Tag: Unbelief

The God Who Never Gives Up On Us

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Prophecy, Recognize God, Worship1 Comment

DATE POSTED Wednesday, 2021-08-25
WRITTEN AT: Hattiesburg, MS

SCRIPTURE FROM: Luke 1:62-64; 67
TRANSLATION: The Passion Translation (TPT)

BIBLE TEXT: 62 So they gestured to the baby’s father to ask what to name the child. 63 He motioned for a writing tablet, and to the amazement of all, he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Instantly Zechariah could speak again. And his first words were praises to the Lord.
67 Then Zechariah was filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied, saying:

APPLICATION: A worker in the temple, yet Zechariah was in shock over God’s response to his prayers about his wife having a child. In fact, Zechariah and Elizabeth had given up on the idea of ever having a child. But God never gave up on them, for it seems like He had them in mind for a very special blessing – to birth a son who would be the forerunner of Jesus Christ. Because of the doubt and question at the time when the angel of God appeared to Zechariah, his speech was taken away from him. However, as Zechariah witnessed miracle after miracle transpire – especially in seeing his wife beginning to show signs of pregnancy, his heart was touched and his faith was rekindled. I wonder what it would take for God to truly get our attention and convince us to place our often shaken faith and trust in Him? You see, I believe that we build our faith based on those things that seem possible to us. When met with something outside of that realm, I believe that our red flags are raised and we doubt, at least until we gain added faith, or see something that makes the impossible seem possible. But Zechariah kept looking up and eventually his faith was strengthened to see God evident in his son’s birth. Upon acknowledging this, God quickly moved to use this man for His glory through prophecy. I believe that from a human point of view, if we knew all that God knew about Zechariah and his doubt, he would have been the last person on earth that we would have listened to, and he would probably have to show miraculous works for us to believe that He was truly God’s messenger. Aren’t you glad that it’s God who judges us and not our fellow human friends? God knows our heart, so He knows that although we may sin, yet He still has confidence that we could be His faithful followers, given the right guidance and wisdom to overcome earthly weaknesses. Praise God He is willing to work with us and use us for His glory, as and when needed. What an awesome God that we serve!

BLESSING(S) NOTED: God used a man, who failed to believe an angel of God, to prophesy to His people. Praise God for seeing the ‘gold’ in our hearts even though we see nothing but doubt and failures!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You created us, so I believe You are well aware of our weaknesses and our failures. However, in Your perfect love, You still love us anyway. Like in the case of Zechariah, we can expect to be punished from time to time for our doubts and fears, but praise God you didn’t give up on Zechariah, nor do I believe You will give up on us. I believe that time left here on earth is growing very short, so Lord I pray that You will show us clearly what we are to do, and give us the boldness and strength to do it. We want Your name to be lifted on high, so Lord I pray that You will receive glory from all things accomplished by Your kids today. May Your kingdom come oh Lord, on earth as it is in heaven. 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!

The Cost of Disobedience and Disbelief

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

DATE WRITTEN: Saturday, 2021-07-03
WRITTEN AT: Gallup, NM

SCRIPTURE FROM: Numbers 27:12-14; Luke 1:19-20
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: Numbers 27: 12 One day the Lord said to Moses, “Go up into Mount Abarim and look across the river to the land I have given to the people of Israel. 13 After you have seen it, you shall die as Aaron your brother did, 14 for you rebelled against my instructions in the wilderness of Zin. When the people of Israel rebelled, you did not glorify me before them by following my instructions to order water to come out of the rock.”
Luke 1: 19 Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to you with this good news! 20 And now, because you haven’t believed me, you are to be stricken silent, unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly come true at the proper time.”

APPLICATION: Often when we realize that we may have doubted God in a situation, it is in hind sight as we look back over a situation. We have lots of excuses why we did what we did and acted like we did, but when we have truly learned to trust in the power of the Almighty God, we must be very careful not to let our earthly/human instincts interfere in His mighty work, or in the lessons He is teaching us. Consider Moses for a moment: he saw many awesome miracles by God as He got Moses and his people out of Egypt. Moses also witnessed miraculous events from Almighty God while directing him to lead hundreds of thousands of his countrymen through The Wilderness. Mighty works that could only be attributed to God. Yet, in this one instance Moses allowed his personal earthly character to kick in, and his anger took over good common sense to follow God’s commands precisely. Think about it, since God had proven over and over again that He knew what He was doing, and had the power to do what He said He would do, surely there was no godly reason for Moses to doubt and/or disobey. God refused to let this act of disobedience slide, because, I believe, He wanted to remind Moses and His people that His commands and actions didn’t change with the wind, nor did His acts need any animation from mankind to make it look real. Although Moses was reaching a ripe old age, I’m sure he would have loved walking into the land promised by God since the beginning of their 40-year journey. But in God’s wisdom, the cost He dished out to Moses was refusal to allow him entrance into the Promised Land. In our New Testament story, Zacharias and his wife had prayed for years that they might have a child of their own. It appears like because God didn’t meet the timing expected by Zacharias, he doubted the angel when told about a son (John the Baptist) he and his wife would have in their old age. This led to Zacharias not being able to speak during the whole gestation period. The cost of doubt in his awesome God was frustrating and gave Zacharias lots of time to think about the miraculous work of our awesome God. So what about us in today’s environment, do we doubt in what God said He would do, or in what He said that He could do for us? Have you seen any repercussions yet for your doubt? I hope that you will be reminded that our God is still in charge, and He still has every right to control this world and everything that will happen to it. Remember, He is our Creator, and He has control over everything He created, including you and I. He wants us to believe in Him and trust Him to do what He has promised. Trust in Him with all your heart, soul and mind, dear friend, and we will never regret all that He has in store for us.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: We serve a miracle working God who will keep His promises to us, if we do our part and trust in Him and give Him control. Jesus never fails!

PRAYER: Lord, I believe that if You said it, I can believe it will happen. Please help me to always believe in You, no matter how impossible it may sound to me. Our Scriptures today have reminded me that there are consequences for doubting Your Word and Your commands, so I want to believe with all my heart that You will do as You say. Please touch the hearts of all my readers and listeners and help them to draw closer to You. Please give them the faith to believe on the God who loves them, and can do all things. Allow the unsaved to be touched by our faith and obedience, so that they too will want a relationship with You. 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!

Anything Too Hard or Wonderful For The Lord?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, Without doubt, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Wednesday, 2021-01-20
WRITTEN AT: Paul B Johnson State Park, Hattiesburg, MS

BIBLE REFERENCE: Genesis 18:13-14
TRANSLATION: Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

BIBLE TEXT: 13 And the Lord asked Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I really bear a child when I am so old? 14 Is anything too hard or too wonderful [b]for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season [for her delivery] comes around, I will return to you and Sarah shall have borne a son.

OBSERVATION: Astonished by what God said would happen, Sarah laughed to herself that such a miracle could happen to her. But is there really anything that our God can’t do? No doubt as we meditate on this Scripture today there will be things that cross our minds where we may say, ‘but if only God would do ____ (this) today, I would be so overjoyed’. However, God decides what He will, or will not do. That’s not dictated by us, however God knows the desires of our heart!

APPLICATION: There are many things that seem impossible, or insurmountable to us. We panic when we hear the ‘C’ word (cancer), for we know that survival rates are very low, given man’s success in finding a cure so far. But is there really anything that our God can’t do? COVID came upon us all – worldwide, and thousands upon thousands died from the virus, because there was no known vaccine to help us fight it. But is there really anything that our God can’t do? So what might be the difference here? God followed through on His promise and, with His almighty touch on the lives of Abraham and Sarah, they indeed had a child, just like the Lord said to them in our Scripture today, at almost 100 years of age. But friends, let me encourage you to skip television tonight and instead read the first 17 chapters of Genesis to see why these two people may have received favor from God. You know, we are given all the tips on what it would take for God to miraculously in our lives also, but how do we respond? No, it’s not as simple as us laughing at the awesome promises of our God, we just tend to show God that perhaps we know best and we will follow in our own will and projections for life. How so, you might ask. I’m so glad you asked:
> a. Just in the first few chapters of the Bible, we have seen where God showed us the importance of obedience to His commands, through the life of our very first residents of earth, Adam and Eve. How are we doing with obedience to the commands of God today?
> b. In 2 Chronicles 7 after God had directed king Solomon to build a temple in His honor and for His people to offer sacrifices and praise, God went on in verse 14 to share with Solomon how He would help His people overcome difficulties and earthly challenges. There were some simple, yet profound commands given by God, through which He promised that He would heal the land – theirs and/or ours today. How effective would you say that we have been in: (I) Humbling ourselves before the Almighty God in prayer about our needs? Did you know that prayer meetings are the worse attended services at a church? (II) Turn back to God – we did that after 9-11 when we thought that our United States would be bombarded by attacks and it would just be a matter of time before we were personally impacted. Churches filled up for a few weeks, or until we felt like everything was ‘safe’ again; (III) Turn away from our wicked ways – It seems like each day on the evening news, there is little room for ‘good news’ because of the overpowering bad news about the sickening and worsening forms of wickedness that our law enforcement has to deal with; (IV) In the New Testament we are told that God tried to make it even easier for us to seek forgiveness and seek His lordship in our lives, for He sent His Son, Jesus, through whom we could seek forgiveness of our sin. While I believe that many who will read this devotional may have accepted this free offering of love from our Maker, we each know many who have chosen to ignore His gift.
I only mentioned 4 well known commands of God, but isn’t it plain to see that our world wants nothing to do with honoring the commands of our Father, so that He may forgive us and heal our land again? Abraham and Sarah were blessed with a child as they approached 100 years of age. Don’t you know that God is willing, able and ready to bless us also in ways that others might laugh at, if only we will surrender our lives wholly and solely to Him? Nothing is impossible with God, for those who know Him and give Him control of their lives. That includes you and I, friend!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You for all You did for our ancestors, and for all You have also done for us. Things that seemed impossible to us, things that may have caused us to chuckle because of the impossibilities in our eyes. But Lord, You are our Mighty God, and just as You told Abraham and Sarah, there is nothing that You can’t do! Oh that we may have that phrase embedded in our minds when situations arise where resolution seems impossible. May we always remember, and call on You, knowing that there is nothing, absolutely nothing that You can’t do! AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org 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 or listening to this devotional, please go to 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. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. 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!