Tag: Serve others

Understanding Jesus’ Teachings on Service

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

DATE POSTED
Friday, May 23, 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 4:3-15 in your Bible or click on it to read it online in the New Century Version (NCV).

APPLICATION – as inspired by the Holy Spirit
In spite of Jesus teaching repeatedly that we are to serve, rather than be served, yet He demonstrated how important it could be to be served as well, based on the timing of the Holy Spirit. There are several important aspects of this familiar story in which the Holy Spirit ministered to me today, and in sharing my thoughts with you, I can only pray that God will also open your spiritual eyes to how He works in and through His children. Consider with me the following things from just the first half of John 4:
*-* Enroute to Galilee from Judea, Jesus was not afraid to go through Samaria – How often do we try to dodge that friend who spoke ill of us, or who seems to hate us, or appears to look down on us? The Jews looked down on the Samaritans as half-breeds, so although the path that Jesus took was the most direct route to Galilee, yet a Jew would go out of their way to avoid the possibility of coming into contact with the Samaritans. Friends, I am convinced that Jesus sees no ‘half-breeds’ or class of people. He created us all, and we all are precious in His sight. I believe He looks intently at the heart of mankind and either celebrates their relationship with Jesus, or He looks for ways to intently get in their way so they could be reminded of their need for a Savior. It mattered not that this was a woman, nor that she had multiple husbands, nor that Samaria was her home country. He looked at her heart, just as He does today when looking at us.
*-* Jesus asked to be served – I believe that most believers feel compelled to try and help others – to serve others, just as Jesus served His disciples at the Last Supper. If Jesus had asked to draw the water for the Samaritan woman, He would have served her need that day, and He may have even been looked upon as a gentleman. In allowing the woman to serve Him, it gave Him opportunity to compare the water she was giving, to the living water (life eternal) He could give to her. Yes, He knew where she was from and He knew about her adulterous background, but He also knew how lost she was in her heart. This causes me to stop and question myself as to who it is that I would feel intimated to serve or witness to about my Lord. Oh, that I may always use the criteria that Jesus used – what is the condition of their heart? Do they show signs of knowing Jesus? Who cares how rich they are, or how poor they are? So what if they are more, or less, educated than me. Oh, that I may never allow Satan to place excuses in my way to stop me from sharing Christ with an unbeliever, or to help a believer climb out of a dump into which they have placed themselves voluntarily.
*-* Jesus knew how this woman would impact others – Unless we are obedient to the Holy Spirit, we will merely see men and women going about their way. However, as this story develops, we know that this woman not only found personal peace with God, but she went on to impact her city. In listening to the Holy Spirit, He will guide us to similar individuals, in spite of our fears of rejection or our prejudices over various life scenarios. For the child of God who has an intimate relationship with Him and seeks to hear from Him daily through reading His Precious Word, we will know the Spirit that lives within us. He will never force us, or direct us, to do anything contrary to the Word of God. Man can only give us their opinion, but the Spirit knows the full picture and guides us accordingly. Listen careful and be ready to obey!
I am reminded of an old hymn that helps to relay the message I feel prevalent in today’s Scripture – ‘When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His word, what a glory He shines on our way. While we do His good will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey’!

PRAYER
You’ve shown us the way to go, and the right attitude we should have as we go. Thank You dear Lord for teaching us through Your Word – the Bible. Many were impacted because You chose to love, understand, and break down barriers of prejudice and pride. I don’t feel like we’ve done a good job learning from Your example Lord, so I pray that You will work mightily through every reader of this devotional. May we truly learn from Your teaching and be willing to follow in Your footsteps, so that all may know Jesus before it’s a day too late. John 3:16 tells us that whosoever believes in You will have eternal life. That leaves no one out, and nor should we in our daily witness. With Your power and Your grace, please draw all men and women unto You, and use us, if at all possible, please Jesus! AMEN!

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!

Serve Each Other

On By Ed AlgreenIn Imitate Jesus, Imitating Christ, ServeLeave a comment

Thursday, 2018-12-20

Bible Reference: Galatians 5:13-15
Translation: The VOICE (Voice)

Bible Text: 13 Brothers and sisters, God has called you to freedom! Hear the call, and do not spoil this gift by using your liberty to engage in what your flesh desires; instead, use it to serve each other as Jesus taught through love. 14 For the whole law comes down to this one instruction: “Love your neighbor as yourself,”[a] so 15 why all this vicious gnawing on each other? If you are not careful, you will find you’ve eaten each other alive!

OBSERVATION: To think of a king, or a president, or a ruler of any nation, one would normally think of all the fanfare; all the servitude that surrounds them; and all of the assistants that take care of their every need or want. However, Jesus was born into a humble setting, and while He was supremely God, yet we read story after story about how He sought to serve those with whom He interacted. As we meditate together on this, let us evaluate how well we are following His example.

APPLICATION: God has blessed us beyond measure with the freedom of salvation – meaning that, in spite of our sinful lives, and the temptations of a sinful world around us, yet He sent His very own Son to be born among us, as an indication of identifying with us and the challenges that the world places on us to conform with its ideas, customs and evil implications. I believe that during this same Christmas season, we could very easily be reminded that this Jesus, was the very Son of God. In fact, God taught us that He and His Son are one. May we be reminded that there was great purpose in God sending His Son, for to those who would trust in Him and accept Him as Lord of their life, to those God would extend salvation from sin, and the promise of eternity in Heaven with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. With this undeserved ‘freedom’ from our sin, we could very easily sit back in our recliners and declare that ‘we have it made’, so let us coast on into eternity one day without any worries. However, while that might be a true statement, the Word of God will show us, as it did in these verses today, that if we are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, then our hearts will be inclined to serve others. You might ask, or ponder, how can I possibly serve others, after all I have such limited talent? With a new heart filled with the awesome presence of God, I believe that you will see people in a different light, for you will see them through the lens of their Savior. You may have seen them as just another servant of yours, but with the eyes of Jesus you might see them as a lonely widow; or a poor and broken widower; or a fatherless child who is desperately looking for a good role model; or a prisoner who may have committed the most horrific crime, but needs the Lord. Friends, you’ve been given the awesome gift of ‘freedom’ from your sin by the holy Son of God, in return, what are you prepared to give to those that you come into contact with today? How might Jesus help them today? Might He use you in His service to help them? Will Jesus know that you are willing to serve? Why not join me in offering up: “Here I am Lord Jesus, use me”!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for serving us in so many ways, beginning with Your very humble beginning here on earth as a baby born in a stable. Thank You for placing us right in the middle of folk in our workplace; in our neighborhood; in our schools; and in our churches; most of whom need something fulfillment and encouragement in their lives. We could never take Your place as Savior, but we could very easily stop our excuses, and be the hands and feet of Jesus as we seek to serve them and their needs. No doubt they will see Jesus in practical ways then, and want to accept Him unconditionally as Lord over every aspect of their lives! Help us Lord to remain humble, but true to You and Your Word. May we seek to ‘S E R V E’ this Christmas, and discontinue the selfishness of always wanting more – especially in adding more to our already filled closets; homes; vehicles and lives in general. Show us Lord how we might imitate You, and Your expectations for this lost world in which we live. AMEN!

The Path of Blessing

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Blessing, Blessings, Humble, HumblenessLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Friday, 2017-11-17
SCRIPTURE

From:

 John 13:15-17 (TLB)

Text:

  15 I have given you an example to follow: do as I have done to you. 16 How true it is that a servant is not greater than his master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends him. 17 You know these things—now do them! That is the path of blessing.
OBSERVATION:
Jesus had just completed washing the feet of His disciples – the same guys that watched Him perform miracle after miracle; the one they called Master, and Lord, and Savior. Then after performing such an act, Jesus told the disciples to make a good mental note, because He wanted them to continue that practice, as the principle is one that would lead them to great blessings. Oh, what a lesson for us today…
APPLICATION:
Can’t you imagine this picture in your mind? You arrive at work, as usual with so much on your mind about what needs to be done that day, but as you enter the front door, the owner of the company you work for, is sitting just inside with a towel on the floor on which a basin of water is placed. With another towel thrown across his knee, the owner beckons for you to come over so that he could wash your feet. After propping up your bottom jaw, what type of inner feelings do you suppose would come over you? Do you think that you would ever look at your boss the same way again? Do you realize how proud we have become to have others share their gifts with us? Whether it’s money, or helping us take care of our home while we are off our feet with illness. We tend to become embarrassed about others giving to us in one form or another. Jesus said that as we humble ourselves and deliberately do things for one another, without regard for pride or stature or position, we are on a mission for a great blessing. When last have you evaluated who might be greater than you in your family, or in your workplace or in your church? Perhaps you should plan a foot-washing time with everyone that never crossed your mind as being greater than you. I believe that our lesson for today is to remind ourselves that everyone is equal at the foot of the cross, so why should we feel otherwise here on earth. We may have less money than our neighbor, and because of that they might have a much nicer house or car, but at the feet of Jesus we both will appear as Christ followers saved by His grace. Of course, if one of us have allowed our pride to get the upper hand of us and we have not acted like Jesus while here on earth, then chances are that there may be one missing around the throne, and having to now deal with Satan in the pit of Hell. In analyzing our position today, may I suggest that you first go back to the day and hour that you surrendered your heart to the Lord Jesus. Secondly, I would recommend that on a daily basis we evaluate our lives in comparison to the teachings of Jesus Christ (not our neighbor) to see what areas need improvement. We all want to be on the path of blessing, but to be there we have a lot of self evaluation, humility and love to work on with those we tend to look down at.
PRAYER:
Lord, we read so much about Your humility, and we want to express that in our own lives every day. We see many examples of Your love for all mankind, and although we struggle with that sometime, we are convinced that You can make a sinners heart clean, so we have no doubt that You can also help us to love everyone. We want to be just like You Lord, but we need extreme help from You to do that. Please guide us so that our path in life will lead to blessing. 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 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!