The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Giving Inumerable Thanks and Praise to Jesus, Their Saviour, Lord and King!

15 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 135:1.         ‘Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord.’ 

It’s another cold Sunday in this cold and snowy month of February friends, but let’s hope that will not stop us from congregating in worship with other believers in the Lord’s sanctuary, on this His special day. We need to give Him thanks and praise and receive His awesome grace and mercy to face another week in the battle trenches called work. (smile) 

And today we have an interesting song to open our worship session. It’s one of the many from that blind but prolific American hymn writer Fanny Crosby, titled ‘Praise Him, Praise Him!’ written somewhere around 1869.  The hymn celebrates Jesus as our “blessed Redeemer” and praises His amazing gifts of salvation and redemption.

So, without further ado, let’s raise our sweet sacrifices of praise to high heaven, in a soulful, mid-tempo, heartfelt version of the song, letting our exaltation of Jesus ring forth with all sincerity and truth. Singing: ‘Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer! Sing, O Earth, His wonderful LOVE proclaim! Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory; Strength and honor give to His holy name!

Like a shepherd Jesus will guard His children, In His arms He carries them all day long: (Refrain: Praise Him! praise Him! tell of His excellent greatness; Praise Him! praise Him! ever in joyful song.) Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer! For our sins He suffered, and bled and died; He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation, Hail Him! hail Him!

Jesus the Crucified. Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows; LOVE unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong:(Refrain:) Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer! Heavenly portals loud with hosannas ring! Jesus, Saviour, reigneth forever and ever; Crown Him! crown Him! Prophet and Priest and King!

Christ is coming! over the world victorious, Power and glory unto the Lord belong:(Refrain: Praise Him! praise Him! tell of His excellent greatness; Praise Him! praise Him! ever in joyful song. Praise Him! praise Him! Power and glory unto the Lord belong: Power and glory unto the Lord belong:’ 

Now that was an excellent version my people! All heaven could hear the sincerity of our praise. And there are so many scriptural references in the song, that we could spend all day and not list them all. (smile) But let’s look at the few that time and space will allow us. And we’ll begin with the first two words ‘Praise Him.’ 

Well friends, throughout the Bible we are encouraged to praise the Lord, for one reason or another, especially in the Psalms. And Psalm 135, opens thus: ‘Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord.’ (Ps. 135:1) Meanwhile Psalms 146-150, all open with the advice to praise the Lord. So, there is very good reason to praise our great God, like Ms. Crosby contends.

Then we come to ‘Jesus our blessed Redeemer,’ and there’s absolutely no doubt that He is indeed our Redeemer, having sacrificed His sinless life on the cross of Calvary to pay our sin debt. He is the one that’s caused us to have the option of salvation and eternal life. And we have this great prophetic reference of Job, to Christ as the ultimate Redeemer, when He declares to his friends: ‘For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter (last) day upon the earth.’ (Job 19:25)

Meanwhile in the New Testament there are several scriptures which talk about Jesus as our Redeemer. Listen to Bruh Paul to the Galatians: ‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse (having become) a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.’ (Gal. 3:13) Christ became cursed as He took our sins on His sinless shoulders.

And Bruh Paul writes thus to the Ephesians: ‘In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.’ (Eph. 1:7) There it’s stated that redemption was through His blood, and there are several places where Jesus’ redemptive work was seen as paying a ransom for us. Jesus Himself said it in the gospel of Matthew when talking to the disciples about the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ‘Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto (be served) but to minister (serve), and to give his life a ransom for many.’ (Matt. 20:28)

Then we come to this verse that says: ‘Like a shepherd Jesus will guard His children, In His arms He carries them all day long:’ And that’s the gospel truth!  Isaiah made that reference to the Lord carrying sheep in His arms like a shepherd. ‘He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.’ (Is. 40:11)

And we all know that Bruh David spoke of the Lord as his shepherd in that famous Psalm 23: ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.’ (Ps. 23:1-2) So the reference to Jesus as a shepherd of His flock is indeed a very appropriate one, as He also referred to Himself as a shepherd. ‘I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep…I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.’ (John 10:11&14)

Then the song says: ‘Jesus, Saviour, reigneth forever and ever; Crown Him! crown Him! Prophet and Priest and King!’ And so we ought to, because He’s been exalted for His obedience to the Father’s will. As Bruh Paul writes to the Philippians: ‘And (Jesus) being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of (those) things in heaven, and (those) things in earth, and (those) things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil. 2:8-11)

And not only that but He’s also been given the titles of King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Revelation tells us that ‘These (pagan kings) shall make war with the Lamb, and the lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.’ (Rev. 17:14) And for further info on that, we can turn to Revelation 19, where in speaking of Jesus battle gear, it says: ‘And he hath on his vesture (robe) and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’ (Rev. 19:16) 

Now that puts paid to the whole scenario, for He will be coming in all His glory, with might and power. To claim Hic victory! Let’s hope and pray that we will be there to receive and honour Him like we ought to. Much LOVE!

…there’s no other name that compares to Jesus’… 

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   27 March 2024 Matthew 15:8.

27 Mar 2024 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 15:8.       This people draweth nigh (near) unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

And Holy Week keeps rolling along. It’s Wednesday; only two more days before the sadness and pain. But as we all know the good goes with the bad, and if we don’t have the negative, we won’t appreciate the positive; in other words, if we didn’t have the Good Friday ‘sufferation’ we would be able to have the triumphant Easter Sunday resurrection! And believe me, in most cases, especially this one, the good far outweighs the bad. For Jesus’ death and resurrection are the very foundation of our Christian faith! He died to pay for our sins, then rose from the dead so that we could have eternal life! And all God’s people said a loud and grateful ‘Thank You Jesus!’ 

The problem though is that we mostly talk the gratitude but don’t walk it as we ought. And that’s why our world is in such a dreadful state of strife, hatred and all the negative attributes; there’s not enough true Christian ministry to repel the evil. As Jesus said to the Pharisees: ‘Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias (Isaiah) prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh (near) unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.’ (Matt. 15:7-10)  

Yes friends, Isaiah prophesied about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in Is. 29:13, where the religious leaders only worshipped with their mouths but not their actions, and merely taught the rules and traditions of men and not of God. Unfortunately, life hasn’t changed that much and today we’re doing the very same thing; we talk a good Christian talk, but our hearts and our walk  are far from God, more set on the cares and material things of the world. There is still so much poverty and insincerity in our world, with more than enough to satisfy everybody’s needs, but the greed and selfishness, jealousy and envy of our current society, prevent the haves from sharing God’s provision with the have nots. 

The result being all sorts of strife, sickness, despair, economic uncertainty and poverty. And in Asaph’s great Maschil or Contemplation, Psalm 78, titled, ‘Teach the Children God’s Law,’ he recounts the words of Isaiah, and Jesus. The Jews were ungrateful for God’s provisions of water and food in the wilderness and turned away from God. And speaking of the quail avalanche they received for their desire for meat, (Num. 11), Asaph writes: ‘So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; They were not estranged from their lust (deprived of their craving). But while their meat was yet in their mouths, The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest (stoutest) of them, and smote down the chosen (choice) men of Israel. 

For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity (futility), and their years in trouble (sudden terror). When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early (sought diligently) after God. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right (steadfast) with him, neither were they steadfast (faithful) in his covenant.’ (Ps. 78:29-37) 

Ah friends, as supposed believers in Christ Jesus we are doing the same thing right now, we’re guilty of supreme hypocrisy in our Christian walk, merely talking the Christian talk, but not walking the Christian walk. And we all know what we’re guilty of, but we harden our hearts and move on in our unchristian way, despite the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit that indwells us, and desires to lead us to do the good works of the Lord. As Bruh Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus: ‘And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed -unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.’ (Eph. 4:30-32) 

And what do we mean by grieving the Holy Spirit? Basically it means making the Holy Spirit feel grief and sorrow by doing what He tells us not to do. As this commentary explains: ‘In short, believers can make the Spirit sad by our sinful actions. This ties together several critical ideas. First, it means saved Christians are still capable of sin. Second, it means that God does, in fact, care about how we live our lives once we are saved.’ This brings up another question concerning the Holy Spirit; quenching it, which Bruh Paul talks about in 1 Thess. 5:19: ‘Quench not the Sprit.’ 

And what does that mean? This commentary gives us an example of quenching the Holy Spirit. ‘One way to quench the Spirit is to treat with contempt the message that the Spirit delivers to us, either through people or the Scripture. Treating that message with contempt would essentially be to reject it. To say that it was not from the Spirit. Or by choosing to ignore it.’ And what’s the difference between grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit? ‘We grieve the Spirit by what we do to Him. We quench the Holy Spirit by what we refuse to let Him do through us.’ 

Oh my fellow believers, sadly, in this evil age, we are both grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit by our ungodly talk and behaviour, and that’s just adding fuel to the enemy’s fire. So please let’s stop it nuh. Let’s return to a true covenant relationship with our heavenly Father, for that’s the only way for us to see good days and long life. Now, let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus! 

As one 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 desire to see an even more glorious future than we can ever think or imagine, then we need to endure right down to the end with Christ. It’s truly going to be marvellously splendiferous (smile) when Jesus comes in all His glory and splendour! Let’s hope we’ll be there to see it together. Much LOVE!

…talk is cheap…but Christian actions require sacrifice…

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