Small, But Powerful!

On 2015-05-142015-05-14 By Ed AlgreenIn Blessing, Hurt, TongueLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – James 3:7-12): ^7–10 This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! ^10–12 My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

THOUGHTS: It is unfortunate, but in spite of the warnings by James, it seems like we have paid little attention to his words. Still today, we are finding where many are being blessed by the good things that come from our lips, but yet we are also seeing friends hurt by the things that we say without regard to their feelings and/or implications to their reputation, and/or the chances to convince them to follow our Lord and Savior. James is telling us to do a self-check, because we can’t possibly deliver blessings using a small instrument in our body – the tongue, and also with the same instrument deliver bitter words and hatred. He likened it to a spring where we would never expect to see fresh and brackish water come forth from the same spring. Also as part of our inner check, James has challenged us to consider how friends we are witnessing to would never expect to see us righteous and holy one minute, and the very next minute see us being a bull-headed, cruel, mindless, thoughtless, abusive and hateful person, spitting forth evil and hurtful words. He likened this to a tree that bears only one type fruit. I believe the sobering part of this whole discussion and exhortation by James, is that God knows the ‘real’ us. We may try to convince people of our goodness, but God knows all about us. Friends, we must be sincere every hour, every day and with every word that comes forth from our mouth. If we truly belong to Christ, then every word and every action must exemplify Him. How are you doing friend? It’s a constant battle for me, which leads me to the cross daily for much needed help. Are you a child of the King and can go directly to the throne for help? If so, please surrender your thoughts and your entire life to Jesus daily for His guidance and blessings. To be like Him – speak like Him and act like Him, you must be closely attuned to Him. Bible Study and prayer is two very important habits that will draw you closer to God and tune your ears and mind to His powerful touch. If you have not surrendered your life to Jesus’ control, please read through my ‘Footnote’ and follow the links for the help offered. With God’s help, we can do ALL THINGS for His glory!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, each day I want to grow stronger in You and become more like You. To do this, I am reminded that I must give You full control of my most inmost being, because I believe that from the heart the mouth speaks. So Lord, although it’s my tongue that I particularly want You to have ultimate control over, I also know that it is of even greater importance that I give You total control over my heart, mind and soul. Clean on the inside will produce clean and wholesome words on the outside, but this can only be achieved with You in total control of my life. Please take control dear Lord. I’m yours! Please speak to hearts of all my readers that may meditate on this devotional today. May they be impacted by You, for I ask all this in the precious and worthy name of Jesus, my King, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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!

Evidence of our Faith

On 2015-05-132015-05-13 By Ed AlgreenIn Evidence of Faith, FaithLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – James 2:14; 21-23): ¹⁴ My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don’t do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you? …… ²¹ Well, our ancestor Abraham pleased God by putting his son Isaac on the altar to sacrifice him. ²²Now you see how Abraham’s faith and deeds worked together. He proved that his faith was real by what he did. ²³ This is what the Scriptures mean by saying, “Abraham had faith in God, and God was pleased with him.” That’s how Abraham became God’s friend.

THOUGHTS: Ever noticed how we evaluate people to determine who they truly are? After a short meeting with, or introduction to, someone, generally we can come away with our minds set on who they are deep inside. James is getting a similar point across to us in these verses today, for He tells us that if we truly have faith, there will not be a need for us to tell folk that we have it, but that it will shine through in our actions. The example given by James is a mind opener on this subject. Imagine Abraham exercising his faith in God to the degree that he is headed to the place of sacrifice prepared to place his own son on the altar to be sacrifice, because this is what God ordered him to do. Imagine doing something like that, being assured that God will work out something for His good, if we follow His command! Friends, I believe that this story is pure evidence that the faith of Abraham was far greater and convicting to him than any earthly possession. Matthew Henry said in his commentary on these verses: “This place of Scripture plainly shows that an opinion, or assent to the gospel, without works, is not faith. There is no way to show we really believe in Christ, but by being diligent in good works, from gospel motives, and for gospel purposes.” I truly believe that we are tested each day on our level of faith, and by the end of the day we can analyze how much of what we said or did was based on our faith in God and dependence on Him, versus how much was a result of our selfish will for our own selfish purpose. I believe the question to ponder today is, “do we truly believe in God?” If so, “Why do we not exercise sufficient faith in Him to prove our faith in, and dedication to Him” If we never said a word to our coworkers about our Christianity or belief in God, would they know by our faith that we are a Son, or Daughter, of the King of all kings, based on our expressed faith?

PRAYER: What a mind-sobering thought for us today oh God! We say with our lips that “we believe in You”, but is our faith truly evident and noteworthy to those that we come into contact with? What’s inside of us will truly come out when we face relatives, friends and coworkers who have gained knowledge of us through everyday dealings. I wonder, have they seen through my actions alone that there is a God, or that I am controlled by, and encouraged by, the very God of this universe? Please help my friends reading this devotional today, and myself, to truly put our heart where our mouth is. It is very easy to say at church, or in the presence of fellow Christians, that we are ‘Christian’. May our hearts be so affected by Your grace dear Lord, that our actions will overflow with the abundant faith of our hearts, and may You be glorified if this faith is recognized by anyone, because it’s all about You Jesus. I ask all this, in faith, and in the wonderful name of Jesus, my Lord and soon coming King, AMEN!

The Royal Law

On 2015-05-122015-05-12 By Ed AlgreenIn Love, Seek God First, UnconditionalLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – James 2:8-9): ⁸ You will do all right, if you obey the most important law in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves. ⁹ But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you have sinned.

THOUGHTS: Some translations refer to the law, or rule, mentioned in verse 8 as the ‘royal law’, meaning that it was issued for kingdom heirs by the King of this universe, or the King of all kings. The reason why I feel James sums up a lot of scripture in these 2 verses, is because we who know Jesus as Lord; the love He extended on Calvary as a sacrifice for our sin; the love extended when He healed the sick and brought the dead back to life; it is that kind of love and power that will cause us to walk aright and love those who seem impossible to love. So yes, a lot of the laws of God can be summed up into this one law, if we:

Know the source of love itself and the One who first illustrated sacrificial and unconditional love for us;
Stay in the Word of God so that we can learn it and seek to live it out every day;
Realize and acknowledge that Jesus demonstrated real love, and as His replicas, His children, His disciples, we must strive to live as He lived;
Stay attuned to the scripture: ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all other needs will be met’. Live with that priority in mind, and like we really believe that He will meet our needs;
Wait for God to accomplish His will in our lives and work out His righteousness in all that we are, or need to be, in order to look like Him.

Unfortunately, verse 9 teaches that if we fail to do the above, we have sinned. I would challenge you to strive to be more like Jesus every day. Then you will quickly realize that you are no less than anyone else, or no better than the rest, for God will place you on a level playing field where you can be effective for Him.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You did it right, for You loved the rich and the lowliest persons on earth. Why, You even loved me enough that You would have still gone to the cross if only I needed to see the way to Your Father. When I accepted You as Savior and Lord, I committed to live my life as You demonstrated for me while here on this earth – as detailed in Your Word. I believe that many friends will read this devotional today and would acknowledge their faith in You also. However they, nor I would dare say that we can live the pure and righteous life that You lived. In fact, James has challenged us to love each other as much as we love ourselves. We need Your help with this Jesus. Please help us to keep our eyes fixed on You and to allow You control over our lives. Help us to unselfishly love others because You first loves us, and not for what we might receive in return. I humbly ask this in Your precious name, dear Jesus, and for Your glory that might be revealed through me, AMEN!

Who’s In Control?

On 2015-05-092015-05-09 By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, Holy, RighteousLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Good News Translation – James 1:19-22; 26-27): ¹⁹Remember this, my dear brothers and sisters! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. ²⁰Human anger does not achieve God’s righteous purpose. ²¹So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you. ²²Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice.
²⁶Do any of you think you are religious? If you do not control your tongue, your religion is worthless and you deceive yourselves. ²⁷What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.

THOUGHTS: Bankers must follow the rules, regulations and sometimes even the desires of their regulators, in order to stay in their good graces and know that they are doing what they understand the law requires of them. I believe this is pretty prevalent in many things that we do in life, but being especially concerned in this blog with what I interpret from the Bible that God requires of us, I want to remind us of exactly what God said through His servant James, in the highlighted verses today. God’s ultimate desire, I believe, is that we be as much like Him as possible. Particularly, that we be righteous, even as He is righteous. I believe it is evident from these verses, and God’s Word in general, that we will never attain righteousness as long as we allow Satan a foothold in our lives. So how do we know when this is occurring? When we do those things, and act in ways that do not represent what we know about God. We are reminded in the scripture today that self-control is very important. In other words, way too often we allow our anger to get the better part of us and we react way too quickly, based on our own opinions, rather than listening a little longer. The only way we can listen longer, is the speak less. When we do this we avoid jumping to our conclusions prematurely, and instead hearing the full story from the heart of the one speaking. Think about it friend, while God desires peace and goodwill towards our fellow man, Satan desires just the opposite to God. So when we speak prematurely and cause an argument or hard feelings in the other person, we are pleasing what Satan wants from us, not God. I am so amazed and always blessed by God’s Word, because whenever we read about God’s demands or His ‘thou shall not’s’, we can often read on and see what it is that He desires from us instead. Look at verse 27, and notice what God wants us to do with our time, instead of being Satan’s vehicle to stir up trouble and discontent. If we desire to help, and practice helping those who cannot help themselves and love them like Jesus would, don’t you see that we will be overwhelmed in appreciation of all that God has blessed us with, rather than letting Satan use us to tear down and destroy others – which is his main goal? Friends, please remember that if we have surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ, our actions are driven by God, otherwise we are naturally driven to please Satan. Strictly based on your actions, who’s driving you?

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for showing us the way to righteousness and thank You for being ‘the way‘ to righteousness. You are the One that directed what You want from us, and You provided us with the means to accomplish that. Thank You for Jesus, and the life that He lived here on earth, in order that we might learn how to live righteously like He did. Father, in a life totally committed to being like You, I need Your hand upon my every thought, my every action and my every word, so that I might follow Your way, Your desire, and Your will for my life. May I be so committed to this kind of life that Satan will find no room to tempt or use me in any way for his dirty work. Lord, I believe that my friends reading this devotional may have similar temptations today, so I pray that You might impact their lives in such a way that they may commit to giving You full control of their life and experience a total transformation. May You have Your will and way in our lives so that we may be obedient, holy, and righteous, as You intended. I ask all this in the precious name of Jesus, AMEN!

The Originators of Evil and Good

On 2015-05-082015-05-08 By Ed AlgreenIn Evil, Good, RighteousLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Living Bible – James 1:13-17): ¹³ And remember, when someone wants to do wrong it is never God who is tempting him, for God never wants to do wrong and never tempts anyone else to do it. ¹⁴ Temptation is the pull of man’s own evil thoughts and wishes. ¹⁵ These evil thoughts lead to evil actions and afterwards to the death penalty from God. ¹⁶ So don’t be misled, dear brothers. ¹⁷ But whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God, the Creator of all light, and he shines forever without change or shadow.

THOUGHTS: Less Christians believe that all things that happen in their lives after conversion derives from God, James found it important to clarify this. It served as a great reminder to me, so I wanted to share this with my blog audience today also. Just in case we ever feel like God might be tempting us to prove our faith in Him, or tempting us for whatever reason, James clarified this in verses 13 and 14. Friends, it is unfortunate, but the reason why it is so important to stay closely attuned to God through Bible Study, Prayer, Worship and Fellowship with like believers, is because as long as we are here on this earth, Satan will be a constant pain in our side. Always tempting, prodding and making every attempt to have us turn aside from, what he believes to be, a stupid decision to follow Jesus. Of course, as soon as we come to our senses we know that verse 17 is a perfect sermon for us, because while the verse is telling us where everything good and perfect comes from, we can naturally reason that the opposite must come from Satan. So I believe that our lesson in this scripture today is to remind us that when we feel temptation; when we feel evil overtaking us and when we feel like nothing good is happening to us, we must quickly come to our senses and ask God to forgive us for the evil that we have allowed to enter our lives. Ask Him to build a great hedge of protection around us. Send a true messenger of His to encourage us, and to make His presence very obvious to us, Friends, when we find ourselves slipping away from God, I believe you will always find that it is not God who is letting go of our hand, but rather us who wants to try and do things our way. It is then that we become very vulnerable to Satan. Always remember: anything good, loving and worthwhile comes from God. Anything else is caused by our weakened spiritual condition that has allowed Satan access into our lives. We can protect our righteous lives by staying closely attached and attuned to the only Righteous One, Jesus Christ. Try realigning yourself with the King of Glory today friend, and let God be God in your life!

PRAYER: Until we are reminded of all that You have done for us, and continue to do for us dear Lord, we tend to forget and even minimize Your love for us. We know that we should stay in the Word, and we know that we should revere our relationship with You oh God, but it is so unfortunate that often it will take a disaster or major event in our lives to realign our relationship with You. Please forgive us for being so weakened to sin, and so weak in our relationship with You that we would allow Satan access to our lives so easily. We are the temple of the Lord, and God cannot reign where Satan resides. Please help us to stay closely aligned to You dear God, through saturation of Your Word, through frequent prayer and through an unwavering commitment and determination to give You full reign over us. Please forgive us Lord, and be our constant Lord, Master and Ruler over all things in our lives. For I ask this in the precious name of Jesus, AMEN!

Overcomers!

On 2015-05-072015-05-07 By Ed AlgreenIn Difficulties, Overcomers, TemptationsLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Living Bible – James 1:2-4): ² Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, ³ for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.

THOUGHTS: I believe that most of us reading these verses today will conclude that our patience, or endurance, must be nearing maturity now, because of the extent of our difficulties over recent months and years! Friends, James has really reminded us (Christians) to do just the opposite to what we are tempted to do, under the power of the One we claim as our Master and Lord. Think about it, we are most apt to cry “poor me” when things are not going our way. When our faith is tempted, we tend to question why God wasn’t there for us during the time we were so weak. BUT meditate closely on what James is teaching us to do in these verses, for he, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, instructs us to be happy in these cases, because we are seeing evidence that God is developing us, or maturing us in our faith. This most often comes at a time where God knows that there are bigger things ahead where we will need the increased endurance or patience. It comes at a time where it will be obvious to sinners that the only thing accountable for our endurance/patience must be the bold work of the Savior working in and through us. So friends, let us especially stand firm to our faith and, in what appears to be, the weakest times of our lives. Let it be obvious to others that our strength is coming from a much higher source that anything we could do in and of ourselves. Let us be ready to brag on God – give Him the glory for all that is accomplished in us. As Christians, ‘good luck’ should hardly be in our vocabulary, for we should never depend on it. Our strength, our guidance, our endurance, our patience, our power to overcome or say ‘no’ when tempted to do wrong – all of it comes from the God we serve. The God that we ask to protect us and help us to be overcomers, strengthened by His hand for the benefit of everything, and everyone, that follows. I believe that our motto must be: ‘Know God, Know peace. No God, no peace’! It’s all about our Savior friend, we have no power without Him!

PRAYER: What a blessed man I am to have such a Savior to watch over me and strengthen my walk, even in what appears to be life’s toughest times. ‘Who am I‘ Thank you gracious heavenly Father for allowing it all to start at the cross. For while we were yet sinners, You sent Your only Son as a sacrifice so that we could be saved from this wicked world that could only destine us for Hell. However, because I (and many others who will meditate on this today) surrendered our lives to You, we were received by You, and now fit into the category of persons that James taught about. Thank You Father for the assurance of knowing that You care, and that Your promise to be with us through every ‘storm of life’ is very real. How can I possibly say ‘thanks’ adequately for such a Savior, and Your amazing love for me? Lord, please use me as Your instrument to spread that love, and to show it in every aspect of my life, so that unbelievers might be introduced to the King of Love today. Because trials and temptation still come, I am convinced that You are not finished with me yet, so I thank You for Your ongoing work in my life. May the results of Your work always serve to encourage someone else towards a decision to accept You as their Savior, is my humble plea. I ask all this in the gracious name of Jesus, my Savior, AMEN!

Sacrifices That Please God

On 2015-05-062015-05-06 By Ed AlgreenIn Giving, PraiseLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (God’s Word Translation – Hebrews 13:14-16): ¹⁴ We don’t have a permanent city here on earth, but we are looking for the city that we will have in the future. ¹⁵ Through Jesus we should always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, words that acknowledge him. ¹⁶ Don’t forget to do good things for others and to share what you have with them. These are the kinds of sacrifices that please God.

THOUGHTS: For those of us still in the workforce, I believe it is very evident that we are to strive to please our employer, and especially our supervisor, if we are to be successful in our job and enjoy longevity with our employer. Often doing the things that appeal to us, or seems right to us, may not always be exactly what our supervisor is looking for, and will not result in deepest appreciation from them. Receiving a ‘pat on the back’ or hearing words of praise and appreciation makes our day complete and worthwhile! Similarly, in God’s Word we are cautioned to think about our eternal home, because our life here on earth is only temporary, compared to eternity. If we have reconciled our lives with the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted His lordship over us, then we are destined for eternity in heaven, otherwise our default destination will be Hell. If we belong to Jesus, then we should be doing our very best to please Him and do what He desires even here on earth. In these few verses we are given items that we should concentrate on here on earth, as sacrifices that will please God:

Praise – Verse 15 even spells out the meaning of this sacrifice: Words that acknowledge Jesus as Lord. I know that we often correlate this word with the lifting of hands and singing praises directed to our King, but I believe that our lives should be so impacted by our relation with Jesus that we will no longer attribute our successes to ‘good luck’, or the ‘man in the sky’ or any other fable, but we should freely attribute our blessings to God, no matter whose presence we might be in. Our unashamed expression of praise will not only please God, but may also impact an unsaved friend that might be in our presence;
Giving to others – God has blessed us with everything we claim as ours. If we are merely keepers of the joy that result from those gifts, and not sharers, of what value is that to the kingdom of heaven? In Matthew 10:8 we are admonished to freely give, as we have freely received from God. It’s not ours friend, we are just blessed to have the gifts God has wonderfully entrusted to us!

Based on this scripture, we know that these two sacrifices please God. Let’s not be so hesitant in offering these up to God through our actions today. I believe that God will acknowledge His appreciation by blessing us in return!

PRAYER: Lord You are so good to us! Thank You Lord for all Your blessings that You pour out on me every day of my life. You were especially gracious to answer my prayer requests yesterday, but Lord I am thankful each and every day. May my sacrifices of praise and unselfish giving always be a priority in my everyday walk of life so that You may be pleased with Your servant. Please tender the hearts of the unsaved today dear Lord, so that they may openly witness Your blessings on Your people and the resulting sacrifices they offer back up to You. I’m So Glad I’m a Part of the Family if God! I pray that other’s reading this devotional can freely acknowledge this fact today. If you can’t friend, then may I recommend you spend some time reading my ‘Footnote’ below to make sound decisions towards accepting Jesus as your Savior? I ask all this in the wonderful and generous name of Jesus, my Lord, AMEN!

Jesus Christ – The Same Now and Forever!

On 2015-05-052015-05-05 By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Remember, TrustLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Good News Translation – Hebrews 13:7-8): ⁷Remember your former leaders, who spoke God’s message to you. Think back on how they lived and died, and imitate their faith. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and for ever.

THOUGHTS: I remember the first time that I installed a pet door at our home, our dog would go up to it, but not touch it. We helped him by pushing him through the door a few times to show him that he could trust it, and now he zooms through it as if it wasn’t even there! Here are a few ways that we might learn to, or enhance our, trust in God as believers:

Meditate on His Word (the Bible), and see how God miraculously handled situations for His saints such as Abraham, Isaac, Noah, Moses and Paul, to name a few. Then read the verse captioned today – He is the same yesterday, today and for ever!
Listen to testimonies of God’s faithful servants today – Pastors, Missionaries, Bible School teachers, etc, and hear how they have experienced God at work in their lives – often in miraculous ways. Very often we can hear how God is still working in their lives and be reassured that God is the same yesterday, today and for ever!
Always be ready and willing to trust God – even in the small, or what may appear to be insignificant, things in life. I head a faithful Brother say at one time that as he trusts God to help him find such minimal things as his keys, it builds his faith to ask God for help and guidance in the major areas of His life. It then helps him to gain confidence that God is the same yesterday, today and for ever!

Warning – we must be extremely careful to not let Satan tempt us into believing that God ‘is not the same’ when our prayers are not answered the way that we have instructed God. Remember God is all knowing and all powerful, and we are not. When we take our petitions before Him we must be prepared for His answer, not necessarily the selfish, unthoughtful ways that we may have told Him to answer. Let us therefore place complete faith in God, and as we take our small or large requests before Him, rest assured that He is able, and that He will respond with us in mind, knowing that all things work together for good, for those who place their total faith and trust in Him. Another warning – you can only place your faith and trust in someone you have a relationship with. If you do not have this type of relationship with the God of this universe, please look carefully into the notes and hyperlinks offered in the ‘Footnote’ below. God is able friend!

PRAYER: How awesome it is to be reminded of Your power dear God, and the unending peace I gain each day by placing my faith and trust in You. Should there be one that You may cause to stumble across this devotional today who need You as their personal Savior, Lord Jesus, then I pray that You might convict them and draw them to You. Should there be one who has lost confidence in Your ability to still touch lives today, then I pray that You might deal in their lives and cause them to remember Your awesome power. Please continue to bless and draw mankind unto Yourself, so that we might be reinvigorated in our faith and become even more bold in our witness and in proclaiming how faithful You still are today! Lord, You are gracious, good and eternal. Thank You for reminding us again that You are still God! I trust in You oh God, and ask all these things believing, and in faith – in the awesome name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, AMEN!

Actionable Reminders

On 2015-05-042015-05-04 By Ed AlgreenIn Example, LoveLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (Good News Translation – Hebrews 13:1-3): ¹Keep on loving one another as Christian brothers and sisters. ²Remember to welcome strangers in your homes. There were some who did that and welcomed angels without knowing it. ³Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them. Remember those who are suffering, as though you were suffering as they are.

THOUGHTS: In this chapter of Hebrews, we are being reminded what followers of Christ should look like in our everyday life. In these chosen verses, we can see where the following is dealt with:

Love one for another (especially our Christian Brothers and Sisters) – I believe that this is totally related to the extent to which we love our Savior. For when we are totally in love with the Creator, how can we but love all that He has created;
Hospitality – While we often look at Genesis 18 when we see Abraham entertaining angels, I believe it would be good for us to look at this from the point of view of the stranger also. What impression did the stranger get of God when he visited our home? Was he rejected because of the smell or looks of the stranger, or was this stranger accepted in the same love that Christ showed to us when, in spite of His awesome power to overcome, yet He accepted the cross for ‘low-lives’ such as us – sinners;
Those who are in prison – we are to remember them as if we were right there with them. Too often we say that we know how someone feels, and we might be tempted to say the same thing about someone in prison. But we are instructed to remember them as if we were there ourselves. This tells me that I should visit the prison and understand what it is like to live in there so that I could truly remember my incarcerated friend and truly identify with his needs and his hurts – or perhaps his victories;
Those who are suffering – This especially refers to those who are suffering for their testimonies. Paul was beat and imprisoned for his testimony, and no doubt this is still happening to our Brothers and Sisters who minister in troubling parts of the world. We are instructed to imagine that we are right there with them. So let us pay more attention to that missionary who visits our church next time and tries to tell us what it is like in the part of the world in which they are ministering. Let’s try to identify with them so we could truly feel what they feel and adequately pray for them.

PRAYER: How easy it is for us to fall into the trap of our own little ‘world’, where everything may be going along well. However, Father God, You have shown us through Your Word today that for Your children to truly follow in Your footsteps, we are to love like You loved, and feel empathy for our Brothers and Sisters who might be going through something totally foreign to us. Please tender our hearts oh Lord, and help us to make every effort to identify with each other – or show that we care about them, so that we may more diligently pray for them, meet their needs and/or love them unconditionally like You first loved us. Please bless those who will meditate on this devotional. Draw them closer to You dear God, so that they may desire to know and love their family and friends in such a way that the love of God would be evident to them. These blessings I plead before You in the name of Jesus, Your Son – my redeemer and King, AMEN!

An Unshakable Kingdom

On 2015-05-022015-05-02 By Ed AlgreenIn Reconciliation, SincerityLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Hebrews 12:25-29): ^25–27 So don’t turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn’t get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—he’s told us this quite plainly—he’ll also rock the heavens: “One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern.” The phrase “one last shaking” means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered.

^28–29 Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

THOUGHTS: Don’t you suppose that some of the super-powers in our world today wished they could say that they have ‘An Unshakable Kingdom’? We are warned that God shook up His kingdom once before when He showed the Israelites that although He preserved and cared for them in the wilderness for 40 years, most of them would not be allowed into the Promised Land because of their continued sin and disregard for God. Friends, here we are thousands of years later still being warned that we must listen and take note of the awesome God that we know and serve, because He has a side that imitates a raging fire, and just as He shook up the Israelites, He will once again shake up the earth’s population. In fact, it sounds like He is specifically speaking to the church here, because He refers to the many things we have put in place to supposedly encourage people to worship, yet those very things built and/or developed to attract our worship often breakdown the intended purpose for which we put them into place. Let me explain: many churches have split apart over the color of the church walls or the location of the piano, many more have split over the arguments that develop between members – the very persons that the ‘church’ was designed to bring together to worship and adore the one, true Lord that we all call ‘Our Father’. Friends, we are being warned in these verses that God has a much different kingdom in place for His children, but only after a good shakedown to cleanse His church – for those who are sincere in their relationship with God, and who prove it in their daily walk, talk and relationship with their fellow brothers and sisters. Where does that leave you Brother? Will you be in the group that is sifted out Sister, or are you secure in your relationship with God and His people? According to Deuteronomy 4:24, our God is not to be trifled with, for He is a consuming fire and a jealous God. We might fool our pastor or others in the congregation, but God knows our inmost thoughts and our every action – even the intent behind our actions. Often we might realize how those very close to us can see straight through our actions, so imagine how much more powerful God is. In all sincerity friends, let us get our lives in order and truly practice worshipping the one true God here on earth, so we will be ready for an eternity of praising Him in heaven.

PRAYER: With great reverence and with utmost respect I come before You this morning, knowing that in spite of Your loving and caring nature, yet You know my inmost thoughts, decisions and intentions behind everything I say or do. Please forgive me for the times that I have been less than upright or fully forthright before You and/or my fellow man. I am convinced that not only do I need You as my Savior and Lord, but I am in constant need of Your guidance, protection, wisdom and everlasting love. I need You Every Hour, as that good old hymn says. I cannot do this thing called ‘life’ without Your everlasting presence. I hope that my friends reading this devotional are in much better shape in all of these areas than I am, but I pray that You might clear the cobwebs from their minds and show them any shortcomings they might have. Lord, we don’t want to bury our heads in the sand and ignore our faults and/or our sins, because we want to stand before You one day and hear You say “well done good and faithful servant”, for we want to know that even today “It is well with my soul“. Thank You for this reminder Heavenly Father, please help us to be true to You and in our earthly relationships, and we will carefully give You all the credit and praise, for I ask these things in the matchless name of Jesus, AMEN!

Nuggets From God's Word

Tag: Surrender