Tag: Virus

A Prayer of Desperation

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

DATE WRITTEN: Saturday, 2020-12-05
WRITTEN AT: Paul B Johnson State Park, Hattiesburg, MS

BIBLE REFERENCE: Psalm 143:8, 10
TRANSLATION: World English Bible (WEB)

BIBLE TEXT: 8 Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you.
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.

OBSERVATION: I believe that every reader will identify with the need for going before God in desperate prayer at one time or another in your life. David too found the urgent need for God’s protection and direction, but I love the way he went about it. As we meditate today, perhaps God will speak to us about our prayer life and about our desperate need for drawing close to Him – the only One who could answer our prayers.

APPLICATION: We tell our kids that temper tantrums are not allowed in our presence, because we know that they will show their ungrateful attitudes and their selfish demands. Much like us in the desperate times of our lives, David felt like the whole world was against him, so he was hiding out from all human existence. But David went before God in appreciation of all that God is, and for all that He provides each and every day. He realized that it was him personally that needed to appreciate God more, so that praises would flow from his lips and his heartfelt respect of our awesome God would warm his soul and comfort him into believing and trusting in the all powerful God. I love the words used by this translation: ‘cause me to hear’; ‘cause me to know’; ’teach me to do Your will’; ‘lead me…’. This showed me that David acknowledged: that God was all loving; that God knew the way He should go; that God had him in mind, and therefore a perfect will for him to obey; and that God had a righteous land prepared for David to settle in. Friends, we have no authority over God, so we can’t demand anything from Him; nor tell Him where we should go. We must always remember that God created us; He loves us unconditionally; He watches over His children and will guide His children in the path of righteousness. Where the BIG question mark is evident in the equation is: are we prepared to accept God; His love; His directions and obediently follow His path. It’s us dear ones, not God. That’s why I loved it when David asked God to cause him to hear, to know, to follow His will, and to accept the path laid out for him. As a reminder, let’s also convince ourselves that God has no favorites, so if He did all this for David and comforted him with His glorious presence, God will do it again – for you and I. But let’s not forget that we must always work on self, and not on God. He is the only perfect One, who has all power and knows all things – including our direction for a perfect path that leads us to Him! Trust Him today dear friends!

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for showing us in Your Word today that You are able! We were reminded by David that You are the way, the truth and the way. When life seems hopeless to us, we must remember that You are still in control. Just as David turned to You in desperation, my readers and I also turn to You in much the same way today. Lord, our family, friends, churches, cities and indeed countries are desperate, for this awful virus has taken hold of our people and they are either quarantined, hospitalized, or dying by the thousands. We acknowledge, like David, that this problem is much bigger than any man or woman from any country could clear up for us, so we beg of You, Almighty God, to please smile on us again and heal our land. I realize that this may come in the form of healing from our sin-sickness first, but I can boldly say that only You know exactly what we need. So we trust in Your almighty power, Your healing, and Your direction, because only You are capable and able to do anything about our problem. You took good care of David, please now, take good care of us. 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!

He’s Still God – Worship Him

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

DATE WRITTEN: Friday, 2020-03-27
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Psalm 95:2-7
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: 2 Come before him with thankful hearts. Let us sing him psalms of praise. 3 For the Lord is a great God, the great King of[a] all gods. 4 He controls the formation of the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains; all are his. 5 He made the sea and formed the land; they too are his. 6 Come, kneel before the Lord our Maker, 7 for he is our God. We are his sheep, and he is our Shepherd. Oh, that you would hear him calling you today and come to him!

OBSERVATION: Take time today to read the whole (short) chapter, Psalm 95. No, you will not find anything referenced about our current conditions, or about when things might get better. But what you will be reminded of, is that God almighty created us and everything around us. Yes, we came to this earth because of Him, and He wants us to return to Him when we leave this earth. As we meditate, let’s consider how we are doing with the time between these two events.

APPLICATION: If you stop and listen to a child, they will find every excuse why they are unwilling to obediently follow your commands at any given time. Unfortunately that follows us into adulthood and we continue to battle with obedience. Planet earth is going through some very rough times at this time, and it seems like Satan is winning, by feeding his world with nothing but bad news, impossibilities, deaths, losing battles of ill heath and the absence of cures to current dreaded diseases. Notice that our Scripture makes no reference to the diseases, the financial strain placed on families and businesses, and the finality of death that is hitting so many families. Did God mess up, or was He unawares of what might come, when He instructed David to write this Psalm? I would dare say that our God knew about the struggles of our ancestors, especially David, and in assembling a Book of Instruction for all times, He also knew what His children could expect for all time. However, the Psalmist shared with us what is important in the good times, like when the harvest is plentiful, and in the tough times, like when the hospitals are full to overrunning. My friends, let me reassure all of us today that our God never fails; He never stops loving us; He is still the One who created us and everything else around us; He still has a home prepared for us and waiting for us when we graduate from this old earth to a glorious place (heaven) around the feet of Jesus. So remind me again what on earth would distract us from praising our King of glory? Yes, we are human, and we tend to let things that affect other humans also affect us, but may I remind all God’s children, especially myself, that God has not lost control nor has He decided to revenge the world for its sin, yet. So let us therefore look to Him as our source of help, our primary encouragement and our hope for today and tomorrow. He owns it all, and He has allowed us to enjoy it all while here on earth. He may decide to call us home to glory at any moment because of a virus infection, or for any other reason He sees fit. Life is still all about Him, dear friend. Let us fix our eyes on Him. Let us worship the King of all kings, for He is Lord and worthy of our praise. Let’s not be distracted by all the commotion that surrounds us and confronts us every time we turn the television on. Let’s open the Word instead and be filled with Good News; encouraging Words, and be reminded of our God who loves us in spite of our everyday failures and weaknesses. Give God the glory my friend, and watch the stress meter become unnecessary! As the Psalmist so carefully encourages in this chapter today, let our hearts be filled with love and our lips with praise for the One who always was, always is and always will be – God!

PRAYER: Lord, we hear You calling – loud and clear. Please forgive us for being so caught up in the distractions of this world that we filter out the truth of Your Word that is always right on target, accurate, true and decisive. It provides direction for our path, and It guides us to green pastures, It restores our soul and helps us fear all evil. These are all totally opposite to what we allow into our minds every day from the news media and from friends who feel like everything is out of control. You are still the One that we need, because only You have the answers in the palm of Your hand. Please patiently guide us Lord to the path that we should always follow – the one that leads to the cross of Calvary where we might be reminded of true love, true power, true mercy, true grace and life eternal in the comfort of Your arms. Forgive us Lord for our weakness. We need You more today than yesterday, because You are the answer to all of life’s challenges and dilemmas. 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!