Tag: Please God

Try To Please God and Be Like Him

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Adoration, Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Awesome God, Beyond Description, Blessing, Celebrate God, Needs, Praise, Praise-worthy, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED: Saturday, June 3, 2023, and I was blessed to be at Gainesville, FL when God inspired me to write this blog post. My Footnote will tell you how to find, read or listen to any and all episodes that I have shared over the years.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE FROM THE The Contemporary English Version (CEV) IS FOUND IN 1 Timothy 6:11-14

THE BIBLE TEXT IS: Timothy, you belong to God, so keep away from all these evil things. Try your best to please God and to be like him. Be faithful, loving, dependable, and gentle. Fight a good fight for the faith and claim eternal life. God offered it to you when you clearly told about your faith, while so many people listened. 13  Now I ask you to make a promise. Make it in the presence of God, who gives life to all, and in the presence of Christ Jesus, who openly told Pontius Pilate about his faith. 14 Promise to obey completely and fully all that you have been told until our Lord Jesus Christ returns.

THINK ABOUT THIS: Try comparing this advice by Paul, to that of our local churches, where salvation for a believer means one more added to the total number of decisions, and possibly one more candidate to be added to total baptisms for the church. It looks good on the pastor’s resume and the church may even be recognized by their regional headquarters for a good number of decisions and/or baptisms. But for Paul, he was seeking to help his ‘son’ in the ministry by giving him guidelines to help others in need of, or seeking salvation, and then to live more like Jesus. Perhaps we might see more effective and practicing Christians, if they were led in similar ways to how Paul led Timothy. Let’s look deeper.

HOW WE MIGHT APPLY THE WORD: In a normal household, children would be out of control if they were allowed to do their own thing and follow the crowd in deciding good from bad, and blessings over curses. Why, even for children today, they would be little terrors that might cause the general public to turn their heads on them, if they simply did what the average child practiced at school. I believe that the Holy Spirit was actively working in the mind of Paul as he sent Timothy out for ministry. Yes, it would be a source of relief for him, as the ministry was becoming overbearing for Paul alone. However, if you throw a good man at a church where everyone has their own opinion about how things should be done, then he might quickly discern that his desire to serve God’s people in God’s house, might be almost as challenging as taking on the challenges of a business in this mostly pagan world. Mind you, when I was in the working world, we sometimes chose to bring a replacement in and assume a job position without the privilege of training by the incumbent. This was because we didn’t want the new person to attain all of the negativity and bad habits of the person exiting that position. That may be a good explanation why church leaders choose to handle new Christians the way they do! For it is often said that new Christians are generally on fire for the Lord, until they rub shoulders with older Christians who quickly brings them down off that mountain of joy and happiness in the Lord! Sad, isn’t it? Instead of the many fancy core principles that pastors lead their churches to adopt, wouldn’t it be awesome to see us instead concentrate on the principles Paul taught Timothy to strive at developing? Paul warned Timothy to flee from the principles he had been warned about in earlier chapters, primarily the pursuit and purpose of wealth. But then Paul gave him some very important characteristics to pursue: a). Righteousness – being right with God in all walks of life; b). Godliness – no surprise here, for Christians must make every effort, and pray for help in living a godly, or God-like life; c). Faith – When you trust in, or rely upon, something or someone despite a lack of concrete proof. Salvation, which is purely a work of God’s grace, can be received only through faith; d). Love – Learn to show such admiration for God, and for those who share your faith, that the world will see pure, unadulterated love in action; e). Endurance – show your faith, love, and righteousness, not only around church and in the company of those who love you, but to everyone that surrounds you. Aim to live out Hebrews 12:1 ‘Lay aside every hindrance…… and run with endurance; and f). Gentleness – Although Christians have so much to feel all powerful and super excited about, but when we strive to live like Jesus, then we must learn to be quiet, if needed, even while being unfairly judged by the world. Although stronger than any lion, yet Jesus is often portrayed as a lamb, and we must follow in His example.

BLESSINGS WORTH NOTING: We must live like Jesus if we are truly His disciple. The world needs Jesus, not more of our attempts to improve our own self image.

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Precious Lord, I believe that way too often we wind up trying to improve our self image instead of imitating Your characteristics demonstrated on earth for us. Thank You for Your Word that so clearly gives us guidance, and I thank You that in Paul’s efforts to give guidance to Timothy, the Holy Spirit is also guiding us to take note and follow the guidance given by Paul. We have a long ways to go, and we need frequent reminders, especially when we are so easily distracted by the world. Please Lord, guide us with Your all-powerful hand into the way that You would have us to live so that unbelievers might catch a glimpse of You in action, and have a desire to accept You as Lord. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There’s another page on my website, entitled ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to this page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin or continue your walk with Jesus. If you would like to read more of my devotionals, or subscribe for a daily email containing each new devotional, please go online to NuggetsFromGodsWord.org. Go online to Apple Podcasts, or using the Apple Podcast app, simply search for Nuggets From God’s Word to hear more episodes, or click ‘Follow’ to be notified of Podcast updates. Please allow me to encourage you to find a church home near by your home and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

Aim to Always Please Christ in Everything

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Pleasing to God, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Thursday, 2020-06-18
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: 9 So our aim is to please him always in everything we do, whether we are here in this body or away from this body and with him in heaven. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged and have our lives laid bare—before him. Each of us will receive whatever he deserves for the good or bad things he has done in his earthly body.

OBSERVATION: What if you evaluated your life at the end of every day on how well you feel like you pleased the Father? What will you need for that evaluation? I see this as quite different to an evaluation you may have completed for a marriage counselor regarding your responses to your spouse or children that day. Join me as we meditate on this Scripture that God has placed before us today through His servant Paul.

APPLICATION: Generally, if we were to complete a daily evaluation of ourselves as a spouse, we would consider things we know that really pleases our spouse, based on past compliments! Often we will watch other successful marriages and try to imitate some of the things they do for each other. Every once in a while we might pull out the marriage vows and see if we are living up to those, and we may even sacrifice a fishing trip to attend a marriage enrichment class with our spouse. But what can we do to make sure we are pleasing Christ in everything we do? Friends, I’m afraid that you will find this a lot more challenging than anything one, or any one else in our lives. You see, we could pull the wool over the eyes of our spouse, for they have no idea what is going on at work unless you tell them. They have no idea that you lost your cool at a PTA meeting, when they couldn’t attend. However, in the case of our Father, He not only knows about what we tell Him, but He knows our every thought, our every intention, and our every attitude towards certain things or people. Part of our honest relationship with God is telling Him everything, and not holding back. I believe that God loves us more than anything else He created, and I believe it would be His ultimate pleasure to usher us into His heaven as His children who have lived according to His plan and purpose. Our guide while here on earth is His precious Word. He has everything detailed for us in that Book, but He wants us to commune with Him daily as we open His Word and read what He has in store for us that day. Our time with Him in prayer should be around seeking His face on how we might handle life that day, and how we might apply His Word that day to draw us closer to Him, and/or to please Him better that day. Many of you are doing this already, but for those who falter or fall short, God provided these verses today to remind us and to redirect our thoughts and our aim towards always pleasing Him with every fiber of our being each day.

PRAYER: Precious Lord Jesus, You made a way for us when it appeared to everyone that there was no way. You opened the floodgates of heaven for us when we thought we would die of thirst and of hunger. You made a way in the wilderness and through the River for our ancestors to cross safely over to the land which You had promised them. I have absolutely no doubt that You will continue to provide for Your saints, so Lord I implore You to open our eyes of understanding and give us boldness to hold our hands out to You so that You may fill us with Your grace and Your bountiful gifts to see us through each day that remains here on earth. We live in anticipation of the day when we will join You in Heaven, but until that time comes, may we be Your hands and feet here on earth so that others may see, know and believe in the Lord God Almighty. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

Stay Away From Things That God Hates

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, God Cares For Us, God our Helper, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Things that make God angry, WorshipLeave a comment

Wednesday, 2019-05-08

Bible Reference: Proverbs 6:16-19
Translation: The Passion Translation (TPT)

Bible Text: 16 There are six evils God truly hates
and a seventh that is an abomination to him:
17 Putting others down while considering yourself superior,
spreading lies and rumors,
spilling the blood of the innocent,
18 plotting evil in your heart toward another,
gloating over doing what’s plainly wrong,
19 spouting lies in false testimony,
and stirring up strife between friends.
These are entirely despicable to God!

OBSERVATION: Wouldn’t you think that it would be everyone’s goal to please the very One that created us; the One who loves us so much that He sacrificed his very life for our salvation; the One who looks out for our very best each and every day? Let’s meditate on the thought of why God may have led Solomon to warn us about those things that He abhors. Surely we are not that evil, right?

APPLICATION: Although everything could be going really well for us, it is extremely challenging to think that anyone would despise the God of all creation. However, here in our earthly minds, how many would ever have dreamed that we would hear about a son murdering his own parents, or a daughter who would abandon her parents with no intent to visit them ever again? Or a parent that would throw their child to its death from a tall bridge? Friends, when sin (that thing that causes us to perform certain acts, and say things that are contrary to God’s initial design, and in contrast to His teachings) but when sin entered this world, it’s main purpose was to redirect our hearts and our minds away from God’s original design. Satan is it’s master designer, so his job is to redirect, steal, and misguide God’s children away from Him. Satan’s lies and deception causes us to think that there is a better way – one where we might be more powerful and better off at the end of the day. When brought into subjection by Satan, we often do the things that God abhors, that He teaches against and tries to steer us away from, for God cannot be lifted up, magnified, glorified or praised by folk under the influence of the evil one. Solomon, the author of Proverbs, tried to forewarn us about the things that God really despises, because he didn’t want us to find ourselves headed in a direction away from God, that may be extremely challenging for us to reverse. I realize that each one could read the Scripture verses for themselves, but I want to add a few comments to each of the seven things, based on my studies. Here are the things we are warned about by Solomon, that God hates: (1) Haughty, or proud eyes, belonging to one who lifts up self, at the expense of others. Jesus practiced humility to an extreme, and He wants us to do the same; (2) Being untruthful, for we will never gain the trust of our fellow man. Plus we tend to falsely accuse others through our lies; (3) Killing innocent people. I know, you’re not a murderer, right? But are you a participant or promoter of abortion. Or are you one to do everything in your power to promote ‘life’ as God has given it to us? (4) Plotting evil towards another – the Word explains that this is devising wicked schemes in our heart. Perhaps it is best to quickly seek help, as it could lead to disastrous actions; (5) Gloating over the evil you’ve done – instead of placing your head between your knees in sorrow, shame and regret over what you’ve done; (6) False Testimony – being an untrusted witness – in court, or if questioned by authorities; and (7) Stirring up strife between others – This might be friends, family or coworkers, where you have chosen to help divide, instead of bringing peace between the affected parties. Friends, no doubt you could see yourself in one or more of these seven things. Let me suggest that you speak with the God of this universe, and ask for His help, strength and guidance in overcoming the temptations of the evil one. Please join me in a desire to be more like Jesus and to follow His teachings and His will for our lives. Jesus went about doing good in every walk of life, and so should we, God being our helper!

PRAYER: Precious Lord Jesus, we, your children, have allowed the world to sway our minds and lead us into actions that You despise. As Your child, we are embarrassed and sorrowful, so we seek Your forgiveness today and ask for invaluable strength to overcome our weaknesses. Please guide us into all truth, and remind us often of the One to whom we belong, and help us to live boldly in the light of Your teachings and Your example, so that others may see and believe in the God we serve. Please speak firmly to the unsaved today, so that they may surrender their lives to You and become one with You. AMEN!