Tag: Trust

Trust In The Lord

On By Ed AlgreenIn TrustLeave a comment

The Holy Bible

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,and he will show you which path to take.

(Bible Translation and Location: New Living Translation – Proverbs 3:5-6)

Thoughts:

I know this sounds like a fairly simple topic today, but if we’re honest with ourselves we will acknowledge how often we do things on our own, then when we mess up, we come back and ask God to clear it up for us. Often as I study the Word I will see what the commentators have to say about certain verses. Although these two verses seemed very clear to me, I want to still share with you what Matthew Henry had to say in his commentary on these: “In all our ways that prove pleasant, in which we gain our point, we must acknowledge God with thankfulness. In all our ways that prove uncomfortable, and that are hedged up with thorns, we must acknowledge him with submission. It is promised, He shall direct thy paths; so that thy way shall be safe and good, and happy at last”. This brought new life to these verses for me, because I have always just looked at these as simply placing my trust in the only one that knows everything, period. However, life can really have both twists to it like explained by Matthew Henry, pleasant or uncomfortable! The bottom line is friends, please consider being obedient to the Word and our Father. Don’t wait until you’ve made a stupid mistake before inviting God into the picture to clear it all up for you. Suppose that the decision you made is not His choice for you? Will He still clear it up for you? I don’t think so! When you are blessed to awaken each morning, you may have an idea of what your schedule is, but who knows what you will truly face? When you make a decision that day, who knows what long-reaching effects that decision will have on you and your family? The answer to both of these last two questions is “God”. He’s the only One that knows what lies ahead for us. So instead of us screwing this up, why don’t we commit today to always seek His perfect will for our lives at the beginning of each day? Let’s submit to Jesus for each decision we might make that day, that He might direct us and give us wisdom, so that He might ultimately receive glory from our actions and our decisions. We must learn to trust in God for the little decisions for which we feel like we have a handle on, as well as those decisions that really scare us. Will you, together with myself, dare commit to this today? We really need to if we are children of the King! God being our helper, please direct our path to obedience and submission each day, please dear Father!

Prayer:

Lord, we often sin by excluding You from the daily decisions that we make each day, and we ask Your forgiveness. Lord Jesus, my life belongs to You, so decisions I make every day must be guided and directed by You. Please work on me to humbly get before You each day in submission, and humility as I ask You to direct my path, protect me while on the path, and guide me to decisions that are pleasing in Your sight and that would prove beneficial for my relationship with You. Please work in the lives of my friends that will meditate on this devotional and recognize similar actions, and needs by them. May they also open up their hearts and lives to You, is my humble prayer, that I ask in the name of Jesus, my 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 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!

Trust In The Lord!

On By Ed AlgreenIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Holy Bible – The Good News Translation

Psalm 118:6–9

6               The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid;

what can anyone do to me?

7               It is the Lord who helps me,

and I will see my enemies defeated.

8               It is better to trust in the Lord

than to depend on human beings.

9               It is better to trust in the Lord

than to depend on human leaders.

Thoughts:

In marriage life we build trust in our spouses by: keeping each other’s secrets confidential; by being there for each other when it seems like no one else is available to us; understanding and caring for each other through the good times and the bad; listening to each other when we dream of our future, but would rather keep those thoughts very private for the time being; loving each other in spite of the bad things we know about each other. I realize the list is not all inclusive, however I am mindful of the love of God and how He cares for me. Additionally, I also know that in addition to the above, He also knows my very inmost thoughts. Now, when I share things with my spouse, she can only feel sorry for me, show that she cares, and she may wish me well. With God, He not only works with me to become my very best for His service, but also goes beyond anything I can think or imagine as His child! I believe that the Psalmist was feeling a little of this as he shared this Psalm. For he had seen proof that God came through for him when no one else would, or could. He saw that God was greater than any other human being, and also beyond anything his leaders could every do for him. Friends, nothing has changed about God! He still loves and cares for His own, and He still provides for our every care and/or concern. Just this past week I was praying for a need in my life, only to see God respond in a miraculous way, that far exceeded the specific need that I presented, but that would totally resolve and satisfy my need. I can truly say with the Psalmist that God is greater than any other human being that I could possibly place my faith and trust in, and also way beyond any human leader I may feel confident in. Whom then shall I fear when Jesus is my Savior, my friend, my all powerful, all gracious and all loving King? Friend, please allow me to introduce you to Him, if you don’t already know Him. If you do know him already as you wonderful Lord, please be encourage by this reminder today. There is no god like our God! I encourage you to accept Him today, trust Him and allow Him full control of your life today!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, please forgive me for the times that I doubted Your ability to come through for me, and for the times that I selfishly asked for things to satisfy my personal desires instead of staying focused on the things that will bring glory to You. The Psalmist has reminded me that You are very caring, full of wisdom and especially understanding of my weaknesses, and I have no reason to doubt, but every reason to place my total faith and trust in You. Please continue to bless me with the faith to remain strong in my commitment to You, and to allow You full control of my life. Lord, I believe that many friends who might meditate on this devotional today may be battling with similar trust issues. Please reveal Your deep compassion towards them and work in their hearts for total surrender of self, and to the awesome God that You are. Thank You for Your awesome love and caring about my life, and my future here on this earth. Please continue to work on me, in me and through me as Your humble servant. I ask this in the precious and awesome name of Jesus, my Savior, AMEN!

NOTE: 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 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.

He’s Still God – On the Mountain Tops and in The Valleys!

On By Ed AlgreenIn Uncategorized2 Comments

The Bible – Good News Translation

Psalm 116:10-11

 10 I kept on believing, even when I said,

“I am completely crushed,”

11 even when I was afraid and said,

“No one can be trusted.”

My Thoughts:

Friends, I believe that we often mistakenly void many of our commitments because of unrelated causes. Let me offer one or two ideas to explain my point: (1) You may work out at a gym, and after a few months you may not have lost any weight, so you quit going to the gym. Truth is, the volume of food that you have been eating has increased, but definitely not decreased, so although you are spending more calories, you are still taking in more. Nothing to do with the gym! (2) You are having an argument with an employee at work, so you quit your job of 10 years that paid you handsomely and gave you health benefits. Now consider the biblical application. In our Christian life, we must be in a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, and therefore enjoy a daily walk and talk with Him. When this is in place, we mature in our relationship with Him and can easily handle a ‘no’ response to a prayer request that we may have asked of Him; or in another case, a friend relationship that went sour; or in another case, your faith may be restored in a friend that you thought you couldn’t trust. Throughout our relationships and worldly activities our faith in Jesus should stay intact, if we remain strong in our relationship with Him. Think about it, nothing has changed in what He did for us at Calvary, or in what He continues to do for you and I. So we should be able to rejoice like the Psalmist did! Even throughout our trials and temptations, our faith should remain strong, and if we ask Jesus to help us in all aspects of our life, we should respond to situations like He would. Are you struggling in your faith because of issues other than your walk with Jesus? Be comforted today in knowing that our God never changes and will always love His kids! He is our God when we are on the mountain top and also our Comforter and God when we feel like we are in the deepest valley of our life. He’s still God, friend! Trust Him!

My Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I pray that my readers and I might be reminded that: You are the One that we adore! You are the One that we raise our hands and our hearts in praise to when life is rocking along without any known challenges! And You are especially the One that we must look to at those times when we feel like we are ‘at the end of our rope’, or feeling like we are in a deep valley. I firmly believe that You are still God, regardless of the circumstances that may occur in our lives. Please give us strength and humility to depend on You during those times that we feel so low, so alone, so useless and so far away from You. In fact, it is those times in particular that we really need You by our side and Your outpouring of grace, mercy and loving-kindness. Even as a child of the King, as long as we are here on this earth, we will still be challenged with issues that we feel so incapable of handling. Praise God we know You, our King, and we can depend on You to help us through every circumstance in life! In the name of Your son, Jesus my Savior, I ask that You hear my prayer today and that Your continue to bless Your children who need You so desperately today and every day, AMEN!

**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 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.

God is still God!

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Allegiance to the Lamb, Bible Believing, Born Again, Christian, Eternal Life, Faith, Follow Jesus, God Cares For Us, God our Helper, God our Provider, God Reigns, God’s Word, Heaven, Listen to the Word of God, Righteousness, Things Eternal, Victorious Life, Worry no moreLeave a comment

SCRIPTURE Studied: Genesis 12

OBSERVATION (What is God saying here?)

7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants. ” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.8 After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord.9 Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev. 10 At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. Gen 12:7-10 (NLT)

APPLICATION (How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

At the beginning of this chapter it is so amazing to see God at work in Abram’s life, and also Abram being so obedient to leave his hometown and all the people that he knew, to move to a foreign land far away. In these verses, it is also interesting to note that during Abram’s journey everything was not rosy, no, everything did not go without a hitch and/or challenges. In fact, while passing through Canaan there was a great famine that hit the area. Now in a perfect world, most of us would say that if this was a journey destined by God, led and directed by Him, then why would there be obstacles. Friends this is the same way it is today. Just because we surrender our hearts to the Lord, we are not exempted from all the trials and tribulations of this world – at least as long as we live in this world! Often challenges will come our way – the question, or challenge for us is to determine is, which way will we go? A life totally surrendered to God will always do like Abram did, we will wait for further instructions, while during the interim challenge, looking to God for direction and depending on Him for strength to overcome. I believe that often our faith is determined by how we handle trials, not just on how well we do during the times of blessings and riches. God is still God during the highs, and during the lows of our lives. We must insure that our faith holds strong daily, because we don’t know what may be in store for us each day. Let’s think in terms of a partnership, we don’t jump ship on our partner on a day when things are rough, nor do we when our partnership celebrates its highs. A true partnership stays in tact during both good and bad times. So should our relationship with God. What are you facing today? Trust only in God and never lean on your own understanding, for only He knows what lies ahead for us. I love the words of that gospel song “God of the Mountain”, listen to it and be blessed as you reflect on the words of this Bible passage.

PRAYER (With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Like in the case of Abram, You bless me beyond measure each day oh God, and this morning I want to say thank You with all of my heart. Please forgive me when I worry about the challenges I see in life from the small perspective of my personal abilities. Please help me to stay so focused on You that I will always look through Your eyes and therefore face life’s challenges with the benefit of Your unlimited power and Your everlasting love for me. I believe that as I place my faith totally in You, I will always receive Your protection and You will bring me through life’s challenges in ways that will bring You glory. I know that this may not always come in the way that I may personally desire, but Lord I pray that You will help me to hide behind the cross and allow Your glory to shine through in all that I do or say. Self is insignificant in the whole scheme of things, for only those things that are done for Christ will last. May Your love shine through in all that is done in Your name this Christmas time! Thank You for sending Your Son as a babe, so that we may ultimately be re-born into life with You, and accepted into Your kingdom!