18 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Bruh Paul, internet service, smile
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Oh Friends, late is not the right word, but circumstances directed this lateness. (smile) This morning I had internet service for a while, but then I lost it for the remainder of the day, until about five thirty when it was finally discovered that the culprit preventing me from doing my thing was simply the communicating cord from the modem to the computer. Ah Lord eh, such simple things can cause such anger inspiring problems!
Anyway, that’s finally been solved, so from here on in, it’s clear sailing. However, as soon as I got that fixed, a few friends and family popped in to visit, to reminisce about bye gone days and make more memories for future reminiscing. Hn!
That obviously put paid to my writing the Bit. And after they left, I was somewhat tired from a harassing day, so I decided to get some rest first. Lo and behold though, I exceeded my nap time and only just got up. So here’s what I had written earlier this morning.
Oh Friends, it’s a beautiful morning and I’m outside enjoying the cool morning breeze and the beautiful view! It’s now around 8 a.m., and the old body is feeling refreshed after a decent night’s sleep. There’s one impediment though. It seems some people moved in downstairs last night, and now are sitting outside on the pool deck talking, rudely disturbing my early morning serene serenity. (smile)
Chuh! Now it’s not raucous or anything bad, but talk and laughter just seem out of place in such a tranquil setting. Let’s hope that it doesn’t continue for much longer, or become a habitual disturbance in the peaceful early morning hours. To make a bad situation worse, I don’t know what’s happening with the internet scene today. But one way or the other, I’ll try, with the Lord’s help of course, to get the Bit to you earlier than yesterday. (That obviously didn’t happen). So till later on, I guess I’ll just go inside and find a quiet spot and talk to the Father for a spell. More time!
Oh Friends, our God is so great and thoughtful, that I can’t even begin to comprehend Him! Remember a while ago I said that the talking downstairs was disturbing me a tad, because I wanted to be like Daniel, with my doors open, enjoying God’s refreshing breeze and presence?
Well shortly after that, He removed the loudest mouth from the gathering, plus they also moved away a bit, and the volume of the conversation was toned down. So now they don’t bother me, don’t really intrude on the conversation with the Father.
And by the way, the Spirit moved me to check the internet service, and wonder of wonders, it has returned! That means I don’t have to go anywhere to write the Bit today. Thank the Lord! The only drawback is that it’s a plug in situation, so it makes it a tad awkward to write on the computer, but they have promised to get a wireless set up today, and that should solve all the problems.
Most importantly, the duchess will be in a better frame of mind, since she’ll be able to play with all her wireless technological toys! And once she is happy, then I am happy. And who says the Lord isn’t good eh? Deh chupid! More time.
Well mih people, by the time I finished talking to the Father, about half an hour or so later, the net was gone again… and stayed gone for the whole day! Steups!
And thence began a whole lot of calls back and forth, involving frustration no all sides. But thankfully it never spilled over into outright anger, and you know from above, how the whole thing turned out eventually. So now that you’re up to scratch, let’s see if I can get this done before midnight. (smile)
Here’s our Bit. ‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’
And we’ve been talking about the importance of prayer in the believers life, and looking at scriptures that enhance that belief. Let’s continue that trend with an appropriate scripture from Acts.
‘Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.’ (Acts 3:1) Another instance of where serious and devout men of God made it a habit to pray. So if two of Jesus’ main men made it a habit to pray, why can’t we do the same eh? It shows that it was important to them, thus it should also be important to us and to all believers.
And the scholars add this note. ‘3:1. According to Jewish reckoning, the day began at six A.M. Hence the ninth hour is 3 P.M. The Jewish prayer time was held in conjunction with the evening prayer sacrifices and offering of incense. (cf. Luke 1:8-10; Rev.8:3-4) Peter and John commonly went to the temple to pray at this hour. The Greek imperfect tense could well be translated “used to go up.”
Now hear Bruh Paul to the Ephesians. Having told them about putting on the spiritual armour of God, (Eph. 6:10-17) he adds this very important corollary. ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery (hidden truth) of the gospel. For which I am an ambassador in bonds (chains): that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.’ (Eph.6:18-20)
Oh my fellow believers, yuh see the importance Bruh Paul placed on prayer? Not only did he desire the Ephesians to pray constantly for themselves, but also for each other, and believers all over. You’ll also notice that he asked them specifically to pray for him, so that he’d get the necessary belly and backbone to preach the truth of the gospel without fear.
Again my brethren, I reason that if a man of God, like Bruh Paul thought prayer so important to believers of all stripes, why shouldn’t we do too?
And the scholars add this helpful note. ‘6:18. Praying is grammatically linked to “stand” in verse 14. Without prayer God’s armour is inadequate to achieve victory. Prayer is indispensable. Always means “on every occasion,” that is, when Satan attacks. In the Spirit signifies that with the Spirit’s help such prayer for divine aid is to be made.
Watching thereunto means “being vigilant in this very matter” of prayer. They are to pray not just for themselves but also for all saints; spiritual combat is both and individual and corporate matter.’
Oh Friends, I couldn’t put it any better. Prayer is indeed a universal matter for all believers. So today, please let’s ponder on all we’ve heard, then endeavour to improve our prayer situation nuh. There’s no excuse for not doing so, because we all have room for improvements in our prayer lives.
Till later then. And may the good Lord bless and keep us safely as we make encouraging improvements to our prayer lives. and we can start doing that by chanting our Friday Chant. See I didn’t forget, the Spirit reminded me. (smile)
So let’s chant. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ Much LOVE my brethren!
…happiness is the result of…a radical, outrageous relationship with God… (Joyce Meyer) …and that’s the gospel truth…
16 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, the ole fella’s in Paradise; God’s Little Acre; Robinson Crusoe’s Isle; Sweet, Sweet Tobago! It was an arduous journey, but the rewards will certainly be worth it.
Having left Toronto about 10.30 p.m last night, we got into Piarco airport in Trinidad at 5 a.m, then had to wait until 9.30 to get a flight to Tobago. There was one around six, but I listened to the Duchess when she queried what we were going to do in Tobago at that early hour of the morning.
But even if it was just lounge around the airport, like we did at Piarco, it would have been more refreshing, with cleaner air and more beautiful surroundings, although the Northern Range of mountains overlooking Piarco, did look splendid as the sun rose upon them.
At one stage I was so tired that I simply lay across a few seats in the Tobago Departure Lounge, and just rested for a while, And surprisingly it refreshed me.
Then when we finally got to Tobago, we had to wait for them to pick us up and negotiate some prices, because according to Expedia, they had booked the rental and sent us all sorts of confirmation. However the rental company claimed they had no reservation.
But wonder of wonders… sorry, there should be no wonder there at all my brethren, since from the moment I got to the airport, right at the check in counter, all through the night and into the day, people were wonderful to me! That’s because the abundant grace and favour of our magnanimous God shone extremely bright on me. We even got a cheaper rate than what Expedia had quoted us.
The long and short of the story Friends, is that by the time we settled everything and got to what they are calling a bungalow, but is actually an upstairs two bedroom apartment, it was after one p.m. Then we had to go and get something to eat, and unfortunately when we checked out the Internet, there was no service. Steups!
Apparently this part of the compound, including the sales and rental office is having service problems. But the sales people have graciously made arrangements for me to go up to the Hotel Magdalena, a luxurious resort on the compound to use their Internet service.
So I’m scribbling something here on my balcony overlooking the golf course, with some lovely greenery growing almost to the height of the balcony, while the cool sea breeze washes over me, surrounded by four other white buildings of similar shape and size. I believe that right now only one other is occupied, so it’s peaceful and quiet; just what the doctor ordered.
Ah Friends, the trees are all dancing to the scintillating, invigorating beat of the wind. That feels beautiful, and and old fellow just pulled up in his golf cart on the course on the foreground.
Now don’t all get jealous, (smile) all you have to do is like Bruh David and I did; follow the awesome words of our Bit. ‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’
Ah mih people, our God truly does answer prayer! And if you don’t believe me, believe Bruh David, because you know his amazing story. It wasn’t an easy life, and he made some serious mistakes for which he paid dearly, but nevertheless, the Lord looked after him, showering him with great rewards, because He deemed him faithful, a man after His own heart.
And He will do the same thing for us Friends, if we follow Bruh David’s example, as well as Jesus’, especially on that faithful and most memorable night in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion. That night my fellow believers, our Saviour’s heart was very heavy, and He went into the garden with His disciples to pray. He told most of them: ‘Sit ye here, while I shall pray.’ (Mark 14:32b).
Then He took Peter, James and John, His inner circle further on, ‘And he saith unto them. My soul is exceedingly sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. and he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me; nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. and he cometh and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? could thou not watch one hour? Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.’ (Mark 14:34-38)
Oh my brethren, I don’t know what to do to awaken the spirit of prayer in us nuh, to make us truly believe that prayer is the essence, the bedrock, the very foundation of our being. For without it, we would not be able to communicate with Almighty God, our Heavenly Father. Therefore we wouldn’t be able to enjoy His grace, mercy, favour, forgiveness, LOVE, salvation and eternal life.
Oh Friends, just listen to al those wonderful things He provides for us when we live in obedience to His holy will and reverence Him with true LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS!
And on that note I’ll close for today, so I can go up the street to the Magdalena and get the Bit on it’s way. Much Much LOVE my people, from my balcony on the little bungalow at Lowlands. (smile) God Bless!
…only a fool refuses to believe and accept…the wonderful blessings of God…on those who trust and adore Him…
15 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: advice, alive and kicking, appliances, attitude of prayer, be happy, begin each day with prayer, behaviour to cultivate, better late than never, boycott threat, complications, Daniel, David, deliverance from death, direct my prayer, disciples, encourage, epistle, faults and foibles, fed the five thousand, freezer problem, friends, get serious about prayer, glory hallelujah, God's grace, greatest power on earth, ground swell, heartfelt, holds us captive, importance of prayer, in the morning, intermittent cough, Jesus, joyfully declare, lighten the soul, look up, LOVE, my voice, negative, new fangled, O Lord, planet earth, plastic, poor-me-one, positive attitude, pray without ceasing, prayer, prayer for protection, pronouncement, Psalm 88, recharge batteries, rejoice and be glad, rejuvenation of spirit, see another day, service charge, sincere prayer, sincerity, sorrowful, spiritual energy, the day the Lord has made, the Good Book, the other side, the power of prayer, tip of the iceberg, troubled world, true believers, truth, year of 2014
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Oh Friends, once again we have been blessed with God’s wonderful grace, enabling us to see another new day on His great planet earth! Wow! How thrilling that is!
And I know that you all will agree with me, for despite all the problems in the troubled world and our individual lives, very few really are ready to leave here and go over to the other side. There’s something about earth, with all its faults and foibles that still holds us captive.
Perhaps it’s simply because we know what’s here, but aren’t truly sure about what’s on the other side, although they claim it’s much better there.
In any case, since we’re here, and most likely want to be, let’s be happy, and like the psalmist, joyfully declare: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we WILL rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps.118:24) That positive attitude certainly helps more than a negative, sorrowful, poor-me-one behaviour.
Oh by the way, a service man did come yesterday to look at our freezer problem, at an exorbitant service charge. Hn!
Apparently there’s a small plastic cup – no surprise there, for everything’s plastic now – where the water runs through to the icemaker. But whenever that cup gets clogged with ice, and the icemaker calls for water, the water cannot run into the cup and into the icemaker. So as water is wont to do, it finds other channels to run into.
Consequently, by the time he checked it yesterday, everything was clear and free, and the only thing we can do is keep a close eye on it, because there’s no finding out why it happens. Ah Lord eh! And last night we had to turn off the icemaker because the bucket was already full of ice.
And the techie agreed with my contention that the earlier appliances worked much better than these new fangled ones, neither did they have as many complications when something went wrong. Although it gave him more work, he wasn’t thrilled with the new stuff, and suggested that we complain to the manufactures themselves, not to the service people.
But which big manufacturer listens to the small man eh, unless there’s a big ground swell and a serious threat of boycotting their products?
Anyway, that’s enough preamble for today. (smile) Yesterday’s Bit was one of the longest, if not the longest one I’ve ever written, and I promise today’s definitely won’t be as long. So in keeping with that promise let’s get to our Bit from Bruh David’s prayer for protection.
‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’
And I was up early enough today to do my prayer thing and still get the Bit to you at a reasonable hour. Glory Hallelujah! And we’ll continue looking at scriptures that show us the importance of prayer, as well as encourage us to get more involved in it.
And there’s lots of truth in the advice to begin each day with prayer. Bruh David and Daniel (6:10) did it, and in Psalm 88, a Maschil (Contemplation) of Heman the Ezrahite, a cry for deliverance from death, the psalmist also proclaims: ‘But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent (come before) thee.’ (Ps.88:13)
Now we already know that Jesus got up very early every morning to go out into a quiet place and pray. (Mark 1:35) But that wasn’t the only time He availed Himself of the power of prayer. And we have a good example of that after He fed the five thousand, (Matt.14:15-22) and sent His disciples over to the other side of the lake by ship, then went off by Himself to pray.
‘And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart (by Himself) to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.’ (Matt.14:23)
Apparently after using up all that spiritual energy, He needed some recharging of His batteries, some rejuvenation of His Spirit. And believe me Friends, nothing recharges or rejuvenates us like sincere prayer!
Now let’s move on to Bruh Paul. Oh my brethren, I don’t know if anyone has spoken about the importance of prayer more than him! In every epistle he encourages his readers to pray. And his most astounding pronouncement on the subject is simply this: ‘Pray without ceasing.’ (1 Thess.5:17) Plain and straightforward my people!
The scholars dissemble the verse thus: ‘The Greek word here rendered without ceasing is used in secular literature to denote a man suffering from an intermittent cough – one that is not continuous, but occurs at intervals. Just as the individual has the tendency to cough, though does not always do so audibly, so the believer ought to remain in the attitude of prayer though not always praying audibly.’
Therefore Friends, as true believers, we ought always to have that attitude of prayer about us, though not necessarily praying aloud. It’s a most wonderful behaviour to cultivate. And as promised, we won’t ramble on any more today.
But my brethren, that’s only the tip of the iceberg concerning prayer in the Good Book. However we’ll leave you to ponder those few verses today. Don’t want to complicate your busy minds and lives more than they’re already complicated. (smile) .
But please, please, let’s get serious about prayer in this important year of 2014 nuh, both for others and ourselves, because it’s the greatest power on planet earth, when entered into with heartfelt sincerity. Much LOVE!
…there’s nothing like prayer…to lighten the believer’s soul…
P.S. Aye mih people, the Bit will most likely be plenty late tomorrow, because I’m going out of town this evening, and I don’t know when I’ll find the time to write it. But rest assured that once I’m alive and kicking, you will receive it. It’s just a matter of when. And as they say; better late than never. (smile) Much LOVE!
14 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: begin each day with prayer, best example, big part of our lives, bye-gone days, call upon God, calm, ceasing to pray, cheaply made gadgets, Christian manner, commanding voice, contention, conveniences, cry aloud, Daniel, deceitful friends, dedicated button, dim his perspective, direct my prayer, distractions, divine duty, dutiful husband, enrich our lives, evening, exorbitant service charge, fix the problem, flying colours, gave thanks, God forbid, good old days, guidance, hear my voice, help, I will pray, ice maker, ice storm, imperative call, importance of prayer, in love, in the morning, Israel, Jerusalem, Jesus, kneeled, longwinded, look up, LOVE, malfunction, maturity, Maytag appliance, morning, motto, my voice, new fangled technology, noon, one function, open windows, our leader, out of the blue, plot to kill, practice what you preach, prayed, prayer quotient, problems, raises my hackles, right or wrong, righteousness., service man, sin against the Lord, sinfulness, smile, soulful lament, speaking the truth, test, Thank the Lord, the Lord's standards, three times a day, undesirable situation, wasp nest
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Oh For the good old days eh! And you’re no doubt wondering what caused that soulful lament for those bye-gone days?
Well, it’s because yesterday afternoon, while I was trying to catch up on some rest, for I’m not over whatever bug’s been bugging me for the last ten days. But I am getting better… Thank the Lord I’m getting better! Though not as quickly as I’d like.
Anyway, out of the blue, I head this imperative call: ‘Randolph, come here!’ Chuh! I sighed at being disturbed, while wondering what was wrong now. The Duchess is one of the few people who call me Randolph, and anytime I hear that commanding voice, it automatically raises my hackles. (smile)
But as a dutiful husband, I got up and went downstairs, only to find the Duchess standing in front of the opened freezer door of the fridge, watching water come pouring out.
Oh, she’d already done what she could; put some towels on the ground to sop up the water, taken out the ice-maker, and turned off the water. But the residue in there kept coming out for a couple more minutes.
She was obviously not thrilled, because as usual, she was trying to do several things at the same time. It appears that she had just come from outside talking to the man who was cleaning up the trees from the ice storm damage, and found the undesirable situation.
By the way, she had him cut down the wasp (jack spaniard) nest that had been hanging so blithely from the tree limb outside my kitchen window. Aww! Now I don’t have anything to look at and chuckle about when I look out there.
But my brethren, you would certainly have been proud of the ole fella, for I responded in a very calm and Christian manner. Wow! What maturity! (smile) I allowed her to go and continue her other chores, while I simply did what I could to clean up the resultant mess.
To tell the truth, I was even surprised at how calmly I handled the situation. I guess the Holy Spirit did a magnificent job in me. And who says He doesn’t work hard eh!
The long and short of the story is that the freezer section contains an automatic icemaker that provides either crushed or cubed ice, along with a waterspout. However the icemaker is always causing problems, either not making ice or making too much ice.
Just a couple weeks ago, it malfunctioned again, that time causing a terrible ice build up in the freezer. Everything in there was so caked with ice that we had problems taking them out. A service man came, obviously at an exorbitant service charge, but apparently all he did was de-ice the freezer, not fix the problem that had caused it in the first place.
Now yesterday the water section acted up. My contention is that the older fridges with just a small freezer section, where you put your ice trays to make ice, never caused those problems. But these fanciful, cheaply made gadgets with so many features constantly cause problems.
And this is supposed to be a top of the line Maytag appliance, whose advertisement wrongly boasted about the Maytag repairman never having anything to do because their products were so good. Hogwash! I won’t even get into the problems we’ve had with a Maytag stove.
Hn! The amount of times we’ve had service people out to fix one thing or another, and the cheap knobs that keep falling off. I would certainly think twice about buying another Maytag appliance.
But coming back to my original contention, I don’t use much ice, especially in the winter, and I never drink from the waterspout, because I find it tastes terrible. What did we do before we had fridges that automatically gave ice and water eh? We got along quite fine!
And besides there were less possibilities of a number of things going wrong, as now happens with all the supposed conveniences on them. And I was made to understand that’s how all the fridges are now made. The Lord help us! And another service man is supposed to come today, of course at some ridiculous service charge.
But that’s one of the reasons why I don’t like all this new fangled technology; they try to put too many features into a single item, and they never seem to work properly, plus when one breaks down, it causes eternal problems. And don’t even talk about the one button that does several different things, as they have in all these new gadgets. Steups! It’s just a bit much for my mentality. I like my one button dedicated to one function.
And having ‘preambled’ at length on my opening sentence, (smile) you all know that the ole fella’s longwinded, let’s turn to our Bit, which conveys such a powerful and important directive.
‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’
Yes Friends, the best way to begin each and every day is with prayer! Remember Jesus did it, (Mark 1:35) so why should we not follow our leader, the best example of righteousness that we have. And today we’re going to highlight some scriptures that show the importance of prayer, and which also encourage us to make prayer a big part of our lives.
And we’ll start with an interesting, but little talked about scripture. It comes from 1 Samuel. ‘Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and right way.’ (1 Sam.12:23) That was Samuel’s promise when he addressed Israel re their high level of sinfulness.
And the scholars have an interesting note on that verse. ’12:23. Despite Israel’s sin, Samuel LOVED Israel and Saul (cf.16:1) and pledged his continued help, especially in praying for them and teaching them the Lord’s standards. His LOVE for them however, would not dim his perspective as to what ways were right or wrong in Israel. He would do his divine duty of speaking the truth in LOVE (cf. Eph.4:15).’
And I’ll spoil us by quoting that last verse, since I know that very few are going to look it up. Bruh Paul is talking about the new life in Christ. ‘But speaking the truth in LOVE, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.’ (Eph.4:15)
Meanwhile, in Psalm 55, a cry against deceitful friends, Bruh David boldly declares: ‘As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.’ (Ps.55:16-17)
Bruh David says that he will pray at least three times a day. That brings us to Daniel who apparently did the same thing.
‘Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a (that) day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime (had been doing before this).’ (Dan.6:10)
So although he knew that there was a plot afoot to kill him because of his praying to the God of his forefathers, he continued doing as he had always done. And the scholars point out: ‘6:10-11. Daniel was past 80 years of age at this time, yet he was still on his knees thanking God and asking for His guidance and help.’
Oh what a wonderful example for us to follow my people. Please let’s up our prayer quotient nuh. It will certainly enrich our lives. Much LOVE!
…to pray…and yet to pray again…should be the motto of ALL believers…
P.S. The Bit’s late because I didn’t get up early enough to start my day with prayer, and still have enough time to send it our early, plus I had a couple of unavoidable distractions in between.
Ah Friends, it’s not easy, that was a test to see if I was practicing what I preach. Don’t worry, I get tested on most of the stuff I write about, sometimes even before I’m even finished writing about it.
Obviously I don’t pass them all, or not as well as I should, but I’m happy to say that I passed this one today with flying colours! Wow! Aren’t you proud of me? (smile) Much LOVE!
13 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a believer's life, adrenalin flowing, aura of love, awaken joyfully, blessings, courageous leader, crass demeanour, crossroads of decision, cursing, direct my prayer, diseased soul, early in the morning, earnest prayer, enemy's ranks, enemy's wicked taunts, enthusiasm, evil ungodly world, excellent advice, faint, fearless, further God's glorious kingdom, groaning, guidance, healing, holy spirit, humble servants, humbly ask, imperative, importance of prayer, important decisions, inspiring words, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, keeping families together, lies, man's body, meditation, men ought to pray, miracles, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, motors revved up, necessary changes, new week of work, not afraid, not lose heart, Oh Lord God Almighty, persitent prayer, positive frame of mind, praise Your Holy Name, preaching of the gospel, protective spiritual armour, public preaching, recognition, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, sally forth with confidence, seek guidance, sinful mortals, Son and Saviour, son of god, spiritual strength, standing 'O', steadfast faith, suffering, sure conquerors, surrender our all, temper tantrums, the Father's wisdom, visible fruit, voice of my cry, weary souls, weekend, wiles, wisdom, worthwhile inroads
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee.
And now Friends, it’s Monday… Easy now…easy does it… No cursing…no temper tantrums. So you overdid the weekend, and now your mental and physical states are not what they should be. As a believer you ought to know better, but it’s too late to worry about that now. Just take a deep breath and control yourself…
Now release it and thank the Lord for allowing you to see another day on His glorious planet earth, and ask for His guidance and blessings. Regardless of your mental or physical state, you know you have to get up and go to work, so why not do it the easy and smart way eh, by communicating with your heavenly Father?
Oh mih people, I’m still trying to get us to awaken joyfully, instead of right away developing a crass and miserable demeanour when the alarm goes off, especially on a Monday morning. And we’ll keep doing it until victory is achieved! (smile) Until then…and even after that, we’ll continue to sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to get our adrenalin flowing and our motors properly revved up.
So as one harmonious choir now, let’s sing: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Awright mih breddren, that wasn’t a bad rendition, though we’ve done better. It didn’t get us a standing ‘O’ in heaven, but the applause was polite enough. (smile) But seriously Friends, I can’t impress on us enough, the utmost importance of prayer in a believer’s life. Remember yesterday we saw Jesus tell His listeners a parable about how men ought to pray and not faint, not lose heart? (Luke 18:1) Now if He says so, then of a truth, it must be so!
Bruh David takes that a step further though. In Psalm 5, his prayer for protection, he solemnly declares these sentiments. ‘Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation (groaning). Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. ‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee.’ (Ps.5:1-3)
In our Bit there, Bruh David proclaims that in the midst of his suffering, he will make his supplication to the Lord early in the morning. And that’s excellent advice Friends, whether you’re in the midst of suffering or not!
As we said yesterday, and I advised right at the beginning today, it’s always best to start our day with prayer, because it starts us off in a positive frame of mind, gives us the necessary spiritual strength to face the day. And the good thing is that it doesn’t have to be an overly long session for the Lord knows how busy we are, but acknowledging Him as soon as we wake, certainly pleases Him.
And if you don’t believe me, then listen to these inspiring words from the Good Book. ‘And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary (quiet, deserted) place, and there prayed.’ (Mark 1:35)
Yuh know who Mark’s talking about there Friends? It’s our own beloved Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, while out on His first preaching tour!
So my people, fellow believers and otherwise, if our wonderful, wise, fearless and courageous Leader, the Son of God, could get up early to pray, why can’t we eh? Because we’re too lazy, or just don’t believe that early prayer is valuable, or just don’t believe in prayer at all, who knows? The truth of the matter though my brethren is that prayer is extremely important, and praying as soon as we awaken is best.
Anyway, here is an interesting note on that verse from the scholars. ‘Mark emphasizes that it was a great while before day. Showing that Jesus began each day of His earthly ministry with prayer is only the secondary intention of this verse. The primary aim is to show how Jesus made important decisions: by earnest, persistent prayer. Here Jesus stands at the crossroads of decision.
His first year of public preaching (vv. 9-20) has borne little visible fruit. But His miracles of healing are drawing huge crowds (vv.31-32) and bringing Him recognition (v. 28). So the question is whether He should continue to put the stress of His ministry on the preaching of the gospel for the healing of man’s diseased soul, or place the stress of His work on the more popular performing of miracles for the healing of man’s body. To make the proper choice, He seeks by prayer the Father’s wisdom.’
And that my people, is the truest and highest state of wisdom that exists! So please, let’s ponder all that we’ve learned today, then, as always, get the Lord to help us make the necessary changes in our lives. Much LOVE!
…again I ask…if it was imperative for Jesus…the Son of God…to seek guidance through prayer…why should it be any less so for us…sinful mortals that we are…
12 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adoration, always pray, amazing, anger, armour of god, author of all truth and wisdom, awesome, baby Jesus, battle dress, be obedient, Beelzebub, belt of truth, best action, breastplate of righteousness, bundle of joy, Christmas, chuckling, consciousness, curiousity, definitive statement, devious schemes, dine, disgusting truth, doubts, enthused, Ephesians, evil things of the world, excited, excitement of Jesus, faithfulness, fear, fight a good fight, foolish, friends, guidance, helmet of salvation, help, Holy will, I stand at the door, immediate action, in Jesus' name, incomparable God, indisputable truth, infused with strength, inquisitiveness, invitation, Jesus Christ, Joseph, joy, knock, lifeblood of our souls, look up, Lord and Saviour, lose heart, LOVE, loving kindness, lusts of the flesh, Mary, medicine, military overtones, most excellent, my heart, my voice, negativity, not faint, on the right foot, open the door, parable, positive start, Praise the Lord, prayer, proclamation, resist the enemy, Revelation, reverence, Salvation Army, sandals of peace, self-pity, sense of urgency, serve, shield of faith, spiritual armour, sword of the Spirit, tactics, testimonial, the Holy Spirit, tied up in knots, ungodly, unwise, wiles of the devil, wily, wise man, wonder, Word of God, worship
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, what an awesome, amazing and incomparable God we serve and worship!
And recognizing the indisputable truth of that statement, all God’s people at once responded with a loud and proud: ‘Praise the Lord God Jehovah! For He is truly mighty, and indeed worthy of our reverence and worship!’
And I know that because of the fastness, the curiosity, your natural inquisitiveness, (smile) you’re wondering what brought on that beautiful burst of adoration. Well nothing more than His LOVING-kindness and faithfulness!
A short while ago, as I was getting ready to write the Bit and pondering what to put in the preamble, I opened a desk drawer looking for paper, and lo and behold, I came upon this Christmas tract put out by Sally Anne (the Salvation Army), and right at the end was this short but beautiful poem that touched me, and I immediately knew that I had to share it with you.
A title isn’t listed, but the author’s name is Christina G Rosetti. The poem is printed above what looks like a charcoal drawing or dark picture on a white background, of a new born babe peacefully lying in a bassinet made of reeds or some other fibrous material that can be plaited together, with the mother sitting on the left side, while the father kneels on the right, both tenderly and LOVINGLY gazing down at their new bundle of joy, much like how Mary and Joseph must have gazed down at baby Jesus with wonder and LOVE. (smile)
And having set the scene, this is what the poem says: ‘What can I give Him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would give Him a lamb; If I were a wise man, I would do my part. But what can I give Him – I give Him my heart.’
Oh mih people, there’s no better gift that we can give to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, than our hearts; the very lifeblood of our souls! In fact, that’s all he ever asks of us. As He so generously offers in Revelation. ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup (dine) with him, and he with me.’ (Rev.3:20)
What an invitation, Friends! It’s the door to our hearts that Jesus is knocking on! How can we ever refuse to open it eh? For it’s the BEST INVITATION THERE IS!
Sadly though, millions of people around the globe are indeed refusing it every day. How unwise and foolish of them! Instead they are accepting Lucifer’s deceitful invite to sample the evil things of the world and the ungodly lusts of the flesh. But that’s a story for another day, so let me leave it alone, before I get carried away. (smile)
Let’s belatedly turn to our Bit; a glowing proclamation and testimonial of Bruh David, from his prayer for protection. ‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’
Again my people, once we’ve given our hearts to Jesus, that is the BEST ACTION we can take at the beginning of each and every day!
Why? Because it gets our day off on the right foot, gives us a positive start. We get infused with strength and guidance from the Holy Spirit right from the get go, before the wily Beelzebub can get into our consciousness with his negativity and have us all tied up in knots, with doubts, fear, anger and self-pity.
That is why my people, it’s ever so important that the first set of clothes we put on every day is our battle dress, our suit of spiritual armour. As Bruh Paul told the Ephesians. ‘Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (devious schemes) of the devil.’ (Eph.6:11)
And the scholars define that verse thus: ‘6:11. Put on (Greek ingressive aorist imperative) denotes a sense of urgency, demanding immediate action. To stand has military overtones. This verb was used in classical Greek meaning to resist the enemy and hold a critical position in battle. The wiles of the devil (or, “the Devil’s strategy”): Satan carefully devises schemes and tactics against believers.’
And is that ever the disgusting truth my brethren! And for those of you who don’t know or are too lazy to read it, the description of the spiritual suit of armour is found in Ephesians 6:13-18.
But I spoil you all so much, (smile) that I’m going to give you a brief description of what they are: the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the sandals of peace, the shield of faith, and the mighty sword of the Spirit, the omnipotent Word of God.
Oh Friends, I’m so excited and enthused and chuckling as I write this Bit, that I’m not sure if I’m on course or not. And the truth is, I really don’t care, because I know that it will turn out all right… no, not just all right, but most excellent, through the Lord’s guidance and help. So how can I not praise and serve and worship and LOVE Him eh?
Ah Friends, that is what happens when you get caught up in the excitement of Jesus!
But yuh know what mih breddren? I think we’ve run out of space and time for today. (smile) But we’ll close with the definitive statement on prayer that totally supports our Bit.
And as we like to do whenever possible, it’s from none other than our Master, Jesus. ‘And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (lose heart).’ (Luke 18:1)
Immortal words of awesome truth and wisdom Friends, straight from the author of all truth and wisdom! We certainly can’t do any better than that. So please, from henceforth, let’s begin each day with prayer nuh.
And it doesn’t have to be anything lengthy, just acknowledging that the Lord is the strength and joy of our life and that during the ensuing day, we’ll try to walk and talk and be obedient to His holy will, be worthy of being called His child. By so doing, right from the outset, we’ll be filled with strength, truth and wisdom, spiritually enabled to fight a good fight in Jesus’ name, each and every day.
Oh my fellow believers, that’s such tremendous wisdom, that I don’t even know how to categorize it! (smile) It’s surely been a smiley day, but that’s a great medicine for anything that ails us, and besides it’s also the cheapest. Much LOVE!
…there’s no greater power in this world…than sincere prayer…
11 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a believer's life, action, appendage of love, appreciation, atoning sacrifice, attributes, baubles and bangles, Bruh Paul, Christians, competitor, corruption, defeats the purpose, diligence, discipline, earthly walk, easy life, effort, evil cohorts, evil doers, evil powers, evil ways, faithfulness, fat fannies, fear, figuratively, followers of Jesus, fruit of the Spirit, fulfills the law, furrows of love, gentleness, God is LOVE, God's help, God's plan for our lives, goodness, gratefulness, hatred stirs up strife, heartfelt prayer, hearts, holiness, homelessness, Jesus Christ, joy, joy in heaven, justice, kindness, literally, long-suffering, losing the battle, Love covers all sins, Love does no harm, love experience, Love God, love of the Father, LOVE Revolution, Lucifer, make hay while the sun shines, man's sinful nature, meekness, mere token, minds, motives of our hearts, negativity, New Year's Day, oppression, outward actions, peace, petty concerns, plough, poverty, procrastinating, rhetoric, self-control, serious challenge, shape up, sincerity, sins, sitting on laurels, sliding into hell, specific purpose, spritually resembling Jesus, standing steadfast, suppression, temperance, thankfulness, time waits on no one, unbelievers, walk in LOVE, whim and fancy, wise words, work seriously, worthwhile institutions, wretched souls
Romans 13:10. LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.
Oh Friends, can you believe it’s already the 11th of January! But we just celebrated New Year’s Day last week!
Yes, it seems 2014 is going to be a fast moving year like 2013, so we had better shape up and do the things we need to do; stop procrastinating, stop believing that we have lots of time to accomplish our life’s work. For some wise people said long ago, that time waits on no one, and that lost time can never be regained, so it’s best to make hay while the sun shines. (smile)
And how do we do all of that? First of all by finding out the plan God has for our lives, then diligently living it out with His help. And He does have a plan for each every life that He creates. He doesn’t just make us on a whim and fancy, but for a specific purpose. That means if you don’t know His plan for your individual life, then you have to ask Him. And you know He’ll never refuse to answer sincere, heartfelt prayer.
But Friends, whatever specific plan God has in store for us, it always has the appendage of LOVE attached to it. Why? Because God is LOVE! (1 John 4:8b) That is one of His many glorious attributes, possibly the most important one as it pertains to human life. For as Jesus said the most important aspects of human life are to LOVE God, ourselves and our neighbours. (Matt.22:37-40)
Therefore, if we are to be true followers of Jehovah God, then LOVE MUST play a very large and important part in our lives. 1 John 4:10 tells us that it’s because God LOVED us so deeply that He sent Jesus to die as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, so He could cover His attributes of holiness and justice. Consequently, ‘Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:11) That means followers of Jesus ought to walk in LOVE!
And our Bit certainly confirms that LOVE is of the utmost importance in a believer’s life. ‘LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.’ So if we’re walking in LOVE, then we’re fulfilling the law of God!
However Friends, talking about walking in LOVE, and actually doing it, are two entirely different things, if only because of man’s sinful and rebellious nature and the unbelievable negativity that our world embraces. Therefore to truly walk in LOVE is not easy, it is indeed a serious challenge. But as everything else in our world, it is doable with our diligence and the help of God.
And the beauty of the whole LOVE experience is that when we truly put it into action, that’s the time we come closest to spiritually resembling Jesus. Oh what joy that ought to produce in a believer’s life!
However, our nature is also to shy away from anything that’s difficult; anything that takes some time, discipline and diligent effort. But just look at what Jesus suffered for us nuh my brethren. Our difficulties are a joke compared to what He went though to save our wretched souls. And all for one big reason…the LOVE OF THE FATHER!
So why can’t we now show a little gratefulness, a little thankfulness by grabbing hold of our plough and looking straight ahead, plough some beautiful furrows of LOVE eh? It’s the least we can do to show our appreciation. We won’t always be perfect and/or successful, but the Lord knows this, and it’s the sincerity of effort that counts.
And sadly my brethren, too many of us refuse to make that effort, that’s why Christ’s church and His LOVE Revolution is losing the battle to Lucifer and his evil cohorts. We seem to want the easy life, but life’s not easy; it never was, and never will be, however you cut or slice it!
Oh Friends, have you noticed how hard the evil powers fight for what they believe in? They don’t sit on their laurels and fat fannies and spout a lot of rhetoric. They get up and work seriously and diligently towards their goals. And if the church of Christ wants to win the battle of this world, then we have to do the same thing. And I don’t mean working hard to acquire the baubles and bangles of the world, but letting the LOVE of God show in our earthly walk, through what Bruh Paul terms the fruit of the Spirit.
And he describes it thus: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith (faithfulness), Meekness, temperance (self-control): against such there is no law.’ (Gal.5:22-23)
Now mih people, that is what we, as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, ought to be showing to the world! But are we doing that? Not half as much as we should! And oftimes it’s just mere token spiritual fruit we offer, from our minds, but not sincerely from our hearts, which defeats the whole purpose, because God doesn’t look at our outward actions, but at the motives of our hearts.
So Friends, let’s get up and get a serious move on nuh. Yuh see how our world is both literally and figuratively sliding down into hell! And we supposed Christians are suffering the downward slide because we’re not doing enough to convince unbelievers that Jesus and His church are worthwhile institutions to support and enjoy.
Oh mih breddren I know I’m coming on somewhat strong, but I’m just tired of seeing the evil and corruption, the poverty, the homelessness, the oppression and suppression that’s currently dominating our world. And sadly, it’s getting worse daily, while we believers squabble amongst ourselves over petty concerns, instead of standing up steadfast and strong against the evil doers, and living the kind of life that truly reflects Jesus. We’re either kow-towing to the evil doers in fear, or joining them because we too enjoy their evil ways.
And we’ll end with some wise words on the subject from Cousin Sol. ‘Hatred stirreth up strifes: but LOVE covereth all sins.’ (Prov.10:12)
Oh my people, with those awesome words of wisdom and truth ringing in our ears this Saturday morning, please, let’s go out into the sinful world that surrounds us and cover up plenty more sins than we’re currently doing nuh. It’s what Jesus commanded us to do. (Matt.28:19-20) Let’s show the world what true LOVE really is! That would bring such joy to heaven. Much LOVE!
…to be successful at anything…you need to stay several steps ahead of your competitor…so let’s rev up the LOVE Revolution nuh…
10 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a life of Love, agape, anger, Beelzebub, bounden duty, careening, Christ's followers, commandments, culture, devilish path, diligent efforts of Love, dissipation, dominating, earthly pilgrimage, eternal darkness, eternity, evil powers, fellowship, first heartbeat, foolish pride, forgive, Friday chant, fulfilling of the law, fun, generous help, glorious kingdom, godlessness, godly sentiments, godly wisdom, gospel truth, greatest feelings, human weakness, importance of Love, Jesus Christ, jesus name, Job, lawlessness, leggo-beast, life-saving opportunity, LOVE, Love does no harm, Love God, Love shines brighter, Love shines brighter every day, Love your neighbour as yourself, lower standards, negative and evil things, party time, perspective, Pharisees, positive and godly things, rebellion, reconciled to God, reggase song, rejuvenation of spirit, renewal, revolution of Love, right perspective, separation, sinful nature, spread LOVE, strife, Thank God is Friday, the children's sake, the essence of God, the morning sun, the necessity for Love, the weekend, too far for comfort, unbelievers, unfathomable reason, unwise, wisdom
Romans 13:10. LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.
Hello there mih people, it’s Friday… And the raucous shouting begins: ‘Oh Lord, oh Lord, the weekend’s here! Work soon finish, then is time to behave like leggo beast! Oh Lord, oh Lord, it’s Friday… party time! Thank the Lord is Friday yes!’ (smile)
But Friends, you better believe that there are a lot of us out there with that mentality, that the weekend’s the time to go crazy. However, that’s a sad fallacy.
Granted, you do deserve to let down your hair some, after a long and hard week’s work, but definitely not to behave like leggo beast and put a big, broad grin on Beelzebub’s evil face. It’s supposed to be more a time of renewal than dissipation.
And to help us use the weekend the right way, let’s chant our Friday Chant as one loud, harmonious, groovy chorus. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Now that’s how we should approach the weekend my brethren, not with the earlier carryings on! It’s all about perspective people; about having the right perspective to this earthly pilgrimage.
And what better perspective to life is there than the godly sentiments contained in our Bit? ‘LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.’ None whatsoever!
Oh my fellow believers, we’re talking about LOVE, the essence of the omnipotent God Jehovah, Creator and Controller of the universe!
LOVE was the emotion that drove Him to save us from our sinful selves, thus giving us the wonderful, life-saving opportunity to be reconciled to Him, and not spend eternity in eternal darkness and separation.
In light of all that, what could be a better perspective to living, than a life of LOVE eh? Nothing really my brethren!
As the old reggae song by Culture states: ‘It was LOVE that caused our first heartbeat.’ Gospel truth indeed!
And Culture also declares that ‘LOVE shines brighter than the morning sun.’ And it sure does Friends, if we allow it to.
That’s why Jesus kept reiterating the importance of and the necessity for LOVE in our lives. When asked by the ole hypocrite Pharisees about the greatest commandment, what was His reply eh?
‘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. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matt.22:37-40)
Now why would Jesus expand and expatiate (smile) on the importance of LOVE, if it wasn’t a big deal eh?
But for some unfathomable reason, be it foolish pride, persistent rebellion, or our basic sinful nature, we seem to find it very difficult to LOVE; to show it, to put it into action. And that deficiency covers the whole spectrum; from God, right back to ourselves and our neighbours.
However my brethren, without that ‘agape’ LOVE, the spiritual kindness, consideration and decency towards, God, ourselves and each other, our world will only keep sinking into a dreary and murky mire of lawlessness, Godlessness, anger and strife.
In fact, we’ve already gone too far for comfort, down that unwise, devilish path. And the only thing that can bring us back is a serious revolution of LOVE, engendered by Christ’s followers!
Yes my fellow believers, it’s only through our combined and diligent efforts of LOVE that our world will ever be turned around!
Aren’t you tired of seeing our beautiful world constantly careening to lower and lower levels and standards, where the negative and evil things in life are dominating the positive and godly things? I surely am!
So please help me fix it nuh! It’s our job, our bounden duty! And if we don’t fix it, who will eh? Surely not the unbelievers and evil powers that be!
So Friends, in Jesus’ Name, today I’m asking us to all come together, as ONE, as the church, the body of Christ, and spread LOVE all around the world! Because as Culture also says: ‘LOVE shines brighter every day.’ That’s provided we allow it to.
So if we truly LOVE Jesus, then let’s allow the LOVE that’s buried deep in our hearts and souls to shine brighter today, and each and every day hence; for our world, and our children’s sake That’s godly wisdom! Much LOVE!
…oh, to LOVE…and be LOVED…are the greatest feelings in the world…
P.S. Sorry the Bit’s a tad late, but the ole body just couldn’t get up very early this morning. Please show some LOVE, and forgive my human weakness. (smile) Much LOVE!
09 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bed of roses, action word, agape, antibiotics, awesome truth, believers, between a rock and a hard place, bravely, Bruh Paul, charity, cooped up, disciples, doesn't boast, doesn't envy, dr robert h schuller, each generation, eros, evil, exciting thought, eye-opening experiences, faith is dim, fantastic, fantastic lesson, God LOVES me, God's help, God's LOVE, good fortune, good news, grace and favour of God, graceful truth, gumption, happy report, heahten, holy sentence, holy spirit, Hour of Power Devotional, hypocrites, ice, incomprehensible, iniquity, Jesus Christ, laugh, life's a blast, LOVE, Love does no harm, LOVE FOR EACH OTHER, Love fulfills the law, LOVE one another, LOVE Revolution, marathon session, negative emotions, never fails, new commandment, no waiting, not arrogant, not evil, not rude, not selfish, petty problems, pharmacy, prophecies, put in my heart, ran the race, rejoice, root canal, sadly lacking, scoff, short of Love, slush, snow, sparsely populated, suffers long, temptations, tests, Thank you Father, the Way of LOVE, tongues, troubled world, truth, ugly reality, unbeliever, ungodly world, unloving attitude, walking with Jesus, warm cocoon, wisdom, withstand
Romans 13:10. LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.
Aye mih breddren, life’s certainly a blast yes! For the first time in about ten days, I actually ventured out of my safe, warm cocoon yesterday, and faced the ugly reality that is the outside world. It’s the longest I’ve ever been cooped up in a house that I can remember.
At least when I had prostate cancer surgery a few years back, it was summer, and I could sit outside on either the front porch or the back deck. In any case though, I never really felt cooped up this past week because for most of it I was sick and the weather was terrible. And it seems that quite a few people did the same thing, for the same reasons.
Anyway, would you believe I did a marathon session out there yesterday! Wow! Bruh Paul would have been proud of how I ran that race! (smile) I left home, went up the street to a nearby Walmart, then went all the way down to the other end of the city, to the banker, the barber, the grocer and the doctor.
Mama Mia! In truth though, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds, because the last four places were in close proximity to each other, about two blocks separated them all. So I got up my gumption and bravely walked through the snow, ice and slush that covered the sidewalks and parking lots.
And wonder of wonders, in NONE of those four places did I have to wait, for all of them were sparsely populated! As soon as I walked into everyone, I was immediately served. I had to laugh at my good fortune, because as most of you know those four places usually call for a fair amount of waiting.
But then I realized that it was our wonderful God pouring out His abundant grace and favour on me, since I wasn’t in the best of shape, and it was still windy and cold. Obviously I let Him know that I was very thankful. The only place I had a short wait was at the Pharmacy later on where I went to get some antibiotics that the medic prescribed.
That’s why Friends, today, like Gramps Schuller (Robert H. Schuller) I can certainly attest to and loudly proclaim that ‘GOD LOVES ME!’ And also say along with His prayer from His Hour of Power Devotional.
‘Thank you, Lord, for this holy sentence, this good news, this happy report, this exciting thought, this graceful truth, this fantastic lesson. GOD LOVES ME! Even when I’m at my worst — GOD LOVES ME. Even when my faith is dim — GOD LOVES ME ANYWAY! It’s incomprehensible and fantastic! Thank you, Father. Amen.’
Ah mih people, I keep reminding us that walking with Jesus is not a bed of roses, but betwixt and between the tests and temptations, there are indeed wonderful, refreshing, rejuvenating, interesting and eye-opening experiences. The only problem now is that I have to go to the dentist today for some root canal work. Let’s see how that will play out. (smile)
But enough of my petty problems, let’s turn to our Bit, which deals with LOVE, something that our troubled world so badly needs but unfortunately is sadly lacking.
As the old song so truthfully stated back then, and is even more appropriate now, in these sad days of strife and the preponderance of negative emotions: ‘What the world needs now, is LOVE, SWEET LOVE. That’s the only thing, there’s just too little of…’
And oh my brethren, is that ever so true! LOVE comes from our God, and is what makes our world go round, or function properly, but right now we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place because we’re so SHORT of LOVE.
We claim to know about God’s LOVE for us, but what we seem unable to fathom and put into place is OUR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER. And a long while back, Bruh Paul put it to the Romans this way in our Bit: ‘LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.’
Now that’s the awesome truth Friends! For even before Bruh Paul’s comment, Jesus Himself commanded His disciples, and therefore us, and all His true followers: ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:34-35)
Oh my fellow believers, Jesus was talking there about revolutionizing the world through LOVE! It was the beginning of the LOVE Revolution, which each generation of believers is supposed to carry on, but which, unfortunately we’re not doing, since we’re not showing LOVE to each other.
Remember it’s through our showing of LOVE to each other that the world will know that we’re disciples of Jesus. And since we’re not doing it, that means we’re not His true disciples.
No wonder the unbeliever, the heathens and many others laugh and scoff at us, and consider us hypocrites because they quite plainly see our ‘UNLOVING’ attitudes and behaviour towards each other and the world in general.
That’s why I keep reminding us that LOVE is an ACTION WORD! We simply can’t talk it and expect it to happen. LOVE only takes place when we DO SOMETHING TO SHOW IT!
Consequently, Bruh Paul, who saw the need for LOTS OF LOVE in the evil, ungodly world, penned one of the most beautiful chapters of the Bible; re the WAY OF LOVE. And we’ll close by quoting a few appropriate verses from it, just to remind us what TRUE LOVE is all about.
And we’re not talking about ‘Eros’ or romantic LOVE, but ‘agape’, the spiritual LOVE that flows from God, and is supposed to be so jubilantly and vibrantly working in us through the Holy Spirit that indwells us.
So please listen up Friends, neighbours, heathens, whoever you are, for only these things will ever right our wrong-sided world.
‘Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (LOVE) envieth not; charity (LOVE) vaunteth not (does not brag on) itself, is not puffed up (arrogant), Doth not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (keeps no accounts of evil);
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity (LOVE) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail (cease): whether there be tongues, they shall cease, whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.’ (1 Cor.13:4-8)
And that’s the God-awesome truth my people! Therefore, let’s ponder all these things today nuh, and with God’s ever-present, never-ending help, make the necessary changes in our attitudes and behaviour, so that we can leave this world a much better place for our children. That’s the only wisdom there is! Much LOVE!
…if we’re not actively doing LOVE…then we’re not true disciples of Christ…as simple as that…
P.S. Friends, the Bit’s long and late, but it’s what God put in my heart to write today. Much LOVE!
08 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abhorred, actions, benefits, body fuel, breathe, Bruh Paul, christ jesus, clean air, connected to God, consciousness, Corinthians, Creator, dead with him, delivered from wicked men, deny him, despised, DETERMINATION, diligently try, do, drink, eat, endure, enjoy life, excellent results, exorbitant promises, faith, faithful, faithful saying, faithfulness, faithless, falling standards, forgiven, garbage in- garbage out, godly thoughts, Good Book, good soldier of Christ, hardiness, health, Health Food Mantra, Holy One, indisputable truth, Israel, jehovah god, Jesus Christ, lion, live with him, LOVE, make a way to escape, mercy of Jesus Christ, Messiah, Patricia Bragg, personal lives, pilgrim's route, poor souls, pray, provider, Redeemer of Israel, sacrifice, saving grace, saviour, say, selling ourselves short, servant, serve and worship, sinner, technologically advanced, temptation, tempted, the Lord's faithfulness, think, true, truly believe, wealth, winter, words
Isaiah 49:7. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his (its) Holy One, to him whom man despiseth (the despised of soul), to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose (has chosen) thee.
And the cold spell continues in the North Country, my people. One improvement though, it’s supposed to be a little warmer… Sorry, warmer is the wrong word, for there will be no warmth, it will be simply less cold. (smile)
But the great thing about it all is that unless the weather is truly awful, nothing much shuts down, and everyone and everything is expected to go on as normal. It speaks volumes for the determination and hardiness of the people. Anyway, you still have to dress warm and be very careful if you’re venturing out today.
And you people now enjoying brilliant sunshine and warm temps, do enjoy it, but remember to pray for us poor souls up here in the cold, that we’ll successfully make it through this winter that’s wanting to prove what a ferocious lion it is. (smile)
Now here’s an interesting note I found among my papers today. I believe it comes from a lady called Patricia Bragg. It says that ‘Your health is your wealth.’ Now that’s certainly true, because without good health, we can’t enjoy life!
Then there is what’s called the Health Food Mantra. Some of you might have heard it before, but it proclaims that ‘You are what you eat, drink, breathe, think, say and do.’
I believe that what you eat and drink is considered the body’s fuel. So whatever food we put in will determine how it runs; like a purring engine or a clanking, stuttering one.
The same goes for what we breathe. If we breathe in clean, highly oxygenated air, then the body will function at an optimum level. However, these days that kind of air is very difficult to find, especially in the big, industrialized towns and cities.
Then what we think is likened to a computer, and the saying, garbage in, garbage out. So if we don’t think healthy, godly thoughts, then all that will be processed and then come out of our minds is the same garbage we’ve put in, and that will show up through the words we speak and the actions we take.
And with the standards in all those areas sadly falling, as we supposedly get more intelligent and technologically advanced, we have to pay even more attention than before to what we eat, drink, think, say and do.
And the best way to do that my Friends, is by being totally connected to our God, our Creator and our Provider! Wow! What a saving grace for us! For unlike the man-controlled companies, that make us a lot of exorbitant promises, then don’t live up to them, our God, unfailingly lives up to everyone He makes, which proves that He’s ever-faithful, ever-true!
And the biggest promise He’s ever made is forever recorded in our Bit. ‘Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his (its) Holy One, to him whom man despiseth (the despised of soul), to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose (has chosen) thee.’
Yes Friends, the Lord promised a Saviour, a Redeemer, a Messiah, and faithfully delivered on it through His Son Jesus Christ! So why are we still so sceptical and reluctant to fully embrace Him and live a life that honours Him eh?
It makes no sense my brethren. We’re just selling ourselves short on the wonderful benefits that accrue to those who truly believe and diligently try to serve and worship Him. And it’s not like we can’t read in the Good Book and see in many personal lives around us the excellent results that come from accepting His promises and His faithfulness.
Listen to these scriptures that detail the Lord’s faithfulness. They all come from Bruh Paul’s writings. The first one is to the Corinthians.
‘There hath no temptation taken (befallen, overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is FAITHFUL, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor.10:13)
Now that doesn’t mean we’ll escape temptation, but more that He will find a way for us to endure it and come out safely on the other side.
Meanwhile, in his second letter to the Thessalonians, Bruh Paul writes: ‘And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. But the Lord is FAITHFUL, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil (the evil one).’ (2 Thess.3:2-3)
Yes Friends, we all know about the unfaithfulness of men, that’s why it’s so important to hold on to the faithfulness of Jehovah God.
Then in his first letter to Timothy, Bruh Paul declares: ‘And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with FAITH and LOVE which is in Christ Jesus. This is a FAITHFUL saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.’ (1 Tim.1:14-15)
Bruh Paul considers himself the biggest sinner, and well he might have been in his early days, when he diligently persecuted the church. But through the abundant grace and mercy of Jesus Christ he was forgiven.
Oh Friends, today the same thing is available and possible to anyone who trusts Jesus as their Lord and Saviour! So why don’t you take advantage of it eh, RIGHT NOW?
And we’ll end with some moving verses from Bruh Paul’s second letter to Timothy, re being a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
‘It is a FAITHFUL saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer (endure), we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not (are faithless), yet he abideth FAITHFUL: he cannot deny himself.’ (2 Tim.2:11-13)
Oh my people, those are words of fact, of indisputable truth! So please, let’s write them fast and deep in our consciousness nuh, and then faithfully abide by them as we journey along our pilgrim’s route on this troubled earth. That is the mark of true wisdom! Much LOVE!
…God has proven His faithfulness a million times over…but none as far reaching as sacrificing His only Son Jesus Christ…so that we could be reconciled to Him…what outstanding, all encompassing LOVE and FAITHFULNESS…
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