01 Oct 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: ability to choose, atonement hope, blessing of Abraham, blessings, Bruh Paul, C.C. Colton, Christ bore our sins, Christ's Second Coming, courage, cursed, despise, despises all danger, despises all opinon, destruction unto them, everlasting love, evil and ungodly world, faith, for I know that my redeemer lives, friends, Galatians, Gentiles, gift of redemption, God was their rock, godly, grace, halfway home, holy spirit, iniquity, Jesus Christ, Jesus' sacrificial death, leader of the show, live soberly, mercies, moral courage, omnipotent god, physical courage, pilgrim, power of the Lord, Praise the Lord, promise of the spirit, redeem us from all iniquity, Redeemer, redemption, righteousness., salvation, sincere pleas, spiritual battles, sung a new song, thanks and praise, the grace of God, the high god their redeemer, they have fled from me, they have spoken lies against me, they have transgressed against me, Though he slay me, to god nothing is impossible, ungodliness, Wednesday, wisdom, wisdom of heaven, woe unto them, worldly lusts, yet will I trust him, zealous of good works
Hosea 7:13. Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemd them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
What’s up my people? It’s Wednesday morning, which means we’re halfway home, half way to the end of the workweek, halfway to our valued weekend. (smile) Please give the Lord some thanks and praise for bringing us this far without any serious problems. And all God’s children said a loud and grateful ‘Praise the Lord!’
Yes Friends, our God is definitely worthy of praise and thanks, plenty of them too, in light of all that He has done, is doing, and has promised to do in the future. So please remember to always give praise and be thankful, and check out the new mercies and blessings that are coming down the pipeline today, strictly for us, through His everlasting LOVE and grace.
And today I want to also remind us about courage, courage that we all desperately need to make it through this evil and ungodly world. It’s found in an interesting quote from Charles Caleb (C.C) Colton (1780-1832) an eccentric English cleric, writer and collector.
It says: ‘Physical courage, which despises all danger, will make a man brave in one way; and moral courage, which despises all opinion, will make a man brave in another. The former would seem most necessary for the camp; the latter for the council; but to constitute a great man, both are necessary.’
Yes my brethren, those words are certainly true! We need a physical kind of courage to fight our physical battles, and also a moral courage, one that’s based on our faith and comes from deep within our souls, to fight the spiritual battles that are always coming against us.
Now many of us possess one or the other, but not both, however as C.C says, to be an extraordinary pilgrim, we need to have both. But believe me, it’s not easy to have both, because together they are usually bigger and tougher than many of us can handle.
But please remember my fellow believers, that with our omnipotent God, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE! So if we come to Him with sincere pleas for both kinds of courage, be assured that He will grant them to us. The problem though is whether we are willing to handle all the stuff that both physical and spiritual courage entail.
In any case, I do advise us to seek both kinds, so that we won’t be undone by either aspect, we won’t give the enemy any chance of victory over us, be it in physical or spiritual mode, and thus end up great in the power of the Lord.
Now here’s our Bit: ‘Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.’
It’s the last day for this Bit… and I hear those who like a new Bit everyday muttering under their breath a thankful ‘Praise the Lord!’ Please remember though Friends that it’s not solely my decision as to how many days to use a Bit. I do what I’m guided to do by Holy Spirit, for He is the real leader of the show. (smile)
And today, as we did yesterday, I just want to share a few scripture passages on redemption. That’s where Holy Spirit has led me. And we’ll begin with Bruh Paul writing to the Galatians, re God’s covenant with Abraham.
‘But that no man is justified (declared righteous) by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but the man that doeth them shall live in (by) them.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made (having become) a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed be every one that hangeth on a tree; That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.’ (Gal.3:11-14)
Yes my brethren, Christ bore our sins, was cursed for us, so that we could be redeemed, so that we could receive His righteousness.
Then to Titus, re the Christian life, Bruh Paul proclaims: ‘For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world (age);
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar (His own special) people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.’ (Titus 211-15)
Yes Friends, as the scholars tell us: ‘2:11-15. The salvation that appeared to all men is based on God’s grace that has provided salvation universally for all mankind through the unlimited atonement of Christ.’ And consequently we should try to live righteous and godly lives, looking with hope and faith to His Second Coming.
And then John, in his Revelation, re the lion and the Lamb, boldly declares: ‘And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book (scroll), and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred (tribe), and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.’ (Rev.5:8-9)
Oh my people that should embolden us, give us all kinds of courage, to live righteously for Christ!
And last, but definitely not least, here are two scriptures that we all spout, but few truly believe, and thus are not really integral parts of our lives, as pointed out by our actions.
We’re talking about Job’s showing of his great faith: ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways (defend my ways) before him.’ (Job 13:15)
And secondly: ‘For I know that my Redeemer (kinsman) liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter (last) day upon earth:’ (Job19:25)
Yes Friends, Jesus Christ, our wonderful Redeemer, will be there, standing proud and tall, at the last day, whenever that might be! No doubt about it.
Oh my fellow believers, throughout all the ages, our wonderful and mighty God promised redemption, and He finally delivered it through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ. It’s all there in black and white in the Good Book for us to see.
And since God gave us the ability to choose, it is now up to us to accept or reject it. I implore us, today, please let’s be wise and choose the free gift of redemption through Jesus Christ nuh, for it is certainly the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!
…and they remembered…that God was their rock…and the high God…their Redeemer… (Ps.78:35)
10 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: ability to choose, ability to think, advice, affectionate, anger, avenge not, believers, bless, brotherly LOVE, Bruh Paul, bundle of good, Christ's Church, Christian nation, complain, conceit, condescend, curse not, diligence, dissensions, disturbed sleep, dividing, divisions, drifitng apart, enemy, estimation, evil, evil for evil, eye teeth, feed, feel rotten, fervent, followers of Jesus christ, functions, give drink, glorify God, grow, growth, harmony, heap coals of fire, honesty, hospitality, human animal, humble, hypocrisy, in christ, in the end, Jesus Christ, live peaceably, longevity, LOVE, Love God, LOVE your neighbour, low estate, meaningful, members, message, miserable, needs, negative stuff, not always easy, One Body, option, overcome evil with good, overcome of eveil, patient, peace, perplexed, persecute, petty jealousies, petty woes, please Jesus, politice, prayer, preference, preseverance, prized creation, problems, rampant, rebels, recompense, reconciled, rejoicing in hope, repay, resentment, right decision, Romans 12, rumours of war, sacrifice, sad, saints, selfish, serving the Lord, sinless life, slothful, steadfast, talk a good talk, thirst, tired, tribulation, truth, ungodly world, unity of brethren, values of God, values of the world, vengeance hunger, walk, walk in sync, wars, weep, wisdom, work together, works out for good, wrath
Romans 12:4-5. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office (function): So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one (individually) members one of another.
Oh Friends, have you ever experienced the unparalleled joy of going to bed feeling fairly okay, but waking up a few hours later feeling terrible? Well I experienced that joy this morning.
Chuh! I went to bed at a decent hour, feeling good enough, but lo and behold when I got up… brother did I ever feel rotten, tired and miserable! I could barely get myself together. I don’t know if it’s because the phone rang during the night and disturbed my sleep, but I sure had a hard time coming around.
Enough of my petty woes though, a lot of people would give their eye-teeth (smile) to have my problems, compared to their own. And I truly don’t have that much to complain about, for the Lord’s been looking after me fairly well.
Now that doesn’t mean it’s always easy, but it always works out for good in the end. And that is basically the message Bruh Paul is trying to convey to us in our Bit, which continues from yesterday.
‘For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office (function): So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one (individually) members one of another.’
Oh my brethren, as members of Christ’s church, though we have different gifts and different functions we desperately need to work together for it to be successful! That’s the ONLY way the church will ever grow and become meaningful in this evil and ungodly world!
Look at it nuh Friends, everything else that the Lord made without brains function perfectly in His universe. However, the human animal, His most prized creation, the one thing that He made with the ability to think, constantly rebels against Him.
We cannot seem to work together in peace, LOVE and harmony, as He desires. Even those of us who proclaim to be followers of Jesus Christ, who profess to keep the two great commandments – LOVE God, and LOVE your neighbour as yourself – we’re way too often hypocritical on the matter.
And sadly, that hypocrisy seems to be rampant in Christ’s church, where it has absolutely no place. Why is that eh? Possibly because we’re still too selfish, still holding on to the foolish values of the world as our templates for life, instead of the values of God.
Now let’s continue from where we left off yesterday, with Bruh Paul’s advice to the Romans about what should be happening in their church.
‘Be kindly affectioned (affectionate) one to another with brotherly LOVE; in honour preferring (giving preference to) one another; Not slothful (lagging in diligence) in business; fervent (boiling over) in spirit; serving the Lord;
Rejoicing in hope; patient (persevering) in tribulation; continuing instant (steadfastly) in prayer; Distributing to the necessity (needs) of saints (believers); given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless (speak well of), and curse not.
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not (don’t sent your minds on) high things; but condescend to men of low estate (associate with the humble). Be not wise in your own conceits (estimation).
Recompense to (repay) no man evil for evil. Provide things honest (have regard for good things) in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in (depends on) you, live peaceably with all men.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.’ (Rom.12:10-20)
Oh my people, how much of all that can we say is truly happening in our world eh? Not a whole lot, otherwise there would not be as many wars and rumours of war.
And what about Christ’s church eh? How much of that wise advice are we showing in the church of today?
Unfortunately not a whole lot either, because if we were doing a good job the anger, resentment, petty jealousies, politics and all the other negative stuff would not be as rampant as they are, and the divisions and dissensions would thus be much less amongst our Christian nation.
But sadly, everyday we hear about more negative stuff happening in the church, and instead of coming together as we ought to, we’re dividing and drifting further and further apart.
As I said yesterday, Jesus must be sad and perplexed about how to solve our problems. But my people, He did the best He could; He did His part by sacrificing His sinless life so that we could be reconciled to the Father. Now we’re foolishly behaving as though we never needed that option, and it’s not important.
Jesus can’t come and hold everybody’s hands yuh know. It’s now up to us to make the right decision. That’s why our Creator gave us a mind and the ability to choose.
Oh my fellow believers, we talk a very good talk, but our walk surely doesn’t reflect that talk. That’s our major problem. And until we get both our talk and walk in sync, make them jive, Christ’s church will never come together as it should.
Now we’ll end our discourse today, the same way Bruh Paul ends Romans 12, with some of the best advice we can ever receive. ‘Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.’ (Rom.12:21)
Now that my brethren is all the different kinds of wisdom and truth wrapped up in one small, but very powerful package! Let’s endeavour to truly heed it nuh, to sincerely adopt it in our lives, for it will do us a bundle of good.
And even more importantly, it will please Jesus and glorify our heavenly Father, the main purpose for which we were originally created. Much LOVE!
…the unity of the brethren…is essential…of the utmost importance… for the longevity and growth of Christ’s church…
P.S. In yesterday’s Bit I left an empty bracketed space between ‘volitional caring’ in the scholars’ note, because I wanted to find a simpler synonym for it, but with all the technical problems I forgot to fill it.
It basically means ‘will or desire,’ a caring that we raise up from deep within our very souls for others. And that’s something we very much need to do these days my people. Much LOVE!
SCRIP-BITS 