Tag: Righteous

Give As An Indication of Whose You Are

On By Ed AlgreenIn GivingLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

25 Lazy people who refuse to work are only killing themselves; 26all they do is think about what they would like to have. The righteous, however, can give, and give generously.

(Bible Translation and Location: The Good News Translation – Proverbs 21:25-26)

Thoughts:

I have found wisdom in the book of Proverbs, but found it challenging to find something in them to share in these devotionals. However, God challenged me in these two verses that we are centering on today. For I believe that in today’s society, even Christians have obligated themselves financially to a state that they have to be totally, and perhaps even overly committed to earning the next dollar instead of relaxing in the peace of God’s love. In fact, I am convinced that most of us are working such stressful jobs and extended hours, and we are so tired when we finally get home, that several things are impacted:

  • Family structure – Look at how the family is so stressed that there is little time for love, devotion, sharing and worship? Divorce rates are at an all-time high. Kids are leaving homes often to do ‘their worldly thing’ that often excludes churchgoing, but often includes criminal mischief.
  • Daily time with the Lord – Often due to stress and tiredness, our family and friends are spending more time in bed and excluding time with the Lord. One of the most important things that we should do, yet it is getting neglected.
  • Biblical Practices – You can’t teach what you don’t practice yourself – Imagine trying to encourage your child to pray, when they never see you on your knees. Or force your child to attend church, but it is evident that church attendance is at the very bottom of your priority list. Or to read their Bible for their godly instruction, but you’re having trouble finding yours because you hardly ever use it.

These things that I mentioned are just a few of the things that show evidence of whose we are friends. The Bible says in Luke 12:27 that we should be as free to worship, and to give and spend time with the Lord as the lilies. What have we done to ourselves friends? Could Satan be getting too deep into our lives through things we have, or would like to have, that he is pushing out our desire to spend the necessary time with God? Remember, God is the giver of all good things in our lives, but He is a jealous God. Let’s not expects His gracious gifts but give our allegiance to Satan and all of his tactics to distract us. Let’s re-learn the art of giving to God, both of ourselves and of our gifts that He has blessed us with.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I come humbly before You today guilty of much of the above. You have blessed me immensely, however there are parts of my life that indicate my total allegiance might be a bit skewed. Please help me to get back on track, to re-learn the art of total allegiance to You and not to be so attached to this world that brings nothing but stress and heartaches. Please touch the hearts of my readers today that they too might be inspired to examine their lives and to give of themselves and their finances unreservedly to You and Your causes. Lord, I believe that our churches should be the one thing that survives all financial stresses, as You continue to go to give liberally to us even through earthly financial depressions. Oh that this might be evident in our lives and in the life of our churches today, is my humble prayer that I ask in the name of Jesus, my Lord, 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!

A Promise To The Righteous

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Ask and Receive, Bible Believing, Born Again, Christian, Eternal Life, Faith, Follow Jesus, Forgiveness, God Cares For Us, God’s Word, Heaven, Listen to the Word of God, Obedience, Our Help comes from God, Peace, Reflecting Christ, Righteousness, Surrender, Things that make God angry, Victorious LifeLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE Studied: Genesis 5 – 7 

OBSERVATION (What is God saying here?)

17 “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die.18 But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives.19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood.20 Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive.21 And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.” Gen 6:17-21 (NLT)

APPLICATION (How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

Although I have heard and read the story of Noah many times before, I was touched by this again today. God made man in His own image and in these chapters studied I found where men were still having sons well over 100 years of age, plus living in excess of 900 years. However God became very upset over the increasing evil that He saw in man and vowed to maximize his life to 120. Still, evil continued to the extent that it angered God into wiping out all living things made by Him on this earth. However, He was able to find one righteous man, Noah. The covenant He made with Noah is similar to the one that he makes with those of us that accept Him as Lord and then strive to live righteous lives. Throughout all the destruction of all living things – water on this earth of more than 22 feet above the highest mountain, yet He kept Noah and his family plus a limited number of animals, safe. Later in God’s Word He provides another covenant for those of us that accepts His Son as Lord of our lives, and this covenant is that we may live eternally with Him in glory! I don’t know about you, but to have the love of the Father – our creator, poured out on me as a child of His here on this earth, plus to also be assured of eternity with Him in glory is enough to make this life tolerable and  worth every moment of every day facing the everyday challenges of this temporary world. Noah was saved, together with his family, because He followed the will of God and lived a righteous life in the eyes of God. We can do the same today if only we will follow the plan outlined by God. Do you know this Savior of whom I speak of here? The invitation is open to ALL who believe and accept Jesus as Lord of your life. Read John 3:16 to understand the full depth of God’s promise. Won’t you covenant with God today friend? Read though this help page for directions, or contact me by responding to this post. Jesus loves you, and so do I!

PRAYER (With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because of what He said here today?)

Father, You have shown in Your Word how important it is for Your creations to dedicate themselves to their creator. Thank You for the awesome job You did in wonderfully making me and then providing a means for me to have life eternally with You. I pray that everyone that reads this post today will be convinced of Your love, and that their hearts will be troubled enough to not let the sun set today before making a commitment to accept You as their Lord and Savior and to live a righteous life in Your sight, during the time they have left here on this earth. May You rule and reign in every aspect of our lives today!