Tag: The love of God

Use What God Has Given You

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, October 3, 2023, and I was blessed to be at 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 Amplified Bible (AMP) IS FOUND IN Luke 19:26

THE BIBLE TEXT IS: [Jesus explained,] ‘I tell you that to everyone who has [because he valued his gifts from God and has used them wisely], more will be given; but from the one who does not have [because he disregarded his gifts from God], even what he has will be taken away.’

MY INITIAL THOUGHTS: Perhaps a well-known biblical illustration to many, but the message may be very new to others, since they may still question why some are so blessed, while others seem to go unnoticed by God. In fact, you can almost visualize why they say that they have no talents gifted to them by God. For today, let’s not look around at what others have, or don’t have, let’s take this opportunity to ask God to see what we’re missing out on personally.

APPLICATION OF THE WORD: For the one blessed with lots of money, it may be obvious that they are, or were, successful in life, but if we interviewed them, do you suppose they would say that they feel blessed of God? For the one who attends a thriving church at least one Sunday per month, do you suppose that if you interviewed them, they would share how God blessed them in adding to the Kingdom every week because of their love for God and His church? To properly analyze these questions, you may have to stop and ask God to help you pinpoint your special gift from Him. Many will say that they have no ‘gift’ or special talent, but is God wrong in what Luke told us that Jesus said? Perhaps you may be looking at your bank account and wondering how Jesus could say that He has given you more and will continue to bless you with more. Suppose you were to deliberately take a few moments each day to get alone with God and thank Him for His mercies that are new? Your immediate response may be that everything is normal for ‘you’, so you see no reason in thanking God. I believe that I could share a few examples with you on why we must learn to be thankful and praise-worthy servants of Almighty God. I am separated by about 200 miles of land and water from my only brother. He is a commercial diver. Two of his buddies died over recent years, one about 20 years his junior, and the other slightly older than him. the younger one died because of the hazards divers face every time they go down with compressed air. The other died from a heart attack, likely caused by the daily stress on the body of a commercial diver. But God continues to protect my brother, and I am once again reminded how thankful I am for God’s protection and watchful eye over my brother. On land we hear of people dying from car crashes when just heading out to the store, yet we take on long trips without stopping to ask for God’s protection and His guiding hand. One of the biggest challenges to many, is to recognize the God who created us and learn to be thankful to Him for every aspect of life. Our verse today reminds us that God gave us life, health and daily provisions. He continues to bless us each and every day. I don’t know about you, precious reader and/or listener, but for the one who fails to recognize God for who He is, and for all that He does, can they really expect Him to continue blessing, continue protecting and continue leading them into successful, peaceful and amazing opportunities every day? If we fail to recognize God in the good, happy and successful times of life, on what basis can we pour our hearts out to Him and ask for His help in the rough times of life? Perhaps an alternate title for this devotional could have been ‘Where would I be without Jesus?’. The next time we raise our fist to God or complain to Him about taking away the good things of life from us, perhaps we should look inward and question ourselves about what we could have done differently in life to possibly deserve all that God blesses us with daily, in spite of our lack of service to Him or recognition of His greatness – the Creator of life and the Giver of all good things to mankind. In an active church leadership role, it is very easy to prove what Jesus said in our focal verse today. When a pastor needs help with something or looking for someone to take charge of a key role, it never fails that the already busy person will get the new or additional job done and never complain. I wonder where you might find yourself in the recognition of God and in your service to Him. Can He pour on the blessing because of your total dedication to Him and all that He has blessed you with? Dodging His work, may very well equal dodging His added blessings!

BLESSINGS WORTH NOTING: Disregarding the blessings from your God, is incentive for Him to not pour more blessings on you. Being appreciative of your loving God and striving to love Him and be His hands and feet here on earth, may be just the right trigger for God to pour out even more rich blessings on to you!

PRAYER BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Lord, I believe that when we bless others and follow in Your example here on earth, without expecting anything in return, we are not only practicing what we learned for You while here on earth, but we are opening ourselves up for increased blessings from our loving, giving and merciful God. Thank You Lord for loving me in spite of my weaknesses, selfishness and pride. It is so obvious that You sacrificed Your pride and joy – Your only Son, for our salvation and the assurance of eternity in Heaven with the triune God, just because You loved without limit and unconditionally. Please guide us to love in like manner, so that others who doubt will see proof of who Jesus really is. 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!

How To Become Wise

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, Wisdom, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED: Tuesday, 2023-04-11
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Proverb 1:7-9
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: 7-9 How does a man become wise? The first step is to trust and reverence the Lord! Only fools refuse to be taught. Listen to your father and mother. What you learn from them will stand you in good stead; it will gain you many honors.

OBSERVATION: Ever looked back on life and wished you had made better choices about a certain faction of your life? But this would only have been possible if you were wiser, or if you had realized sooner that you could use the help of others in those decisions. The queen of Sheba traveled to try and discern what Solomon was doing to make himself so successful in life, and she discovered that he was in a class of his own in being extremely wise. Now in the book of Proverbs Solomon is sharing with us how we might become wise, so I believe we should ask God to open our eyes of understanding and listen for the tips on becoming wiser.

APPLICATION: I am intrigued by infants who quickly use their natural instincts to do what they want, and make sure that everyone else around them do what they want! I’m not so sure that we ever grow out of that, but it is evident that God has built into us a desire to want our own way while also realizing that we could do way more than we are capable of, by learning to lean on the support of those who love us and want to see us succeed. Let’s examine the sources of help that Solomon teaches us to lean and depend on:

  • Trust and Reverence the Lord – If God made us and designed a world for us to live in, I believe it is critically important that we trust His correction, follow His commands and respect Him as our Lord. If He sent us His Son, so that we might have forgiveness of sin when we invite Him into our life, then I believe it is evident that God’s end goal is for us to return to Him after our time here on earth is over. Good parents remain parents for their whole life! Sure, a spouse will most lightly enter into the lives of most adults, but there is absolutely no substitute for mom and dad! Why then do we feel like we can take over from the authority of God and lead a life that we design and plan to achieve? If He had the beginning in mind in our birth, and He has the end in mind, our eternity in heaven, wouldn’t it make sense that He has special plans in mind for us while we battle with Satan and his army here on earth? Trust in the Lord your God, with all your heart, soul and mind. Remember, He is God, and beside Him, there is no other. Reverence Him, not only as your God, but also as the God of the universe!
  • Only fools choose not to be taught – Ever received a good grade because of the effort you put into resolving a challenging question? You may be rebellious in school, but I hope that you will always use the good sense given to you by God and learn something new each and every day! Be on the lookout for Jesus and be amazed by the wonderful God that He is!
  • Listen to you mom and dad – Even at 68 years of age, I still reflect on the things taught to me by my dad, and I stand amazed at his wisdom that he so freely passed on to me. Remember, our parents have a vested interest in our wellbeing, and they want to see us succeed. Learn from their successes and also from their failures, There is no reason to repeat their mistakes.

Solomon didn’t just offer up wisdom and tell us to obey his tidbits because He said so, but rather, he shared the value and benefits of obedience to God, and to those who nurture us. He assured us that the values we assume from others willing to teach us, lead us in, and support us through, will stick with us our whole lives. Friends, think about all those who have impacted your lives. They may have walked alongside you in your struggles, they may have taught you in school or at home, or they may have shared amazing successes with you while teaching you to reach for the stars, like they did.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: While there may be some out to destroy us, there are many willing to share the love of Jesus with us as they interact with, and care for, us each day. To enhance our wisdom, let’s depend on God; listen, love and appreciate those He sends our way.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I am amazed at how You care for us. Just when we think we know it all, You send someone our way to open the doors of heaven and show us how we need You, and also our fellow man. Your Holy Book is filled with information to guide us in the way we should go and to keep Your way holy and set apart with a rich and meaningful life here on earth. Even more importantly, You show us daily that others also need us, and never should we be selfish enough to stick to ourselves and let them do their own thing. I believe that You’ve placed us here to worship and honor You, and to share Your love, care and protection towards all people. Please continue to bless us as we go our way and may we always share Your love with others, especially those in need of a Savior. 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!

Love Is In the Air

On By Ed AlgreenIn Jesus Loves you, Love, Love God, Love of God, Love others, Love your Neighbor, The Father's Love, The love of God, Unconditional loveLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE  FROM:   Mark 12:29-31 (NLT)

TEXT:  29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

OBSERVATION:   Jesus took the opportunity to declare and remind the teachers of the law again of the first and second commandment. In fact the greatest of all the commandments. I particularly like the way the New Living Translation put it, that ‘you MUST love the Lord your God.’ I love that! We will have a closer look at this matter of us loving our Master and loving our neighbor.

APPLICATION:   I wonder how many couples would cancel their weddings if, during their premarital counseling they were told that ‘they MUST love each other if they expect that preacher to marry them’? Sounds funny, because we go to the preacher in the first place because ‘we love each other’, but when told that we must love, we tend to back off and question the authority of the preacher. The difference that Jesus was trying to explain to these teachers of the law, is that His Father is love. In other words, when we stop to consider the word ‘LOVE’, it is inseparable from God. Think also about John 3:16 where it is emphasized that God loved us so much that He willingly gave up His one and only Son, Jesus, to be crucified in place of our sin. Praise be to God that He loves  even us – sinners saved by grace! Friends, we are thankful for God’s love for us, now we need to be extra sensitive to not gloat in that love, and keep it bottled up inside. Just as Jesus showed love to us, so we are to show love one to another – especially to those seeking for pure love – greater than anything they can find here on earth. This is the month of ‘love‘, and many will find unique ways of showing love to their spouse, or significant other. Oh may the world see Jesus more in us than any other characteristic that we may try to impart. He is love, and His love will satisfy the sinners heart. We simply need to be the willing, open servant that our Savior and Lord can work through!

PRAYER:   Lord, please have Your perfect way in and through us today and everyday, so that others will see Jesus, and not this old sinful man. They deserve seeing God’s best. The One who died to set them free from the pit of sin, hell and destruction. Lord may many be drawn to You today, is my humble and sincere prayer. 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 Sebring, 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!

 

That’s Our God!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Awesome God, Love, The Father's Love, The love of GodLeave a comment

Post Date:

 Thursday, 2017-05-11
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Psalm 33:6-9 (NLT)

Text:

 6 The Lord merely spoke,
    and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
    and all the stars were born.
7 He assigned the sea its boundaries
    and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
8 Let the whole world fear the Lord,
    and let everyone stand in awe of him.
9 For when he spoke, the world began!
    It appeared at his command.
OBSERVATION:
This is one of those times that David just stopped and reflected on the awesome power of God. Did David have challenges in life like you and I? Of course he did. Did David have reason to be down because of life’s trials and problems? Of course he did. But in spite of it all David realized that there was an awesome God that created life and everything around him, and it was that same God that loved him unconditionally!
APPLICATION:
Like David, don’t you suppose that we have every reason to complain; be upset; feel distraught; feel like giving up; or even feel like we may not make it through another day? However friends, I want you to look closely at some of the reasons for which David found hope, and how he found cause to worship and praise his God. I believe that you will easily find many other personal reasons to add to David’s list, that might give you cause to lift up the name of Jesus, in spite of all that you face each day. Friends, we serve an awesome God. One who is worthy of our praise and honor. I believe that when we make time to concentrate on Him and give Him the praise He deserves, then we will notice a slow fade on the emphasis we once placed on our issues that we thought were so overbearing. There is no god like our God, friend. Know Him today and know peace, love, joy, and true happiness that comes from our Father above. There is no greater peace than knowing that the Creator of this universe is in charge of all it’s everyday affairs and so loves us that He is constantly looking out for our good. That’s my God, friend! Do you know Him? Trust Him today, won’t you?
PRAYER:
Lord, how we praise You today for who You are, and for all that You do for us. Nothing good have I done, to deserve God’s own Son, yet because of His awesome love, God sent His Son, (Jesus) so that everyone of us that believes on Him, might receive everlasting life. It’s the greatest gift of love ever given to mankind. Praise God that I am a child of the King. Thank You Jesus! Lord, please also soften the hardened hearts of my family, friends and every subscriber and reader of this blog, so that they might surrender their lives to you. Lord, we want to see Jesus! What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see! Hopefully I will also see all of these I am praying for Jesus! 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!

Who is Unworthy of Eternal Life?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Eternal Life, Salvation, WorthyLeave a comment

Saturday, 2016-06-26

Scripture

Bible Reference: Acts 13:46

Bible Text: Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles.

Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

I’Ve been in situations before where a parent or another adult may have said “well you don’t deserve that anyway”! Perhaps out of anger that I failed an exam, or didn’t listen to a lecture as closely as they thought I should have. But the words chosen by Paul and Barnabas were especially interesting in this particular verse. Paul and his partner had been preaching their hearts out to the Jews gathered, and while some may have listened, it was obvious that most were satisfied with the same message they had been taught all along, and had no interest in hearing about this new ‘miracle worker’ (Jesus) who had just entered their scene of life. Paul and Barnabas therefore told the Jews that unfortunately they had just considered themselves unworthy of this prize (the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior of the world), and they would therefore go on to preach the Good News to the Gentiles, who were thought unworthy by the Jews for anything worthwhile. I wonder how many of our friends have entered our church doors, listened to the message of the cross and left thinking that they are so unworthy of this awesome gift of love that God sent to earth for us? I wonder how many reading this devotional sometime feel like the message of the cross is for those who are good; those from good families; those who have attended church all their lives; but unbelievable that it would also cover the sins of such a worm as I. Friends, let me be quick to remind you that God has no favorites, other than the children that He created – and that includes us all. He died so that everyone (whosoever will) may ask for forgiveness of sin and accept the prize available to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. ‘All’ means that no one is excluded! ‘All’ means even you and I, friend!

Prayer

Father, thank You for not only creating my friends and I in Your image, but for also sending Your Son so that we might have the means of enterring Your kingdom to personally be with You throughout eternity. Please touch the hearts of Your people today with the assurance that You made this sacrifice so that we all may know, believe, and be assured of our eternal salvation. This, being the weekend, many may hear the gospel message again. May this loving message resonate throughout all of our churches so that Your people may hear and know that they are loved and accepted by their Creator, and therefore surrender their lives to His precious Son, Jesus. We love You Lord! 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!