Tag: Purpose in living

My Determined Purpose Is….

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

DATE WRITTEN: Saturday, 2020-08-01
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Philippians 3:10
TRANSLATION: Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

BIBLE TEXT: 10 [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [[b]which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]

OBSERVATION: What a thought to ponder today! For the non-believer, I’m sure we would hear quite a variety of things that they are determined to accomplish during the time they expect to be here with us. But for the believer in Jesus Christ, how would you respond? Not to me, but to God! I believe that Paul spoke from what was bearing on his heart at the time. Stop and think about what your automatic response might be if you were asked this question while you are out and about today!

APPLICATION: We often become sidetracked with the things of life that just pop up unannounced and unplanned, but our Scripture today shows that Paul was a very committed and determined man, so it is important that we meditate closer on this to see what Paul had to say. He was not content in just telling the church at Philippi what they needed to do, for he said in other Scripture that we could safely follow him, as he follows Christ. In this case he wanted the church to know how serious he was about his intimacy with Christ, and what his determined purpose in life was. I believe that we tend to feel more apt to listen to someone who is practicing what they preach! In the bracketed commentary we see where Paul wanted to become increasingly more intimate in his relationship with God. He wanted to grasp the depth of God’s heart – the One who loves men and women, even though they may have totally disregarded Him. Yes. You see, God was willing to sacrifice His precious and only Son to save dirty, unloving, uncaring, sinners such as you and I, my friend. I believe that Paul went to this depth not only as a man who wanted a closer relationship with the Savior of the world, but also because of all that was displayed by the Master on the cross. For those who need reminding, out of total obedience to the Father, Jesus endured beatings by the authorities, shame and mistreatment as He was marched through the streets of Jerusalem with a heavy cross on His beaten and bruised back. In spite of His power to call a legion of angels to His defense, He suffered through having His hands nailed to a cross and His side pierced with a sword. He hung and died on that cross between two criminals, while His mother looked on painfully. Jesus did this out of mere love for all those He created, who would ever seek redemption of their sin and desire a life dedicated to God. This was no ordinary man, dear friends, and Paul desired nothing more than to know Jesus – yes, to know Him so intimately that he would live the rest of his life imitating the Savior who demonstrated His love in this way. But friend, this is the same Savior who showed such love for you and I also. Are we committed enough to sacrifice our time, our talent, our money and our desires to spend time in His Word getting to know Him better; open up ourselves to Him as we go before Him in prayer; and share our story with all that we come into contact with? If He was the president of your country, I believe you would tell the world of your experiences together. Jesus is the King of the world, won’t you also consider telling everyone about His miraculous touch on your life? Paul wanted to grow into the type person that would love like Jesus did while on the cross. What is your determined purpose in life?

PRAYER: Dearest Lord Jesus, You gave the ultimate for us – life itself, even through the cruelty of the cross. Our ancestor, Paul, shared that he wanted nothing more than to be like You – especially like You demonstrated at Calvary. This leaves us to consider: what are we willing to commit to in appreciation for all that You did out of love for us? Oh God, may there never be any doubt as to whose we are, and as a demonstration of our love and commitment to You, may our actions and our commitment be such that the world will know, and may be encouraged to know, the One in whom we believe, and the One that we serve faithfully every day. Often we are challenged to get into Your Word, or pray, or even attend church, and yes, we could attribute that to lack of time. But Lord, I believe that we find time for the things of our heart. Oh that You may be so prominent in our hearts, that my readers and I will be totally committed to serving You and reflecting Your character and teachings all the days of our life. We need You precious Lord. Please embolden us, and above all, help us to make You a priority in our lives every day. 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!

The Reason I Live

On By Ed AlgreenIn Evangelize, Living with purpose, PurposeLeave a comment

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

The Bible Reference: Philippians 1:20-24
The Bible Text: 20 For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that will cause me to be ashamed of myself but that I will always be ready to speak out boldly for Christ while I am going through all these trials here, just as I have in the past; and that I will always be an honor to Christ, whether I live or whether I must die. 21 For to me, living means opportunities for Christ, and dying—well, that’s better yet! 22 But if living will give me more opportunities to win people to Christ, then I really don’t know which is better, to live or die! 23 Sometimes I want to live, and at other times I don’t, for I long to go and be with Christ. How much happier for me than being here! 24 But the fact is that I can be of more help to you by staying!
The Bible Translation: The Living Bible (TLB)

My Take Away: Of special note regarding this scripture: Paul is in prison at the time of this writing! So if Paul has the fortitude and determination to live so that He could do more of the Master’s work, even from within four prison walls, how much more those of us who are ‘free’ should be striving to do the Master’s work? Friends, we whine and we complain about so much, but do we should really have the heart of Jesus, or of Paul, in wanting to see as many won to the Lord as possible? In the above scripture, I bolded a few sentences that, I believe, is worthy of note:

  • Living means opportunities for Christ – it is only while we have breath in our bodies that we can be witnesses for the Lord, or care about sinners. Let’s not wait any longer friends, we’re on the winning side and it is our responsibility to share the Good News of our Savior and Lord;
  • Living will give more opportunities to win people to Christ – Often we will find that it’s the threat of impending death that gives us incentive to share the love of Christ that lives inside of us. Please allow me to awaken  you to the fact that we have no assurances about the next minute. The moment of opportunity is the present. Please share the love of Christ who lives inside of you with all that you care about and/or come into contact with today!
  • I can be of more help to you by staying – Only Jesus Christ has power beyond the grave. He is allowing us to remain here on earth so that we can glorify Him and spread the Good News about the Savior who loved us enough to die for us. In a nutshell friend, this is our mission!

Friends, we remain on this earth to be shining examples of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It’s not about politics, gossip, sports, the lotto or any other purpose, so make it known to everyone you know that the reason you live is to represent Jesus, and to evangelize the lost, before it is eternally too late.

Prayer: The reason that I live is …….. Lord, as we complete that sentence today in humility and prayer before You, I ask that You will take those completed sentences and correct any misgivings about our mission, compared to the one You have assigned to us. I am pretty convinced that our mission is similar in nature to what Paul shared with the Philippians, because throughout Your Word we are told the importance of surrendering our lives to You, so that we, in turn, may be a blessing to others and convince them of their need for our Savior. Please work on us today and guide us to do Your perfect will, is my sincere and humble plea. For it’s in Your beautiful and bountiful name that I ask all this, dear Jesus, 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!

2016