Today’s Scrip-Bit   19 January 2024 Matthew 9:29.

19 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 9:29.       According to your faith be it unto you.

And then it was a cold, cloudy Friday, but there were still shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ I guess we don’t much care what kind of weather we have on a Friday, because it means that the weekend is here and we can do whatever we want. No more of the getting up early, carting the children to the baby-sitter or to school, then facing the rush hour traffic jam to and from work. What a terrible grind our work week can be, especially if you have young children and you’re living far from work. But that’s just the way the society is set up, and you have to grin and bear it, and make it work somehow for you. 

I certainly remember the days, some forty odd years ago, carting my eldest daughter to the baby sitter and picking her up again every night. And that was long before you had all the helpful amenities, you now have. (smile) But that’s exactly why you need Jesus in your life! He helps you bear the tough burdens of everyday life, with a modicum of peace and circumspection. With Jesus running the show, you’re never as worried and frazzled as you are without Him. And these two promises of His are very important in our everyday lives. We know them fairly well, but we just can’t seem to put them into action, so that our pain can be eased. 

The first one says: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) And yes, it’s very easy to say the words, and even believe them, but it’s not as easy to put them into serious action, especially in today’s crazy and volatile world, for there’s always an element of doubt, or some niggling circumstance that gets in the way. But we just have to hang in there and do the best we can, not give up, and keep fighting the good fight with Jesus. 

Then there’s this other promise along the same lines. ‘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) Ah friends, although we might know deep down that Jesus has overcome the world by dying and being resurrected, therefore defeating Satan, hell, death and the grave, it’s indeed difficult to be peaceful and of good cheer when all the problems of the world seem like they are tumbling down around you. And to further help us in our earthly battle, we need to take Bruh Paul’s advice to the Philippians. 

He writes: ‘Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.’ (Phil. 4:6) Yes my brethren, that is the basic pattern our lives must follow if we are to experience some sense of peace and comfort in our daily lives. Prayer with thanksgiving is oh so essential. And we know that giving thanks under some of the situations we face is extremely difficult, and sometimes we even feel it impossible. However, that’s the only way to get what Bruh Paul promised. ‘And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep (guard) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 4:7) 

Now those aren’t easy scriptures to live by; not to worry about anything, but to pray constantly and give thanks even in untenable situations. But do it we must, by writing them indelibly in our hearts, minds and souls, then asking the Holy Spirit for His help to action them. That’s one of His many purposes in our lives; help to live the life Christ desires of us. But there again, we need to sincerely engage the Holy Spirit’s help, and then listen to what he says. And that’s where we’re not as obedient as we ought to. 

With all the many distractions and voices flurrying around in our minds, we ofttimes miss the still, soft voice of the Holy Spirit, especially when our decision is contrary to His. And the devil just LOVES to get into our brain, our minds, where spiritual war is constantly being waged, and disrupt the peace and joy we are fighting to attain. And that’s where our levels of faith and trust in Jesus come in. It’s like Jesus’ interaction with two blind men who followed Him, ‘crying and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.’ (Matt. 9:27-29) 

Now that last sentence is the answer to many of our problems. Yes friends, it’s according to our trust and confidence in Christ’s ability to do whatever we ask Him, that we will see positive outcomes. It’s our faith, not God’s, that determines our outcomes in life. It has everything to do with what we truly believe. And for those of us who truly believe in the omnipotent power of Christ, let’s go to the throne of grace through our Friday Chant, asking for divine help to handle our many earthly problems. 

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!’ 

And if we expect to see divine help, then we need to do what we said in our prayer, that’s stand strong and steadfast as best we can, and also set a good example as faithful believers. Much LOVE!

… the size of our problems that Jesus can solve…depends on the size of our faith in Him… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 October 2015 Hebrews 11:1‏

15 Oct 2015 Leave a comment

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

Hebrews 11:1.  Now faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (conviction) of things not seen. 

Free! Free at last! Yes Friends, the ole fella’s free at last from the bondage and tyranny of the medical and technological marvel of the mobile and portable intravenous drip! (smile) 

Oh it does serve a very useful purpose, but five days of having to do everything with it, whether asleep or awake, is a rather inconvenient and very taxing experience. 

And thankfully the wound on my leg that caused its use, seems to be healing, though rather slowly. But right now I’m thankful for any kind of improvement at all. 

I’m now on oral antibiotics. I think I can handle that. (smile) And this is the best, the most rested I’ve felt in a little while. I suppose that’s because I had a decent night’s rest, with no tubes and bags to worry about, which meant I got up pretty late too. 

So I do want to apologize for the lateness of the Bit, but I definitely needed the rest, as yesterday was a rather hectic and busy day. First I went to the funeral of a young lady, a former parishioner, who suddenly passed away at the tender age of thirty-eight. 

Ah Lord eh! We never know when or how our number will play nuh! That’s why it’s in our best interest to be always ready. 

After the funeral I went to my doctor to check on my situation. Then I got lucky, or rather the Lord opened an opportunity for me to go and get a test for any blood clots in my system. So I ran to the Vascular Lab to get that done. The tests turned out to be negative! Thank the Lord!

Then I ran home, had something to eat. The nurse came and discharged me from the home care programme, then I went to see a movie with my young daughter and her boyfriend. 

But my people, it was all worth it. I don’t go to many movies, but this one came highly recommended by one of my many surrogate daughters, and it was excellent. It’s called ‘War Room.’ And believe it or not, it’s a Christian movie. And the war and the room are not about physical war but about spiritual battles; the kind that we all experience at some time in our lives. 

Generally speaking it’s about a black married couple going through problems based on their busy careers and fighting to keep up with the Jones’ and Smiths, and the way the Lord oftimes sends someone into our lives to help bring us back to Him. I think ALL believers should go and see it. Please support this type of movie, as you don’t find too many of them being shown in the big movie chains. 

So it was a busy day, but it ended with grace and mercy and wisdom. Glory to God! 

And now it’s time to welcome our wonderful Bit: ‘Now faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (conviction) of things not seen.’ 

And it surely is, my people! For as Bruh Paul wrote to the church at Rome: ‘For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for it? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience (perseverance) (eagerly) wait for it.’ (Rom.8:24-25) 

And that’s not only gospel truth my brethren, but also simple logic! If we can see something, why would we yet hope for it eh? 

And that brings me to a song I heard last night by a Christian group called Canton Junction, featured on Uncle John’s  (John Hagee) t.v. Programme. It’s called ‘Faith was made for moments like these.’ And I’ll only share a part of the second verse and the chorus, because I just got tired of pausing and writing and pausing and writing. (smile) But that’s enough to show the relevance of the song. 

Here goes: ‘What happens if heaven is silent, and the silence seems to whisper, just keep hoping…oh hoping…What if it’s a sorrow… Sorrow brings a healing to the broken… to the broken… What if….Faith was made for moments like these. When God knows, what you can’t see. And you don’t understand what you choose to believe. Faith was made…for moments like these…’ 

Indisputable truth, my brethren! Faith was indeed made for the rough, unseeing, and not understanding times in our lives. If we could see and understand all our circumstances, then why would we need faith eh? No reason whatsoever! 

But since we can’t see nor understand the majority of things we face in this earthly life, we definitely need something concrete, confident and sure to hold on to. And the only thing that does that in this evil and ungodly world is the ever-faithful and safely guiding Word of Jehovah God, and the promises found therein. 

Oh glory to our most wonderful, amazing, gracious, LOVING, forgiving and merciful God! 

Now I wish someone could explain to me why I shouldn’t surrender my all, my entire being to such a marvellous Deity? Oh Friends, there’s no good reason why we should not! Surrendering to Jesus Christ and obeying His dictates is indeed the wisdom of heaven and of earth throughout all the ages! 

And we’ll end with some of Jesus’ thoughts on faith, how important He deemed it to be. Firstly in the Sermon on the Mount, He castigates His listeners for their lack of faith in God’s provision for them, if He had provided so wonderfully for the things of nature ‘O ye of little faith? (Matt.6:30) 

Then He tells Peter, after he’s walked on the water for a few seconds, then becomes fearful, starts to sink and cries out for help. ‘O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?’ (Matt.14:31) 

And finally, hear this conversation between Jesus and two blind men who desired Him to heal them, and cried out saying: ‘Thou son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? 

They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened…’ (Matt.9:27-30) 

Yes Friends, likewise, according to our faith, it will be done unto us! Much LOVE!

…fight the good fight of faith…and stand steadfast in it…