Tag: Praise Him

Why Christians Lack Thanksgiving

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Thanksgiving, Worship2 Comments

DATE POSTED Wednesday, 2023-01-11
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Colossians 2:6-7
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: 6 And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all he has done. 8 Don’t let others spoil your faith and joy with their philosophies, their wrong and shallow answers built on men’s thoughts and ideas, instead of on what Christ has said.

APPLICATION: Ever notice how we struggle to find things to share with the family at Thanksgiving, or perhaps we share just the same old, same old? Are we really overflowing with thanksgiving each day as we reflect on all the reasons we have for being a child of the King that day? How is it at your church when your group is asked to share what they are thankful for? Is the room filled with silence, or are you challenged to find an opportunity to get a word in because of the endless praises of thanksgiving being offered up by your group? I wonder if in many cases we are caught up in telling the pastor, or group leader what we think they want to hear, or perhaps trying to encourage a group member by saying what you feel they need to hear. What if that challenge was restated as ‘what would you tell God right now that you are thankful for in what He’s been doing in your life’? Please allow me to restate some of the things that Paul reminds us of that will influence our attitude of praise:
=> Trust God with each day’s problems – When we don’t do this, we tend to go into overload, as troubles tend to increase when we mess up in trying to solve them alone.
=> Live in vital union with Christ – I feel like ‘vital’ means that we shouldn’t dare to attempt life without seeking out our Lord Jesus in everything. Only Jesus knows what lies ahead for us, and only He knows the way to the Father. So, we must always incorporate Jesus in our plans, even after asking Him to guide and protect us on our journey of life.
=> Let your roots grow down deep in Him – I was nurtured as a baby, lived with my parents, listened to them, fed the best meals by them, seen their lifestyle, witnessed their success in life, and therefore became, what I believe to be, a reflection of them, because of my roots being embedded and nurtured by my parents. That what we can expect when we allow our lives to grow deep in Jesus also. When others try to discern where our strength, our beliefs, our principles, and our practices come from. I pray that they will easily discern the depth of our love and admiration of, and our obedience to our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
=> Grow in the ways of God – We learn the ways of God by reading about Him and His practices, throughout the pages of His Word. We grow in His ways by making every effort to obey His Word and all that He commanded us to do. We grew in the ways of our parents by obeying what they instructed, and in imitating what they did that resulted in a blessed and successful life. It’s no different in the formula to grow in the ways of God.
=> Be ready to defend your faith – Paul taught that when we fail to do the above things, we will accept whatever goes on around us, and taught by whomever comes our way. With Jesus as our Savior, and with our determination and godly principles in place, we can depend on God to help us defend our faith. Let me encourage you to reflect back on this anytime you feel like you have been gullible in listening to false teaching or failed to stand firm in your faith.
Friends, I believe we were designed to explode in excitement, joy and thanksgiving when we see good and glorious things happening in our lives because of our determination to be more like Jesus every day. So, what are we thankful for? Give me an hour as I share with you the love of my God for a servant such as I, and for His deliberate blessings poured out on me each day!! An old hymn was written about this end result ‘Count you many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done‘! And another ‘Thank You Lord, for Your blessings on me‘!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Praise and thanksgiving will come naturally when we’ve been with Jesus, and when we’ve taken particular note of how He’s been with us in all of life’s challenges and good times!

PRAYER: Lord, You are good and Your mercies endure forever and forever. I can’t imagine life without Your love, power, teachings and Your wonderful blessings each and every day. Thank You Lord for desiring a relationship with me – such an unworthy vessel – until I found You. Thank You for the reminder, through Paul, of the things that will enhance our relationship with You and fill us to overflowing with praises and thanksgiving to You each and every day. Oh Lord, please let this be something that attracts the unsaved person to You. Help them to know that it’s only because of You that we could smile in our storms of life, for we know the end of the story and all the blessings that await us in Heaven. Please Lord, allow this word today to encourage and strengthen the commitment of Christians, and use it to show the unsaved world all the difference that You make in our lives, so that they too may desire relationship with You. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog might indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. 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!

God’s Desire For His People

On By Ed AlgreenIn Evangelism, God's Chosen People4 Comments

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Jeremiah 13:11): …. That’s how tightly I held onto the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. I wanted them to be my people. I wanted to make them famous, so that other nations would praise and honor me, but they refused to obey me.

THOUGHTS: This verse reminds me of the desire of most parents to see the very best for their children, yet we often see our children go on living their own life and doing their own thing. Sometimes this aligns with our desire for their success and/or their future, and sometimes not. There are times that we put aside certain gifts for our children and wait for the right opportunity to bless them with it, but there are times our children become so independent that they run off and do their own thing without wanting anything from their humble parents. So if we, as weak and humble parents plan for such good things for our children, imagine how much more our heavenly Father has in store for us? As it is, I am personally blessed beyond my wildest imagination – health, family, job, friends, church home and family, and a Savior who loves me enough to have sacrificed His very life so that I might have access to heaven through His sacrifice! Wow!! But friends, more than all of this we should truly recognize the evidence of God’s love for us. Can you even imagine that He would think of us like He did Israel and Judah? Can you imagine that He wants to be able to have non-believers look up to us for spiritual life and hope? Can you even imagine us being praised by non-believers for reflecting the light and love of Jesus to them so that their eyes might be opened to His forgiveness and His offer of salvation for them? Can you allow your mind to wander off and think about other nations looking to us, then accepting Jesus as their Lord, praising His dear name and honoring Him as He demands? I know this is mind boggling friends, but I believe that God can do what appears to be impossible to us. I believe that He can, and will, use His children who will surrender all to Him, and use us for His ultimate glory. Time is running short for the unsaved to find Truth and Hope and Eternal Salvation. Under no circumstances are we needed by God, but I believe that His Word is clear in proclaiming that He wants to use us in His service while still here on this old earth. Oh that He might have unhindered access to us today! Just let go of the evil hold of this old earth, and allow God control of a fully surrendered life to Him. Will you do that today? Read the footnote for help in doing this friend!

PRAYER: Lord, thank You for loving me enough to overwhelm me with Your love! That’s about how I feel today after meditating on this verse of Scripture! To think that You would love me enough to entrust me with Your message to share with the unsaved world, is nothing short of miraculous. Please help me to surrender the parts of my life that is hindering You from working completely through me. Lord, I have family and friends that show no evidence of having accepted You as Lord. Please forgive me if I have been a hindrance to them. Please give me boldness and tenacity to show them Your love, and express the awesome impact that You have been in my life. Lord, I want them to see You and accept You as their Lord and Savior. I pray that I might be used by you to be a positive influence in their life as a child of the King, and a life so filled with Your love and example that they will be drawn to You. I know that time is getting short before Your return for Your church. Please impact the lives of all readers of this devotional today in such a way that we might all be re-energized to constant expressions of Your love towards all that we might come into contact with today. Thank You for being such a loving God to us, Your children. May we be acceptable in Your sight oh Lord, and worthy of impacting another life for You, Savior Divine, 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 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 blogger.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!