Tag: Service

To Be Like Joseph of Arimathea

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: Tuesday, May 28, 2024, and I was blessed to be at Advent Christian Village, Dowling Park, 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 Luke 23:50-52

THE BIBLE TEXT IS: Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.

APPLICATION OF THE WORD: Having read, heard, and learned about the man who took Jesus down from the cross, I never stopped to ponder who this man really was. Would I have been bold enough to do what Joseph did? Although we live in a free country where worshipping God is uninterrupted by our government, yet many Christians will only go so far in their public association with Jesus Christ. Some will attend a church service occasionally, as long as that service is held in a traditional church building. Don’t expect them to show up at a public meeting held at the courthouse grounds, or in a public square. It’s the preacher’s job to evangelize, so you may never see some ‘Christians’ telling others about their faith. But let us examine what the Bible says about this man who chose to take Jesus down from the cross:
> He was a ‘good’ and ‘righteous’ man – Many men we know might be ‘good’ in our eyes, but we know that term is used differently by some, so they might describe those same men using totally different adjectives. However, when you include the word ‘righteous’, like most Bible translations do, it adds a different dimension in describing a man, for you then claim that the man is ‘right with God’. Ever heard your friends refer to someone you know as a ‘righteous’ person?
>> He was a member of the Jewish high council – Even more astonishing than the above, have you ever heard anyone refer to a member of government, or a member of a committee/council elected by a government office, as ‘righteous’? Yet this was a description given to Joseph.
>>> Guilty by association, but… – As a member of the council that voted to present Jesus guilty of claiming to be the ‘king of the Jews’, it would be easy for everyone to claim that you are guilty of condemning Jesus. As such, you may hide yourself from the public eye, and especially avoid going anywhere near Jesus. But Joseph was more concerned about his Lord that he served, than he was about what government leaders, or Pilate would say. Imagine how you would feel if someone accused you and your church for protesting around the courthouse over some case that was brought against your pastor, even though you opted not to be a part of the protest? I’m sure Joseph was ashamed of the decision made by the popular vote of the Council on which he served, but it didn’t hinder him from responding to the cry of his Master, crucified for no actual crimes committed.
>>>> He lived in expectation of the Kingdom of God – This means that Joseph believed in what Jesus taught, and he lived in expectation of the trumpet call. Hopefully you are hearing the gospel at least every week, so you are constantly hearing about the soon coming return of Jesus to take His bride, the church, home to glory. Are you looking up in expectation? Are you warning your neighbors, like you would do if certain danger was approaching? Does everyone know what you are looking for every day? Anyone ever asked you to help them prepare for that expectation?
Friends, if you and I live our lives with the above qualities foremost in our minds, don’t you think that we too might be willing and ready to overcome all odds of arrest, cries of protests against us, or the mockery that some will impose upon us, to do everything within the power and will of the Holy Spirit to live a life that may force others to see what Jesus sees – a good and righteous man or woman, living with the daily expectation of the return of Jesus, our Savior, to take us home to be with the Father for all eternity? I heard an excellent phrase from my pastor yesterday – the Gospel is true. May others see enough of it lived out in us that they will come to believe the Gospel!

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Parents are often proud of what their children achieve in life, because it often reflects on their upbringing. Daily You touch the lives of Your children, dear Lord, and we will occasionally see men and women with similar qualities to that of Joseph, who volunteered to take charge of removing Your body from the cross and prepare it for burial. The world is still looking for people, especially Christians, with qualities similar to those You showed and taught, and also like those demonstrated by Joseph of Arimathea. Please continue to work in us so that we may never look at what we may have achieved in life and allow that to hinder our commitment to You, or place ourselves at a level where we feel someone less important should do the ‘dirty’ work. You showed us on the cross that You were the perfect one to make such a sacrifice. Help us Lord to always be willing to obey You and serve You without ever questioning, or looking down on a task that, we feel, is below us. Please let ‘service’ be our motto that we strive for, and may Your holy, yet humble example always be our guide. 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!

What You Genuinely Care About

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Genuine, Genuine example of Jesus, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Worship1 Comment

DATE POSTED Saturday, 2022-12-03
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Philippians 2:20-21
TRANSLATION: New Living Translation (NLT)

BIBLE TEXT: 20 I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare. 21 All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ. 

APPLICATION: Over the years I have served on many Pastor Search Committees, where we searched high and low, far and wide, in what seemed like, ‘a needle in a haystack’, for the next pastor to serve at our church. Also served on church Nominating Committees, where we looked over the church membership role to find qualified persons to fill the internal ministry needs of our church. I don’t recall this Scripture ever coming up in either of the above committees, but I wonder if, unconsciously, we weren’t led by God, like He did with Paul, to choose the candidates who were serious about the needs and work of the Lord, His people, and His church. I sincerely hope, in retrospect, that God turned our stomachs on the applicants who were after their own personal interests and just needed income to complete His mission here on earth. Nominating Committees always seemed so judgmental, because we based our decision on what we saw the individuals do in and around the church. Seldom do churches visit the homes of church families anymore, and seldom do leaders even call to check on their members. Covid? Perhaps! Busyness? Perhaps! Selfish and/or personal agendas? Perhaps! But how do you suppose that Paul knew the very heart of the men available to him for ministry? My gut feeling is that he spent some quality time with them. No devices to distract him. Keeping quiet enough to hear the heart of the individual he was visiting. Praying for each prospect in a very non-judgmental way, but always open to the voice of God on who His chosen workers will be. Friends, I believe you will say like many church leaders today will use for an excuse – ‘but these men and women who serve on our committees are just human’. Fortunately, that’s the correct answer! However, it gives them even more reason to seek the heart of the One they are serving. God has a plan for each of us, and for His ministry here on earth. We must present ourselves to Him as living sacrifices, meaning that we must approach him without a personal agenda, and sincerely make ourselves available to Him. We must surrender our will to His, and be willing to do whatever He commands, without excuses, that ultimately comes from fear and self examination. I want to challenge each reader, along with myself, to consider: if our church looked at us individually to serve in ministry, would they see someone interested in the ways, commands, and wishes of Almighty God, or just individuals centered on selfish desires and personal agendas. Just as Paul saw these awesome and trustworthy qualities in Timothy, I pray that our similar qualities are shinning brightly for God and everyone else to see, God being our helper and awesome Miracle Worker!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: May it be obvious to others what God already knows about us, and may it all be pleasing to God, and for His glory only.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You are worthy of all our praise. Please forgive us for not always acting in ways that would pleases and honor You, but way too often seeking after our own will and benefit. Paul needed someone who had a heart for the people he served and ministered to. Our pastors, and our churches still need folk like that today. Please humble our hearts Lord, so that we may always seek to serve You and represent You in all that we do, so that all the glory will be attributed to You alone. Please humble the hearts of those who need You today, and open their eyes to all that You are doing in their world, and possible even through us. Be glorified in us today, oh Lord. 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 might 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 subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would 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!

Gifts – The Reason They Are Given

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, gifts, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Serve, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Thursday, 2022-10-20
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Ephesians 4:11-13; 16;
TRANSLATION: GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

BIBLE TEXT: 11 He also gave apostles, prophets, missionaries, as well as pastors and teachers as gifts ⌞to his church⌟. 12 Their purpose is to prepare God’s people to serve and to build up the body of Christ. 13 This is to continue until all of us are united in our faith and in our knowledge about God’s Son, until we become mature, until we measure up to Christ, who is the standard. 
16 He makes the whole body fit together and unites it through the support of every joint. As each and every part does its job, he makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

APPLICATION: I believe that many people look at ‘gifts’ based on their own life-experiences and their expectations in life. Often people seem to recognize and appreciate those gifts that have an unexpected financial benefit to them and/or their family. But what about God’s children, what do we consider to be an unexpected, or undeserved gift from God? Let’s break for a minute to reflect on the greatest gift given by God to the world – His Son. Is this something anyone of that day ever expected? I don’t think so, but I do know that God saw how impossible it was for mankind to become, and stay, righteous like His is. So, we are introduced to ‘grace’ through this gift – for it was something we needed, but totally didn’t deserve. In today’s Scripture we recognize additional ‘gifts’ that God gave to us, but even for those who attend church, you not have ever looked at church officials as ‘gifts from God’? Many look down on pastors, because Satan plants it in your mind that they are only doing the job because they could find nothing else to do, or they are unqualified for anything else, or they are in the ministry for the money that Christians give in the offering plate each time the church doors are opened. But friends, even though opinions are many, and they are varied, yet we find in the Scriptures today that God told us through His servant Paul, that Pastors, Apostles, Prophets, Missionaries, and Teachers are ‘gifts’ to the church for very specific reasons, and I believe these reasons are still very valid today for our churches. Here are the reasons mentioned:
-*- To prepare God’s people to serve – attending church is not a spectator sport, it’s a time we come together for corporate worship to the one true God. Each member of God’s army must be trained to share what God has shared with them. Respect, promote and faithfully attend training sessions by your church leaders, for it’s their job to prepare you for serving!
-*- To build up the church – Throughout the week we go to work, and often interact with many people of the world. I believe God wants us to see how different He is than anything we could encounter in the world, so as we enter His house and commune with Him, I believe that we refill our heart, spirit and mind with the spiritual food necessary to go on.
-*- To be persistent in their work until certain guidelines are met– I can’t imagine this, but God’s ways are different to our ways, and the Scripture says our church leaders are required to continue their work until there is unity in the faith. There are hundreds of denominations and more churches than we can imagine. This happened because of differences of opinion and preference in leadership. I believe that one day God will tear down those walls and see His children come together as one people – His Children! Oh that we could see that here on earth, long before we get to the one heaven with the one God that we know and love.
Friends, God’s promises are true, and He said that these gifts will continue until His church is united in love and fellowship, and able to get along as THE body of Christ. This will not only result in unity of the body, but also facilitate each part of the body working together. From where I’m standing, this could take a very long time, and it will take the powerful hand of our awesome God to help us put aside our difference as men and women, so that we might prove to the world that we are indeed ‘Children of the one true God’. So let me encourage you to use this reminder to help you look much differently on your church leaders and be responsible as individuals to thank God every day for His ‘gifts’ that He poured out to His church.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: I can’t imagine, but anxiously await, the unification of God’s people, and that they be lifted up in love. Perhaps then the unsaved will see Jesus at work and want a part of that unity!

PRAYER: Lord, it seems like what we see here on earth is so different to what You want for us, Your people, as declared in Your Word. Faith is all that matters, for we are reminded in Your Word that: You can do all things; Your ways and thoughts are different to ours; You will honor Your promises to Your faithful children; and You want us to be perfect and holy, just as You are perfect and holy. Lord, there are so many that need a Savior, and so many that refuse to hear Your Word. Please impress upon Your workers the importance of respecting and obeying those who You have sent as ‘gifts’ to us. Draw us close each and every day, for we want to be just like You, Lord. Please bless Your church, Your workers and Your children today so that we might be a blessing to others as we serve. 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 might 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 subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. You may also visit me on Spotify and listen to Nuggets while you’re out and about. I would 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!