have, then you would have a desire to ‘pray all the time’. If your ‘love-for-God’ meter is measured by your prayer life, are you proud of the love you show to God every day? How about your concern for the church as a whole, do you attend corporate prayer enough to pray for its survival and its outreach for your community? Is your pastor empowered because of your prayers for him? Daniel maintained his prayer life in spite of a new law being enacted that he knew could have led to his imprisonment. How valid do you feel your excuses are for not attending your corporate prayer services, compared to Daniel’s commitment in the circumstances he was under?

Prayer

Lord God, we are a sorry bunch considering all the gracious gifts that You bless us with every day, compared to the uncaring attitude we take in returning thanks to You. Friends are dying every day without Jesus, and ashamedly we acknowledge that our prayers and our influence in their lives could have made a difference. We have read, heard and seen the power of prayer, yet many have chosen to ignore its power through their attendance and commitment to pray corporately. Please forgive us Lord. I feel like we are witnessing the greatest need for revival probably in the life of Your church here on earth. Only those who have actually accepted you as Lord can be ‘revived’, so Lord, please begin a great work in the life of Your church – Your people. May Your children be reminded of the power of prayer, and their obligation to converse with their Master. We need you heavenly Father, revive Your church again, I pray. AMEN!

Footnote

How’s Your Heart?

On 2016-11-11 By Ed AlgreenIn Forgiveness, Heart, SinLeave a comment

Friday, 2016-11-11

Scripture

Bible Reference: Psalm 51:16-17

Bible Text: ¹⁶I would surrender my dearest possessions or destroy all that I prize to prove my regret, but You don’t take pleasure in sacrifices or burnt offerings. ¹⁷What sacrifice I can offer You is my broken spirit because a broken spirit, O God, a heart that honestly regrets the past, You won’t detest.

Bible Translation: The Voice (Voice)

My Take

From a very early age, we demand our kids to say “I’m sorry” when they have wronged a sibling or someone else. Also from a very early age we easily detect that those words are sometimes forced out of kids, because they know that parents are not satisfied until they hear their kids, in obedience, say “I’m sorry”. So what do we think happens when we meet God personally? “Lord, I’m sorry for my sin”, might come quite naturally when introduced to Jesus, but how sorry are we, really, when we turn around and do the same thing over and over again. David, the Psalmist, was confronted about his awful sin with Bathsheba, and while he could very easily spurt those famous words out to Nathan the prophet, David had to face his all-knowing God with this sin. Now we should be reminded that God didn’t only know the fact that Nathan just presented to David, but God knows even our thoughts and the intent of our heart. So do you really think that it would have helped for David to sacrifice a sheep or a goat on the altar as his way of saying I’m sorry? For the world, that may have been enough, because from all apparent evidence, David would have acknowledged his sin and paid the price for his forgiveness. But just like you and I, David not only needed this to look good in the eyes of his friends and the local priests, but in true repentance, he wanted a clean heart in the presence of his God. So friends, we not only need to ask for forgiveness from our earthly friends, family and the impacted one(s) for our sin, but in order to right our heart and resume our oneness with God, and to one day present ourselves faultless before our King, we must get before God in humility and deepest sincerity and ask for His forgiveness. Like David, we must always be aware that God desires:

A broken spirit – this means that we must be willing to break down our pride of thinking we know everything, and thinking that what occurred was a private matter between two consenting adults. We must acknowledge that we recognize that our hearts and our lives are transparent before an all-knowing God, so we may as well ‘come clean’ and ask His forgiveness for everything we have done or said or thought that may be contrary to His perfect design and will. There is nothing we can hide from God, so may I encourage you to break down the walls of pride and secrecy and be totally open with God;
A humble heart that honestly regrets the past (our sin) – Our acts may have been fun at the time, or our words may have revenged the individual we were out to get back at, but I believe that when the God of this universe looks into our eyes and our hearts, and He sees unconfessed sin, then we will be pushed aside or rejected from His presence, as sin cannot enter His kingdom.

I was at a conference yesterday where we were reminded that when we stand before God, we will deal with our personal condition in the face of a righteous, all-knowing God. The normal tendency of our actions here on earth of trying to compare to another individual, or pointing out their sin, while pushing ours under the table, is not the way God will handle our judgment on that day that we stand before Him, for that will be a one-on-one conversation. It won’t matter what the neighbor did, or the deacon said, it will only matter how in sync our heart is with a righteous and perfect God. If that was to happen today, and it could very easily happen, what would God challenge you with? Consider getting that straight today friend, for we have no assurance of a second chance to do so tomorrow.

Prayer

Father God, You created us, included our heart, our soul, our mind and our intellect. Why would we ever think that we could hide anything from You is most astonishing to our sober minds when we are not trying to escape Your wrath. Please speak to those who seek after you today. Lord Jesus, may the words from our lips and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, our Rock, our Redeemer, our Savior and our Lord. AMEN!

Footnote

Concerned Enough To Actually Pray

On 2016-11-10 By Ed AlgreenIn Caring, Needs, Needs of others, PrayerLeave a comment

Thursday, 2016-11-10

Scripture

Bible Reference: Nehemiah 1:2–4

Bible Text: ²Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. ³They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” ⁴When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven

Bible Translation: New International Version (NIV)

My Take

Ever shared your burden with a friend, and they promised to pray for you, but never followed up with you to see how you’re doing? Ever stood in a line of folk entering or exiting a church, and while telling one parishioner that you will be praying for them, you are already looking at the next person and greeting them? I am not your judge on whether you follow through with those promised prayers for someone, but I can honestly share with you that I have said those words many times before and now stand ashamed before God acknowledging that I have often not followed through with praying for the needs that I promised someone I would pray for. Nehemiah’s actions in verse (4) really spoke to me, but what equally ministered to me, was the action he took in verse (2) by asking about the condition of his Jewish brothers who had survived the exile. How many times do you leave church upset that the pastor never even asked you how you were feeling? Now, may I ask you a more challenging question, how many times in the last 4 weeks have you asked how things are going at the church at a very high level, or how might you pray for your pastor? Friends, too often we want to know what’s going on because we want every little piece of gossip we could get. I believe that Nehemiah is teaching us to settle for an answer like “I am really struggling today, please pray for my health”, or “I am feeling discouraged today, please pray for me”, or a pastor may say “I am feeling overwhelmed today because I am concerned about so many parishioners who are hurting emotionally and/or sick”. I believe that if we could settle for prayer needs such as that, instead of needing to know every little detail, then more pastors and/or Brothers and Sisters would share their high level prayer requests with us. But remember, most won’t share their prayer requests with us if we don’t care enough to ask. Now let me draw our attention to the depth of Nehemiah prayer. For he not only cared enough to ask about the conditions of his people, but he followed through with days of mourning, fasting and praying before God for the needs of his people. I recently took part in a prayer chain, where I committed to enter into God’s presence for one hour, praying over this certain heart-felt concern. Because I have been accustomed to short, quick conversations with God, that hour felt like an eternity. Look at the condition of Nehemiah’s heart over this concern for his people – he mourned, he fasted and he prayed for days. May I challenge you to dig deep into your heart, yes even those of you that are trying to have hearts like your Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, and consider the last time that you were burdened enough about your church, or pastor, or unsaved loved one that you found it more important to pray than to eat, and your heart was so burdened for the need that you wept uncontrollably before God in prayer for hours and days before you felt a breakthrough? Let’s care enough to actually pray about those things that concern us, and/or concern those that we love and care about. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man/woman avails much. Communion with God will best prepare us for dealings with mankind!

Prayer

Lord Jesus, please touch Your people once again. Draw us unto Yourself so that with Your heart and Your love and Your concern for Your children, we too might become more devoted to caring for one another and praying sincerely for the needs of others. Regrettably, we have become such an instant, fast-paced people that we hardly leave time for showing deep concern for one another, for our pastors and for our churches. Please forgive us Lord, and teach us to pray in a way pleasing to You, and that reaches the hearts of those that we pray for. Our prayers are to You and for Your glory, so help us to never lose sight of our Savior by slacking in our prayer life. The world needs You, heavenly Father, and Christians need more of You to be effective witnesses for You. Please renew a right spirit with us, beginning with me, so that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart will be acceptable in Your sight, oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. AMEN!

Footnote

God: “I’ll Be There Ready For You”

On 2016-11-092016-11-09 By Ed AlgreenIn Humbleness, Humility, Power of Prayer, Prayer, Seek God's FaceLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2016-11-09

Scripture

Bible Reference: 2 Chronicles 7:13–14

Bible Text: If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health.

Bible Translation: The Message (MSG)

My Take

I believe that these verses are probably some of the best known, and most quoted verses in the old testament, because we like to remind ourselves that God is always ready to hear our prayer, if only we will get off our high horses and allow Him to do that. I looked at the context of these verses in several different translations of the Bible to see if perhaps God is trying to catch my attention in some other way from these verses. Using Eugene Peterson’s ‘Message’ Bible, here’s what I believe God is saying to me today, and in sharing this with you, hopefully it may open your eyes also. Notice how God leads into this with Solomon. In the preceding verses God acknowledged the awesome temple that Solomon had built, and God assured Solomon that He would dwell there for the people. However, God then told Solomon that there still may be times that He may allow frustrations, trials and challenges for the people as He may have the need to draw them closer to Himself. Isn’t it interesting how we are so quick to run to the temple (our local churches) and really petition before God for all that is going on in our lives, or in the works of our cities/counties, or even in our country? I would imaging that in the USA, over recent months, there have probably been more prayers for the outcome of our elections than for any other reason that we may have prayed over recent years. However, notice that God didn’t tell Solomon to have the people pray for Him to restore their crops, or cleanse them from the plagues He threatened to send on them, but rather, God wanted the people to do these things:

Humble themselves – get off the subject of self and recognize who’s in charge;
Pray – Instead of bending the knee and pleading before God when we need our aches and pains relieved, pray instead for forgiveness of our sin, and a heart like that of Jesus – the one whom Christians should be seeking to imitate every day;
Seek God’s presence – So often we are so intent on praying for the need at hand, that we lose sight of the broken or fractured connection between God and ourselves. Friends, there is nothing more comforting or more powerful, than seeking God’s face and His awesome presence in our own lives. Further, in these verses God assured Solomon that as His people did this, they will be reassured of His presence, as “He will be there, ready for them”!
Turn from their sins – you might question what this has to do with what is going on at the time (lost crops, etc). Friends, I believe that God sends challenges our way, because many times it is the only way that He could get our personal attention. Renewing our relationship with God is far more important to God than restoring our crops.

God said that as His people did these things, they can be reassured that “He would be there for them”! However, notice the kicker, He didn’t say that He would then restore rainfall, or their crops; nor did He say that He would heal them of the effects from any plagues He sent on them. Instead God told Solomon that He would listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health! I believe that we can easily conclude from these verses that God is more interested in a right, personal relationship with His children, than anything else. Imagine what would happen if our people prayed as hard for revival, or renewal of a right relationship with God as we do for every other little thing, that really adds no value to our relationship with the Almighty. Restoring a right relationship with our God, so that we may be mold-able and usable by God WILL bring new life to our wretched, sinful world. It must begin with us – God’s people, as those without that connection will not have a clue what God is trying to achieve, nor would they ever think to look to God, who is totally unknown to them. If it’s to be, it’s up to you and I, fellow Christians!

Prayer

Father God, thank You for providing us with life itself. Lord Jesus, thank You for providing the means of salvation – forgiveness of our sin and oneness with You and the Father. Holy Spirit, thank You for Your powerful presence and work in our lives daily. As long as we live on this earth, we will be tempted by the ruler of this world with every effort to distract us in our Christian commitment to our Lord. In Psalm 1 and in Matthew 6:33 we are reminded that as we, Your holy children, humble ourselves and seek Your face that we also may receive righteousness that can only come for You dear Lord. Help us to be faithful in all we do so that Your name may be lifted high and maintain its elevated status for all to see, and subsequently believe on You. Please renew a right spirit within us Heavenly Father, so that others will see Jesus and believe. AMEN!

Footnote

God Hears Our Prayers

On 2016-11-07 By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, God's Will, Power of God, Power of Prayer, Praise-worthy, PrayerLeave a comment

Monday, 2016-11-07

Scripture

Bible Reference: 2 Kings 19:17-20

Bible Text: ¹⁷Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all those nations ¹⁸and have burned their idol-gods. But they weren’t gods at all; they were destroyed because they were only things that men had made of wood and stone. ¹⁹O Lord our God, we plead with you to save us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone are God.”

²⁰Then Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: “The Lord God of Israel says, ‘I have heard you!

Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)

My Take

May I encourage my friends today to lift up holy hands and praise God, the creator of this universe, every day of our lives! I encourage you to do this whether things are going your way, of it seems like your world is coming to an end. Think about it friends, this helps us to put into perspective the One to whom we are about to place our heaviest burdens, and our deepest woes. The gods of those who make their own images of wood or stone had nothing to praise, but as we look out of our windows and see the beautiful sunrise and hear the birds chirping, or as in my case this week, I can hear the surf rolling onto the shoreline, don’t we need to approach God with words of affirmation of who He truly is? When we stop to count our blessings that our feet still work, and compare that to the gentleman we saw yesterday who had no feet, are we thankful yet? Friends, we may feel like the whole world is on our shoulders because of all that we have to worry about today, but may I encourage each of us to do just like Hezekiah did, and take these burdens and lay them at the feet of Jesus and pour out our soul to Him! God knows all things before we ever take them before Him, but in asking, we are recognizing that we absolutely cannot do anything about our situations, and we acknowledge that the reason we ask is that God can do all things, and only those things that fit within the confines of His perfect will. Hezekiah opened up his case before God and pleaded with Him for His help. A situation where all Hezekiah could see was total destruction of his people. Pretty serious, I would say. What’s your most serious ‘case’ today friend? Are you willing to place it before Jesus and ask Him to take charge and bring about the perfect resolution? Hezekiah never showed any signs of doubt or fear, but he had no sooner laid his petitions before God, when he received a message from God through His servant Isaiah, that his (Hezekiah’s) message was heard! No need for God to expand on that, for who are we to tell God what to do? We simply take our cares before God, share with Him our heart’s desire, and leave the resolution up to Him. Sometimes, He may have to change us, but many times He may want to answer our prayers in much the same way that we asked. Remember, God’s in control, not us!

Prayer

In considering who You are, and being reminded of Your awesome power and concern for Your children, we acknowledge that we are mere servants bringing our petitions before the very God who created us and the universe in which we exist. Our concerns seem humongous to us, but praise God from whom all blessings flow, we present our concerns before the same God who raised Lazarus from the dead, brought Jesus back to life on the third day after His crucifixion and, He walked on water to rescue His disciples who were in trouble out on the waters. Further, He made the lame to walk again, the blind to see and the deaf to hear, so what again did we say is our biggest dilemma that we are concerned about today? Should we have confidence that God can handle our challenges also? Friends, we are in good hands with our God! Notice that Hezekiah didn’t try to enlarge his army or increase his artillery, instead he took his threatening letter and opened it before the same God I just tried to describe, and asked for His guidance and help. There are stories in the Bible where God protected His people by bringing confusion so approaching enemy armies, who wound up destroying themselves! Do we dare ask or question how could God possibly resolve our BIG issues? He’s got this friend! Trust Him and obey His commands, for there’s no other way! In that same awesome power, I ask these things dear Jesus, AMEN!

Footnote

A Model Prayer

On 2016-11-05 By Ed AlgreenIn God’s Word, Praise-worthy, Prayer, RespectLeave a comment

Saturday, 2016-11-05

Scripture

Bible Reference: Exodus 13:11-13

Bible Text: ¹¹But Moses begged God not to do it. “Lord,” he pleaded, “why is your anger so hot against your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and mighty miracles? ¹²Do you want the Egyptians to say, ‘God tricked them into coming to the mountains so that he could slay them, destroying them from off the face of the earth’? Turn back from your fierce wrath. Turn away from this terrible evil you are planning against your people! ¹³Remember your promise to your servants—to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. For you swore by your own self, ‘I will multiply your posterity as the stars of heaven, and I will give them all of this land I have promised to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’”

Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)

My Take

Conversation with God is considered ‘Prayer’. So as we look at this prayer by Moses, I want to make sure that we see three specific methods used by Moses in this awesome prayer he had with an angry God. This may help give us direction in our prayer life:

God’s previous work for Israel (v. 11) – friends, when we bring a petition before God, it often hurts, or it may have us very upset that things are not going our way. Let’s be encouraged to reflect on situations where friends have testified of the awesome hand of God, where He had already answered similar prayers for them. This helps us to reflect on the possibilities of our powerful God, and it helps us pray in more earnest for our need(s), knowing that God did this already, and it therefore gives us confidence that He could do it again. The situation at hand where the Israelites had resorted to false gods, was no comparison to the sins they committed in Egypt, yet God showed His awesome power and delivered them from their oppressors, and then provided for them daily while in the desert;
God’s glory and reputation (v. 12) – Moses reminded God of how His righteous anger would appease the Egyptians by making them think that God’s plan all along was to get them in the desert where He could destroy them, not the likely story He told them about getting them into a ‘Promised Land’ filled with milk and honey. While this could almost sound disrespectful, I believe that God really wants us to share our heart with Him. In recent studies, I was reminded that God knows and judges our very thoughts, so it’s no use feeling all of this inside and saying only what you think God wants to hear. Share your heart with God friend! Be open and honest with Him. Deep in God’s heart you know that He is filled with such love that we could never comprehend the extremes He would go to in order to prove His love for us. Recognize that, and include that in your conversation with God. He longs to hear your heart!
God’s word (v. 13) – Allow God to help you bring scripture back to mind so that you can share that in your prayer. This does not mean that you must know every Bible verse and its reference, but in most cases you can come pretty close to quoting a scripture that you may have heard or studied in the past. Give your best rendition of what you remember. You’re talking to God, and He knows Your heart and what you are trying to relay to Him!

Friends, this is not intended to build rigidity in your prayer life, for just as I said at the beginning, prayer is conversation between you and God. However, I want you to be aware that in verse 14 of Exodus 13, we are told that God changed His mind about destroying the Israelites because of their idolatry! I am merely sharing a model prayer that Moses found useful and in which God responded in an awesome way. If it worked once, I see no reason why it can’t work again. Furthermore, I believe this gives us more ‘meat’ in our prayers, rather than rushing to your closet and demanding of God what He must do for you today. In prayer, you are actually meeting and speaking with the creator of this universe and of you and I. Let’s learn to speak with Him a little differently than we might speak with mom or dad when we issue our demands on them!

Prayer

Lord Jesus, teach us to pray like You did when You bowed before Your Father. We want to be just like You, Lord. Your servant Moses demonstrated a unique prayer to the Father, and as we have studied that today, we are reminded again that You are our Father and You long to hear us express our hearts and our innermost feelings. May this model prayer of Moses, remind us of even more intimate and expressive ways that we may connect with You in prayer, oh Lord, my Rock and my Salvation. To You be all honor, praise and continuous glory, AMEN!

Footnote

A Renewed Christian Can Help Others

On 2016-11-04 By Ed AlgreenIn Help, Our Help comes from God, RenewalLeave a comment

Friday, 2016-11-04

Scripture

Bible Reference: Jude 1:17-23

Bible Text: ¹⁷Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said would happen. ¹⁸They told you, “In the last times there will be people who laugh at God and do only what they want to do—things that are against God.” ¹⁹These are the people who divide you. They are not spiritual, because they don’t have the Spirit. ²⁰But you, dear friends, use your most holy faith to build yourselves up even stronger. Pray with the help of the Holy Spirit. ²¹Keep yourselves safe in God’s love, as you wait for the Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy to give you eternal life. ²²Help those who have doubts. ²³Rescue those who are living in danger of hell’s fire. There are others you should treat with mercy, but be very careful that their filthy lives don’t rub off on you.

Bible Translation: Easy-To-Read Version (ERV)

My Take

For the purpose of illustrating what I believe Jude is teaching us in these verses, I want you to think for a moment about a young lady (‘Jane’ as a fictitious name) who spends most of her money buying fast food and eating at restaurants. Your daughter wants to get into the art of cooking, as she believes that she could save herself lots of money from eating out all the time vs cooking for herself, so she chats with you about the possibility of her spending more time with Jane, who will teach her some cooking skills! What type of advice would you give your daughter? Jude gives the Christian great advice in verses 22 and 23, that I’m sure anyone would want to achieve, but notice that this advice comes after the advice given in the preceding verses where Jude teaches us how to prepare ourselves for evangelizing. Here’s some of the points I gathered from those verses:

In the power of your personal faith in Jesus Christ, seek to build yourselves up even stronger, by:
- Praying with the help of the Holy Spirit – in other words get your heart totally in sync with God – to the extent that you seek the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to your very own sins, or things that would hinder you from being a good witness for our Lord Jesus Christ. I strongly believe that this is intended to be an ongoing habit for us as Christians – a fresh (at least daily) encounter with the Holy Spirit to continually renew a right spirit within us;
- Keep yourselves safe in God’s love – When we depart from His Word and His will, we erect barriers between ourselves and God and therefore block the free flow of His love to us. We keep ourselves in His love by abiding in Him. That’s continually keeping in His Word so you could hear His communication back to us and understand what He would have us do to bring Him glory;
- Wait in great anticipation for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ – Live in anticipation and great expectancy for the King of all kings to return and take us home to glory with He and His Father for all eternity!

Friends, I believe that Jude is encouraging Christians (us) to be sure that we are straight spiritually, before we botch things up by trying to share with others a belief passed on to us by our parents or that we heard others speaking of. Let’s be ready to share from our own heart, and our own spiritual experiences, so that the world might know and believe in the One that we adore. The eternal condition of our family and friends deserve our very best effort, so let’s give it with everything that lives within us, not from everything we heard others speak of! ‘For He alone is worthy‘ my friend!

Prayer

Father God, who are we that a King should live and die for? Yet You consider us sons and daughters, because of our surrender to Your Son, the One You sacrificed, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You Lord Jesus for the enormous love shown to us through Your sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. Please be a constant reminder to us that it is only because of our first step in seeking forgiveness of our sin through accepting You as our very own Savior and Lord, that we have anything at all to share with others. It’s all because of You Jesus, for nothing have we done to deserve God’s own Son, yet You accepted our plea for forgiveness and adopted us as Your very own. It is therefore You alone that deserve honor and glory and praise every day of our lives. It is only You that we can brag on to our friends that need You as Savior and Lord. Please help us to never lose sight of the author of our salvation, so that we might share You and You alone when we witness as Your children to an unsaved world. For You alone are worthy dear Jesus, AMEN!

Footnote

Prove That You’re a Child of the King

On 2016-11-03 By Ed AlgreenIn Love, Love of God, Love others, Love your Neighbor, Unconditional loveLeave a comment

Thursday, 2016-11-03

Scripture

Bible Reference: John 13:34-35

Bible Text: ³⁴So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

We hear kids use this phrase all the time when they doubt what parents, aunts, uncles or friends them – “Prove It”!! At times there are things that grown kids might tell parents what they are going to do, however, based on past record, parents will sometimes doubt that the kids will follow through, so they might challenge them to “Prove It” and do what they said they would do. In our scripture today, Jesus didn’t just tell His disciples to ‘Prove’ to the world that they were His disciples, but He told them how they should prove their relationship with Jesus – “Love for one another will prove whose you are”! I believe that our churches are filled with awesome Christians when we meet on weekends, but I wonder what Jesus might conclude after these same ‘Christians’ meet with that contentious neighbor, or that challenging coworker, or that friend that always seem to get on their last nerve! Out in our ‘mission field’, is it obvious that we are a child of the King of all kings? Do we ‘Prove It’ daily that we’ve been with Jesus? We are told in verse 34 that we are to love one another just as Christ first loved us. In thinking that through, we will quickly conclude that Jesus’ love for us was proven in His sacrifice of His very life for us, even though we were yet sinners. This tells me that if we are to imitate that, we must show love even to those that don’t seem to love us, or even care for us. We need to love even those who tend to persecute Christians because of their beliefs, or love even those in prison – even though they may be there because of the most awful sins committed. Instead of lashing back today, can we aim to love someone even if they don’t seem lovable in return to us? Notice that was not a condition of the love Jesus wanted us to show to others – not if they make themselves lovable, but we love because Jesus first loves us. Because we want to replicate our Lord, we also must love one another. Let’s ask God for His grace and power to love even the unlovable, so they may stop and wonder where our inspiration comes from.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You have blessed us with another day, and brand new opportunities to prove to the world that we are a child of the King. Lord, we will be faced with loving the unlovable, just as You did when You went to the cross for me. We will be faced with folk who are uninterested in You – just as I was before You took hold of my life and showed me the way of the cross. You loved me in spite of my sin, and in spite of me following the ways of the world. Please humble me to love just like that dear Jesus, so that those that I come into contact with today will want to know the same Lord that makes a difference in my life. My readers have not attained perfection yet either Lord, so please touch them powerfully today so that they too may be encouraged to love others, just like You first lived them. Please help us to face this day with great boldness and determination to be just like You! AMEN!

Footnote

Learn To Know God’s Will

On 2016-11-02 By Ed AlgreenIn Listen to the Word of God, Living with purpose, Testimony, WitnessLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2016-11-02

Scripture

Bible Reference: Romans 12:1–2

Bible Text: 1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

I believe there are certain places that Christians find themselves and later question “how did I get myself into this?” then we pray “Please God don’t come just now, for I will be ashamed to face You”. Ever been there and done that? Let’s imagine for a moment how far that moment is from what Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is teaching here. Let’s think about some things that the Word of God is telling us might help us learn the will of God, which should be our goal in this life:

In verse (1) we are told that ‘we are to give our bodies to God because of all He has done for us‘. Back in 6:13-19, we were taught that we become slave to whomever we obey. I believe that ‘giving our bodies to God’ means surrendering our will to the will of God. I believe it’s the same as saying ‘I’m Yours Lord, everything I am, everything I’ve got, try me now and see if I’m completely Yours‘. The bottom line is that God has done, and continues to do, so much for us on a daily basis. How can we claim Him as Lord, but refuse to give Him control of our lives? That would be the same as being married, but continuing to live as a single person;
Let our bodies/lives be living proof of the One that we love, serve, and obey – the kind that are acceptable to God. We must walk the talk friends. Let’s not tell the pastor, or try to convince our praying mom or our hurting spouse, that we love Jesus, if nothing has changed in our lives. A verse I shared with a group just last night from Psalm 139 reminded me that God knows more than what others can see in our walk, for He knows our very thoughts;
Often our behavior will mimic those who we hang around with for a while. Because children of God are to seek the will of God for their lives, this means that we are to hang around with God more than anyone else. Yes, I believe that this means we need more time with God than just an hour at a weekend service. In verse two, we are told that we need to be so devoted to God and desire the will of God with such intensity that He has the liberty to transform us into usable instruments for His service. If we expect God to be there for us 24/7/365, then we need to show our commitment in return to Him in precisely the same way. If there’s any part of our day that we resume personal leadership, then let’s not be surprised by the outcome, for we have just shown evidence that we don’t need God for that part of our day.

In each of the above bullets I underscored in bold font, a few things that I believe our key verses are telling us today. Paul said that when these things become a reality in our lives, then we will learn to know the will of God for our lives. Are you there yet, friends?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for showing us through Your Word how ridiculous it is for us to say we are Your followers, yet we control our course of life. If I am truly Yours, then I must surrender my will, and allow Your will to be prevalent in all aspects of my life. Lord, I’m afraid that many who call You Lord, are living their lives the way they feel best, and only call on You when necessary or desperate. Lord, may the meditation of our hearts; the very depths of our thoughts; and the expressions from our lips be pleasing in Your sight, so they may be used for Your glory. If there be any wicked way in us, or if there’s anything that makes You sad with us, please touch our hearts and renew a right spirit within us. May we be usable vessels for Your work oh Lord, my Rock and my Salvation, AMEN!