18 Oct 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living
Tags: a cautionary word, a man of understanding, a mesuring line, a moment of prayerful silence, a two way street, alive, all flesh, among the heathen, aroused from, be silent, be still, best friend, Br. Geoffrey Tristam, byproduct, cacphony, communications revolution, consciousness, conversations, deceit, distant, even a fool, exalted in the earth, friends, glad to be alive, glorious future with Jesus, glory hallelujah, God's answers, God's goodness, God's great earth, God's plan, gospel truth, halfway home, holy habitation, I love you, I will be exalted, in due time, is considered wise, Jerusalem, keeps silent, know that I am God, lack of listening, lies, list of demands, listen quietly, LOVE, monologue, more than we can handle, neighbours, not listening, not looking back, obits, our fondest dreams, prayer, promises, responses, Saint John the Eveangelist, silence is golden, silence., step back, still small voice, the breath of God, the wherewithal to perform His work, too much talking, uncommunicative, useless talk, Wednesday Wail, wisdom, Zechariah
Psalm 46:10. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
A hearty welcome friends and neighbours to another glorious day on God’s great earth! We are alive, that means the Lord has a plan for us to pursue and complete. That’s the reason why our names and pictures are not in today’s obits.
So let’s get ourselves together and remember God’s goodness and His promises to not give us more than we can handle, neither to give us a task without giving us the wherewithal to perform it.
And yes, my task right now is to write this Bit, but I don’t know what I’m going to write about just yet. However, I have no doubt that in due time the Lord will guide me to whatever He wants me to say.
And this might just be the first clue. A friend recently sent me this interesting quote on ‘Silence,’ by Br. Geoffrey Tristam of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist.
It reads thus: ‘If God seems distant or uncommunicative these days, maybe you’re simply not listening. God doesn’t shout: God’s first language is silence. Maybe in your prayers you are doing too much talking and not enough listening.’
And isn’t that the gospel truth friends? Too many of us go on and on, telling God what we think or want or need to do, but forget that prayer is supposed to be a two-way conversation. Then when we finish our monologue we just move on, unwisely not taking time to hear God’s answers to our list of demands.
Now asking God for stuff is not basically wrong, though we should not go to Him only for that purpose. However, when we’re talking to our earthly friends, we listen to their responses after we’ve made our point.
So why, when talking to our Father, our Creator and best Friend, we don’t take time to listen to Him eh? Remember, He is the ONE who can make our fondest dreams and wishes come true!
And as Br. Geoffrey notes, God doesn’t talk in loud words or noises, but mainly in silence. So if we want to hear Him, we have to listen quietly to hear the often still, small voice He uses in our conversations.
But yuh know what, this lack of listening doesn’t only occur when we come to God, but it’s also an unhealthy byproduct of our communications revolution.
There is so much talk being generated in our individual societies and around the globe that there isn’t much chance to listen amid the cacophony of lies, deceit and just plain useless talk that has taken over our world.
But here is a cautionary word from the Lord for us today in our Bit. ‘Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.’
Yes friends, the Lord wants us to stop and contemplate that He is GOD! His power and strength are second to none, and regardless of what we do, He will be exalted throughout all the earth that He has created. So why don’t we stop for a moment, a moment of prayerful silence RIGHT NOW, and contemplate that info eh… (silence)
Oh my fellow believers, I have no doubt that some of us heard the Lord say something to us in that moment of prayerful silence. It might not have been a world beating idea, but possibly only something as simple and very heart-warming as ‘I LOVE you. I truly do.’And those simple statements have now raised our consciousness to a higher level.
But if we had not been silent, we would not have heard it. So there is usefulness in being silent. That reminds us of Cousin Sol’s statement in Proverbs. ‘Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace (keeps silent), is counted (considered) wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.’ (Prov.17:28)
Now hear these words from the prophet Zechariah when he had the vision of a man with the measuring line, come to measure Jerusalem to make it bigger and better. ‘Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of (aroused from) his holy habitation.’ (zech.2:13)
Yeh friends, when God is aroused, it’s best we step back and keep silent and hear and see His awesome words and movements.
Consequently, I implore us to remember that prayer is a continual thing, constant communication between our heavenly Father and us, therefore there is a great need for silence every so often in our busy days, so that we can hear the responses of our God, our guide and leader. That’s wisdom of the highest order!
Now let’s go home declaring our Wednesday Wail with sincere enthusiasm and a strong sense of purpose: ‘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 what a future that will be my brethren, throughout all eternity! Much LOVE!
…in certain situations…silence is certainly golden…
03 Mar 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Abraham Issac and Jacob, almighty god, an act of homage, anxious, as a tree planted by waters, backbreaking labour, blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, carnality, cease from yielding fruit, Christian Manifesto, consciousness, disasters, do their own thing, drought, ever-faithful, fear, fellowship, Friday chant, fun, generous help, glorious kingdom, glory hallelujah, he who has ears to hear, heat, her leaf shall be green, hope, in Jesus' name, in the year of drought, introspection, judges, kings, kiss the son, Lenten season, live it up, living for, on Christ's behalf, perish, pittance in pay, Praise the Lord, prayer, promise, rejoice with trembling, relaxation, rest, revel, rid our society of God, serve the Lord, shall not be careful, shall not fear when heat comes, sing and dance, sing praise, spreadeth out her roots by the river, submission, temptation, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the god of Jacob, the God of their forefathers, the Jews, the weekend, the workingman, the world's lust, times of dire need, trembling, truth, ungodliness, week of work, whose hope the Lord is, worshipping, wrath
Jeremiah 17:7. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
Well friends, it’s Friday, and the weekend looms large around us! That’s why there is so much joyful shouting in the streets around the world; the workingman is free for two big, whole days!
And who can truly blame him when he joyfully declares: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes people! The weekend is here! The weekend is here! Glory Hallelujah! No more backbreaking labour for a pittance in pay!
So let’s sing and dance, live it up while we have the chance, for Monday will soon be here, then it’s back to the grindstone again! Oh Thank God for Fridays and the weekends oui!’
Now that’s a temptation the enemy throws out at us each weekend; the opportunity to revel in the world’s lust and carnality. But hopefully we believers are able to withstand it, especially in this Lenten Season of prayer and introspection, because it’s not the right thing to do.
Our Friday Chant is a much better way to use the weekend, so let’s chant it now with sincerity and a true sense of purpose nuh. ‘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, that’s how we ought to spend our weekends; renewing and refreshing our bodies and spirits so that come Monday we can be refreshed, ready to go out and labour on Christ’s behalf. That’s the only way that makes any sense under our Christian Manifesto.
And likewise, our Bit falls squarely under that public declaration of policy decreed by Almighty God. ‘Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.’
Ah friends and neighbours, there’s absolutely no doubt about that statement! And why is that you ask? Well listen to the verse that follows our Bit.
‘For he shall be as a tree planted by waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see (fear) when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful (anxious) in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.’ (Jer.17:8)
Oh what a beautiful promise my breddren! And we all know that the Sovereign Lord is ever-faithful and keeps all His promises, so why won’t I put my utmost trust in Him eh, especially in these crazy and uncertain times? Hn!
But unfortunately, more people seem to be running away from God these days, than are running to Him! And that’s such a sad state of affairs, because He is the ONLY ONE who can help us in our times of dire need.
I really don’t understand people of today nuh, they are all trying to do their own thing, and what mankind says, but look at the mess it has our world in, why not try something else, like returning to seriously worshipping and living for Almighty God eh?
But that doesn’t seem to enter their consciousness at all! They just keep on trying to rid our society of God, regardless of the serious disasters that are happening, both natural and man-made.
Now the Jews of early times had their faults, but one thing I admire about them is that when they saw their world falling apart through ungodliness, they were quick to get back to worshipping the God of their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Why friends, can’t we be as smart, or even as logical eh? I guess only the Lord can truthfully answer that question.
Now let’s check out some scripture that agrees with our Bit. Listen to the psalmist from Psalm 2 – Why do the heathen rage? ‘Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son (perform an act of homage and submission), lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.’ (Ps.2:10-12)
Oh my fellow believers do we even need a better reason than that to trust the Creator of the universe? I don’t think so. Just the fear of His wrath and anger should propel us to trust Him.
Now hear the psalmist from Psalm 146 – The blessedness of trusting God. ‘Praise ye the Lord (Hallelujah). Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praise unto my God while I have any being.
Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man (human being), in who there is no help (salvation). His breath goeth forth (spirit departs), he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is the Lord his God: which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever.’ (Ps.146:1-6)
Oh friends, I can’t think of a better argument than that for worshipping the Lord God Jehovah! Let’s hope that you agree and will continue to do so steadfastly, because that’s the only source of true wisdom in these trying times. Much LOVE!
…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…or he will certainly feel…
23 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: accord, agreement, all things become new, any man be in Christ, backsliding, behaviour, Belial, Bruh Paul, cast off, Christ, Church of Christ, cloister, communion, consciousness, dark clouds, darkness, day of Christ's return, dough, down the wrong path, drawing closer, dreams, drowning, dry season, earthly pilgrimage, enemies, evil doer, evil powers of darkness, fall, Father, fellowship, feud, fighting diligently and faithfully, flesh is weak, friends, fruit of the Spirit, furthering God's glorious kingdom, glorious day, glory, godly behaviour, good effect, gospel truth, heavenly blessing, idols, immoral, immortal words, in the world, influence, intentions, joyous, keep the feast, lawlessness, leaven, light, living God, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, Lowlands, lush greenery, lusts, malice, material concerns, new creation, new man, not a part, old things, one bad apple, parched land, Passover, perishable world, personal experience, pineapple chow, pomp, purge, put on the armour of light, rain, righteousness., root out, sacrifice, seep in, separation from unbelievers, sin, sincerity, sinful flesh, soaking up the sea and sun, sons and daughters, spoil, Store Bay, stranglehold, temple of God, the day is at hand, the evil situation, the night's almost over, the sun rising, the works of darkness, transforming light of Jesus, truth, unclean thing, ungodly doings, ungodly hordes, unrighteous people, unrighteousness, victorious, weather forecast, wicked, wickedness, won the battle, yeast, yoked
Romans 13:12. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Aye mih people, how goes it this beautiful Thursday morning? I hope it goes well with all of you. Personally, I can’t complain, for if I do the Lord will strike me down.
It’s now been a week since I arrived in Paradise, and I’m having a great ole time. Had a wonderful couple of hours at Store Bay yesterday afternoon, soaking up the sea, sun and sand and eating pineapple chow for the first time- nice and peppery.
Oh brother! If only I could have about six continuous months of this lifestyle, I’d certainly be a new man! (smile) No harm in dreaming Friends, for that’s what dreams are made for.
But right now I’m standing on the balcony of my little bungalow at Lowlands, where the day is just breaking, overlooking the pool downstairs, gazing at the lush greenery all around me, and some dark clouds fighting for survival. However unfortunately, behind the big trees in the foreground, the sun seems to be rising in all its splendour, as the white clouds above the trees sparkle and shine.
But what amuses me is that I just saw Tobago’s weather forecast for today on the computer, and it’s calling for temps of 30 degrees, with oodles of rain, not even one pin prick of sunshine shows up in it. Let’s wait and see, though it would be nice to get some heavenly blessing in what’s termed the dry season down here, to nurture the now dry and parched land.
Ah Friends, half an hour later, the sun has won the battle! Just as the transforming light of Jesus will win the feud over the evil powers of darkness, when He returns in all his pomp and regal glory! What a joyous and glorious day that will be my brethren!
And as our Bit says: ‘The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.’
Yes my people, that awesome day of Christ’s glorious return is drawing closer with each passing day! That means the evil powers of darkness ought to be subsiding, but unfortunately its getting stronger, because we believers are not fighting diligently and faithfully enough.
Oftimes we’re even helping the evil situation by joining with the ungodly hordes, drowning ourselves in the material concerns of this perishable world and the lusts of our sinful flesh. So how then my people, is the church of Christ to come out victorious, if we are joining with and supporting His enemies?
Please remember Friends, that we’re only supposed to be IN the world, not A PART of it. Remember too these immortal words of Bruh Paul to the Corinthians. ‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.’ (2 Cor.5:17)
And following on from that most important and decisive verse, come these words from Bruh Paul, as he pleads for separation from unbelievers. ‘Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship (in common) hath righteousness with unrighteousness (lawlessness)? and what communion (fellowship) hath light with darkness?
And what concord (accord) hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel (unbeliever)? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.’ (2 Cor.6:14-18)
Yes Friends, believers ought not to adopt or allow the ways of unbelievers to seep in their consciousness and thus their behaviour. When we associate with unbelievers, as we must do in a predominantly unbelieving world, we need to ensure that it is our godly behaviour that shines out and controls the situation, so that we can influence them, rather than they influence us.
And the best way to avoid the latter situation happening, is to stay away from wicked, immoral, unrighteous people and their activities. Now that doesn’t mean locking ourselves up in a cloister, but throughout our earthly pilgrimage we will encounter persons and situations that are obviously not going to provide good fruit of the Spirit.
These we ought to say away from, for though we might have the best intentions in the world, our flesh is weak, and we are not always able to handle ungodly people and their ungodly doings.
For as Bruh Paul warned the Corinthians in his first letter. ‘Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (a little yeast, spreads through all the dough)? Purge (clean) out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor.5:6-9)
Yes my brothers and sisters, even a little sin can spoil the whole soul! As we say, one bad apple can spoil the whole basket. And that’s gospel truth, as many of us have discovered from personal experience. Thus it is that one persistent sin or evil doer in our lives can cause us to fall.
So let’s therefore try and root out any known sin that has a stranglehold on us, or anyone who we associate with who’s leading us down the wrong path. And furthermore, let’s be very careful with what and whom we associate, and in whatever company we find ourselves, always endeavour to have our godly behaviour influence the gathering.
In that way, we will prevent ourselves from backsliding, and possibly have a good effect on others, leading them to accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour, thus furthering the righteous and glorious kingdom of our great, wonderful and marvellous God. Much LOVE!
…there’s no influence as strong and pervasive as that of other humans…so believers must be very careful of whom they allow to influence them…
12 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adoration, always pray, amazing, anger, armour of god, author of all truth and wisdom, awesome, baby Jesus, battle dress, be obedient, Beelzebub, belt of truth, best action, breastplate of righteousness, bundle of joy, Christmas, chuckling, consciousness, curiousity, definitive statement, devious schemes, dine, disgusting truth, doubts, enthused, Ephesians, evil things of the world, excited, excitement of Jesus, faithfulness, fear, fight a good fight, foolish, friends, guidance, helmet of salvation, help, Holy will, I stand at the door, immediate action, in Jesus' name, incomparable God, indisputable truth, infused with strength, inquisitiveness, invitation, Jesus Christ, Joseph, joy, knock, lifeblood of our souls, look up, Lord and Saviour, lose heart, LOVE, loving kindness, lusts of the flesh, Mary, medicine, military overtones, most excellent, my heart, my voice, negativity, not faint, on the right foot, open the door, parable, positive start, Praise the Lord, prayer, proclamation, resist the enemy, Revelation, reverence, Salvation Army, sandals of peace, self-pity, sense of urgency, serve, shield of faith, spiritual armour, sword of the Spirit, tactics, testimonial, the Holy Spirit, tied up in knots, ungodly, unwise, wiles of the devil, wily, wise man, wonder, Word of God, worship
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, what an awesome, amazing and incomparable God we serve and worship!
And recognizing the indisputable truth of that statement, all God’s people at once responded with a loud and proud: ‘Praise the Lord God Jehovah! For He is truly mighty, and indeed worthy of our reverence and worship!’
And I know that because of the fastness, the curiosity, your natural inquisitiveness, (smile) you’re wondering what brought on that beautiful burst of adoration. Well nothing more than His LOVING-kindness and faithfulness!
A short while ago, as I was getting ready to write the Bit and pondering what to put in the preamble, I opened a desk drawer looking for paper, and lo and behold, I came upon this Christmas tract put out by Sally Anne (the Salvation Army), and right at the end was this short but beautiful poem that touched me, and I immediately knew that I had to share it with you.
A title isn’t listed, but the author’s name is Christina G Rosetti. The poem is printed above what looks like a charcoal drawing or dark picture on a white background, of a new born babe peacefully lying in a bassinet made of reeds or some other fibrous material that can be plaited together, with the mother sitting on the left side, while the father kneels on the right, both tenderly and LOVINGLY gazing down at their new bundle of joy, much like how Mary and Joseph must have gazed down at baby Jesus with wonder and LOVE. (smile)
And having set the scene, this is what the poem says: ‘What can I give Him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would give Him a lamb; If I were a wise man, I would do my part. But what can I give Him – I give Him my heart.’
Oh mih people, there’s no better gift that we can give to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, than our hearts; the very lifeblood of our souls! In fact, that’s all he ever asks of us. As He so generously offers in Revelation. ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup (dine) with him, and he with me.’ (Rev.3:20)
What an invitation, Friends! It’s the door to our hearts that Jesus is knocking on! How can we ever refuse to open it eh? For it’s the BEST INVITATION THERE IS!
Sadly though, millions of people around the globe are indeed refusing it every day. How unwise and foolish of them! Instead they are accepting Lucifer’s deceitful invite to sample the evil things of the world and the ungodly lusts of the flesh. But that’s a story for another day, so let me leave it alone, before I get carried away. (smile)
Let’s belatedly turn to our Bit; a glowing proclamation and testimonial of Bruh David, from his prayer for protection. ‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’
Again my people, once we’ve given our hearts to Jesus, that is the BEST ACTION we can take at the beginning of each and every day!
Why? Because it gets our day off on the right foot, gives us a positive start. We get infused with strength and guidance from the Holy Spirit right from the get go, before the wily Beelzebub can get into our consciousness with his negativity and have us all tied up in knots, with doubts, fear, anger and self-pity.
That is why my people, it’s ever so important that the first set of clothes we put on every day is our battle dress, our suit of spiritual armour. As Bruh Paul told the Ephesians. ‘Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (devious schemes) of the devil.’ (Eph.6:11)
And the scholars define that verse thus: ‘6:11. Put on (Greek ingressive aorist imperative) denotes a sense of urgency, demanding immediate action. To stand has military overtones. This verb was used in classical Greek meaning to resist the enemy and hold a critical position in battle. The wiles of the devil (or, “the Devil’s strategy”): Satan carefully devises schemes and tactics against believers.’
And is that ever the disgusting truth my brethren! And for those of you who don’t know or are too lazy to read it, the description of the spiritual suit of armour is found in Ephesians 6:13-18.
But I spoil you all so much, (smile) that I’m going to give you a brief description of what they are: the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the sandals of peace, the shield of faith, and the mighty sword of the Spirit, the omnipotent Word of God.
Oh Friends, I’m so excited and enthused and chuckling as I write this Bit, that I’m not sure if I’m on course or not. And the truth is, I really don’t care, because I know that it will turn out all right… no, not just all right, but most excellent, through the Lord’s guidance and help. So how can I not praise and serve and worship and LOVE Him eh?
Ah Friends, that is what happens when you get caught up in the excitement of Jesus!
But yuh know what mih breddren? I think we’ve run out of space and time for today. (smile) But we’ll close with the definitive statement on prayer that totally supports our Bit.
And as we like to do whenever possible, it’s from none other than our Master, Jesus. ‘And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (lose heart).’ (Luke 18:1)
Immortal words of awesome truth and wisdom Friends, straight from the author of all truth and wisdom! We certainly can’t do any better than that. So please, from henceforth, let’s begin each day with prayer nuh.
And it doesn’t have to be anything lengthy, just acknowledging that the Lord is the strength and joy of our life and that during the ensuing day, we’ll try to walk and talk and be obedient to His holy will, be worthy of being called His child. By so doing, right from the outset, we’ll be filled with strength, truth and wisdom, spiritually enabled to fight a good fight in Jesus’ name, each and every day.
Oh my fellow believers, that’s such tremendous wisdom, that I don’t even know how to categorize it! (smile) It’s surely been a smiley day, but that’s a great medicine for anything that ails us, and besides it’s also the cheapest. Much LOVE!
…there’s no greater power in this world…than sincere prayer…
08 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abhorred, actions, benefits, body fuel, breathe, Bruh Paul, christ jesus, clean air, connected to God, consciousness, Corinthians, Creator, dead with him, delivered from wicked men, deny him, despised, DETERMINATION, diligently try, do, drink, eat, endure, enjoy life, excellent results, exorbitant promises, faith, faithful, faithful saying, faithfulness, faithless, falling standards, forgiven, garbage in- garbage out, godly thoughts, Good Book, good soldier of Christ, hardiness, health, Health Food Mantra, Holy One, indisputable truth, Israel, jehovah god, Jesus Christ, lion, live with him, LOVE, make a way to escape, mercy of Jesus Christ, Messiah, Patricia Bragg, personal lives, pilgrim's route, poor souls, pray, provider, Redeemer of Israel, sacrifice, saving grace, saviour, say, selling ourselves short, servant, serve and worship, sinner, technologically advanced, temptation, tempted, the Lord's faithfulness, think, true, truly believe, wealth, winter, words
Isaiah 49:7. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his (its) Holy One, to him whom man despiseth (the despised of soul), to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose (has chosen) thee.
And the cold spell continues in the North Country, my people. One improvement though, it’s supposed to be a little warmer… Sorry, warmer is the wrong word, for there will be no warmth, it will be simply less cold. (smile)
But the great thing about it all is that unless the weather is truly awful, nothing much shuts down, and everyone and everything is expected to go on as normal. It speaks volumes for the determination and hardiness of the people. Anyway, you still have to dress warm and be very careful if you’re venturing out today.
And you people now enjoying brilliant sunshine and warm temps, do enjoy it, but remember to pray for us poor souls up here in the cold, that we’ll successfully make it through this winter that’s wanting to prove what a ferocious lion it is. (smile)
Now here’s an interesting note I found among my papers today. I believe it comes from a lady called Patricia Bragg. It says that ‘Your health is your wealth.’ Now that’s certainly true, because without good health, we can’t enjoy life!
Then there is what’s called the Health Food Mantra. Some of you might have heard it before, but it proclaims that ‘You are what you eat, drink, breathe, think, say and do.’
I believe that what you eat and drink is considered the body’s fuel. So whatever food we put in will determine how it runs; like a purring engine or a clanking, stuttering one.
The same goes for what we breathe. If we breathe in clean, highly oxygenated air, then the body will function at an optimum level. However, these days that kind of air is very difficult to find, especially in the big, industrialized towns and cities.
Then what we think is likened to a computer, and the saying, garbage in, garbage out. So if we don’t think healthy, godly thoughts, then all that will be processed and then come out of our minds is the same garbage we’ve put in, and that will show up through the words we speak and the actions we take.
And with the standards in all those areas sadly falling, as we supposedly get more intelligent and technologically advanced, we have to pay even more attention than before to what we eat, drink, think, say and do.
And the best way to do that my Friends, is by being totally connected to our God, our Creator and our Provider! Wow! What a saving grace for us! For unlike the man-controlled companies, that make us a lot of exorbitant promises, then don’t live up to them, our God, unfailingly lives up to everyone He makes, which proves that He’s ever-faithful, ever-true!
And the biggest promise He’s ever made is forever recorded in our Bit. ‘Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his (its) Holy One, to him whom man despiseth (the despised of soul), to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose (has chosen) thee.’
Yes Friends, the Lord promised a Saviour, a Redeemer, a Messiah, and faithfully delivered on it through His Son Jesus Christ! So why are we still so sceptical and reluctant to fully embrace Him and live a life that honours Him eh?
It makes no sense my brethren. We’re just selling ourselves short on the wonderful benefits that accrue to those who truly believe and diligently try to serve and worship Him. And it’s not like we can’t read in the Good Book and see in many personal lives around us the excellent results that come from accepting His promises and His faithfulness.
Listen to these scriptures that detail the Lord’s faithfulness. They all come from Bruh Paul’s writings. The first one is to the Corinthians.
‘There hath no temptation taken (befallen, 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 to bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor.10:13)
Now that doesn’t mean we’ll escape temptation, but more that He will find a way for us to endure it and come out safely on the other side.
Meanwhile, in his second letter to the Thessalonians, Bruh Paul writes: ‘And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. But the Lord is FAITHFUL, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil (the evil one).’ (2 Thess.3:2-3)
Yes Friends, we all know about the unfaithfulness of men, that’s why it’s so important to hold on to the faithfulness of Jehovah God.
Then in his first letter to Timothy, Bruh Paul declares: ‘And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with FAITH and LOVE which is in Christ Jesus. This is a FAITHFUL saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.’ (1 Tim.1:14-15)
Bruh Paul considers himself the biggest sinner, and well he might have been in his early days, when he diligently persecuted the church. But through the abundant grace and mercy of Jesus Christ he was forgiven.
Oh Friends, today the same thing is available and possible to anyone who trusts Jesus as their Lord and Saviour! So why don’t you take advantage of it eh, RIGHT NOW?
And we’ll end with some moving verses from Bruh Paul’s second letter to Timothy, re being a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
‘It is a FAITHFUL saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer (endure), we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not (are faithless), yet he abideth FAITHFUL: he cannot deny himself.’ (2 Tim.2:11-13)
Oh my people, those are words of fact, of indisputable truth! So please, let’s write them fast and deep in our consciousness nuh, and then faithfully abide by them as we journey along our pilgrim’s route on this troubled earth. That is the mark of true wisdom! Much LOVE!
…God has proven His faithfulness a million times over…but none as far reaching as sacrificing His only Son Jesus Christ…so that we could be reconciled to Him…what outstanding, all encompassing LOVE and FAITHFULNESS…
19 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a part of the world, actions, almighty god, Amen, ask for, behold the sun, best interest, blessings, calamitous days, cautionary note, comparison, condemned, consciousness, constancy in prayer, constancy of weather, corrupt, cursed, day of judgement, days of darkness, deceitful world, decision, desired reults, divine guidance, doing godly stuff, embracing ungodly activities, encouraged, enemy, engulfed, enjoyment of life, enlist, enthused, evening, every work, evil, evil stuff, evil world, eyes, faithful, feeding connection, friends, futile life, futility, give account, gladness, good, good fruit, heavenly Father, hold out our hands, hopeful, Hour of Power, idle word, immortal words, insights, Jesus Christ, Jesus' desires, joy of the lord, joyful fellowship, joys, judged, judgement, judgement day, justified, lead us away, lifeblood, light, light is sweet, live for Jesus, living truth, LOVE, machinations, mistakes, moment of prayer, morning, mysterious ways, new day, new week, omnipotent god, pleasant thing, possibilities, prayer, prosper, puzzling, receive, rejoice, righteous, robert h schuller, sap our strength, secret thing, share, sink deeply, solve problems, sow seed, sown, stand the test, strong sensation, succeed, sunlight, sure of success, testing flames, the help of God, things of God, thwart, treasure of the heart, true believers, trust God, umbilical cord, upright in heart, vanity, wicked designs, wisdom, word of warning, workings, wrested
Ecclesiastes 12:14. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Oh Friends, wonder of wonders! It’s supposed to go up to 4 degrees above freezing with sunshine in my area today! Bubba! From minus temps during the last few days to plus temps today, then back to minus tonight. That’s going to cause much icing up, then freezing rain and possibly snow on the weekend.
What a mish mash of weather conditions! There’s just no constancy to it these days. But my people, there is constancy in prayer; the lifeblood of the faithful, of the true believers in Jesus Christ!
And here is a prayer I’ve been trying to include since the day we spoke of prayer being the umbilical cord, our feeding connection to Almighty God. It comes from Dr. Robert H. Schuller’s Hour of Power Devotional, and says.
‘Father, I have a strong sensation that you brought me to this moment of prayer because you plan to share with me insights to solve my problems. So I will go out and face the sunlight of a new day and a new week crammed with undiscovered possibilities. I am encouraged! I am enthused! I am more hopeful than I have been in a long time! Amen.’
Yes Friends, I do hope that encouraged us some this morning, because in this cursed and evil world, we desperately need to build hope, encouragement and enthusiasm, if we’re going to live sincerely for Jesus. The world tries to sap our strength, energy and enthusiasm and lead us away from the things of God.
But we need to enlist the help of our God through prayer to thwart the evil stuff that comes against us. And right now, too many of us are still being a part of the world, involved in, and embracing its ungodly activities, instead of just being in it, doing godly stuff, as Jesus desires. And that is definitely not in our best interest. Why?
Because as our Bit so plainly states: ‘For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’
Yes my brethren, all our work will be judged by the Almighty at some stage, and it won’t go down well with the judge if our works were evil, were too tied up with the ungodly machinations of this ungodly world. So what are we to do then?
The Preacher wisely declares: ‘In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper (which will succeed), either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.’ (Eccl.11:6-7)
Yes Friends, since we don’t understand the mysterious ways and workings of our omnipotent God, and are never totally sure of success, we need to get involved in the good and godly things that life has to offer, and trust God to produce the desired results.
However, the preacher includes a word of warning here. ‘But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity (futility).’ (Eccl.11:8)
And isn’t that the living truth! Now here some notes from the scholars. ‘The comparison with light (v.7) speaks of the enjoyment of life (cf. Ps. 97:11).’
Ah mih people, I’m going to spoil us here by quoting that referenced scripture, since I know that very few of us will take the time to look it up. (smile) “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” (Ps.97:11)
Now getting back to the scholars’ notes. ‘Verse 8 adds a cautionary note to enjoyment that may be summarized in two ideas: (1) There will be many days of darkness, calamitous days. (2) All that cometh is vanity: That is, joys will not come easily, they must be wrested from a puzzling and futile life.’
And don’t we all know that my fellow believers! Real joy in this unstable and deceitful world is hard to come by, unless we are tied by that umbilical cord of prayer to our heavenly Father, and ask for and receive His divine guidance and blessings.
That’s why the Good Book so staunchly advises us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. (Neh.8:10) For only when we have a joyful fellowship with the Creator and Controller of the universe, can we really be strong and thus resist the wicked designs of the enemy.
Oh Friends, I wish I could impart the true importance of all that we do on this pilgrimage down here on earth, because it’s going to make a substantial difference in our after-lives. And if you don’t believe me, listen to Jesus, as He talks about good and corrupt fruit.
‘A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ (Matt.12:35-37)
Now those aren’t my words Friends, but the Master’s, the Son of God, our Lord and Saviour, so it is certainly reasonable to expect that He knows what He’s speaking about.
Oh my people, we can’t do much about what’s already passed, but we surely can do something about the days to come. Therefore my fellow believers, from today, RIGHT NOW, let’s try to get those immortal words of Jesus to sink deeply into our consciousness nuh, so that we can more closely watch our words and actions, thereby cutting down the mistakes we make, and consequently the judgement we’ll face, come that judgement day.
That’s wisdom at it’s highest and very best my brethren! Much LOVE!
…on that fateful day…our words and actions…will either stand the test…or they will be engulfed by the testing flames…the decision is ours to make…NOW…
06 Oct 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adversaries, affirmative, angry, anguish, bless them that curse you, blessings, consciousness, enjoy, evil, faithfulness, forgiveness, godly wisdom, good, goodwill, grow, hatred, heed, hidden recesses, Jeremiah, LOVE, Love your enemies, loving kindness, manna, mature, mercies, motives, negative emotions, New Year's resolution, omnipotent god, opposition, peace, persecution, philosophy, physical hurt, powerful words, pray for them which despise you, recompensed, rejoice, rejoice and be glad, relationship with Jesus, resentful, revive our spirits, sincerity, souls, steadfast followers of Christ, the day the Lord's made, tolerant, truth, unbelievers, understanding, vengeance
Psalm 109:5. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my LOVE.
Oh Friends, as the psalmist so wisely and rightly proclaimed eons ago: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps.118:24) Please, let’s all do that today nuh, this first Sunday in October 2013.
And all God’s people joyfully declared: ‘We shall, yes we will rejoice in this day our great God has made for us to enjoy! A new day of new mercies, blessings, manna and forgiveness to revive our spirits! It is mete and right for us to enjoy the Lord’s LOVING-kindness and glorify His Holy Name!’
And since we’re so into God this morning Friends, (smile) what better time than now to check out that New Year’s promise we made, some nine months ago, to walk closer and more faithfully with Jesus, and to add our two bits worth to His glorious LOVE Revolution.
Now have we improved the strength of our relationship with our Lord and Saviour, and consequently with our fellow believers? And what about the unbelievers, the unwashed, the angry and resentful? Have we been more understanding and tolerant?
Oh my people, I surely do hope that ALL our answers to the foregoing questions are in the affirmative! And if by chance they’re not, then I’m strongly urging us to go to God today, and ask for His help in making them so. That’s provided we’re seriously interested in becoming true, strong and steadfast followers of Christ. For you know He will NEVER refuse our requests, if we come to Him in sincerity and truth.
Remember, we can always fool ourselves and our fellow man, but we can’t fool Jehovah God, because He sees right down into the deepest, darkest, hidden recesses of our souls, and unearths our true motives.
And with all that godly wisdom laid out before us, (smile) let’s turn to our Bit. ‘And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my LOVE.’
Now Friends, all we’ve said above greatly impacts the way we handle situations like that encountered by Bruh David in our Bit. Do we return evil for evil, and hatred for hatred? We certainly ought not to, for Jesus doesn’t subscribe to, or embrace that philosophy.
Listen to His pronouncement on the subject. ‘But I say unto you which hear, LOVE your enemies, do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully (spitefully) use you.’ (Luke 6:27-28)
Ah mih breddren, we all know that’s not an easy philosophy to adopt and then put into practice. And we’ll never be perfect at it, but we must try our best to execute it, if we truly want to grow and mature in our LOVE for, and faithfulness to Jesus.
Now let’s turn to a scripture where the prophet Jeremiah encountered that rendering of evil for good. He’s telling God: ‘Then said they, Come and let us devise devices (plans) against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us smite (attack) him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
Give heed to me, O Lord, and hearken (listen) to the voice of them that contend with me. Shall evil be recompensed (repaid) for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul (life). Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for (concerning) them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.’ (Jer.19:18-20)
Yes Friends, Jeremiah suffered intense persecution for his efforts on God’s behalf. But like Bruh David, though he too cited what he’d like to see happen to his enemies, (Jer. 19:21-23) he left the actual revenge up to God. And so too should we, because vengeance doesn’t belong to us, but to Almighty God. (Deut. 32:35)
And I like how Bruh David puts it in this verse from Psalm 38, the prayer of a penitent heart. ‘They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.’ (Ps.38:20)
Yes my brethren, once we try to do what is right in the sight of the Lord, we’ll always encounter opposition, sometimes even physical hurt. But we can’t allow that to stop us. Please look at all that Jesus innocently suffered on our behalf. The least we can do is put up with a little anguish to help Him build His wonderful kingdom. (smile)
And we’ll close with these few, simple, but oh so powerful and productive words of Bruh Paul to the church at Rome. ‘Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.’ (Rom.12:21)
Oh Friends, those truly are exceptional words, undoubtedly words of godly wisdom! So let’s take them to heart, bury them deep in our consciousness, and go out and put them into practice today nuh. It’s what Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!
…the negative emotions of evil, anger and hatred…can NEVER be more powerful and productive…than those of peace, LOVE and goodwill…because they come from the Most High and omnipotent God…
SCRIP-BITS 