The Awesome Faithfulness of God, even when We’re not Faithful!

05 Feb 2025 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 36:5.       Thy mercy (LOVING-KINDNESS), O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

Oh my people, please accept my heartfelt apologies, but it was just one of those days, when everything that could happen, happened. I did not even get to go to my Wednesday morning prayer group because I wasn’t in such good shape, then I had a doctor’s appointment in the noonday, and that took longer than I expected. Then, with the running of a couple of necessary errands, I did not return home until late in the afternoon, and by then I needed to rest. So the Bit was put off until now! 

I even toyed with not writing it, but did not want to miss any more days than I’ve already done in the last week or so. Therefore, this will be short and sweet. (smile) And today we’re going to have a short talk about God’s faithfulness. And if you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you will know that God is indeed faithful. And before we get into any scripture, let’s read this prayer from one of the prayer cards recently put out by the In Touch Ministry, so aptly titled ‘God’s Faithfulness.’  

So, please pray with me: ‘I’m filled with wonder, God, when I think of Your great faithfulness. When things look impossible, You come through in amazing ways. Truly nothing is too hard for You. I remember all You’ve done in the past and praise Your name! When I don’t understand an outcome, I will lift up my heart to You in trust. You are faithful, and Your ways never fail. I look forward with joy to seeing Your plans fulfilled. Thank You for Your perfect works.’ 

And believe me friends I can certainly testify to the faithfulness of God, back in the past and also right now in the lengthy health problems that I’m going through. As the prayer says: ‘When things look impossible, You come through in amazing ways.’  And I saw that happen today. Something that should have taken weeks to happen will now happen in days, because of God’s faithfulness. 

And the important thing that so many of us forget to do, is as the prayer says: ‘I remember all You’ve done in the past and praise Your name!’ Yes friends, that’s the essence of faith and faithfulness; remembering what God has done, and thus knowing that He can and will do it again. But too many of us don’t remember God’s faithfulness, that’ why our faith is oftentimes so small when it needs to be big. 

Then there are these most important words that come from that faithfulness in God. ‘When I don’t understand an outcome, I will lift up my heart to you in trust. You are faithful, and your ways never fail.’ Now that’s where true faith comes in! You know God’s faithfulness and although you don’t understand what’s happening, you still put your heartfelt trust in Him, because you’ve seen Him come through for you many times before. And that’s one of the benefits of having a long personal relationship with God, your experience builds your trust. 

And since we promised to be short and sweet, (smile – it is possible) let’s turn now to the scripture quoted on the card for the Lord’s faithfulness, a most amazing, positive and uplifting one. Please read with me, these faithful words of Bruh David from Psalm 36. ‘Thy mercy (LOVING-KINDNESS), O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains (lit. mountains of God); thy judgements are a great deep (ocean): O Lord, thou preservest man and beast. 

How excellent (precious) is thy LOVING-KINDNESS, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness (fullness) of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. O continue thy LOVING-KINDNESS unto them that know thee: and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.’ (Ps. 36:5-10) 

And you can bet your bottom dollar my fellow believers, that if you truly know God and His righteousness, then He will continue to be faithful to you right until the very end! Now let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus! 

As one strong and sincere voice: ‘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 if we endure right to the very end with Christ, then it’s been promised that the future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine. So please, let’s plan to meet at the very end nuh, and enjoy that more than glorious future together! Much LOVE!

…the Lord is faithful even when we’re not…for EVER-FAITHFUL is His name…and He cannot deny Himself…

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

The Evils of the Pagan Rite of Halloween!

31 Oct 2024 Leave a comment

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

Deuteronomy 18:13.       Thou shalt be perfect (blameless) with the Lord thy God.

And then it was Thursday, the penultimate day of our workweek. But today is also October 31, the day when we celebrate the old pagan festival of Halloween, another opportunity for the greedy money men to raise the level  of their coffers at the expense of foolish parents buying ugly, frightening costumes for their children, who then go about the streets in the dark knocking on houses for candy and whatever stuff the houseowners have on offer. 

It’s not only an ungodly celebration, where things like witches and other dark, negative bodies are embraced, but it’s also dangerous, for the wicked and evil people in today’s world have begun putting all sorts of dangerous stuff in the things they give away. But, while it makes money for the business men and dentists, I guess it will continue to be celebrated. 

And just for your information, ‘Halloween’s origins can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, which was held on November 1 in contemporary calendars. It was believed that on that day, the souls of the dead returned to their homes, so people dressed in costumes and lit bonfires to ward off spirits.’ It just goes to show how little we truly LOVE and appreciate our great God, when we still adhere to such pagan rituals, where the things of the dark side are lifted up. 

And there are several instances in the Bible of not accommodating negative things and rituals in our lives.  For example this directive in Exodus: ‘Thou shalt not suffer (permit) a witch to live.’ (Deut. 22:18) That meant that people who embraced the darker side of life, like sorcerers and sorceresses, who dealt in drugs and potions and spirits should not be allowed to live, for they were not pursuing godly behaviour and would most likely encourage others to do so. 

Meanwhile the Book of Leviticus tells us: ‘A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit (ghost, demon) or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.’(Lev. 20:27) That means their blood shall be upon their own heads. And what are familiar spirits? Spirits or servants ready to obey the commands of their evil masters. 

This commentary from the gotquestions.org website puts it thus. ‘Familiar spirits and spirit guides are under the control of their master, Satan. They influence people to spread lies and deceit in order to thwart the kingdom of God. To knowingly open oneself to the work of demons is an evil thing.’ 

And to support that, we have this warning to Israel to avoid pagan practices. ‘When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations (detestable things) of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire (be burned as an offering to an idol), or that useth divination,  or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 

Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination (a detestable thing) unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect (blameless) with the Lord thy God.’ (Deut. 18:9-13) 

It couldn’t be put any clearer than that my people. But do you think Israel listened? Not on your life! Several times they turned to worshipping the pagan gods of other nations and paid a hefty price each time for their disobedience. Likewise, our society today is embracing many pagan customs, rites and those who take the lead in such abominations. Is it any wonder then that our world is a state of chaos and upheaval like never before. 

Both man-made and natural disasters are proliferating in a world that’s the most prosperous and enlightened it’s ever been. Why is that eh? The efforts of the evildoers are stronger than those of the godly. It’s as simple as that. We have more than enough supposedly godly people to turn this disaster filled world around if we would only get up and do something about it. 

But because of things like fear of man more than fear of God, laziness, and a desire for the comfortable life, Christians are not prepared to sacrifice much for the betterment of our world, or rather, as much as it would take to turn our world around. Then we cringe, whine, hold our heads an bawl when we see the ungodly and evil happenings in our world. 

Hn! If we were the shining lights of the world and the salt of the earth, as we’re supposed to be, many of those evil things would not be happening. But because we’re shirking our Christian responsibility, the evildoers are ruling the roost, even running away with the first prize. Oh my fellow believers, if we allow the world to continue as it’s going on its evil bent, what kind of world will our grandchildren and their children inherit eh? A totally evil and ungodly world! 

Is that what you want for them? I certainly hope not. But then it means that we need to get up right now, take the bull by the horns and make as many godly changes as we can. We cannot afford to lose that generation to Satan, as we’ve lost the current one. And it’s not like we don’t have the tools to do it, for the Lord has generously bestowed on us what we call our Thursday Blessings; blessings that enable us to do His earthly work. So let’s declare them right now, and thus activate them in our lives. 

As one strong and sincere voice! ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! 

I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And having made that declaration (yesss!!!) we are now duty bound to go out and use those blessings on behalf of others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us! Much LOVE!

…the evil forces will completely overtake our world…unless Christians put up a good fight of faith for Christ…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 20 January 2020 Philippians 1:6.

20 Jan 2020 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Philippians 1:6.    ​Being confident in this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.
 

Now whoever says that our God isn’t a good, great, faithful and rewarding God, tell them I say deh lie eh! Ah friends, I see God’s goodness everyday in little things, but sometimes in somewhat bigger ones, like something that happened to me yesterday morning. Yuh know the snowfall was a fairly big one, so after church I decided to go out and tackle my drive and the walkway. I turned on my car stereo, opened the trunk and was out there shovelling and dancing for about fifteen minutes, possibly done about one fifth of the two car drive, when all of a sudden, behind me, I heard: ‘Hi Randy! Let me do that nuh!’ 

It was my much younger neighbour and his son from the house opposite to mine, both with snow shovels in their hands. And they took over the job, wouldn’t let me do much, kept telling me to rest. But having some pride, I felt somewhat uncomfortable just watching them do everything, so while they were doing the driveway I did the front steps and the walkway leading up to them. That made me feel a li’l more useful. (smile) He didn’t even me allow me to pour the salt on it, but did that too. 

Obviously the job took much less time than if I had done it on my lonesome. Now was that merely a simple blessing from the Most High, or a pointed message letting me know that I wasn’t physically capable of doing it all on my lonesome? I’m taking it as both, (smile) because to tell the truth, I don’t even know if I could have done it all at once having seen how much was out there, especially with the duchess on my back, fearful that something tragic would happen, wanting me to leave it and come inside. (smile) 

And making the situation even more memorable, my neighbour promised to come over and help whenever I needed it!  So how can I not be grateful and thankful eh? And how can something like that not strengthen my faith and belief in Almighty God eh mih people? Only if I’m not a true believer! But I like to think I am, that’s why I want to encourage those of us who are shaking it rough this Monday morning to join us in that mysterious and miraculous act of communion that we call prayer, where we offer thanks to God for His many blessings as well as cry out to Him for help in times of need. 

So let’s confidently and humbly go to the throne of grace declaring (yeah!) our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking heavenly succour. All together now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. 

We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. 

We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ 

And since our motives were right and our hearts sincere, we know the Lord heard our prayer. We also know that He answered it, judging by our suddenly enthused spirit and rearing to go attitude. (smile) So let’s do just that nuh; get out into the evil world and work the works of Christ, because we all have a job, a plan that He’s envisioned for us. 

And of this one thing we’re sure, that God won’t allow His plans for us to go astray, regardless of the circumstances, for as Bruh Paul said to the Philippians: ‘Being confident in this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ Yes my brethren, we can be sure that whatever God begins in us, He will complete it! 

And the scholars explain: ‘1:6. Will perform it is said “will finish it.” Paul is convinced that the work of grace that God began in the Philippians at conversion will be divinely continued until the day of Jesus Christ. That is, the Lord will keep working in these believers until Jesus returns to earth, at which point He will finish His work, bringing it to completion. This speaks of the Christian’s eternal security. For God had a purpose in view when He began His saving work in the Philippians, and that purpose will neither be abandoned or unrealized.’ 

Neither will the saving work He began in us be ever abandoned or unrealized my people. That means we have real security in Jesus, and therefore, though we may sometimes falter, even fall, we can be assured that our wonderful Triune God will keep raising us back up if we don’t lose faith, never give up, but sincerely stick with the omnipotent Three In One Deity that created, and still rules the universe. That’s wisdom of infinite proportions friends, so let’s diligently seek it nuh! Much LOVE!

…God’s plans…ALWAYS come to fruition…