Today’s Scrip-Bit   23 June 2023 Luke 9:23.

23 Jun 2023 Leave a comment

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

Luke 9:23.      If any man will come after me (desires to follow me), let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

And our beloved day of Friday has been greeted all over the globe with glorious shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ But I’m wondering, are we truly thankful to Almighty God for the day, or are we just mouthing something that shows up the selfish lusts of our flesh. I tend to believe it’s the latter, since we are only enamoured of Friday because it means that our work week is almost over. We obviously don’t say ‘Thank God it’s Monday!’ because Monday is the beginning of the bane of our existence; work. (smile) 

Ah friends, because of all the amenities that our advanced society has provided us, we have lost the wonderful elements of belly and backbone that our forefathers had so much of, and needed it to survive each and every day of their lives. Nowadays we’ve become so soft and mamby pamby that we complain about every little difficulty that comes our way. Life has become too easy for us, and that ease has made us frail, fragile, whiny and ever complaining. beings. We give up on a problem way too easily. Remember the parable Jesus spoke unto His listeners, that men ought always to pray and not to faint or lose heart. (Luke 18:1) 

But who’s listening to Jesus these days eh? Not too many of us, because His way entails walking on the straight and narrow path, but we, with our sinful flesh, like the broad and winding road that leads to destruction. No wonder so many of us shy away from being true disciples of Christ in these supposed modern times, we just can’t handle the level of difficulty, and self-sacrifice it might entail. For as Jesus said: ‘If any man will come after me (desires to follow me), let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ (Luke 9:23) 

And in real life, those few words say quite a lot my people! It’s a big undertaking and we should not determine to follow it until and unless we see exactly what it entails. And as one commentator says: ‘To be a disciple of Jesus, He advises us to sit down and calculate the cost to see if we want to truly follow him. Jesus cannot simply be our Savior. He must also be the Lord of our lives. We must devote ourselves to him fully.’ And isn’t that the gospel truth. 

So, the initial stage is to weigh the pros and cons of following Jesus and see if we have the necessary parts to do so. As Jesus says: ‘For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?’ (Luke 14:28) Therefore, we must first do our due diligence. Then, after weighing all the pros and cons, we must make a sure decision to follow Christ. And the first thing that entails is denying oneself. We have to stop focusing on ourselves and focus on God and what He desires of us. 

For ‘Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self-ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing.’ And Bruh Paul tells us in Romans: ‘For they that are after the flesh do mind (set their minds on) the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God.’ (Rom. 8:5-8) 

That means if we keep on being selfish and think about the things of the flesh that our carnal mind obviously likes, we cannot serve Christ. And so doing, we die daily to ourselves. Which, as John wrote in his first epistle involves having the LOVE of Christ in us. ‘Hereby perceive we the LOVE of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good (goods), and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion (heart) from him, how dwelleth the LOVE of God in him?’ (1 John 3:16-17) 

So we need to show the LOVE of Christ by daily sacrificing where necessary, offering ourselves on our own cross, like Jesus did, for ‘the cross is an agent of death.’ Then it’s absolutely necessary that we follow Jesus, which means let him direct our lives, show us where He wants us to go and what He needs us to do on His behalf. What did He say when He called the first disciples: ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ (Matt. 4:19) That means to do as He says and as He does, to follow in His footsteps. 

As this commentary tells us: ‘Discipleship is a personal, passionate devotion to a person, not to principles or doctrines or cause. It’s a devotion to Christ first, then devotion to His teaching because of an existing personal passionate devotion to the person of Christ. Surrender and dependence on Christ.’ Yes, it’s all about Christ my people! That’s why Jesus said to those who believed in Him. ‘If you continue (abide) in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ (John 8:31-32) 

It’s only when we truly abide in, live by His word are we truly His disciples. As He said again: ‘This is my commandment, That ye LOVE one another, as I have LOVED you. Greater LOVE, hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatever I command you.’ (John15:12-14) That means simply doing whatever He commands us to do, which encompasses an overwhelming devotion to Him that shows up in these statements. 

‘If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren (brothers), and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.’ (Luke 14:26-27) Now obviously that doesn’t mean truly hating our family and ourselves, but simply willing to forsake them for His cause. No, following Christ is not easy, but as I keep saying, if you’re sincere, He will help you through the difficult times, and your life will be mucho interesting and adventurous, and worth every bit of the sacrifice. 

And I Hope that gives us a li’l background on what true discipleship in Christ’s ministry entails.(smile) Now let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, seeking divine help to handle our many earthly problems. As one voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the confusion and anxiety caused by the pandemic and our many other serious problems. We can’t fix them on our own Lord, so we desperately need your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, without further serious setbacks. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe. 

And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to return backsliders to your fold, show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic, the bubbling discontent and dissatisfaction in our land, as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And if we expect to receive divine help, then we’ve got to clean up our act, starting…RIGHT NOW! Much LOVE!

…to be a true disciple of Jesus…takes a lot of belly and backbone… 

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   11 June 2023 Psalm 27:13.

11 Jun 2023 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 27:13.        I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 

And the week has come full circle; it’s Sunday again, that beautiful day when Christ’s church gathers to give Him much thanks, praise, worship, glory and exaltation! And all Christ’s people said a loud and grateful ‘Praise the Lord!’ And to open today’s proceedings, we’ll blast off with the great favourite of Contemporary Christian Music, ‘The Goodness of God.’ 

It touched me when I heard it earlier in the week and immediately decided that we would sing it this Sunday. There’s something about it that just touches you. It’s a song of praise to our good and faithful Lord, written by Jenn Johnson, who sings it with the Bethel Church group. 

And what is the spiritual meaning of goodness you ask? This commentary tells us: ‘Goodness is action; it’s not something we do only for the sake of being virtuous. When we strive to be “good” only for our own benefit, it is not truly goodness that we possess. In Greek, the word goodness, “agathosune,” means “an uprightness of heart and life” 

And how do we experience the goodness of God? This other commentary explains it thus:  ‘It’s through the promises of God’s Word that we partake of His nature—a nature that is peace, abundance, healing, victory, guidance and protection. His promises are a pipeline that connects us with His nature. And His promises are exceedingly great and precious (2 Peter 1:3-4).’ 

But enough talk, let’s offer up our sweet sacrifices of praise in scintillating riddim and glorious voices, in an up-tempo rendition of the song. Singing: ‘I LOVE You Lord Oh Your mercy never fails me And all my days I’ve been held in Your hands From the moment that I wake up Until I lay my head down, Oh I will sing of the goodness of God (Chorus: All my life You have been faithful And All my life You have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, Oh I will sing of the goodness of God.) 

I LOVE your voice. You have led me through the fire. In my darkest night, you were close like no other. I’ve known you as a Father, I’ve known you as a friend, Oh I have lived, in the goodness of God. (Chorus: Yeahhh! And all my life You have been faithful…I will sing of the goodness of God) Yeah, yeah, it’s so good! Your goodness is running after, It’s running after me. Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me. With my life laid down, I’m surrendered now, I give you everything, cause your goodness is running after, It’s running after me. 

Oh cause Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me. And All my life You have been faithful And All my life You have been so, so good With every breath that I am able, Oh I’m going to sing, Oh I’m going to sing of the goodness of God. For all my life you have been faithful, all my life you have been so good. 

Oh you lead me in glory…ever-faithful, you are my anchor in the wind and the waves… you are my provider…Oh yeah…and you lead me in glory by your spirit…you are my joy…my joy…every day…Oh shepherd of my soul…what a joy to know you…Oh, the joy of knowing you God…you’re everything to me…so wonderful…so wonderful in all your ways…in all your ways. That’s why I will always sing of your goodness Lord…always sing of your goodness Lord.’ 

Mama oh Mama! What heart-felt words and glorious sentiments! No wonder we want to sing of the goodness of our marvellous God! And the Lord Himself informed of His goodness when He descended in the cloud and stood with Moses on the mountain top, the second time He wrote the Ten Commandments. The Bible tells us: ‘And the Lord passed by before him (Moses), and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.’ (Ex. 34:6) 

Yes friends, the Lord described Himself to a T. All He said there is the gospel truth, and as such we need to follow His example if we’re to be His true followers. And how do we do that, how do we Christians show the goodness of God? Listen to this commentary: ‘We Choose Kindness. It means to show kindness and goodness to everyone you meet. It means Jesus recognized what we needed before we did. It also means that He wants us to be compassionate and understanding; to care for others with a pure spirit; and to realize that true life only comes through Christ.’ 

More gospel truth there my faithful brethren: true life only comes through Christ! If you don’t have Him leading and guiding you then you will never ever attain that wonderful feeling of true living. And all through the Good Library, especially in the Psalms, you can find oodles of references to the goodness of our great God. So let’s check out a few for our enlightenment. (smile) Listen to these words from Psalm 107: ‘Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness (LOVING-kindness), and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.’ (Ps. 107:8-9) 

Then there’s this from Psalm 31, some verses aptly titled ‘God’s Goodness.’ ‘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 of thy presence (secret place)  from the pride (plots) of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion (shelter) from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.’ (Ps. 31:19-21) 

Now what can be better than that eh my people? Only perhaps these words of Bruh David from Psalm 27. ‘I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait (in faith) on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart, (wait (in faith), I say, on the Lord.’ (Ps. 27: 13-14) 

Ah friends, life would certainly be even more difficult than it already is, if we hadn’t planned on seeing the goodness of God down here. And we’ll end with some words of Jesus on the subject, when He made those famous statements about asking and receiving, (Matt:7:7-12) amongst them this one: ‘If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?’ (Matt. 7:11) Now that’s a question on which we need to spend some pondering time today, so that we can get it right. Much LOVE!

…God’s goodness stems from…His great LOVE for us… 

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   1 July 2022 Proverbs 29:18.

01 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 29:18.      Where there is no vision (prophetic vision), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.​

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Oh mih people, the caffeine is hot, strong and sweet this Friday morning, this sunshiny, cloudy, first day of July 2022! Can you imagine that June is finished already! But that’s okay, because today in this blessed land we’re celebrating and shouting two things: The first is the usual ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!’ And with that comes the added incentive of no work today, because it’s a holiday, as we celebrate the birthday of our beautiful land, and shout ‘Happy Canada Day!’ 

Yes, on July 1. 1867, the separate Provinces came together to form the Confederation of Canada, and since then we’ve been plowing forward regardless. Oh, we’ve had misfortunes, done wrong things and displeased others, but yuh better believe right now we are the best big country in the world, despite our many problems! Yes, like all other countries we have problems, some of our own making, others because of our close association with the richest and one of the most volatile countries in the world right now, the U.S. of A. 

They want to spread their dissent abroad, and we want to play monkey see, monkey do. But hopefully, we will stand upon our own two feet and not allow them to further corrupt our already corrupt land and drive out the little decency we still have. We certainly don’t need any help to do that, because we do a good enough job on our own. That brings to mind the poignant and powerful words of Cousin Sol from Proverbs. ‘Where there is no vision (prophetic vision), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ (Prov. 29:18) 

The scholars tell us that ‘Vision refers to the divine revelation received by the prophet. Morality is based on adherence to God’s revealed will.’ And that’s what sadly lacking in our world today, a prophetic vision from Almighty God, why we have cast off restraint and are doing what we want, which is so much evil, immoral and ungodly stuff. But how can we ever have revelation from God when we are doing our best to remove Him from our society eh? No wonder our world is indeed perishing from lack of God’s word and adherence to His law. 

And we have a perfect example of that back in the days when the prophet Samuel came on the scene in Israel. The Good Book relates it thus. ‘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) And to show how bad it was back then, the last verse of Judges says: ‘In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ (Jud. 21:25) Now any fool can see that’s exactly where we are headed in this modern generation, which is downward to catastrophe and disaster like all the other societies which turned away from the Great I AM! 

But let’s go back and listen as the scholars explain the above verse from Samuel: ‘The severity of Israel’s apostasy, (turning away from God) (cf. Jud. 21:25) caused a dearth 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 of Samuel. (cf. 3:21; 19:20)’ You can read those verses on your own, but they are basically telling us about the Lord appearing to Samuel and thus the increasing revelation in the society. 

Now, that calls up the second part of the proverb: ‘but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ Yes friends, when we keep God’s directives we are blessed. And I like how this commentator on the gotquestions.org website puts it. ‘Lest anyone be confused, this is not a call to legalism. Life is not found in our ability to obey a list of dos and don’ts. Within Psalm 19 we see indications of relationship with God. David talks about the fear of the Lord being pure (verse 9), he calls himself God’s servant (verse 13), and he calls God his “LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (verse 14). When Jesus named the greatest commandment, He referred to the command to LOVE God. (Mark 12:28-34) Our obedience to God and our keeping of His Word flow from a relationship in which we are LOVED by God and we LOVE Him in return (1 John 4:7-10).’ 

Oh my brethren, there must indeed be a few dos and don’ts like the Ten Commandments, if a society is to be stable and not continually chaotic, but generally speaking what a society needs, what we need to live a blessed and abundant life is a feeling of LOVE, of care and compassion to Almighty God and to each other! With LOVE being the basic essence of our existence, a society flourishes, shines bright like the noonday sun, gives God all the glory and honour, and is a perfect example to others. 

And we’ll enlist more of the interesting and true words of the commentator from the gotquestions.org website to aid in our offence against the enemy. So please read and take serious note. ‘Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” Jesus has come into the world as the living Word of God (John 1:1, 14). God has also given us the written Word, the Bible. When we fail to read God’s Word and live it out in our lives, we become people “without vision.” 

When we ignore God’s Word, we begin to live without restraint to our own peril. Conversely, when we heed God’s Word, we are blessed. Jesus said, “As the Father has LOVED me, so have I LOVED you. Now remain in my LOVE. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my LOVE, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his LOVE. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:9-11). God has given us His Word, and He calls us to be faithful to it. In keeping God’s Word, we will find joy in Him.’ 

And is all of that ever so true my fellow saints! Now let’s go to our heavenly Father in prayer, through our Friday Chant, seeking grace and mercy, forgiveness and help to improve our individual lives and our society. Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and our many other problems are causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks. 

And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And with those words of prayer flowing from our lips, we now need to keep our promises and show the Lord that we are indeed serious about changing our evil ways and coming back to His safe and blessed refuge. Much LOVE!

…the time to turn to Jesus is NOW…tomorrow may be too late…  

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​