Tag: Working through us

God May Be Working Through You

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

DATE WRITTEN: Wednesday, 2021-03-17
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Exodus 9:13-18
TRANSLATION: The Message (MSG)

BIBLE TEXT: 13-18 God said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘God, the God of the Hebrews, says: Release my people so they can worship me. This time I am going to strike you and your servants and your people with the full force of my power so you’ll get it into your head that there’s no one like me anywhere in all the Earth. You know that by now I could have struck you and your people with deadly disease and there would be nothing left of you, not a trace. But for one reason only I’ve kept you on your feet: To make you recognize my power so that my reputation spreads in all the Earth. You are still building yourself up at my people’s expense. You are not letting them go. So here’s what’s going to happen…..

OBSERVATION: Way too often we may look at a situation and accuse a person of being much too stubborn to ever hear God, or allow Him to work through them. At other times we may think that God is being excessively harsh on our friends. But today I want us to meditate on how we tend to respond when God is possibly ready to work through us to reach others.

APPLICATION: The stubbornness of Pharoah to obey God and let the Israelites leave his country is almost unbelievable. But did this come as a surprise to God? Of course not, for God told Moses up front that this would happen, and He reminded Moses of what to expect with each demand made of the king. One might wonder how Moses could continue to be persistent in obedience, knowing that with each demand he carefully delivered to the king, it would once again be mocked and/or disobeyed. Friends, the answer to that is no different to the job of a pastor each week when he delivers the Word of God through sermons. For the pastor spends hours preparing his heart and mind to share from God’s Word, knowing full well that his sermon might impact only a very small percentage of the congregation, and an even smaller percentage who will actually respond in obedience to the Word. However, I believe that Moses and our pastors have developed, through experience, a sense of urgency in obeying God and knowing that it is sufficient for the call on their life to simply listen and obey the voice of God, knowing that He is God, and that He will be honored through our sincere obedience in doing what He instructs. So where does that leave us? I believe it is important for us to know that our relationship with the King of Glory demands a heart that will please God. We do that through: Meeting with God regularly in prayer – a time that we could converse with God about the complexities of life, and to share our heart of thanksgiving with Him; Reading His Word and applying it to our life, before ever thinking about who else would benefit from it; and Obeying His instructions that we have discerned from the Word. When we do these things, we will open up ourselves to be God’s hands and feet here on earth. We will make ourselves available as His instrument to those who need Jesus, and for those desiring to draw closer to God. Notice that the Christian life is all about God, and our willingness to allow Him to use us like He did with Moses. I don’t believe that God would fill us with more of Himself if we only plan to keep it to ourselves. He’s not looking for another ‘Red Sea’, but for a river that gushes forth with the love of Christ in every action we take, or word that we speak. You too can be another ‘Moses’, if only you are willing to honor God through obeying His commands, knowing full well that, in time, He will be honored and His work will be accomplished on earth, as it is in heaven.

PRAYER: Precious Lord, please take our hand and guide us into total obedience to You, even when it seems like no one is listening or trying to change because of what we share about You. Moses never gave up, even though he initially found many excuses. It’s no different with us, for we are the first to give in and see nothing but failure ahead. You told us that: ‘With Christ all things are possible’. May we be constantly reminded that all power comes from above, and that our job is to listen to, and obey Your commands, knowing that You will do the rest. Use us Lord, as You did with Moses, to change the world for the glory of God. 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!

Reassurance To Participate In God’s Work!

On By Ed AlgreenIn God's Work, Miracles1 Comment

Post Date:

 Monday, 2017-09-04
SCRIPTURE

From:

 Judges 7:13-15 (TLB)

Text:

 …. “I had this strange dream,” he was saying, “and there was this huge loaf of barley bread that came tumbling down into our camp. It hit our tent and knocked it flat!”
14 The other soldier replied, “Your dream can mean only one thing! Gideon, the son of Joash, the Israeli, is going to come and massacre all the allied forces of Midian!”
15 When Gideon heard the dream and the interpretation, all he could do was just stand there worshiping God!
OBSERVATION:
In order to encourage Gideon that everything was aligning just as God said it would for the battle against the Midianites and their allies, God told Gideon to sneak down by their camp and he might overhear something! This was the last piece of encouragement that Gideon needed, but before he proceeded to battle, he first stopped and worshipped the Lord God for being so patient with him and for the awesome God that He was! A great lesson for all of us….
APPLICATION:
I would encourage you to read the whole chapter on this, because Gideon was just like us in doubting that he was really hearing from God, and about His mighty works. God went through a time of testing by Gideon, that allowed him to prove that it was really God telling him to go to battle. Then Gideon put together the size army that he thought he would need, around 32,000 men. In verse 2 God told Gideon that He wanted to make sure that his army would never boast of their own works in this battle, so God ordered Gideon on how to reduce the army to…. 300 men! Can you imagine how blown away Gideon must have been? But Gideon was very obedient and did as God said. Just in case Gideon was still having some doubt, God gave him yet another piece of encouragement, by sending him to the outskirts of the enemy camp so he could overhear how they were feeling. Friends, I know that we read story after story in the Bible that might frighten us about our lack of faith in the all-powerful God that we serve, but this story reminded me of the peace that we can have in our totally patient God. He is awesome in power and could independently win battles with, or without us. His love for us is outstanding. His patience for those that He created is strikingly amazing! There is no god like our God! There is no love, like the love He has for us! Praise God that He encourages us through our humble pittance that we could attribute to His work, knowing full well that more often than not, we probably just get in His way. Yet He is patient and willing to teach us each time that we are willing to participate in His work! Friends, if we are going to be the image of Christ to unbelievers, we must be engaged in His work. Yes, we know that we are not able to do a whole lot using only our God-given talent, but just as God told Gideon, He wants it to be evident that God performs the miracle, or the work, even though He may have allowed us to be involved here on earth!
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, You are awesome in every aspect of life! It blows us away that You would even use such simple folk as us to accomplish Your work, and that Your mighty work can be accomplished through us, if only we would humble ourselves and let You. Just as we read about the miracles you performed through Gideon, I have faith to believe that You can also do the same through Your servants today. Many who will read this devotional today know You personally. Please use us in Your work here on earth in some form, so that Your work might spread throughout the earth even through us. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, 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!