08 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abominable things, accomplishment, advice, anxious, appreciate, appreciation, awesome words of truth, beginning of time, belief, believers, bestowed on man, body, born to bear, buying gifts, cast thy burden, child of God, children, children of God, christ jesus, clothes, created in God's likeness, daily guidance, depended, depths of our being, desire, dire straits, discerning, distinction, don't worry about your life, drink, due time, eat, elevated status, essentials of Christianity, eternity, evil tentacles, exalt, fact, faith, fellowship, focused, food, gift of Love, God's will, great benefit, great promise, guard your hearts, hearsay, heartfelt, heavenly Father, heirs of God, hope, humble yourselves, ignore, important message, incarnate birth, Jesus Christ, life, little children, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, Lucifer, Maker, material things, material wants, meat, minds, moderation, Most High God Jehovah, moved, pay for sins, peace of god, personal experience, point of view, prayer, prince of peace, privilege, problem, prosper, Psalm 55, raiment, refuse to believe, rejoicing, request, responsibility, season for celebrating, seek God's kingdom, selflessly, shaken, shopping, son of god, special creation, spiritual agenda, spiritual needs, spiritual things, straight and narrow, supplication, supply, surrender, sustain, sustenance, talk to our hearts, talking to God, thanking God, thanskgiving, the Father's will, the greatest gift, the mighty hand of God, the righteous, the ways of the world, the world expects, things of God, token, totally dependent, trust, wear, wisdom, words of advice
Matthew 6:25. 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)?
Well hello again, you beautiful children of God! What an enormous and exciting privilege to be called a child of God, eh mih people! But do most of us think of our selves in those terms, and if we do, do we truly appreciate that monumental fact?
I’m afraid that the answer to both questions is most likely NO! We neither seriously consider ourselves children of God, nor do we truly appreciate it, otherwise we wouldn’t continue doing some of the abominable things we do. But once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, then we do become heirs of God, along with Jesus, and what better state can there be to live in eh, my fellow believers? NONE WHATSOEVER!
For being a child of the Most High God Jehovah means we’re right at the top of the totem pole, right at the heart of the matter, more privileged than those who refuse to believe. But by the same token my brethren, that elevated status also comes with great responsibility; namely to do the Father’s will and show plenty appreciation for such an undeserved distinction.
And this is the season for celebrating the greatest gift that was ever bestowed on mankind; the incarnate birth of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Prince of Peace, etc. etc, born to bear and pay for our sins, from the very beginning of time, right through eternity.
Again, do we really show our heartfelt appreciation? And I’m not talking about running around shopping, buying gifts, food and all the other stuff the world expects of us. But whether we thank our heavenly Father, from the very depths of our being, for that great gift of LOVE He so selflessly bestowed on us, simply because He LOVED us and didn’t want to see us end up in the evil tentacles of Lucifer for all eternity, especially since we are His own special creation, created in His likeness.
And that means talking to, and thanking Him personally, as well as in fellowship with other believers. And then doing what Jesus advises in our Bit, which I believe is on its last day, won’t guarantee it though. (smile)
‘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)?
Oh my brethren, when we truly come to God, we need to be like little children, who are totally dependent on their parents, looking to Him for daily guidance and sustenance.
As Jesus says, seeking His kingdom FIRST, getting a spiritual agenda going, before considering the material things, because that’s the Father’s will. And why wouldn’t we, when Jesus so avidly declares that if we seek and follow the spiritual needs, then the Father will supply our material wants? That sounds absolutely great to me!
But unfortunately too many of God’s supposed children don’t seem to think so and instead foolishly follow the ways of the world, putting the material things way before the spiritual, sometimes even going so far as to completely ignore the things of God. And then we wonder why personally, and as a society, we’re in such dire straits.
Today Friends, we’re going to check out some scripture where other discerning and properly focused children of God share the great promise that Jesus makes in our Bit.
And we’ll begin with some wonderful words of advice from Bruh David, from Psalm 55, where he cries out against deceitful friends. ‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer (permit) the righteous to be moved (shaken).’ (Ps.55:22)
And those are awesome words of truth my people, as so many of us who have followed them, have found out to our great benefit. The problem though is that not enough of us do it.
Then turning to Bruh Paul, who has a point of view on almost every subject. (smile) Here, he’s telling the Philippians about rejoicing in the Lord. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand (is near spiritually, and will be back to judge).
Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep (guard) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ (Phil.4:4-7)
Yeh Friends, everything we do, ought to be passed FIRST before our great God! In that way, we’ll always be operating in His will, which is His greatest desire, and can be our greatest accomplishment.
And we’ll close with some more wise words, this time from Peter, words that we all know but don’t sufficiently follow. In the closing chapter of his first epistle, Peter exhorts us to: ‘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 Friends, no simpler words exist to convey that rather important message, so if we don’t get it, then it’s definitely our fault. And please note that all the advice we’ve heard from those men of God wasn’t hearsay, but derived from actual personal experience. All of them depended on our heavenly Father for their sustenance, so if they could do it and prosper, then why can’t we eh?
I’ll leave us to answer that question individually before our Maker, and trust that we’ll all let Him talk to our hearts, and thus lead us on the straight and narrow path which takes us directly to His door.
Oh mih Friends, that’s wisdom at its highest! So let’s try and do it nuh. Much LOVE!
…belief…surrender…trust…hope…faith…the 5 essentials of Christianity…
30 Oct 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abuse of the law, almighty god, antagonistic groups, arrogance, believe in Jesus, blessed, Blessed are the peacemakers, blessed day, blessings, blood of jesus, breath to see another day, children of God, christ jesus, Christian Church, Christian Gentiles, Christian Jews, chuh, commandments, conversations, divisions, earth shattering, encouraged, enlightened, enmity, Ephesians, everyday aspects, faithful, fantastic happenings, far off, fool's wisdom, foolishness, forgiveness, Gentiles, get in a groove, God's dynamic presence, God's goodness, grace, gracious and faithful God, hatred, health, incensed, Isaac and Jacob, Jews, lack of faith, leap of faith, lip service, lo and behold, LOVE, loving kindness, mercy, miracles, moral distance, Mozambique, mudane business of living, new man, nigh, One Body, partition, passport renewal, peace, power, privilege, rambling on, reconcile, relationship with god, resentment, serve and worship, skype, steups, strength, surrender, testifying, Thank You Lord, thankful, the cross, the god of Abraham, the law, the One True God, trust, ultimate, unity of believers, wealth, winning mood, wisdom, wonder of wonders
Matthew 5:9. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Oh Friends, right now it’s a wet, chilly autumn Wednesday morning in my area, although the weather people say that it will end up being sunny and warmish. (smile) But whatever it is, I’m very thankful, for the Lord has already blessed me three times since I’ve been up.
First off, He granted me health, wealth, strength and breath to see another glorious day. Now just that alone would be sufficient, but in His LOVING-kindness, I had a second blessing.
Before my computer could even warm up properly, I heard this ringing noise coming from it, only to cheerfully discover that it was my young daughter calling me via skype, from somewhere in Maputo, the capital of the island of Mozambique, off the east coast of Africa.
Thence commenced a forty-five minute conversation – yes mih D, that’s how long it was- which is partly why the Bit’s a tad late. Notice I didn’t put all the blame on you either. (smile) Strangely though, we seem to have longer and better conversations when she’s away, than when she’s here. Think on that nuh.
And wonder of wonders, while telling her about my inability to find an envelope with some passport renewal forms and my old passport that was somewhere in the office, lo and behold, I rolled back my chair a little, looked around and spied this brown envelope sitting in full view on a pile of record albums, pulled it out… and voila! There were the missing forms and old passport.
Thank You Lord! And imagine it was right there in front of me all the time, but my eyes weren’t open. And that’s the way we often are my people, when coming to our relationship with Almighty God; things are right there before us, but because of our lack of faith or whatever, we just can’t see them.
So Friends, the ole fella’s in a winning mood this morning! And then they say that we don’t serve a gracious and faithful God… Chuh Steups! Foolishness yes mih people!
The problem with those people is that they don’t truly serve and worship the ONE TRUE GOD, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so how do they expect to receive His endless grace, tender mercies and overwhelming forgiveness eh?
The crux of the matter my brethren, is that before we can enjoy God’s goodness and LOVING-kindness we have to take that leap of faith, where we truly believe in Jesus, seriously trust and consciously surrender our entire lives to Him. Only then will we see fantastic happenings in our lives.
And please don’t expect big miracles and enormous wealth, power and privilege when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, for that’s not how He works. Granted, you can get those things, but generally speaking it’s in the bland, everyday aspects of our lives that our Lord likes to work.
Just look at the blessings He granted me this morning. They’re not earth shattering, but are nonetheless very important in me having a blessed day. That’s why I keep encouraging us to look for the Lord in the small things, the mundane business of living, for He wants to be involved in every aspect of our being. And if you only look for Him in the big, miraculous happenings, you’ll never truly understand and/or appreciate His dynamic presence.
Anyway, time for me to stop rambling on – once I get in this groove, I can go on all day (smile). So let’s get to our Bit: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.’
Now yesterday I promised some more scripture on this Bit, and being faithful, or at least trying to be faithful like our ever-so-faithful God, here it is. Listen to these words of divine truth from Bruh Paul to the Ephesians, re the unity of believers.
‘But now in Christ Jesus ye who were sometimes (once) were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he (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: And came an preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.’ (Eph.2:13-17)
Now here’s what the scholars have to say about all that. ‘2:13. Because Jews had access to God through His temple in Jerusalem, they were said to be nigh. But Gentile nations, geographically removed from the temple, were said to be far off. These terms of space came to denote moral distance, so that to be “nigh” was to have a proper relationship with God, and to be “far off” was to have an improper relationship with Him.
2:14-15. Who hath made both one: Jesus has formed the two antagonistic groups of Jew and Gentile into a single new party, the Christian church. He did this by removing the middle wall of partition, that is the Mosaic Law. The law was meant to protect Jews from pagan corruptions, but by misconstruing the purpose of the law, the Jews felt superior to the Gentiles, who were incensed at this arrogance.
So Jesus abolished this enmity (hatred), caused by an abuse of the law, by making the law invalid for His church. Of twain one new man: As above, Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles now compose this “one new man” or Christian church.’
So Friends, if we’re supposed to be one church in Christ, how come we’re still so divisive and resentful of each other eh? The simple and obvious answer is that we’re not truly following God. We’re only paying lip service, if so much to it. And that my people, is the wisdom of a fool!
Consequently mih breddren, I do hope that all we’ve said today, has both enlightened and encouraged us, thus making us want to embrace the LOVING-kindness of Jesus even more than when we first begun, because that is truly the ultimate in wisdom. Much LOVE!
…to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…that’s a proven fact my people…I’m testifying to it…
29 Oct 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: ambassadors of God, Anglican Journal, Beatitudes, blessed, Blessed are the peacemakers, bloody sacrifice, busy lives, cares of the world, changed life, cheerful, children of God, Church of Christ, citizens of Jesus' kingdom, cloud our judgement, come hell or high water, complaining, difficult, disservice, divine wisdom, easy or hard, enmity with God, excuses, forgiveness, free, good or bad, heavenly Father, holier than thou, in sickness or in health, in the world, indulgent, Jesus' example, justification, justified by faith, keep silent, let calm reign, live in peace, logic, make peace, meaningful realationship, mercy, never looked back, new creation in Christ, not of the world, obedient son, our Lord Jesus Christ, patient, peace with God, peacemakers, pushed on, put His hand to the plough, rebellious ingrates, reconciliation, saints, saving grace, short attention spans, simple, stand still, stop complaining, strife, troubled world, uncoditional love, ungodly earth, want to talk, whining, wisdom, words of truth, yet telling
Matthew 5:9. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s a bit tardy and tired this autumn Tuesday morn. I guess the old body didn’t get enough rest last night. But like the mail, come hell or high water, in sunshine, snow or rain, in sickness or in health, the Bit has to go out! (smile) So here it is.
And to get us going, here’s this interesting poem I found in the November issue of the Anglican Journal Newspaper. The source is unknown, but the words and message are invaluable.
The title is: ‘Why were the saints saints? Because they were cheerful when it was difficult to be cheerful, patient when it was difficult to be patient; and because they pushed on when they wanted to stand still, and kept silent when they wanted to talk, and were agreeable when they want to be disagreeable. That was all. It was quite simple and always will be.’
Oh my people, those are indeed words of truth and much wisdom! I LOVE it because it’s so simple, yet very telling!
The people we consider saints weren’t really holier than thou, they just did what they had to do without all the complaining and whining that we see in God’s people today. They simply followed Jesus’ example.
Yuh think He really wanted to come to earth and be a bloody sacrifice for a bunch of rebellious ingrates? No way! But the Father required it of Him, and being the obedient Son He was, He put His hand to the plough and never looked back.
And today Friends, the same is required of us; just do whatever the Lord calls us to do, whether it’s good or bad, easy or hard, and stop complaining and looking for excuses to get out of it.
Please note what our Bit says: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.’ So if we want to be known as God’s children, then we have to be amongst those who endeavour to make peace, not war, to let calm reign, instead of strife.
Now hear what the scholars say about this Beatitude: ‘5:9. The next description deals with the peacemakers. They are at peace with God and desire to live in peace with all men (cf. Rom.5:1). Their peace with Christ enables them to be ambassadors of God’s message to a troubled world. Hence, they shall be called the children of God.
Throughout the Beatitudes Jesus clearly underscores that only those who have the qualities of a changed life, herein described, are citizens of His kingdom.’
Yeh mih breddren, unless we change our worldly ways, become a new creation in Christ, we CANNOT enter His kingdom!
And knowing that many of you won’t check the reference above, I’ll quote Romans 5:1. I sincerely hope though, that my doing so is not a disservice to you all, by making it too easy. Well, even our heavenly Father is sometimes indulgent (smile).
Anyway, Bruh Paul is here talking about the results of justification. ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Rom.5:1)
And the scholars explain: ‘5:1. Justified by faith (lit. “because we have been justified by faith”): It was God’s doing, not man’s. Peace with God: This is not a feeling, but a standing. God and the believer are no longer at enmity but have been reconciled (cf. 5:10-11; 2 Cor. 5:18). This is a primary result of our justification.’
So my fellow believers, all the good things that happen to us as believers, as members of the body, the church of Christ, are not of our doing, but of God. He wanted the enmity between Him and His most valuable creation to end. Thus He conceived that awesome, most marvellous plan of reconciliation, whereby those who wanted to be reconciled to Him, to return to worship, adore and live by His will, at least had an avenue to do so.
And all we have to do to receive it, is simply to believe on His Son Jesus; rustle up and ramp up our faith and believe.
Ah mih people, it couldn’t get any better than that yuh know! And the beauty of it all is that the plan is so simple, so easy, and most of all FREE! Yes Friends, I just want to remind us that God’s saving grace is indeed FREE!
Yet today we make it seem so difficult, because the cares of the world and the outwardly beautiful but really flimsy, unworthy things they manifest get in the way. They cloud our judgement to such an extent that we cannot have a meaningful relationship with our Creator. But please remember Friends, that we’re only supposed to be IN the world, but certainly not OF the world! (John 17:14-16; Rom.12:2)
And though I have some more stuff to say, re our Bit, we’ll end here for today, because it would make the message too long and burdensome for our busy lives and short attention spans. See how I’m looking out for you, my people! (smile) So tomorrow we’ll continue with this Beatitude, of course, provided that the Good Lord is in favour.
Till then though, let’s ponder what we’ve said today, and please, please, I implore us, let’s sincerely try and improve our relationship with Almighty God nuh, because that’s the only thing that makes sense on this evil, ungodly earth.
Remember, He is our Creator, Controller and Provider, and without Him we can do nothing. Indeed, we are NOTHING, without His saving grace, His magnanimous mercy, His unconditional LOVE, and His undeserving forgiveness! Much LOVE!
…only if we embrace Jesus and all that He stands for….will we ever enjoy eternal life with Him…that’s simple logic…but also divine wisdom…
25 Sep 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abide in Jesus, access, according to His will, almighty god, Amen, angels, assurance, believers, blessed assurance, boldness, born of God, children of God, christ jesus, christianity, Christians, confidence, counter, dark domain, don't lose heart, edification, Ephesians, eternal purpose, everlasting truth, evil counterparts, evil one, faith, faithful, fathom God's wisdom, freedom of speech, Gentiles, glory, God's actions, God's ear, God's will, God's wisdom, heavenly places, Holy Spirit of God, honour of God, hope, indisputable fact, listening ear, living for Jesus, LOVE, Loving for Jesus, message, Moses, motivation, mount an attack, mystery, not be ashamed, pales, Paul, powerful helper, powers, Praise the Lord, principalities, recognize the evil, rejoicing, religion, righteousness., run him out, scriptures, serve and worship, slowly creeps up, Son, Spirit of God, spiritual armour, spiritual rebirth, spirituality, stand firm in faith, stand strong, steadfast in faith, subconscious, suddenly, sufferings, testimony, Thank you Father, thanks and praise, the church, the end, the enemy, theology, tribulations, under the weather, ungodly world, unwanted intrusions, uplifts, watchful eye, wonderful god
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, for some unknown reason, this Wednesday morning in late September, early fall, the ole fella’s a tad under the weather. The enemy has somehow managed to wangle his way into my subconscious. But the good news though is that it’s not for long.
In fact, I’ve just run Him out! (smile) With the awesome help of the Holy Spirit, Beelzebub was just kicked to the farthest part of his dark domain. Thank You Father! And I can now pay close attention to the Word and write the Bit without the enemy’s unwanted intrusions.
Oh my people, that’s why we have to be so careful in all our doings in this ungodly world, because the evil one and his evil counterparts are always seeking an opening in our spiritual armour to mount an attack against us, and oftimes we don’t know where or when he’ll appear.
Sometimes it’s all of a sudden, at other times he slowly creeps up on us. But if we stand strong and keep a watchful eye, we’ll usually recognize the evil that’s trying to come against us. Then we’ll surely be able to counter it with the assistance of the powerful and wonderful helper, the Holy Spirit of God, which dwells within us for that exact purpose.
Ah my Friends, as I have to remark almost every day: ‘What a wonderful God we serve and worship!’
And all God’s children said a loud and thankful: ‘Praise the Lord! Amen!’
And we do need to give Him much thanks and praise. Just look at what our Bit says: ‘And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.’
What blessed assurance that is; to know that whatever we ask God for, once it conforms to His will, He will lend a listening ear, give us a serious hearing.
Now let’s turn to some scriptures that have now been languishing for a few days, because there’s been so many others to bring to the fore, and we can’t do them all at once. And we’ll begin with Bruh Paul writing to the Ephesians, talking about his mission to the Gentiles.
‘To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold (many sided) wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of (in) him. Wherefore I desire (ask) that ye faint not (not lose heart) at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.’ (Eph.3:10-13)
Yeh Friends, God’s wisdom is so wide and wonderful, that none of us can ever fully fathom it!
Now hear the scholars on those verses. ‘3:10. Paul’s disclosure of this mystery teaches angels (principalities and powers in heavenly places) of God’s wisdom.
3:12. This verse affirms that Christians have boldness (freedom of speech before God) and access (the right of entering His presence) with confidence (assurance of being heard by God) by the faith of him (through relying upon Christ to gain God’s ear).
3:13. Which is your glory: God will use Paul’s tribulations and sufferings in the ministry to spiritually benefit his recipients. Such edification will then bring about glory on their part in that they praise and honour God.’
And that last statement is an indisputable fact Friends! When we truly recognize the plan and purpose of tribulations, both in our own lives and those of other believers, we come to an even greater understanding of God’s actions.
Then turning to Hebrews 3, which talks about Christ’s superiority over Moses, the author boldly and rightly declares: ‘For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after (afterward);
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.’ (Heb.3:4-6)
Yes my brethren, Christ built the house to which we belong as believers. And we’ll continue belonging to it, as long as we stand firm in faith and rejoice unto the end in the hope that believing accords us.
And we’ll make space for one more scripture. (smile) This comes from the end of 1 John 2, where he’s expounding on the children of God and righteousness.
‘And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth (practices) righteousness is born of him.’ (1 John 2:28-29)
All of that is everlasting truth, my brethren!
And the scholars provide these footnotes. ‘2:28. Wishing to please the Lord, and not be ashamed before him at his coming, ought to motivate believers to stand firm, to abide in him.
2:29. The idea seems to be that he who practices what is right, being born of God (3:9), need not fear Christ’s coming (v.28). Spiritual rebirth is stressed in John. See 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18; also John 1:13; 3:3-8.’
And as always Friends, I encourage us to read the references that the scholars provide, because they do help us in further understanding the scriptures.
Now my people, as we hope and pray everyday, that the message uplifts us, and keeps us strong and steadfast in faith in Almighty God, and also causes us to come up a little higher in living and LOVING for Jesus! In His Holy Name we pray. Much, much LOVE, my Christian breddren!
…once you know Jesus…everything else pales in comparison…
28 Jun 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: affirmations, affirming Christ-like stuff, baptizing, believing in jesus, bestowed on man, blessed opportunity, body, born again, bounden duty, Canada Day, children of God, Christian ethic, confidence, cooperate with God, damnation, death, directive to the disciples, eternal life, evil, excellence, fellowship, Friday chant, generous help, gift, glorious kingdom, good works, grace, greatest gift, hammer, holy spirit, hope, justified, lamp, lawn sprinkler system, life, light, Live our fatih, Lord and Saviour, Love God, mercy, mind, mirror, modicum of circumspection, new life, only way, profitable, promise, refreshed, regeneration, relaxation, rhythm of the falling rain, right perspective, salvation, soul, sound of rain falling, spiritual armour, spirituality, Spread God's Word, sufficient fun, summer madness, sword, teach all nations, TGIF!, Thank God it's Friday, the name of the Father, the SON, the weekend, thinking right things, true believer, truth, ungodly world, wisdom, works of righteousness
Titus 3:8: This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Oh Friends, there’s nothing nicer than awakening in the early morning hours to the gentle sound of rain falling outside! That happened to me earlier on, and it was a tad difficult to get up out of the warm, cozy bed, as I lay there listening to ‘the rhythm of the falling rain; pita pata, pita pata.’ (smile)
But I eventually forced my self to get up, like I might have to force myself and go out in the rain and turn off the lawn sprinkler system, that’s just spurting away like crazy out there, while the rain is falling. Now it’s not supposed to come on if the rain’s falling, but I can’t curse it today because I’m not sure if it came on before the rain began to fall. I know though that when I went to bed around 2.30, no rain was falling.
Anyway, I’ll give it a few more minutes, and if it doesn’t turn off automatically, then I’ll go and turn it off. Oh, the headaches that these supposed modern conveniences cause eh! I believe the guy was here up to yesterday trying to time it properly.
But Friends, here’s the good news, it’s Friday! And all the voices rose like one: ‘Yes, oh yes! TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday! The weekend’s here at last! What a blast it’s going to be!’
And in Canada it’s certainly going to be a blast, except for those unfortunately flooded out in the Western Provinces, because it’s the long weekend when we celebrate Canada Day, our Independence, on Monday. So you can imagine what it’s going to be like, especially if it’s sunny and warm.
I finally had to go outside and turn off the sprinkler, if only to minimize the real risk of flooding, because who knows when the rain will stop, plus stopping an unnecessary increase in my water bill, which has gone up a fair amount since the sprinkler system was put in.
Anyway, summer madness will definitely be on display this weekend, so let’s see if we can keep it in check a little by chanting our Friday Chant, which gives us a better and brighter perspective on how to handle it.
All together 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.’
Yes my brethren, we have to enjoy the couple days off, but as Jeeves would say, ‘with a modicum of circumspection,’ so that Lucifer doesn’t even find one li’l pinhole in our spiritual armour, that he can use to cause us to go against God’s will.
But instead that we should do as our Bit tells us. ‘This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.’
Yeh Friends, it’s the same Bit as the last two days because there’s some useful information from the scholars that I thought was important to share with you. It’s on the topic of regeneration, which we read about yesterday.
‘Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed (poured out) on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That we being justified (declared righteous) by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope (strong confidence) of eternal life.’ (Titus 3:5-7)
Now, per the scholars: ‘Regeneration refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in the salvation experience that produces new life in the believer. To express this concept, Jesus used the expression “born again” in His conversation with Nicodemus (John 3:3-7). Regeneration is the work of God, through the Holy Spirit, of placing in one who has faith a new nature, capable of doing God’s will.
The Holy Spirit is the agent or divine workman of this regeneration. His instrument is the Bible, which is likened to a hammer that judges sin (Jer.23:29), a mirror that reveals sin (James 1:23), a sword that defeats Satan (Heb.4:12), and a lamp that guides the believers (Ps.119:105).
Illustration: People are instantaneously “born again,” the moment they trust Christ as Saviour (1 Pet.1:23). Application: Christians should be careful to cooperate with God in growing as children of God after they are regenerated, or given new life. (First Ref. John 3:3; Primary Ref. Titus 3:5; cf. Eph.1:15)
Oh Friends, what greater gift can we be honoured with eh? None really!
Just ponder it for a Selah moment nuh: To be able to move from a situation of eternal death and damnation immediately to one of salvation and eternal life, simply by believing in Jesus, that He’s the Truth, the Light, the Life and the ONLY Way to God.
What a most blessed opportunity that is! One that we as believers have wisely taken hold of, but also need to share with others, because it’s the greatest gift ever bestowed on mankind, and right now too many people have not heard about it, so they’re still living in darkness, seriously threatened by eternal death and damnation, because they don’t know better.
And they won’t know better unless somebody tells them the Good News. And that somebody is us, Friends, the church of Christ!
Please remember Jesus’ last directive to the disciples: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt.28:19-20)
Yes my fellow believers, that’s our job, our bounden duty! But we can only accomplish it by first thinking the right things, affirming Christ-like stuff, then going out into this evil, ungodly world and putting them into action.
Please, let’s live up to the promise we made when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour nuh; that is truly LOVING our wonderful God, sincerely LIVING our Christian faith, and faithfully SPREADING the Lord’s Word!
That my brethren is definitely wisdom and Christian ethic at their highest levels. And Jesus desires nothing but excellence from His followers. Much LOVE!
…to act like a true believer…our thoughts must first be in sync…with those of Jesus…
20 Jan 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Abraham's children, adopted sons of God, children of God, eagerness, father of deceit, Hour of Power, Jesus Christ, lies, LOVE, Lucifer, Possibility Thinking, sent from God, son of god, sons of abraham, truth, weak flesh, willing spirit
John 8:42. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would LOVE me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Oh Friends, a whistling windstorm has been barrelling through my neighbourhood for most of the night, first bringing with it some rain, then some wet snow. It seems to have quietened down now, but outside still looks wet and uninviting. Unlike that windstorm though, with all its energy, this morning my spirit is willing but the flesh seems somewhat weak. However, since we can’t live by fleshly feelings, we just have to ramp up the spirit and bring the flesh along. (smile) And to help us do that, here’s a poem from Dr. Robert H. Schuller’s, Hours of Power Devotional. Hn! The Lord just knows when I need one of Dr. Schuller’s bright, positive, informative writings to galvanize my soul to action. This poem is called ‘I AM EAGER.’ ‘Lord, you’ve put the whole world together and you’ve put me in the middle of it because you want to say something to me and through me today. May your beautiful peace fall gently, softly, sweetly, and beautifully upon my mind – now. I am ready to listen and eager to move ahead, today, with “Possibility Thinking.” Amen.’ Yes Friends, I hope, like me, those words added a little spark to your day, and encourage you to get with God and walk in His will for your life, unlike the Pharisees whom Jesus condemned in our Bit. ‘Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would LOVE me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.’ Yeh mih people, the Pharisees claimed to be sons of Abraham, and Jesus acknowledged that in one sense they were; his fleshly descendants. But they certainly were not behaving in Abraham’s spiritual manner, as Jesus pointed out to them, when they persisted in claiming to be sons of Abraham. ‘If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your Father.’ (John 8:39a-41a) But in their pride and haughtiness the Pharisees rejected that contention. ‘Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.’ (John 8:41b) That’s when Jesus shook them up with our Bit. And He was quite right. If they truly were of God, then they would LOVE and listen to Him, since when you LOVE a parent, you usually feel the same way towards their children. For as John says in his first epistle: ‘Whoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that LOVETH him that begat LOVETH him also that is begotten of him.’ (1 John 5:1) In other words, if we truly LOVE God, then we’ll also LOVE Jesus, His Son. Plus, if we really LOVE God, then we’ll also LOVE the other children of God. Oh Friends, are we truly following that directive, or are we, like the Pharisees, only paying lip service to it? Are we like Jesus told them? ‘Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts (desires) of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode (stands) not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own (from his own nature): for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.’ (John 8:44-45) Oh Friends, I certainly hope that we’re not like the Pharisees, doubting that Jesus came from God, for we see on at least three occasions in John’s gospel, Jesus verifying that contention. The first is when He tells the disciples about His overcoming the world. ‘For the Father himself LOVETH you, because ye have LOVED me, and have believed that I came out from God.’ (John 16:27) And He does it again in Chapter 17, when praying for the disciples. ‘For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and thy have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.’ (John 17:8) Then lastly: ‘O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the LOVE wherewith thou hast LOVED me may be in them, and I in them.’ (John 17:25-26) Yes my people, if we don’t believe that basic premise, that Jesus came from, and was sent by God, to pay the price for our sins, then the whole operation is of no use. For without that foundational truth, nothing else makes sense. That’s why Bruh Paul could write to the Galatians with such authority. ‘But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made (born) of a woman, made (born) under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.’ (Gal.4:4-7) And all God’s adopted children gave a mighty and joyful shout of: ‘All praise to the holy name of the Lord God Jehovah, and to His wonderful Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! They are indeed both worthy to be praised!’ So Friends, with all that in mind, let’s seriously ponder today, not only whom we consider to be our father, but more importantly, whom our thoughts and actions point to as our father. Let’s hope they point to the Most High God, creator of the universe and author of LOVE, and not the foolish, fallen Lucifer, the father of lies and deceit. Much LOVE!…if you don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God…then you can’t be an adopted child of God…
21 Jun 2012
by randyobrien50
in Inspirational Living
Tags: assurance of salvation and eternal life, children of God, feast or famine, grieve not the Holy Spirit, holy spirit, ministry of the holy spirit, obedience to God's will, spiritual insight
Romans 8:16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
Oh mih people, for once the weather forecasters were right. Yesterday was a pretty hot day. And they promise more of that summery weather for today. The A/C units will be again running nonstop, working overtime, and the power producers and technicians will be making loads of money. The technicians might be even too busy to attend to some of the service calls. Sometimes we just can’t win, because it’s either feast or famine, no safe and comfortable in between. But as I keep reminding us, we are children of the Most High God Jehovah, and consequently ours is not to worry, but to turn all our problems over to Him in prayer. And some of you might be led to ask, how do we really know that we’re children of God? Well, for a start, listen to our Bit: ‘The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.’ Yes Friends, when the Spirit of God dwells in us and works in tandem with our spirit to produce a Christ-like character in us, then we can be assured that we are indeed children of the Most High! Remember yesterday we said that one of the reasons we can be assured of salvation and eternal life is because we have the inner witness of the Holy Spirit? Oh Friends, without that Spirit of God dwelling in us, we’d be completely lost! Such is its importance in the lives of believers. Hear the scholars tell it: ‘The witness of the Spirit is the inner assurance of God’s truth. One of the conditions of this inner conviction concerning the things of God is obedience to His known will: ‘My doctrine is not mine, but him that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of (concerning) the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.’ (John 7:16-17) God uses this ministry of the Holy Spirit to convince us of truth that cannot be understood other than through divine help. ‘And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt.16:17) Illustration: This witness was obvious in Peter’s confession of Christ. Even though others had observed Christ and drawn certain erroneous conclusions, Peter received spiritual insight from God as to who Jesus really was. This enlightenment did not mean he had nothing more to learn, because perhaps within minutes of his confession, he was being rebuked by Jesus for his lack of spiritual insight. ‘But he (Jesus) turned and said to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not (are not mindful of) the things that be of God, but those that be of men.’ (Matt.16:23) Application: Christians should be careful always to obey the clearly revealed will of God, so as not to hinder this ministry in their lives.’ We can therefore see my brethren that the Holy Spirit is of the utmost importance in the lives of all believers. He is to be the chief mover and shaker in all that we do. Now the million-dollar question is, do we allow the Spirit to do His job? That’s entirely up to us as individuals. But please note that as much as we allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us, that’s how much we’ll be in God’s good graces. Remember the Spirit is the workhorse of the Holy Trinity, so if He’s not busily working in and through us, then simple logic dictates that God isn’t working in and through us. Hear Bruh Paul talking to the Ephesians re the spiritual blessings in Christ. ‘That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ (Jews). In whom ye (Gentiles) also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.’ (Eph.1:12-13) Here are some thoughts on that from the scholars. ‘There is no difference between the Jewish and Gentile Christians. Christ bestowed the same Spirit on them all. Right when, you believed you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, not after. The sealer is Jesus; the seal is the Holy Spirit. In biblical times a seal denoted both identification of ownership and protection provided by the owner.’ Oh Friends that definitely means when we’re sealed with the Holy Spirit of Jesus that we belong to Him and are protected by Him! And all God’s children shouted: ‘Glory Hallelujah to the Lamb who is most worthy to be praised!’ I like how the scholars further explain the sealing of the Holy Spirit. ‘The sealing of the Holy Spirit guarantees the benefits of our salvation, as a person might seal an envelope to guarantee its enclosures. The Holy Spirit is the seal. Illustration: The Holy Spirit as the seal to the believer is also a ‘down payment’ of His commitment to someday give him all other things God has promised. Application: Christians should be careful to ‘grieve not the holy Spirit of God, by whom ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.’ (Eph.4:30) There we have it Friends, the facts, and not fiction, on the reality that we are children of God! And we’ll end with this most appropriate verse: ‘And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.’ (Rom.8:17) Wow mih people, what an awesome promise! Now why would I trade all of that for some stupid, earthly possession that corrodes, get’s rusty and which I cannot take to heaven with me eh? No way Jose! Please ponder, think seriously on these things. and I sure hope you come to the same conclusion that I did. It’s wisdom at its highest point! Much LOVE…to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…just to feel His LOVING touch…makes it all worthwhile…
20 Jun 2012
by randyobrien50
in Inspirational Living
Tags: answered prayer, assurance of the believer, believe on the name of Jesus Christ, children of God, hot hot hot, keeping God's commandments, LOVE each other, memorizing scripture, not ashamed of Christ, understanding the scriptures, witness of the Word
1 John 5:13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Oh Friends, yesterday was ‘Hot, Hot, Hot!’ And today will be ‘Hotter, Hotter, Hotter!’ (smile) Yes, we’re finally getting some real summer weather, thirty odd degrees. However, it will definitely impact greatly on the hydro-electricity bill with the A/C on continuously, especially since we’re now on this pay more during the day scene. Ah mih brethren, the ole crooks and them know just how to ramp up a bill! Yet they sell power to other jurisdictions for much less than the production cost when they have an over-abundance of it. And who do you think pays for that? The poor, lowly consumers of course! Unfortunately, when the government, the main producers, and the others lesser ones are in cahoots, you can’t do much else but grin and bear it. Anyway, seeing that we’re children of Almighty God, that means we’re privileged, so we’ll just continue doing our thing, laying our problems in the Lord’s hands, because He’s so graciously invited us all who are weary and heavy laden, to come to Him for rest, to bear His easy yoke and light burden. (Matt.11:28-30) Oh Friends, you’ll be proud to know that the ole fella didn’t have to look up the Concordance to find that scripture, but rattled it off from the top of his head. Glory Hallelujah! Rhyming off chapter and verse is not my strongpoint, so anytime I remember a scripture and where it’s found, that’s an improvement. Thank the Lord mih people! Now this is one of those times when I don’t know what I’m going to write about, for before I was ready to write, the Spirit floated the ‘Hot, Hot, Hot’ idea, and I just ran with it. So I’ll have to take a break and check the Good Book to see what the Lord wants us to talk about today. So, soon come! I’m back mih breddren; about half an hour later! Not because it took me so long to find a Bit, but because I was catching up on some other reading that I should have done before starting the Bit. In fact I found our Bit in less than five minutes. And yuh know my biggest blessing is when the Lord guides me fairly easily to a Bit. Sadly, it doesn’t happen all the time, and some days I have to plod and plough through the Good Book to find something my head can get around. But here’s our Bit for today: ‘These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.’ Ah mih people, what a wonderful and blessed assurance! And we’ll break it down so we can all understand it, by sharing what the scholars say about assurance, but in between I’ll write out the references they give, so that we’ll have them all right at hand. Here goes: ‘The Scriptures clearly teach that it is possible to know whether you are saved or unsaved. The assurance of the believer is not based on feeling, (though the Christian may “feel” saved), but on the principle of God’s Word. We can know we are saved because Christ is in our hearts. ‘To whom God would (willed to) make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ (Col.1:27) ‘He that hath the Son hath (the) life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not (the) life.’ (1 John 5:12) Because of the witness of the Word of God: ‘He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record (testimony) that God gave his Son. And this is the record (testimony), that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.’ (1 John 5:10-11) Because of answered prayer: ‘If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.’ (John 14:14) ‘And this is the confidence we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired (asked) of him.’ (1 John 5:14-15) Because of our understanding of the scriptures: ‘And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.’ (1 John 5:20) Because we keep His commandments: ‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.’ (2 Cor.5:17) ‘We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth (guards) himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.’ (1 John 5:18) Because we LOVE the brethren: ‘We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we LOVE the brethren. He that LOVETH not his brother abideth in death.’ (1 John 3:14) Because we have the inner witness of the Holy Spirit: ‘The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.’ (Rom.8:16) Illustration: Paul claimed to have this inner confidence and was fully persuaded concerning the keeping power of God in salvation. ‘For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against (until) that day.’ (2 Tim.1:12) Application: Because of this assurance, the believer need not be ashamed of Christ, even when he finds himself in difficult circumstances.’ (2 Tim.1:12) Oh Friends, it’s a bit on the long side, but it is all very worthwhile since it gives us some strong foundation of why we’re Christians, of why we believe so firmly in Almighty God and His graceful gifts of salvation and eternal life, expensively purchased for us through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. Please, let us take these scriptures to heart so that they may enable us to stand strong in our Christian Faith. That’s wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!…I am the way, the truth, and the life…no man cometh unto the Father…BUT BY ME…
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