Tag: Who am I?

Why We Thank, Praise and Worship Our God

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Give thanks, Needs, Praise, Praise-worthy, Recognize God, Thank You Jesus, Worship1 Comment

DATE POSTED Friday, 2022-08-19
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Psalm 138:1-3
TRANSLATION: The Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT:  1 Lord, with all my heart I thank you. I will sing your praises before the armies of angels. 2 I face your Temple as I worship, giving thanks to you for all your loving-kindness and your faithfulness, for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. 3 When I pray, you answer me and encourage me by giving me the strength I need.

APPLICATION:  In this Psalm we can see where David was touched by, or reminded of, the love of God and His undying faithfulness, and it triggered his worship of God. Notice that David said he faced the temple as he worshiped, but he didn’t wait until the next scheduled worship service where he could watch the praise team worship, or the pastor rejoice over a passage of scripture that God spoke to them about. Friends, please don’t get me wrong, each of these things I mentioned are important, but I truly believe that when we recognize the love of our God, when we feel His precious love for us individually and we realize that He is faithful to us in every aspect of our lives, then we will be moved to worship our God on a very personal level. When we do that, I believe that our corporate worship services will take on a whole new dimension, for our churches will be filled with worshipers, not just people looking for a place to be electrified or energized by a good worship leader, an awesome praise team, or a charismatic preacher. David goes on in these verses to say that he is reminded that all of the promises of God are backed by the honor of His holy name – the name above all names! He is also encouraged that the God of this universe answers his prayers and encourages him by giving him the strength that he needs to go on each day and live a strong and noble life for the Lord. These are all wonderful reminders for us to also worship our God, but this list is not exhaustive, for I think of the wonders of nature that He places before me as I drive to work or into town, the beauty of another sunrise, the blessing of rain, of cows and wildlife playing in the fields and pastures, these all open my eyes to the wonders and majesty of my God! Most of all, like David, I am amazed that the God of this universe takes time to listen to my prayers and He answers my concerns and comforts my anxious heart. Who am I that a Kind should bleed and die for? Yet, I am often reminded that He would have sacrificed himself on that old cross – even if I was the only one in need of a Savior. He loved me that much, and it is no different in the love that my Savior has for each of you today, dear friends. Look for God’s almighty hand at work in your life, then in spontaneous worship, thank Him! Glorify His holy name! Tell others about your awesome friend! And lift Him up before a lost and dying world! Recognize His goodness and never attribute His careful and deliberate love for you as mere chance or good luck. Make every effort to be a personal, worshiping believer, not just one looking for a good place with great corporate worship done by others. Jesus is, or at least He can be, your personal Savior who loves you unconditionally and so very much.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, You have given us so much reason to worship You from the depth of our heart. Please awaken Your saints from the sleep of laziness, or dependence on others and/or other influences to invoke a heart of worship within us. Please help us to rest from the busyness of this life long enough to reflect on Your goodness, Your love and Your undying faithfulness. The Psalmist has stirred our hearts and minds to remember the awesome joy in lifting up praise and worship to You! May this be a day that our eyes will be opened to reflect on Your beauty and Your goodness, and may we recommit to a personal relationship with the God of this universe who loves us individually, and cares for us intimately. Thank You Father for loving and caring for even me. These things I ask of You in the precious name of Your Son, my Savior and King, 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 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!

Who Am I?

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

DATE POSTED Friday, 2022-03-04
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: Matthew 16:13-17
TRANSLATION: Living Bible (TLB)

BIBLE TEXT: 13 When Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who are the people saying I am?”
14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; some, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
15 Then he asked them, “Who do you think I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “The Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 “God has blessed you, Simon, son of Jonah,” Jesus said, “for my Father in heaven has personally revealed this to you—this is not from any human source. 

APPLICATION: A good exercise before you read my comments on today’s Scripture, might be to stop – no music, no electronic devices near you, and away from all company, as you respond to the question by Jesus ‘Who do you say I am?’ An awesome follow-up to that exercise, might be to stop and ask yourself what others might say in response to that question, basing their response on what they see in you each day through your words and actions. I’m afraid that this is where many of us might be challenged, for I believe that our actions might reveal a Lord that might look much like the image of Santa Claus, for we constantly brag about all that He have given to us in response to our constant begging or even our charitable actions. I believe the whole idea behind these exercises is to help us determine the difference between our ‘head’ knowledge and our ‘heart-felt’ relational feelings about who God is. As I meditated on this, my mind went on preparations that church leaders make when preparing for revival services. What if church leaders took a poll of it’s members with this question by Jesus? Don’t you know that the revival evangelist would have no problem in finding sermon topics for the period of his visit? What if we did a time of inflection at the end of each day as we reflected on our words and actions, and evaluated the answers we gave to this question that day to those around us? How much time will we mark off for our time with Jesus each evening as we sobbed our way through the failures and/or regrets? Friends, who do you say Jesus is? How do you live out Jesus’ character and teachings in your life? Considering the fact that Jesus knows every word, action and thought, how might we respond to Him directly right now about who we think He is? For the world to see who Jesus is through the way we live, what might we have to change?

BLESSING(S) NOTED: Jesus said that His Father gave Peter personal insight into who Jesus is. I believe He can do the same for us if we seek Him and want to know Him intimately!

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, through Your invitation I accepted You as Lord and Savior of my life. I am convinced from Your Word that You would have me know You more intimately, but I need Your grace and I acknowledge that I will need to look beyond what I might expect You to do for me in return. My readers and listeners must look inwardly and answer Your question personally and with an unselfish heart. Please speak boldly to all those who might be reminded of You today. Challenge them with the question You personally asked those closest to You – Your disciples. May each of us not only answer because of our head-knowledge of who You are, but may we also dig deep inside and share our deepest thoughts with You – the One who sacrificed Your very own life for us, so that we might one day bow before You and the Father in heaven. Thank You for Your love and for Your sacrifice. Please help us to share that with everyone we encounter here on earth. 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!

Who Am I Lord?

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

Friday, 2020-02-07

Bible Reference: 1 Chronicles 17:16-19
Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

Bible Text: 16 Then King David went ins and sat before the Lord and prayed, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 17 And now, O God, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! You speak as though I were someone very great,[b] O Lord God! 18 “What more can I say to you about the way you have honored me? You know what your servant is really like. 19 For the sake of your servant, O Lord, and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known.

OBSERVATION: Can you imagine? Can you even think, why a perfect and holy God, the Creator of the universe, would take a moment to look at us, be concerned about us and the things that concern us? Why? Does that not blow your mind why a King would live and die for a sinner such as you or I? David had a very intimate relationship with God, yet he was overwhelmed with all that God chose to do for him and through him. Think about the ways that God has blessed you?

APPLICATION: I wonder how often we stop asking, begging or pleading with God long enough to just soak in the awesome work He has already completed in our lives? Do we ever stop long enough to give God credit for the wondrous ways that He has blessed others through us? David wanted to excel by building a temple for the Ark of the Covenant to be placed in, for he was feeling guilty that he had a palace, yet there was not a single place that could be considered ‘God’s home’. Notice how God put David in his place and ordered him to stand down, as this was not something that he would construct, but one of his descendants would have that pleasure. Now, with that added information, David is going before his Maker, not to show how upset he is over God not accepting his offer to give, but to thank God for all He has done for him, and continuing to do through his children. Friends, I would love to be able to give, and if I could do it through a friend or relative, I would be thrilled. My desire is to see the work of the Lord flourish, so I pray that God will be lifted up and magnified for all that is received for His work. Remember, God blesses us with our jobs and with a good income. What we give back to Him is just a token of all that He blesses us with. Let’s also remember that we receive many gifts that are not necessarily monetary in nature. Considering all those who work diligently for the kingdom, who am I that God should bless me? Like David said in the preceding verses, there is no one like my God. Let’s thank Him and praise Him for who He is, and for the love and honor He has bestowed upon each of us that call Him – LORD!

PRAYER: Thank You Heavenly Father for accepting me, just as I am. Like David, I acknowledge that I barely understand how You could love me knowing exactly how I act, and how I fail in so many ways. You alone are God, and You love me in-spite of my shortcomings and inadequacies. In fact, I could only imagine that it’s because of who You are and because You are alive in me. Thank You Heavenly Father for loving even me, and blessing my readers and I beyond anything we deserve based on our own merit. May You be honored, praised and glorified because of Your Holy Spirit being alive and well in us. Thank You dear 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 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. If you are anywhere near the Sebring, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would encourage you to attend my home church. 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!