Today’s Scrip-Bit   26 October 2023 Psalm 73:26.

26 Oct 2023 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 73:26.       My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength (rock) of my heart, and my portion for ever.

And just like Wednesday yesterday, today, Thursday, has opened rainy and somewhat cloudy! Consecutive rainy and cloudy days! But who’s complaining, for we do need some heavenly blessings. Let’s be thankful that we are at least getting a little, some parts of our world haven’t gotten any in a long time and are suffering from severe drought. Let’s pray that they will soon receive some heavenly relief, because there’s nothing worse on this earth than to be without water, both in the human body and on the land. 

And it’s been a long time since we’ve shared something from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. So, today, let’s check out this piece simply titled ‘The Living God.’ Please pray with me. ‘I place my whole confidence In the Living God. Not because things Are going my way. Not because I understand All the inexplainables Or because I am immune To problems and pain and sorrow. But despite my questions My reversals, my disappointments Despite my sorrow and tears I place my whole confidence In the Living God For He alone can see me through. He alone is worthy of my trust.’ 

And that’s the gospel truth friends! The One and ONLY Living God, Yahweh, is the ONLY Being in this universe worthy of our total trust! And why is that you ask? Because whether you believe it or not, He is our Creator and Controller, and nothing happens in our lives or this world unless He instigates or allows it. The problem mankind has though is surrendering their entire life to an unseen Deity, and with our God-given choice of free will, it becomes even harder for man to do so as he increases in worldly knowledge and wisdom. 

Unfortunately though, worldly knowledge and wisdom don’t recognize Almighty God as the titan that He is, but relegates Him to a minor background role, even foolishly desiring to completely rid our society of His awesome presence. But that’s something that will NEVER happen, because the Lord won’t allow it. I don’t know why man doesn’t wake up and recognize his real puny, powerless self. As Jesus so rightly asked: ‘Which of you by taking thought (worrying) can add one cubit to his stature?’ (Matt. 6:27) 

None of us, because we don’t have the power to make any serious increases or decreases to our bodies and our lives in general. Look at how many rich people die despite their wealth and accessibility to the best medical attention the world has to offer. And so many young ones who go home before we think it’s time. And why do some get real sick and don’t pass on, while others are not sick but nonetheless pass over to the other side? If we truly had the power over our lives, wouldn’t we do it differently. 

Of course! But the fact is that when the Grim Reaper comes a calling, we don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of refusing or not accepting his invitation. So, it’s about time mankind wakes up and realizes that there are only a very few aspects of life that he can really control. And even those, he controls through the goodness and grace of Almighty God. That’s why it’s wisdom of immense proportions to surrender our lives to the One, True and Living God. 

And the Bible Promise for today’s poem comes from Psalm 73, that very significant expose of the psalmist Asaph’s life, where he almost fell captive to the attractiveness of the prosperity of the wicked, but discovered his folly when he went into the Lord’s sanctuary and finally understood the demise God had planned for them. Consequently, he later penned these poignant but oh so true words that Ms. Calkin uses as her Bible Promise for our poem. He writes: ‘Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength (rock) of my heart, and my portion for ever.’ (Ps. 73:25-26) 

Now those are very good scriptures on which to base our total surrender to God, because He is truly the Only One both in heaven and earth that we can sincerely and faithfully depend on. The Only One who will never leave nor forsake us, nor deceive us, like Satan, the father of lies and deceit and his evil cronies do. 

Please remember these true and uplifting words of another psalmist. ‘Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man (human beings), in whom there is no help (no salvation). His breath goeth forth (his spirit departs), he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever.’  (Ps. 146:3-6) 

Now that is the ultimate in wisdom, my brethren! And please pay particular attention to that last statement: ‘which keepeth truth for ever,’ because it is the indisputable truth! Real truth is only to be found in the Word of God! As Jesus so sincerely stated as He reverently prayed to the Father for the disciples: ‘Sanctify them (set them apart) through thy truth: thy word is truth.’ (John 17:17) And what does that mean? This commentary explains it as simply as possible: ‘God’s Word is truth; what He says is true. We cannot simply discard it because we disagree with it. If we do, we are, in effect calling God a liar.’ And sadly, too many of us do that, or insinuate it every single day. 

No wonder our world is in such a mess. But our great God doesn’t take offence because He knows that in the long run we will all have to come running back to Him if we desire salvation and eternal life. In fact, He’s even generous to a fault, bestowing blessings on us that we don’t deserve, but which are necessary for us to do His earthly work. We call them our Thursday Blessings, and to activate them, we need to declare (yesss!!!) them aloud. So please, let’s do that right now. 

Altogether! ‘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!’ 

Now, having been blessed, it’s our bounden duty to go out and use those blessings to help others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us! Much LOVE!

…it is good for me to draw near to God…I have put my trust in the Lord God…that I may declare all thy works… (Ps. 73:28)  

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 22 June 2021 Psalm 68:3.

22 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 68:3.     But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. 

Well here comes Tuesday, mostly cloudy in my area, and definitely not as warm as the last few days! The weather is certainly playing some games with us this month, being hot and cold, or unstable, like so many of us are in these turbulent times. But nonetheless, as long as we are alive and have the Holy Spirit of Almighty God dwelling in us, we have to give thanks for His awesome blessing of keeping the breath of life flowing through our mortal bodies. That’s an unconditional requirement my faithful brethren! 

As Bruh David says in Psalm 68 – God has gone before His people: ‘But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name; extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, (a shortened Hebrew form of Lord), and rejoice before him.’ (Ps. 68:3-4) Oh my people, we could not get any better advice than that, or do anything more appropriate than sing praises to our wonderful God all the days of our lives. 

That recalls the similar words of Moses in his farewell speech to the children of Israel. ‘There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun (beloved one, Israel), who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.’ (Deut. 33:26-27) Aren’t those encouraging and uplifting words my people? They certainly are! 

And they lead us to Psalm 91, where the psalmist talks about God is a refuge and a fortress. ‘He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I shall say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.’ (Ps. 91:1-2) Oh friends, isn’t it wonderful to have a power mightier than us in whom we can find eternal security? It surely is! And I like how the psalmist continues assuring us of the safety and security found in the One True and Living God; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

‘Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler (bird trapper), and from the noisome (perilous or deadly (pestilence). He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust (take refuge): his truth shall be thy shield and buckler (small shield). Thou shalt not be afraid for (of) the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day. Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth (lays waste) at noon day. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.’ (Ps. 91:3-8) 

What words of utter confidence in our God! And that’s the kind of confidence that we need to have in these troubled last days my fellow saints of Christ. But unfortunately too many of us don’t have that level of faith and trust in the God we supposedly serve. But what’s the sense of serving a God if we don’t have the utmost trust in Him eh? None whatsoever! We say we surrender our lives to Jehovah God, but yet we hold back certain aspects of it from Him, and don’t put everything before Him, foolishly trusting in our own finite and puny selves to accomplish what only God can do. 

For as Jesus so rightly asked: ‘Which of you by taking thought (worrying) can add one cubit unto his stature (height)? And why take ye thought for raiment (why do you worry about clothing)? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed (clothed, dressed) like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe (clothes) the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith!’ (Matt. 6:27-30) 

Yeh friends, if our heavenly Father looks after His lesser creations so well, why wouldn’t He look after His greatest creation better than them eh? But we must sincerely believe that He is God, and a good God at that. For as the author of Hebrews declares: ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him (God): for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Heb. 11:6) 

And the rest of that chapter goes on to tell us about all the people of great faith that served the Lord down through the ages, even though they may not have received the earthly treasures they wanted, but they knew, had the faith to believe that greater treasures existed in heaven. As the author of Hebrews explains: ‘These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded (assured) of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.’ (Heb. 11:13) 

That’s the kind of attitude, the level of faith to which we need to aspire my people! It doesn’t mean that we should not enjoy the goodness of God down here on earth, but we must acknowledge that earth is not our eventual home, that heaven is, and that’s where our real treasure will be found, as we spend eternal life with our great and wonderful triune God! But the only way we will raise the level of our faith is by surrendering ALL of ourselves to God, not parts thereof, and seriously studying the word of God, believing it, then putting it into action in our lives. Otherwise we’ll live a life being scared of even our own shadow. 

Now, for those of us who are sincerely attempting to live a faithful life for God, let’s go home declaring (yeah!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole world know who we are. Altogether now: ‘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 the world. Amen!’ 

And having declared that, let’s go out now and share the awesome LOVE and friendship of Jesus with all those we meet. Much LOVE!

…when you truly know Jesus…all you want to do…is share him with others…                                                                             

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 20 February 2021 1 Corinthians 3:11.

20 Feb 2021 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 3:11.     ​For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Saturday, oh lazy Saturday! How I do LOVE thee! But I won’t count the ways for there are way too many. (smile) Yeh friends, for many of us, Saturday is the day we can do exactly as we please; laze around on the couch, watch the tube, take our time to do whatever, no rush on anything. But for some others it’s just another busy day in the life. 

And for me, I have to get my head around the quotes that our friend Anselm sent us the past week and try to make some sense of them in terms of our Christian life. And let me tell you, that’s not always easy, but the Good Lord, our Creator and Director, always lends a helping hand. Oh friends, His amazing faithfulness is unfathomable! So let’s ask Him now to lead and guide me as I wend my way through this week’s quotes from Anselm. (smile) 

And the first one is truly interesting. ‘Live the Life of Your Dreams: Be brave enough to live the life of your dreams according to your vision and purpose instead of the expectations and opinions of others.’ Now that is good advice, but only up to a certain point. One caveat is necessary there. We should not live our lives according to the expectations of others, meaning human folks, but we should live our lives and dreams according to the will of God! And you ask why? 

Simply because it’s God who put those dreams and desires in our hearts, in the first place. And secondly, only when we live in the will and way of the Lord can our dreams and efforts meet with true and lasting success. Now those last two words are the most important ones – lasting success. If you live according to anybody else’s will, you might achieve what the world terms success, but it will never last. You’ll always be worried and concerned about it, trying to safeguard it, and you won’t have the peace you need to truly enjoy your achievements. 

Why do you think Jesus told the parable of the two foundation eh, where one man builds his house on the sand and the other on the rock eh? (Matt.7:24-27) Because only the one built on the Rock, Him and his truth, His way of life, is sustainable! Any other is like the house built by the first two pigs in the story of the three pigs and the wolf. The wolf huffed and puffed and blew down the first two houses made of straw and sticks, but could not blow down that made of bricks. 

And the moral of the story is that your materials and foundation must be of the highest quality in erecting anything. And you can never get better materials or a more solid foundation than that found in Jesus. Bruh Paul said it in spades: ‘For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 3:11) Please friends, let’s keep that thought uppermost in our minds as we build our lives and dreams nuh. Wow! That was long! (smile) But I believe the Lord was trying to drive home a most salient point; that without Him, His Leadership and Guidance, our plans are not worth very much and are liable to be brought to naught by the smallest storm. 

And that brings us to this next quote which falls into somewhat of the same vein. ‘Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.’ And that’s ever so true. We must not allow our fears to drive the engines of our lives, but rather the dreams and plans that the Lord has placed in our hearts. For as Bruh Paul so plainly proclaimed to Timothy: ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind (self-control).’ (2 Tim. 1:7) 

That means that although fear will always be present in our lives, once we also have the Spirit of Christ living in us, we will always be able to master fear. Glory be mih brethren! Isn’t it wonderful to know that we don’t have to let fear run and ruin our lives? It surely is. But then again, we have to use the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to deactivate the fear that naturally comes a calling. As Sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) likes to say, we must do it afraid. For courage isn’t the absence of fear, but the ability to come up over fear. 

And per the desires of your heart, Bruh David clearly said it in Psalm 37. ‘Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.’ (Ps. 37:4) And if anybody should know about that, surely it’s Bruh David who led a life strongly dedicated to the Lord. He was not perfect, but the Lord saw His heart was right, and He will do the same for us, if our hearts are right. 

That brings us to this pen-ultimate quote. ‘Take responsibility for your own happiness, never put it in other people’s hands.’ And that’s gospel truth friends! Happiness is OUR responsibility, not anybody else’s! Just on the purely practical level, we can’t place our happiness in any other human being’s hands because they are fallible and untrustworthy. They won’t always do what’s in our best interest but what’s in theirs. As Jeremiah so rightly said: ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (incurably sick): who can know it?’ (Jer. 17:9) 

Oh friends, nobody but the Lord can know the true intents and motives of any human heart. That’s why it’s so important to seek our own happiness, not selfishly, but with the Lord as our number ONE guide and not humans. And Psalm 146 tells us quite plainly: ‘Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man (a human being), in whom there is no help (salvation). His breath goeth forth (spirit departs, body dies), he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is the Lord his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:’ (Ps. 146:3-6) 

It couldn’t get any better than that my fellow saints in Christ! And the last quote says: ‘Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.’ Now that makes a whole lot of sense, especially in these troubling and worrying pandemic times. For if you can’t control it, why worry about it? For worrying gets you nowhere. And another of sister Joyce’s favourite sayings is that worry is like sitting in a rocking chair, you can sit and rock all day, but you won’t move, you’ll still be in the same spot at the end of the day. 

And if you don’t believe her, then listen to Jesus. ‘Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for (do not worry about) your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat (food), and the body more than raiment (clothes)?’ (Matt. 6:25) It surely is. And then Jesus goes on to point out how the birds and the rest of nature survive without worrying, because their heavenly Father takes care of them. 

And hear this most important question He asks His listeners. ‘Which of you by taking thought (worrying) can add one cubit unto his stature (height)?’ (Matt. 6:27) And the obvious answer is NONE of us! So why worry then over something we can’t control? Because we’re scared and faithless. 

And what’s the solution to it all? As usual Jesus gives it in plain and simple language. ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt. 6:33) That’s the answer to EVERYTHING in this life people: put God FIRST! Much LOVE!

…God will never cede His divine power to anyone or anything…He will remain El Numero Uno forever…you can count on that…