The Importance of Christians Understanding that Jesus is the Best Example for Them to Follow in this Earthly Life!

12 Nov 2025 Leave a comment

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

Luke 9:25.        For what is a man advantaged (benefited), if he gain the whole world, and lose himself (is destroyed), or be cast away (lost)?

Aye friends, it’s Wednesday, our second wind day,  and we are not doing too badly in terms of time, for we’re not quite on the late bus, although I did run around and do some errands after my church group meeting. (smile) Anyway, let’s hope and pray that we will all catch our second wind today and keep on keeping on, fighting the good fight in the most blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen! 

And today we’re going to look at an interesting poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkins. It’s a poem to which all of us can relate because we all do it in one form or the other. The poem’s simply titled ‘Relentless.’ And I believe we have studied it before, but like I always say, some of these poems hit home to the truth in us so well that it’s to our benefit to study them time and time again. 

So, please read with me: ‘God, You are relentless. I have yielded everything to You – Everything but one small exception – An exception so small I’m truly amazed You would even take notice. Yet it is invariably To that one small exception That you keep bringing me Back, and back, and back. Why does it matter so much to You? My Child why does it matter so much to You.’ 

Now that’s a very good question that the Lord asked in return. If it’s so small an exception why does it matter so much to us, that we don’t want to turn it over to Him? But that’s the way most of us are; we say we surrender our all to God, but in truth, we hide or hold back certain things that we either don’t want Him to know, or to control. However, that’s defeating the whole purpose of our association with Almighty God, for He likes to control EVERYTHING, EVERY PART of our lives, since that’s the ONLY way He can truly work all things out for our good. 

That’s pure logic with a touch of common sense, (smile) although I know that logic and common sense are not in vogue in this overvalued and wrongly used technological age. And the Bible verses for today’s poem are some from the lips of Jesus that we ought to know and ought to practice every day. It’s His discourse on following Him, or being His disciple. And we’ll read it from the New Living Translation (NLT) that the book uses, because it differs somewhat from the King James Version, using more of today’s language, and it does add an interesting and different flavour to the scripture. 

‘Then he said to the crowd, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give your life for me, you will find true life.’ (Luke 9:23-24) Yes friends, that’s stating it simply, but very clearly. If you desire to follow Jesus then you must empty yourself of all selfish ambitions and do what He desires. It’s just like He did when he came to earth. 

As the Bible tells us: ‘Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men (He emptied Himself of all His heavenly privileges). And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil 4:5-8) 

Oh my brethren, if Jesus could give up His heavenly life to come to earth to be a servant, why can’t we do the same eh? No reason whatsoever! But problems arise when we see words like ‘put aside your selfish ambition,’ and others that include sacrifice and taking up our crosses DAILY! Now that just drives us to the proverbial drink! (smile) Because we believe that we’ll have no control over our lives, and we won’t be able to enjoy all the earthly lusts and pleasures that we desire to experience. 

But please note that living for Jesus excludes many of those worldly pleasures, for they only lead us down the path to destruction and damnation. And that’s partly why we cannot give up our all to the Lord; for though we know it’s wrong, we still want to enjoy those lustful pleasures. (smile) But let’s go back to the King James Version for this most important reasoning of Christ, where He explains why we should follow Him the way He desires. ‘For what is a man advantaged (benefited), if he gain the whole world, and lose himself (is destroyed), or be cast away (lost)? For whosever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.’ (Luke 9:25-26)

Oh my people, it’s all about our eternal destiny, where we will end up after this earthly life. And you cannot end up with Christ in eternal life if you don’t accept Him down here today, and live the way He desires us to live! Remember, the kingdom of heaven has now come to earth with the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. So technically speaking, we’re simply an extension of heaven and need to live by the decrees thereof. And let’s remember these poignant words of Jesus, after the mother of James and John begged for them to be placed on His left and ride side when He came in all His glory. 

‘And whosoever will be chief (first) among you, let him be your servant (slave):Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto (be served), but to minister (serve), and to give his life a ransom for many.’ (Matt. 20:27-28) And I like what this commentary says re those verse. ‘Jesus taught that those who wish to be great in his kingdom should not seek to be served, but should instead act as a servant to others. This is a model for all leaders, as well as for the disciples. Jesus exemplified this through his actions, such as washing his disciples’ feet, healing the sick, and feeding the thousands. 

These were not acts of someone who came to be served, but acts of humble service from the “Son of Man”.’ And having seen what Jesus did, and what our lives should be like as His disciples, let’s now go home declaring (awright!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus! 

As one strong and sincere voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

That brings to mind the promise of anyone enduring to then end with Jesus, will receive an even more glorious future than we can ask or imagine. Therefore, let’s be wise and endure to the end with Jesus, so we can enjoy that more than glorious future together! Much LOVE!

…Jesus…the author and finisher of our faith…ought to be our example in EVERYTHING…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 21 August 2020 Luke 9:23.

21 Aug 2020 Leave a comment

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

Luke 9:23.     ​If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

And it looks like it’s going to rain… Yeh it looks like it’s going to rain today… Oh my brethren, have you ever realised that even if our circumstances are good, when you awaken to a dark and cloudy, rain-like morning, like today, that your soul sort of automatically goes in to a ‘saddish’ sort of mood? But when you awaken to a bright and sunshiny day, even when your circumstances are not the best, your soul seems to react more positively, it sparkles and is joyfully uplifted! (smile) 

I think that’s because the Lord created our souls to process light positively, not darkness and gloom. And that’s why He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to sacrifice His sinless life for us; that despite all the darkness of this evil world, we could always have sunshine in our souls, as our sins are forgiven, we’ve become reconciled to the Father once again and heaven is our future home, with eternal life guaranteed. Let’s remember that today friends as we voyage out into the world to do Jesus’ work. And that’s my penny’s worth for this morning. (smile) 

So since it’s Friday… and I do hope that the fellow who didn’t want to rejoice yesterday because it was Thursday, is still alive and kicking and rejoicing today, the day he believes ought to be celebrated, and that the Lord didn’t call him home during the night, like He did the rich fool who only wanted to build his barns bigger so he could store more, and was not rich towards God. ‘But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee:’ (Luke 12:20) So when will you rejoice again eh? (smile) 

Yeh friends, it only means that we should never forget to be rich towards our great God, refusing at no time to rejoice and give Him the thanks and praise to which He’s due. Now how did we get here eh? (smile) Oh, there’s nothing wrong with a li’l levity, especially in disturbing times like these. But before we run out of space and time, let’s hear what the ordinary workingman has to say this morning nuh. 

And he waxes philosophical: ‘Well, well, well! If it isn’t Friday! Now I can truly shout, TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the restful weekend is here at last! There’s no day in our society like Friday! We look forward to it with a sense of rejoicing. Yes, because it promises a glorious two days away from hard labour; two days of rejoicing or sleeping or just doing nothing; two days when you can take control of your own life – that’s to the extent that that’s possible in the autocratic society in which we live. 

But gee…is the populace ever happy when Friday comes! And I remember hearing when it wasn’t so at all, when you had to labour seven days straight without a day off! Hn! And if you give the greedy slave masters and them the chance, they’d likely go right back to that. But over my dead body…and those of my fellow workers! Man wasn’t born to be slaves to work, but to enjoy the fruit of his labour, and how can you enjoy the fruit of your labour when you don’t have any time off to enjoy it eh? That’s why we’ll keep on joyfully shouting: ‘Thank God for Fridays and weekends oui!’ 

And is the ordinary workingman ever full of surprises! You never know what gems of wisdom he’ll come up with each week from his humble position. Now why can’t we saints of Christ have that same joyful, do or die attitude as we step out each day to do Jesus’ work eh? And not the attitude like it’s oh so hard, like pulling teeth without anaesthetic, like making fire in cold weather from two pieces of dry sticks. Ah mih people, what’s our Saviour Jesus going to do with us eh?  Let’s remember the terms of our discipleship nuh. ‘If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ (Luke 9:23) 

Please note the importance of that word ‘daily’ – meaning ‘every day’ – not when we feel like! Are we doing that to the best of our ability my people? I doubt it, else our world would not be in the unrighteous and unholy mess that it’s in. Let’s not forget these words of Christ either. ‘For whosoever will (desires to) save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose (loses) his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged (benefitted), if he gain the whole world, and lose himself (is destroyed), or be cast away (lost)? (Luke 9:24-25) Those are just some good questions for us to ponder this weekend my fellow saints in Christ. 

Now let’s turn to our wonderful God in sincere prayer, releasing our Friday Chant in strong voice, with humble hearts. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. Yuh know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and the racial strife causing. We not accustomed to that kind of life Lord, and it really telling on us. And we know we can’t handle it on our own, that we desperately need your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. 

So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the sure and wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, so that we can avoid any more serious setbacks. And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to also bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. 

It’s also a good opportunity to introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion because of the way we, your faithful believers, handle the situation. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And having prayed that prayer, we now need to go out and indeed show that we are faithful believers, and stand strong and steadfast in trusting faith! Much LOVE!

…whosoever doth not bear his cross…and come after me…cannot be my disciple… (Luke 14:27)  

Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 April 2016 Luke 9:23‏‏

14 Apr 2016 Leave a comment

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

Luke 9:23.   And he said to them all, If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Oh friends, oh friends, it’s Thursday, another bright and sunshiny day in my neck of the woods! And on top of that, it’s also supposed to be warmer than yesterday. 

Oh, all praise and glory be to our amazing God, who bestows, who showers us with new and wonderful mercies, blessings and LOVING-kindness each and every day! 

Wow! How could I not LOVE, worship, praise, revere and glorify such a magnanimous Deity eh! 

And all God’s people declared a loud and proud, ‘Praise the Lord, for His goodness to the undeserving children of men!’ 

Yes my people, we do deserve to praise our heavenly Father for His unselfish care and compassion for us. Just wish that we could show Him and each other the same kind of care and concern. Anyway, since it’s Thursday, it’s time for us to confidently declare our Thursday Blessing… 

And with a thoughtful frown, the congregation asks: ‘What yuh talking about eh? Didn’t know we had a Thursday Blessing.’ 

Well the truth is my precious people, I didn’t know that either until a couple nights ago when I got this zeppo. (smile) 

And the story goes like this. As part of my devotions, I read an old devotional written by Bubba (Joel Osteen) in his early days of ministry. It had to be, because it’s old and beat up now, with some of the pages falling apart, and it was already old when I discovered it at my mothers place some years ago and we began reading it everyday, even when we couldn’t remember Bubba’s name. (smile) 

It’s called ’30 Thoughts for Victorious Living.’ I don’t know if Bubba even remembers that he wrote something like that, the amount of stuff he’s written over the last few years. But I like it; it serves my purposes, and I will continue to use it as long as I can. 

On a point of interest, most of my devotionals are old, but I prefer them to some of the new-fangled stuff that’s out there now. 

Anyway a couple days ago I was reading the devotions for the 11th of the month, which says ‘Declare Blessing’, and the prevailing scripture for that is the blessing instituted by our God long time ago for the Israelites. ‘Say to them, may the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favour and give you His peace.’ (Num.6:24) 

And the opening lines of the devotion are: ‘A blessing is not a blessing until it is declared! So today declare a blessing over yourself and others. Speak that blessing in the name of Jesus!’ And then he goes on to declare some blessings. 

Now the other day when I finished reading it, it suddenly occurred to me that it would make a good prayer for Thursdays. I thought about a couple of names, like ‘Thursday’s Temptation,’ or ‘Thursday’s Tantrum’ (smile) but eventually ended up with ‘Thursday’s Blessing’ as being more appropriate. 

And what I’ve done is basically taken Bubba’s general blessings and individualized them. So please declare with me now my brethren our Thursday Blessing, in a loud, proud, sincere and confident manner. 

‘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!’ 

Yes friends, that’s our Thursday Blessing. I like it, and I do hope you like it too. It’s basically a rework of the Lord’s blessings promised to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 28:1-14. 

Now let’s turn to our Bit, some very important words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, re the terms of our discipleship. ‘And he said to them all, If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ 

Yes my brethren, the number one rule in following Jesus is to deny ourselves, become selfless instead of selfish, as our world is today. That doesn’t mean we don’t look after ourselves as best we can and do stuff for ourselves, but that we are not the be all and end all of our earthly lives. 

Just as Jesus came to serve and save, we too must concentrate on serving and saving, and on a daily basis too, which isn’t always easy. But as I keep saying, with God’s help, EVERYTHING is doable! 

And we’ll end with Jesus’ words after our Bit. ‘For whosoever will (desires to) save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose (loses) his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged (benefited), if he gain the whole world, and lose himself (is destroyed), or be cast away (lost)? 

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.’ (Luke 9:24-27) 

And there we have it friends, the self-explanatory, immortal words of Jesus on how we must approach our discipleship. Please, let’s take some time today to ponder our individual relationship with Jesus, re those terms of discipleship. And as always, with God’s help, try to improve them, for that’s the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!

…successfully walking with Jesus…takes lots of time…lots of selflessness…lots of care and consideration for others…  

P.S. I know it’s long and late, but please be aware that the hockey playoffs have begun, which means that there’s lots of hockey every night, and thus there will be many late nights and consequently late mornings. (smile) Just bear with the ole fella nuh. He’s got to have a life too yuh know. And once he’s alive and kicking, the Bit will get there…eventually. Much LOVE!