Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 July 2020 Isaiah 30:21.

09 Jul 2020 Leave a comment

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

Isaiah 30:21.     ​And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right, and when ye turn to the left.
 

Oh precious people, our enemy the devil is still out there roaring like a false lion with his toothless gums, and sadly, many of us are listening to him, and becoming anxious and afraid about all that’s currently going down. But I’m here to tell us on this sunny Thursday morning that all he has is bark and NO bite! The only way he can really harm us is if we give him that power. But please remember Jesus’ most often used words, were ‘FEAR NOT!’ And as His followers that’s what is expected of us. 

And we all know it’s harder said than done, so we need some encouragement, and today we’re going to turn to the best place for help, the Lord God Almighty – where else eh? Isaiah appealed to his people Israel to turn to the God of their forefathers after they had stopped relying on Him and were turning to Egypt for help. Hear these words re the futility of relying on anyone else but the Lord, and please do not let them fall on deaf ears. 

‘Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering (devise plans, weave a web), but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth (my advice); to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion (humiliation). (Is. 30:1-3)

 Oh friends, rather unwisely, that is the very same thing we have done. We have turned to various other gods and idols and seek advice from everywhere else except from the Lord God Jehovah. To the point that we are trying to get rid of Him from the society He created.  What utter foolishness! Do you think He’ll allow us to just throw Him out without a fight? I guess so, otherwise we wouldn’t be trying to win an unwinnable battle. It resembles Satan’s futile efforts to defeat Jesus over the battle for hell, death and the grave! Jesus came out victorious with the keys to all of Satan’s dominions! And so will the Lord God Jehovah, despite our best efforts to annihilate Him from our society; His creation! 

It’s also obvious that we don’t believe what He says. Remember He says in the Ten Commandments that He is a jealous God. (Ex. 20:5) And the same thing is mentioned all through the Old Testament. Remember when He was heartbroken because his special people Israel desired a human king like all the other nations? (1 Sam. 8) Yes friends, the Lord made us for Himself; to be His people, to fellowship with Him, for Him to be our God, and anytime we desire to change that, we WILL get some kind of opposition from Him. 

Thus says He: ‘I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.’ (Is. 42:8) That should tell us ALL we need to know, but it obviously doesn’t. So we keep on trying to uproot God from our midst and are now suffering serious adversity, the consequences of our ungodly behaviour, like Israel did back then. And like Isaiah did, so am I appealing to us to turn back to Him in these rough and unprecedented times, for He is indeed the ONLY ONE who can get us out of this earthly hell in which we’re now totally ensconced. 

Hear these words: ‘And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers. And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right, and when ye turn to the left.’ (Is. 30:20-21) Oh my people, are we hearing the Holy Spirit whispering in our souls, actively seeking to show us the right way? That’s what He’s there for. And I know He’s sincerely doing His thing, but apparently we’re not listening, for we’re going in the wrong direction; away from God, rather than towards Him. 

Oh friends, hear this other verse from just before nuh. ‘And therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgement (justice): blessed are all they that wait for him.’ (Is. 30:18) 

And the scholars offer these explanations. ‘30:18-33. Because God is gracious and has been willing to wait for His people to return to Him, He will certainly bless those who wait for Him. “Waiting” is a confident and dependent trust in God. The reference to the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction shows that God teaches us lessons through circumstances when we will not listen to our teachers who call us to walk in the way (i.e. the way of God).’ 

Oh my people, there’s absolutely no doubt that our great and merciful God is trying to teach us some very useful lessons right now in these times of much sickness and strife! But are we conscious of that though? And if we are, are we learning anything from it? For all of our sakes, and those of our descendants, I do hope so, otherwise we’ll pay a great price for our disobedience and utter disregard for the Lord, His Holy Word and righteous desires for our lives. 

But for those of us who are aware, and sincerely trying to learn those lessons, let’s go home now declaring (awright!!!) our Thursday Blessings which the Lord has so generously and graciously bestowed upon us to help those who need it. So in strong belief, as one 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!’ 

And now, let’s go and share them very generously, for this is the time; that of sickness and strife,  for which we were made and so blessed! Much LOVE!

…the earth is the Lord’s…and the fullness thereof…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 8 March 2019 Matthew 4:1.

08 Mar 2019 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 4:1.    

Then Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

 

And then it was Friday, the beginning of the March break, so I can imagine that all the airports are full and running over with the amount of people just dying to get away from the lengthy spell of cold weather that’s recently held us in its iron grip! 

Yeh, wish I was one of those crowding the airport terminals too, but my day will come, so I’m not worried, and I know too that whatever the Lord allows to come against me, He will give me the grace and strength to face it victoriously! Glory to our great and wonderful and generous and merciful, forgiving and magnanimous God my people! 

Now we have lots to cover today, so let’s get on with it; let’s hear what the workingman has to say for himself today! And as always, he’s very vocal: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui; March break Friday and the children and them don’t have no school for a whole week. Steups! That means they underfoot all blooming week. Got to see if I can’t send them by their uncle up in the North Country for at least a few days. 

It would be good if I could take some time off and go somewhere with them, but the slave driver only give we holidays in the summer when he place shut down to retool…plus I don’t have enough money to carry all of us overseas to the warm climates right now anyway! So we’ll just have to make the best of a bad situation right here in cold Toronto…Hn, hn, hn! 

And ah talking as if that ever stop we before! We still going to eat and drink and party hearty this weekend. So bring it on! Let the fun and games begin, as we get into another free from work weekend! Thank God for Fridays and weekend yes! Don’t know what I would have done without them to break up the monotony and harsh reality of work nuh!’ 

Yeh friends, plenty of us believers also fall into the same category as the workingman, can’t get time off and don’t have enough money to take the family on a holiday to a warm place, but we too will manage, because we have the Holy Spirit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ indwelling us, and He gives us the wherewithal to withstand anything that comes against us! Glory to God!

So let’s chant our weekend song, our Friday Chant, with the same, if not more enthusiasm than the workingman did in his song, since we have plenty more to be thankful for. 

All together 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!’ 

That was good friends! We could feel that deep down in our souls and our God was happy to hear us rejoice and be thankful in our relationship with Him. (smile) Now let’s turn to our Bit, those stirring words that foreshadowed some of the awful stuff that our Saviour Christ Jesus suffered on our behalf. ‘Then Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.’ 

Ah mih people, I don’t think that any of us would have made it successfully through forty days and nights of fasting then serious temptation by the evil one himself. But Jesus did. Give Him the glory! And today we’ll look at the third major temptation. 

The Good Book says: ‘Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence (away with you), Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold angels came and ministered unto him.’ (Matt.4:8-11) 

Oh friends, the devil is very persistent, and we have to be very strong in our reproach and rebuke too. In this last temptation Jesus rebuked Satan with a combination of words from Deut.6:13, 10:20 and Josh.24:14.

We also need to know the proper scripture to rebuke the enemy when he comes a calling, which means we have to read and study and meditate on God’s Word. I can’t overstate the importance of knowing the Word to help us in ALL aspects of our lives! 

Now here is some pertinent info on the last temptation from the scholars. ‘4:8. The third temptation takes place on an exceeding high mountain. The mountain is clearly real in the text, though its exact location is unidentified. Despite the grandeur of the temptation, nothing in the passage itself indicates that these temptations were only in the mind of Christ.

Clearly, they are depicted as real experiences that actually occurred in the human life of the Messiah. That Satan, the usurper, would attempt to give the kingdoms of the world to Jesus, the Messiah, the rightful King, is the height of absurdity!’ 

Yeh friends, that’s how boldface Satan is, offering us stuff that already belongs to us! How boldface can some people get eh! And then this other offering from the scholars. ‘4:9-11. For Christ to fall down and worship Satan would have been to acknowledge the Devil’s lordship over Him. 

In His direct rebuke Get thee hence, Satan, Jesus clearly asserts His lordship over the old serpent whose head He will soon crush. Matthew’s statement that Satan leaveth him shows that his order of temptations is the chronological one. (cf. Luke 4:1-13).’ (Luke has the mountain temptation second and the temple pinnacle last). 

Well that brings us to the end of today’s Bit, but please, please remember my people, that though Jesus rebuked Satan and crushed him, the ole devil is still out there roaring a toothless roar; (smile) he’s all bark and no bite, and has no power to overcome us, unless we fall for his deception and allow him into our lives!

So this Lenten season, let’s get serious in our decision to get closer to God nuh, study His awesome Word and put it into practice in our lives! That’s wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!

…God gave us His Word… as a guidebook for our earthly lives…let’s be wise and use it nuh…