Tag: Selfish

In The Last Days

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Adoration, Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Awesome God, Beyond Description, Blessing, Celebrate God, Last Days, Needs, Praise, Praise-worthy, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED: Wednesday, July 26, 2023, and I was blessed to be at Orlando, 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 New Living Translation (NLT) IS FOUND IN 2 Timothy 3:1-2; 5;

THE BIBLE TEXT IS: ….. in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.
They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

MY INITIAL THOUGHTS: Much like Paul issued a warning to his ‘son’ in the ministry, Timothy, I was reminded of the warnings given to us when a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, is approaching. Many heed the warnings, but some decide that they know better than the authorities and stay put. God felt like Paul’s warning was important to help His children after Timothy to also be on guard, and ready for the return of Christ. Since that includes all my readers, listeners and myself, I believe that it is important that we remind ourselves of this warning once again today.

APPLICATION OF THE WORD: Throughout our lifetime there are numerous warnings that come our way, and most of them come with repercussions if we choose to disregard the warning. But the warnings from God seem to go unheeded, or so it seems, by many in our world today. Our Scripture refers to ‘the last days’ so we should know what that means. Paul is writing to Timothy who is ministering to many of the churches that Paul started, and Paul wants Timothy to know that in the days just before the return of Christ, this is what he could expect. Since Timothy was setting out to minister to the church, this means that he could expect church people to be acting this way. Now, after you close your jaw from the shock of what I just said, I believe that this may cause you to consider the church today, and whether the behaviors indicated by Paul in all the first 5 verses of this chapter continues. Unfortunately, the answer to that last thought is ‘yes, this behavior is still prevalent’. So, why do you suppose that Paul’s warnings, that were inspired by God Himself, are still disrupting life in the church, destroying the witness of ‘Christians’ to an unsaved world, and causing closed doors for those who honestly want to share the love of Christ? Paul helps us with that dilemma in verses 2 thru 4:, and I will quote that from the Amplified Version, since it goes a little deeper “They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.” Of course this is in addition to the clues given in the verses included above. Although I trust that everyone reading or listening, constantly seek the face of Jesus asking for deliverance from these worldly attitudes and sinful actions, I believe that there are many still bound by Satan that walk through our church doors, and/or challenge us each day in areas of our life that we find most challenging to surrender or align with the perfect will of God. But friends, be on guard and constantly aware that, unfortunately, Satan is alive and well in our world, and the Bible reminds us that he is roaming about seeking whom he may capture and devour. But I pray that for the child of God, that you will daily remind yourself that greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. There is no temptation greater than that which God can help you overcome. We are more than victors when we stand bold in the victory of Jesus Christ! Paul was afraid of Timothy walking into a den of thieves and lions. We still do that each day, but all the more reason why we need not go single handed, but instead go with Jesus by our side and His guardian angel going before us. Unless we do this, our human strength is usually unwilling and unable to overcome the evil one. If you have invited Jesus to be Lord of your life, let me encourage you to approach His throne each morning and ask Him to be Lord throughout that day – your stronghold; your deliverer; your Lord of all lords and King of all kings. Yours is the victory when you stand under the Lordship of Jesus our Lord! To the unsaved, please invite Jesus into your heart and allow Him to be Lord. You will not be able to deal with Him, if you have no relation with Him. He is a God of relationship, not of convenience or a Santa Claus to your every wish or whim.

BLESSINGS WORTH NOTING: Ours is the victory for those who place their faith and trust in the holy Son of God, Jesus Christ!

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Lord Jesus, thank You for the cross, and for the assurance of salvation given to those who surrender their lives to You as Lord and Savior. Each and every day we walk into a world that is much like Timothy found himself in ministry. I can only imagine how Your heart aches for us, much like Paul, especially if we enter our day on our own and with no concern for allowing You to be our guide and our stay. Lord, for those who try to do life without You, may they be reminded of reasons to do otherwise through this devotional today. For those who claim You as Lord, may each one be reminded of seeking Your guidance, protection and comfort each day while seeking Your strength to witness to and encourage at least one lost soul that day. Please Lord, may we be conscious of whose we are and may we always represent You perfectly each day so that You may continue to touch souls much like You did with me. Be glorified through us today oh Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer, 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 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!

We Have Not, Because…..

On By Ed AlgreenIn Ask and Receive, Envy, Jealousy, Prayer2 Comments

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!………

Today’s Bible Reference: James 4:2–3
Today’s Bible Text: You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: I believe that many of us read these verses and sit back in disbelief that folk would actually do this! Whoa, wait a moment…. would we ever think that God had a message through James for everyone else…. but not for us? Something can’t be right with that analysis Brother, Sister, friend. So let’s look a little closer at this. I believe that fights, arguments and many evils in life can be traced back to times when we have felt that we were not treated fairly, or obtained our desires. In fact, we become downright envious, with a strong sense of covetousness, when we look at what others have, compared to what we have, or can afford, or perhaps that we didn’t see as a priority to purchase. Our lacking could also be a scripturally based issue, for perhaps we never saw the need to ask God for it! But what normally happens when these resulting feelings well up inside of us? Friends, this is the root of conflict and strife. In fact, there are feelings that sometimes overtake us and opens the door for Satan to push us into actions that we never thought possible. It might be quarrelling, fighting, or even conspiring to do things out of spite that could lead to crimes we never thought possible. But catch this thought friends, James is suggesting that we don’t have because we simply don’t ask God for it. Is he kidding? Of course we told God what we had to have? Ooops, did I just say that??? Friends, I believe that God is warning us that instead of looking horizontal at what others have, we need to start looking up – to God, for all that He would bless us with. Remember, we are His child, so He knows exactly what we need, and what we could handle, that won’t cause us to lose track of the important things in life. You see, we should never have those things that will distract us and cause us to lose our witness, so can we learn to give Him thanks in ALL things and in all of life’s circumstances – please? I believe that most often we tend to try and satisfy our deep, selfish desires when we ask God for things. It might even sound legitimate, such as more time, more money or more energy so that we could do the things we desire to do for God. But what if we asked instead for more desire for what God promises or commands of us? What if we asked for less desire to do those things that are contrary to His will for us? Which of these might bear the motive that best aligns with God’s will for us? It may be time for us to ‘Have A Little Talk With Jesus’ – a sincere and honest talk with Him as we seek His will, without any personal desires getting in the way of that. 

Prayer: Dear God, we are so twisted, and distracted by the things of this world, and our selfish desires. Is it any wonder why we often feel so unworthy of being used by You? Lord, You created us to worship You, obey You and example Your ways before a lost and dying world. Please help us to refocus on Your will for us, instead of our selfish desires for things that we think will benefit us. Please help us to make the adjustments necessary to focus more fully and more obediently on You and Your perfect will for us. Please help us to put self aside and allow You to minister in and through us to those who need You as Lord of their life. Please touch the lives of Your children – Your followers – Your servants today, so that we may be usable instruments in Your hands. I ask these things in the matchless name of 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

Nailing Jesus To The Cross Again?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Cross, SacrificeLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Hebrews 6:4-6): 4-6 But what about people who turn away after they have already seen the light and have received the gift from heaven and have shared in the Holy Spirit? What about those who turn away after they have received the good message of God and the powers of the future world? There is no way to bring them back. What they are doing is the same as nailing the Son of God to a cross and insulting him in public!

THOUGHTS: I listen to a daily reading from the Word of God and my attention was drawn to the impact on the host as he read through the story of the crucifixion. Having just gone through the Easter season, no doubt some of us have been impacted all over again as we heard the story, or saw a reenactment, especially knowing that it was our sin that made the sacrifice/crucifixion necessary. Considering all this, I was caught aback when I read the above verses this morning, for we come across folk all the time who was once strong in their faith, but have since chosen to step away from the church or their association with other Christian friends, because of past hurts. Friends, it appears to me that we are being taught that although our sins took Jesus to the cross in the first place, when we step aside from the faith and basically say “Oh, but I really wasn’t serious about all that I committed to”, we are also placing Jesus back on the cross and asking Him to go through that horrific crucifixion all over again, so that we might try again. Would we ever in good conscience do something like this? Could we ever be so awful to ignore what was done for us at Calvary, the impact that the resurrected Christ could have had on our lives, and then look to God and tell Him that you need that horrific act done all over again? Just because of your selfish, worldly, temporary desires? Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:12, “I know in whom I have believed, and I am certain that He is able to keep that which I have deposited with Him until that day” so let us follow Paul’s example and be totally committed to our Lord until the day He returns to take us home to be with Him in glory! Pray for that Brother who has not been faithful. Encourage that Sister who is drifting away. But most of all, let us stay committed to the Master until His return! Be determined to not see Jesus crucified all over again because of your worldly desires.

PRAYER: I am reminded of that song, “Tis So Sweet, To Trust In Jesus; Just to take Him at His Word“. Father, I pray that You will work miraculously in the hearts of Your people today, especially those being reminded of this scripture in Hebrews. May we commit all over again to be faithful until the end. May we never stop praising You for the enormous sacrifice of Your Son on Calvary. With Your help, may we never allow the things of this world to lead us astray and cause us to stumble and fall. You sacrificed once too many times already because of our selfish desires. May we commit to never allowing the power of Satan to lead us on a path that shows total disregard for all You have done for us. I love You Lord, and I lift My Voice in worship, praise and adoration of Your great love. Please protect us today and lead us to eternal truth and victory in and through the precious blood of Your Son Jesus, for I ask this in faith, in and through His holy name, 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!