Today’s Scrip-Bit   3 July 2023 Psalm 133:1.

03 Jul 2023 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 133:1.       Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Yes, my fellow Canadians, it’s Monday, and the Canada Day celebrations continue apace, as we acknowledge the many blessings we have to be thankful for, especially since the afternoon sun has now replaced the early morning rain. That means many of us in this God-blessed country won’t be working today, but getting paid for it. So please, let’s not overdo the celebrating, and instead apply a modicum of circumspection, a sense of responsibility to the situation. (smile) 

Remember, it’s not all wine and roses, for although our country is comparatively a paradise to many others, we do have many serious problems that we need to pay serious attention to, if we don’t want them to blow up in our faces and cause a sad downgrade in this beautiful country of Canada. And today we’re going to have a look at Psalm 133, some very precious and wise words of Bruh David that currently have exceptional relevance to both our country, our world and our faith. 

So please read with me. ‘Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment (oil) upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts (edge) of his garments. As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for ever more.’ (Pl.133:1-3) 

Now that my fellow believers says it all! People living together in harmony are blessed, just like when they are anointed with oil, as Aaron when anointed high priest by Moses. (Ex. 32:22-33) Living in unity is also described by Bruh David as the precious dew that descended upon Mt. Zion where the Lord commanded his blessings for life ever after.  Unfortunately though, instead of moving, or working towards unity, our world and our Christian faith are moving away from it, making resentment, anger and petty differences split us apart. 

Now that’s no way to live! What kind of life can we have if we’re always in disagreement and have unnecessary drama in our lives? We certainly can’t live the abundant live that Christ died for us to have! And sadly, in my many years on God’s great earth I’ve never seen it so divided; nation against nation, as well as serious discontent within numerous nations that’s causing civil wars all around the globe. Not to mention the terrible disunity and disagreement to be found in the lowest but most important level of society, the family. Then there’s the dividing asunder that’s happening within Christ’s church over selfish and petty differences. 

Whatever happened to Jesus’ commandment eh? ‘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 you are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:34-35) Apparently that has all been thrown through the window, but yet we expect the church to survive and prosper. That’s impossible, for when the Pharisees heard that Jesus was casting out demons, and claimed that He was casting them out through Satan’s power., (Matt. 12:24) Jesus begged to differ. 

And in His awesome wisdom pointed out to them. ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation: and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself: how shall then his kingdom stand?’ (Matt. 12:25-26) It obviously cannot stand! And that’s why the church is falling apart, suffering so much doubt and division, that the subsequent disenchantment is bringing worldwide apostasy, turning many away from the faith. Consequently, we believers are not living the unified life Christ expects of us, nor doing the work He so badly desires of us. 

The author of Hebrews also gave us these simple but amazing words of wisdom pertaining to unity. ‘Let brotherly LOVE continue.’ (Heb. 13:1) Short, sweet, and to the point my people! And we have one of the best examples of that right at the beginning of our faith, where Abram (later Abraham) and his nephew Lot’s herdsmen were having difficulties living together; ‘And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren.’ (Gen. 13:8) 

Wow! What simple common sense, for strife offers nothing positive, only negative consequences! But how often do we find that kind of wisdom and common sense being exhibited nowadays eh? Not very often, for in our current society, every problem, no matter how simple and easily resolved, has to become contentious or we’re not happy. 

And I like the scholars’ simple but beautiful explanation of the Psalm 133. They say: ‘This psalm is all about the preciousness of family unity. Its blessedness is exclaimed (vs.1) and explained (vs. 2-3). It sanctifies (vs. 2) and solidifies (vs.3)’ What more can we say eh? Not a whole lot, except to reassert the great importance in unity, in godly harmony, whether it be in the lowly family, or betwixt the biggest and most powerful nations. Only in unity and harmony can mankind truly thrive and prosper, and that’s a lesson we’ve got to desperately learn within Christ’s church, and learn it asap, if we ever hope to turn our evil and ungodly world around. 

Now, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, with sincere and heartfelt pleas for mercy and grace to guide us in these trying times. As one voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. 

Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And if we truly desire to see divine help, then we will truly turn from our evil ways and aspire to live in harmony with each other. Much LOVE!

…how can two walk together…unless they are agreed… (Amos 3:3) 

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   15 September 2022 Matthew 12:25.

15 Sep 2022 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 12:25.       Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.

Oh friends, these last few days of September summer have been ever so glorious, beautiful sunshine with warm, shirtsleeve temps. You know we have a habit of cursing September, believing that as soon as Labour Day passes the cold spell sets in. But it hasn’t been that way this year at all. The temperature has dropped some during the night hours, but still at comfortable levels that I can leave my bedroom window open. 

Anyway, since we don’t know how much longer this good spell of weather will last, please, let’s enjoy it, make the most of it, give much thanks, especially when others are experiencing either violent floods or terrible drought. And for those unfortunate ones living in those areas, if we cannot offer physical or monetary aid, then we ought to at least offer up prayers for their welfare in their time of calamity. Remember the Good Book tells us that ‘The effectual (effective) prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ (James 5:16) And since we consider ourselves saints of God, children of God, then we must be righteous, and our prayers very effective. 

Ah mih people, with the surprising increase in communication technology, our world has now become more like a global village than ever. That means we have to take more notice of each other, our pains and our tears, and do much more to help one another. The small-minded, insular attitudes we have, or had when there wasn’t as much easy communication, now has to change. We need to adopt a bigger, or global vision, especially for Christ’s church, which is supposed to be one of the biggest movers and shakers all over God’s world. 

But unfortunately, we are not living up to that designation. We are still mostly concerned about, and concentrating on our own li’l insular space. But Christ desires a worldwide ministry, one of togetherness and unity, not the divided and dissension filled church that now passes for His ministry. Remember Jesus words: ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.’ (Matt. 12:25) 

And since Jesus only spoke truth, it’s obvious that if His church is now more divided and dysfunctional than ever, it either won’t stand for long, or will not be very useful in doing His work of spreading the gospel to all ends of the earth and bringing the lost and enslaved to His welcoming kingdom. I don’t believe that there’s ever been a time like right now, when Christ’s church needs to get together more than ever. 

Unfortunately though, every day we see more drifting apart, with new denominations and sub-denominations, cults and other cliques being formed. That obviously is not good for Christ’s ministry, since it means that supposed believers cannot agree on the important aspects of their faith. But please, please, let’s remember Bruh Paul’s words to the Ephesians when he wrote to them about the unity of all believers, both Jewish and Gentile. 

‘But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes (since) were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he (himself) is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition (division) between us. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances: for to make (create) in himself of twain (the two) one new man, so making peace. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain (put to death) the enmity thereby.’ (Eph. 2:13-16) 

And the long and short of all that my brethren is that Jesus by His death on the cross, unified the Jewish and Gentile believers under one banner, the Christian Church, removing the enmity, or the middle partition that the Mosaic law the Jews wrongly felt gave them superiority over the Gentiles. So, if the enmity between Jews and Gentiles has now been dispelled, and unity achieved in one common church of Christ, then why are Gentiles splitting up like crazy eh? 

Oh my fellow believers, we all know that division and/or dissension never accomplish a common purpose, which Christ’s church is supposed to have, so it’s time to stop the childish, selfish, power-seeking behaviour that’s rampant in the church right now. Time to stop the bleeding my brethren, because that same divisiveness and infighting is driving many possible believers away from Christ instead of toward Him. The simple fact of the matter is that nothing survives if it keeps on dividing and becoming smaller and less important. 

And with the myriad of problems currently engulfing our world, the one constant body throughout it all ought to be Christ’s church! That’s why He founded it! It ought to be a place of help and refuge for the lost and dispossessed, where food and succour can be found regardless of race, colour and creed. A place to provide peace and salvation when the physical wants of the body have been satisfied. But is that what the church is about these days? I don’t think so nuh…or at least not to the extent that it ought to be. 

And it’s because we are falling down in our basic responsibilities that people are not turning to Christ and His church as much as they should. There’s not enough confidence in what we’re doing, in the examples we’re setting, to draw people to Christ. And the only way that will ever change is when we believers start uniting instead of dividing, and truly start living for one and only one purpose, the glory and manifestation of Christ Jesus. And for those of us who are sincerely trying to do that, the Lord has bestowed upon us tools to accomplish His purpose. We call them our Thursday Blessings, and we activate them by declaring (oh no!!!) them out loud. 

So as one strong, sincere and confident 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 every day! Amen!’ 

And now that we have activated those blessings, let’s go out and use them to bring others to Christ nuh, like we ought to. Much LOVE!

…united, we stand…divided, we fall…it’s as simple as that… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 July 2020 Matthew 12:25.

03 Jul 2020 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 12:25.     ​Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.
 

It’s late, it’s late, it’s late! But, with the Lord’s help, it’ll be great, it’ll be great, it’ll be great! (smile) Morning mih bredrin! How goes it this Friday morning in early July eh? I know some people are singing: ‘Summertime, summertime, summertime!’ enjoying the constant warm weather at last. However, many others are more concerned about all the unprecedented problems that have recently raised up their ugly heads in our society. 

But not to worry, our great God is still in control, and He has promised that no weapon formed against His children will prosper. And Jesus’ two most famous words were: ‘FEAR NOT!’ So let’s do just that nuh; don’t be afraid, but work within the parameters of which we are capable and do our li’l part to help remedy the situation, if it’s only being responsible in a positive manner. And the sermon done right there! (smile) 

Now let’s hear what the ordinary workingman has to say. ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! Yeah! And the Canada Day holiday broke up the work week nicely! That day of rest in between was wonderful! This is the best I’ve felt after the few weeks that we’ve gone back to work! Glory be! But the sad part is that the same problems we had last weekend, we still have them! Nothing seems to be getting better in either the virus pandemic or the strife and protests! 

And with the 4th of July celebrations this weekend down in the U.S, yuh could imagine the bacchanal that going to happen down there with all the confusion that already taking place! Ah Lord eh! Good thing ah living in Canada yes, where we a li’l more law abiding and responsible. But when will we ever get back to normal eh, and when this systemic racism thing going to get fixed eh? Only God alone seems to know yes! 

But ah certainly hope we see some positive results in either case sometime soon oui. Ah tired with it now. Ah can’t go out as ah want to, and when I do go out, is always somebody marching in the streets or causing some riot somewhere! Steups! Yes, ah know people have problems, and have rights and want rights and all that, but what about my rights eh? Nobody not concerned about them! Nobody concerned that their rights impinging on mine! 

What a world we live in eh Dr. Jack! Ah only hope mih children don’t have to grow up in that sorta mishmash, unruly, divided and irresponsible world nuh! But all I could do right now yes is simply shake mih head and say thank the Lord is Friday, and ah have some time to sit down and contemplate the situation!’ 

Yes friends, we all need to take some time and contemplate the situation; both as individuals, as well as members of the overall society, and see how we can best put our gifts and talents to work to help improve it. It’s our citizenship responsibility. We won’t always agree, but as they say, we can agree to disagree, and thus get rid of the many small, petty and unimportant things that cause the division amongst us. Jesus said it very clearly: ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.’ 

That’s not rocket science my people, but simple common sense. I’m forgetting though, that common sense is in very short supply these days. (smile) And we’re so foolish, that we seem to prefer to destroy our society, rather than come to some workable agreement. Anyway, as saints of Christ, the first thing we ought to do in any given situation is turn to our heavenly Father and pray, ask for wisdom and guidance to handle the prevailing situation. So let’s do that right now nuh; let’s cry out to Him in humble confidence through our Friday Chant, our prayer for mercy and grace, wisdom and understanding. 

As one loud and sincere voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. It’s been pretty rough…some of it from work, as many of us are now back to work in varied ways, but most of our anxiety still comes from all the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus still causing. We not accustomed to that Lord, and it really telling on us. And now, on top of all that, we have racial riots and protests to put up with. Oh Lord, yuh know we can’t handle it on our own and desperately need Your help. 

Yes, 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!’ 

Yes friends, the Lord heard our prayer, and as we spoke, He was already putting His plans into action to help us. Now it’s our turn to satisfy our part of the covenant, the partnership we have with Him, time to be responsible and show the true colours of Christianity with which we will conquer this evil world! The Lord is counting on us friends, so please, let’s not disappoint Him nuh! Much LOVE!

…as true salt of the earth…and lights of the world…we can win this thing for Jesus…