10 Dec 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a positive outlook on life, and the fullness thereof, are the headaches and costs worth it, call upon me in the day of trouble, comes in the glory of his Father, compassionate heart, courage, creativity, curse, die to self, drink the blood of goats, favour, fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body, fear not them which kill the body, For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, get left out of heaven, I will be ashamed of them, I will deliver thee, let him deny himself, living for Jesus, LOVE, magnanimous and generous, more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice, more than burnt offerings, negative word, not a Sunday evening stroll, obedience, offer unto God thanksgiving, pay thy vows unto the Most High, personal commitment, prosper, proud of the ole fella, sacrifice, succeed, sufferation, surrender our lives to Christ, take up his cross and follow me, the joys of comfortable modern day living, the knowledge of god, the Son of man, the sun peeked out of the clouds, the world is mine, thou shalt glorify me, Thursday's Blessings, to do justice and righteousness, walk the talk, whosever shall be ashamed of me, whosever shall lose his life for my sake, whosoever will come after me, will I eat the flesh of bulls
Mark 8:34. Whosoever will come after me (follow me), let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.
Oh mih people, you’ll be so proud of the ole fella! Yes, yesterday afternoon, despite the inclement weather, I decided to go out in it. And yuh know what? Our God is so great and wonderful that just before I went out, all the precipitate that was precipitating stopped precipitating (smile) and the sun peeked out of the clouds! So I went out in much better weather and got all I wanted to do, some of which glorified Him, with no problems or complications whatsoever. Even in the beer store, where I accidentally dropped a six-pack of Guinness stout, the clerks cleaned it up for me and gave me another one! Glory be to His most holy name!
That is what you get from sacrifice and obedience. And it wasn’t really a big sacrifice or anything of momentous obedience, just simple everyday stuff…so you can imagine what our wonderful God would do for us if we were to sacrifice big and be much more obedient? And even in the times when God’s people were supposed to offer animal sacrifices to Him, what did He say to them?
The psalmist Asaph puts it this way in Psalm 50 – God is the judge: ‘If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving: and pay thy vows unto the Most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.’ (Ps. 50:12-15)
Meanwhile the prophet Hosea says it thus on the Lord’s behalf: ‘For I desired mercy (faithfulness), and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.’ (Hos. 6:6) And Cousin Sol wrote it thus in Proverbs: ‘To do justice and judgement (righteousness and justice) is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.’ (Prov. 21:3)
So although sacrifice, in the form of burnt offerings were an important part of their worship, what the Lord really wanted was their faithfulness and knowledge of Him and their thanksgiving! It was more a personal sacrifice He desired; the effort they put out to know, to LOVE, to thank Him and to live obedient to His laws. And although today we don’t need any burnt offering sacrifices for Jesus has paid the whole debt with the sacrifice of His life, the Lord still needs personal commitment from His followers if His kingdom is going to survive and prosper.
That’s why Jesus called the people and disciples unto Him and said to them. ‘Whosoever will come after me (follow me), let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.’ (Mark 8:34) And that includes us as well my brethren. And that simply means we have to die to ourselves, stop being selfish, surrender our lives to Christ and be willing to undergo anything that comes across our path, knowing that He won’t allow us to bear more than we can tolerate, and will eventually work everything out for our good.
But we have to be prepared to bear some ‘sufferation’ for living for Jesus is usually not a Sunday evening stroll in the park. For as He so rightly warned: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) So a life following Jesus will most likely have troubles and disappointments, but He has promised to take care of all who serve Him faithfully. Hear him after telling them about taking up their cross and following Him nuh.
‘For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’ (Mark 8:35-38)
Ah friends, as usual, Jesus spells it out clearly and simply: If you want to follow Him, then you need to stop worrying about your own desires and worry about His work. And if you are ashamed of Him and His words, then when He comes in His glory, He will also be ashamed of you and leave you out. Oh my brethren, our bodies and the things of this earth are not the most important in our lives, for those things perish and are eventually destroyed by means of rot and moth, but our souls, that is the biggest treasure we have, so we need to look after them very carefully, for they live on through eternity.
So we need to take Jesus’ advice very seriously. ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ (Matt. 10:28) That means we should be more afraid of God than men! But it doesn’t seem like we are, because we keep doing what men want us to do and not what God requires of us, and for that there WILL BE consequences, like being left on the outside looking into heaven during the long days of eternity. And believe me, that won’t be fun.
Then let’s wake up and do what’s required of us nuh as supposed followers of Jesus; let’s sincerely walk the talk, so we don’t get left out of heaven. And to do that we need to first acknowledge God’s divine blessings on our lives, then put them into action. So let’s declare (steups!) our Thursday Blessings with much gusto. 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 everyday! Amen!’
Now it’s time to be as magnanimous and generous to others as God has been to us! Much LOVE!
…why kill your soul…when it can live on forever…in heaven with Christ…
P.S. The lateness isn’t all my fault. Had to spend half an hour outside with a gentleman fixing my garage door opener. Oh, the joys of comfortable modern day living eh…but are the headaches and costs worth it when they break down…? Who knows eh? (smile) Much LOVE!
14 Mar 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a positive outlook on life, abundant life, accept Jesus, achieving success, be of good cheer, believeth on him that sent me, condemn the world, condemnation, curse, equality, evil, evil cronies, fighting us tooth and nail, grees, guide us safely, hath everlasting life, he that heareth my word, horrors of sin, I can do all things, i have overcome the world, I say unto you, idle promises, if God be for us, inspirational author, Jesus Christ, Jesus is the only way, judgement, just as you are, justice, life after death, LOVE, lust for power, negative word, no man comes to the Father, nobody, Orison Swett Marden, our Lord and Saviour, passed from death to life, positive philosophy, prosper, rain, reign forever, reject Jesus, Satan, save the world, sees success, selfishness, share the blessings, success, Success magazine, the heavenly Triune, the hopeful man, the Life, the Truth, the Way, this is the day the Lord has made, through Christ who strengthens me, Thursday's Blessings, tribulation in the world, trying times, two options, ungodly world, verily, warm the cockles of Jesus' heart, we will be glad and rejoice in it, where others see failure, who can be against us, ye might have peace
John 5:24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (judgement); but is passed from death into life.
It’s a grey, cloudy looking kind of day in my neighbourhood, with the promise of unwanted precipitation, though thankfully the precipitation will most likely be rain and not snow since the temperature is above freezing. Not much, but enough to bring rain and not the white stuff.
However, despite all of those physical, negative possibilities, the saints of Jesus are nonetheless declaring (steups! wrong again) that ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’ And moreover, ‘The Lord will provide all our needs through His riches in glory in Christ Jesus!’
And they boost their spirits even more with words like ‘I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me! And as for me and my house, we WILL follow the Lord, make no mistake about it!’ That means, ‘If God be for me who can be against me eh? NOBODY!’ Yeh friends, that’s one of the remarkable things of being a follower of Jesus Christ; we can boost our spirits with spoken words, promises that He’s declared over our lives! No other faith can do that!
And that brings us to these inspirational words attributed to Orison Swett Marden (1848-1924), ‘an American inspirational author who wrote about achieving success in life and founded Success Magazine in 1897.’ Marden claims: ‘The hopeful man sees success where others see failure, sunshine where others see shadows and storm.’
He’s talking about us there friends, believers in the positive philosophy and promises of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! All thanks and praise be to our Lord and Saviour for the wonderful and abundant life that He died to give us! We now need to hold on to His promises, and His hand tightly and let Him guide us safely and positively through these trying times in this evil and ungodly world! That’s the only way we will ever be successful my people!
Jesus warned early on: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (judgement); but is passed from death into life.’ Yes friends, Jesus is the ONLY WAY to achieve life after death! When we believe in Him and the Father who sent Him then our bodies will die, but our spirits wont. They shall reign forever with the heavenly Triune!
And Jesus confirms it all by saying: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.’ (John 14:6) And we know He does not lie! So it only makes mucho sense to hitch our carts to His superior horse! And if you want even more encouragement, then check out these fabulous, though hard to put into action words of Jesus. ‘These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)
Aren’t those wonderful words friends…and words of truth too? They certainly are! Jesus did His part, but now we have to do ours, by using our faith in Him to stand strong and steadfast when Satan and his evil cronies are fighting us tooth and nail for world control. We are the only ones who are fighting on the basis of LOVE, justice and equality, the rest are all infused with greed, lust for power and selfishness!
And from where do we get that fighting spirit for the good things? From possibly the most important words in the Good Book; Jesus’ immortal declaration: ‘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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:16-17)
There you have it in black and white my fellow believers; Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth…to save us, from ourselves and from the horrors of sin! So the ongoing logic and reasoning are very simple: If you want to be saved and live an everlasting life, then you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. If you don’t want to live and see life eternal, but prefer to be on the outside looking in with the evil one, then you simply continue in your evil ways and don’t accept Jesus.
Those are the only two options we have my brethren! And believe me, the last option might look good and pleasurable in the here and now, but in the hereafter it will be terrible! The Lord promised it, and we know He doesn’t make idle promises! So please, I implore us to take the first option; wisdom dictates it. It might be somewhat difficult now, but the rewards you’ll reap later will be oh so worth that difficulty!
Now for those of us who truly believe, let’s go home declaring (wrong again) our Thursday Blessings, which the Lord have poured down on us in His awesome generosity. All together now, in sincere and 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 everyday! Amen!’
Yuh see what happens when you live for Jesus! But a word of caution here; those blessings are not for us to hoard but to share with the less fortunate in our unjust society. So let’s go out and do just that nuh, and thus warm the cockles of Jesus’ heart! Much LOVE!
…Jesus is the ONLY ONE…who will take you just as you are…and make you what He wants you to be…
23 Aug 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a comapssionate heart, a positive outlook on life, a riot of colour, abundance, bounden duty, Christian faith, comfortable, commanded I them, communing with God, courage, covenant people, curse, distractions, divisions, elevation of the enemy, encourage those around us, energize ourselves, eventually die, evil heart, evil kingdom, faith, falter, fiery furnace, flora, flourishing, flourishing in the sunshine, God's heartache, God's righteousness, green thumb, hearkened not, I stake my life, I will be your God, imagination, in Jesus' name, in the ascendancy, inclined their ear, integrity, it may be well with you, Jesus Christ, lies, makes any sense, negative word, nothing in this life, obey my voice, One Year Book of Bible promises, our benefit, our Lord and Saviour, our part to do, perform what you promised, petty differences, prosper, pursuit of worldly things, Ruth Harms Calkin, satisfied, self-contol, self-discipline, share, spreading the gospel of Jesus, stellar efforts, stressful mess, strife filled, stubborn refusal, stubbornness, sub-par, succeed, talent, tempestuous storm, the easy life, the evil enemy, the integrity of Jesus, the status quo, the things of God, the voice of the Lord, Thursday Blessings, to come together, trust and obey, truth, valiant for truth, venerable leader, walk in all my ways, walked in the counsels, want our faith to grow, warm the cockles of God's heart, went backward not forward, wisdom, ye shall be my people
Jeremiah 7:23. But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
Oh friends, I looked out my bedroom window when I got up a while ago and was pleasantly greeted by a riot of colour in my backyard garden!
Wow! The duchess’ green thumb is certainly on display with a profusion of red, green, yellow, pink, purple and white flora flourishing in the sunshine!
Oh how I wish that our Christian faith could be flourishing as well as those flowers. But unfortunately it’s not. What with our numerous divisions and petty differences and stubborn refusal to come together, plus the ardent work of the evil enemy, our faith seems to be floundering some, with the enemy’s evil kingdom in the ascendancy right now.
And all I can realistically do is call upon us, who read the Bit to energize ourselves, get truly serious about the spreading the gospel of Jesus and encourage those around us to do the same, if we want our faith to grow instead of falter and eventually die. For that’s exactly what it will come to if we continue our less than stellar efforts to advance it.
Each of us has to do our part in our little enclave of the world to bring it all together. That’s the desire of our Lord and Saviour, our venerable Leader Jesus Christ.
Now here is something from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin which exemplifies what we’re talking about. It’s titled, ‘I Stake My Life.’
Let’s pray: ‘I stake my life totally Completely Permanently On the integrity of Jesus. Lord, Your integrity means You will do all You promised. You will see me through Every fiery furnace Every tempestuous storm. If not, Dear God Then nothing in this life Makes any sense whatever. Your part is to perform what You promised. My part is to trust and obey.’
Now that says it all my fellow believers! And the Lord IS doing His part, keeping His promises. However we ARE NOT doing ours, trusting and obeying, to the best of our ability, that’s why our lives and our faith are sub-par, not as flourishing as they could and should be.
And the Bible Promise for that poem, our Bit for today, is ever so appropriate. ‘But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.’
Ah mih breddren, it’s obvious we’re not fully obeying the command of our God, otherwise our lives and our societies and nations and world would not be in such a strife-filled and stressful mess.
It’s obvious that we’re doing like the Lord said the Israelites did. ‘But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination (stubbornness) of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.’ (Jer.7:24)
Oh my fellow believers, can’t we see that we’re going backward and not forward with the elevation of the enemy in most walks of our lives? I believe, that as Christians we’ve become too comfortable and satisfied with the status quo. We’ve come to value the easy life and the pursuit of worldly things more than the pursuit of God’s righteousness.
Our world is currently so full of distractions, and we’ve become so soft and flabby and fearful in our mental and emotional beings that the enemy finds it quite easy to draw us away from the things of God.
Can you imagine God’s heartache as He desires so greatly to commune with us, His covenant people, but finds that we don’t seem interested in communing with Him?
And as the Lord further instructed Jeremiah: ‘But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction (instruction): truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.’ (Jer.7:28)
How abysmally sad that is my people, but it is the absolute truth concerning this society, where truth has fallen by the wayside, been made a mockery of, with foolish and foppish celebrations of all kinds and levels of truth.
Steups! How can there be more than one kind of truth eh people? Truth is simply truth! Or else it’s false! Something is either true, or it is not.
And this last word from Jeremiah which describes our current society to a ‘T.’ ‘And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.’ (Jer.9:3)
Ah friends, can we begin being valiant for the truth? It will warm the cockles of God’s heart so much, that He’ll increase the blessings that He’s already bestowed on us, if that is at all possible.
Remember friends, it’s ALL FOR OUR BENEFIT, not the Lord’s! And let’s sincerely ponder and consider all that we’ve said today as we go home declaring our bountiful Thursday Blessings.
‘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 everyday! Amen!’
And since blessings are meant to be shared, let’s go out and share them most generously with others, like the Lord did with us nuh, for that’s our bounden duty. Much LOVE!
…in God’s society…when we obey…we prosper…
20 Jul 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a great God, a positive idea, a positive outlook on life, alive and kicking, be joyful, believe in Jesus, Christians, curse, death, divine promotion, dr robert h schuller, eternal life, faith, favour, fear, financial support, generous, generously share, glorify thy name, glory to God, God's largesse, God's Word, great is thy mercy, guidance, hoard, Hour of Power Devotional, hypocrites, in the mind of a believer, in the name of Jesus, Jesus Christ, judgement, justice, kind, leading, loving, loving-kindness, Malachi, matters of the law, mercy, Moses, My walk, negative word, not enough room, open the windows of heaven, outward show, pour out a blessing, praise thee, precepts of God's word, prosper, rejoice, resurrection, reverential awe, salvation, self-control, self-discipline, sincerity, singleness of purpose, succeed, success, teach me thy way, the depths of hell, the law of tithes, the most powerful force, the obits, the Pharisees, this is the day the Lord has made, Thursday Blessings, tithe, truth, unite my heart, walk in god's will, walk in thy truth, walking in God's will, we will rejoice and be glad in it, woe unto you, you reap what you sow
Psalm 86:11. Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart (give me singleness of purpose) to fear (have reverential awe for) thy name.
Aye mih people, this is an exceedingly good day to rejoice and be joyful! Why you ask? Well I’ll just give you two reasons. The first is that you haven’t seen your name in the obits this morning, (smile) that means you are alive and kicking. Glory to God!
And the second is that we serve a great God who’s so kind and LOVING and generous to us to grant us salvation and eternal life when we believe in His Son, our Lord And Saviour Jesus Christ, and walk in His will. Consequently, we just can’t help but LOVE Him back with all our hearts, minds, bodies and souls.
Now, I think those are two excellent reasons to rejoice. So let’s declare it nuh, in the words of the psalmist: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’ (Ps.118:24)
Ah friends, we Christians are the most joyful people on planet earth! And to help us stay that way, here is some encouragement from Gramps Schuller’s (Dr. Robert H Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional, titled ‘My Walk.’ I believe I’ve shared it before, possibly a year ago, but these prayers never get old or stale and can be shared again and again.
Please declare it with me. ‘O God, I’m inspired. For you have just impressed this truth into my mind. The most powerful force in the world is a positive idea in the mind of a believer who is walking in your will! I now reach forth my life and say; “God, put my life into the centre of your will.” Amen.’
Oh my faithful brethren, there isn’t a wiser move we can ever make in this ungodly and evil world than to put our life in the centre of God’s will! He is the Creator of this universe and all therein, the fountainhead of all power and energy, so with whom else should we align ourselves eh? NOBODY else…if we are wise!
And what I LOVE about our heavenly Father is, not only does He desire us to come to Him in EACH and EVERY circumstance, but He also helps us to do so through the leading and guidance of His word.
As Bruh David puts it in our Bit. ‘Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart (give me singleness of purpose) to fear (have reverential awe for) thy name.’ Yeh friends, without the Lord’s help, we cannot draw near to Him the way He desires.
And I like what Bruh David says after our Bit. ‘I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest (the depths of) hell.’ (Ps.86:12-13) And that is certainly the right response to the Lord’s LOVING-kindness and mercy!
Oh supposed saints of God, the Lord has also bestowed great mercy on us, and taken us from the depths of hell by the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ, are we grateful and thankful, and praising and glorifying and exalting Him with all of our faculties?
I certainly do hope so, otherwise we’d just be a bunch of ungrateful hypocrites like the overly religious, but heartless Pharisees in Jesus’ time. What did Jesus say to them? In Matthew 23 He thoroughly denounces them, and you can read it for yourselves, but now listen to this one verse
‘Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted (neglected) the weightier matters of the law, judgement (justice), mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.’ (Matt.23:23)
Ah friends, unfortunately a lot of us Christians do the same things nowadays; conveniently comply with the small matters, which include outward show, but neglect the more important precepts of God’s word and will.
On a point of interest here, most of us don’t even tithe, for sadly it is not preached in many of our churches, but it is a most important aspect of God’s word. That’s why so many churches are going under for lack of financial support. Moses declared the law of the tithes to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 14:22-29. Please take a few minutes and read it sometime soon.
In the meanwhile, listen to what the prophet Malachi declared on God’s behalf: ‘Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat (food) in mine house, and prove (test) me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.’ (Mal.3:10)
Oh my brethren, God’s house cannot survive and do His work on stingy offerings. Remember the basic principle of God’s economy is you reap what you sow. So if we only sow a little, we’ll also reap a little.
And I have to chuckle at the unintended direction this Bit has taken. But I guess that’s where the Lord wanted me to go. And now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings in strong voice and heartfelt sincerity.
‘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 everyday! Amen!’
Now let’s go out and bless others, including God’s church, with the prosperity that He’s bestowed on us. That’s biblical wisdom! Much LOVE!
…God’s largesse isn’t bestowed on us to store or hoard it… but to generously share with others…
P.S. Yes friends, it’s a li’l bit late and a li’l bit long….but still beautiful! (smile) Much LOVE!
02 Feb 2017
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, against the wiles of the devil, ambassadors, arrows, arsenal, broken right now, Christian witness, clear direction, courage, creativity, curse, demonic onslaughts, divine protection, evil schemes, faith, favour, fight, formidable foe, fulfillment, having done all, in high places, in the name of Jesus, ministry, negative word, one of those days, patience, President Trump, promotion, put on the armour of god, resisting Satan, self-control, self-discipline, slings, soldiers of Christ, spiritual wickedness, stand up, strong will, success, supernatural strength, supernatural wisdom, talent, the devil, the whole armour of God, Thursday Blessings, to stand, to the very end, to withstand in the evil day, withstand, ye may be able to stand
Ephesians 6:11. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (evil schemes) of the devil.
Oh my beautiful fellow believers, please accept my heartfelt apologies, but it was just one of those days!
Ah Lord eh! I had to go into the big city of T.O. for an early doctor’s appointment, and after handling the traffic and waiting for the doctors and waiting for unscheduled blood tests, I did not get back home until minutes to one.
Obviously by then the ole bod was tired and crying out for rest and I did not get up until minutes to five. And it was only after about half an hour that it struck me that I had not yet written the Bit.
The good thing about it all though is that we did make some headway in the medical realm today. At least the major problems have been sorted out under one team, and hopefully no more running from pillar to post.
Enough about my woes though, let’s get straight to our Bit. ‘Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (evil schemes) of the devil.’
And I’m chuckling here friends, because I must have had it on today, otherwise I would not have been able to successfully handle the slings and arrows that were thrown against me, especially in the patience realm. (smile)
All praise and thanks be to our great and wonderful God!
Now yesterday we had stopped where Bruh Paul was talking about ‘spiritual (hosts of) wickedness in high places,’ so let’s continue with his admonishment from there. ‘Wherefore take unto you (take up) the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.’ (Eph.6:13)
Now this is a very important verse in the whole scenario, so let’s look at what the scholars have to say about it. ‘6:13. Wherefore means “because of this,” that is, because we face such a formidable foe, we must avail ourselves of God’s provision lest the enemy destroy our Christian witness and ministry.
The evil day refers to the periodic demonic onslaughts and Satanic assaults. Having done all includes both dressing oneself in God’s armour and resisting Satan. Having done all these, be ready, for the Devil will attack again and again.’
Yes friends, as a beautiful Christian soul the enemy will NOT stop attacking you, and the only way to resist Him is by being dressed in the total armour of God.
Fellow believers, I can’t stress how important this aspect of our Christian walk is, for without God’s protective armour we don’t stand a chance against the enemy, or as they would say, a snowball’s chance in hell!
So please, please, I’m imploring us to take this very seriously, especially with the crazy state of our world, which is apparently getting crazier everyday under the leadership of President Trump.
Ah mih people, I don’t even pay much attention to his antics these days, but we have to be concerned because everything he does seems to just cause more strife, anger, resentment, fear and anxiety around the globe.
As I said a few days ago, the Lord must have put him there to wake us up from our dreadful complacency. That’s why this message about putting on God’s total armour is so important at this particular period in time when the elements of evil are rising even higher than they were before.
I won’t belabour the situation, but I’ll just remind us that we are Christ’s ambassadors down here on earth. He is depending on us to conduct His affairs with righteousness and justice, but we can’t do that until we wake up and get serious about His LOVE Revolution, and stop all the aimless talking and instead take some positive action.
The enemy should never be where he’s at right now, and wouldn’t have been there without our lack of interest and complacency where we allowed him to remove things like prayer and the Ten Commandments from our schools, and put God on the back burner in most other parts of what was once a mostly godly scene.
But it’s not too late to wrestle it all back from him if we COME TOGETHER and seriously start pushing back, let him know that we’ve finally woken up and now mean business. Yes friends, it’s time to start pushing back, if we ever hope to win this earthly battle for Jesus!
Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings. Yuh see, we have so much good stuff in our arsenal, if we would only use them. The Lord’s already given us everything we need to battle the enemy and win, we only have to take them and put them to full use.
Chuh man! What’s wrong with us eh? We’re letting the good earthly life spoil us. So let’s bless ourselves. And remember that a blessing isn’t a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone.
All together 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 everyday! Amen!’
What more can we ask than all that eh mih people? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! So let’s go out and bless others now nuh. Much LOVE!
…as true soldiers of Christ…we must first be dressed in battle gear…then stand up and fight bravely…right to the very end…
13 Oct 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a basic principle, a compassionate heart, a positive note, a positive outlook on life, abundance, backbone, balck and white, be wise, belief, blessed are they, broken, Christian fighters, clear direction for my life, courage, creativity, curse, daily delight, daily devotions, divine protection, drew a circle, end times, enthusiasm, established the clouds, eternal damnation, expecting good things, faith, favour, from everlasting, fulfillment, Glory be, godly wisdom, good health, hear instruction, I love them that love me, in the name of Jesus, Jehovah, Jesus Christ strengthens us, Joyce Meyer, jump starts our day, keep my ways, lift our head and shoulders, like eagles, Lucifer, negative word, obtain favour, on the right foot, promotion, pros and cons, prosper, psyche, ray of hope, refuse it not, rejoicing always, self-control, self-discipline, set a compass, soar, something good is going to happen, soul, strong will, subconscious, succeed, success, supernatural strength, supernatural wisdom, talent, the habitable part of earth, the posts of my doors, the sons of men, those that seek me early will find me, Thursday Blessings, true believers, vibes, wisdom, works of old
Proverbs 8:17. I LOVE them that LOVE me; and those that seek me early (diligently) shall find me.
Oh friends, let’s begin today’s message by declaring this acclamation. ‘Today, something good is going TO happen to me! Today, something good is going to happen THROUGH me!’
Glory be my people! That’s an acclamation that Sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) claims she uses in her own daily devotions.
And it does make sense, because it starts us out on the right foot, on a positive note, expecting good things to happen in our lives, as well in other people’s through us.
An early ray of hope and faith jump-starts our day. And do we ever need those positives as early as possible in these trying end times.
Now let’s build on that by declaring our Thursday Blessings over ourselves, raising our level of hope, faith and trust in Almighty God, even higher. Remember, a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone.
So with lots of enthusiasm, kingdom faith and belief, feeling it deep down in our souls, let’s declare those blessings, as only true believers can. ‘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 everyday! Amen!’
Oh, precious people, what beautiful and positive vibes have been released into our souls, our psyche, our subconscious by that declaration!
Our backbone’s been strengthened, so let’s lift our heads and shoulders up, and go out and face the world like the Christian fighters we ought to be, and are, because Jesus Christ strengthens us to do all things!
Wow, mih breddren, wow! That’s all I can say. (smile) And we’re not done yet! We’re going to soar even higher, like the eagles God created us to be!
And I guess you’re wondering how that is possible? Simple, our Bit makes it possible. ‘I LOVE them that LOVE me; and those that seek me early (diligently) shall find me.’
Yeh friends, we are going to rise even higher by sincerely and diligently seeking wisdom and our great God, Jehovah!
And to show just how important wisdom is – God’s wisdom, not man’s – let’s delve into Cousin Sol’s account of it, from where we left off yesterday. ‘The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields (outer places), nor the highest part of the dust (beginning of the dust) of the world.
When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass (drew a circle) upon the face of the depth (deep): When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: when he gave to the sea his decree (its limit), that the waters should not pass (transgress) his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
Then I was by him, as one brought up with him (a master craftsman): and I was daily his delight; rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.’ (Prov.8:22-31)
Yes friends, wisdom was with God from the very beginning! And notice too, that last line, wisdom, with all its delightful attributes, was imbued in the sons of men. That’s us, my brethren! We were made, born to seek wisdom, wisdom that would lead us to Almighty God, not to Lucifer.
Now listen to Cousin Sol’s conclusion, re the pros and cons of seeking godly wisdom. ‘Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not (do not disdain it).
Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me LOVE death.’ (Prov.8:32-36)
Oh my people, it’s right there in black and white: if you seek godly wisdom, you’ll find favour with God; if not, you’re lining yourself up for eternal damnation! That brings us full circle to the importance of godly wisdom in this life.
And what’s the long and short of it all? I’ll let the scholars enlighten us: ‘…the major emphasis of the context is on God’s own use of wisdom in creating the universe… Thus, the point is that in setting out to create the universe, God utilized wisdom as a basic principle of procedure.’
Now friends, if the God we claim to believe in used wisdom as His blueprint to create the universe and all therein, including us, how can we not use the same wisdom to conduct our lives here on earth eh? Much LOVE!
…to be truly wise in this fallen world…man needs God’s wisdom…
P.S. Please excuse the lateness of the Bit, but I had a late night, or early morning …hockey season has begun. (smile)
29 Sep 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a glorious deliverer, a marathon race, a positive outlook on life, a strong will, abide by Jesus' word, abundance, agonizing, blessings, broken in the name of Jesus, come to pass, courage, creativity, crucified, curse, dangers, dead in our sins, despising the shame, direction, disbelief, divine necessity, divine protection, endured the cross, eternity, family, favour, finisher, fools, foretold, forgiven, friends, fulfillment, future, glory, glory hallelujah, God's LOVE, good and faithful servant, Hades, health, heaven, History, identity, impediments, in innocence, iniquity, Jesus, joy, leader, look to Jesus, looking unto Jesus, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, Lucifer, Messiah, mindbending, Moses, negative word, New Testament, obedience, of our faith, Old Testament, open the eyes, originator, our heavenly Father, passe, perfector, promotion, prophets, prosper, radiance, reconciled to the Father, Resurrection day, scriptures, self-control, self-discipline, selfless sacrifice, set down at God's right hand, shame, significance of Jesus, sins of the world, slow of heart, succeed, success, successful living, suffering, supernatural strength, talent, thanks and praise, the author, the Father's will, the road to Emmaus, the SON, the true path, Thursday Blessings, trailblazer, transgressions, ungrateful people, welcome
Hebrews 12:2. 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 God.
Well friends, it’s a cloudy morning in my area. The sun is not shining, but thankfully the Son is holding forth as usual in all His wonderful radiance and brilliant glory!
All thanks and praise be to our heavenly Father for giving us Jesus as our Messiah, Leader, Lord and Saviour! Without Him, we’d be certainly dead in our sins, heading for a rough and troubled eternity with Lucifer in Hades.
But thanks to God’s great LOVE and Jesus’ selfless sacrifice, we have been reconciled to the Father and as His beloved children, can now look forward to spending eternity with Him in heaven. Glory Hallelujah!
And on that glorious note, let’s declare out Thursday Blessings, as we remember that a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone. With true belief, sincerity and enthusiasm 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 everyday! Amen!’
Glory to God my people! We shall be blessed when we go out and come in, when we sit or lie down… in fact in all aspects of our lives our God will cause us to prosper. Wow! Isn’t that something else? It surely is!
That’s why we have to pay serious attention to our Bit. ‘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.’
Yes friends, Jesus was the original trailblazer of our faith. He first ran the race and set all the standards for it. Now we need to adhere to those standards so that we can run the race successfully too. It’s not an easy race to run, for it’s a marathon across hill and dale, rivers and streams, one fraught with all sorts of dangers and impediments.
But thankfully Jesus has blazed the trail, shown us the way, lit the path, and if we sincerely abide by His word, then we too will have success, and one day hear the Father declare: ‘Welcome, thou good and faithful servant!’
Oh what a joyful day that will be my people! But first we have to get serious about looking to Jesus and following in His famous footsteps, otherwise we’re just wasting our time and His.
Now let’s look at a couple of interesting parts of our Bit, the first being, ‘who for the joy that was set before him…’
Now I really don’t see the joy in what Jesus was asked to do by the Father nuh – take the sins of the world on His shoulders, be crucified in innocence to pay for the iniquity and transgressions of ungrateful people.
It was joyful for us, because through His actions our sins were forgiven, but it must surely have been mind-bending and agonizing for Him. However, despite the affliction, His obedience to the Father’s will was perfect.
That brings us to Jesus’ words to the two disciples He met on Resurrection Day along the road to Emmaus. He chided them for their disbelief.
‘Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.’ (Luke 24:25-27)
Oh friends, the Lord didn’t send the prophets because He had nothing better to do, but to open the eyes of the people unto the coming of Jesus and what His purpose was going to be.
Hear the scholars. ’24:26. Ought (Gr. dei) bespeaks a divine necessity; what the prophets had foretold (see Is.53; Ps.16; 22) must and did come to pass. The disciples had been ready to see in Jesus a glorious deliverer, but Jesus’ rebuke (v.25) relates to their unwillingness to take seriously the many Old Testament texts that speak not only of the Messiah’s glory, but also of His suffering.’
And unfortunately, today a lot of us are also refusing to understand the importance of the Old Testament in the formation of the New Testament. But the scholars kindly inform us: ‘24:27. The entire Old Testament is indispensable for a grounded grasp of the identity and significance of Jesus.’
That is friends, if we don’t understand Jesus’ role and significance in the Old Testament; His appearances, His status, His doings and the prophesies about Him, we won’t be fully able to comprehend His form and function in the New Testament.
Therefore, please, let’s stop considering the Old Testament as passé, because it isn’t. It’s just as important as the New Testament in that it expounds the nature of our faith; it’s beginnings, its ups and downs, its promises, and above all the great message about our Messiah.
So today, as Almighty God blesses us, and as we bless others, let’s remember where we came from – the Old Testament – because if we don’t know our history and recognize it as being important, we surely won’t know our future; where we’re going, the direction in which we’re headed and how to handle it. Much LOVE!
…only as we look to Jesus…will we see the true path to successful living…
22 Sep 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a positive outlook on life, a sound mind, abundance, all to the glory of God, be sober, boldfaced, charity, Christian faith, clear direction for my life, comforting light, comforts, Corinth, courage, creativity, curse, deity, disobedience, divide and conquer, divine protection, do all in the name of Jesus, dominion, drink, eat, faith, family, favour, fear and worry, foolish, friends, fulfillment, Gentiles, giving thanks to god, glory to God, God's grace, God's supernatural wisdom, grudging, grumbling, guidance, health, hospitality, in all things, in the name of Jesus, in word or deed, indisputable truth, individual's choice, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, Jews, lackadaisical behaviour, LOVE, lusts of the flesh, manifold grace of God, mature, minister, Most High God, multitude of sins, negative word, obedience, offense, oracles of god, our Lord and Saviour, please all men, power, praise Your Holy Name, profit, promotion, prosper, raise our spirits, reassurance, received the gift, self-control, self-discipline, self-loathing, sinful times, stewards, strong will, success, supernatural strength, talent, Thank You Lord, the church of God, the Good Book, the Holy Trinity, the SON, the Son is always shining brightly, the spirit of fear, Thursday Blessings, two cents worth, uplifts, watch unto prayer, whatsoever ye do, wisdom
Colossians 3:17. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Well friends, another apparently beautiful day has dawned in my neighbourhood, and for it we give much thanks! However, if the weather in your area isn’t so wonderful, then please don’t be overly concerned because the Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ is ALWAYS shining His brilliant and comforting light on and in us… Glory to God!
That means less fear and worry in our lives as we experience each new day, remembering the reassurance of the Good Book. ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.’ (2 Tim.1:7) And that’s indisputable truth my believing brethren!
Now, let’s further raise our spirits and our faith by declaring our Thursday Blessings in a strong voice, filled with enthusiasm and conviction, for remember that a blessing is not a blessing until it is spoken over someone.
All together 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 everyday! Amen!’
Ah mih people, what a wonderful Deity we serve and worship! No other faith uplifts and comforts its believers like the Christian faith!
And all God’s children gratefully declared a loud and sincere, ‘Thank You Lord! We truly LOVE You and praise Your Holy Name! Amen!’
Now to turn those words into reality, we need to follow the wise and most worthy advice of Bruh Paul to the Colossians, found in our Bit. ‘And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.’
Yes friends, the only way we can truly show our faithfulness to the Most High God Jehovah is by letting our words and actions reflect the character of Jesus with sincere thankfulness. And Bruh Paul wrote basically the same thing to the church at Corinth.
‘Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God. Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.’ (1 Cor.10:31-33).
Ah mih people, the basic reason behind ALL that we say and do, ought to be to glorify God in some form and fashion! Remember, that’s why He created us. And Peter adds his two cents worth (smile) as he talks about being good stewards of God’s grace.
‘But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity (LOVE) among yourselves: for charity (LOVE) shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging (grumbling). As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles (utterances) of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen’ (1 Pet.4:7-11)
Oh how I wish that more of us supposed Christians would follow that sound advice. But as you see, it means giving up our pleasure and profit for others, and that’s still a rather difficult thing for many Christians to do, especially in these very ungodly and sinful times.
And unfortunately the only way for us, and consequently Christ’s church to grow and mature, is by us steadfastly following the advice given above by both apostles. If we keep on allowing the enemy to divide and conquer us, to fill us with fear, self-loathing, or simply uninterested, lackadaisical behaviour, then we’ll always be at their mercy, and Christ’s church will continue to be weighed down with dissension and disunity, as it currently is.
Obviously that’s not pleasing to the Holy Trinity, our Godhead. And if we’re not pleasing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, then we’re not doing what we were created to do – as simple as that. Then we cannot expect to be blessed with all the good things and times that have been placed in store for us.
That, however, doesn’t stop some of the more boldfaced and foolish of us from still expecting heavenly blessings, although they are living in the lusts of the flesh and not in the grace and guidance of the Holy Spirit. (smile)
Anyway friends, the long and short of the story is that as true believers we need to make sure that our words and actions glorify God, by falling into line with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit. That’s what is known as heavenly wisdom, wisdom for the ages! Much LOVE!
…obedience brings blessings…disobedience brings curses…it’s the individual’s choice…
08 Sep 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a faithful man, a positive outlook on life, a word to the wise, abound with blessings, abundance, anointed, blessings, Caribbean diaspora, Caribbean Tales International Film Festival, consequences of disobedience, courage, creativity, curse, curses, deceit, Diary of a Badman, disobedience, divine protection, empowered, faith, favour, forgiven, forgiveness, fulfillment, good friends, good health, great family, guile, he who has ears to hear, hearken diligently, in the name of Jesus, iniquity, Jesus Christ, LOVE, makes haste to be rich, motives, negative word, on a roll, promotion, prosper, reaceive clear direction, remove God, self-control, self-discipline, shall not go unpunished, showers of blessings, slaked the earth's thirst, strong will, succeed, success, supernatural strength, supernatural wisdom, talent, the blessedness of forgiveness, the blessings of obedience, the voice of the Lord, Thursday Blessings, transgression, whose sin is covered, words of wisdom
Proverbs 28:20. A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent (go unpunished).
Oh friends, at long last we finally got some showers of heavenly blessings last night! Wow! It’s certainly been a long time coming! At least this morning the ground seems damp, so like it really slaked the earth’s thirst.
On a point of interest, yesterday evening I went to the opening of the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival in downtown T.O in hot, sunny thirty odd degrees weather but came out to pouring rain. It was somewhat inconvenient, but I’m sure most people surely appreciated the water from on high.
Anyway the show was sold out, or rather over sold. Close to four hundred people showed up. They finally had to ask some of the people with complimentary tickets to give up their seats so that paying customers could be accommodated.
Besides the confusion for seats which caused a late start, everything else went smoothly and the main film, ‘Diary of a Badman,’ a Jamaica/U.S.A production about some Caribbean diaspora gangsters in Brooklyn was really interesting and well done. The entire audience enjoyed it.
I believe that was the only showing for this festival, but if you ever get a chance to go and see it, I strongly suggest you should. I’m not a big movie person these days, but it’s well worth seeing. We seem to have some truly good filmmakers in our Caribbean community, and we ought to support them as best we can.
Now since today is Thursday, let’s keep up the blessings scene nuh people – sold out festival show, plus much needed rain – by enthusiastically and sincerely declaring our Thursday Blessings. Remember a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone.
In strong voice 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 everyday! Amen!’
Oh my fellow believers, I do hope that you spoke those blessings out loud over yourselves and you now feel empowered, anointed and all the other good things that blessings bring! (smile) We can’t always wait for others to bless us, we sometimes have to bless ourselves.
And since we’re on a roll with blessings, I figured we should just continue to make it a blessed day with a Bit that speaks to it. And Cousin Sol gives us a good foundation with these words of wisdom. ‘A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent (go unpunished).’ And that’s indisputable truth my brethren!
Bruh David puts it thus in Psalm 32 – The blessedness of forgiveness. ‘Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not (does not charge his account with) iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile (deceit) (Ps.32:1-2)
Yeh friends, when our hearts and motives are pure and godly, blessings will automatically follow us.
And one of the most popular or well-known scriptures on blessings comes from Deuteronomy 28 – The blessings of obedience.
‘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)
And the Good Book goes on to list a number of blessings that will overtake us if we are obedient to the Lord’s command. Oh friends, I don’t know about you all nuh, but I just LOVE the part where it’s promised that the blessings will overtake me! (smile)
That means if I’m obedient, blessings will rain down on me till my cup overflows. And we know that the Lord is faithful to keep all of His promises, so why would I want to be disobedient eh?
Please note, that the passage on blessings runs from verse 1 to 14, but the consequences of disobedience and its inherent curses run from verse 15 to 68! That just goes to show how severe the curses and consequences of disobedience are.
The problem though is that we’re not taking the scriptures as seriously as we should and are being disobedient left, right and centre, tirelessly working to remove God from our society, instead of trying to build Him up. No wonder our world is currently being plagued by so much disaster, natural as well as man made.
Anyway friends, they say a word to the wise is sufficient. I’m here trying to say that word, let’s hope that you all are wise enough to hear, accept and put it into action, for that’s the wisdom of heaven. Much LOVE!
…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…
01 Sep 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a positive outlook on life, a prayer for solutions, abundance, action, assurance, belief, blessed, Christian, clear direction, conviction, courage, creativity, curse, difficulties, divine protection, doubts, dr robert h schuller, evidence of things not seen, evil lustful pleasures, exercise faith, faith, faith is the substance of things hoped for, family, Father, favour, forgive me, forgiveness of sins, friends, fulfillment, future hope, glorification of the saints, God is alive and well, gospel truth, health, Holy Ghost, hope, Hour of Power, I confess, impossible to please God, in the name of Jesus, increase my faith, lack of faith, leadership of my life, lose faith in God, make my commitment, make the right decision, material possessions, missteps, mistakes, my destiny, negative word, New Testament, possibilities, present realitites, problems, promotion, prosper, realization, resolved, self-confidence, self-control, sense of proof, solutions, Son, strong will, substance, succeed, success, succumb to temptation, supernatural strength, supernatural wisdom, take command, talent, Thank You Lord, the Holy Trinity, the pot of faith, the resurrection, Thursday Blessings, trials, tribulations, we walk by faith not by sight, without faith, works
Hebrews 11:1. Now faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (conviction) of things not seen.
Welcome my Scrip-Bit friends and family to this glorious Thursday morn; the first day of September 2016! Our God is alive and well in His heaven, faithfully looking over His people here on earth. And all God’s people said a loud and grateful, ‘Thank You Lord!’
Now the 1st of September in the northern climes usually means that the summer is technically over; the free paper burn, holidays are over, no more weekends at the cottage, it’s back to school and work, and begin thinking about the winter weather that will be upon us in another couple of months.
But before we get to that (smile), I want to share ‘A Prayer for Solutions,’ from Gramps Schuller’s (Dr. Robert H Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional.
Please pray with me. ‘Lord, thanks for assuring me that you’ll solve the problems if I’ll exercise the faith and make the right decision! Forgive me for waiting for all the difficulties, real or fanciful, to be resolved before deciding to make my commitment.
I confess I have too often allowed problems instead of possibilities to take over leadership of my life – to make my decisions – and take command over my destiny. I know, now, what faith is, Lord! It’s making the right decisions before I see solutions to all the problems! Increase my faith! Amen.’
And isn’t that the gospel truth my people? It surely is! We allow the problems, rather than the possibilities to run our lives. Remember, we live; we walk by faith and not by sight. (2 Cor.5:7) So as our faith goes, so go our lives.
If our faith is strong, then we walk comfortably with the Lord. If our faith is weak and we have many doubts, then our walk of faith is not as strong and we are liable to take more missteps and make more mistakes than we ought to.
And I sincerely believe that lack of true faith is one of the Christian’s biggest problems nowadays. With the world and all its evil and lustful pleasures and demand for material possessions coming against us so strongly, it’s very easy to falter, to lose faith and sight in God and succumb to the temptation.
That’s why faith is so crucial in our everyday lives, something we need to keep at the forefront all the time, since it’s so easy to lose faith when the trials and tribulations beset us. And what is faith you ask?
Well the Good Book gives us this definition, which is also our Bit for today. ‘Now faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (conviction) of things not seen.’ Yeh friends, technically, it’s about hoping for and believing what we cannot see.
But here is an excellent explanation on our Bit from the scholars. ’11:1. Verse 1 is not so much a definition of what faith is, as it is a description of what faith does (cf.11:6). Two truths concerning its activity are stated here. First, faith provides substance (Gr. hypostasis). Though broad in its usages, this Greek word normally has the meaning of “assurance” in the New Testament (cf. 3:14, 2 Cor.9:4; 11:17) and this seems to be the best sense here.
Second, faith provides evidence (Gr. elegchos). It is evidence in the sense of proof that results in conviction. The difference between assurance and evidence would be minimal were it not for the phrase qualifying each: of things hoped for and of things not seen.
The first involves future hope; the second involves present realities that are unseen. The first includes the hope of the resurrection, the return of Christ, and the glorification of the saints. The second involves unseen realities, such as forgiveness of sin through Christ’s sacrifice and the present intercession of Christ in heaven. Hope is faith relating to the future; conviction is faith relating to the present.’
Oh friends, I know that is somewhat convoluted and might prove confusing, but please take your time and reason it out, and it will eventually become clear. Faith is the biggest thing in our Christian walk. It’s what keeps us attached to our awesome God; to the Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Only by faith can we believe it all!
As the Good Book tells us: ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Heb.11:6)
So my brethren, it’s all about hope and belief. Remember, you can’t have faith if you don’t first have hope, for hope is what stirs the pot of faith and keeps it bubbling up strong and positive.
Now let’s truly acknowledge our hope and faith by enthusiastically declaring our Thursday Blessings, for a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken.
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 everyday! Amen!’
Wonderful my people! Now let’s go out and put our faith into action nuh, because it’s useless unless and until it is acted upon! Much LOVE!
…faith calls for works…and works demand faith to do them…
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