02 May 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future, Adam, advanced civilization, adversity, all voices cry Lord, asap, be ye holy, blessed, boost his ego, by one man's disobedience, by the obedience of one, celebration for mMay, conforming to former lusts, dance the maypole, devoured with the sword, disobedience, drowning in, eat the good of the land, eternal life, example of obedience, found in appearance, Garden of Gethsemane, God is awesome, gospel truth, grace, greed, halfway home, hodgepodge, hope to the end, humbled himself, I am holy, Israelites, keep his word, looking straight ahead, many shall be made righteous, many were made sinners, Matt Chandler, midway point, mire, my hands are on the plough, not my will, obedience, obedient, obedient children, obedient unto death, pestilence, poor relationships, poverty, prepare your mind for action, quicksand, rebel, refuse, salvation, sickness, sin flooded the world, sky high, smarten up, sober, suffering, the bondage of sin, the breath of life, the cross at Calvary, the death of Jesus, the fat of rams, the Garden of Eden, the highest position, the mouth of the Lord, the revelation of Jesus, to hearken, to obey is better than sacrifice, to whom all knees will bow, too macho, total obedience, trials, Village chruch, Wednesday Wail, willing
Isaiah 1:19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.
And then it was Wednesday; the midway point of the work week… And we’re getting a li’l bit earlier everyday with the Bit. (smile) Hope within the next few days we’ll be back to an early morning Bit. And when are we going to dance the Maypole eh people? Wonder if some of the young people even know what that is.
It’s a celebration for the month of May. You have a tall decorated flagpole with long ribbon streamers attached at the top, and then everybody takes a ribbon and dances around it to form an intricate pattern all the way down the pole. I remember going to May fairs as a boy in High School, but usually thinking myself too macho to dance the maypole. That was something for girls.
Now here is a li’l something from Matt Chandler, lead Pastor of the Village Church, a Southern Baptist Church in Texas. He tells us that ‘God is awesome. He doesn’t need us to be awesome. He needs us to be obedient.’ And isn’t that the gospel truth friends?
All our magnanimous and magnificent God really wants from us is obedience to His law. If we’d only practice greater obedience, we’d be surprised at how blessed we’d truly be. But we insist on choosing our own areas of obedience. However my brethren, our God wants total obedience from His people. Not some obedience here, and some obedience there, like a hodgepodge of obedience and disobedience.
And friends, the Lord made His intentions clear a long time ago to the Israelites through the prophet Isaiah in our Bit. ‘If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.’ That’s fairly simple and straightforward eh my fellow believers.
And the corollary to that is the next verse: ‘But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.’ (Is.1:20) And it’s not like the Israelites, who were found to be disobedient several times did not suffer by the sword and all kinds of pestilence.
I don’t know why we think that the Lord isn’t going to keep His word. He kept it with the Israelites and He’s going to keep it with us too, as our disobedience level is riding sky high. Can’t we see all the unusual things that are happening in our society? And even though we’re the most advanced civilization ever, we’re still flailing along in a mire of poverty, sickness, greed and poor relationships.
A lot of our trouble stems from our disobedience. The Lord is not going to allow us to continue the way we’re currently going forever, so we need to smarten up as soon as possible, if we want to get out of the quicksand that we’re slowly drowning in.
Now let’s look at some important scriptures that tell us about obedience. And we’ll begin at the beginning, with the words of Bruh Paul to the Roman church. ‘For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.’ (Rom.5:19).
Yeh friends, by Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, sin flooded the world, likewise by the sacrificial death of Jesus, on the cross at Calvary, grace, salvation, and eternal life were provided by our Lord to overcome the bondage of sin.
And more words from Bruh Paul, this time to the Philippian church, pertaining to Jesus. ‘And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil.2:9)
Oh my people, there’s no better example of obedience than our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Though He was God Himself, once He took the form of man, He didn’t try to boost His ego or importance here on earth, but gave total obedience to His heavenly father. Even when He tried to get out of going to the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane, He finally gave in and said, ‘not my will, but thine,’ acknowledging the Father’s supremacy.
As Hebrews tells us: ‘Though he (Jesus) were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the author of salvation unto all them that obey him.’ (Heb.5:8-10) Yeh people, Jesus learned obedience just like all of us do, through suffering, through adversity and trials. That’s the only way to learn it. And that’s why the Father elevated him to the highest position there is; the one to whom all knees will bow, and all voices will cry Lord to the glory of the Father.
Now listen to this last scripture from Peter in his call to Christian dedication. ‘Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind (prepare your mind for action), be sober, and hope to the end for the grace (rest your hope fully upon the grace) that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
As obedient children, not fashioning (conforming) yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (conduct). Because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.’’ (1 Pet.2:13-16)
I can’t say anything more friends, except to lead us in our declaration of our Wednesday Wail, which tells the world our strong and obedient position in Christ.
As one now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And we can’t even imagine how glorious that future will be, because our minds are too small and finite! Much LOVE!
…to obey is better than sacrifice…and to hearken than the fat of rams… (1 Sam.15:22b)
06 Sep 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future, a warning, a word of warning to the wise, Abraham Isaac and Jacob, according to my righteousness, adversity, Antigua, Bad News, Barbuda, chaos, children, chosen people, Christians, cleanness of my hands, darkness, David, demise, disciples, enemy, erring on the right side, evil, free fall, glad to be alive, glory hallelujah, good, halfway home, hurricane Irma, Jesus, living for Christ, LOVE, loving arms, most powerful force, my hands are on the plough, natural disasters, North American mainland, not turning back, on which side his bread was buttered, posturing, prayer, raising Cain, recompensed me, repentance, rewarded, righteousness, Saul, share the Love of Jesus, standard of living, strife, the breath of life, the God of our forefathers, the Good Book, The Israelites, the longest journey begins with the first step, the Lord rewarded me, the Lord's generous hand, the one and only true living God, the order of the day, turning back to God, ungodliness, unrest, unrighteousness, warmongering, Wednesday Wail
Psalm 18:20. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
Ah friends, not a day seems to pass without some sort of bad news in our world eh? The latest is the hurricane Irma, that’s begun raising Cain in the West Indies yesterday, blowing it’s powerful Category 5 self over Antigua and Barbuda and apparently heading for other islands in the northern end of the archipelago.
And if it doesn’t change its trajectory, it will most likely hit the eastern side of the North American mainland by the weekend. After the ravages of hurricane Harvey in the past couple of weeks, it would be total chaos if Irma were to hit the mainland.
This calls for very serious prayer my people, the most powerful force on the earth. It also calls for repentance and turning back to God. Who knows why all these natural disasters are occurring at this time eh? Maybe it’s a warning? God might just be trying to get our attention. But even if it is not, there’s no harm in erring on the right side of the equation?
And it’s no secret that our society is as sinful and ungodly as it’s ever been, and in a serious negative free fall, what with all the strife and unrest between the powerful nations of the world. We can certainly use some respite from all the posturing and warmongering…and only sincere prayer and repentance can bring that about.
It won’t, and it can’t happen overnight, but we’ve got to make a start. As the Chinese proverb says: ‘The longest journey begins with the first step.’
My people, it’s time we took that first step in returning to worshipping the God of our forefathers, bringing God back into our homes, schools, public places and all areas of our society, because that is the only way that we will survive.
The Good Book shows where the Lord brought serious adversity on His chosen people, Israel, when they were disobedient and turned to idol worship. But when they repented and turned back to Him, He took them back with LOVING arms, because that’s the kind of God He is; the God of second chances.
So if the Israelites were smart enough to realize their error, why can’t we be too eh? We’re supposed to be so much wiser and more educated and affluent and have a higher standard of living. But that’s possibly the problem right there; we think we know too much, and in reality we don’t know anything.
Anyway, a word of warning to the wise; let’s pray, let’s sincerely repent and get back to worshipping the One and Only True Living God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That’s the wisest thing we can do right now.
And our Bit certainly points us in that direction. ‘The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.’
Yeh mih people, it’s no secret, the Lord rewards us when we do right, when we live righteously. And by no stretch of the imagination can we say that our world is in a righteous mode right now. In fact unrighteousness is the order of the day!
Bruh David was a man like all of us, he did his fair share of wrong and suffered his fair share of adversity too, but he knew where his strength came from, on which side his bread was buttered, so he stuck with the Lord God of Israel, who wrought mighty deeds through him.
Just check out this example. When Bruh David had a chance to kill his archenemy Saul in the wilderness, he refused to do it, because Saul was the Lord’s anointed. (1 Sam.24:1-15) And after Bruh David talked to Saul about the situation, the ole reprobate Saul, said, ‘Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.
And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. And thou hast showed this day how thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not.
For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away (get away safely)? Wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.’ (1 Sam.24:16-19)
Yeh friends, even the evil Saul knew that the Lord rewards righteousness, so why aren’t we seeking more rewards through our righteousness eh? Our world currently seems to be fixated on the things of evil, of darkness of ungodliness, which can only work to our eventual demise my brethren.
Our job as Christians is to try and prevent that by living for Christ and showing others the way to Him. What say we that we begin doing that seriously now eh, if we want our world to not only survive, but also prosper under the Lord’s generous hand? Our children, and our children’s children are depending on us my brethren. Let’s not fail them.
And if our hearts are right, then we can sincerely declare our Wednesday Wail. ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday!
I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Oh friends, let’s go out and help others to sincerely declare that nuh, for it is the heartfelt desire of Jesus. Much LOVE!
…as disciples of Jesus…we are to share His LOVE with others…not keep it to ourselves…
20 Jul 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future, a LOVING Father, alive, almighty god, Amen, anarchy, breath of God, brethren, Carrying a grudge, chastening, complaining, discipline, do our best, errors, exercised, expectant faith, faith, forgiveness, friends, fruit, geeks, glad to be alive, glory hallelujah, God loves us, God's children, gospel truth, grace, grateful, grievous, grudge, halfway home, hates his son, hope, horrors, human, hungry hope, I'm not loking back, Jesus, joy, joyous, Laodicea, looking ahead, LOVE, mercies, Microsoft, mistakes, my hands are on the plough, obedience, obedience to god, P.S. I Love You, peaceable fruit, plough, promises, rebuke, repent, righteousness., selfishness, sense of purpose, simpleminded, spare the rod, steal my joy, summer's day, take it to heart, the answer, the breath of life, the present, trained, trials, tribulations, troubles, truth, undisciplined, walk the straight and narrow path, Wednesday Wail, whining, wisdom, zealous
Hebrews 12:11. Now no chastening (discipline) for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised (trained) thereby.
Oh friends, another glorious summer’s day seems to be in the offing! Let’s give thanks and praise for it and ask for guidance to do our best, as we walk the straight and narrow path that leads to Jesus!
Sometimes though, the road just gets frustrating and annoying, especially when you are just an innocent victim, as I was yesterday with all the new changes in Outlook.
Yuh know, as I told some of you last night, after finally figuring out how to do my thing, I then went to send out the Bit, but I got all sorts of horrors in trying to do that. They kept telling me that there was an error message and the Bit couldn’t be sent, to try later.
Well the later trying didn’t do anything and I eventually had to send them out in smaller groups. Now all they had to tell me was the groups were two large. Steups! But that was too simple for the simple-minded geeks who run the show.
Chuh! So last night I spent a whole lot of time making my groups small enough to fit their new scheme. And they didn’t even make that easy to do.
However, it’s a new day, with new mercies and promises and grace and forgiveness, and all the other good things our wonderful God has planned for us, so I won’t let Microsoft Outlook steal my joy, as I allowed them to do yesterday! (smile)
And I have the perfect antidote for that in a quote from my ‘I LOVE YOU’ Poster, which says: ‘Carrying a grudge is like a run in a stocking – it can only get worse. Forgiveness is the answer.’ Gospel truth friends, gospel truth!
So, regardless of the troubles they cause me, I’ll just forgive Microsoft Outlook (smile) and continue to enjoy this glorious day the Lord has blessed me to see. And all God’s children declared a loud and grateful ‘Amen!’
And since today is Wednesday, it’s only appropriate that we declare our Wednesday Wail. So with expectant faith, hungry hope and a strong sense of purpose, let’s wail. ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday!
I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Ah mih people, there’s not a day that goes by that I’m not thankful for that beautiful breath of God that courses through my ole bod! I surely hope that you feel the same way, because in truth, that’s the ONLY way for God’s redeemed and sanctified children to feel! Glory to God!
It’s so great to be alive, despite the numerous trials and tribulations that come against us! And we can say that with the utmost confidence and truth because our hands are securely on the plough and we’re looking forward to the glorious future that Jesus has planned for us! Oh what a future that will be my believing brethren!
But at the same time, since we’re only human and thus liable to make serious errors and mistakes, we also need to be able to accept God’s discipline without too much whining and complaining. Our God LOVES us, there’s no doubt about that, but like a LOVING Father, He also disciplines us when we go astray.
Unfortunately though, as our Bit so rightly points out, discipline makes us unhappy in the short term, but in the long run, it works significantly on our behalf. ‘Now no chastening (discipline) for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised (trained) thereby.’ Yeh friends, chastening has never been a well-liked human characteristic.
And most of us old fogies can remember those days of some serious chastening when we re growing up. Plenty of us ran and hid when we knew that it was in the offing, but oftimes that made no difference. We still got it whenever we showed up.
But you know what friends, that chastening, that sense of discipline, usually benefited us in the long run. It made us the fine, godly people we are today. Sadly though, too many of us, as parents refused to administer any chastening and discipline to our children, that’s why they are the undisciplined way they are today.
Now we didn’t need to go to some of the lengths that our parents did, but by going to the other extreme, we did them a great disservice. Because, if there’s one thing a society needs to grow peacefully it’s discipline, otherwise anarchy, a free for all and total selfishness is what we get, something like what we have today.
Enough preaching though, let’s look at some scriptures that corroborate our sentiments. First up are these words of wisdom from Cousin Sol. ‘For whom the Lord LOVETH he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.’ (Prov.3:12)
More Cousin Sol: ‘He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that LOVETH him chasteneth him betimes (promptly).’ (Prov.13:24)
And we’ll end with this one from Jesus in the Revelation of John. It’s contained in the message to the church at Laodicea. ‘As many as I LOVE, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.’ (Rev.3:19)
Yes friends, it’s all there in black and white in the Good Book! Please let’s take it to heart and do our best not to complain too much when we are rightfully chastened of anybody, especially Almighty God. That’s wisdom of the highest heights! Much LOVE!
…obedience to God…is the highest form of discipline…
13 Jul 2016
by randyobrien50
in Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a brand new day, a glorious future, a load of care, alive and kicking, all is lost, angels, believers in Jesus Christ, blessed shalt thou be, blessings, burdened, cattle, Charels Stanley, comfort, commandments, consequences, count your blessings, day and night, discouraged, enthusiasm, every doubt will fly, every sphere of life, everyday actions, eyes fixed straight ahead, focusing, fractious, glad to be alive, glory, glory hallelujah, glory to God, God is over all, God's will, great or small, halfway home, hands on the plough, hearken to God's voice, heavenly Father, help, home on high, honour, in the city, in the field, insignificant thnings, journey's end, joyful time, keep singing, kine, life's billows, LOVE, LOVE of God, loving kindness, magnanimous, magnificent, mea culpa, miracles, miserable, money cannot buy, name them one by one, new mercies, not turning back, obedient, obey God, offspring, overtake thee, praise, praise and worship, reward in heaven, see what God has done, Selah, sense of purpose, set thee on high, sincere, stipulated condition, take for granted, tempest tossed, thankful, the breath of God, the breath of life, the conflict, the cross, the fruit of thy body, truth, watches over us, Wednesday Wail, wisdom, zenith
Deuteronomy 28:3. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
Welcome to another brand new day with brand new mercies and LOVING-kindness my fellow believers in Jesus Christ!
Now I’ve been guided to open today’s proceedings with this li’l ditty that we all know and LOVE, but don’t, or very seldom practice. Otherwise we wouldn’t be so fractious and miserable, and there’d be much more of the LOVE of God in us, shown through our everyday actions.
So let’s all sing now in joyful but serious and sincere enthusiasm, truth and belief, ‘Count Your Blessings.’ And let each of us count the blessings in our own lives as we sing, so that it will be more real to each of us.
‘When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. Refrain: Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your blessings, see what God has done! Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your many blessings, see what God has done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, And you will keep singing as the days go by. Refrain: Count your blessings…
When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold; Count your many blessings—money cannot buy Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. Refrain: Count your blessings…
So, amid the conflict whether great or small, Do not be discouraged, God is over all; Count your many blessings, angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end. Refrain: Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.’
Yes friends, if we have counted our many blessings as we sang that wonderful hymn of praise and worship, I am sure that we all have been surprised and amazed at all the wonderful things our magnificent and magnanimous God has done in our lives.
The problem though is many of those things might be small and somewhat insignificant, so we just roll along taking them for granted. But just stop for a moment and consider what our lives would be like if all those blessings we’ve named were absent from our lives eh. Selah!
Yes my brethren, our lives would be nowhere near as happy and comfortable as they now are. So the lesson is to never take those small, insignificant things for granted, because that’s where God works most of His miracles in our lives.
And all God’s children loudly and gratefully declare: ‘All praise, honour and glory be to our heavenly Father, who watches over us day and night. Guides and protects us, And never lets us out of His sight!’
Ah mih people, I can’t help but be amazed at the greatness and wonder of the awesome God we serve! Now, since it’s Wednesday, let’s declare our Wednesday Wail with enthusiasm, truth and a strong sense of purpose.
Wailing: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back.
I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Oh my fellow faithful believers, this world might not be the greatest, but every morning we awake, we should be exceedingly thankful for that breath of God that’s still flowing through our bodies, because it means we’re alive and kicking and have so much to look forward to as we make our pilgrim’s journey with the Lord on our side.
We just have to put our hands strong and steadfast to the plough and keep looking ahead to the promise of a great and glorious future with Jesus! Believe me friends, it will be such a joyful time! Glory Hallelujah!
That brings us to our Bit; such a glorious promise! ‘Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.’
Yes my precious people of God, like the scholars inform us: ’28:3-6. These verses contain six blessings that extend to every sphere of life.’
Now let’s check out the other five. ‘Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body (offspring), and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine (cattle), and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store (kneading bowl). Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.’ (Deut.28:4-6)
Now what could be better than that eh mih breddren? Nothing really! But unfortunately there’s a stipulated condition of God’s before all of that can happen.
Listen up: ‘And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.’ (Deut.28:1-2)
Yes Friends, for the blessings to flow, we need to be obedient to God’s will and purpose! But the beautiful part is that when we’re obedient, the blessings shall overtake us! We don’t have to go chasing them, they will chase us, and eventually overtake us! Glory to God my people!
So please, let’s be wise today, be obedient and sincere, and dwell on God’s word, so that the promised blessings can run us down and overtake us. Now that is indeed wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!
…as Uncle Charles (Charles Stanley) so rightly says…the best way to live this life…is to simply obey God…and leave all the consequences to Him…
P.S. Sincere mea culpas. The computer and I were both slow this morning. (smile) Much LOVE!
06 Jul 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future, accomplished, assistant, beyond comprehension, beyond expectation, blesses, blessing, brilliant light of Jesus, but by my spirit, cnadlestick, coming in, coming of the Messiah, empowers, encouraging, escape, evil night, expectations, flying colours, glad to be alive, glory hallelujah, glory to God, God's great earth, godforsaken, going out, Guide, halfway home, He that keepeth Israel, hide, holy spirit, I'm not turning back, imbued, impossible, invade, Israel, Jesus, Joshua, magnanimous god, magnificent God, marvellous, Messiah, move mountains, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, my hands are on the plough, neither slumber nor sleep, no way Jose, nor by power, not by might, olive trees, omnipotence, omnipotent god, One Year Book of Bible promises, penetrate every fibre, Pentecost, permeate, praise the performance, praises, preserve thy soul, Protector, ramifications, reassuring words, reward, run, Ruth Harms Calkin, saith the Lord, shade upon thy right hand, strength, the breath of life, the dark, the Lord is thy keeper, the moon by night, the Spirit of God, the straight and narrow path, the sun shall not smite thee, the Task, unite, victory, vision, walk on water, Wednesday Wail, wherewithal, wisdom, You electrify me, Zechariah, Zerubbabel
Zechariah 4:6b. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.
And then it was another bright and sunshiny day on God’s great earth!
And all His people joyfully declared: ‘Glory to God for bringing us safely through the dark and evil night into the glorious and brilliant light of His Son and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!’
Yes friends, our wonderful God is always working on our behalf! What does the scripture say? ‘Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 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 (keep) thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve (keep) thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth,and even for ever more’ (Ps.121:4-8)
Ah mih people what encouraging and reassuring words! They tell us all about the sustaining power of our omnipotent God!
Now hear this other aspect of our marvellous and magnanimous God. It comes in the form of a poem ‘The Task,’ from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin.
And it says: ‘Lord, You give me a task So utterly impossible So totally beyond comprehension – The very thought of it Startles me. I want to run hide escape Anything, Lord. Then You electrify me You invade and permeate me
You penetrate every fiber of me Until the task is accomplished By Your own magnificent power. Then You praise the performance Your creativity achieved And You reward me beyond expectation – As though I had done it All by myself, My Father.’
Wow mih breddren! Isn’t that a most magnificent God? He gives you a task that seems utterly impossible, then gives you the wherewithal to perform it with flying colours, then turns around and praises and blesses you, as though you had done it all on your own, when, without His omnipotence, you couldn’t even have accomplished the initial step!
Oh my people, I feel that way everyday when I come to write the Bit, for basically it’s not my idea, but the Lord’s, and through His Holy Spirit, He guides and enables me to write it. Yuh think I could have been writing the Bit for nine years now in my own strength and wisdom? No way Jose! It’s the Lord who empowers me each and every day!
And the scripture verse on which that poem is based is also our Bit for today. ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.’ Yes friends, it’s not through might nor power, but through His Holy Spirit that the Lord accomplishes His tasks through us!
Now that piece of scripture comes from a vision of the prophet Zechariah about a magnificent, golden candlestick and two olive trees. And the angel in the vision asked Zechariah if he knew its significance?
And when Zechariah said no, the angel informed him. ‘Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.’ (Zech.4:6) That’s the full verse there.
And the scholars offer us this explanation. ‘4:1-14. The fifth vision, the golden candlestick and the two olive trees: The work of God (the rebuilding of the temple) would be accomplished through God’s leaders, Joshua and Zerubbabel, who would be enabled to perform their tasks by the Spirit of God.
The vision indicates that future Israel will be a blessing to all the nations of the world through an abundant supply of the Spirit of God as the result of the coming of the Messiah, who will unite the offices of priest and king in Himself.’
And did it all come to pass as prophesied my people? It surely did! For since the coming of Jesus, beginning at Pentecost, all believers have been imbued with the Holy Spirit as their guide and assistant. In the olden days the Spirit would come upon someone when the Lord needed them to do something special, but didn’t dwell within them as He does in us now…
And all God’s children declared a loud, sincere and heartfelt, ‘Glory to God for His wonderful goodness to the children of men!’ And He certainly deserves oodles of glory my breddren!
Now we won’t get into the ramifications of our Bit today, we’ll leave that for tomorrow, the Lord willing. Let’s go home instead by declaring our Wednesday Wail with sincerity, truth, faith and hope, some of the things that keep us going on the right path, the straight and narrow one, in this evil, godforsaken world.
Wailing now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home.
My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Oh friends, I do hope those words were sincerely and truthfully felt and meant, because only then can we enthusiastically go out with great expectations of victory, and do the important work Christ has entrusted us with. Have a godly and blessed day my people! Much LOVE!
…when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…your life changes for the better…you can walk on water and move mountains…
08 Jun 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future, allergies, angelic beings, attitude, beguile, blessings, boasts, Christ's image, Christ-like fashion, courage, deception, defraud, devastation, doing wrong, false humility, fasting, fellowship, fir for the kingdom of God, glory hallelujah, god is still on his throne, gospel truth, humility, Jesus answered, keep pressing on, looking back, Lot, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, magnetizes his condition, mature, meditating, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, my hands are on the plough, negative attitude, obits, optimistic, outlook, passion, paying homage, pillar of salt, positive, positive attitude, prayer, prevail, reading, revelations, rough shape, running things, see another day, self-reliant, sincerity, Sodom and Gomorrah, spiritual armour, spiritual blessings, stand strong, steadfast, strengthens us, take heed that no man deceive you, the assurance of success, the breath of life, the creative powers of the universe, the wherewithal to do His will, through Jesus we can do anything, visions, Wednesday Wail, wisdom, wits, words of wisdom, worshipping angels
Matthew 24:4. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Oh my people, the ole fella’s in somewhat rough shape this morning. Yesterday was pretty busy and then my allergies really acted up on me for the first time this year. Yes my young D, despite all my boasts to the contrary, they finally got to me. (smile)
However, our good God is still on His heavenly throne running things, so I don’t have to worry, He will bring me around eventually.
But in the meanwhile, listen to these words of wisdom from the wall of wisdom in my study. I have several quotes and poems etc. stuck to it, but the truth is I hardly ever notice them, though I pass them everyday.
Anyway, here’s one I shared a long time back, and now seems to be a good time to share it again. And it simply says: ‘A man who is self-reliant, positive, optimistic, and undertakes his work with the assurance of success, magnetizes his condition. He draws to himself the creative powers of the universe.’
And that my friends is gospel truth! Whatever attitude we adopt, or outlook we embrace, that is what is going to prevail in our lives. So if we adopt a negative, unsure, can’t do attitude, generally speaking that will be the prevailing condition in our lives.
However, when we embrace a strong, positive, optimistic outlook, then that is what usually prevails. And since we’re true believers in Christ, there’s only one outlook that’s possible for us; the positive, optimistic one, because that is what’s found, what prevails in Jesus.
And remember, through Him, we can do anything, because He is the one who strengthens us, gives us the courage, the wherewithal to do His will. (Phil.4:13)
Now let’s continue embracing that positive, optimistic outlook by declaring our Wednesday Wail with complete sincerity and plenty passion. All together now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday!
I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Ah mih breddren how good it is to wake and see another day; not see your name and/or picture in the obits! We need to be ever so thankful for God’s breath of life that keeps on flowing through us, day by day, because it means He still has important things for us to do down here on planet Earth.
But we need to keep our hands to the plough and look straight ahead to the wonderful future Jesus has in store for us. Remember Jesus’ words: ‘No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’ (Luke 9:62)
Therefore my fellow believers, once we’ve put our hands to the plough in the service of Jesus, we cannot afford to look back. Remember when Lot and his people, while fleeing from the devastation of Sodom and Gomorrah were told not to look back, but his wife disobeyed and she was turned into a pillar of salt? (Gen.19:26) We definitely don’t want that kind of negative thing happening to us.
Now it’s time to turn to our Bit, the wise warning of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ‘And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.’
Oh friends, unfortunately there is a lot of deception in our world today, and if we don’t constantly have our wits about us, we can be deceived very easily and very often. The amount of false hood and false teachers in our world today is truly amazing, but we believers, if we stand strong in Christ and together in fellowship as Christ’s body, the church, we will be able to defeat all falsehood that comes against us.
Listen to Bruh Paul’s other warning to the Colossians. ‘Let no man beguile (defraud) you of your reward in a voluntary humility (by delighting in false humility) and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.’ (Col.2:18)
Yeh friends, people come along everyday preaching all sorts of stuff, that’s why we need to be very careful in what or whom we allow into our lives. Hear some explanations from the scholars on that verse.
‘2:18. Beguile you of your reward (or, “rob you of your prize”). The heretics, if their doctrine were accepted would rob the Colossians of their spiritual blessings. These false teachers displayed false humility and advocated a gospel of worshipping of angels, that is paying homage to angelic beings. Intruding into those things which he hath not seen: The heretics claimed to have witnessed numerous revelations and visions.’
Oh my people, contrary to what some of us might think, the enemy is very busy trying to break through our spiritual armour and lead us astray. But we need to be ever so strong and steadfast in Jesus in these very trying times, so that we don’t lose our spiritual blessings.
We need to continue building ourselves up in Christ-like fashion, becoming more mature in His image everyday, through prayer, fasting, reading and meditating on His Word and being in strong fellowship with other believers, while constantly wearing our spiritual armour.
Yes precious people, in these end times, as Jesus warned, the enemy is all around us, desperately trying to defraud and deceive us into doing wrong.
Please, let’s stand strong and steadfast in Jesus name and keep on building His LOVE Revolution, despite the enemy’s best efforts to lead us astray. That is indeed wisdom for the ages! Much LOVE!
…believers need to keep pressing on in Jesus…using all the tools He’s provided…
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