Tag: Resurrection

Finding Hope Through Faith in Jesus

On By Ed AlgreenIn Accept Jesus NOW, Acknowledge God, All have sinned, Awesome God, Forgiveness, God Cares For Us, God’s Word, Redemption, Sacrifice, SalvationLeave a comment

DATE POSTED
Thursday, April 24, 2025, and I was blessed to be at Mariposa at Hunter Road, San Marcos, TX when God inspired me to prepare this devotional. My Footnote will tell you how to find and read any and all episodes that I have shared over the years.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Read John 3:16-21 in your Bible or click on it to read it online in the Living Bible (TLB).

APPLICATION – as inspired by the Holy Spirit
For just a moment, I want you to consider that your recent move into a large subdivision has shown itself quite challenging. You’ve discovered that many residents are trying to survive after losing their jobs over recent months. In fact, they’re not sure how much longer they can survive without a steady income by their family. You’re a kindhearted person and you want to show your love for your newfound neighbors/friends, what will you do? As you consider your response to that question, let’s look for a moment at what God did. He created a beautiful world, then He created human beings in His own image to worship Him, follow His commands and example, and to also populate the earth. Yes, He gave them free reign to think for themselves and to be themselves. Through Adam, Moses and many other prophets, God authorized them to help guide His children into doing what He expected, and to even encourage them to offer sacrifices in lieu of their sinful acts. However, God soon saw that plan was not working the way He wanted, so through miraculous means, He sent His very own Son into the world, knowing that at some point He would have to sacrifice Him, Jesus, for the sake of His children’s sins. Today’s Scripture tells us that Jesus came as an indication of the Father’s love for us. Animal sacrifices were just not working for redeeming the sin of the people. So God sent His only Son to settle the matter once and for all. He still wanted His earthly children to have a choice, so in knowing that sin could never enter Heaven, He offered us His Son for those who would choose eternity in Heaven with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This was our one-time sacrificial redemption for the sin of those who asked for forgiveness. In verse 16, I find the verbiage interesting, for it says that if you believe in Jesus, you will be saved and live eternally with Him. Imagine, if you believe that He is the Son of God; if you believe He is God – for the Bible says that we have God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit – He is 3 in one; If you believe Jesus is our all in all; our Deliverer from sin; our Healer of our earthly illnesses; our Friend – for He not only saves us, but also loves us beyond anything we could think or imagine; our Counselor – for He speaks with us through His Word and directs our path unto righteousness; AND our Security – in saving us from our sin and keeping us saved until He calls us home to glory. Friends, we have a Savior, His name is Jesus, a gift from God Himself. The choice seems imminent and obvious, but it’s one that you must make for yourself in order to be saved. Without it, knowing that sin is not allowed in Heaven, there is only one other place that will have you – Satan’s domain – Hell.

PRAYER
A very well known verse with an immensely powerful message, yet we are reminded of Your message of love, forgiveness and grace that is available to us because of Your sacrificial and powerful gift given to us through Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Thank You Father for loving us so much to do this for us. Thank You Jesus for freely surrendering to the agony, pain and humility of hanging on that cross at Calvary, when You could have easily called on many angels to free You from such agony and disgrace. We indeed are a blessed people, and we are so appreciative of such a loving Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Please Father, break down the walls of pride and stubbornness in the hearts of those who have yet to surrender to Your Son. May this be the day of salvation for many who might be reminded through this devotional today.

FOOTNOTE
If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please take advantage of the information provided on my page ‘To Know Jesus’. Alternatively, consider speaking with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. One of God’s servants will pray with you and offer help and encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. If you would like to read more of my devotionals or subscribe to receive a daily email containing each new devotional, please visit NuggetsFromGodsWord.org. Friends, I encourage you to find a Bible teaching church home near your residence and attend as frequently as possible. Get to know God and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk while you make every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider being a part of that while also growing in your faith as you worship with fellow believers!

Prepared For The Resurrection?

On By Ed AlgreenIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

(The New Living Translation – 1 Corinthians 15:21-23)

Thoughts:

Living in the part of the world where I live, we are used to the idea of being prepared for hurricanes, should one become a threat to our area. We have written plans on the type kits we should have prepared to just take off with, should we hear of a threat, and we have our escape routes all mapped out ahead of time. No doubt many of you have similar scenarios in your respective areas. Many of us do well with these, and we are therefore ready when the call comes, others sometimes die a horrible death because they become trapped in their environment by the terrible storms, due to their lack of readiness. I find it interesting that many non-Christians take these preparation efforts so seriously, especially when they are basing their actions on the weather man’s word, and on something that he/she has no control over. However, when it comes to believing the Word of God, we are often told by these non-Christians about the many fallacies they see in the book. Lord Jesus, oh that they may realize in time, that the same God who steers the currents that control hurricanes, winter storms or any other type of natural disaster, is the same God that inspired the Word of God, and who stands firm on His Word and its promised actions. Matthew Henry, in his commentary on these verses wrote: “There will be an order in the resurrection. Christ himself has been the first-fruits; at his coming, his redeemed people will be raised before others; at the last the wicked will rise also. Then will be the end of this present state of things. Would we triumph in that solemn and important season, we must now submit to his rule, accept his salvation, and live to his glory.” So friends, I realize that we don’t care to think about morbid things like the end of our life, but I want to remind you that the decisions you make today will result in whom you will serve here on this earth, and with whom you will spend eternity. As in the case of natural disasters, how prepared are you for your eternal peace? If you feel a tugging in your heart to straighten up your spiritual life, please use information in the Footnote as your guide for help. One of these resources would love to pray with you and guide you into a peace that surpasses all understanding, I especially would love to help!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, my friends are I are crazy about, and super concerned about tomorrow, next year and especially about retirement. We become super excited about preparations and readiness for hurricanes or other such disasters. Yet, unfortunately, we spend little time in our readiness for eternity. I realize that there is so much hype about the various ‘feel-good’ programs, that we are generally not anxious about preparation for such things as death, but I thank You Lord for reminding us in Your Word today about the reality of this life-event, and the good, bad, and the ugly about what our outcome will be, based on our decisions today. Please forgive me for my littleness in not sharing this enough with my lost loved ones, in an effort to help them be as prepared for eternity as they are for all other milestones in their lives. Please touch the hearts of those who are ready (Christians) so that we might not only stay closer aligned with Your will for our lives here on earth, but enabled to help others who have not yet prepared themselves of this inevitable life event. Please tender the hearts of the non-believer today dear Jesus, and encourage them to accept You as their Lord and Savior, for without salvation, eternity with You is impossible. Lord, You are good and Your mercies endure forever. I ask this all in Your precious and wonderful name, believing that You will touch the lives of Your children (Christians) to better prepare for this important resurrection day, 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 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!

What Say Ye, Christians?

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, UnashamedLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

     Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection? If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ.

(The Message – 1 Corinthians 15:12-13)

Thoughts:

I bet I am accurate in assuming that you are human, just like I am, and that you have sat idly by and allowed a friend to say something derogatory about our Lord and Savior. I wouldn’t even go as far as to say that the words that made you cringe were things like curse words, or something where folk have used alternate words to really mean something else that may otherwise offend you. I am of the impression that Paul faced a situation similar to that I just explained, where followers of the Corinthian church stood by and said nothing when friends made fun of their belief in the resurrection. God really spoke to me through this passage friends, because way too often we hold our tongue/words for various reasons: we don’t argue over religion; or I can’t afford to lose that friendship so I will keep quiet; or I can’t quote book and verse in my argument, so I had better keep silent; and I’m sure there is a multitude of other excuses that we convince ourselves of. If you read the whole chapter of 1 Corinthians 15, you will see how Paul was very critical of his followers for behaving in this manner. How do you suppose God feels about us when we act like that? Can you imagine how demanding you would be of folk for whom you permitted the sacrifice of your son/daughter/mother/father/brother/sister, and they were humiliated and put to death just for their freedom? Can you imagine how you would feel if you heard them talking about that loved one in a derogatory way, or even if they sat silently and allowed others to speak unkindly about your loved one? Friends, we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior because we believed that He died and rose again just for us and our freedom. Let’s hold Him in highest esteem and love Him with every fiber of our being. Although I am not encouraging you to fight, don’t you know that the easiest way to infuriate an opponent is to ‘bad mouth’ their loved one(s)? As children of the Lord of lords and King of kings, we should also be infuriated when we hear others speaking unlovingly of our Savior, and I believe that if we whisper a quick prayer to God, He will give us the right words for the moment, words that will reveal the love that God implanted into His kids so that we may imitate Him here on this earth, and impact the lives of those who are offending Him.

Prayer:

Father, please forgive us for our coward-ness and unappreciative attitudes in allowing just about anything to be said about You in our presence, but failing to speak up appropriately, and failing to defend the name above all names, the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. I can honestly say that You mean the world to me. Please make me bold so that I may say the same thing in the presence of those that may feel otherwise. May my actions and words prove my relationship with You. May I represent You so diligently, that the lost might have a desire to know the Lord in whom I believe. Please touch the lives of those meditating on this devotional today and impress upon them the same need to be Your sincere representative inside the church doors and especially outside the doors, as we face the world, who is falling apart without You in their lives. I appreciate Paul, and our pastors today who are unashamed of the gospel, and encourages us to do the same. Huge requests today, but I ask this in the name of the One who arose from the dead and did many wonderful miracles, so I ask this believing, and in the precious name of Your son 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 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 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!