22 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: anathema, christianity, confess Jesus Christ, confession, dumb idols, faith in Christ, fellowship, Friday chant, frolic, fun, God's glorious kingdom, God's Word, grace of God, human emotion, in the flesh, Jesus Christ, joy, LOVE, pagan worship, perfect harmony, real flesh and blood, relaxation, rest, righteousness., salvation, speaking in tongues, Spirit of God, spiritual gifts, spring, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, traffic jams, week of work, weekend, weekend gig
1 John 4:2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
Oh brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s Friday… And all around the world, joyous shouts rise up to heaven: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday and labouring finish for another week yes!’ Well not quite mih breddren, because we still have to labour today Friday, but just the idea, the expectation of not having to face the evil, ungodly people we work with, the traffic jams and snowy, icy roads for a couple days raises the human emotion of joy to a higher level. And on that point, I looked outside just now and saw my driveway covered in snow. Hn! I thought this was supposed to be spring. But spring obviously hasn’t sprung as yet, because the banks of the roads are still snow covered, and instead of rain we’re getting flurries of the white stuff. In my area though we still need to be very thankful because we haven’t gotten as much snow as many other places. But back to our weekend gig. Just a reminder that it’s not all for fun and frolic. So let’s chant our Friday Chant that brings the whole situation into its proper perspective. 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 people, it’s all about resting up and fellowshipping so we can go back out next week and continue the battle in Jesus’ Name. Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.’ A most interesting Bit that my people! And we’ll continue from yesterday, where we saw that there are many false prophets and spirits trying to gain control of our lives, but there’s ONLY ONE, that’s truly worthwhile, that of Jesus Christ. And John told us that the easiest and best way to know whether there’s truth in a spirit or doctrine is if Christ is spoken of as being real flesh and blood, during His earthly sojourn. We also saw where Jesus declares that a lot of those claiming to be His followers will be turned away at the end time because they only had outward facades of Christianity, while their hearts were truly tuned into the frequency of Beelzebub. So Friends, a reminder that we have to be very particular of whom and what we let into our lives and our souls. Bruh Paul, in talking to the Corinthians about spiritual gifts, had this to say on the subject. ‘Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb (silent) idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed (anathema): and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.’ (1 Cor.12:2-3) Yes my brethren, if the Spirit of God is truly in us, we can’t speak badly of Jesus, and the only way we can acknowledge Him as Lord and Saviour is through the Holy Spirit. Now here’s some info from the scholars re the ‘Dumb idols: The pagan worship at Corinth involved a pagan exercise of “tongues.” The practice of “ecstatic utterances” was common in the cults and in the worship of various Greek gods and goddesses.’ I guess this could have an impact or caused some confusion between the idol worship and the Christian speaking in tongues, with the possibility of the idolaters using it to influence early Christians. Anyway, turning to Bruh Paul and the Romans. In speaking of righteousness being obtained by faith in Christ, he declares: ‘But what saith it? The word is nigh (near) thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed (put to shame).’ (Rom.10:8-11) And here’s an important note from the scholars on the last two verses. ‘Confession is made unto salvation: One is not saved by his mouth’s confession, but rather, the mouth testifies readily of the grace of God in Christ, which has been received by faith.’ That means salvation is much more than just confessing Jesus with our mouths. Our hearts, faith and the grace of God, all joined in perfect harmony, are necessary to be saved. Now that’s enough info for us to process today Friends, so we’ll end on that note. Tomorrow we’ll pick up the topic again, the Lord in favour, for there’s more scripture to be highlighted on this most important subject of divining the true Spirit of Christ. Till tomorrow then, please walk safely in fellowship with Almighty God and man. And may the Lord bless us and give us His awesome peace which passes all human understanding. Much LOVE!…it’s time for all believers to step up and sincerely…LOVE Our God…LIVE Our Faith…and SPREAD His Word…
21 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Alpha, assurance, Christ came in the flesh, Christ crucified, Christ's truth, christianity, Christians being misled, commandments, doctrinal test, false prophets, fruit of our labour, Holy Spirit of Jesus, jehovah god, Jesus abiding in us, jesus is god, kept on our toes, kingdom of heaven, Let there be light, Omega, outward affiliation, particular time, power of words, prophesied, religion, residual effect, Spirit of God, spiritual warfare, theology, wisdom, wolves in sheep's clothing
1 John 4:2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
Ah Friends, morning has broken, just like the first day when the Creator, Jehovah God, Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last solemnly declared: ”Let there be light: and there was light.’ (Gen.1:3) And light has been coming on a regular twenty-four hour basis ever since. Wow! Now isn’t that both a wonderful and most powerful happening Friends? It sure is! Jehovah spoke 4 simple words, a total of 15 letters, and such a marvellous, majestic and miraculous event occurred, and has been occurring with pinpoint regularity since then. So how can they say that our God isn’t great eh, or the spoken word doesn’t carry enormous power? It’s utterly ridiculous! But it’s the same way that many deny that Jesus is God, or that He came to earth in human form, encased in human flesh, and was castigated and sacrificed by humans in barbaric human fashion. And ever since His coming, the heathen has been trying to deny Him, or make various other suppositions which lessen His truth and the reality of His earthly accomplishments. No wonder in the first verse of 1 John 4, the apostle sagely warns us: ‘Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.’ (1 John 4:1) Yes Friends, there’s such a wealth of false prophets and spiritual warfare happening in our world today, much more than back in John’s time, that we have to be very very careful to thoroughly sift and winnow the many spirits that try to invade and inhabit our souls. But how are Christians to ensure that they’re not being misled? By focussing on the Holy Spirit of Jesus, which gives us the necessary assurance. ‘And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.’ (1 John 3:24) So once we have the Spirit of Jesus truly abiding in us, we can be sure that we’re on the right track. Now here’s a comment of the scholars that I think can help us to better understand John’s predicament and belief. ‘The Greek grammar here may indicate that John is calling for a halt to a belief in spirits that was already in progress. This could have been a residual effect of those who had already left (2:19).’ And I think it’s useful to quote that verse. ‘They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not at all (none of them were) of us.’ (1 John 2:19) Oh Friends, I believe the same thing’s happening today; people are leaving who never really belonged. As the scholars explain: ‘Some in the church, but now departed, were never really part of it. Here is a clear distinction between those who merely appear to be Christians, based on outward affiliation, and those who really are, whom the Lord knows and claims as His own (1 Cor.8:3; Gal.4:9; 2 Tim.2:19)’ Please read those scriptures to get a better understanding of that last point. And what they’re saying on the basic topic is the absolute truth my brethren! For many amongst us are only outward Christians, and don’t have true faith and trust in Jesus. They move around us like the proverbial wolves in sheep’s clothing. That brings us to our Bit: ‘Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.’ Yes my people, how can we ensure that the Spirit which dwells in us is really the Spirit of God? The first and major test is that the Spirit must believe that Jesus came to earth as God in the flesh of humans. If the Spirit doesn’t declare that in spades my brethren, then it’s surely a fake, because then it denies all that Jesus did here on earth! For the only way He could have done all those things, especially being sacrificed, crucified on the cross is by being in human form. And the scholars say this about our Bit. ‘John’s opponents may have claimed to follow Christ, but without accepting that the Son who came in flesh was also one with the Father. This position was held by many Gnostics. John says that the Spirit will enlighten true believers to confess that Christ did come in the flesh. This is a particular doctrinal test for a particular time. Jesus himself speaks of those who call Him “Lord” but are false followers. (Matt.7:21-23; Luke 6:46)’ Oh my fellow believers, I believe that this particular time is also one for that particular doctrinal test! What with all the numerous lies, slants and falsehood out there in our evil world, we cannot be too careful, but by the same token, we don’t have to be spooked by every unusual thing we come up against. If it’s not of God, our true Spirit will tell us. And I think it’s only fitting to end with that first reference of the scholars, where Jesus warns about false followers and their eventual fate, so that we don’t get too comfortable and take things for granted, but are kept on our toes, always on the lookout for the false spirits. ‘Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils (demons)? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (miracles).’ (Matt.7:21-23) Yes Friends, as Jesus said before that passage, it’s by our fruit, both our actions and our doctrine, that we shall be known and acknowledged by Him. Therefore, please let’s get serious about our faith and start and/or continue doing those things which Jesus commanded and truly show that we are His. That’s the wisdom for today! Much LOVE!…and why call ye me…Lord, Lord…and do not the things which I say… (Luke 6:46) P.S. Please excuse the lateness of the Bit, but unfortunately the ole fella’s not as young as he used to be, where he could burn the candle at both ends for a long period of time. (smile) I did that a lot of that this week and it’s finally caught up to me. Much LOVE!
20 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Agur, ants, blessings, book of proverbs, christianity, clever inventions, conies, discouraged, disheartened, dissensions, divisions, embrace Jesus, eternal death, eyes of faith, faithful children, first day of spring, four small but wise things, gospel truth, great expertise, heavenly Father, locusts, loving kindness, mercies, merry-go-round, most holy name, never give up, northern climes, potential enemies, praise, prepare for predictable circumstances, sage, self-starter, separation from Almighty God, sincere voice, sluggard, spiders, strength of purpose, thanks, united body, vision, weak and feeble, webs
Proverbs 30:24. There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.
And the merry-go-round that’s life, has turned one more time my Friends, to this cold, dreary looking day called Wednesday. Now officially it’s supposed to be the first day of spring in the northern climes. Hn! But outside looks nor feels anything like spring, with the snow covered ground and the bone chilling temps, made worse by a whipping wind. But please remember my fellow believers that regardless of how the day physically appears or looks in your particular area, just see it through your eyes of faith as being beautiful, because it really is. It’s still filled with wonderful, brand new mercies and blessings as decreed by our heavenly Father. And all His faithful children acknowledged His LOVING-kindness by declaring in a loud, sincere voice: ‘Oh Father God, You are so wonderful and generous to us, the sinful, undeserving children of men. That’s why we worship and serve and LOVE You so much, and will continue to do so till eternity! We praise You, give You thanks, and bless Your Most Holy Name! Amen.’ Now Friends, we have a very interesting Bit today – not that we don’t have them every day – but something about this one just seems special. It’s taken from the contribution of the sage Agur to the Book of Proverbs. According to the scholars, ‘Nothing is known of Agur, but he was likely one of the international sages of Solomon’s day (cf. 1 Kin.4:30-31).’ Anyway, he does write some very interesting and truthful stuff, showing great insight into nature and man’s life here on earth. And in our Bit today, he solemnly declares: ‘There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.’ And what he says is gospel truth my brethren! Now let’s look at the first of these small but wise things. ‘The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat (food) in the summer.’ (Prov.30:25) And we all know that’s very true, because we’ve all seen the ants working diligently, doing whatever they need to do to provide a good life for themselves. As Cousin Sol says in Proverbs chapter 6: ‘Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide (leader), overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat (food) in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.’ (Prov.6:6-8) And that’s the absolute truth people! As children growing up in the West Indies, we’d often watch an army of ants, fascinated by their scurrying around, busily doing their own thing, wondering how they were so diligent and focussed. But that’s built into their very nature by the Creator. And as to how that fits in with human life, listen to the scholars: ‘The sluggard is the habitually lazy person. He is admonished to learn two important lessons from the ant. (1) The ant has no guide, overseer, or ruler (v7), meaning that the ant does not have a taskmaster standing over it to make it work; it is a self-starter. (2) The ant is wise enough to prepare for predictable circumstances.’ Oh Friends, those lessons are even more important and valuable to us today! What with the great proliferation of laziness and idleness, especially amongst our young. Now let’s turn to the second small thing which Agur finds exceedingly wise: ‘The conies (rock badger or hyrax) are but a feeble folk, yet make their houses in the rocks.’ (Prov.30:26) Oh my brethren, how many of us of feeble strength and intellect can build our spiritual houses in the rocks, away from evil marauders eh? Not too many. But these small animals find a way to live in hills and rocks, away from the prying eyes of potential enemies. We need to be able to do the same thing my people. But that can only happen when we sincerely and securely embrace Jesus and all the good things He has to offer. Until then, we’ll be weak and feeble, driven to and fro by any kind of dogma, like a rudderless ship on a stormy sea. And the third thing which Agur talks about is; ‘The Locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands (in ranks).’ (Prov.30:27) Now isn’t that very strange, but rather interesting? Insects that have no leader, but yet go forth by their millions in proper ranks and formation! And their strength as a united body is enormous, for they rape and pillage the land like nothing else can. After locusts pass over an area, it looks like a moonscape, barren and desolate. Now if we humans, especially those in Christ’s church could only come together in such large numbers, with such vision and strength of purpose, then we’d have a much better chance of defeating the evildoers than we are now with comparatively puny numbers and petty divisions and dissensions. And last but not least of these strong and wise things of nature is; ‘The Spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.’ (Prov.30:28) Now the spider is certainly a work of true skill, cunning and strength! It builds its web all over, from the poorest hovel to the most pristine palace. It’s no respecter of places. And it cunningly catches its prey, its food in the sticky membranes of the web. We tear down these webs, but they soon build them back again. That’s tenacity people. Do we have that attribute? Not as much as we ought to. Too many of us get disheartened and discouraged at the first sign of danger or problems and quickly consider giving us. But please remember that giving up does not exist in Jesus’ vocabulary or that of His followers. Christ never gave up though the going was exceedingly rough. And can you imagine if He had given up as soon as the going got rough? Where would we be now eh? Left out in the cold, on the outside looking in, or rather facing a hellish time in the depths of hell with Lucifer, facing eternal death and separation from Almighty God. But with the Father’s generous help, Jesus stuck it out, so that we could have a chance to dwell in heaven, rather than hell for all eternity. And there ends the lesson for today my brethren. There’s a lot for the supposed smart and thinking humans to learn from the small, lowly, but very instinctive parts of nature, if we’ll only take the time to study them. Yuh see how the ancients did it and ended up wiser. But today with all our clever inventions and great expertise, we think we’re too high and mighty to learn anything from the smaller, lowlier creations of God. How wrong we are! So please, today, let’s take a few moments to ponder the attributes of those four lowly creatures, insignificant in our sight, but very pesty and pesky in our lives, and see how our individual lives and actions line up with them. Then let’s consciously make the decision and effort to do better. That’s wisdom in spades! Much LOVE!…though we look down disparagingly on the lesser creatures of nature…they do have a lot to teach us…supposedly first class beings…
19 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: afflictions, belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, broken heart, christianity, condemned, crushed spirit, ever-LOVING God, God's will, good over evil, gospel truth, helmet of salvation, Jesus, judgement day, LOVE, neck of the woods, new mercies, punishment, rainy morning, sandals of peace, shield of faith, shout of joy, showers of blessings, snowy night, solid protection, spiritual armour, strength of God, sword of the Spirit, temptation, The Lord our Redeemer, the Tribulation
2 Peter 2:8. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement to be punished.
Oh Friends, it’s a rainy morning after a snowy night in my neck of the woods, so please be careful out on the roads this morning. Now we’re a tad late because the old body and mind weren’t feeling right, that’s alive and kicking (smile) when I first got up, so I decided to go back to sleep. However, I slept longer than expected. Two hours later I got up with my mind clear, but my back aching. Ah Lord eh! When it’s not one thing is another yes! Anyway, today is still a new day, and it’s going to be filled with new mercies and blessings from our ever-LOVING God. It’s one of His faithfully kept promises. So please remember that regardless of how you feel, or where you are, once you’ve put your trust in Almighty God, surrendered your soul to Him, every new day will bring new showers of blessings, for which we ought to be most thankful. Oh, another reminder of utmost importance. Before you leave home, please make sure you’re securely ensconced, totally dressed in your spiritual armour so that you can safely engage the enemy in battle. We’re talking about your helmet of salvation, your breastplate of righteousness, your belt of truth, sandals of peace, that massive shield of faith, and the all conquering sword of the spirit. Wow! What solid protection my brethren! Please don’t ever leave home without it! In fact, even when you’re home, please be dressed in it, because the wily Lucifer and his evil cronies are no respecter of places or persons. Wherever and whenever they find an opening, they’re going to dart in there as quickly as possible. So basically, once we’re awake, we need to have on that spiritual armour, and be always on guard, even in the comfort of our homes. And I’m chuckling here Friends, because I never intended to write about spiritual armour, but I guess the Lord considered it a good tie in with our Bit on temptation. ‘The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement to be punished.’ Yes fellow believers, it’s the same Bit as yesterday, because we have more scriptural info to pass along on the subject of temptation. Now yesterday we saw how Bruh Paul warned the Corinthians about temptation, (1 Cor.10:11-13) letting them know that we’re not to play high and mighty in regards to it; as though we’ll never bow to the tempter’s evil, ungodly invitations. He also noted that we’re not alone in temptation, for we’re all tempted at some time or another, it’s just one of the casualties of being an earthling. However, and most importantly, we must know and believe that our wonderful God will not allow us to suffer more temptation than we can safely handle, and will also ensure that we come out safely on the other side of it. One note of caution though, that doesn’t mean we won’t be tempted, or constantly shielded from it, but that He’ll work it out for out good, just as He does with everything else that comes against us. (Rom.8:28) And just in case you don’t believe Bruh Paul, (smile) then please listen to Bruh David as he waxes eloquently about how the Lord hears the righteous in Psalm 34. ‘The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off (destroy) the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh (near) unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite (crushed in) spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate (condemned or held guilty). The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate (condemned).’ (Ps.34:15-22) And all of that is gospel truth my people! Bruh David experienced it personally, and so have many of us. Our God won’t molly cuddle us, and keep us away from all suffering and temptation, but He will most definitely acknowledge the cause and cry of the righteous, and basically keep them safe from harm, while moulding them in the shape of His perfect Son, Jesus. And if you happen to see the wicked prospering from their evil exploits now, please don’t worry, or lose faith, for the Lord will deal with them in His own time, as our Bit truthfully declares. As believers, we just need to worry about doing God’s will, trying to persevere, to stay strong and faithful, with right hearts and clean spirits, so that the Lord will look kindly on us and hear our cry with empathy. And we’ll end with a promise of Christ from His message in Revelation to the church at Philadelphia. ‘Because thou hast kept the word of my patience (my command to persevere), I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation (trial), which shall come upon all the world, to try (test) them that dwell upon the earth.’ (Rev.3:10) Wow Friends! What a promise! And all God’s people gratefully declared: ‘Thank You Jesus! We LOVE and adore You!’ And the scholars agree that this is a real awesome promise. ‘This verse presents a promise that Christ will rapture genuine believers out of the world before the Tribulation period begins. The hour of temptation is the period of worldwide testing (Gr. peirasmos) which has not yet occurred (cf. Dan.12:1; Matt.24:21,29). Christ promises to keep them from (Gr. ek, “out of”) the period of Tribulation. That is, they will not even enter into this period of history. The Tribulation is for the purpose of trying or judging them that dwell upon the earth, those who are connected to the earth and its system. Believers are not included in this term. (cf. Phil.3:18-20; 1 Pet.2:11; Rev.6:10; 11:10; 13:8,12,14; 17:8).’ Please read those scriptural references so we can get a better understanding of it all. Oh my people, I’m shaking my head and wondering how, knowing all that, why would any sane and sensible person decide to revoke Jesus and do evil eh? So please, in light of all we’ve said, let’s ponder that question today and wisely come to the brilliant conclusion that good will indeed win out over evil in the long run, because our God and Saviour, Jesus has promised it. Much LOVE!…in the world…ye shall have tribulation…but be of good cheer…I have overcome the world… (John 16:33b) P.S. And all God’s children, unable to contain their excitement and enthusiasm, gave a mighty shout of joy and most gratefully declared: ‘Praise the Lord! Amen!’ Much LOVE my fellow believers, please stay strong in the strength of the Lord our God!
18 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: battle hymn, christianity, confidence, Creator of the universe, day of judgement, evil world, fight on strong, final judgement, glorious kingdom, government work, hard work, harmonious choir, heavenly host, humble servants, invincible, Jesus, jobs, judgement, lies, Monday Morning, punishment, religion, right frame of mind, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, sure conquerors, surrender to God, temptations, Thank God is Monday., the tough get going, theology, trials of temptation, ungodly world, weary souls, weekend, when the going gets tough, wicked taunts
2 Peter 2:9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement to be punished.
And then it was Monday…! And all of God’s children shouted a joyous, ‘Thank God is Monday yes! Time to go back to work. Ah tired being cooped up in this ole house all weekend, just washing and cooking and cleaning and looking after children and a lazy spouse. Steups! Ah doh work so hard in the government work nuh!’ Yes Friends, that’s the dilemma we often find our selves in. Home for the weekend, saddled with all the housework and dying to get out. Then by Tuesday evening, crawling in the endless traffic, we yearn for Friday and the weekend. No need to feel badly, we all experience that type of situation sometimes. Let’s just sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn and get ourselves in a right frame of mind to handle the outside world. As one loud, sweet, harmonious choir now. Let Jesus and all the heavenly host sit up and take notice. ‘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!’ Awright mih breddren! The whole heavenly host was pleased. There was plenty applause, and we even got a standing O. Wow! So let’s go out into the evil world in which we work, carrying that same enthusiastic, faith filled, Christ-LOVING, people- LOVING attitude and win some needy souls for Christ, because that’s our earthly mandate! Now let’s see what wisdom we can glean from our Bit: ‘The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement to be punished.’ And that’s the living truth Friends! Our God certainly knows how to bail out or help the faithful through the trials of temptation, but He also knows how to handle the evil pack that will be destroyed when He decides to wrap up this whole creation thing in the final judgement. Oh my brethren, I’m sincerely pleading, please don’t let us be found on the wrong side of the mighty ledger, the unjust and wicked side, because our end, come that final day, which only the Lord knows, will be real painful and sorrowful. And there’s nothing wrong with temptation, unless we give in to it, since we all are tempted sometime, in one fashion or another. And as Bruh Paul warned the church at Corinth, re Israel being used as a warning example: ‘Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition (instruction), upon whom the ends of the world (ages) are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor.10:11-13) Yes my people, our wonderful God will always help us in temptations. But the scholars bring up an interesting point here. ‘Make a way to escape (lit. “an egress” or “way out”): In early Greek usage, this term had the sense of a landing place for a ship. The idea is thus not that He will enable us to escape temptation, but that He will enable us to land intact on the other side.’ So it’s not that Lord will always keep temptation away, make us never suffer it, but more that we won’t get more than we can handle, and after undergoing it, He promises to bring us out safely. In other words, though we may get caught up in the temptation, with it swallowing us, like the fish did Jonah, the Lord will enable us to bear the burden, just like He did for Jonah, after he’d understood and repented of his wrong doing. So, please don’t despair when temptation comes, you’re not alone, all humans are tempted by the evil one and his evil cronies. Just hold on tight and fight with all your might, knowing that our God has promised to see you through it, and He faithfully keeps all His promises. The temptation may last longer than we like, or be more difficult than we appreciate, but note that there’s always a very good reason for whatever the Lord allows in our lives, and will not waste anything we’ve gone through, but use it for our eventual good. It’s all part of maturing us, bringing us more like Jesus. Don’t forget that, keep the faith and fight on strong like a good soldier of Christ. In time we’ll reap the rewards. Much LOVE!…when the going gets tough…that’s when the tough…the followers of Jesus get going…with His help of course…
17 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: absolute truth, angusihed heart, christianity, consistent walk with God, covenant, dry as a desert, faith, guiding light, holy spirit, honey, honeycomb, ingenious enemy, instruction, jehovah god, joyful song, lamp to my feet, light to my path, mirage, negative circumstances, oasis, plaintive wail, promise, religion, spirituality, straight and narrow path, testimony, thanks and praise, the Lord's faithfulness, the Word of god, truthful words, warning system, wisdom, writer's block
Psalm 119:105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Oh Friends, this dark, chilly Sunday morning at first appeared to be a day of writer’s block. No creative juices whatsoever were flowing through the ole fella. Usually, even though I might not have a Bit, I’ll have something to say myself or something to quote. But not today, today there was nada; no Bit, nothing wise and witty to say, and nothing to quote. It was like being in a totally dry desert, surrounded by hot, brown sand as far as the eye could see, with not even a mirage of an oasis, much less a real one. Oh, it sure is a strange and unusual day when the ole fella has nothing to say! (smile) However Friends, I never despaired of writing something because I have the utmost faith in Almighty God, and knew He would eventually come through for me. Remember too, I’m only doing what He asked me to do, and He’s promised to always help us do His will. And my Friends, one of the many benefits of consistently walking with Jehovah God is that you come to genuinely know His faithfulness, which in turn builds your faith, so that the next time you hit a wall, you will be stronger and not despair as much as the previous time. And I’m saying this from personal experience, for over the years I’ve been writing the Bit, on numerous occasions He’s lifted me up from the depths of negative circumstances, putting a joyful song in my heart and words of wisdom in my mouth. All it takes my people is to sincerely cry out to Him. And that I did this morning. His heart must have been deeply touched by my plaintive wail, (smile) for shortly thereafter I found a Bit that I could get my head around, while a joyful song of thanks and praise refreshed my anguished heart, and truthful words of testimony were placed in my mouth. So that now mih breddren, the ole fella’s ready to rock and roll with and for Jesus. (smile) And you’ll notice how appropriate to my plight is the Bit to which I was guided. Our God doesn’t miss a trick. ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’ Words of absolute truth and wisdom my people! You’ll also notice that it has a two-fold purpose: Firstly, it shows us the right road on which to travel, guides us to the straight and narrow path of God. Then it provides a light in the darkness, so we can see where we’re going along that straight and narrow road. Yes Friends, the Lord’s Word is the Guiding Light, graciously and LOVINGLY gifted to man, so that he may find his pilgrim way safe and sound in this fallen world. Now when you have acknowledged that the Lord’s Word is your life guide, you also have to declare: ‘I have sworn, and I will perform (confirm) it, that I will keep thy righteous judgements.’ (Ps.119:106) That’s like the covenant Nehemiah and the Israelites made when they left Babylon to go and rebuild Jerusalem. ‘They clave to (joined with) their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgements (ordinances) and his statutes.’ (Neh.10:29) Yes my people, it doesn’t make sense to claim that something is so good, then not actively do or participate in it. And there are certainly other passages of scripture that agree with our Bit. A prominent one is found in the wise sayings of Cousin Sol. ‘For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is the light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.’ (Prov.6:23) And although he was warning against adultery in that particular case, the wisdom of the saying pertains to all of life. Then, if we turn to Psalm 19, the creation and covenants of God, these pearls of untold wisdom, issue forth from Bruh David’s mouth. ‘The law of the Lord is perfect, converting (restoring) the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and (the drippings of) the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.’ (Ps.19:7-11) Oh Friends, those words cut right to the heart of the matter! The Lord’s Word is the most important thing to a true believer, what we live and die by! In fact it’s the most important thing to every human being, every creation of Almighty God, because come the judgement day, everyone will have to answer for their earthly journey, based on its principles. And I want us to note two things in that last verse of the above quote from Psalm 19. The first thing is that we gain rewards, excellent ones too, for keeping His word. And secondly, but most important, is the fact that the Word provides us with a timely warning system, re the vicissitudes of life. Yes my people, it’s like a fire alarm that sounds warning bells in the event of a fire. The Word, through our consciences and the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, raises up those warning signs when we’re moving away from the God’s Word. So please, let’s pay close attention to those warning signals, otherwise we’ll be easily tripped up by the evil, but wily and ingenious enemy, Lucifer. Now that’s true wisdom! Much LOVE!…man’s promises are worthless…made to be broken…but the covenants of God are sacred…and like Him…are unchangeable…written in stone…
16 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living
Tags: abominations, beginning of sorrows, betrayals, christianity, crime, disregard for law, earthquakes, fallow ground, false prophets, fire, glorious opportunity, hardhearted people, heart, impending disaster, justice, lack of trust, lawlessness, LOVE, naive souls, outward conformity, pestilence, religious ceremony, repentance, return to God, righteousness., rumours of war, spiritual fruitfulness, spiritual vitality, tribulation, violence, war
Jeremiah 4:1. If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me; and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove (be shaken or removed).
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s shaking it a tad rough this Saturday morning, suffering from insufficient sleep; too many extra curricular activities. (smile) But like the mail, the Bit must go out. And with God’s help, it will. And all believers declared a loud and thankful, ‘Praise the Lord!’ But Friends, do you realize that it’s already the middle of March? The month will be soon be over, though it feels like it’s just begun. Whether the days are truly flying faster, or it’s just our imagination, our perception, we certainly don’t have time to waste on frivolous, unimportant activities, for the signs of impending disaster are all around us. As Jesus calls them; ‘the beginning of sorrows.’ (Matt.24:8) It’s not the end yet, but more like the beginning of the end, with the fulfillment of all the signs He warned us about: false prophets, wars and rumours of wars, nation against nation, pestilence, and earthquakes in various places. (Matt.24:5-7) That means we believers have to get ourselves truly together, as soon as possible, and come out fighting the evil that has contaminated and taken over our world. Consequently, there’s no time to lose in responding positively to our Bit. ‘If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me; and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove (be shaken or removed).’ Oh my people, the Lord offered that glorious opportunity to Israel to repent and come back to Him long ago, and He’s offering us that same opportunity today. Instead of removing Him from our schools, public places and homes, we need to be putting Him back there and thus getting more acquainted with Him. And it seems likely, from the sign of the times, that we may not have another opportunity to accept that most wonderful and generous offer. Now how do we show acceptance of that offer? Jeremiah enlightens us: ‘And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgement (justice), and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow (untilled) ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.’ (Jer.4:2-4) Now let’s hear the scholars’ opinion on all that. ‘These verses conclude the message begun at 3:6 (Israel and Judah entreated to repent) by using literary figures drawn from Israel’s daily experiences. From agriculture comes the admonition to weed out totally their present practices and break up their fallow ground, and then sow the new seeds of spiritual fruitfulness for God. Repentance and a broken heart must precede renewed spiritual vitality. The second figure comes from religious ceremony. Mere outward conformity to the standards of the covenant were insufficient. (cf. Gen.17:10-14; Deut. 10:16, 30:6; Josh.5:2-7; Rom. 2:28-29; 4:9-25)’ Please check out those scriptures my people, so we can get a better understanding of the matter. But yuh know Friends, unfortunately, all the foregoing definitely applies to our current society! We have to be truly serious about God and do the things necessary to return to Him, not pay mere lip service and conform outwardly. And believe me, our doings these days are truly, truly evil, though we try to gloss it over and give the impression that everything’s hunky dory. But Friends, judging from what Jesus said about the signs of the end, it is not! Not by a long stretch of the imagination! ‘Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted (tribulation), and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity (lawlessness) shall abound, the LOVE of many shall wax (grow) cold.’ (Matt.24:9-12) Oh my brethren, all those things are happening today in ever greater numbers. Trials and tribulations of Christians are rampant all over the world. Betrayals, lack of trust and hatred have taken on new dimensions. False prophets are out there too in ever increasing numbers, deceiving many, unwary, naive souls. And don’t even talk about lawlessness, because it’s increasing by leaps and bounds everyday in our supposed lawful society! The growing crime, violence, disregard for the law and resultant fear is shaking our society to its very roots. And LOVE… what is that eh? The true emotion no longer exists, just like Jesus said. We’re now such a cold, and hardhearted people that we see can see our neighbours suffering dire want, but we can calmly turn our heads and walk away, pass by on the other side without a qualm, just like the religious hypocrites in the Good Samaritan story. But that’s not right Friends. It’s also not the way of Jesus, not the Christian way. However, fortunately, and thankfully, there is a way to counter most of this negativity. For while there is life, there’s always hope, hope in Almighty God. But we have to do as Jeremiah says in our Bit, and also as Joel advises. ‘Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. And rend (tear) your heart, and not your garments, and turn (return) unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great (LOVING-) kindness, and repenteth him of the evil (relents from doing harm).’ (Joel 2:12-13) Yes my brethren, it is possible to do some worthwhile reclamation, if we repent of our wicked, sinful ways and sincerely return to serving and worshipping the ONE TRUE GOD, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But it has to be soon, and also on a fairly worldwide basis, or else, further disaster will continue striking us. And that’s certainly not a nice scenario to envision. So Friends, let’s wake up and see the fire, smell the smoke and rotting carcases and get a serious push on Jesus’ agenda, the LOVE Revolution, ASAP. Much LOVE!…as they say…a word to the wise…is sufficient…
08 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a holy people, believers, bondage, christianity, Christians, fellowship, fruits of righteousness, gladness, glorious kingdom, god moves in mysterious ways, God's people, God's Word, godly character, gospel truth, grace of God, hope, hypocrites, Jesus Christ, LOVE, mysterious ways, noble conduct, praise God, principles, religion, righteous fruit, Sabbath, salvation, serve the Lord, sheep of His pasture, sincere praise, sins, special treasure, spiritual wisdom, TGIF!, Thank God it's Friday, the glory of God, theology, transgressions
Philippians 1:11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the praise and glory of God.
Oh my wonderful Friends, neighbours and co-workers, it’s Friday! And a joyous shout of ‘TGIM! Thank God is Friday yes!’ rises up to heaven as the words register. Yes mih people, we’ll soon be released from bondage for a couple of days. But by the same token, we have to use the short time off wisely. So let’s chant our Friday Chant, which helps us to keep the weekend in its proper perspective. With great joy, enthusiasm and sincere praise, let’s chant. ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ Now let’s settle down and try not to overdo anything over the weekend, but make sure we find time for the most important aspect; fellowship with other believers, regardless of what day you celebrate the Sabbath. And it’s certainly true that wonders never cease, but daily they increase, for when I looked outside awhile ago, the lane was snow-covered as well as all the driveways … except mine. It’s not plenty snow, but mine was pitch black, the asphalt totally bare. What’s amazing is that usually mine is the one that’s covered with either snow or leaves, or whatever is blowing around the neighbour hood. But we all know that our God moves in mysterious ways, too high for our simple brains to understand, and that’s why He IS God! And that finally brings us to our Bit. ‘Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the praise and glory of God.’ Now in Bruh Paul’s usual highfalutin style, that verse can be a challenge to understand, so we’ll use the simpler translation the scholars gave us. ‘Filled with the fruit that is righteousness, which comes through Jesus Christ for the purpose of glorifying and praising God.’ That should make it much easier for all of us to understand. Yesterday we ended by looking at corroborating scriptures, and today we’ll continue to do so. And believe me, there are quite a few. So let’s go way back to Moses, who, in the course of telling the Israelites about clean and unclean food, reminds them: ‘For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people (special treasure) unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.’ (Deut.14:2) Oh Friends, we need to remember that because as believers, followers of Jesus Christ, we also are a chosen gathering, a special treasure, blessed by Almighty God on Jesus’ behalf! That means we also have to behave as a specially chosen and blessed people. But that’s something I don’t think we’re doing too well, otherwise so many people wouldn’t have such a bad opinion of us as Christians, often considering us hypocrites, which is often true. And until we change our lifestyle, until we bring it into true accordance with God’s Word and the principles found therein, we’ll never be filled with that righteousness that sincerely causes us to praise and glorify the Most High God Jehovah. So that’s something we’ve seriously got to work on. Now we’ll turn to Colossians, where Bruh Paul is writing to them about his prayer for their spiritual wisdom. And for us to understand what’s happening, I’ll quote from the beginning of that passage to the verse that actually corroborates our Bit. ‘We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the LOVE which ye have to all the saints. For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth.’ (Col.1:3-6) And we’ll get some amplification from the scholars of most of it. According to them: ‘Evidence of a person’s faith in Christ Jesus is his LOVE…to all the saints. Hope is salvation, as it refers to the object for which one hopes. Word of the truth of the gospel could be rendered as “the message of the gospel which is true.” This is meant to contradict the Colossian heresy: unlike its false teaching, or “vain deceit” (2:8), the gospel is true indeed. The universal spread and effectiveness of the gospel verify the assertion in verse 5 that it is the truth. The Colossian heresy is merely local; while the gospel has come to the Colossians, it has gone beyond them in all the world. And it bringeth forth fruit; that is, when embraced by faith, the gospel produces godly character and noble conduct in its converts.’ There we have it my brethren; when through faith, we sincerely embrace the truth of the gospel, it leads us to right thoughts and actions in Christ. And we’ll end with some words from Psalm 100; A call to praise the Lord: ‘Make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) unto the Lord, all ye lands (all the earth). Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.’ (Ps.100:1-3) And that’s more gospel truth Friends! Now let’s read, mark and inwardly digest all those things, then go out and do what is right in the sight of God, as our Lord and Saviour, Jesus expects of us. That’s wisdom at its zenith! And only then can we be called true believers. Much LOVE!…to sin is human…but the righteousness of God is given to believers…to help us keep our transgressions to a minimum…
03 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: afflictions, anger, bodies and souls, christianity, comfort, comforters, compassion, condemnation, consolation, dictates, dire need, direction, dust, empathy, gentleness, God's guidance, grief, guidelines, hearts minds, judgement, lambastes, LOVE, LOVING_kindness, positive effect, provoke, rebuke, relieve, reproach, resentment, seek God early, spirituality, straight and narrow path, strife, sufferation, tribulation
Job 16:1-2. Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.
Oh Friends, another today is here! The question is how will we use it? Will we use it wisely, or unwisely? For all our sakes, I certainly hope we use it wisely, otherwise we’d be placing our selves, both our earthly and eternal lives, in serious jeopardy. And what does using today wisely mean, or entail eh? It simply means giving our hearts, minds, bodies and souls to God! Turning to Him for guidance and direction, each and every day of our lives, while attempting to walk the straight and narrow path that comply with His guidelines and dictates. So basically, using the day wisely, means allowing God to direct our footsteps. And the best way to do that is by seeking Him early in the morning, as soon as we get up, possibly before we even open our eyes, just be conscious that we’re awake. That gives the evil fool Lucifer less time to gang up on us and cause us to deviate from the straight and narrow before we’ve even begun the day. As the ole people would say, ‘take in front, before in front takes you.’ And you know it’s always best to read the directions on a package before using its contents, as well as know where you’re going before setting out on your journey. The same applies to starting our day. So Friends, let’s try and make it a habit of starting our day with God, as soon as possible after arising nuh. I guarantee that our days will turn out much better that way. Now turning to our Bit: ‘Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable (troublesome) comforters are ye all.’ Oh my brethren, what a story is Job’s later life! He’s living as righteous and faithful as he can, then all of a sudden, for no apparent reason, he loses everything; his family, his health and his wealth. Unknown to Job, the Lord’s using him as a righteous example to Lucifer. And Job stays the course fairly well, obviously unhappy and confused, but not blaming or cursing God. But then, some days later, three of his buddies, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, who heard of his ‘sufferation’, show up together ‘to mourn with him and to comfort him.’ (Job 2:11) From what the Good Book says, Job must have been a real mess, because when his friends first saw him, they didn’t recognize him; ‘they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle (each tore off his robe), and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.’ (Job 2:12-13) Now that was real brotherly of them, and maybe they should just have kept their silence throughout their stay, because after that each one of them lambastes Job about why such a terrible disaster had befallen him. They all figure he’s committed some horrible sin, for which God has punished him. But Job knows that there’s no such horrible sin in his life. No wonder he’s astounded at the way his supposed friends lash out at him. Early on, he reproaches them by saying. ‘To him that is afflicted (despairing) pity (kindness) should be showed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away.’ (Job 6:14-15) Not only did Job’s friends berate him unfairly, his close relations had also forsaken him in his time of dire need. But that’s how it usually goes, although it’s not supposed to. Those who are suffering should be shown compassion and empathy, not dragged roughly across the coals, even though they may done something to bring the disaster on themselves. All that does is add to their afflictions and their sorrows. Then after our Bit, before complaining about God’s dealings with him, Job again rebukes his friends. ‘Shall vain (empty) words have an end? Or what emboldeneth (provokes) thee that thou answerest? I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead. I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you. But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of (comfort from) my lips should assuage (relieve) your grief.’ (Job 16:3-5) Now that’s the way it should be my brethren! Whatever we do, or say, should have a positive effect on those who are sorrowful, not increase their sorrow, as Job’s friends did to him with their harsh, unfeeling words. That’s like the unfair snap judgements many of us make in this unfair and judgemental world. We’re quick to jump down the throats of others and criticize them from mere outward appearances, without having any knowledge of the true situation. Remember Jesus said; ‘Judge (condemn) not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement (condemnation) ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete (use), it shall be measured to you again.’ (Matt.7:1-2) That means we should not be condemning others, judging their inner motives, especially on prejudiced information, neither use ourselves as a standard for the judgement, because it’s by that same standard we’ll be judged. Obviously Job’s friends didn’t follow those rules. Anyway my fellow believers, I believe we’ve got the general picture here, and since time and space are running out on us, let’s end with some wise words of Bruh Paul to the Corinthians, on the topic of comfort that we all know, or should know, but don’t practice sufficiently. ‘Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble (tribulation), by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.’ (2 Cor.1:3-4) Bruh Paul is talking about his afflictions, and how God comforts him, so that he can comfort others. Now that’s how it also ought to be with us, my people! So as of today, let’s try to show a truer Christian side to our criticism and judgement nuh. Don’t condemn, and if we need to correct, let’s do it with gentleness and kindness, in LOVE, as Jesus does, and would have us do. Much LOVE!…the beauty of correcting or comforting with LOVING-KINDNESS…is that it greatly reduces the possibility of anger, strife and resentment…and greatly increases the chances of true comfort and consolation…
02 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: affliction, Christian walk, christianity, disobedience, fauthfulness, grace, great is thy faithfulness, heavenly blessings, LOVE, loving kindness, mercy, oppression, peace, rewards, righteousness., sincerity, sorrow, steadfast faith, transgressors, truth, understanding, upright in heart, wisdom, wise of heart
Psalm 107:43. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the LOVING-kindness of the Lord.
Oh Friends, neighbours and fellow believers, may the grace, peace, LOVE, mercy and forgiveness of Almighty God be on us all this Saturday morning, as we enjoy the heavenly blessings of this new day. As the Good Book so reassuringly reminds us: ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.’ (Lam.3:22-23) And that my brethren, should be our sure foundation for a renewal, for a strengthening of our faith and trust in the Most High God Jehovah at the start of each new day. For if we don’t have that steadfast, unbreakable faith, nothing much is going to happen in our lives. And all God’s people gave a mighty shout of: ‘Praise the Lord, for He is worthy to be praised!’ And as the Good Book again reminds us: ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Heb.11:6) Therefore Friends, to have a successful Christian walk we must truly believe that God is who he says He is, then we must seek Him sincerely, for those are the people whom He rewards. And even though our Bit doesn’t pertain in particular to those scriptures above, it still corroborates it all. ‘Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the LOVING-kindness of the Lord.’ Yes my brethren, the wise of heart will understand all things that have to do with God’s goodness, because they trust and seek Him with steadfast faith. Now let’s see what our Bit is specifically referring to. It comes from Psalm 107; God’s wonderful works to the children of men. The Psalm basically recounts some of the Lord’s goodness to Israel during their exodus from bondage in Egypt and exile in Babylon, despite their unfaithfulness and disobedience to Him. The verses before our Bit read thus: ‘Again, they are minished (diminished) and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness (void place), where there is no way. Yet setteth he the poor on high (far) from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.’ (Ps;107:39-41) Oh Friends, the Lord’s power is unbelievable! It’s so awesome in its magnitude and scope, that our simple minds can’t really fathom it! He can quickly bring us to our knees for disobedience, or just as speedily, lift us up majestically in rough times, if we call out to Him in all sincerity and truth, for He is faithful and gracious to His people. No wonder the psalmist goes on to conclude in the verse before our Bit: ‘The righteous shall see it and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth (be silenced). (Ps.107:42) And the moral of the story my fellow believers is – quoting the scholars – ‘a knowledge of God’s steadfastness and LOVE will cause rejoicing among the righteous, silence among the wicked, and meditation among the wise.’ There’s absolutely no doubt about that! Bruh David agrees, and says it thus: ‘And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doings. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.’ (Ps.64:9-10) And the prophet Jeremiah, in talking about disobedience brings God’s judgement, has this to say on the subject: ‘And I will make Jerusalem heaps (a heap of ruins), and a den of dragons (jackals); and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?’ (Jer.9:11-12) Meanwhile, Hosea puts it this way: ‘Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall (stumble) therein.’ (Hos.14:9) Gospel truth my people! So Friends, today, let’s see if we can’t put it all together nuh! With all that encouraging and truthful scripture, let’s be wise; understand that the Lord is EL NUMERO UNO, NUMBER ONE in the universe He created. And even more importantly, let’s also act like He is indeed the top priority in our lives. For our God is indeed alive and kicking, a God of action, and one facet without the other is of no use. And furthermore, we need to believe that whatever He does IS RIGHT, and we were made to serve and worship Him in truth, faith, trust, complete surrender and LOVE! Only as we accept and faithfully do those things, will we be well rewarded, both on earth and in heaven. Much LOVE!…there is no wisdom…wiser than bowing to the dictates of Almighty God…
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