The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Believing that God Truly LOVES and Cares for Them!

04 Jul 2026 Leave a comment

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   4 July 2026   1 John 4:10.

1 John 4:10.        Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his son to be the propitiation (atonement) for our sins.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY U.S.A

And on this first lazy-day Saturday in July, where after some rain in the early morning hours, it’s cloudy and muggy, we want to wish a Happy 4th of July to all those south of the border. It’s the U.S.A’s 250 celebration of their Independence. Sadly though, it appears that the big parade held annually in the Washington DC. area has been cancelled because of extreme heat concerns.

Ah Lord eh, like the whole world is in a heat cocoon right now, with temperatures soaring to unknown heights in some places. And we won’t get into the why’s and wherefores of that unfortunate situation so affectionally termed climate change, (smile) but just remember to keep on believing in Jesus and do what He calls us to do, for He is our inestimable, priceless Lord, Saviour and Leader, who knows what is always best for us.

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

And as always, if our prayer was sincere and heartfelt, then we’ll soon have the best foundation for a true lazy-day Saturday; that’s a renewal or rekindling of the calming peace and LOVE of our wonderful God, acknowledging our desire for greater intimacy with Him. Something that just warms the cockles of His heart and renews His faith in His decision to create man. Yes friends, that’s what a desire to have increased intimacy with Almighty God does for Him, because it’s one of the very reasons He created us in the first place; to have a close and personal relationship with His most important creation.

Likewise, when we refuse to have a close relationship with Him, it breaks His heart, He feels rejected by the very ones He LOVES the most. It’s like Jesus said to Nicodemus, the Jewish Leader who came to Him under cover of night for answers. ‘For God so LOVED the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ (John 3:16)

Oh my fellow believers, that’s how much God LOVED and still LOVES His human creation! You must have a great feeling of care and compassion for someone or something to give up such a precious thing as your only Son’s life for it. And there are so many scriptures in the Bible that tell it, so I don’t understand why we have so much trouble acknowledging God’s great LOVE for us. So let’s look at a few scriptures that expound on that subject.

And the first, one of my favourite scriptures, tells it thus: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrates) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) Oh friends, why can’t we understand the importance of that scripture and see the amazing LOVE of God it shows?

Most other gods would have expected us to turn to them before doing anything worthwhile for us. And it’s like we do all the time; tell someone if you do this, then I’ll do that. But the wonderful news is that Jehovah God did not wait for us to turn back to Him. No! He went ahead and set the process rolling because He LOVED us so much He didn’t want to lose anyone to eternal death.

And this is how Bruh Paul puts it to the Ephesians: ‘But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great LOVE wherewith he LOVED us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us (made us alive) together with Christ, (by grace ye are (have been) saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through (in) Christ Jesus.’ (Eph. 2:4-7)

Yes friends, when we were morally dead in our sins, the Lord gave us spiritual life, turned us away from our old life to the new one and demonstrated it by having us sit in heavenly places, or as the scholars say: ‘brought us into His presence and into an intimate relationship with Himself.’ Now why would He do something like that if He didn’t care for us a whole lot eh?

And it’s all done through God’s goodness, through His grace, or His unmerited divine favour. As Bruh Paul continues: ‘For by grace are ye (you have been) saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.’ (Eph. 2:8-9) That says it in a nutshell my people; forgiveness of sins and eternal life is a gift of God. We can never earn it through our own efforts. There again it shows how much God truly cares for us.

Then John breaks it down in his first epistle: ‘He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE. In this was manifested the LOVE of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his son to be the propitiation (atonement) for our sins. Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:8-11)

Oh mih bredrin, what more do we have to say to make you believe that God truly LOVES us eh? But hopefully what John says in Revelation will help to convince you. ‘And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten (first born) of the dead, and the prince (ruler) of the kings of the earth. Unto him that LOVED us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (Rev. 1:5-6)

Ah mih people, there’s no more to say. But on this first lazy-day Saturday in July, it would be wise to review those scriptures we talked about and let them sink deep into our hearts, so that we can be convinced, once and for all,that God truly LOVES and cares for us! Much LOVE!

…God has done all He can to prove His LOVE for mankind…we now need to believe it…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit   17 September 2022 Matthew 19:26.

17 Sep 2022 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 19:26.       With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Well it’s lazy Saturday again friends! But the ole fella wasn’t lazy this morning, he was up bright and early and moving around. (smile) I guess that was possibly because he went to bed fairly early last night, or this morning. That’s one of the disadvantages of going to bed too early, you can’t have a good excuse to lie around in bed all day. In any case the Lord’s work is always waiting to be done, so lying around is not an option, we have to get up and shake a leg, have a look at the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. 

Unfortunately though, this past week our friend must have been a bit confused because he sent us three quotes that he had just sent us the previous week. And out of the new two ones, I struggled to understand one of them, as they say, couldn’t make head nor tail of it, so I’m leaving it alone, rather than make a mess of it. That leaves us with only one quote for this week, but it’s a good one, and we ought to be able to do it justice. (smile) And here it is: ‘There is nothing impossible to those who will try.’ 

Now, we all know the mantra of success is try, try, try and try again, until you succeed. And that’s true to a certain extent, but some things are just impossible to man regardless of how often he tries. And that’s because he wasn’t made by the Creator to accomplish all that he desired in his own strength. The truth is that one needs to be a believer in and follower of Jesus Christ to be able to do certain things. 

And we all know, or ought to know (smile) the story of the rich young man who came to Jesus asking what he could do to gain eternal life. And though he had kept the basics of the Ten Commandments, Jesus told him: ‘If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.’ (Matt. 19:21) 

Oh, that was obviously difficult for the young man to do since he had many possessions, so he went away sad and disappointed. But we should not look down on him, because most of us would have done, and right now would probably do the same thing if Jesus told us to sell what little we had and come and follow Him. That led to this very controversial statement of Jesus to the disciples. ‘Verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter (it is hard for a rich man to enter) into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.’ (Matt. 19:23-24) 

Now there are a few things we must clear up before moving on. Jesus’ response to the rich young man was simply to show how hard it is to be a true disciple. As the scholars explain: ‘This passage teaches the seriousness of true discipleship, but in no way teaches the average man that he must sell his possessions in order to be a Christian.’ At that time, it was thought that the rich were blessed and would automatically be saved, no wonder the disciple’s shock at Jesus’ statement. But He was showing them the human difficulty for the rich to be converted, because wealth just brings out a selfish and greedy aspect of our human nature. 

It was indeed difficult, but not hopeless. Otherwise, people like Abraham and His children, Job, Bruh David, Cousin Sol and other filthy rich people wouldn’t have had a snowball’s chance in hell of entering heaven. (smile) The things that seemingly disqualify the rich from heaven are firstly what they do with their wealth, and secondly if they believe in Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour. If you sincerely believe, and use your wealth to help build the kingdom, then there should be no problem. 

Remember too that it is God who allows us to get wealth, and there’s no call for Christians to be poor and needy, since Jesus came that we might have life and enjoy it to the full, until it overflows. You can’t do that if you’re destitute. So, finally moving on, we come to Jesus’ reply to the shock the disciples felt at hearing that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter heaven. He said to them: ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ (Matt. 19:26) 

Yes friends, that’s the clincher! It’s what we need to sincerely believe if we are to journey through this earthly life successfully. Remember, none but Jesus is perfect and thus we cannot live a blameless life, and some things just need the impossible power of God to make them happen in our lives. A perfect example of that is God’s gift of grace that gives us eternal life. Without it, eternal life would be impossible for us to achieve. In fact, without a personal relationship with Almighty God, health, wealth and whatever else are of no real benefit to us. 

And I like what Candice Lucey states in her article on the subject on the website Christianity.com. She says: ‘Throughout the Bible, God’s people accomplish unfathomable tasks. God is most glorified by bringing an event to pass which seems impossible.’ And then she points out ‘3 Things to Remember about “With God All Things Are Possible” 1. Power to accomplish the impossible comes from God. 2. The impossible is accomplished for God’s glory. 3. The impossible is accomplished for our good.’ 

Now those are extremely good points for us to contemplate. The impossible can be done only through God’s power, like how Moses brought water forth water from a rock. He didn’t’ do it through His own power, but that of God. Likewise barren women, Elizabeth and Sarah and Hannah didn’t eventually have children through their own power, but through God’s. And what about Abraham impregnating Sarah when he was a hundred and she ninety years old eh? That certainly had nothing to do with their power, but all with God’s. And then the virgin birth, the incarnation of Christ! Mary gave birth to a child without knowing a man! That could only happen through God’s majestic power! 

And then we need to realize that God usually does the impossible to display His glory. Oh, does he ever like to display His glory and power so that men could wise up and see that there’s none like Him! He is the ONE and ONLY ONE to whom all honour and glory belongs! And we only learn that by getting a task that seems impossible in our own strength, but completing it successfully through God’s omnipotent help. And God’s ‘showing off’ is never just to show off, but always for some useful purpose, like the examples we quote above. 

And finally my people, until we realize that ALL God does is for our good, we’ll miss out on a lot of wonderful things, our lives will never be as rich and full as they could be. That’s simply because God LOVES us so completely, we are the apple of His eye, and He wants nothing bad to happen to us. And though we can never be perfect, and this sinful world is filled with problems, we need to put our entire and ultimate trust in His hands so that He can lead and guide us safely along the narrow path that leads through His Son Jesus Christ and ends up at Him! 

My fellow saints, the Lord created us because He wanted fellowship and communion with us, and only when we believe that and do our best to put it into practice, can we ever enjoy life to the fullest, with the joy of the Lord flowing through us! So please, let’s make that our number one purpose and goal nuh! It’s wisdom and common sense to the max! Much LOVE!

…to truly know God…is to truly LOVE Him… 

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