Tag: Renewal

An Intimate Relationship With Jesus Keeps Satan at Bay

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: ^day, December ^, 2023, and I was blessed to be at Florida Hunting Adventures, Okeechobee, FL when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. 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 Living Bible (TLB) IS FOUND IN Luke 22:2-5

THE BIBLE TEXT IS: The chief priests and other religious leaders were actively plotting Jesus’ murder, trying to find a way to kill him without starting a riot—a possibility they greatly feared.
Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples, and he went over to the chief priests and captains of the Temple guards to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them. They were, of course, delighted to know that he was ready to help them and promised him a reward.

APPLICATION OF THE WORD: As a child, I remember hearing adults comment ‘now you know that’s the devil’. especially when their attempts to do good seem to not go off as they intended. And a mischievous child may have been referred to as being ‘full of the devil’! We can all smile at these sayings, because we may feel like these are sayings from our past. However, in our Scripture today we can see where Satan was also involved in the people ministering with Jesus, and those that opposed His ministry. The ‘religious’ leaders were jealous of the effect that Jesus was having on their community through His ministry, and although God advises that we approach such individuals and seek to know them better, these leaders instead sought to find ways to eliminate Jesus. A sure act of Satan. Judas was a disciple of Jesus, having worked alongside Him, seen His miracles, and felt His love for His disciples and those they came across that may not even deserve the love of Jesus – at least from the perspective of His disciples. So how do you suppose that Judas went from a follower of Jesus, to one who offered himself up as a traitor? Something, or someone, got into Judas’ head and poured enough hatred and misery into him, that he chose to make a move quite contrary to the love taught by Jesus. So, do you suppose that this same behavior reveals itself today? I lived in a small, quiet, town where a young man walked into a bank office and deliberately shot each of the six staff members to death – execution style. Do you suppose that he had just finished reading his Bible that morning and reminded himself of the love and sacrifice of Jesus for his sin, and that a new place is being prepared for him in heaven? Friends, what comes out of our heart is simply a result of what we placed into our hearts. I know individuals who are impacted well into the following day, from a movie they watched the night before. It seems like every time we turn on the evening news, we are bombarded with the various acts of violence that individuals, who we may never suspect, has turned to violence and committed unreal, unforgettable, and astonishing crimes. We tend to cringe at such crimes, but surely, we must recognize that the criminals probably filled their heads with such things as the religious leaders and Judas did. They allowed Satan to take control of their lives, so they did things that no child of God would even consider. Some are opposed to Jesus – His teachings, standards and love for all mankind. But some who choose to totally ignore Jesus and freely welcome the evil one into their lives, will often say and do things that seem totally out of place, wrong and criminal to the One who loved us enough to sacrifice His life on Calvary for our eternal salvation. What do you permit to fill your mind, soul and being with each day? If it’s not Jesus, then it’s Satan and/or his demons who are out to destroy you eternally. To fill yourself with Jesus, means that With God’s help, you have forced all evil and hatred out of you, because Jesus will not co-exist with evil.

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: There are many things that we are reminded of as we reflect on this Scripture today, oh. Lord. We are lost without You in our lives, and we stand to stumble and fall without You leading our lives in the way that only You can. This is not just for the new Christian as they might still be figuring out the ups and downs of Christianity, but we see where the religious leaders and an actual disciple of Christ, are the ones conniving in a way to irradiate Jesus. Lord, I believe this shows us that each and every Christian might struggle with these types of temptations if they wander away from You or dismiss Your leadership. We are helpless and useless when trying to do life alone, and especially without You as our Leader, Director, Advisor, Savior and Friend. Please Lord, help us to stay focused on You and help us to meet with You at least daily, so that we might fill our hearts with more of You, and fix our eyes on You alone. Our desire is to keep Satan away from us, but this can only be done with You at the helm of our lives, so we trust in You and surrender our lives to You afresh. 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. For my podcast, 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. Friends, please allow me to encourage you to find a church home nearby 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!

Renewal

On By Ed AlgreenIn Renewal, SalvationLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   Isaiah 40:27-31 (TLB)

TEXT:  27 ….. how can you say that the Lord doesn’t see your troubles and isn’t being fair? 28 Don’t you yet understand? Don’t you know by now that the everlasting God, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, never grows faint or weary? No one can fathom the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. 30 Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up. 31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

OBSERVATION:   These verses speak to the ever daunting problem of mankind, where one becomes overwhelmed with the differences between what they desire, or want, and the perfect way that they feel something should be done, versus the actual way and means in which things occur. Added to this, mankind will often feel like no one listens, or cares about their explanation of how they feel. Not personally being a psychologist, I’m sure that there are lots of holes that you might poke into that description of what might cause one to become disheartened or disillusioned or depressed. Let’s meditate on how God responds to us through His servant Isaiah on similar matters….

APPLICATION:   I was encouraged when I read these verses again, and was reminded that the God we serve is the one who created this world! He created mankind, to live in this world, and because He carefully put everything into place around the globe, where might He ever send us, that He wouldn’t best direct our path and make sure that we would wind up serving His children for His ultimate glory? There are times in our life that we feel like no one truly understands how we feel, or why we act the way we do. In fact, we may embarrass some very close to us, and we may actually look to God and question why we are so unique. Friends, we are talking about the God who created us with every piece of individuality that exists in us. The One who would one day cause a scientist to stop and question, how in the world can everyone have a truly unique fingerprint? Can you imagine a time that something would be going on in our lifetime, or that awaits in our future, that God is surprised about, or caught unawares about? May I be the first to remind you today that: There is nothing too big for our God! Nothing that He is unaware of; Nothing that He wouldn’t do for His precious children (us); Nothing that He would lead us into that He will not bless and carefully help us succeed in; and no one that He would place in our presence that He would not allow our influence, or Christ-likeness to rub off on! Therefore friends, please tell me: Why would you not trust your Father? Why would you not consult with Him when you feel like you don’t have all of the answers? Why would you not consult with the only One who knows the future, when you look for direction in making the right decisions about tomorrow? Why would you not be faithful to the end, after being reminded of how faithful Jesus was right up to His final moments? Why would you not share often about the Savior who stood in the gap for you and saved you from eternal damnation. The same One who declares the best news ever heard of, when He assures us of our eternal home in Heaven, where we will rejoice around the feet of He and His Father for all eternity? Friends, for those of us that rest our faith and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God declares that He Will Renew our Strength! For it is then that we will spread our wings like eagles, run but yet not get tired or weary, and walk our daily path of life without growing faint! Run to the source of all this friends, and you too can enjoy the exciting benefits that I have given you a hint of today! Jesus loves you, and wants you to love Him also! Praise Him for His goodness, and Chat with Him about your uncertainties, for He’s your Friend, your Savior and Your everlasting King!

PRAYER:   Precious Lord, thank You for reminding us yet again how awesome You are, and how truly powerful You are. We are such spoiled children, who forget so easily about the Savior who gave His very life for our salvation. Please forgive us Lord, and please renew a right spirit within us – one that will open our blinded eyes and cause us to become obedient, humble and totally surrendered to You. Please help us to connect these dots first, so that in the eyes of the lost, they will truly see ‘children of God’ and not spoiled children wandering around trying to gain the world for our own selfish needs and wants. Thank You Lord for saving my soul, thank You Lord for making me whole, thank You Lord for giving to me, Thy great salvation, so rich and free! 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 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 Nuggets From God’s Word 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 Sebring, 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!

 

Of More Importance Than Food

On By Ed AlgreenIn Priorities, RenewalLeave a comment

Friday, 2016-12-30

Scripture

Bible Reference: John 4:31-34 (CEV)

Bible Text:  31  While this was happening, Jesus’ disciples were saying to him, “Teacher, please eat something.” 32  But Jesus told them, “I have food that you don’t know anything about.” 33  His disciples started asking each other, “Has someone brought him something to eat?”
34  Jesus said: My food is to do what God wants! He is the one who sent me, and I must finish the work that he gave me to do.

My Take

There is a saying I’ve heard around churches, “if you feed them, they will come”! That sounds bad, but it is so true of many folk who attend church today! I believe you will even see this proven at weddings where the couple decides not to have a reception, for I’m sure their attendance is down, compared to the weddings that offer a feast afterwards at a reception. Why, even to funerals are now followed by a huge reception that attracts most attendees to eat, rather than spending quality time with the mourning family members. It is unfortunate that we have gotten our priorities so twisted. Perhaps as we face the coming of a brand new year, we may look to the Word of God to make sure that our priorities are in order. Here are some examples for us to take note of, and follow as God leads:

  • John 4:31-34 – In this focal passage, Jesus saw an opportunity to speak with unsaved Samaritans, and this was far more satisfying to Him than any amount, or quality of food that He could physically eat at the time. If it was important to Jesus, should it not be for us also?
  • Matt. 14:15–17; John 4:8; Luke 18:28 – The Disciples were always concerned about the physical need, particularly food!
  • Luke 11:11-13 – Jesus taught the disciples to first remember that God will provide exactly what they need, even though their tendency was to worry about food and physical needs primarily. Imagine pleading and pleading for a hamburger, when God wants to give you a ranch where you could have all the beef you want! He will supply our needs, friends! Praise the wonderful name of Jesus!

Friends, when we get our priorities straight and do what Jesus commands in Matthew 6:33 – seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then perhaps He will see to it that ALL of our need are met, not just our physical needs of nourishment. Perhaps the next time we become so concerned over whether to have a meal in order to attract folk to an event, particularly a church event, we should read Romans 14:17-18 and remind ourselves of what’s important to the kingdom of heaven! Perhaps if we concentrate more on our spiritual needs and the desire of God for our lives in 2017, we will not only trim some fat, but we will gain a whole lot more faith, hope, love for each other, and gain a closer walk with the Lord than we have ever had before. Friends, can we make this our goal in 2017, God being our helper?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, please forgive us for alowing our priorities to drift away from the most important person, and the most important thing. We are very close to being blessed with a brand new year, where we have the opportunity to make a brand new start in our spiritual lives. We need to draw close to You Lord, for living in this old wicked world has poisoned us into following the ways of Satan instead of the righteousness that would please You, the one who sacrificed Your very own life for us. Please renew within us a right spirit, so that we might get our priorities straight, and may this all happen so that You might be glorified in all things. 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 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!

You Are Royalty!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Celebrate God, God Cares For Us, Listen to the Word of God, SurrenderLeave a comment

God’s Holy Word – Good News Translation
1 Corinthians 5:1-2

1 And now I want to remind you, my brothers and sisters, of the Good News which I preached to you, which you received, and on which your faith stands firm. 2 That is the gospel, the message that I preached to you. You are saved by the gospel if you hold firmly to it—unless it was for nothing that you believed.

Thoughts:
As I meditated on this I thought about all that a palace subject must encounter in any given day. I don’t imagine for a moment they ever arise, go to school or work and forget they are a prince/princess, or a child of the queen. I don’t imagine for a moment they ever doubt if they are protected and secure in their position. I bet that they are extremely careful to protect the sovereignty of their parent’s kingdom. Wouldn’t you imagine that they are ambassadors for the kingdom over which their parent rules, and therefore talk it up with everyone that they come in contact with? So friend, what’s the difference with any of the above thoughts and our position as children of the King of all kings? When we accept Jesus as Lord, we become His protected ones, as Satan nor the world has any hold on us anymore. We can proudly wear our breastplate of righteousness and feel adequately protected in our royal position. So why then do we find ourselves so often in the doldrums of this world’s trials and tribulations and feel so distraught and beaten up? After meditating on Paul’s message to the Corinthian church, I am convinced that we need reminding constantly that we might be in this world, but we are not of this world as we are looking to a much bigger Savior that didn’t just rescue us when we first believed, but is there each and every day to take our hand a lift us up, comfort, protect and love on us as His special and chosen children. Friend, stay in the Word every day, stay in communion with God often so that you might be reminded of His love and special care over us. Refresh yourself on the gospel, so that it may be your guide and encouragement, constantly pointing you to the One who not only died for you, but still watches over you every day. Assume your royal position friend. Remember, God sees you as His very own child, why should you see yourself as anything less!

Prayer:
Father, Daddy, Jesus, my Lord and Savior, thank You for Your gracious love for me. Thank You for the ultimate sacrifice You made for me. Thank You for adopting me as Your very own royal prince. I am truly blessed. Please help me to daily assume my royal position and represent You well. Please strengthen me to always allow Your love and character to shine through me in everything that I do or say, so that others might recognize You and want to know you as their Lord and Savior. For my friends meditating on this devotional today, please allow the words of Paul in this scripture to remind you of your royalty and your position as God’s very own. LLord, may Your children arise and be Your faithful followers today so that Your Word may come alive to the unsaved, is my humble pray that I ask in the name of Jesus, AMEN!

Footnote:
If you have read this devotional and do not know this wonderful Savior of whom I have spoken, may I encourage you to speak with a Bible teaching pastor or church leader today? If you know of none, I would welcome an email from you with information on how I may be of help to you, or how I might pray with, and/or for, you. You may reach me at nuggetsfromgodsword@outlook.com. If you are in the Highlands County area of Florida and do not have a church home, may I recommend my church home to you, Bible Fellowship Church? Let me know if you plan to attend and I will personally welcome you and help you feel at home with God’s people as we worship and learn more about His love for us!