The Overwhelming Importance of Knowing God’s Promises, Believing Them, then Putting Them into Action!

13 Mar 2026 Leave a comment

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

Romans 8:37.        Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.

Well then, it’s the day we’ve all been looking forward to; Friday. And we’ve offered up our Friday Mantra; ‘Thank God it’s Friday, and the weekend is here at last!’ Now, fortunately, the morning commute was precipitation free, although we’d been promised snow by eight o’clock. However, I don’t know if the evening commute will be precipitation free because the snow began around 11 o’clock and it looks it means serious business. Some minutes before eleven, I was upstairs in my bedroom getting ready to come downstairs and looked outside and there was nothing. But by the time I came down to the living room a few minutes later, the place was white and the snow was tumbling down with a breakneck intensity. (smile)

Now I understand why we recently had that spring-like period; so the snow could melt and make room for more. But as I keep reminding us, we can handle anything that comes against us, for we are the children of the Most High God Jehovah, with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, the One who rose majestically from the dead to take rulership of this evil and ungodly world! So we are not afraid of anything or anyone, for He’s vowed to protect us, and besides that, as this scripture tells: ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom. 8:37)

And I like how this commentary explains that verse. “More than conquerors,” from Romans 8:37, refers to believers in Jesus Christ who, through His LOVE, are not just victorious over hardships, but “super-conquerors” who gain spiritual benefits from them. It signifies a, triumphant state where trials and enemies are turned into tools for good, relying on Christ’s power rather than personal strength.’ And is that ever the gospel truth, for we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! (Phil. 4:13)

Therefore, there’s no need to worry, just put our faith to work, believe and receive. Well, in truth, it’s not as easy as all that, but you do have to believe before you can receive. You also have to ask and knock and seek. (Matt. 7:7-8) So being a disciple or a true follower of Jesus is not an easy job, although it’s a very rewarding one. Remember how Jesus characterized discipleship: ‘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)

Yes friends, we need to remember that following Jesus is a daily occurrence, with sacrifices thrown in where we would prefer them not to be. (smile) But them’s the breaks! If you want in, then you must stand the strain, even when it seems impossible to bear, for the Lord won’t give us more than we can bear…now that’s not completely true. He will give us more than we can bear in our own strength, but by the same token, He will help us to bear whatever burden He tests us with.

That’s why Bruh Paul wrote thus to the Corinthians. ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor. 10:13) Now that doesn’t mean you’ll escape all temptation. Certainly not! In other words, God will oftentimes give you the strength to resist the temptation rather than take it away completely.

And that’s one of the problems with today’s church, we mouth all these biblical clichés without fully understanding how they truly work. But beneath each statement that God makes there is usually something for the believer to do to receive it. Even the greatest gift, salvation through grace, although it’s free, one must believe and accept Christ as Lord and Saviour to receive it. So Christianity is not a something for nothing spree, it’s a partnership with Almighty God, and as in all partnerships, both partners have responsibilities, and God expects us to do our part of the partnership.

And the corollary to that is that you cannot know what you are expected to do in this partnership with God until you read and study His Word, listen to the guidance of His Holy Spirit that dwells within you, be a church member, so you can fellowship with other believers, and communicate with the Father Himself through the system of prayer. Don’t worry, the Father has it all well worked out, you just have to get serious, buckle down and do your part. He will do His. In fact, He’s already done most of His work, by giving us Jesus as our Redeemer, and plenty of what’s left to do is now in our hands.

And one of God’s great promises comes from this scripture in Hebrews: ‘Let us therefore come boldly (confidently but humbly) unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’ (Heb. 4:16) And are we ever in a time of desperate need, with our world quickly spinning out of control. So let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, seeking divine aid in these lawless times.

Altogether: ‘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, praying for help is fine, but remember God searches our hearts first before responding to our prayers, so let’s hope that all of our hearts were, and still are filled with good motives, otherwise divine aid will not be forthcoming. Much LOVE!

…the Christian’s walk is not a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park…but the rewards are certainly worth it…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 September 2013 1 John 5:14

24 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

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

1 John 5:14.    And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.
 
Oh Friends, what is our world coming to eh? Everyday now brings some unnecessary slaughter of innocents, all in the name of some religion! Religion is supposed to be the opiate of the people, keeping them nice and quiet, peaceful and law abiding. But unfortunately, in these ruthless and cruel times, it’s doing the exact opposite; stirring them up to war-like actions.
 
Just look at the attack in the mall in Kenya last week, and that on the Christians coming out of church in Northern Pakistan on the weekend! No one, or nothing is safe and sacred anymore from these despicable murderers. They’ll even kill their own, if they think it necessary. And the sad part is that we allow them to get away with it, calling them terrorists, when they’re simply out and out disgusting criminals!
 
Ah Lord eh! My heart is heavy and angry this morning Friends, but I won’t write what I really want to, because it might not align with God’s Word or Will. I’ll just ask us to keep praying for our fellow believers in so many parts of the world, who can’t openly worship Jesus Christ, who are oppressed, stigmatized and murdered simply because of their faith. 
 
Please pray with me. ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, You know that we truly LOVE and worship You. The problem though is that some of us can do it in perfect freedom, but there are millions of Your children who are being innocently and unfairly persecuted for worshipping You.
 
Father in heaven, we implore You to help them this day. Lessen their burdens, lighten their yokes, help them to gain the freedom of worship that we blessed ones have, and please repay the perpetrators of this injustice, for You’ve promised to repay any injustice done to Your children.
 
Please, please help them Father, for their suffering is so great it’s now reached a stage where many may even consider giving up the faith, and we know You don’t want that. Please help them to stand strong, under all the oppression. Let Your Holy Spirit enable them to remain steadfast in faith, though their whole world seems to be falling apart.
 
Oh heavenly Father, we pray all this in the name of Your wonderful Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, whose blood was shed at Calvary in contrition for our sins. Amen.’
 
Oh my fellow believers, please let’s invoke a few pieces of appropriate scripture on behalf of our suffering brothers and sisters around the world. The first comes from the heart and soul of Bruh David in Psalm 34, titled, ‘The Lord hears the righteous.’ ‘The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.’ (Ps.34:17)
 
And the next scripture verse comes from Cousin Sol. ‘The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.’ (Prov.15:29)
 
Then James tells us that ‘The effectual (effective) and fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ (James 5:16b) And I know that there are many truly righteous people amongst us, so we ought to get a quick and positive hearing.
 
And finally, the most encouraging of all the scriptures, this from Jesus: ‘And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.’ (Matt.21:22)
 
Oh Friends, we’ve asked, and many are righteous who have done so. Now let’s perform the last requirement; that of believing. Let’s truly believe for God to help those many, many believers enduring injustice and ‘sufferation’ around the world.
 
And as a gentle reminder, (smile) let’s turn to heaven once more. ‘Father God, Your people are crying out today in all righteousness and faith! Please answer our heartfelt pleas with mercy and justice, on behalf of our unfortunate friends suffering such unjust persecution. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.’ 
 
Ah mih people, let’s be prisoners of hope and stand in expectant faith, that our merciful and mighty God will hear our prayers and alleviate the ‘sufferation’ of believers all over His world. Let’s keep praying for them, and at the same time, improve our own faith and strength in numbers in this supposed free part of the world, because the enemy is picking away, bit by bit, at our Christian house.
 
Like a bunch of wood ants, they’re finding the unguarded spots in our situation and slowly gnawing away at them. Note the absence of prayer in our schools, public places and numerous homes, plus the subtle attempts everyday to negate our rights to worship in freedom.
 
People of other faiths are coming to our Christian countries and getting rights that trample on ours. Friends, we cannot allow this to continue. At some stage, like RIGHT NOW, we’ve got to stand up and say, enough is enough, and fight back. Otherwise, in a few short years, our situation will surely deteriorate to such that we won’t have the freedom of worship anymore.
 
This is a wake up call my brethren! I’m therefore calling on all of us who claim to believe in Jesus, to stand up and be counted! Let’s build our churches! Let’s teach our children the Word! Let’s live the Faith we claim to have, and spread the Word of God, which is so powerful that He used it to create the universe and all therein!
 
Oh my people, these are the days of sad reckoning. We either have to put up and get some serious action going, or shut up! Which one will it be eh? Are we going to have our descendants living in fear, running and hiding to serve and worship the ONE TRUE GOD of this universe? I think not! So let’s get a move on nuh.
 
And we’ll end with the godly assurance and confidence that comes to us from our Bit. ‘And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.’
 
Oh my brethren, please let’s not disappoint Jesus, let’s live up to the excellent standards that He requires of us. That’s the only way we can recapture our world and have it turn again to the Most High God Jehovah! Much LOVE!
 
…if we believers don’t do the Will of God…how else will it get done eh…