Today’s Scrip-Bit   16 November 2023 Proverbs 22:1.

16 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Proverbs 22:1.        A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and LOVING favour rather than silver or gold.

Oh, what beautiful days we’ve been blessed with all week in my neighbourhood. Even in my sickly state, and not being able to go out as much as I would like, I still appreciate the sunshine and pleasant temperatures! That’s because the sunshine uplifts my spirits and has me dreaming of when I can be hale and hearty again. Certainly hope that’s soon, for if it’s one thing I can’t stand is being sick for a long spell. Anyway, enough of my pity party, (smile) let’s see what the Good Lord wants us to talk about today. 

And it seems He desires us to dwell on these most truthful words of Cousin Sol writing in Proverbs, where he solemnly announces: ‘A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and LOVING favour rather than silver or gold.’ (Prov. 22:1) And that my fellow believers is the gospel truth! A good name is to be preferred over all the wealth of this evil world! Why? Because that’s just how it is! People accept a good reputation much more than all the wealth that is being bandied about today. 

Besides, many of the rich people today are veritable crooks and evil people. Just think about how many of the world’s wealthy you respect and think good of when their name is called eh? Very few, for there’s always some unfavourable aspersions cast against their names, be it true or not. And Cousin Sol reiterates the sentiment when writing as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes. He observes: ‘A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.’ (Eccl. 7:1) 

And most of us experienced that sentiment about a good name when we were growing up in our small towns and villages, where financially troubled people were much revered over the financially blessed because of the good name they had established in the community. And why are so many politicians despised and hated today eh? Because their names are tainted with greed, evildoing and self-aggrandisement. Now some are obviously worse than others, but just mention the word politician to the ordinary man in the street and watch his very negative reaction. 

Now listen to these truths of Cousin Sol from Proverbs, that pertain so much to the politicians of our day. ‘The Lord will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the border (boundary) of the widow. The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord: but the words of the pure are pleasant words. He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts (bribes) shall live.’ (Prov. 15:25-27) Oh my people, how I do wish the majority of politicians today could read those true words and take them to heart and change their ungodly character. But I guess that’s asking too much for so many of them are caught up in the lies, deceits and evildoings of today’s warmongering and greedy world. 

And why is it so hard for us to accept that: ‘Blessings are upon the head of the just (righteous): but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. The memory of the just (righteous) is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.’ (Prov. 10:6-7). Cousin Sol sure had a lot to say about the importance of a good name. The psalmist also said these things about the man who fears God. ‘Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man sheweth favour (is gracious), and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he shall not be moved (shaken) for ever. The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.’ (Ps. 112:4-6) 

Yes my fellow believers, the names of the upright will live forever, thanks to our great God! Oh friends, the man who fears God: ‘He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed (steadfast), trusting in the Lord. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies. He hath dispersed (distributed abroad), he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn (strength) shall be exalted with honour. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved, he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.’ (Ps. 112:7-10) 

That’s for sure my brethren! It is the promise of our great God. So please, I plead with us to not get entangled in the wickedness and evildoings of this world, but rather to keep God first place in our lives and thus earn a good and honourable name in His sight. For all the wealth of the world is not worth tarnishing our names. And our God has been so great and generous that He’s bestowed undeserved blessings on us to help us do just that. We call them our Thursday Blessings, so let’s activate them by declaring (awright!!!) them out loud. 

As one sincere voice: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And having activated those blessings, we’re now duty bound to go out and use them as generously as the Lord bestowed them on us, to help others come to know Him and stand strong and steadfast in His most holy and blessed name! Much LOVE!

…he who steals my purse steals trash…but he who steals my good name…makes me poor indeed… (abbreviated quote from Shakespeare’s ‘Othello.’  

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   15 November 2023 Psalm 95:7b-8a.

15 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 95:7b-8a.       Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation (rebellion),

And what a beautiful day this Wednesday has turned out to be, with bright sunshine and decent temperatures. And all God’s children said, a loud and grateful, ’Thank You Lord for this day! We will rejoice and be glad in it!’ And so we shall my faithful brethren! For the Lord has promised to take care of us with His riches in glory through Christ Jesus, and to work everything out eventually for our good. We can’t do any better than believing those promises, for that’s as good as it gets. 

But here’s something that strikes even closer to home. It comes from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. I don’t know if I have shared this one before, but even if I have, it’s certainly worth sharing again. (smile) It’s titled ‘God’s Searchlight.’ So please read with me: ‘O God If suddenly You were to reveal To my family, my friends, my neighbours Every real thought behind my courteous words If You were to point to my clenched fist While my other hand is openly extended If You were to bring to light Every masked motive, every selfish act I would cringe with remorse And beg You to remove Your light of revelation. 

Yet, Lord, when the searchlight of the Holy Spirit Begins to reveal me to myself I so often close my eyes and turn my back In a frantic but impossible effort To escape Your penetrating gaze. What a staggering contradiction, Lord What appalling hypocrisy. Apart from Your grace I am utterly shattered. I ask You to sweep through me Purify me, cleanse me completely. From the depth of my penitent heart I thank You for Your continual assurance As I turn toward Your splintered cross: Because of Your LOVE I became Your child Because of Your grace I remain your child.’ 

Wow! That’s surely a powerful piece of writing, and one that’s unfortunately so true of too many believers, especially as we try to maneuver through these trying, nerve-racking and ungodly times. Yes friends, too many of us have two sides to our character. The favourable one we show to the outside world, and the false, hypocritical one we keep hidden… sometimes even from ourselves. But we can’t hide the real and true you from the Lord, and when His Holy Spirit begins to deal with us, we oftentimes, foolishly turn our backs from the Lord’s penetrating gaze. 

That’s impossible my people! Nothing can be hidden from our God, and when He thinks it’s time to deal with certain matters in our lives, then deal with them He will, whether we like it or not. And the wise money will say just open up our hearts to him, for whatever He’s doing is for our benefit, for our good, to make us more like His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Remember what the scripture says: ‘Being confident of this very things, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (continue, complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Phil. 1:6) 

That means once we have become children of God, He will begin fashioning us into the likeness and image of His glorious Son, and will not stop until the Son returns, or He receives us to Himself before that. And these words of the poem are such gospel truth, that we refute and /or refuse them at our peril. ‘Because of Your LOVE I became Your child Because of Your grace I remain your child.’ There’s no greater truth than those statements my fellow believers! It’s only because of God’s deep and abiding LOVE for us, His most precious creation, that we were reconciled back to Him and once more have the option of becoming  His adored children. And it’s only by His amazing GRACE that we remain His children, for we’re still so disobedient and own way that if He truly gave us what we deserve, we’d be lost forever. 

And it’s very interesting to note the Bible verse that was chosen for today’s poem. It comes from the prophet Isaiah, where speaking on the Lord’s behalf, he entreats his listeners. ‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’ (Is. 1:18) What a powerful promise from our great God! And imagine too that He wants to sit and reason with us! No other deity even deigns to consider such a thing, much less speak it. That’s the awesome power and LOVE of our God my people! He LOVES us so much that He doesn’t want to lose us and is willing to bend over backwards to bring us to His fold. 

That’s why these words from Psalm 95 are ever so important. ‘O come let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand (under His care). Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation (rebellion), and as the day of temptation (trial or testing) in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted (tried) me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved (disgusted) with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err (go astray) in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware  in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.’ (Ps. 95:6-11) 

Oh friends, that’s what happens when we harden our hearts against the Lord, don’t listen to Him and obey His will; we end up being excluded from His rest. And believe me, that’s about the worst thing that could happen to a human being, being excluded from the rest of God in heaven. So please, let’s be wise and heed His calling in our lives nuh, for His plan is the best plan there can ever be for us! Now, for those of us who are sincerely trying to live right, let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our most excellent position in Christ Jesus. 

As one sincere voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And believe me, if we endure right down to the very end with Jesus, then that future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine. See you there! Much LOVE!

…only with soft, obedient hearts…can heavenly rest be acquired… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ    

Today’s Scrip-Bit   14 November 2023   1 John 4:11.

14 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 John 4:11.       Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.

And this Tuesday in mid-November, seems to be one of those cloudy-sunny days where any number can play. But thankfully, it doesn’t appear that there will be any untoward precipitation to mar the dry day. And though I still haven’t fully recovered from the severe bout of covid, I do believe I am getting stronger with each passing day! Thank the Lord for that, because at the bottom of the heap is a tough place to be, and though from there you can only look upward, looking upward and climbing there are two entirely different things. Anyway, with the Lord’s help, we’re slowly climbing up from the valley floor to the top of the mountain, and one day soon, we’ll get there and  see the sun come shining through. Glory to God! 

Now here’s this interesting piece from this month’s In Touch Devotional that simply says: ‘Consider This.’ Please read with me. ‘God knows and understands everything about this moment – from what’s happening in the halls of government to the drama unfolding in the chambers of your heart. What a comfort that is for those of us who understand so little – who are so often confused and overwhelmed. But if God knows everything is an uncomfortable thought, it may be a sign something is off in your relationship with Him. 

Perhaps you’ve chosen to LOVE something or someone who harms you physically, spiritually, or both. Maybe there’s a part of you that you’d prefer to keep hidden out of shame, fear, or an unwillingness to let go. Whatever the case, it’s important to know this: God’s knowledge and LOVE cannot be separated. God is LOVE! There’s no point in hiding. And there’s nothing to lose. In fact, there’s everything to gain – freedom, joy, and lasting peace.’ And all God’s people said a loud and grateful ‘Amen!’ 

Yes friends, it’s amazing how many of us still run from God, and try to keep stuff hidden from Him. But that’s a fool’s wisdom my brethren, for our God is omnipotent, omniscient and omni-present, meaning He’s all powerful, all knowing and all seeing. There’s nothing that happens in this world, in this universe that He created, that He doesn’t know about. As the reading says, whatever happens in the halls of power, or in the deep recesses of our heart, God knows them completely. So it doesn’t make sense to try and hide stuff from Him. 

Just imagine it nuh, a supposed Christian hiding stuff from the Almighty, the One who created him and controls every aspect of his life! How ironical! And furthermore, as the reading says, you cannot separate God’s knowledge from His LOVE, because God is LOVE! And the sooner we realize that, the better off we will be. John puts it quite simply and clearly in his first epistle, when he writes: ‘Beloved, let us LOVE one another: for LOVE is of God; and every one that LOVETH is born of God, and knoweth God. He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE.’ (1 John 4:7-8) 

It couldn’t be any clearer friends. Anytime you start talking about LOVE, you ought to have God in your heart, and anytime you begin talking about God, you ought to have LOVE in your heart, for they are inseparable, one cannot exist without the other!  So it’s obvious in these blasphemous times that all is not right with us, when we bandy about the name of God and the word LOVE, using them indiscriminately, without proper judgement. 

And John continues to explain the LOVE relationship between God and man. ‘In this was manifested the LOVE of God toward us, because God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that He LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation (atonement) for our sins.’ (1 John 4:9-10) 

What a marvellous God we serve and worship my fellow saints! A God, who LOVED us so much, that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to earth to die to atone for our horrible sins. Which other Deity would ever dream of doing something so remarkable and LOVING eh? NONE whatsoever! And Bruh Paul stated it quite clearly in his letter to the church at Rome, when he ascertained: ‘But God commendeth his LOVE (showed His own LOVE) toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) 

Wow mih brethren! What a magnificent God is the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! Even to the point of putting aside His feelings, His heartbreak, to allow His Son to die for us while we were yet sinners. And although He was God, that was no easy feat to accomplish. Remember how Jesus cried out on the cross when He felt the weight of the world’s sin on His shoulders and knew that the Father’s face was turned away. ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Matt. 27:46) 

It was the ONLY time that the Father and Son had ever been separated, and all because of the sin debt Christ was paying on our behalf, because He LOVED the Father and wanted to be obedient to Him. So you see friends, it’s all about LOVE! From the very beginning of creation it was all about LOVE! The LOVE of the Father and Son for us and our LOVE for the Triune Godhead. No wonder John writes in his epistle: ‘Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:11) And that’s the indisputable truth my people! LOVE ought to be the number one emotion flowing through us, to each other and to God! End of Sermon. 

Now, let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

Now, let’s go out and do just that nuh; trust our friend Jesus and share His LOVE with those we meet, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…LOVE is indeed…what we need…to make the world go round… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ    

Today’s Scrip-Bit   13 November 2023 James 4:10.

13 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

James 4:10.        Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

And we’ve been blessed with a bright sunny Monday to begin our new work week, with double digit temperatures! Please give the Lord some thanks and praise for it, because it could have easily been rain and snow instead! (smile) Ah friends, I do hope that we’re out there blowing away the heathen with our superb salty flavour and blinding them with our heavenly light, so that they can know we’re not just ordinary people, but sincere followers of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the One who sacrificed His sinless life on the cross at Calvary so that our sin debt could be paid in full, and we could thus be reconciled back to our heavenly father. Glory be! 

What a wonderful Lord and Saviour is our Jesus! He is the shepherd of our souls: He said it Himself: ‘I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep….I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.’ (John 10:11, 14) And not only is Jesus our good shepherd, but He’s also the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but through him! (John 14:6) Wow! Jesus has the best way for us to live this earthly life! In other words, He’s our EVERYTHING! And we are NOTHING without Him! 

Listen as He tells it loud and clear: ‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:4-5) 

Mama Mia! What a powerful, all-encompassing statement! Without Jesus we can’t do much of anything. And that’s the gospel truth, for the universe and all there is belongs to Him, He created it, for His pleasure. Bruh David said it thus in Psalm 24: ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods (rivers).’ (Ps. 24:1-2) 

And likewise friends, the Lord created us in His own spiritual image to honour and glorify Him. He breathed the breath of life into each human being He created and can just as summarily take it away. And we had better learn to respect that li’l piece of info, for it’s why, when the Grim Reaper appears to take us home, we are helpless to say no. 

Furthermore, since the earth and everything in it belongs to the Lord, that means it’s also the Lord who allows us to get wealth and live the good and comfortable life. As Moses reminded the Hebrew children so long ago on their way to the Promised Land. ‘But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.’ (Deut. 8:18) In fact my faithful brethren it’s the Lord who gives us power to get or do anything whatsoever! And physical wealth and abundance is one of God’s great blessings for those who are obedient and follow His divine will. 

And since God did not want us to be merely robots, He gave us what we call free choice; the ability to do as we please. However, that free choice does come with serious repercussions if we don’t do His will. He gave us the free choice expecting that we’d be wise enough to use it follow Him not the evil Satan, like so many of us are doing. And that’s why the sin and evil in this world are eating us up and spitting us out like wood chips from a wood factory. We cannot control the evildoers and their evil deeds by our own efforts. No, we need the health and strength and the complete wherewithal of Christ Jesus to do it. 

And it’s not always easy to fight off the devil, but as James says it begins thus: ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh (near) to God, and he will draw nigh (near) to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted (lament), and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness (gloom). Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.’ (James 4:7-10) Now that right there says it all friends. We need to humble ourselves in God’s sight, not behave proud and arrogant and like we have no need for Him. 

As James says earlier on: ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will (wants) to be a friend of the world, is (makes himself) the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy (yearns jealously)? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.’ (James 4:4-6) 

Oh my people, once upon a time we were complete enemies of God, but when the time was right He sent Jesus to die for us so that we could become His children once again. Now we have the choice, the option of being a child of God or one of Satan. It only makes complete sense to choose the best option, that of being a son of God, for the other option only leads to hellfire and damnation. But that calls for humbling ourselves before Him. So let’s do that right now nuh, approach the throne of grace through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, asking for divine help. 

Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. 

So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And if we’ve truly learned our lesson, then we’ll turn from our evil ways and humble ourselves before Almighty God! Much LOVE!

…the Lord hates the haughty…they are an abomination unto Him… (Prov. 6:17)

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ    

Today’s Scrip-Bit   12 November 2023   2 Timothy 2:3.

12 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2 Timothy 2:3.       Thou therefore endure hardness (hardship), as a good soldier of Christ.

And a good Sunday morning to all you my Scrip-Bit friends and families! Hope you all have taken the opportunity to visit the Lord’s sanctuary and fellowshipped with others like yourselves. Obviously, I was unable to do so because of my covid condition, but my thoughts and prayers are nonetheless with all those who are wise enough to go and get their souls and spirits refreshed. Today though, in our special celebration, we’re going to open with a song that’s ever so appropriate for these trying and difficult times. It’s an old but still ever popular 19th century English hymn, titled ‘Onward Christian Soldiers.’ 

The words were written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871. It was written to encourage Christians in their ongoing battles with temptations within themselves and the evil forces throughout the world. And nothing has changed since then. It’s perhaps gotten worse and we possibly need the words and sentiments of this popular hymn even more than ever before. So, let’s raise our sacrificial voices of praise to high heaven in a rousing, revolutionary version of this most encouraging song. 

Singing: ‘Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus going on before! Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; Forward into battle, see his banner go! (Refrain: Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus going on before!) At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee; On, then, Christian soldiers, on to victory! Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise; Brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise! 

[Refrain] Like a mighty army moves the church of God; Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod; We are not divided; all one body we, One in hope and doctrine, one in charity. [Refrain] Onward, then, ye people, join our happy throng, Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song; Glory, laud, and honor, unto Christ the King; This thro’ countless ages men and angels sing. [Refrain].’ 

Oh my people, what encouraging sentiments! The way that Christ’s church should be, ONE: both in battle and victory! With all of us marching together in the name of Christ against the evil foe Satan. Unfortunately though, Christ’s church is not one, but split in numerous divisions and directions, with more infighting within it that against the common outside enemy. That obviously weakens the church and what we are able to do in Christ’s name. 

And I just had a sad chuckle at the lines of the song which say: ‘At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee… Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise.’ What a joke that is! Satan’s armies aren’t fleeing anywhere! Hell isn’t quivering in fear. Hell is rejoicing in victory because we believers are not doing as we ought to. We’ve become a soft and comfortable people, who are only interested in the benefits and amenities of this life and no longer desire to make sacrifices or do anything that’s hard in the name of Jesus. 

And that’s why Satan’s having a field day in these modern times. We’ve become more afraid of men, than of God, and thus are not willing to stand up for what we believe is right. But please remember friends, after this life comes the judgement, and when the Lord asks what we’ve done for His kingdom with what He gave us, we won’t be able to make any excuses. We won’t be able to say we were afraid, because He’ll come right back with the many times He’s warned us not to fear, and with this particular scripture: ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound (disciplined) mind.’ (2 Tim. 1:7) 

Please remember too, that to be a true disciple of Christ, one must be wiling to daily take up one’s cross and sacrifice one’s self on His behalf. He won’t necessarily call you to do it every day, but you must nonetheless be prepared for it when He does call. That calls to mind these very appropriate words of Bruh Paul to Timothy. ‘Thou therefore endure hardness (hardship), as a good soldier of Christ.’ (2 Tim. 2:3) And that ought to be a reminder for all of us my brethren; that we ought to bear our burdens like good soldiers in Christ’s employ! 

Oh my people, I LOVE comfort just as much as the other person, but comfort doesn’t make us what we ought to be. It’s said that the worst kind of Christian is a comfortable one, and that’s the living truth! When we get all comfortable, we no longer desire to make sacrifices for Christ, the way we ought to. And that’s why the Lord sometimes provides some tough times in our lives to wake us up from the comfortable slumber in which we are ensconced. Listen to these earlier words of Bruh Paul to Timothy on the soldier’s responsibility. 

‘This charge (command) I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophesies which went before on thee (were previously made concerning you), that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away (rejected) concerning faith have made shipwreck (suffered). Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.’ (1 Tim. 1:18-20) 

Ah friends, we are expected to stand strong in faith and to grow in it so that we can become better witnesses for Christ. But so many of us are not doing it, that the witness is falling flat. 

And I guess we can’t end with any better words than these of Bruh Paul to Timothy: ‘But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure (death) is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course (race), I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them that LOVE his appearing.’ (2 Tim. 4:5-8) 

So please friends, let’s get together and seriously run our races, so that in due course of time we’ll be able to say like Bruh Paul did, we ran a good race, and the Lord will crown us with a crown of righteousness. Much LOVE!

…sincerely living for Christ…requires plenty belly and backbone… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ    

Today’s Scrip-Bit   11 November 2023 Jeremiah 29:13.

11 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jeremiah 29:13.       And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

And it’s cloudy and windy on this lazy-day Saturday November 11th , 2023, as we celebrate Veteran’s Day, honouring the many brave souls who fell in the wars of the last century. Not many of them are still alive today, and if they are, they are not doing so well medically, financially or emotionally because down through the years their services had not been properly appreciated nor rewarded. 

And every year we drag out the few remaining veterans before the cenotaphs and other markers of those great wars, and make big speeches and promises, but nothing much still ever happens to improve their situations. But the Lord is in His high heaven and is closely watching down on the affairs of men, and we know that He has a heart for the poor, the marginalized and the downtrodden. So we’ll leave their affairs in His capable hands. 

Now, let’s say our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with all sincerity of heart. As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And do we ever need to know and be more aware of our great God in these evil and ungodly times, if we hope to come through them as unscathed as possible! Yes friends, in times like these, only a strong attachment to and knowledge of Jehovah God will enable us to overcome all the evil stuff that’s coming against us in droves. The big problem though is that we need to seek the Lord, not the Lord seek us. We desperately need Him, He doesn’t need us. He LOVES us a whole lot, but that doesn’t mean He’ll just roll over and satisfy our every need, like a doting grandfather. Not at all. 

The Lord God Jehovah is a just and righteous God, thus He must act justly and righteously and allowing us to do whatever we want without repercussions is not acting justly and righteously. Thus, He demands that we come to Him, in obedience and reverence, and if we don’t, then we’ll suffer the consequences. It’s as simple as that. And furthermore, it’s so easy to find the Lord if we truly desire to find Him, for He’s always around, not in some far off heavenly place, the way so many of us falsely think. 

And these words from the prophet Jeremiah say it all. ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you an expected end (a future and a hope).’ (Jer. 29:11) Now that’s what the Lord has in store for us, but it does not happen automatically. We also have a part to play in this covenant relationship. 

And here’s our part: ‘Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken (listen) unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ (Jer. 29:12-13) There it is in black and white friends, written thousands of years ago but still the definitive way to find Jehovah God: search for Him with all your heart! 

Unfortunately, not enough of us are doing that, either individually or as Christ’s body, the church, and thus we have this great divide between our heavenly Father and ourselves. And we are the ones who are suffering, but we’ve become so stubborn, ignorant and hardhearted that we refuse to seek Him, even though we are been eaten up by the evil doers like the big fishes eat up the small ones. But yet we listen to the lies and the deceits of Satan and run down the material wealth of the world, instead of seeking the righteousness of God’s kingdom. And his evil majesty is laughing as it were, all the way to the bank, because of our foolish and unwise behaviour. 

When are we going to wake up and do what’s right my people? Every day it gets later, with less time left to make the necessary changes. And remember Jesus could come at any time, and once He comes, most likely like a thief in the night, it’s all over. So please, let’s do what we’re supposed to do nuh. We call ourselves Christians, believers in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, members of His august body, the church, that means there are things we need to do to keep it all afloat and successful. And we know what we need to do. So please, please, I plead with us, let’s do it nuh! 

Let’s lift up Christ’s name on high like we promised to do when we first believed. Let’s be the true salt of the earth and the light of the world as He desires of us. Let’s show the world that we’re truly His disciples by the LOVE we show to each other and to the rest of the world. That’s our bounden duty and what Jesus expects of us. Come on my fellow saints, let’s pull up our socks and do better nuh. We all know that there’s more in us than we’re showing, so for Jesus’ sake, let’s up the ante! We desperately need to, if we’re going to turn things around! Much LOVE!

…you’ll find God…if you look for Him in the right places… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ    

Today’s Scrip-Bit   10 November 2023   1 Thessalonians 5:24.

10 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 Thessalonians 5:24.       Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

And as always, the usual worldwide shout of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ reverberated far and wide this Friday morning. And I can’t complain too much because I’m feeling a tad better, on the way to a full recovery, and the sun’s shining brightly out there amongst the clouds with a decent temperature! So there is cause for joy and thanksgiving! And talking about joy and thanksgiving, I just got the zeppo (smile) to turn to Bruh Paul’s warning to the Thessalonians, where he writes these remarkable words of Christian faith. So let’s pay attention, as he admonishes the church, both then and now. 

‘Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly (insubordinate), comfort the feebleminded (faint-hearted), support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ (1 Thess. 5:14-18) Yes friends, those are some good words for us to meditate on this Friday morning as we end our workweek and begin our weekend of rest and rejuvenation. (smile) 

And we all know those words are not easy to follow, especially in the evil and hateful climate that currently exists in our world. But Jesus told us from the very beginning that the Christian life would not be easy, but be full of trials and tribulations, requiring sacrifices and adversity. However, with His Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we would be well able to carry out whatever duties were required of us, provided we obeyed the leading and prompting of said Holy Spirit, for our God NEVER asks us to do anything without giving us the wherewithal to do it. Whatever He asks us to do, He conveniently anoints us to do it. 

So, the onus is upon us when things don’t get done. And over the last couple of generations we have become a very disobedient and ungodly people thus the sorry state of our world. But despite our lack of obedience, the Lord doesn’t ever give up on us. He’s always there, encouraging us through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we can repent and come back into His fold. Yes, it’s hard to rejoice and give thanks in all things, but that’s the plan the Lord has mapped out for each of us. 

Yuh think Jesus wanted to go to the cross for a bunch of ungrateful sinners? Definitely not! But the Father asked it of Him, and being the obedient and LOVING Son that He was, He sacrificed his sinless self on the cross at Calvary so that we could be reconciled back to the Father, from whom we’d been so long separated by the throes of sin. And since the Father’s eventual plan is for each believer to be a facsimile or copy of the Son, then we have to learn to conform to some things that seem difficult and even unfair, knowing that in the end, the Lord will work it all out for our good! 

Another thing, this prayer without ceasing, simply means that the Lord is always in our thoughts as we go through the day, and we’re either asking Him for help to handle what ever is before us, or giving Him thanks for helping us. It’s more an attitude of the heart than constant words coming out of our mouths. Furthermore, that attitude of prayer will help us to maintain gratitude in the face of adversity. 

And the next few verses of Bruh Paul’s admonishment are just as important, as he writes: ‘Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good. Abstain from all appearance (every form) of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly (set you apart for His holy purpose); and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.’ (1 Thess. 5:19-24) 

Ah mih people, it’s not an easy life, but overall it’s an excellent life, the best one we can possibly live on this earth. And the scholars offer these explanations on that verse, ‘Quench not the Spirit.’ They say: ‘Quench means putting out fire in Matthew 12:20, Ephesians 6:16, and Hebrews 11:34. Here it is employed metaphorically to mean “stifle” or “suppress.” The Christian can stifle the Holy Spirit’s workings by hindering Him from leading the believer to rejoice (vs. 16), to pray (vs. 17), to give thanks in adversity (vs. 18), and by despising prophetic utterances (vs. 20) inspired by the Spirit.’ 

So you see my fellow saints, everything is wrapped up in one big parcel, but we have the awesome help of the Holy Spirit to unravel anything we don’t understand. Remember the Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Comforter, our Guide, Jesus Christ, the Spirit of salvation in us! And let’s not forget that last verse we read: ‘Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.’ (1 Thess. 5:24) We need to truly believe that if we’re going succeed and enjoy the abundant life that Christ died for us to have, both here on earth, and in heaven above. 

Now let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant asking for divine help in this dire time of need. Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough…   because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. 

And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And having said that, we now need to do the obvious; turn from our evil ways and sincerely seek the Lord! Much LOVE!

…divine help occurs in direct proportion…to obedience to God’s will… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ    

Today’s Scrip-Bit   9 November 2023 Acts 5:11.

09 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Acts 5:11.       And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

Awright! So I’ve finally caught up on all my backlogged tasks and can now devote my time seriously to the Bit! Glory Be! And we had our first spell of winter weather yesterday evening and night with freezing rain amidst some heavy showers. The warnings had been sounded, but you know these days we’ve become so obstinate and know-it-all that we don’t pay sufficient attention to the warnings. And I’m sure many people paid for that lack of attention last evening as they made their way home from work. Anyway, that situation has now been rectified (smile) and there’s some sunshine out there amongst the clouds with a decent non-freezing temperature. So all’s right with the world! 

Not true at all friends. Nothing seems to be right with our crazy, war-like, power hungry, hateful world, for everywhere you turn, there’s disaster and chaos aplenty. And most of it is man made. And when you add the many natural disasters constantly occurring, it balloons to a situation that only our great, omnipotent, omniscient and omni-present God can fix! That is, if He so desires. But are we giving Him occasion to have that desire? Certainly not! For even His supposed believers are not living as right as we should be, and living more like the devil’s children than those of Almighty God. 

There’s no way on earth, nor in heaven for that matter, for our world to be in such man-made chaos if the majority of Christians were actually living a truly Christian life. That is truly having God as the Number One priority in our lives, by doing as Jesus demanded. ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt. 6:33) We only pay lip service to that scripture. As well as to this one about the great commandment in the law. To which Jesus answered: ‘Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.’ (Matt. 22:37-38) 

What’s so difficult in that to understand eh? Nothing whatsoever! It says quite plainly that you must LOVE the Lord with every fibre of your being, not to LOVE Him partially, or conveniently, as so many of us do. With the Lord it’s ALL or NOTHING at ALL! And until many more of us realize that and begin giving ALL of ourselves to Him, our lives won’t improve and thus our world will continue to sink into the evil mire that the devil so eagerly wants to happen. And we’re aiding and abetting him by not concentrating fully on our Christian duties. Oh friends, what will it take for us to shake up ourselves and rise to the occasion for which we’ve been called eh? 

And I recently heard a pastor mention what might just be our problem. We don’t FEAR the Lord! Don’t truly reverence Him and consider His awesome power and sense of justice and righteousness. We claim to LOVE the Lord, trust Him, believe in His infinite grace and mercy, but you never hear us talking about fearing Him, both in terms of reverence and outright fear. Jesus said it thus: ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ (Matt. 10:28) 

No my faithful brethren, let’s not be afraid of people, who can only kill our body, but cannot harm our souls. However, we should fear God who can destroy both our bodies and souls in hell. And Cousin Sol pointed that out right at the very beginning of Proverbs when he so wisely wrote: ‘The fear (reverential awe) of the Lord is the beginning (the principal beginning or very start) of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ (Prov. 1:7) There it is in black and white, written thousands of years ago, but it’s still the God-awesome truth! 

You don’t achieve any kind of true, serious or lasting wisdom unless it comes from God, and you first have to fear and reverence Him to get it. As James so correctly said: ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not (without reproach); and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering (not doubting). for he that wavereth  (doubts) is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think he shall receive anything of the Lord. a double minded man is unstable in all is ways.’ (James 1:5-8)  

And I like the reference the pastor pointed out in the New Testament pertaining to God’s awesome sense of justice and righteousness. The scripture is found in Acts 5, where the New Testament church was growing and people were sharing what they had with each other. But this bumptious husband and wife (Ananias and Sapphira) decided to try and pull a fast one. They went out and sold a piece of land, but only decided to give a portion of the proceeds to the church. And that was quite okay, everybody only had to give what they wanted. But the fools went up to John and Peter, and said they’d given all they got for the land. 

‘But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own, and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power (control)? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost (died): and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound (wrapped) him up, and carried him out, and buried him.’ (Acts 5: 3-6) 

Yes friends, there was no need for him to lie. But that’s not the whole story. Listen to this next part that’s even more interesting. The Bible tells us: ‘And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt (test) the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then she fell down straightway (instantly) at his feet, and yielded up the ghost (breathed her last): and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.’ (Acts 5:7-11) 

And yuh know what happened after that friends? The church settled down and it grew in numbers and grace and goodness to each other! And I believe we need some such awakening like that, or whatever it takes to bring great fear on the church today, so that we can get up off our fat, lazy, comfortable fannies and do what we’re supposed to do, instead of fighting each other and doing the things we ought not to do. And the sad part is that we have all the tools to do it in what we call our Thursday Blessings, conveniently bestowed on us for the express purpose of doing our earthly work. So let’s activate them right now by declaring (yesss!!!) them out loud. 

As one sincere voice! ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

Now it’s time to rise up, to get out and use those blessings just as generously on Christ’s behalf, so that we can make the productive and positive difference we were placed here to make! Much LOVE!

…Christ’s church cannot positively affect the world…until it positively cleans up its own house… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ    

Today’s Scrip-Bit   8 November 2023 Romans 8:28.

08 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Romans 8:28.       And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are called according to his purpose.

Well hello there my beautiful and loyal Scrip-Bit friends and families! The ole fella is back from the dead…NO! It was definitely not a near death experience, but too much of a real life and living one. First of all let me apologize for the lack of Bits for the last three days, and those of you who have been with me for some time will know that that has never happened before. In the seventeen years I’ve been doing this the longest break we’ve ever had was possibly two days, and that’s some four years ago when I was in the wilds of South Africa on safari (smile) and the wi-fi was out of order. But even then I wrote something on the computer everyday and sent them out later. 

Even when I was in the hospital with prostate cancer surgery or with heart problems, I don’t believe we ever missed more than one day. But this time it was not meant to be, and let’s be clear it was not my fault, (smile) because you all know that wherever I am, be it early morning or late night, I always send out something. Enough with the suspense and excuses. (smile) The long and short of the story is that I was involved in one of the Lord’s sudden and very effective mysterious workings. Hn! I can chuckle now… but the story unfolded like this. During the latter half of last week I was bothered and battered by the return of a disgusting and debilitating cough and asthma attacks. 

And believe me, that’s about the only thing I truly hate in this world and which very easily annoys me, because I’ve suffered from it for the last sixty of my seventy something years. And Bruh Paul complained about the thorn in his side given to keep him humble. Let him try living a lot of his life bothered by constant coughing and not being able to breathe properly. And by the way, I wasn’t given any world breaking revelations, so why the impediment eh? (smile) I guess I’ll only find that out in the next life. 

Anyway, on Sunday morning the attacks had gotten so bad that I finally agreed to let my big daughter take me down to the Emergency Department of the local Credit Valley Hospital. We got there around 5.am. I thought it was six, and only later on found out that the clock had been turned back an hour as the Daylight Savings Time madness had struck again. But there was no line up and I was quickly papered up and sent in to the medical waiting area. And even then, within a couple of hours I had seen a doctor and we had agreed on the procedure we’d follow. It’s then the real waiting began. 

But hang on a minute here, many of you don’t believe when I tell you that the Lord is the greatest dramatist there is, was, and will ever be! You’ve seen all the twists and turns, the behinds and befores, that He laid out in Bruh Joseph’s story. Well check out this one. Right now my young daughter who lives close by, is away in Africa working and my eldest daughter just happened to be down early from her Northern Ontario country lair (smile) for a conference in Toronto scheduled to begin on Tuesday, thus she was on hand to take me down to the hospital and stay with me because the Duchess herself was somewhat under the weather and it would have been a bit much for her. 

But back to the waiting for the tests, and may I add, without food. I eventually managed to convince my daughter to get me some soup, because in her superior opinion, I should not have anything to eat since it could interfere with the tests. Chuh nonsense! But I thankfully drank the soup and soldiered on. Finally, somewhere in the early afternoon hours I was called for the C.T. Scan of my chest. A porter took me down to the C. T Scan Department, and obviously I had to endure another waiting spell there. 

But here’s another of the Lord’s dramatic movements. Recently I’ve been seeing a lung specialist to try and alleviate some of my lung problems, and as luck, or the Lord, would have it, a C.T. Scan had been scheduled for this Thursday, that’s tomorrow the 9th of November, but here I was in the hospital on Sunday, getting the scan done, but under rather less auspicious circumstances. How much closer can you cut it eh? But that’s our great God! And the story gets even better with time. (smile) 

So, we have the five minute chest scan and go back to the original waiting area to await the results of the scan, which a couple of hours later still hadn’t shown up. And when I checked with the nurse in charge of the area she informed me that there was ONLY ONE Radiologist to read and decipher over a hundred scans. But I guess the Lord saw my state and sent out some grace and soon thereafter my test results showed up. However, it was then time to wait on the doctor who had ordered the scan to come around and discuss the results. By this time the ole fella was dying of hunger, notwithstanding the irritation of the coughing and wheezing. 

When the doctor finally showed up, he informed me that the scan showed a bit of a problem with my heart and my lungs, and though it might not be anything serious, he himself would not be sending me home, but would turn my case over to the internists who specialize in that stuff, and so would make a more educated decision. You can imagine my state. More waiting again. But then again friends, the Lord proved that He is indeed a Good God, and when you keep a decent attitude during adversity, He does indeed show favour. And shortly after the doctor voiced his verdict, the charge nurse offered me a stretcher to lie on in an adjacent corridor, but away from all the hustle and bustle and noise of the crowded waiting room. 

And did I ever jump at the opportunity with much prayer and thanksgiving, for I had been sitting bundled up in a corner of the waiting room all day, unable to stretch out my feet properly. So there I was, lying in the corridor at position D10, yes there are bed locations in the corridors too. And though far from the madding crowd, I was betwixt and between private rooms that also saw constant activity, but not as noisy and nerve jarring. And because I had not been officially admitted to the hospital they could not officially feed me. What they did have to offer was just some dry, bland egg salad and cheese sandwiches. But eventually I got one of the assistants to go out front and purchase some chili from Tim Hortons. Now that had some salty flavour and it satisfied me while I lay coughing and wheezing in the corridor, for all they gave me was some Tylenol and blood thinners. 

Finally, sometime around 9.pm, a lady doctor showed up and revealed that she was the internist to whom my file has been assigned. The good news was she didn’t see any real problems in the scan, but nonetheless they’d keep me overnight to be on the safe side. So they finally admitted me, but I didn’t move from my corridor location, because space there was at a premium. So I lay there napping and coughing and being an unhappy camper. Then, suddenly, around 3.am on Monday morning, they moved me to a private room. Obviously I was overjoyed as the circumstances would allow. 

But shortly thereafter my bubble was busted with a big pop, when I was informed that the move was not one of mercy or kindness, but of medical necessity, for I had just been diagnosed with the dreaded Covid virus. I didn’t even know that I was being tested for it. That meant I had to be isolated from the other patients and could not leave the room without a mask. But even with that bit of bad news, the Lord conveyed it through a stocky, bubbly, black nurse who was filling in for my regular nurse then on a break. And believe me, I have never seen a jollier nurse, or possibly a jollier human being, because she had my daughter and I laughing in spite of the unfortunate news. 

But if I thought things were bad then, I was sadly mistaken, for by daybreak, when the news spread, I was bombarded by a host of medical people from the lowest to the highest, and many asking the same questions. But the treatment was undoubtedly excellent. They didn’t miss a beat, and though it was rather invasive, I couldn’t complain because it was all for my benefit. And by yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, they considered me well enough to be released. So here I am back at the ole homestead, not a hundred percent, but certainly not as bad as I was, and with some rest and proper food and medication I should be okay in a few days. And that’s my story. And I’m sticking to it. 

Ah friends, our God is truly something else yes, and we never know what He’ll do or won’t do from one minute to the next, but if we remember this all important scripture and hold on to it faithfully, we’ll be able to handle most of our adversity with a good attitude. In the famous words of Bruh Paul to the church at Rome: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) 

Now let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Wednesday Wail letting all and sundry know of our most excellent position in Christ Jesus! As one voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And don’t forget the promise that if we endure with Christ right to very end, that the future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine. So let’s agree to meet there nuh! Much LOVE!

…you cannot be a disciple of Christ…unless you attend the Holy Spirit’s University of Adversity…  

P.S. I know it’s long, but good and insightful and ought to make up for the three days we missed. (smile) Much LOVE! 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ   

Today’s Scrip-Bit   4 November 2023 Philippians 3:10a.

04 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Philippians 3:10a.       That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,

And the lazy-day Saturday began wet and cloudy, but now there’s sunshine filtering through the clouds, promising to be a good day after all. And since I enjoyed more of the lazy day Saturday morning than I should have, (smile) let’s get right to our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer. 

As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

Oh friends, how relaxing and peaceful is that prayer that quietly brings us into the presence of our wonderful God! And getting to know our Lord and Saviour better each and every day, ought to be one of our spiritual projects, for the better we know Him, the better we can serve Him! And why do we seek to know God better? This commentary puts is thus: ‘Why do we have the desire to know God? A lot of good reasons, but the chief ones are “to LOVE Him” and “to worship Him.” This is the Christian life and behind why God saved us from our sins. PRAYER: “Father, help me to pursue You to know You that I might LOVE and worship You.” 

And what does it mean to desire to know God? ‘If the desire of your heart is to know God more intimately, that is a sign that the grace of God is drawing you. Your part is to respond by setting yourself to seek after and pursue Him (Matt. 6:33). Those who seek will find (Jer.29:13) And for those of us who don’t those very important scriptures here they are. Matt. 16:33 says: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ And that simply means that God should be the number ONE priority in our lives. 

Meanwhile Jeremiah 29:13 says: ‘And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ Yes my fellow believers we need to seek God with all our hearts. As Jesus said when asked what is the greatest commandment in the law. ‘Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.’ (Matt. 22:37) Oh friends, all of that just means that God must occupy first place in our daily lives. No wonder Bruh Paul so boldly stated in his letter to the Philippians: ‘That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;’ (Phil 3:10) 

And the scholars say: ‘This verse may also be paraphrased: “In order that I may personally know Him, that I might both experience His resurrection power, and share in His sufferings, and thus I will be more and more conformed to His death.” Paul wants “the righteousness… of God” (vs. 9) so that he can obtain a personal relationship with Jesus in actual day to day experience. This knowledge of Christ is obtained by experiencing in daily problems, needs, ministry, and so forth, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. 

Knowing Christ also entails participating in His sufferings. Paul desires to share in the Lord’s sufferings because they bring him into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Him; companionship in sorrow establishes the most intimate and lasting of ties, as afflicted hearts cling to each other. The result of participating in Christ’s sufferings is that Paul is being made like Him in death. This word “death” has a double meaning here, including inward and outward, ethical and physical death. As Jesus died in regard to sin on the cross, so Paul is doing more and more in his daily life. As Jesus was bodily slain, so the apostle, should Caesar’s verdict go against him, is prepared to be slain.’ 

Ah mih people, Bruh Paul was a zealot of the first order, but the good news is that we don’t have to be as zealous for Christ as he was. Oh, we do need to work towards that goal, but not many of us will be forced to give up our physical lives for Christ, although it should always be an option, as Christ sacrificed so much for us. However, we do need to increase our witness and LOVE for Christ, because too many of us are just armchair Christians, merely sitting on our comfortable fannies and spouting a whole lot of scriptural rhetoric but doing nothing to truly build Christ’s church. 

That is totally unacceptable friends! Jesus put His life on the line for us, the least we can do is to show some appreciation by spreading His word around the world. And with all the technology we now have, you don’t even have to leave home to do it. So let’s ramp up our witness nuh, put our best foot forward, so that we can reclaim some lost souls for Christ. That’s all He’s asking of us; to get out there and let those still hiding in the shadows of darkness, know that the true Light has come into the world to save them! Much LOVE!

…disciples of Christ…must be willing to suffer in His name… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ  

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