The Absolute Necessity For Acknowledging God’s Sovereignty in Times of Misfortune and Tragedy! Part 2.

16 Jan 2026 Leave a comment

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

Jeremiah 29:11.        ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you and expected end (a future and a hope).’

Glory be! It’s Friday! And most of the snow has finally been cleaned up in my area. You could hear the equipment working through the late night and early morning hours. Most importantly they cleaned our lane so we could get to the main road, for yesterday one of my neighbours got stuck in the snow in the lane and could not go out. The idea seems to be to clean the main streets before the lanes, but when the area is strictly lanes, how will people reach the main streets if they can’t get out of the lanes eh? 

That’s a question I can’t answer, (smile) but the important thing is we put this snowstorm behind us and move on with Jesus, obviously declaring: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the weekend is finally here!’ And since the Lord has spared our lives, let’s keep our promise of looking at some scripture verses that offer encouragement and assurance in times of misfortune. Yesterday we looked at scriptures that highlighted acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty (Job 1:20-22), and turning to prayer and community (Ps. 34:17-20) 

Now let’s look at another interesting principle, that of finding purpose in suffering. And as this commentary tells us: ‘Misfortune is often presented as a way to achieve spiritual growth and strengthen faith.’ And we all know that’s a tough nut to crack, but it is the truth as highlighted by these verses from the epistle of James. He contends: ‘My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (various trials); Knowing this, that the trying (testing) of your faith worketh (produces) patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire (complete), wanting (lacking) nothing.’ (James 1:2-4) 

But that doesn’t sound so reassuring you say. True. However, it is the best way to handle our problems without going crazy in this crazy world. It’s not easy, but with all the help we have from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ we can certainly do it. And trying to put a modicum of joy into our misfortune does grow our faith with patience thrown in for good measure. (smile) And as Peter adds: ‘But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, stablish (confirm), strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (1 Pet. 5:10-11) 

Then we have this big verse from Bruh Paul in Romans which covers it all: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) That promises that despite all of our heartaches and misfortune, in the long run the Lord will work it all out for our good! Wow! What a mighty promise to hold on to! 

Now, let’s turn to a principle about showing compassion and avoiding gloating, for as the commentary reminds us: ‘The Bible warns against taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others, even enemies.’ And that’s ever so true, as the wisdom of Cousin Sol cautions us from Proverbs, when he writes: ‘Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.’ (Prov. 17:5) We certainly need to remember that as our society has reached a sad state of mightily rejoicing over the calamities of others. 

Then Cousin Sol bumps it up to another level when he says: ‘Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him (be evil in His eyes), and he turn away his wrath from him.’ (Prov. 24:17-18) Yes friends, when the Lord sees us rejoicing over the calamities of our enemies, He’s liable to dislike it and then not punish our enemies. 

It’s also like Jesus taught: ‘But I say unto you, LOVE your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully (spitefully) use you, and persecute you.’ (Matt. 5:44) It’s as Bruh Paul also exhorts us in Romans: ‘Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.’ (Rom. 12:20) That’s basically the Christian motto. 

Now here’s the last principle on our list; that of maintaining hope and an eternal perspective in our misfortune. As the commentary tells us: ‘Scriptures provide assurance that suffering is temporary and that God offers restoration and eternal hope.’  And there are no better scriptures to emphasize that than these two. The first comes from the prophet Jeremiah on the Lord’s behalf: ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you and expected end (a future and a hope).’ (Jer. 29:11). 

Then here’s this most wonderful and reassuring verse of scripture, from Jesus Himself, when He faithfully reassures us: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33). Yes my fellow believers, Jesus has certainly done that, so it’s up to us now to believe it and put it into action in our lives. And to help us do just that, let’s go to the throne of grace through our Friday Chant asking for divine aid in this desperate time of need. 

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, that means if we want to see any divine aid, we need to truly upgrade our Christian activity, because right now it’s not good enough! Much LOVE!

…misfortune is tough…but if handled correctly…it can also build character…

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

The Overwhelming Importance of Believer’s seeking God’s Presence in their Lives!

14 Sep 2024 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 103:2.       Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

At last it’s our lazy-day Saturday, where we can do as we please; laze about or work hard about the house… Hn! Work hard… Not likely! It’s a day to just take things easy; to contemplate life; to consider our future in terms of our present. Although even that sounds too difficult to do today. (smile) One thing we’re going to do for sure though, is to send up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer to heaven. 

So, as one sincere voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And what more can you ask on a lazy-day than the Lord’s awesome presence in abundance eh? Nothing! Because it makes us feel light and refreshed, like we’re walking on air, we can’t do any wrong! (smile) But how can we with the Lord’s presence so strong in us eh? No way! And it’s sad that more of us don’t seek the Lord and a greater showing of His presence in our lives. Oh, how that would alleviate much of the pain and suffering that so many of us experience in this cold, callous and cruel world. But for whatever reason, too many of God’s creation shy away from Him, and thus lose the many benefits of His LOVING presence. 

And we see a handful of those benefits from Bruh David’s writings in Psalm 103: ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgives all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;  who crowneth thee with LOVING-kindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.’ (Ps. 103:1-5) 

Oh my people, just look at the many benefits we get from associating with, from staying close to Almighty God! Why then would we ever want to go astray from His wonderful fold eh, when there’s no one, or nothing else that can offer us those marvellous and miraculous benefits? Let’s look a li’l closer at those wonderful benefits nuh. And the first one is indeed a major benefit, one that no one else can provide: ‘Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;’ 

Yes friends, can you imagine any other supposed God, even Satan doing that? No way! But the Lord Jehovah sent His One Son down to earth to die on our behalf, so that our sins could be forgiven. And furthermore, as Bruh David says later on in the psalm: ‘As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.’ (Ps. 103:12) 

And for that mighty deliverance, done from an heart of everlasting, unconditional LOVE, all the world should be shouting a loud and grateful ‘Praise God for His undeserving goodness to the sinful children of men!’ But, unfortunately, only a small portion of us are doing that wise and godly thing. 

Then there’s this other marvellous benefit from knowing and being in close contact with God; ‘who healeth all thy diseases;’ Wow! What more can we ask eh my brethren; a kind, LOVING and compassionate God who forgives our sins, heals us and showers down undeserved blessings on us? And don’t forget that He satisfies our mouths and stomachs with good things that renew our strength like the eagles do! 

Why then are we so stupid and foolish to fall for the deceptive, sinful pleasures of the evil one eh? Pleasures that only last a short while and which gets us into trouble with God. Satan does NOTHING good for us, because his total purpose is to keep us on the outs with Almighty God. And the sad part is that the stuff he offers is not even good stuff, not even the real thing, but ofttimes faked. Remember, all that glistens is not gold, and that’s where Satan exceeds; in the glittering gold-like or gold plated stuff. But with Jehovah God, we get the real stuff. 

And remember what Jesus said about laying up earthly treasures; because moth and rust doth corrupt (ruin) them, and where thieves break through and steal:’ (Matt. 6:19) But the wise plan is to lay up treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt (ruin), and where thieves do not break through and steal.’ (Matt. 6:20) And we do that by keeping God first place in our lives and ignoring Satan and his evil deeds and pleasures as much as possible. 

But it’s not easy, however, as Peter so wisely instructs us, we ought to: ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt thee in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom steadfast resist in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in (experienced by) your brethren that are in the world.’ (2 Pet. 5:6-9) 

Yes my people, Satan likes to play games with our lives, but if we hold steadfast to our faith in Christ Jesus, we will defeat him most of the time. And as Peter assures us: ‘But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish (confirm), strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (2 Pet. 5:10-11) 

Oh my fellow saints, being a true Christian in this corrupt and evil world was never, and will never be easy, but if we put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ, then we will have all the tools necessary to defeat the devil and his evil cronies and live the good and abundant life down here on God’s great earth, that Jesus died for us to have. It’s all up to us, whether we take Almighty God seriously or not. However, please let’s be wise and do as Moses asked the Israelites long ago, when he placed life and death before them, as well as blessing and cursing, and then advised them ‘therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.’ (Deut. 30:19) 

Yes my brethren….that’s wisdom in spades! Please, let’s follow it for the sake of our children’s children! Much LOVE!

…Satan’s baubles and bangles are all fake…but God’s are the real thing…the real McCoy…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 May 2021 1 Peter 5:6.

26 May 2021 Leave a comment

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

1 Peter 5:6.     Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.

And then it was Wednesday…another wonderful eye-opening day! (smile) Oh praise the Lord for His everlasting kindness, the incomparable gift of seeing another day in His incomparable universe! As the song says, ‘this is the day of grace,’ the day when His blessings overtake us and cause joy, peace and LOVE to rise up majestically and victoriously in our souls! Wow! No other supposed Deity even has the desire, much less the awesome power to do that for His followers. 

Yes, friends, there is a true God, He is alive and looking down on mankind, His most wonderful creation with unconditional LOVE, and in Him we live, and we’ll survive, if we keep living in Him. His name is the Great I AM! But the crux of the matter, the answer to it all, is that we keep living in Him. If we do, we will be blessed and survive till eternity. However, if we don’t, we’ll be cursed and headed for destruction and eternal separation from Him forever. 

Now, please believe me, eternal separation from the One and Only Living God is the worst thing that can happen to a body, soul, spirit or whatever you choose to call it. And how do we keep living in Him our whole lives? Peter gives us some examples in His epistle. ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.’ (1 Pet. 5:6-7) 

Oh my people, those are the first two steps to living successfully with our God! Knowing that He cares for us, and humbly going to Him, so He can later on exalt us, because there’s nothing He dislikes like pride and arrogance! Then Peter continues: ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.’ (1 Pet. 5:8) 

Now the real test begins. We must realize that we have an enemy, who only wants to deceive and trip us up as we try to live for our God. But the truth is that he has no real power over us, unless we give it to him. That’s why we need to be sober and vigilant, for though he might not have any real power, he is indeed a smooth talker and great deceiver. You just have to consider how he talked Eve into eating of the forbidden fruit way back in the Garden of Eden. And his methods have not changed, possibly have become worse since our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ defeated Him at Calvary and rose from the dead, a mighty conqueror of hell, death and the grave! 

So Peter wisely directs us, re the enemy: ‘Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in (experienced by) your brethren that are in the world.’ (1 Pet. 5:9) And that’s no lie friends! All of us who believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are tried and tested by the enemy in the hope that we will turn away from our God, and/or do things against His directives that will get us into His bad books. Therefore, it’s of the utmost importance that we stay alert and diligent in our life walk against the many temptations that the enemy will undoubtedly throw our way. 

And when we do that, Peter promises: ‘But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish (confirm), strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.’ (1 Pet. 5:10-11). Oh my fellow saints in Christ, isn’t that an awesome promise! Once we stand strong against the enemy, survive his tests, our great God will eventually strengthen and settle us. And what’s amazing about the whole situation is that those same temptations that we endure and refute are the exact things that help build our fate in our God! 

So it’s exactly as we spoke about yesterday. The first thing is to draw near to God, for He will never turn us away, regardless of what state we’re in. Hear these scriptures that attest to that fact nuh. In this first one, Moses tells Israel: ‘For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them (a God so near to them), as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?’ (Deut. 4:7) And the answer is an emphatic ‘NONE!’ And Jeremiah declared it thus in his Lamentations: ‘Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not. O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.’ (Lam. 3:57-58) 

Jesus, as always though, puts it best in the parable of the prodigal son. ‘And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.’ (Luke 15:20) Yes mih bredrin, our heavenly Father is always on the lookout for us, anxiously waiting for us to turn the corner, to come to our senses and know that with Him is our ONLY hope for a blessed, peaceful and LOVING life! 

And you’ll notice that He doesn’t stand on any pomp or ceremony, He rushes forward to meet us, so great is His joy that we are coming back home to His safe and comfortable roost. He doesn’t even give us a chance to get in a word sideways, but orders a great celebration in our honour. He’s just so glad to see us come back home, not caring what we’ve done while we were gone. That could always be forgiven, though we might have to pay some retribution. (smile) Yeh friends, there are always consequences to our sins, thankfully though, through God’s mercy, not as much as we often deserve. 

And I don’t know if you have realized that what I’m doing is taking us through the scriptures that we spoke of yesterday. I just couldn’t help spoon feeding us, (smile) because I know that most of us would be too busy to read those scriptures. And they do tie in nicely to Peter’s advice. Now hear this last scripture, that about hands and hearts being cleansed. Bruh David says it thus: ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto to vanity (to an idol), nor sworn deceitfully.’ (Ps. 24:3-4) 

So friends, you see what it takes to make it up to God’s holy hill – clean hands and a pure heart. That means we have work to do. And for those of us who are serious about doing it, let’s go home now declaring (yeahhh!) our Wednesday Wail, telling the world about our wonderful position in Christ Jesus. 

Altogether now, in strong voice with sincere hearts. ‘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 I should not have to remind us, but I will anyway, (smile) that if we endure to the end, the future will be even more glorious than we can ever imagine! Much LOVE!

…for there is much joy in heaven…over even one repentant sinner…                                                   

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8              

Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 January 2020 1 Peter 5:8.

24 Jan 2020 Leave a comment

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

1 Peter 5:8.    ​Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
 
And then it was Friday…and there was lots of shouting and jumping for joy! Hn! More of us were happy to see Friday, and the end of the work week, than to celebrate being alive and kicking in God’s great universe and being a BELOVED and saved child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! 

Now what’s wrong with that picture eh? Does it mean we’re putting the world before God? Maybe! And if so, then it’s a very unwise move, because when we celebrate God, with His awesome help, we are able to handle whatever the world throws at us. But following the dictates of the world, only makes life harder, for there is no help but our own, and we all know that there isn’t a lot we can do on our own. 

Remember, Jesus said that we ought to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then all the worldly things will be added to us, we won’t have to sweat and strain and break our backs to acquire them, because the Father knows we need them. (Matt. 6:32-33) So please, let’s check out our lives today nuh, and see what’s our priority; God’s kingdom and His righteousness, or the things of the world, because it’s ever so important to get our priorities right! 

And as you’d expect, the ordinary workingman is hovering in the background, eagerly and expectantly waiting to sing his song, so let’s bring him on stage nuh. (smile) And as always, he crows: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui! And the chains of the slave master will be unshackled for a couple of days! 

Wow! What freedom! And yuh better believe I’m going to use that freedom to the hilt; do whatever I want, whenever I want…providing the other snake in the grass, the weather allows me to! Chuh! The weather’s been so contrary these days that you can’t make any serious plans, because it changes from one minute to the next! And yet they tell me that climate change ain’t real! Pure heifer dust yes! But if I can’t go out and do whatever I want to, then I’ll certainly do it in mih own yard, where I’m king of the castle…

Hn, hn, hn! King of which castle eh? When the wife and children protest my behaviour, then I have to modify it. So even in mih own yard, ah not really the boss nuh! But what yuh going to do eh? Nothing but grin and bear it, because nobody ever send or call me to have wife and children, is I with mih fresh self, went and look for them, so now I have to put up with whatever they bring. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE them dearly, and wouldn’t want to be without them, but yuh know, sometimes…sometimes they just cramp yuh style! (smile) And the truth of the matter is that I’m still ever so thankful for Fridays and weekends, regardless of the drawbacks!’ 

Ah friends, yuh see even when God is not your first priority, you still have barriers and boundaries to your behaviour. And as a serious and practicing child of God, we have more boundaries than most since we don’t want the enemy to compromise our lives and our living for Jesus. Consequently, our Friday Chant is somewhat different to the ordinary workingman’s song. So let’s chant it now nuh, in full voice with sincere hearts – yes our hearts must always be right when we come to the Father, otherwise He won’t acknowledge us. 

As one 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!’ 

Now, though we have some boundaries as believers, it doesn’t mean we have to be constantly looking over our shoulder for the devil and his evil cohorts, but we do have to be careful that we don’t go too far out on the thin limbs of life. That’s why we have to constantly remember these poignant words of Peter. ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:’ 

And that’s the gospel truth friends, the enemy is always on the prowl, always looking for some way to compromise us. And not because he’s a toothless lion with more bark than bite (smile) since Jesus defeated him and now has the keys to hell death and the grave, he still can cause immense trouble in our lives if we give him the slightest opening. It’s up to us to keep our doors and windows and crevices closed so he can’t get in. 

And continuing with Peter’s advice: ‘Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in (being experienced by) your brethren that are in your world.’ (1 Pet. 5:9). Oh, I know when the devil comes a calling, it doesn’t help all that much to know that other believers are suffering temptations too, but nonetheless, we must resist him through our faith in Jesus, because he’s a liar and cheat and deceiver and only wants to turn us away from God. 

Yuh see how smoothly and efficiently he made our forefathers Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit? He hasn’t changed, possibly gotten smarter and has more tools at his behest. So it’s of the utmost importance that we stand strong against him. And Peter ends with this assurance. ‘But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish (confirm), strengthen, settle you.’ (1 Pet. 5:10) 

Ah friends, some temptation and affliction is necessary in the lives of all believers, because that’s how we get strong, how our faith grows. But be aware that the Lord will never give you more than you can bear, and with every temptation, He will either carry you through it, or make a way for you to go through it. That’s his ever faithful promise! So let’s stand strong and steadfast in the faith! Much LOVE!

…though Jesus rules…the devil still exists…with his evil ways…