Obeying God’s Commandments brings Life and Many Other Good Benefits!

04 Jun 2025 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 22:37.       Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

And it’s going to be another beautiful summer’s day, with high temps and a cool breeze to nullify the heat. So what more can we ask eh? Nothing really, except that we step up to the plate and truly do as Jesus tells us in reply to the uppity, arrogant lawyer’s question. ‘Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matt. 22:37-40) 

Yes mih friends, those two commandments are the basic foundation of God’s law…LOVE God – dedicate your life to Him, and LOVE your neighbour as you LOVE yourself – treat others with the same care and compassion that we give ourselves. It’s all about LOVE! The greatest emotion and attribute of God and mankind! Hopefully we’ll LOVE ourselves with a good LOVE, not a narcissistic, arrogant, selfish and demanding kind, and we can then transfer that wholesome LOVE to our neighbours. Wow! What a wonderful world this would be if we could only live that way! 

And this commentary explains the purpose of the Great Commandment thus. ‘The “Great Commandment,” as cited by Jesus in the New Testament, refers to two fundamental principles: LOVING God with all your being and LOVING your neighbor as yourself. It’s not a single commandment but two intertwined ones, representing the essence of God’s law and the basis for a fulfilling life. These two commandments are presented as the foundation upon which the entire law and the prophets rest. They are not a replacement for the Ten Commandments but a distillation of their meaning, emphasizing the importance of a heart-felt LOVE for God and for others.’ 

And that’s nothing new, for Moses reiterated the Great Commandment at least three times for the children of Israel in the book of Deuteronomy. So, let’s check them out nuh. In chapter 6, Moses declares: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.’ (Deut. 6:4-5) 

Then in chapter 10, he says: ‘And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to LOVE him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good (benefit or welfare).’ (Deut. 10:12-13) And please note that last verse specifies that keeping the Lord’s commandments are not for His good but for ours! 

When are we going to wake up and realize that everlasting truth eh my people? So that our world can become a much better place for our children’s children, because what we’re currently bequeathing to them is nothing less that a hell hole, a tragically hell bound world!  

Then in chapter 30, Moses again tells the Israelites about their basic duty to God. ‘And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to LOVE the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.’ (Deut. 30:6) Please note that last phrase ‘that thou mayest live.’ Again, LOVING God and obeying His commandments will give us life, and by inference, doing the opposite will surely cut it short. How long is it going to take us to learn eh friends, that all the Lord says and does and expects of us is for our good? 

And as per LOVING and respecting our neighbour, hear these instructions from the Book of Leviticus. Moses writes: ‘Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer (gossip) among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood (life) of thy neighbour: I am the Lord. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise (surely reprove, criticize, rebuke) thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him (bear sin because of him). Thou shalt not avenge (take vengeance), nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.’ (Lev. 19:16-18) 

Unfortunately though, all those things that the Lord said we should not do, are exactly what we’re doing today. For, gossip, taking our neighbour’s lives, or putting them in jeopardy, rebuking, criticizing, bearing sin against our neighbours, hating our brothers, both biological and figurative, taking vengeance on others, and bearing unnecessary, even life-long grudges are the things that are most prominent in our current society.  What it does it say about out LOVE for God eh, about the reverence and obedience we have for Him! Nada!  We don’t consider Him important, else our behaviour would be entirely different. 

And then we wonder why our world is in such chaos and disaster, with strife, anger, hatred, resentment amongst the major ingredients of our lives. It’s simple friends: disobedience to God’s Word, and a strong desire to live the carnal and evil way that Satan promotes. But let’s remember that when the chips fall, Satan can’t help us, not even one iota, for all those who live like him will be headed straight to hellfire and damnation, with eternal separation from God. Therefore, this is a serious warning for us to clean up our act if we ever wish to see the pearly gates of heaven. 

Now, for those of us who are sincerely trying to live for Christ, let’s go home declaring our Wednesday Wail (chuh!!!) and let me apologize for a mindless blunder yesterday, calling our Tuesday Mantra, the Tuesday Wail. Don’t know where my head was. (smile) 

So with strong and sincere voice, let’s offer up our Wednesday Wail. ‘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!’ 

And our puny, finite minds cannot picture the glorious future that awaits those who stick with Jesus right to the very end. Hope and pray to see you there! Much LOVE!

…God did not want His most marvellous creation to be robots…so He gave us free will…hoping that we would use it to live for Him…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit   2 May 2023 James 2:8.

02 May 2023 Leave a comment

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

James 2:8.      If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.

And isn’t it strange that on this Tuesday morning the second of May 2023, after celebrating Labour’s victories over the establishment down through the ages, that we’re still embroiled in one of the biggest labour battles and strikes, in Canada, that between the Federal Government and it’s hundred thousand plus public employees, a strike now moving into its second week. It’s affecting all the stuff that the Federal Government is responsible for, like visas and passports, food inspection, and even income tax. 

And by the way, yesterday was the last day for submitting your 2022 income tax filing without being hit with the onerous interest that the Revenue department charges on late filings. Hn! What a joke! Filing tax returns without anybody to deal with them! But the high possibility of earning interest from the government’s poorer base must not be negated. NO! And believe me, it is the poorest classes that do pay the majority of the Income Tax, since the government employees are either afraid to touch the rich and powerful, or that class has a phalanx of lawyers at the ready to dispute any tax arguments, and thus avoid paying their fair share. 

And, in a way, I’m glad that the Tax department people are feeling the heat now, because they are the worst people to deal with, for they don’t give an inch, are always eager to get their pound of flesh from the ones least able to pay it. They are worse than the bad-mouthed moneylenders. I can tell from hard experience that as soon as you can’t pay their exorbitant demands, they are quick to threaten to garnishee your wages and sell your house for the few dollars you supposedly owe them. 

But what else is new eh? Nothing! For as Cousin Sol says so wisely in Ecclesiastes: ‘The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is nothing new under the sun.’ (Eccl. 1:9) Yes friends, the more powerful has always taken from the less powerful, and that’s the way it will be until Jesus returns and sets up His Millennial kingdom. No wonder this saying unfortunately exists and is gospel truth. ‘Man’s inhumanity to man, makes countless thousands mourn.’ 

None of God’s other creations behave in such a warlike and greedy manner towards each other as human beings do. And would you believe that we are supposedly God’s greatest creation! But I beg to differ, for in reality, we’ve become lower than the supposedly lowest with the inhumane and ungodly manner in which we react to each other. Why do you think the Father sent Jesus to die on the cross for us eh? So that our heinous sins could be forgiven and we could have a new start. 

And Jesus pleaded with all His heart to us, when He said: ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:34-35) But have we taken Him seriously and tried to do His will. No way! Even supposed believers are amongst the most inhumane and ungodly in these evil and ungodly times! 

Now, to tell the truth, Jesus’ command there was not really new nuh, because as far back as Leviticus, Moses warned the wandering Israelite’s of God’s desire: ‘Thou shalt not avenge (take vengeance), nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.’ (Lev. 18:19) But we’d been doing the opposite thing for so long that Jesus realized that they had to be a new way for us to show others that we belong to Him, thus His commandment to LOVE each other, following His example of unconditional LOVE for us. 

And all through the Bible, the Good Library, that theme of LOVE for each other has been repeated time after time, because it’s the greatest attribute of our Triune God, and thus ought to be one that we show in spades. Please listen to a few of the verses we’re talking about nuh.  Bruh Paul wrote this to the church at Ephesus. ‘Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in LOVE, as Christ also hath LOVED us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour (aroma).’ (Eph. 5:1-2) 

Oh my people, Jesus gave His sinless life as a LOVING sacrifice for us. How can we do anything less than follow the example that He set us eh? Meanwhile to the Thessalonians, Bruh Paul wrote: ‘For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth (rejects), despiseth (rejects) not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. But as touching (concerning) brotherly LOVE ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to LOVE one another.’ (1 Thess. 4:7-9) 

What else can I say eh friends? It’s God who teaches us to LOVE each other, and if we don’t listen to Him, whom then are we going to listen to? And James, Jesus’ brother, adds his two cents worth, when he writes to the believers. ‘Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich (to be rich) in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that LOVE him? 

But ye have despised (dishonoured) the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgement seats (into the courts)? Do they not blaspheme that worthy (noble) name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well. But if ye have respect (show partiality) to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced (convicted) of the law as transgressors.’ (James 2:5-9) 

Yes my brethren, the royal law is to LOVE another as thyself, and we’re doing well, only if we are fulfilling it. And Peter rightly and wisely exhorts us: ‘Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned (sincere) LOVE of the brethren, see that ye LOVE one another with a pure heart fervently. Being born again not of corruptible (perishable) seed, but of incorruptible (imperishable), by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.’ (1 Pet. 1:22-23) 

And last but not least, John tells us in his first epistle: ‘He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that LOVETH his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of (no cause for) stumbling in him.’ (1 John 2:9-10) Ah mih people, what’s so difficult to understand in all those scriptures eh? The main purpose for us being on this earth is LOVE! God first LOVED us, and He expects and deeply desires that we would LOVE Him back, as well as to LOVE ourselves and our neighbours. That’s the ONLY way that our world will flourish the way He intended it to. 

And, for whatever it’s worth, the outcome is all in our hands now my brethren! So, for those who are doing our best to follow that royal law, lets’ go home declaring (awright!!!) our Tuesday Mantra letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, 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 my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

Now let’s go out and share that amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…why is it so much easier for humans…to hate each other…than to LOVE each other… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ