03 May 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a new crop of believers, a word to the wise is sufficent, abundantly pardon, as the rain waters the earth, backsliders, Bible, bread to the eater, call ye upon him while he is near, christianity, crying out for help, destroy the earth, divine aid, error of their ways, faith, foolish pride, free choice, Friday chant, give seed to the sower, god, good examples of godly living, great sinfulness, have mercy upon him, in the thing which I sent it, it shall accomplish that which I please, it shall prosper, Jesus, Jesus Christ, let the wicked forsake his way, LOVE, mercy, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my thoughts higher than your thoughts, my ways higher than your ways, my word shall not return void, mysterious ways, neither are your ways my ways, only lasts for a short time, our sinful world, payback is hell, puny minds, return unto the Lord, salvation, season of rebellion, seek ye the Lord while he may be found, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the example we faithful believers set, the heavens are higher than the earth, the pleasures of righteousness, the pleasures of sin, the snow from heaven, the sweetness of sin, the throne of grace, the unrighteous man his thoughts, truth, ungodly ways, wake up and and smell the coffee, wisdom
Isaiah 55:6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
And this Friday morning in early May, as we shout ‘TGIF! Thank God It’s Friday!’ we celebrate the rebirth of the flora around us. Yes friends, spring has finally shown it’s green and wonderful face after such a long absence. And what amazes me, is that a couple days ago, trees that had no leaves, merely some brown buds, today are overflowing with greenery. But that’s how the awesome plan of God for the smooth running of the universe works; in mysterious ways that our finite and puny minds can never grasp or fully understand.
That ought to remind us of these magnificent and oh so true words of the Lord, spoken through the prophet Isaiah, informing the Israelites, and us too, that God abundantly pardons. ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is. 55:6-7)
Ah mih people, that call which was issued to the Israelites in their season of rebellion and sinfulness so many years ago, is again being issued to us in our great sinfulness and ungodly ways, for few, if any other generations have been more wicked and ungodly than ours is today. And we badly need to seek the Lord for His mercy and pardon if we expect to survive for any length of time on this earth, because as we continue in our sinful and ungodly ways we keep destroying God’s planet as well as ourselves. And if we play the scenario out to its complete fulfillment then we’ll simply destroy the earth and all therein.
That’s the foolish and arrogant plan we’re following right now. And the only way to put a stop to it, is to turn back to the God of our forefathers, who created and still controls the universe. And these further words of Isaiah ought to wake us up to reality, help us take our foolish heads from the sand in which it’s so thoroughly buried that we don’t know right from wrong, or whether we’re coming or going.
Listen up: ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void (empty, without fruit), but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing which whereto I sent it.’ (Is. 55:8-11)
Oh friends, we certainly cannot deny the truth of those statements! The Lord’s ways and thoughts are certainly higher than ours. His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence far outweighs what little power and understanding we possess, and we cannot begin to understand His person and purposes. That’s why He is God and we are simply His creation! Although in our foolish pride we ofttimes behave as though it’s the opposite way, and we end up paying a hefty price for that unwise thinking. But unfortunately the high price of disobedience doesn’t stop us from being rebellious and ungodly.
Let’s remember that our gift from God of free choice was not meant to choose the ungodly things of Satan, but the everlasting and wonderful things of God. But as always, mankind has abused that gift, turning more to the pleasures of sin advocated by Satan, than the pleasures of righteousness advocated by God. And that’s why our world is in such a mess right now, with strife and all the negative emotions of the evil one overwhelming our world.
But here’s what the Lord promised the Israelites if they turned back to Him. ‘For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall calp their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up a fir (cypress) tree, and instead of the brier (thorny plant) shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.’ (Is. 55:12-13)
Now doesn’t that scenario sound so much better than the one in which we’re currently enveloped? It surely does! So why don’t we turn from our evil ways, embrace the righteousness of God and make it come to pass eh? Remember, the sweetness of sin only lasts for a short while, then comes the payback. And payback is …hell! And that’s exactly what we’re suffering right now here on earth. Remember God’s Word will not be spoken in vain. Whatever it’s sent out to do, it will accomplish. And He sent it out in the first place promising salvation to all mankind, which has been accomplished by the work and sacrifice of Jesus.
So please, let’s get smart nuh, use the wisdom that God gave us and turn back to Him while He can still be found. And to help us do that, let’s go to the throne of grace through the prayer of our Friday Chant, seeking the help we so desperately need in these evil and ungodly times. Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help.
Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you.
Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Now friends, there’s an interesting proviso to receiving divine help…we must first show that we’re turning from our evil ways and being good examples of godly living. That’s what drives divine help! Much LOVE!
..a word to the wise is sufficient…
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19 Oct 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abundantly pardon, action our words, as the heavens are higher than the earth, as the universe unfurls, bring light to the darkness, call ye upon him, Christ bashes some sense in our heads, Christ comes back, come short in obedience, common sense dictates, confirmation of our sincerity, continual turmoil, death, ease their suffering, evil, hardhearted, have mercy upon him, humble servants, Jehovah Rapha, joy, lays down the law, let the wicked forsake his way, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, my thoughts are higher than your thoughts, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways, my ways higher than your ways, need your divine help, our Father who art in heaven, pandemic of Covid 19, peace, praise Your Holy Name, return unto the Lord, roll along with the tumbling tunbleweed, seek ye the Lord, sin, sincere repentance, standing in faith, stubborn, the days of man, the fool say in his heart, the Garden of Eden, the God who heals, the mass confusion, the only one, the power to solve our many problems, the unrighteous man his thoughts, there is no god, Togetherness, tumultuous times, until we implode, violence, we have all sinned, wherever the unseen wind blows us, while he is near, while he may be found, whomsoever will may come, wise guidance and direction
Isaiah 55:6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.
And the days pass, one after the other, just like they were programmed to do since the beginning of time. Likewise, the days of man, with God fulfilling them as He promised. (Ex. 23:26) And from the day that our forefathers fell for the deception of the enemy, and were kicked out of Paradise, the Garden of Eden, there has been sin, death, evil, violence and every ungodly thing that the devil and fallen man could devise corrupting the world. And I guess it will remain like that until Christ comes back and lays down the law; sets up His eternal kingdom, because mankind doesn’t seem to truly want, desire or like the things of God, like LOVE, joy, peace and togetherness.
So it’s no wonder our world has been in continual turmoil down through the ages, and right now is experiencing one of the most tumultuous times ever. And just to show that we’re not as brilliant or wise as we believe, we can’t seem to get a handle on any of the problems we’re currently facing, because we can’t even agree that there’s a problem. And those who do agree that we have problems, can’t agree on how best to fix them either. Thus, it looks like we’ll just roll along with the tumbling tumbleweed, wherever the unseen wind blows us, until we implode, or Christ comes back and bashes some sense in our heads.
But thankfully, on this Monday morning, as the universe unfurls like it ought to, I am here, on Jesus’ behalf, to try and put a li’l sense in our heads, so that we at least don’t get any worse than we currently are. We’ll bring a li’l light to the darkness that’s covering way too much of our wonderful world. And we’ll try to do that by expounding the Word of God, through His prophet Isaiah, as He generously offers free mercy to all and sundry. ‘Whomsoever will may come.’ That’s it in a nutshell.
Now hear the words the Lord put in Isaiah’s mouth, way back then, words that are still applicable to us today, since our world has not changed, possibly gotten worse, if anything. ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.’ (Is. 55:6) Now isn’t that marvellous advice my brethren, especially in these rough and tough times? It surely is, especially since we can’t seem to solve our many problems in our own strength. And common sense dictates that if you can’t solve a problem, then you go to a higher power for help.
And the highest power we can ever go to is Almighty God. And He spells it out for us in no uncertain terms. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Is. 55:8-9) Now if that isn’t putting us in our place then I don’t know what it is nuh! (smile) And the scholars tell us that ‘While God may certainly be known by men, He is still incomprehensible in the totality of His person and purposes.’
Yeh friends, though our God is close to us, our minds are too puny to even contemplate His true greatness. And despite His awesomeness, He’s most magnanimous and merciful. Hear how Isaiah puts it. ‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is. 55:7)
Oh mih people, what a wonderful promise from our Creator! And we all know that He faithfully keeps all His promises, so why are we so reluctant to turn back to Him and receive forgiveness and mercy, grace andLOVE, reconciliation, righteousness, justification and sanctification, all earned on the strength of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary eh? It just doesn’t make sense. As I keep saying, when the Israelites messed up and suffered for it, they were quick to run back to God and receive forgiveness.
Why won’t we eh? Why are we so stubborn and hardhearted, revelling in our disobedience, as we pay an exorbitant price for it? I really don’t know nuh. I guess my mind is just not big and wise enough to fathom such mighty things. (smile) Anyhow, for those of us who are willing to stand by the promise of God, let’s seek His face right now nuh, let’s call upon Him through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, so that we can find Him and receive forgiveness and all the other wonderful things He has to offer.
As one now, in confident humility: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
The next move is for us to action those words, and begin showing sincere repentance in our hearts, for that’s where the Lord is looking for confirmation of our sincerity.Much LOVE!
…the fool says in his heart…there is no God…how foolish…
05 Jun 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a positive decision, Abednego, abundantly pardon, angry God, awesome power of God, backed up the Jordan River, be in my heart, beloved of God, blue in the face, boring death, bow down, brand new day, call upon him, Colorado, come up higher, dire need, discouragement, doing miracles, dr robert h schuller, exciting life, failure, fiery furnace, friend of Jesus, from shame to glory, God is still on the throne, grace, grateful, Guatemala, Hawaii, hell on earth, hope, Hour of Power Devotional, I will be with thee, I will move, in full control, in you I come alive, Jesus, let the wicked forsake his way, LOVE, loving-kindness, magnificent and magnanimous God, Maker, Meshsach, natural disasters, new mercies, New Mexico, no need to panic, noised abroad, parted the Red Sea, pass through the waters, promises, providence, seek ye the Lord, sent His only Son, shadrach, shall not be burned, shall not overflow thee, share His love, sinners, smelling of smoke, strength, success, talk, thanks, the flame scorch thee, the Lord's help, through the rivers, to die for us, Tuesday Mantra, unmerciful, unrighteous man, volcano, walk through the fire, weakness, while he is near, wildfires, wisdom, wise
Isaiah 43:2. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon (scorch) thee.
Well it’s a brand new day and brand new mercies are being noised abroad by our wonderful God! Give Him plenty, plenty thanks nuh people, for the grace and unadulterated LOVING-kindness He shows to us when we absolutely don’t deserve it. But that’s the kind of God He’s always been and will always be!
Look at how while we were still sinners He sent His only Son Jesus to die for us… Does that tell of an unmerciful and angry God? No way Jose! So let’s be wise and grateful and give Him thanks for ALL that He’s done, is doing and has promised to do for us in the future.
In the meanwhile let’s pray for those unfortunate people undergoing the volcano situation in Hawaii, and also in Guatemala where the Fuego volcano exploded a couple of days ago, causing much loss of life and many injuries. I tell you friends, a volcanic explosion is the closest thing we can come to hell here on earth. And remember too the people in Colorado and New Mexico where the first wild fires of the season are blazing away.
Brother! The natural disasters are beginning to pile up already. But friends, there is no need to panic, because our great and mighty God is still on the throne in full control of things!
And to help us handle whatever comes against us, here are these encouraging words from Gramps Schuller (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) from his Hour of Power Devotional, titled, ‘I Will Move…’ I’ve shared them before, but I think we need to share them again.
So please pray with me. ‘Lord, I want your heart to be in my heart. For in you I come alive, moving ahead from boring death to exciting life! In your promises, I will move from discouragement to hope. In your pardon, I will move from shame to glory. In your power, I will move from weakness to strength. In your providence, I will move from failure to success! Thank you, Lord. Amen!’
Oh my people, is there any other way we can come up higher than through the Lord’s help? Absolutely not! So I implore us this morning to turn to Him for help in whatever situation or circumstance that we’re going through. Now he might not change or ease up the situation, but He will certainly give you the strength, wisdom and whatever you need to come through it successfully. That’s the magnanimous and magnificent God we serve!
Yuh see what he says in our Bit, through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah? ‘When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon (scorch) thee.’
Oh friends and fellow believers, what marvellous promises! And did the Lord keep them? Of course He did! Just look at how He parted the Red Sea for His people to cross over on dry land, while drowning Pharaoh and His Egyptian army behind them! Then check out how He backed up the Jordan River for them to cross over into the Promised Land!
And if you say that’s only water, He can’t handle fire, then think again and see how the Hebrew lads, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, when they refused to bow down to a golden image, survived the fiery furnace that was heated seven times hotter than normal, and came out not even smelling of smoke!
Mama Yo! That’s the amazing and awesome power of our God my brethren! And He is still in the business of doing miracles and such amazing things for His people, if we turn to Him and sincerely and humbly seek Him. As He said again through Isaiah: ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.’ (Is.55:6) Are we doing that my brethren? For all our sakes, I sincerely hope so.
But just in case we aren’t, listen to the following verse, which expands on the first. ‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is.55:7)
Oh friends, I don’t know why it’s so difficult for us to follow the Lord’s guidelines nuh, since He spells them out so plainly and simply! Especially when we’re in dire need of mercy and pardon! But we can only talk; talk till we’re blue in the face (smile), everyone still has to come to their own decision; to accept, or not accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour in their individual lives.
Let’s hope we ALL will make a positive decision, sooner, rather than later, for a time will come when it will be too late. Now for those of us who have already made it, let’s go home positively declaring our Tuesday Mantra, letting the world know in no uncertain terms, who and whose we are.
Altogether now: ‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’
Now let’s go out and share all of that with other unfortunate folks, as Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!
…if you don’t need your Maker…then who else do you need eh…Lucifer…hn, hn!…what a joke…
27 Nov 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bastion of mercy, a strife-filled world, abundantly pardon, actions, as black as the sea, awe, burn your bridges, changed, character, commandments, covenant, crying, death, earthly pangs, enemies, eternal life, fasted, feared, fellowship, forgiveness, go alone, God's help, habits, hear the prayer, hope, in Jesus Christ, iniquities, Jerusalem, joy, lay down by the lamb, led by a child, LOVE, Mahalia Jackson, mercies, mercy, Nehemiah, no more death, no sadness, no sorrow, no trouble, oh Lord I pray, pain, passed away, peace, Peace in the Valley, praise, prayed, rebellious behaviour, reverenced, sinful, sinful vein, strength, tame, the bear, the beasts from the wild, the children of Israel, the day of the Lord, the former things, the gift of God, the lamp is alight, the lion, the morning's so bright, the night, the power of life and death, the unrighteous, the wages of sin, the wicked, the wolves, Thomas A Dorsey, thoughts, thy servant, tired, to the Lord our God, treat people badly, truth, wait for the Lord, weary, wipe away all tears, wisdom, words, worship
Daniel 9:9. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him.
Ah friends, it’s that great day, Sunday – the Day of the Lord – where we gather in His sanctuary to sing and praise and worship and fellowship and receive wisdom and strength to face the strife-filled world for another week. And to get us started, let’s sing this gospel song written in 1937 by Thomas A Dorsey for Mahalia Jackson. We all know it as ‘Peace in the Valley.’
In loud voice, with sincerity, harmony and passion: ‘Oh well, I’m tired and so weary But I must go alone Till the lord comes and calls, calls me away, oh yes Well the morning’s so bright And the lamp is alight And the night, night is as black as the sea, oh yes There will be peace in the valley for me, some day There will be peace in the valley for me, oh Lord I pray
There’ll be no sadness, no sorrow No trouble, trouble I see There will be peace in the valley for me, for me Well the bear will be gentle And the wolves will be tame And the lion shall lay down by the lamb, oh yes And the beasts from the wild Shall be led by a child And I’ll be changed, changed from this creature that I am, oh yes
There will be peace in the valley for me, some day There will be peace in the valley for me, oh Lord I pray There’ll be no sadness, no sorrow No trouble, trouble I see There will be peace in the valley for me, for me.’
And that’s the awesome truth as promised by our God! In the sweet bye and bye, life will be filled with peace: ‘And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.’ (Rev.21:4)
Yes my people, what a blessed day that will be! All our earthly pangs will disappear, as our wonderful God dwells with us, and we with Him, in everlasting peace and joy! It won’t get any better than that!
Now here is a Trini Quote of De Day from my Trini friend. It says: ‘Doh mess in de road, because yuh go pass back an mash it.’ Generally said to someone as advice not to treat people badly or make enemies, for you may have to pass back along that same road.’
I guess it could also be construed as don’t burn your bridges behind you, because one day you just might have to turn around and go back the way you came, and there’ll be lots of people waiting to give you what for. (smile)
And my Trini friend concludes: ‘Have a GREAT day, every DAY!!!! Watch your thoughts: They become words Watch your words: They become actions Watch your actions: They become habits Watch your habits: They become character.’ That’s all gospel truth my brethren! So please, let’s pay serious attention to our words nuh, for they also contain the power of life and death.
Now let’s turn to our Bit, the same one as yesterday. ‘To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him.’ More truth of awesome proportions precious children of God!
In spite of our very sinful and rebellious behaviour, our God is always ready, willing and obviously able to be merciful and forgiving if we come to Him in sincere repentance. It doesn’t mean though that there will be no consequences for our sinful behaviour. For the Lord just can’t let sin go by without some kind of retribution, otherwise sin would be even more rampant than it currently is.
Anyhow, today I want us to take a look at some scriptures which complement our Bit. And the first one comes from Isaiah, as he talks about free mercy to all. He solemnly declares on the Lord’s behalf: ‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is.55:7)
Yes friends, our God is a bastion of mercy! (smile) Now listen to the psalmist from Psalm 130 – My soul waiteth for the Lord. ‘If thou, Lord, shouldest mark (take note of) iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared (reverenced with awe).
I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope… Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy (LOVING-kindness), and with him is plenteous (abundant) redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.’ (Ps.130:3-5, 7-8)
Meanwhile, Nehemiah, after hearing of the sad plight of Jerusalem, prayed and fasted before the Lord, ‘And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible (awesome) God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that LOVE him (you) and observe (keep) his (your) commandments.
Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants , and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.’ (Neh.1:5-6)
Yeh friends, our God is a magnanimous and merciful God, but also a just and righteous God, He therefore cannot allow sin to go unpunished, especially when we, His supposed people, are so blatantly sinful and ungodly. Remember Nehemiah’s prayer for Jerusalem came about because of Israel’s unconcerned sinfulness, which caused the Lord to let them be taken captive to Babylon and the city destroyed.
The same thing could happen to us my people, or rather something disastrous WILL happen, if we continue in the very sinful vein that’s currently holding our society captive. Let’s pray, like Nehemiah did, for our sinful society, sincerely asking for mercy, as we try to get our sinfulness under control. And don’t forget, it’s only with God’s help, we can do that. Much LOVE!
…for the wages of sin is death…but the gift of God is eternal life…through (in) Jesus Christ our Lord… (Rom.6:23)
P.S. Please, remember to keep on praying for our friend and Scrip-Bit family member Scotty, who is still in the hospital. Much LOVE!
26 Aug 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abominable mistake, abundantly pardon, balance, burned to ashes, Christians, condemned, convicted, day and night, deterioration of society, disobedience, do our own thing, encouraging, fell from grace, fellowship, forsake his ways, forsook God, free, freedom, freedom revoked, Friday chant, fun, fun and games, furthering God's glorious kingdom, generous help, God is number one, God's chosen people, God's fold, God's free offer of mercy, God's Word, godly people, godly times, grace, gratifying, have mercy, idols, in Jesus' name, Isaiah, Israel, jehovah god, Jesus, Joshua, life, LOVE Revolution, lustful desires, magnanimous god, meditate, mercy, number one priority, obedience, our own efforts, pagan gods, perform as Jesus desires, pleasures, pray, prosperity, prosperous, punishment, reassuring scripture, refreshed, relaxation, renewed, repent of our sins, repentance, repented, rest, reurn unto the Lord, righteous return, running the show, seek him with all thy heart, seek the Lord thy God, sense of balance, sinful, sins, slave labour, soul body and mind, success, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the freedom paper, the Holy Spirit, the unrighteous man, the weekend, the wicked, thick skulls, this book of the law, thou shalt find him, ungodly way, week of work, welcomed back, welcoming arms, wisdom
Deuteronomy 4:29. But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Oh friends, the freedom paper for the weekend has been signed… Thank God! And it’s only a matter of a few hours and we’ll be free; free to do our own thing. But please remember that come Monday morning, that freedom will be revoked, the freedom paper burned to ashes, and we’ll return to being slave labour. Hn, hn!
I guess that’s what motivates us to pack as much pleasure as we can into the two days of freedom. And it’s all well and good to shout ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and the weekend is here! Thank God for Fridays and the weekend!’
But we also need to remember that life is not all fun and games, not strictly the fulfilling of lustful desires and pleasures, there needs to be mixed into it some serious and godly times to balance it all out. And to help us better understand that, let’s chant our Friday Chant which gives us some decent direction.
Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Yes friends, a sense of balance is what we need on the weekends if we’re to do ourselves any good. If we don’t have that, then come Monday, we’ll just be tired and miserable and won’t be able to go out and perform properly, perform as Jesus desires. And you know that is our Number ONE priority. So let’s get smart and godly and use our two days off as we ought to nuh. (smile)
Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.’
Ah mih people, what an encouraging and reassuring piece of scripture! If we repent of our sins and seek the Lord our God with all our heart and soul, we WILL find Him!
Now how gratifying is that eh, especially in these times of hardship and uncertainty? Very gratifying friends, because we know that whenever we sincerely turn to God, He will be there for us, regardless of the circumstance(s) or our behaviour. Here’s how the prophet Isaiah put it in his declaration of God’s free offer of mercy to all.
‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is.55:6-7)
What a magnanimous God we serve and worship my people! And my fellow believers, it’s not only talk, for we’ve seen how often God’s chosen people, Israel, fell from grace because they forsook God and turned to worshipping idols and other pagan gods.
Yet when the enormity and foolishness of their behaviour, when the punishment for their disobedience finally sunk in to their thick skulls, they repented and were welcomed back into God’s fold.
Now why can’t our society realize that eh my brethren and change our wicked, sinful, disobedient ways and sincerely repent and return to worshipping Almighty God, the ONE who made us and is still running the show?
I guess many of us don’t even realize that we’re living wrong, since they don’t know Jesus. But enough of us do know Him and realize that a lot of the negative stuff that’s happening to us nowadays has a correlation to the sinful and ungodly way we’re living.
Instead of running away from God, as so many of us are currently doing, we should be running back to Him, right back into His wonderful, safe and welcoming arms! It’s more of Jehovah God we need, not less!
Remember how God drilled it into Joshua’s head after the death of Moses, and He made him leader of the Israelites? ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ (Josh.1:8)
And if we look back to our prosperous times, barely a generation ago, we’ll discover that we were a much more godly people. However, as we began moving away from God, our prosperity also began deserting us.
Remember friends, it’s only through obedience to God’s word that a society can truly become prosperous and remain that way for any length of time. Obviously we have forgotten that, or simply choose to believe that it’s through our own efforts that we become prosperous. What an abominable mistake!
Anyway, my fellow Christians, we are the ONLY ones who appear concerned with the deterioration of our society, and are therefore the ONLY ones who can cause us to be convicted, not condemned, by the Holy Spirit, and thus bring about repentance and a righteous return to worshipping the ONE TRUE and LIVING God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
That’s the wisdom we so desperately need today, as our world is falling apart. So please, let’s pray, as individuals, as well as collectively, the church, and then, with God’s help, do our best to make the LOVE Revolution of Jesus a successful one. Much LOVE!
…only when God is NUMBER ONE….can a society be truly prosperous…
25 May 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fool's wisdom, a mirror image, abundantly pardon, arrogance, brimstone and fire, celebrate, confidence, deceiver, Drunk or sober mind yuh business, enemies, enthusiasm, eternal life, evil, for free, forgive their sin, forgiveness, friends, glorious kingdom, God is faithful, gospel truth, gracious, heal their land, holy spirit, humble servants, I am the way, invitation, Jeremiah, Jesus Christ, jobs, joy, lies, like pulling teeth, long-suffering, LOVE, Lucifer, Memorial Day, merciful God, mercy, Monday Morniing Battle Hymn, my people which are called by my name, no man comes to the Father but by me, Noah, Oh Lord God Almighty, patient, plenty rope, pray, pride, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, repentance, rest, righteousness., sacrifice, salvation, save his soul, seek my face, seek ye the Lord, serve a useful purpose, shall humble themselves, spiritual armour, spunk, steadfast faith, taunts, the earth was corrupt, the Great Flood, the table's turned, then will I hear from heaven, transgressions, truth, turn away from their wicked ways, turnabout is fair play, ungodly world, victory, violence, when a man's ways please the Lord, wicked nature, wiles, wisdom, worship our Creator
2 Chronicles 7:14. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn away from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Come on people, it’s Monday; time to rise and shine and get with the programme!
But some of our Friends in the U.S. laugh and declare: ‘Not today my brother! Today is our Memorial Day holiday, and that means no work today, period! Just like you had your Victoria Day holiday last weekend and laughed at us lowly plebs who had to go to work down here, well the table’s turned now.
It’s time for us to celebrate while you go out and labour. As they say, turnabout is fair play, or something to that effect. Hn, hn! But we do wish you the best in all your labouring today. (smile)
Yes Friends, our U.S. brethren are putting it to us today. But we can handle it. So to show that there are no hard feelings, and to help all those who have to go out and labour, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle hymn with spunk and powerful, positive thoughts of victory.
All together now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Now that was spunky enough, but obviously the loudest voices were those of our U.S. brethren. They could afford to sing loud and lustily because they have a whole day of celebration in front of them. But as I said last week, let’s remember to keep Granny’s advice front and centre in our hearts and minds; ‘drunk or sober, mind yuh business.’ For the ole deceiver, Lucifer is out there just prowling for anyone he can latch on to. And we certainly don’t want that to be any of us.
Now let’s turn to our oh so important Bit, one that can make the difference between eternal live in heaven, or everlasting death and damnation in Hades. ‘If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn away from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’
Oh Friends, what a wonderful invitation from a gracious and merciful God! But from day one, our wicked nature, pride and arrogance seems to have been our downfall, as we’ll see when we deal with the last of the four things we need to do for God to hear from heaven and forgive our sin and heal our land, which we desperately need.
Way back when, in the time of Noah, the Bible declares: ‘The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way on earth.’ (Gen.6:11-12)
Ah mih people, it was just a mirror image of today’s world! And what did God do? He caused the great flood and destroyed all the inhabitants, beside Noah and his family. Now doesn’t that say something to us; that it’s possible for Him to wipe out everybody again? Obviously we don’t seem to think so. But remember our God is a faithful God, who keeps His promises, and He promised that the next time would be with brimstone and fire, not water.
Meanwhile Cousin Sol says in Proverbs: ‘When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.’ (Prov.16:7)
Oh Friends, that ought to have us just crawling over each other to make our ways please the Lord. But that’s certainly not happening. In these supposedly modern times, it’s like pulling teeth to get people to truly worship our Creator. But our God is so patient and long-suffering that He gives us plenty of rope, hoping against hope that we will not hang ourselves.
Hear His free offer of mercy to all, through the prophet Isaiah. ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is.55:6-7)
And again in Jeremiah, the Lord offers mercy and forgiveness for repentance. ‘Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive (preserve himself). Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.’ (Ezek. 18:27-28)
Ah mih breddren, what else do we want the Lord to do eh? How often must He offer the same thing and we refuse His wonderful offer? All down through the ages He’s offered us forgiveness for repentance, but we’re too stubborn and proud to accept it. He even gave us His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our sins, and yet we still don’t think it wise to be obedient to His dictates. That’s a fool’s wisdom my Friends.
Anyway people, we’re running out of space and time, so we’ll continue this dialogue tomorrow, the Lord in favour. In the meanwhile, let’s end with these words of absolute truth from Jesus, which says it all. ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.’ (John 14:6)
Now my wise Friends, (smile) let’s go and ponder that statement, and with Jesus’ help, bring our lives into line with it, for that is the wisdom of all wisdom. Much LOVE!
…evil and sin should never be so rampant in our world…when genuine forgiveness, mercy and salvation… are so readily available…for free to boot…
SCRIP-BITS 