Tag: Tell the world

Commissioned to Go, Tell and Heal

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Evangelize, Healing, Missions, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED Monday, 2023-01-30
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Luke 9:1-5
TRANSLATION: The Voice (VOICE)

BIBLE TEXT: 1 Jesus convened a gathering of the twelve. He gave them power and authority to free people from all demonic spirits and to heal them of diseases. 2 He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3-5 These were His instructions:

  1. Travel light on your journey: don’t take a staff, backpack, bread, money, or even an extra change of clothes.
  2. When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that city.
  3. If a town rejects you, shake the dust from your feet as you leave as a witness against them

APPLICATION: There is at least one other place recorded in Scripture where Jesus gave His disciples the necessary power and ordered them to go and tell the Good News (Matthew 28). In our Scripture today, Luke records that Jesus, called His disciples in to Him, gave them the necessary power that they would need, then instructed them to go, tell and heal as necessary. There’s a few things that caught my attention:

  • a). Jesus had been the One doing all the healing, but now, in what appears to be a delegation of power, He gave His disciples the power to meet the needs of the sick that they would come into contact with. Throughout the New Testament there are references to various gifts that are given to believers. But I wonder when, and under what circumstances Jesus still passes this power to heal on to believers today.
  • b). No matter how established the church may have been at that time, Jesus ‘SENT’ the disciples out. In other words, don’t wait for the people to get the urge to attend church, go to where they’re at. I believe this command is just as applicable to the church today as it was for these first disciples.
  • c). Tell them the Good News of Jesus and what He could do for them. I believe He wanted them to also tell the people what Jesus had done for them personally. For you see, they would rather hear how God is working today, rather than what He did for Moses when he led over a million people to a point where there was water ahead and an oncoming army approaching from the rear, or for Noah when God was about to flood the earth. Because of Jesus, and what He has done for us, we still have an awesome message to tell. Let’s go and tell the Good News fellow believers. This is too good to keep bottled up inside when we know of folk dying each day without any hope of eternity in Heaven.
  • d). Heal the sick – whether this refers to those that were physically sick without any hope of recovery, or those who were sin-sick without any hope for eternity, Jesus is the answer to all of man’s deficiencies. As a child of the Great Healer, let’s seek His power and pray, while laying holy hands on the sick. With a touch from God for their physical condition, many will also seek God’s face for healing of their spiritual condition. While this is not something we can boast of, we must be sure to extend the power of our God as He sees fit to bless us with that anointing.

But to top this whole message off, Jesus gave His disciples a few conditions that would generate supreme trust in the Almighty God. I went with a group of missionaries from my church to Mexico for a week. Other than finances, the next greatest challenge was in packing minimally as space would be limited on flights and in the vans used for ground transportation. So can you imagine trying to ‘GO’ under the restrictions ordered by Jesus in (1) noted above in our Scripture? Homes were opened to accommodate the missionaries, as there were no provisions for commercial accommodations, if any existed. This has become a huge problem today, as most church members will refuse to have a missionary or visiting preacher in for a meal, much less opening their home to one. I trust that you can appreciate the difference. Most of us will do everything possible to be accepted by the townspeople in which we minister. But what do you do if you are not accepted? Jesus knew this would happen and probably disappoint His disciples, just as it would impact us, so He prepared us in advance in (3) above for such an unfortunate event. Bible scholars will tell you that Jesus didn’t just tell His disciples to go some foreign place and, when you get – tell and heal. But instead, He told them in their language that as they GO, tell and heal. It is so important that we represent God and tell the Good News everywhere we find ourselves, not just at one specific building, street corner, country or city. As you go each day, brothers and sisters, in every way possible, tell the story of Jesus and His love for everyone you meet, God being your helper and guide.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: You now have the power, go, tell, and heal in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

PRAYER: Thank You Lord Jesus for entrusting Your disciples with the power to heal the sick as they ministered along the way that they were directed by You. I believe that if anything changed in the methods You used, as applied to us, You would have told us so. But that leaves us with a deep and awesome responsibility as your disciples. We need You Lord Jesus to endow upon us the power to represent You in every phase of ministry as we promote the Savior that we accepted as Lord of our lives. Teach us Lord to trust in you each and every day, and in carrying You with us, may we be sure to depend on You for every word we speak and for every action that opens itself to us. Have Your will and way in the lives of my readers, listeners and myself, so that Your mighty works might be revealed through our efforts. 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!

God Uses Us To Tell Others About Him

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

DATE POSTED Sunday, 2022-07-17
WRITTEN AT: O Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
TRANSLATION: The Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: 14 But thanks be to God! For through what Christ has done, he has triumphed over us so that now wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Gospel like a sweet perfume. 15 As far as God is concerned there is a sweet, wholesome fragrance in our lives. It is the fragrance of Christ within us, an aroma to both the saved and the unsaved all around us. 16 To those who are not being saved, we seem a fearful smell of death and doom, while to those who know Christ we are a life-giving perfume.…

APPLICATION: At a party, men may try to connect with ladies not wearing a wedding band, or who may not be with their husbands. In others words, they look for obvious signs to determine their availability. Yesterday I walked into a pharmacy – it was clean, well staffed, had Christian music piping over its house speakers, had signs of being closed on Sunday and although there was no aroma to smell, yet my spirit detected an aroma of Jesus Christ. When we walk into a room of people that we may not know, they tend to look, smell, listen and feel for the aroma we exude. Sometimes they detect pride, bashfulness, prejudice and perhaps, bitterness. And often these conclusions are met because of things we do, say, pretend or portray. But how would they detect the character and likeness of Jesus in us? Friends, there are some who meditate on the Word of God, and they know about the heart and character of God. But there are others who have in their minds what they think Jesus and/or His representatives should look and act like. The latter will quickly judge us and place us in a virtual box they created. I believe that Paul is teaching us to stop pretending. If Jesus is inside of us, He will shine through in every word we say, in every helpful and unselfish deed we perform, in our warm and friendly smile, and in our unashamed glorification of our Master. To say it in yet another form, it will be evident that Jesus is at work in us and not we ourselves spending every effort to promote self. In verse 17 Paul went on to ask who might fit the qualification, or character, of Jesus? I can only believe that this is something that each of us must answer individually. May God create a humbleness in us that will seek to overstep our selfish desires and instead promote the love, sacrifice and God-like character of our Savior and Lord. No matter how much we try to preach, teach or evangelize the goodness of God, our lifestyle, character and words will always override in the mind of the unsaved we are trying to witness to.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Our love, character and words that exemplify our Master, will be a sweet aroma to those searching for Jesus!

PRAYER: What an honor to have You live in, and bless us, each and every day, precious Lord! So undeserving, yet You opened our eyes and allowed us to see Your sacrifice and experience Your love. Thank You dear Lord for loving us and treating us as our very own child. May it be obvious to those that we mingle with that Jesus is present, because of Your amazing gift of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us. Oh Lord, may the words from my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, and may I be a living witness to the lost and unsaved. Be glorified in me today dear Lord, and also in the lives of those I will interface with. May the lost see life – eternal through their experience with believers today, and may You be glorified. 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!

What Happened?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Bible Believing, Christian, Faith, Humility, Obedience, Righteousness, SurrenderLeave a comment

Friday, 2016-12-23

Scripture

Bible Reference: Luke 2:15-17

Bible Text: 15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.

Bible Translation:New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

Perhaps this Christmas, as we are reminded again about the actions, excitement, awe and obedience of those involved in the story of the birth of Christ, we might ask ourselves “What Happened?”. Why is it that poor shepherds who saw nothing but stink, four-legged sheep all day and then watched over them even by night, why is that they ‘got it’, and we still look through blurred glasses and see nothing but gifts, shopping, stress, children singing and preachers bellowing, but we never stop to consider the thought of meeting or knowing the One that this whole thing of Christmas is all about? I believe that way too often we would represent the shepherds who saw and heard angels for the very first time, recognized that yes, they are directing their message towards us, but then sit back and say “oh well, that was nice. They were in tune and did a wonderful job” and then roll back on our side and go to sleep. Please stop and read the story again, the shepherds didn’t settle for hearing about this miraculous birth, they wanted to see, feel, and witness the scene, the baby, the parents and understand the whole concept of what this whole thing was about! So what do you suppose happened to you and I? We have attended, and probably still will attend church events where we hear in song and word about a God who loves us so much that He miraculously caused His Son to be born among us; lived among us and performed many miracles to prove His relation to God; humbly and obediently died between two common criminals, just to prove His love for us and to provide the means of eternal life for us. Yes friend, that’s the kind of amazing story that surrounds the One we will hear about this Christmas, but will you look deeper than the ones singing, the ones preaching and the nagging mother who tries every year to get you out to church with her, and instead commit to knowing more about the One whom this whole Christmas thing is about? If your best friend told you they were having chest pain, you would not simply smile at them and express your disappointment, most of us would start researching for ways to help that friend overcome the problem. So what happened to us that we would hear of Jesus and deflect that good news and reject the offer that still stands today – to know Him personally and accept His free gift of salvation that leads to life eternally with He and our Father! Friends, may I encourage you to know Him; know the true meaning of ‘love’ in its purest form, and know about that peace that surpasses everything we could every imagine or understand this Christmas season? This could then truly be the merriest of all Christmases for you and those you love, friend!

Prayer

Lord God, we are thankful that You gave to us in the form of Your precious Son in greatest humility back in Bethlehem many years ago. We are compelled to seek Your forgiveness for the ways that we have focused attention from Your birth and more towards the commercial aspects of Christmas that we now find ourselves caught up in. I believe that what has happened is that the evil one has found ways to distract us from Your birth and instead more towards the worldly pleasures that pull us away from You. Please restore a desire within us to know You personally and a deep commitment to serve You and share Your love with others. May we be reminded that because You gave to us of your very best, we too might give You our heart and share our love with others in ways that might draw them to You this Christmas. 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!