Tag: Worthy

Live Worthy of God’s Calling

On By Ed AlgreenIn A Lamp unto My Path, Adoration, Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Awesome God, Beyond Description, Blessing, Celebrate God, How to Live, Live in peace, Needs, Praise, Praise-worthy, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE POSTED: Tuesday, 2023-03-14
WRITTEN AT: O’Brien, FL

SCRIPTURE FROM: 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
TRANSLATION: The Passion Translation (TPT)

BIBLE TEXT: With this in mind, we constantly pray that our God will empower you to live worthy of all that he has invited you to experience. And we pray that by his power all the pleasures of goodness and all works inspired by faith would fill you completely. By doing this the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you will be glorified in him, by the marvelous grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

OBSERVATION: When God calls you to be His child, diligently pursue what it means to be adopted by God. When God calls you to preach, or teach, or pray, or visit the sick, or evangelize your city, be diligent in seeking how you can give God your very best and accomplish all that He has asked you to do. In the preceding verses, Paul had just explained what it will look like for the saved, and the unsaved, when Jesus returns. Although not pretty for the unsaved, Paul wanted the church to know that he was constantly praying for them. What will you do in preparation for Christ’s return?

APPLICATION: Many believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for who He is and for what He can do for them. But there comes a time when each of us must decide who it is that we will follow and allow to be our master. The way this works is that when you become of age and able to understand the dangers of this world and its leader – Satan, and you do nothing about accepting a different, better, more loving, more moral, godlier leader, then you have accepted the fate of the evil one. God created us, and He wants the very best for His dear children, but He is quite the gentleman and therefore allows us to make our own life decisions. However, God made us smart enough to understand the consequences of our decisions. That’s why, in the preceding verses God permitted Paul to show no pity on those who know differently but decide to sin anyway. Today, mankind is no different to the ones Paul referred to in our Scripture today, other than we should not only learn from the words expressed in God’s Book, but also from the millions of saints and sinners who have gone on before us. Paul knew the temptations that saints would face while here on earth among wolves – Satan and his demons, so he vowed to always keep his church in his prayers. If one is saved and they struggle to see the difference in their lives, they may struggle with that, so Paul vowed to pray that God would empower each one to live worthy of all that God has called us to experience. As I meditated on that, I could only imagine that many of us take our decision to follow Christ way too lightly. We accept Jesus, because we felt His tug on the door of our heart; because we know that He loves us more than anyone has, or ever can love us; because we have heard, possibly seen, and actually experienced God’s healing in the life of others in need, and we want to experience the power of such an awesome God. But then what? Do we just continue life as before, knowing that we have an awesome power in reserve somewhere? I hope not, for there are millions out there who need that same Savior in their lives. When God saves us, He gives us a special gift. We don’t hide any other gifts in the sand so we could have it later in life, we put it to good use. The gift of salvation, and the gift of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, were meant to help us live like Jesus. You see, we may have heard of Jesus through going to church over years of church attendance and out of tradition. But many don’t go to church, so how will they hear about Jesus? Paul tells the church in our Scripture today, that he is praying that we would live our lives worthy of the calling to which God has called us. I believe that some have been called to serve in our churches in a fulltime profession. But I don’t believe they were called to do church for us. God wants us to let the world know who Jesus is to us – by the way we live. I believe that Paul discerned the need to pray for us in this respect, because if we feel it is ok to one day join with the guys at the local bar and drink ourselves into a drunken stupor, or cut up with the girls, all while our wife is at home caring for our children, then on the following day try to witness to a coworker about the love of Jesus, what type of witness did we display for them on who Jesus is? You see, others won’t just look at a given moment in life to discern from us who Jesus is, but they will look at our lives during the good times and in the challenging times; under stress and in total calm; on Sunday and on Monday. Will they see enough good evidence to truly know who Jesus is? If so, then I encourage you to join with Paul in praying for our church and its members, because I could guarantee you that not everyone can do as good as you! As a closing thought, please allow me to encourage you to stand firm in your faith and do the work you feel God has called you to do. If it’s cleaning the church, do it as unto the Lord. If it’s teaching Bible School, do it after complete study and making sure that you have applied the teaching to your life before trying to convince others of the need to apply it. Do let others see Jesus in you – your words, actions, lifestyle, consistency and in your obedience to God. Don’t waiver from the truth of God’s Word, just do life like Jesus did, and in obedience to all that He taught us to do, God being your helper.

BLESSING(S) NOTED: May the name of our Lord Jesus be glorified in you, and you be glorified in Him, by the marvelous grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ!

PRAYER: ‘Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on’. I love that old hymn because it reminds me of how dependent I am on You oh Lord. It’s only through Your power and Your strength that I could possibly be an example of You to others. But Lord, there are so many who need You in their lives. Give each reader, listener and Christian an extra portion of grace to be all that You have called them to be. Although many will refuse to pick up their Bibles, or to attend a Bible-teaching church, I pray that they will see enough of Jesus in us to desire a relationship with You. Use us Lord for Your kingdom, and for Your 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 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!

Though So Unworthy, Yet a Child of the King!

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

DATE WRITTEN: Wednesday, 2021-02-10
WRITTEN AT: Okeechobee, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: Genesis 32:9-12
TRANSLATION: Contemporary English Version (CEV)

BIBLE TEXT: 9 Then Jacob prayed: You, Lord, are the God who was worshiped by my grandfather Abraham and by my father Isaac. You told me to return home to my family, and you promised to be with me and make me successful. 10 I don’t deserve all the good things you have done for me, your servant. When I first crossed the Jordan, I had only my walking stick, but now I have two large groups of people and animals. 11 Please rescue me from my brother. I am afraid he will come and attack not only me, but my wives and children as well. 12 But you have promised that I would be a success and that someday it will be as hard to count my descendants as it is to count the stars in the sky.

OBSERVATION: Isn’t it amazing that God, the One who made the heavens and the earth and little moving creatures like you and me, will stop everything to listen to our cry and to grant our requests? Like Jacob prayed, so should we, in acknowledging that we have done absolutely nothing to deserve all the blessings that God showers upon us. However, God still wants us to recognize Him and fellowship with Him. As we meditate today on the Scriptures, let’s do a self evaluation on how well we are doing in fellowship with our God.

APPLICATION: If we’re not careful, we could easily fall into a place where we feel like God will place all of heaven into our lap and all we have to do is soak up His goodness and enjoy His blessings. Our Scripture reminds us that Jacob reflected on the fellowship that his grandfather, Abraham, and his father, Isaac had with God, but he was not riding on their coattails of commitment to God. For Jacob then reflected on what God had ordered him to do and on how God blessed him from rags to riches. But notice that even in riches, Jacob still found a desperate need of the only One who could calm his nerves and give him confidence in approaching his brother after so many years. Friends, I was reminded that no matter how insignificant we may sometimes feel, no matter how uneducated we may feel, no matter how good others appear to be at what they’re doing compared to us, we must always remember that we are a product of the Master of this universe! He created us, and he did it for His honor and His praise, so He would never make ‘junk’. He also created all of us equal in His eyes, so when we allow Satan to buffet us with doubt and insignificance, we must always remember that is only our evaluation and not God’s. As a child of the King, we are always highly thought of by Him and valued higher than the angels. He promised that He will never leave us or forsake us, and in spite of our meager efforts here on earth to provide a roof over our heads, He has prepared nothing less than mansions in our eternal home – heaven! Will we still doubt while here on earth? Will we still become afraid here on earth? Notice that Jacob did. He was besides himself in fear of what his brother might do to him and his descendants. However, we must always remember what Jacob knew that there was only One who could do anything about his fear, and only One who could protect him if there was as much danger as he feared there would be. My friend, that’s still the same for us. We may feel so unworthy and that we are undeserving of attention from the God of this universe, but we are His creation; He sacrificed His one and only Son as our salvation from sin; He sits at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf; so of course He will gladly calm our minds, ease our burdens and love and nourish us back to good physical and mental health. Do like Jacob, share your concern with your Savior and ready yourself for His response, dear ones.

PRAYER: You have made endless promises to us in Your Word oh Lord, and I am not only humbled by that, but extremely thankful for all that You shower on me every day. Thank You for the reminder in today’s Scripture of where our hope lies, and in whom we gain our confidence and courage to go on. Jacob needed You, and so do each of us studying Your Word today. You are the God who cares, the God who is all powerful and could handle all of our challenges and heartbreaks. So it’s in You that we place our faith, our trust and our everlasting hope, knowing that You will do all things for Your glory, and You may even use us to touch those around 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!

Worthy Of An Audience With The King

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

Tuesday, 2019-07-09

Bible Reference: Luke 7:6-7
Translation: The Passion Translation (TPT)

Bible Text: 6–7 Jesus started off with them, but on his way there, he was stopped by friends of the captain, who gave this message: “Master, don’t bother to come to me in person, for I am not good enough for you to enter my home. I’m not worthy enough to even come out to meet one like you. But if you would just release the manifestation of healing right where you are, I know that my young servant will be healed.

OBSERVATION: It’s amazing how we could feel on ‘top of the world’ at times, yet at other times we feel intimidated and unworthy of even being in the presence of certain people that we have placed on pedestals – at least in our minds. In our focal verses today we read about a leading citizen who, in spite of his monetary worth and prominence, felt unworthy to have Jesus come to his home. Let’s consider our thoughts on this today…

APPLICATION: Some reading this devotional today may be in charge of large corporations, while some may be simple gardeners who enjoy being away from a crowd. Is it possible that both types of individuals may feel intimidated by certain individuals? After reading today’s scripture, I believe that the answer to the above question is clearly ‘yes’! For both types of individuals could be humbled by the thought of meeting with certain individuals. I believe that the primary lesson for us to learn here today is that we should never position ourselves to a place of honor. Yes, we might be considered elevated among the poor, if we are wealthy. We might feel elevated above the homeless, if we live in a very nice home, or above the unemployed if we supervise lots of people in a very important job. But have you ever felt great respect for an individual who was at the very bottom financially, but yet spoke great words of wisdom about life in general? I pray that we will never place ourselves on a pedestal where we are unreachable by God and/or man. In our story, this Captain had built the local temple, so I believe that he was rich in finances, and rich in generosity – wanting to share his wealth. He knew that healing came from Jesus alone, so he sent the religious (Jewish) leaders to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant. It sounds like the closer Jesus got to his home, the more worried he became about having God’s Son visit with him. Notice that the emphasis changed from the urgent need of the servant, to the overwhelming inadequacy of the master. I believe it was evident that the captain started examining himself and realized that he was unworthy of having Jesus see him in that condition, so he sent word asking Jesus to heal his servant from a distance. Is that how we feel at times when we know that the fear or suspicions of others will be confirmed if they popped in on us for a visit? Are we afraid of the many eyebrows that will be raised if we walk into that popular church downtown, because they already know what we’re like in our business life? Friends, I believe a real lesson that we all need from this story today, is that in this world we are all on a level paying field without Jesus in our hearts. For we are not known as CEO, or President, of Chairman of the Board, or Garbage Truck helper, but collectively we are known as sinners in need of a Savior. Alternately, when we surrender lordship of our lives to Jesus, we are not known to God as Priest, or Pastor, or Elder, or church Janitor, for we are all sinners saved by His awesome grace – or children of the Almighty God! So can we tear down those walls today and align ourselves with the King of all kings, and allow Him who created us, to lead us each and every day? Just as we (Christians) were beggars looking for the rich food of heaven, let us then redirect our energies towards helping other beggars looking for the same ‘food’ that we found in knowing Jesus Christ. On that great Judgment Day, it will not matter what sort of CEO we were, for that CEO will be judged by the same Lord that the Captain’s servant stands accountable to. For it is by grace that we are saved, and not because of any good works or monetary gifts that we may share with others. In Christ alone, we stand humbled before the Father, knowing that it was only because of His grace that we are saved!

PRAYER: Thank You heavenly Father for sending Your precious, only Son, as a sacrifice for our sin, so that through grace alone, we might enjoy eternal life with You in glory! There is no greater joy! Please humble Your children today, so that we may not only enjoy our rich heritage, but that we may be humbled into helping others find the richness of a relationship with You. Oh that You may be lifted up today dear Lord, so that You may complete what You have promised in Your Word, that You will draw all men unto Yourself. AMEN!

Have You Washed?

On By Ed AlgreenIn Cleansing, Transformed, WorthyLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The New Living Translation – Exodus 30:17-21): 17 Then the Lord said to Moses, 18 “Make a bronze washbasin with a bronze stand. Place it between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water. 19 Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet there. 20 They must wash with water whenever they go into the Tabernacle to appear before the Lord and when they approach the altar to burn up their special gifts to the Lord—or they will die! 21 They must always wash their hands and feet, or they will die.

THOUGHTS: Most of us are diligent about making ourselves presentable in certain places and in select circumstances. As an example, it would not be impressive for one to come for an office job interview straight from working in the yard – filled with sweat and dirt. Growing up, I remember my mom settling into her seat at church, where her first course of action would be to bow her head and pray. I believe that was a prayer of preparation for her in asking God to take away the distractions; forgive her of her sin; and make her worthy to come before Him in worship and adoration. God showed early saints that cleansing themselves before coming into His presence was important, just as He demonstrated in the actions taught in these verses highlighted today. In verse 20 God said that He would strike dead Aaron and/or his sons who may have disobeyed His command to cleanse themselves physically before entering His presence. Earlier in this chapter we are told that Moses ‘burned with anger’ when he saw how his people had turned back to their life of sin so quickly during his absence. I can only imagine how God must burn with anger and disappointment when His children, who claim Him as Lord, enters His house (church) to praise Him but drenched in the sin of our weekly encounters. The unfortunate thing that I believe we must be careful of, is that after our first visit in such a condition, we tend to become hardened to our sinful attitudes; our rude and disrespectful encounters; our disregard for God and/or His Word during the week; and therefore lose the guilt of needing to seek cleansing from God before we seek an audience with Him. Friends, we must be very careful to not make a mockery of God. He is still the Creator of this entire universe and of you and I. He is the same God that sent His Son to us as our ultimate Redeemer, Savior and Lord. He is sin-less and deserves our humility, love and respect so that we approach Him in similar form as He demanded of Aaron and his sons in verse 21 – always clean. The consequence for us could easily be as severe as God threatened Aaron – death. In the New Testament we are warned that some who have taken the Lord’s Supper unworthily have even died. Friends, we must be reminded that we fool no one but ourselves when we deliberately sin in the face of God. There is no need to pretend we are worthy of His praise, when we are saturated in sin. God knows us better than we know ourselves, so we can’t fool Him. Let us therefore humbly bow before Him and ask for His cleansing on a daily basis. Perhaps then we might be more pleasing to Him, and better represent Him to the lost of this world.

PRAYER: Lord, You alone are holy, and we are not. Please help us to acknowledge that, and to always seek Your forgiveness and Your cleansing, for we have learned from this lesson today that You deserve a clean heart from upright people. Please help us to always be conscious of our filth – our sin, and to stay so in tuned with You and Your Word that our sin will be highlighted for us, so that we might be aware of our need for You. Please be very evident in our lives today so that we may enter Your courts with praise and so that we may be worthy of representing You before those within our realm of influence. Please touch the lives of those that need to hear this word today so that they may become more effective witnesses for You in every aspect of their lives. I ask these things in the worthy and all powerful name of Jesus, my Savior, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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 www.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! 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!

Permission Granted To Enter

On By Ed AlgreenIn Lamb's Book of Life, Salvation, Saved, WorthyLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – Revelation 21:27): 27 But nothing unworthy will be allowed to enter. No one who is dirty-minded or who tells lies will be there. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will be in the city.

THOUGHTS: I recently took an international trip. Because I was leaving my country of citizenship, I needed proof to show the authorities of the visiting country that I was who I said I was. They saw from my passport that I was a legal person in my home country, now they had to decide if they felt OK about letting me into their country. They were not at all interested in allowing a ‘bad’ person into their country. In fact, most immigration officers would check to make sure that I was not on a ‘bad’ list of persons that should not be allowed entry. In every case, it is highly advised that you never attempt to enter another country unprepared, otherwise they will use their option to decline you entrance into their country. In our scripture today John is sharing with us what we might expect when we make our final crossing – the one from planet earth to our final destination. I will point to the very last sentence in our scripture today, where we are told that only those whose names are in the book of life will be allowed into heaven. Friends, you will recall from many earlier devotionals where we discussed such things as salvation, redemption, a loving Savior, a sacrificial death for the forgiveness of our sin, only one way, and many other like phrases and or studies to help remind ourselves of the need, and the only way of preparing ourselves for acceptance into God’s heaven. In my above travel story, notice that I had to ask for permission to enter the foreign country. Notice that based on my past behavior, they opted to allow me entrance. Notice that John is given a very similar scenario in this verse. You must have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, and therefore gotten your name into the Lamb’s book of life. However, this is not like an airline ticket that you purchase, and then live any way you want until the day of your trip. For we are told that nothing unworthy, no dirty-minded person, nor liars would be permitted there. In other words, if you have accepted Jesus and lived your life like He personally demonstrated, and as explained through His biblical saints, then chances are that you are who you say you are. Although I sincerely hope that none of you reading this devotional would ignore the warnings here, I want to be sure and remind you that failure to be accepted in heaven automatically directs you to hell. There are only two destinations. Hell is the Lake of fire that we talked about yesterday, so I sincerely pray that you have either made your travel preparations for heaven already, or that God will melt your hardened hearts today so that you might seek the face of Jesus and His righteousness, and invite Him into your heart and life. This is the only means into heaven. I want to see you there friend, please don’t disappoint me!

PRAYER: Thank You Father for the reminder of what we must do today to prepare for our final crossing of the border between our current home and the next. For those of us that know You, our minds are fixed on heaven and our celebratory time we will enjoy worshiping at Your feet. However this scripture has reminded us that for those who are not prepared for heaven, they are destined for hell – a place of eternal torment. The main reason we live today Lord, is to evangelize and encourage those that have not made a decision yet to accept You as Lord and Savior. May this be a day that your saints will be energized to share, to encourage and to live life as a full demonstration of God’s love for us, so that our family, friends and coworkers might see the results of Your grace in our lives. We long to be with You oh Lord. Please make our waiting time here worthwhile by using us to touch the lives of those needing You. I ask all this in the strong name of Jesus, 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 read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, 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 www.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! 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!

Have The Same Attitude As Christ Jesus

On By Ed AlgreenIn Commitment, ExampleLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (New Living Translation – Philippians 2:1-5): Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Thoughts: We are often compared to a parent or grandparent on our looks and in our demeanor. Wouldn’t it be praise worthy if, just from our actions and our attitude, someone could identify us with Jesus? You see, this could very well happen when a believer or non-believer identifies something different about us – something different to the rest of the world, or different to what they would expect for someone under our circumstances. I believe that we, children of God, are to be constantly in the Word of God. Therefore, just as we model our lives after our ancestors because of our time with them, we will also become acquainted with the ways of God and start acting like Him. The neat thing for Christians, is that when we commit/surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, He gives us His Helper (the Holy Spirit) as our Guide, our Strength, our Deliverer, our Protector and our Friend, to enable us to act like Jesus even under circumstances that would tend to throw the ordinary person into a tail spin. Paul teaches that this type of life will invoke: agreeing wholeheartedly with each other; loving one another; working together in peace and purpose; unselfishness; no need to impress others; humbleness; ability to think of others as better than yourself; and not always looking out for your own interest only. Friends, there’s an old song with lyrics that read “What the world need now, is love, sweet love….” For a moment can you think what our world would be like if everyone would live with the attitude of “What the world needs now, is Jesus as Lord”? Can’t you imagine us retiring most of our military, little need for an expansive law enforcement team or counselors or mediators! Think about it friend, if we are not living like God expects, then obviously we are living like Satan wants us to. There is no in between. This change can happen one life at a time. Will you consider being the first to make a change in your life and seek to live with the attitude of Christ Jesus? With God’s help you can, friend!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are my Rock, my salvation, my Guide, my Deliverer, my Friend and yet my Master. You led a perfect life so that I may have a perfect example to follow. Please give me an ongoing desire to follow Your example each and every day, and may I practice Your example with everyone that I come into contact with, and under every circumstance in this life. May others see Jesus in every aspect of my life, and may You receive honor and praise from others as they detect Your love and example in me. Please speak to the hearts of my readers today, because I am convinced that what the world needs now is Jesus. They need to see You in action through the committed lives of Your children. May they not be disappointed as they look on us dear Lord. I ask all this, believing that You are the only one capable of helping us, and the only one worthy of our praise, and so it is in the name of Jesus that I plead my case, 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! 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!

Ambassadors For Jesus Christ

On By Ed AlgreenIn Ambassador, WorthyLeave a comment

The Holy Bible (New Living Translation – Philippians 1:27): 27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.

Thoughts: Almost 25 years ago I applied for citizenship to the United States of America. Part of the oath and promises I had to make involved total loyalty to this country, even if it went to war with my birth country. I believe that Paul is teaching us in this chapter that we are to consider it such a privilege and honor to become children of God – or ‘citizens of heaven’ that we are to leave behind the old life of our previous world of sin and hardships, and take hold of the promises of God and the kingdom of Heaven, under every circumstance. In fact, in the previous verses we are taught that in dying we gain the honor of being with Christ, however, there is such an awesome work that remains here on planet earth that we should strive to remain here as long as God permits, so that we may spread the joy of our heavenly citizenship. In other words, we are to be ambassadors for Heaven – for Jesus Christ! To do this, we must not faint in: doing the will of God; being His loyal representative; acting like Him; speaking like Him and imitating Him in every walk of life. When we do this friends, it is fairly obvious that others will see Jesus through us and gain a desire to know Him in a very personal way. So my challenge to you today, at this very early stage of the New Year, is to commit to living wholeheartedly for Jesus Christ, despite the audience, and especially while allowed to remain on this earth. To do this we are to follow the teaching of Paul in the captioned verse, “conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ“. I would dare say that with God’s help we can do this friend! Will you make this commitment to God and seek His powerful hand of wisdom and direction for your life?

Prayer: Lord, this challenge often seems impossible, especially when we consider it under our own strength and abilities. Therefore, I acknowledge that I can only do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I need You more today than ever before. Please teach me to submit myself to You daily, so that I might live in the power of Your might and in the center of Your will. Not for my sake, but so that the world might know that Jesus is alive and that You love them unconditionally. Please have Your will and way in my life, and please touch my friends who will seek You today. May we reflect on this day as one lived in a manner worthy of the Good News of Jesus Christ, is my sincere prayer that I ask in the matchless 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! 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!