16 Sep 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a positive outlook on life, abundance, asaph, be not envious of the workers of iniquity, Be not thou envious of evil men, bless the Lord oh my soul, curse, cut down like the grass, divine protection, drew breath this morning, every knee must bow, every tongue confess, forget not all his benefits, Fret not thyself over evildoers, generously share our blessings, go a whoring from God, God is the strength of my heart, God's grace and mercy, good conversation, He is Lord to the glory of the Father, I saw the prosperity of the wicked, I was envious at the foolish, if ye love me keep my commandments, indisputable truth, it is good for me to draw near to God, Jesus, King of Kings, Lord and Saviour, my feet were almost gone, my steps had slipped, negative word, neither desire to be with them, no God like our God Jehovah, promise to give us a future and a hope, regained his equilibrium, self-control. self-discipline, so shall thou dwell in the land, talent, the children of God, the most wonderful gift ever, the name above every other name, Thursday Blessings, timely blessings, trust in the Lord and do good, verily thou shalt be fed, warm the cockles of Jesus' heart, wither as the green herb, won that victory hands down
Proverbs 24:1. Be not thou envious against (of) evil men, neither desire to be with them.
Oh friends, another beautiful morning in God’s great universe! Give Him much thanks for it nuh! Yes, if we drew breath this sunny morning, that means He still has a plan for us to live through this day, to experience His wonderful grace and mercy, good conversation and timely blessings! Wow! How can we not LOVE our marvellous God eh, with all that He does for us, with His faithful promise to give us a future and a hope, and fulfilling it by giving us the most wonderful gift ever…
His name is called Jesus, the Lord and Saviour of the world, the King of Kings and the name above every other name, to which every knee must bow and every tongue declare that He is Lord to the glory of the Father! Death could not keep Him in the grave, He won that victory hands down! And thus, He is the reason why our sins can be washed away, and our souls made clean and we have another opportunity to come before our heavenly Father in confidence and joy and be called children of God! Oh mercy, mercy me!
And that’s why we also declare in the utmost sincerity, that there’s NO God like our God Jehovah! And whether you believe it or not, that’s the indisputable truth! So we had all better come to acknowledge it asap, because our destiny depends on admitting and believing that unalterable truth, and by living our earthly lives in a manner that glorifies Jehovah God. For once we admit and believe that truth, our lives are no longer ours, but we then belong to Him, and must follow His divine will. And how do we do that you ask?
Well, here’s one wise and practical application as declared by the ever-wise Cousin Sol in the Book of Proverbs. He gives this marvelous advice at the beginning of chapter 24: ‘Be not thou envious against (of) evil men, neither desire to be with them. For their heart studieth destruction (devises violence), and their lips talk of mischief (trouble). (Prov. 24:1-2) Yes friends, when we surrender our lives to God, we cannot go against His will, and that means not getting involved in stuff like envy, violence, wickedness and evil doings.
And Cousin Sol’s father, Bruh David wrote a lot on that particular subject, including this marvellous advice from Psalm 37 – The true state of the wicked. Bruh David declared in the utmost sincerity and faith,: ‘Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed (feed on his faithfulness).’ (Ps. 37:1-3)
That’s the good news of the gospel my brethren: trust in God, stay away from evil and do good, and all will be well with you! Even the other great psalmist Asaph, recognized that amazing truth in his own life. And in that famous Psalm 73, re The mystery of prosperous wickedness – he humbly declares: ‘Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean (pure) heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone (I had almost stumbled); my steps had well-nigh slipped: For I was envious at the foolish (boastful), when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.’ (Ps. 73:1-3)
Ah mih people, that is so easy to do when we see the obviously wicked and deceitful getting rich and powerful through their evil deeds and fraudulent schemes. I know it seems that the world thrives on evil, but that’s only on the surface. For when we get right down to the nitty gritty, evil is thrown aside by God, and righteousness conquers all! So even that great man of God, Asaph was intimidated by, and envious of the prosperity of the wicked, because he was human just like us. But though he almost stumbled spiritually and lost his faith, he didn’t quite go over the threshold to the side of evil.
Hear how he regained his equilibrium nuh, how he conquered that negative, ungodly attitude. He says: ‘Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.’ (Ps. 73:16-17) Yes friends, ‘not until the psalmist entered God’s sanctuary and received a divine perspective on the wicked’s prosperity did he find his answer to the problem.’ And sometimes we also need to get closer to God to find solutions to our problems.
But it’s worthwhile noticing how Asaph closes out the psalm: ‘Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength (rock) of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed them all that go a whoring from thee (who are unfaithful to thee). But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.’ (Ps. 73:25-28)
Oh my fellow saints, those are indeed wise and marvellous words for all of us to live by! So please let’s faithfully embrace them nuh and draw close to God, for the closer we get to Him, the better it is for us. As Bruh David so wisely said: ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.’ (Ps. 103:2) And there is no better time than now to remember some of those many benefits of God, which we describe as our Thursday Blessings. So, in strong voice, with the utmost of faith and confidence let’s declare them nuh.
‘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 if we truly believe it, then we need to go out and generously share those wonderful blessings with others, just like the Lord did with us. That would surely warm the cockles of His hurting heart. And don’t think for one moment that Christ’s heart isn’t hurting because of the ungodly way His church and followers are behaving down here on earth. You’ll be oh so wrong! Much LOVE!
…Jesus said it loud and clear…if ye LOVE me…keep my commandments… (John 14:15)
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
26 Aug 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a positive outlook on life, all ye that hope in the Lord, be of good courage, be thou my strong rock, bow down thine ear to me, curse, deliver me in thy righteousness, deliver me speedily, despising the shame, end the pity party, endured the cross, faith, favour, fight the good fight, for a house of defense to save me, for the joy that was set before him, for thy name's sake lead and guide me, good friends, guaranteed to win the war, He died in our place, he shall strengthen your heart, heartfelt desire, I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy, In thee O Lord do I put my trust, is set down at the right hand of the throne of God, Jesus is our example, King of Kings, let me never be ashamed, looking unto Jesus, Lord of Lords, LOVE, negative word, O love the Lord all ye his saints, oh how great is thy goodness, our carnal mind, our flesh isn't helping matters, plentifully rewardeth the proud doer, propser, sad droopy look, sel-contorl, self-discipline, set my feet in a large room, share the blessings, shut me up into the hand of the enemy, so that we could have a good life, succeed, the author and finisher of our faith, the Lord preserveth the faithful, the purposes of God's Word, the sands of time, them that fear thee, thou hast known my soul in adversities, Thursday Blessings, we have Jesus, win the victory, with Christ in us and we in Him
Psalm 31:23. O LOVE the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth (fully repays) the proud doer.
Come now mih bredrin, why that sad, droopy look this bright and sunny Thursday morning eh? Oh, I know that it’s not always easy to put on a bright and smiley face when things aren’t going right, but we have to make the effort, and at least not allow those sad times to last too long. Remember we have Jesus, who died in our place so that we could have a good life and do all that we need to do through His amazing strength. And yes, the evil world is fighting a strong fight against us, and our carnal mind, our flesh isn’t helping matters either.
But again, let’s not forget that we have Jesus, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings in our corner, and with Him beside us we can fight every enemy and win the victory! All praise and glory to His Holy name my brethren! Life isn’t easy, but with Christ in us, and we in Him, we are well prepared, have all we need to fight the good fight. And though we might lose a few battles here and there, we are guaranteed to win the war with Jesus, our esteemed Leader in our camp!
So now it’s time to end the pity party and return to the safe, secure and happy pavilion of our great and wonderful God by reminding ourselves of why we first believed and continue believing. Let’s do that by declaring (yeah!!!) these marvellous words of Bruh David from Psalm 31.
‘In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust (I take refuge); let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock (rock of refuge), for a house of defense (fortress) to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily (secretly) for me: for thou art my strength. Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.’ (Ps. 31:1-5)
Ah friends, remember when you said similar words to the God of your forefathers and accepted His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour? Well nothing has really changed, just a li’l trial and tribulation occurring along our pilgrim’s journey to heaven. And remember again, that with Jesus dwelling in us, through His awesome Holy Spirit, we can deal with anything that comes against us.
Yuh know, even Jesus had it rough. On His human side, He too was tempted, rejected, betrayed, and suffered loads of inhumane treatment on our behalf, but He didn’t turn away His face from Calvary. And so too, we ought not to turn away from doing His work. Like Him, we too need to rest sometimes, but the idea of stopping or giving up should never occur to us, because He is our example, and He didn’t give up even when it came to giving His sinless life so unselfishly for us.
Thus, the least we can do is put up with a li’l suffering on His behalf. We need to follow in His footsteps, as the scriptures advise. ‘Looking unto Jesus, the author (originator) and finisher (perfector) of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Heb.12:2)
Oh mih people, what a mighty example our Lord and Saviour set us! For the joy of our salvation and the rewards He would receive from the Father, He willingly accepted the sufferation of the cross. Likewise, for the rewards of heaven that we have been promised, we ought to stand strong and bear whatever burdens we need to bear down here. So let’s not look at the course, but at the finish line, that’s heaven, as Jesus did, and we’ll not notice the trials and tribulations along the way as much. Remember, Jesus has already blazed the trail, cleared the path to heaven, so we don’t need to do anymore clearing, just follow in the footsteps He left in the sands of time.
Therefore, we can say like Bruh David did: ‘I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities (troubles). And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy (given me over to the enemy): thou hast set my feet in a large room (a wide place).’ (Ps. 31:7-8)
Yes, my fellow saints, in these evil and turbulent times, life will not be sweet and easy, and we will have to put out a lot of effort to keep things under control, but with the Lord God Jehovah occupying a special place in our lives, being Number ONE to us, we don’t have to worry about accomplishing our earthly tasks.
Hear Bruh David tell it again nuh: ‘Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear (reverence) thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret (place) of thy presence from the pride (plots) of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion (shelter) from the strife of tongues…. O LOVE the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth (fully repays) the proud doer.’ (Ps. 31:19-20, 23)
Oh friends, I hope all of that has reminded us of what we signed up for with Jesus, and all the promises we have to enjoy at the end of the road. It certainly brightened my outlook, because I was one of those with the sad, droopy looks before I began writing this Bit. But that’s one of the purposes of God’s Word; to brighten our outlook when times get rough. So let’s never forget when times look dim, we need to get into the Word and reenergize ourselves.
And how can we ever forget the many blessings that the Lord has bestowed on us to do His earthly work eh? So, let’s spell out in loud and sincere voice, what we call our Thursday Blessings. Altogether now: ‘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 declared all that, we now have to go out and share those blessings with others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us! That’s His heartfelt desire! Much LOVE!
…be of good courage…and he shall strengthen your heart…all ye that hope in the Lord… (Ps. 31:24)
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
19 Aug 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, Advocate, believe on Jesus, curse, Day of Pentecost, deviation from the Spirit's guidance, divine protection, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words, God is a Spirit, God is immutable, God is light, God is LOVE, God is self-existent, God's supernatural wisdom, he may abide with you for ever, He shall give you another Comforter, help in time of trouble, I will come to you, I will not leave you comfortless, if ye love me keep my commandments, it is the spirit that quickeneth life, negative word, nothing is impossible for God, produce unwanted problems, promotion, prosper, succeed, the flesh profiteth nothing, the Holy Spirit is a person, the prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the Triune Godhead, Thursday Blessings, words taught by human wsidom, words taught by the Spirit, worship Him in spirit and in truth
John 14:18. I will not leave you comfortless (orphans): I will come to you.
Well come on down Thursday, the day before Friday! Are we ever so glad to see you, because it means that Friday is one day closer and the end of the work week is winding down nicely. The only problem is that we still have to deal with you Thursday, before we get to Friday. But with Christ Jesus leading and guiding us through His Holy Spirit, it’s a cinch that we will get it right! (smile)
However, that totally depends on our obedience to the prompting of the Spirit. Any deviation from His guidance will definitely produce unwanted problems, that will only make our lives more difficult than they already are. Consequently, we must understand the great importance of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.
So let’s check out a few scriptures on that subject nuh. And we going to start right at the beginning where Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob: ‘God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him spirit and in truth.’ (John 4:24) That’s the first thing we must realize when we come to God; that He is a Spirit Being and worshipping Him entails doing it spiritually, not in flesh and blood.
And the scholars offer this explanation re, the Definition of God. ‘4:24. John gives three descriptions of God. He is Spirit (John 4:24), LOVE (1 John 4:8), and Light (1 John 1:5). God is a spiritual being who is invisible and without a body. He is a divine person who reveals Himself in perfect intellect, emotion, and will. He is the source and personification of all material and spiritual life.
He is self-existent; He is eternal in relationship to time. He is unlimited in relationship to the immensity of space; He is immutable (unchanging) in His nature. He is the unity of all existence; and He is consistent in His being – that is, He corresponds in actual fact to His nature and attributes as they are revealed to us. (First Ref. Gen. 1:1; Primary ref. John 4:24).’
Yes friends, our God is a Spirit Being, but nonetheless, He is the source of all that exists, both spiritual and material. And sometimes our problems derive from the fact that our mortal minds cannot conceive of, or comprehend the real immensity of the God we claim to worship, thus we tend to underate His size and power, and though we say it, we don’t truly believe that nothing is impossible to Him.
And that first verse of His Word says it all: ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.’ (Gen. 1:1) It’s speaking of ‘the absolute beginning of the temporal and material world, when God created the original heaven and earth from nothing.’ Now you can’t truly believe in God unless you believe the Creation Story and all it entails, otherwise you will end up minimising the great God you claim to serve, and that means also minimising the benefits and blessings you can receive from Him.
And I’m chuckling here because I never intended to veer off like I did, but it just seemed so relevant that I could not pass it up. (smile) So, getting back to the doings of the Holy Spirit, the third aspect of our Triune God… Oh that’s another important thing to realize, that the Holy Spirit is a person, a part of our Godhead. I guess you can say it’s the workhorse of the Godhead. He carries out the actual decisions made by them.
Now hear Jesus again on the subject of spiritual matters. ‘It is the spirit that quickeneth (gives life); the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.’ (John 6:63) Yes my people, spiritual things are more important than fleshly or material stuff, for the body dies, but the spirit lives on. That’s where our real life is found, in our spirit-person. The body is just a temporary cover for it. And that’s why our God communicates through our spirit, why the Holy Spirit is so important in our lives.
As Bruh Paul says to the Corinthians re Spiritual Wisdom: ‘We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. And this is what we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.’ (1 Cor. 2:12-15)
What we are seeing here is that the natural or unspiritual man is unreceptive to the truth of God because it is delivered through His Holy Spirit. However, the spiritual man, who ‘has founded his faith on God’s revelation is able to receive the truth of God’s Spirit. He can judge now both earthly and heavenly things. He can discern what is and what is not of the gospel and salvation, and whether a man truly preaches the truth of God.’
And then we come to Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit to the disciples. ‘If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless (orphans): I will come to you.’ (John 14: 15-18)
Oh friends, what a glorious promise! One which Jesus kept by sending the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers after that fateful Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). And yes, the Holy Spirit is also our Comforter, our advocate, our help in time of trouble. But whereas, Jesus, as a man on earth, could only be at one place at one time, the Holy Spirit can be all about in each believer, all the time! Glory be my people!
And one of the mighty jobs that the Holy Spirit does is bestowing God’s blessings upon us, what we call our Thursday Blessings, so that we can do His earthly work. Let’s declare (chuh!!!) them now nuh, to give them light and life in our souls and spirits. As one strong 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 now, to indeed be true followers of Christ, we need to go out and use and share all of those wonderful blessings with others, just as unselfishly and generously as the Lord shared them with us! Much LOVE!
…only believe on Jesus…and the Holy Spirit automatically indwells you…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
12 Aug 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a brand new day, a compassionate heart, a positive outlook on life, curse, divine protection, earthly pilgrimage, exalt the horn of his anointed, faith, favour, God will keep the feet of his saints, God's sustaining power, in the Lord God is the salvation of Israel, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, jehovah god, keep God uppermost in our lives, LOVE, my help cometh from the Lord, negative word, new compassions and mercies, praise and thanksgiving, share generously, sticking to God like white on rice, the Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade, the Lord shall preserve thy going out and coming in, the Lord shall preserve thy soul, Thursday Blessings, thy foot shall not stumble, unconditional LOVE, walk in thy way safely, warms the cockles of God's heart, which made heaven and earth
Psalm 121:2. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
Then it was Thursday! And though wet and cloudy, it is a brand new day with a whole array of new mercies, compassions, opportunities and our God’s gracious unconditional and everlasting LOVE! Wow mih people! What more can we ask eh? Nothing really! For with Jehovah God, we have everything we need, and will ever need! That’s why His children shout out loud, and grateful: ‘Thank You Father for your wonderful kindness to us, despite our not deserving it. We LOVE You and praise Your holy name! Amen!’
And there is nothing our heavenly Father likes more than to hear the thanks and praise of His children. It just warms the cockles of His heart and makes all His stalwart efforts for our care ever so worthwhile. That’s why it is ever so important to keep the Lord God uppermost in our minds, hearts and lives, for He is the source of all that we are. The psalmist hit the nail on the head when he wrote Psalm 121 so many years ago talking of God’s sustaining power.
Hear him declare: ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills (mountains), from whence cometh my help.’ (Ps. 121:1) Now that doesn’t mean his help comes from the mountains, but his problems – the high hills are in his path, they cause him problems of all kinds, both on a normal physical journey, and on his earthly pilgrimage. That’s why he rightly answers: ‘My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.’ (Ps. 121:2)
And Bruh David happily concurs with that decision at the end of Psalm 124 – Praise for deliverance from enemies. He unequivocally states: ‘Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.’ (Ps. 124:8) Yes friends, you can’t get any more definitive that that! So why should we turn to any other source of help than the One which created us and our universe eh? No reason whatsoever!
The prophet Jeremiah says it best. ‘Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.’ (Jer. 3:23) And not only is God the salvation of Israel, but of all mankind! And until mankind recognizes that and takes it to heart, our world will be fraught with sin, evil and all the many negative things that are currently running rampant through it.
Now, listen as the psalmist continues his reasons for sticking like white on rice (smile) to the God of his forefathers. ‘He will not suffer thy foot to be moved (to slip): he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.’ (Ps. 121:3-4) That’s security for you, my brethren! The God who created us and still watches over us doesn’t slumber or sleep. He is continually on the lookout for our safety and happiness! How can you beat that eh? You just can’t!
And another wise man, Cousin Sol tells us the same thing; that when we look to the God of Israel for our help, and abide by His dictates: ‘Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble…For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken (caught).’ (Prov. 3:23, 26)
And Hannah, the prophet Samuel’s mother, in her song of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for granting her a child despite her apparent barrenness, was even more decisive and confident, when she sang: ‘He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn (strength) of his anointed.’ (1 Sam. 2:9-10)
Now that’s what you call a strong praying woman, a woman of enormous faith in the Lord God of Israel. And so she should be after her sincere prayers for a child was positively answered by her God. But that’s where a lot of us fall down in these modern times. The Lord answers our prayers, maybe not as big or seemingly hard ones like Hannah’s, but He answers them nonetheless, but we don’t give Him the attention, respect and the praise that is His rightful due. We chalk it up to circumstance, chance or some such inept term. (smile)
I couldn’t find the right word there. But I’m sure you understand what I mean. For there’s nothing that happens in God’s universe that in His omniscience, He’s not aware of, and either allows or jumpstarts. Please understand that He’s aware of even the most minute things or aspects of our lives. Whatever happens in our lives is terribly important to Him. So please let’s stop thinking, and consequently believing, that His hand is not at work in ALL areas of our lives, because that will only mean we keep on deluding ourselves about the greatness and the everlasting care and concern of our wonderful God.
And to further cement the safety, security and protection inherent in our God, let’s listen to the rest of the psalmist’s confident acknowledgement. ‘The Lord is thy keeper (protector): the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve (protect) thy soul. The Lord shall preserve (protect) thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.’ (Ps. 121:5-8)
Ah friends, what more can I say about the greatness of our God eh? We all know that He’s omnipotent, omniscient and omni-present and chocked full of unconditional LOVE for His most magnificent creation, mankind. All’s left to talk about now is the many blessings that He so generously bestows on us, so that we can do His earthly work, a list of which can be found in what we call our Thursday Blessings.
So as one strong and sincere voice, let’s declare them: ‘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 the upshot of all that, is we now need to go out and share those blessings with others, just as generously as He shared them with us. Much LOVE!
…when you walk with God…you walk in peace, safety and LOVE…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
05 Aug 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a dearth of God's revelatory work, christianity, curse, died an undistinguished death, divine protection, eternal damnation, God-given desire to face challenges, he that keepeth the law; happy is he, Israel's apostasy, lack of inspiration, like chickens with our heads cut off, LOVE, mankind is doomed, morality, natural disasters, negative social media, negative word, pen-ultimate day of the workweek, perpetuating, prosper and succeed, restoration of a godly vision, Revelation, self-control, self-defeating, self-discipline, share generously, shun work, sick time, sincere reverence toward God, sit on their laurels, strife, the joy of Christ in us, the people perish, the word of the Lord was precious (rare), Thursday Blessings, where there is no prophetic vision
Proverbs 29:18. Where there is no vision, (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Then came Thursday, the pen-ultimate day of the workweek…and the frowns were being lessened, because everyone knew that tomorrow would be the big day of Friday, the end of their work week woes! Now, it’s interesting to note how we shun and bad talk work in our society, when it’s work, both mental and physical, that has provided us with all the good things and amenities that we currently enjoy.
If a society doesn’t keep working and producing, it dies. That’s the simple but indisputable truth! Look at all the great societies that have passed through this world, all have worked hard and been very productive in the beginning, but once they reached a certain level of wealth, where many could afford to sit on their laurels and do nothing, they eventually died, for lack of inspiration and innovation.
And looking back through the pages of history, you would also note that those societies that had God as their main inspiration prospered immensely, but as soon as they got too big, prideful and full of their own importance and relegated God to the background, they also died an undistinguished death. I think those facts prove that the two most important things in a society, if it is to flourish, are God and the desire to work diligently and excellently.
Now we don’t have to overdo any of them, because overdoing stuff is just as bad as underdoing. And remember, God instructed us to have at least one day off in each week to rest, just like He rested after creating the universe. However, without that God-given desire to face challenges and come up over them, no society will ever last for long. That’s why Cousin Sol told us that: ‘Where there is no vision, (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ (Prov. 29:18)
Basically, what that means is that a society without God, or a God-given morality or revelation, will become totally immoral and run into all kinds of trouble. It’s the prophetic revelation of God, through His Word and the prophets who declare it that keeps a society on an even keel, that leads to prosperity and divine blessing. And that’s why our society today is so directionless; God is lacking. People are not involved or challenged enough in its betterment.
Look at our attitudes at work and towards work, the main way most of us gain a living. We’re apathetic, just going through the motions, putting in time till pay day… that’s if and when we show up for work. Sick time is currently one of the biggest detractors from productivity. But does anybody care? Not really, because it’s just a job, a botheration, to many of us. And we have a very good example of that kind of attitude and behaviour way back when, in the time of Samuel.
The Good Book tells us about how the Lord called Samuel to minister to his people. ‘And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious (rare) in those days; there was no open vision.’ (1 Sam. 3:1) Yuh see that friends? When Samuel came along the word of the Lord was rare in Israel; there was no prophetic revelation, God was not uppermost in their thoughts and hearts, so the people suffered, ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, like we are now doing.
And the scholars offer this explanation of that time. ‘3:1. The severity if Israel’s apostasy (turning away from God) (cf. Judg. 21:25) caused a dearth (a scarcity or lack) of God’s revelatory work. The condition was perpetuating and self-defeating (cf. Prov. 29:18). By God’s grace, the prophetic institution would receive renewed impetus and standardization in the person and work of Samuel (cf. 3:21; 19:20).’ And that’s exactly what we are seeing today; a lack of God’s revealing word, but to make matters even worse, we are not following what little is being revealed to us.
And when you check out that above reference to Judges, this is what you get. ‘In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ (Jud. 21:25) And that’s what we’re also facing right now friends. Everybody is doing more or less as they please. There’s no such thing as a basic truth again, for everyone’s making up their own truth. Hn! And the disastrous spread of a negative social media isn’t helping the problem any. For as the scholars mention, such a condition is both ‘perpetuating and self-defeating.’ It feeds off its negative self. So, left alone, it can never improve, but can certainly get worse.
We need to wake up and realize that the inordinate or large amounts of strife, enmity, anger, sickness, poverty, economic failure, greed, jealousy and natural disasters that are presently consuming our world is a direct result of an ungodly attitude towards each other, and lack of sincere reverence towards God. And unfortunately, it can only be overcome through the restoration of a godly vision; the reinstatement of Jehovah God and His awesome Word as our number one priority.
Fellow saints of Christ, we desperately need to boost our level of faith and evangelizing, so that we make a difference in our communities and consequently our world. The world desperately needs what we have; that’s Christianity, or rather Christ in us. We need to show how Christ changes lives, improves them and sets them on the right path to salvation and eternal life. And we have been given numerous tools by our heavenly Father to accomplish that task, so please let’s put them to use nuh.
We’re talking about our Thursday Blessings, which we now need to declare if we want them to take effect, for a blessing is not a blessing until it’s declared. So altogether now: ‘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 said that, it’s our duty to now go out and share or use those blessings just as generously with others, as the Lord shared them with us. Much LOVE!
…without God in his life…mankind is doomed to eternal damnation…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
15 Jul 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a future and a hope, abundance, alive and kicking, be not afraid, be of good cheer, believe without seeing, chalk them up to chance or coincidence, courage, creativity, curse, enjoy Christ's benefits, faith, favour, fears and doubts keep us from achieving what God has in sore for us, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, fulfillment, God doesn't allow us to handle more than we can bear, God's awesome breath of life, impulsive manner, in the name of Jesus, It is I, Jesus walks on water, LOVE, negative word, o thou of little faith, of a truth, prosper and succeed, seeing is believing, share generously, stand up strong and fight life through, talent, the crux of the problem, thou art the Son of God, thoughts of peace and not of evil, Thursday Blessings, to give you an expected end, waking up everyday is ablessing, wherefore didst thou doubt, while there is life there is hope
Matthew 14:31b. O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
And what’s going on this Thursday morning in mid-July of this blessed year of 2021 my friends? I know some of you will sneer and angrily ask what kind of blessed year are you talking about eh? Haven’t you seen what the pandemic and all the other negative stuff has done to our world? Yes. So how can you call the year blessed?
Simply because we are still alive and kicking! Just waking up every day with enough strength in our body to talk and move and LOVE our friends and family is more blessing than we truly realize. It means that once we are alive, the Lord has not finished with us. He still has plans for our lives, otherwise He would have taken us home already. Remember what He said in Jeremiah? ‘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) Glory be, mih people!
So that cliched saying is quite true: while there is life, there is hope. And with true faith in Almighty God, ANYTHING is possible once His awesome breath of life is still flowing through our mortal bodies. Consequently, regardless of what life might throw our way, we cannot lose hope or give up, because today might just be the day that our life and circumstances turn around through God’s amazing help.
The problem there, is that we have to believe without seeing any real improvement or receiving any real encouragement. In the world, we accentuate that seeing is believing, but in God’s economy it’s the opposite; believing without seeing. With God, when you believe, then you’ll see. Most likely not before. And I think a particularly good example of that is when Jesus came walking on the water towards His disciples in the boat that was being tossed by the storm on the Sea of Galilee.
The Good Book tells us: ‘And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit (ghost); and they cried out in fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer (take courage); it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he (Jesus) said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.’ (Matt. 14:26-29)
Now friends, that’s what faith, hope, and belief can do for you. Peter apparently was the only one bold enough, with enough faith in Jesus, to venture out on the water. But unfortunately, the situation changed very quickly when Peter’s hope and bravery failed, and his fear took over. The Good Book continues: ‘But when he (Peter) saw the wind boisterous (violent), he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?’ (Matt. 14:30-31)
And that’s the crux of the problem right there my brethren, our doubt. We talk a good talk, but when the chips are down, our doubt and fear takes over, and that’s when we begin sinking. If Peter had not doubted, or become afraid, he would have kept on walking on the water with Jesus. But it’s our fears and doubts that keep us from achieving what God truly has in store for us, that stop us from receiving all the blessings He has set aside in our name.
And it’s important to note what happened after that incident. Turning to the Good Book again, we read: ‘And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.’ (Matt. 14:32-33) Yuh see friends, it’s only after the disciples had seen Jesus’ power, that they conceded that He was truly the Son of God. And that’s how we still behave, although we know better.
And before I forget, here is some interesting info from the scholars on the subject. ‘14:28-32. Peter answered him in his characteristically impulsive manner. This part of the story is recounted only by Matthew, who was in the boat and on whom it must have made a deep impression. The incident is not presented as a parable, but as an actual event involving three miracles. Jesus walks on the water. Peter temporarily does so, and the wind ceases immediately.’
Unfortunately, today, we too only believe when we see big miracles. But God doesn’t do that many big ones again. He now specializes in many small ones in our individual lives. But we either ignore them completely, or simply chalk them up to chance or coincidence. But people, there is no chance and/or coincidence in our lives. Everything that happens is vetted by our heavenly Father, whether He begins it or not. And He doesn’t allow us to handle more than we can bear. So, let it be known, that whatever comes against us, we have the heavenly, the divine power to handle it. So there is no need to fear whatever the world throws at us.
That in a nutshell is our message today my faithful saints in Christ. Let’s stand up strong and fight life through, because our God is always with us to help us, and there is none as powerful, as Him in this universe that He has created. Let’s believe that today, and every day, so we can be divinely empowered. And here is one of the ways God empowers us; through generously bestowing what we call our Thursday Blessings on us, blessings that enable us to do His earthly work diligently and excellently.
So let’s go home declaring (yeahhh!!!) them now nuh, so that they can be made manifest in our lives. Altogether now: ‘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, let’s go out and share those awesome blessings just as generously with others, so that they too can come to know Christ and also get to enjoy His benefits. Much LOVE!
…if you want to see God…yuh better had first believe that He’s there… (smile)
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
10 Jun 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a powerful antidote, a pronouncement of blessing, a scarlet like stain, abundance, all the days of thy life, blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, children of the Most High God, Christ's selfless sacrifice, curse, everything I put my hands to, if it had not been the Lord on our side, like a birdout of the fowler's snare, negative word, our help is in the name of the Lord, our soul is escaped, positive outlook, prosper and succeed, salvation is in our DNA, saved by the blood of the Lord of Lord, see the good of Jerusalem, share our blessings generously, shed for us at Calvary, talent, that walketh in his ways, the breath of God, the cleansing blood of Jesus, their wrath was kindled against us, Thursday Blessings, thy children like olive plants, thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, wash away the sins of the whole world, washed in His precious blood, when men rose up against us
Psalm 128:1. Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways.
Oh friends, another glorious day has blossomed with the breath of God still flowing through our bodies! Thank God for that awesome blessing! Yes, I know that our world is sick and evil and all those other negative things, but with the breath of Almighty God flowing through our mortal veins we have a most amazing and powerful antidote to all that’s wrong with our world; and that’s the cleansing blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ which was shed for us at Calvary!
Wow! The shed blood of Jesus is the most powerful instrument on the earth! It must be, if it can wash away the sins of the whole world and make us white as snow! But please remember that once you’ve been washed in that precious blood, there will always be a scarlet like stain on you, notifying others that you have been saved by the blood of the Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings!
And that’s a stain, or a marker, that we should be inordinately proud to wear, for it signifies that salvation is in our DNA, and that heaven is our eternal home, and most importantly that Satan and his minions have no power or authority over us, because we are children of the Most High God, the mighty conqueror of hell, death and the grave!
That’s why we ought to cherish and adore and positively use the blood of Christ as we wend our way through this despicable and evil age, for it’s only through Christ and His selfless sacrifice that we even a stand a chance against the enemy, much the less the overwhelming victory that His spilled blood wrought as He died on Calvary’s Hill then rose triumphantly from the dead three days later! Oh give our great and wonderful Saviour much thanks and praise my fellow saints!
Consequently my people, these words of Bruh David, this song of degrees, this psalm of praise for deliverance from our enemies ought to be amongst our continual prayer. Please pray with me: ‘If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick (alive), when their wrath was kindled against us:
Then the waters had (would have) overwhelmed us, the stream had gone (would have swept) over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone (would have swept) over our soul. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers (bird trappers): the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.’ (Ps. 124:1-8)
And you better believe that friends, our only sure help is from the Lord God Almighty, our Creator and Provider! So please, let’s realize that and hold on to Him tightly nuh, let’s not let go of His coattails, for if we do, we’ll surely fall prey to the enemy, and end up in Hades with him. And I like the scholars’ short explanation on the psalm. ‘Psalm 124: This psalm reflects on deliverance from danger. From a realization of the Lord’s help (vs. 1-5), the psalmist moves to the appropriate response to the Lord’s help (vs. 6-8).’
And so should we my people, as I said above, let’s hold on tightly to Him, that means be as faithful as we possibly can be. Why you ask? Well listen to Psalm 128 nuh – The rewards of faithfulness. ‘Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands (the fruit of thy labour): happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of (in the heart of) thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.’ (Ps. 128:1-6)
Oh friends, oh friends, now who doesn’t want a blessed life like that eh? I’m sure we all do, but it doesn’t come without a price, like all good things on this earth! And comparatively speaking, faithfulness to God is a rather cheap price to pay for all those wonderful things that will befall a faithful person! So what have we got lose eh? Not much, but we have a whole lot to gain by being faithful to our God!
And the scholars explain it thus: ‘Psalm 128: The message of this psalm is that one is never truly happy until he is truly holy. It begins with a pronouncement of blessing (or happiness) on a certain kind of man – a man who fears the Lord (vs. 1-4). It concludes with a prayer for blessing (vs. 5-6).’
Oh my people, every day I ask the Lord for words to convey to us just how important it is for us to follow Him, and this morning I believe He has come through in spades. For if those two psalms and all the other good stuff that Jesus’ sacrifice have wrought aren’t enough to convince us, then I really don’t know what else will nuh. However, I do have some other goodies to throw in, (smile) some more specific blessings that we receive when we faithfully follow the Lord, we call them our Thursday Blessings, which He gives us to do His work down here on earth.
So let’s declare them now nuh, in strong and sincere voice, fully and faithfully believing in His awesome promises! ‘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!’
Our duty now is to go out and share those blessings with others, just as generously as our wonderful God shared them with us! Much LOVE!
…to be truly blessed…one needs to be truly faithful…
P.S. My sincere apologies for the lateness of the Bit. As usual, it was caused by one of my rather late mornings to bed, and thus a late one to rise. (smile) Much LOVE!
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
03 Jun 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a serenity to one's soul, curse, diligence, divine protection, everything I put my hands to, excellence, for my name's sake, former devotion to Christ, good friends, he that hath an ear let him hear, I know thy works, in this modern technological age, LOVE, negative word, promotion, rainy days bring peace and quiet, reviled by unbelieving Jews, spend a few quiet moments with your Maker, strong sense of purpose, the blessings of the New Jerusalmen, the Book of Revelation, the church at Ephesus, the church in Smyrna, the futile busyness and unnecessary noise, the paradise of God, the second death, the synagogue of Satan, thou hast left thy first love, Thursday Blessings, to eat of the tree of life, to him that overcometh, what the Spirit says to the churches, will prosper and succeed
Revelation 2:7a. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Rainy days and Thursdays always get me down! Now that’s not really true, because there’s nothing like a rainy day to bring peace and quiet to your life. A rainy day just seems to draw one closer to one’s Maker, in that it brings a serenity and calm to one’s soul and spirit. And that’s how I feel today, as we open with some heavenly blessings. It just seems that when the rain falls the world is not as noisy and busy, and do we ever need to lessen the futile busyness and unnecessary noise in this modern technological age.
So if it’s rainy in your area, please take a few quiet moments and spend with your Maker… and hopefully do less talking than listening, because I believe we tend to talk to God much more than we listen to Him, that’s why sometimes we take so long to get answers, He can’t get in a word edgeways. (smile) But since the Lord so generously gave us breath to face another glorious day on planet earth, let’s turn to the promise we made yesterday, to continue looking at some stuff from the Book of Revelation.
Yesterday we stopped where Christ told John to write down some messages to seven particular churches, to be sent by seven angels or messengers. We won’t go through them all, just some that I think are most important. And the first one is to the church at Ephesus: ‘Unto the angel (messenger) of the church at Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks (lampstands). (Rev. 2:1)
The seven candlesticks which Jesus walks amidst represent the seven churches to which he has messages (1:11) The seven stars in His hands represent the angels of the seven churches. According to the scholars: ‘The angels may be either literal angels, each of which has a special guardian ministry toward one specific church (cf. Heb. 1:14), or the human leaders or pastors of these churches. Angel literally means “messenger.”
And Jesus continues: ‘I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience (perseverance), and how thou canst not bear (endure) them which are evil: and thou hast tried (tested) them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars. And hast borne (persevered), and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted (become weary). Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first LOVE.’ (Rev. 2:2-4)
The scholars tell us that ‘The city of Ephesus was one of the most important commercial and religious cities in Asia Minor. The most famous temple of the goddess Artemis (Diana) was located there. It was also John’s headquarters before his exile. Ephesus served as the “mother” church to the others, all of which were connected by the same Roman road. And though the church is commended because of its soundness of faith and its perseverance through persecution, its people have come under Christ’s discipline for having left (not lost) their first LOVE or former devotion to Christ.’
Does that sound familiar my people? I think it should, because a lot of us supposed believers are not as devoted to Christ as we used to be. Our devotion has dropped off at a time when it should be at it’s zenith! But as always, our Saviour offer us a lifeboat. ‘Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except (unless) thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.’ (Rev. 2:5-6)
Yes friends, the scholars tell us that the solution the Ephesian problem is threefold: ‘(1) remember your former devotion to Christ; (2) repent of the present lack of LOVE and devotion; and (3) return – that is, do the things that were characteristic of the devotion of the church in its earlier years. Christ threatens to discipline the church by removing its light (candlestick). Today, Ephesus is in ruins, and it’s church is gone.’
Now was Christ’s discipline a pertinent factor in the demise of the church at Ephesus? Who knows? But it’s surely a good question for us to contemplate in these ungodly times. And as per the Nicolaitans, the scholars say they ‘were probably a libertine, antinomian sect (rejects laws and moral values) who attempted to use Christian liberty as an excuse for self-indulgence and immorality.’
Then comes the second letter: ‘And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue (congregation) of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried (tested); and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.’ (Rev. 2:9-10)
A tough request that friends, but it’s also the same request the Lord is making of us today: stay faithful to the end, and He will bless us with a crown of eternal life. And just a few words from the scholars on the plight of Smyrna, ‘whose name meant “Myrrh” a fragrant spice for anointing dead bodies. It was a rich and beautiful city, some fifty miles north of Ephesus on the shores of the Aegean sea, whose believers were undergoing persecution and had been reduced to poverty. They were being reviled by unbelieving Jews. They received no condemnation from Christ but were encouraged to endure suffering faithfully. Faithful persecution through trials will bring a crown of life (cf. James 1:12). The second death is eternal destruction in the lake of fire (20:14-15), reserved for all unbelievers.’
Oh my people, our church life and devotion to Christ is definitely not up to scratch, and we do need to come up higher, especially in these troubled times. Please listen to what Jesus says after every message to a church: ‘He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.’ It’s a straight up warning, and to each church He promises something different if they repent and/or stand strong.
To the church at Ephesus, He promises: ‘To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.’ (Rev. 2:7) And the scholars explain that ‘the promise to him that overcometh probably applies to all Christians with genuine faith (cf. 1 John 5:4-5) and will be fulfilled as believers enjoy the blessing of the New Jerusalem (22:2,14), the paradise of God.’
To the church at Smyrna it was: ‘He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.’ (Rev. 2:11) And that’s the gospel truth friends! If we persevere in good faith with Christ until the very end, we will not be cast into the lake of fire. Now shouldn’t that give us a strong sense of purpose, especially as we draw near to the end of this church age? I should think so. But sadly, not all of us agree on that point. However, for those of us who do, let’s go home this rainy Thursday declaring (wrong again!) our Thursday Blessings which the Lord has so generously bestowed on us to do His earthly work.
As one now: ‘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!’
Our next move is to now go out and share those blessings just as generously as our heavenly Father shared them with us. Much LOVE!
…the Lord does not expect perfection from His followers…but He does expect diligence, devotion and excellence from them…
P.S. Sorry for the length and lateness of the Bit, but I messed it up and had to rewrite it. Chuh! Much LOVE!
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
27 May 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a scripture of amazing promise, a tree planted by the rivers of waters, bless others, blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, blessings shall overtake thee, bringeth forth his fruit in season, curse, divine protection, faith, favour, his delight is in the law of the Lord, his leaf shall not wither, in his law doth he meditate, Isaac reaped a hundredfold, Isaac sowed in the land, like the chaff which the wind driveth away, LOVE, negative word, obey the voice of the Lord, our hearts are in the right place, prosper, rejoice and be glad in it, sitteth in the seat of the scornful, standeth in the way of sinners, succeed, the breath of life, Thursday Blessings, until thy cup overflows, walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, whatsoever he does shall prosper, whose hope the Lord is
Jeremiah 17:7. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
One more day friends, we have been divinely gifted one more day, this one called Thursday! Wow! What a wonderful God we serve and worship! So let’s rejoice and be glad in it nuh, like our Lord God intended when He allowed the breath of life to continue flowing through our mortal bodies this bright and sunshiny day!
Ah, what blessed lives we live my faithful brethren! The psalmist said it thus: ‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly (wicked), nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate (ponder on) day and night.’ (Ps. 1:1-2)
What a beautiful scripture my people, one filled with such amazing promise! If we don’t let the enemy, or the ways of the world tie up our lives in knots like they want to do, but instead focus on the Lord and His word and will for our lives, we will be eternally blessed, down here on earth and also later on in heaven!
Now hear how the psalmist says that blessing will flow out. ‘And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers (channels) of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.’ (Ps. 1:3)
Mama oh Mama! We are so blessed my people! But are we grateful for those blessings, and do we show it in our lives? Do we give thanks and praise to the Lord for His goodness and mercy to us? Do we bless others with the blessings that the Lord so generously bestows on us? I do hope so, otherwise we’re simply living a lie!
And unfortunately, that can truthfully be said about too many of us supposed believers. That’s why the heathen don’t pay as much attention to us as they ought to. Why they don’t rush to embrace Christ as their Lord and Saviour. And you can’t give them wrong when they see the ungodly lives too many so-called believers are living.
However, hear this explanation from the scholars. ‘Psalm 1. The key word in the psalm is the word blessed. It serves here as a pronouncement upon a man – but a certain kind of man. In essence, the psalm is teaching that the blessed or happy man is the righteous man. The happy man avoids evil influences, deeds, and attitudes (v.1); he delights in God’s Word (v.2); therefore, God causes him to prosper (v.3).’ Yes friends, when we serve the Lord God Jehovah with a willing and faithful heart, He blesses us so much that our cup overflows, and others see it and want to come to him to receive blessings like us.
And hear how the prophet Jeremiah puts it, when he talks about the blessedness of trusting the Lord. ‘Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see (fear) when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful (anxious) in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.’ (Jer. 17:7-8) Wow! Imagine that nuh people! When we stay righteous, even in the times of drought and famine, hardship and trouble, we will still prosper because of the Lord’s blessings upon our lives!
And we have a good example of that in Genesis 26, where during a time of famine, the Lord instructed Isaac not to go down to Egypt but to stay in the land of the Philistines and He would provide for Him. And even though Isaac got himself in trouble with the Philistines, the Good Book tells us: ‘Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received (reaped) in the same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed (grew) great, and went forward (continued), and grew until he became very great.’ (Gen. 26:12-13)
Yes friends, that’s what the Lord can, and will do in our lives, although we are not the best we can be, but He sees that our hearts are in the right place. Who else could cause Isaac to reap a hundredfold in a time of drought and famine eh? Only the Lord God Almighty, the God of his forefathers. And that’s why it is ever so important for us to read and meditate on God’s word and live the kind of life He expects of us, because hear what happens to those who don’t.
‘The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.’ (Ps. 1:4-6) Now that’s putting it mildly, because perishing will not be an easy matter for the ungodly, but more like going through hell fire and damnation!
Anyway, listen to this continuing explanation of the scholars. ‘On the other hand, the ungodly is worth no more than chaff (the dry, protective, worthless outer casing of cereal grains) (v.4), and his destiny is judgement (v.5). Finally, the evaluation by the Lord Himself is described (v.6). There is an ellipsis (omission) which is understood with both clauses in verse 6. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous [and it will be blessed], but [He also knows] the way of the ungodly [and it] shall perish. The psalm forms an appropriate introduction to the Psalter since it sets before the readers the three characters who will figure mostly in the psalms: the righteous, the ungodly, and God.’
And I’m chuckling here friends, because I can see the mysterious moving of the Lord in Today’s Bit. I did not have any particular topic in mind, and He led me to Psalm 1, which teaches about the blessings of the Lord on the righteous, and what better day to do it than on a Thursday when we declare the bountiful blessings of our great God! So let’s do that right now nuh! As one strong and sincere voice, let’s shout out our Thursday Blessings to the world!
‘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 the divine purpose for bestowing those blessings on us, is for us to share them just as generously with others as the Lord shared them with us. Much LOVE!
…obey the voice of the Lord…and blessings shall come upon thee…and overtake thee…until thy cup overflows…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
13 May 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a future and a hope, a positive outlook on life, all things are full of labour, awaken to a brand new day with Jesus, curse, faith, favour, futile or worthless, futility, glamorous lifestyle, hell and destruction are never full, hellfire and damnation, how wonderful it is to live for Jesus, just a facade, man cannot utter (express it), negative word, no remembrance of former things, nor the ear filled with hearing, observable phenomena, share our blessings generously, the ceaseless cycles of nature, the earth abideth for ever, the eye is not satisfied with seeing, the eyes of man are never satisfied, the futility of life, the glitzy front shell, there is no new thing under the sun, Thursday Blessings, vanity of vanities, what profit hath a man from all his labour
Ecclesiastes 1:8. All things are full of labour (wearisome); man cannot utter (express it): the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
And then it was Thursday – another beautiful spring day in my neighbourhood. All praise and glory to the Lord for bringing me through the dark night of the enemy to another one of these sparklers with all of my faculties, or rather with most of them intact. (smile) Thanks and praise are certainly in order when we awaken to a bright, brand new day in Jesus! There’s nothing like it to lift our spirits, to energize our souls and give us hope, assurance, and comfort for the future! Oh, how wonderful it is to live for Jesus!
Please note I didn’t say easy, (smile) for as they say, anything worth its salt is worth working and facing difficulties for, and Jesus is definitely at the top of that list! He is indeed the greatest employer in the world! Who else can offer grace, mercy, LOVE and salvation to His people eh? Nobody! That’s why He is the greatest; the One and ONLY Superstar! A strong and mighty fortress! But despite working for the greatest employer, we must admit that basic life, when coupled with working in this crazy and evil world is full of problems.
Listen to how Cousin Sol puts it in Ecclesiastes nuh: ‘Vanity of vanities (futility of futilities), saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of (from) all his labour which he taketh under the sun (toils or labours)? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever… All things are full of labour (wearisome); man cannot utter (express it): the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time (in ancient times) There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.’ (Eccl. 1:4, 8-11)
Yeh friends, Cousin Sol doesn’t mince words at all; life is one big cycle with work a major part of it, and not much of what we accomplish is ever remembered. The scholars explain it thus: ‘1:2. Vanity is the key word of the book and the refrain all is vanity its theme. The word “futility” means “that which is futile or worthless, of no value or profit.” As Solomon observed life, he saw little that exhibited profit and accomplishment. The word ‘all’ in the expression ‘all is vanity’ must not be taken to mean everything in the universe for these reasons:
(1) The author’s observations are clearly limited to what is “under the sun” or observable. (2) The negative conclusions always grow out of observable phenomena as the expressions “I saw,” “I have seen,” “Again I saw,” and so on, exhibit. (3) “Vanity” is never predicated of God, God’s work, God’s revelation, or man as man. (4) Specific realities are commended by Solomon in such a way as not to be considered vanity (e.g., the fear of God, enjoyment of life, and proper use of wisdom.’ What interesting and important insights friends! I believe we should read that slowly, at least a couple of times, so we can truly understand it, for it’s the very basis of Cousin Sol’s thesis.
And the scholars continue, per verse ‘1:3. The implied answer to this rhetorical question “what profit hath a man of all his labour…” is that there is no profit for man in his work. This supports the idea that “vanity” refers to a lack of profit, value, or worth. Under the sun is used 29 times in the book and denotes the sphere of Solomon’s observations. Now, this last scholarly explanation: ‘1:4-11. The ceaseless cycles of nature illustrate the futility of life. The amazing thing is that the earth goes on, but man, the height of God’s creation, passes into eternity with no remembrance (vs.11).’
And with all the effort, energy and labour we put into living this earthly life, it can be somewhat discouraging to know that a lot of what we do is worthless and will not be remembered. But that’s exactly why it makes so much sense to live exclusively for Jesus! For with Him, we have a future and a hope. Our lives won’t go to waste. We’ll dwell with him for eternity, and be rewarded for the good work we did as His representatives down here on earth, with robes of white, crowns of glory, righteousness and all sorts of other heavenly treasures! (smile)
Let’s also remember that our earthly bodies will one day cease to exist, will return to the dust from which they originally came, but our spiritual beings will live on forever, either in Hades or Heaven. However, we need to choose one of those options while we are here on earth, and for what it’s worth, I’ll say that heaven is the better choice, for we’ll be there with Jesus! And all God’s people gave a joyful and grateful shout of ‘Glory Hallelujah!’
And please, please don’t be fooled by the seemingly glamourous lifestyle that the world tries to offer, because it’s only a façade, behind the glitzy front shell there is only hellfire and damnation! So for those of us who have wisely decided to choose Jesus and heaven as our eternal destination, let’s go home declaring (steups!) our Thursday Blessings, those amazing characteristics that the Lord has so magnanimously bestowed on us to do His earthly work.
Altogether now: ‘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 what’s the corollary to all that, you ask? Simple: we are expected to go out and share those blessings just as generously with others, as the Lord shared them with us. Much LOVE!
…hell and destruction…are never full…so the eyes of man…are never satisfied… (Prov. 27:20)
P.S. The Bit is somewhat late because I had a mid-morning zoom meeting to attend. Brilliant excuse eh! (smile) Much LOVE!
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries
SCRIP-BITS 