19 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a day in the life, actions speak louder than words, all things work together for good, almighty god, baptizing them, blessed, called according to God's purpose, caring, Christians, come to save that which was lost, common to man, compassion, corruption, Creator, deprivation, depths of our hearts and souls, do good, downtrodden, forget not, give ear, glory hallelujah, God is faithful, God's justice, God's people, greed, hard work, hear, homeless, hope thou in God, hungry, I am with you always, in the name of the Father, live for Jesus, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, make disciples of all nations, my salvation, o ye kings, o ye princes, observe all things I commanded you, provider, revere, sacrifice of praise, selfishness, share, sick and suffering, sing praise to the Lord, sing praise to thy name, stand up and be counted, strangers, suffering, temptation, the church, the fruit of our lips, the god of Abraham, the health of my countenance, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, the SON, the things of the world, thou Most High, to them that love God, unbelievers, ungodliness, unto the end of the world, widows and orphans, wine and roses, worship
Judges 5:3. Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes: I, even I, will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.
One more day in the life friends, one more day in the life! And what a blessed day it always is when you are being led by the Holy Spirit of Almighty God, as we Christians are supposed to be!
Our Divine Creator and Provider always has His eyes on us; on each and every one of those who sincerely worship and revere Him. Not one single hair from our head falls out without His knowledge. That’s how closely He monitors our well-being.
And the joyful shout of ‘Glory Hallelujah! Blessed is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who sincerely cares for us and faithfully fills all of our needs!’ echoes across the land from the mouths of God’s people.
Oh friends, how wonderful that sentiment would be if it came from the mouths of many of the current unbelievers. And that’s our job; to show the unbeliever how wonderful it is to work and live for Jesus; not only by our words, but even more importantly by our actions. Remember actions speak louder than words.
Unfortunately though, the actions of too many supposed Christians don’t jive with their words, or the lifestyle espoused by Jesus in His earthly sojourn, and expected of His disciples down through the ages.
Where is the unconditional LOVE, the compassion, the caring for those less fortunate, for the homeless and hungry, the widows and orphans, the strangers, the downtrodden, the sick and suffering, the lost that Jesus came to save. As He said: ‘For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.’ (Matt.18:11)
So my people, why are so many of our brothers and sisters suffering such want and deprivation when there is such abundance eh? It obviously means that we, first as individual believers, and the church, as the earthly body or organization of Christ are not fulfilling our Christian mandate. That doesn’t speak very highly of us my fellow believers.
Oh my brethren, it’s in these times of full-scale greed, selfishness, corruption, ungodliness, widespread poverty and suffering that Christ’s church and the people involved need to stand up and be counted. Jesus is depending on us to successfully carry out His LOVE Revolution, and we obviously can’t do that from the comfort and ease of our living rooms.
Friends, we need to get up and get going; place Jesus sincerely in the depths of our hearts and souls, so that we go can out and proselytize, evangelize, and do whatever it takes to bring Christ to those who don’t know Him.
Remember His last instructions to the disciples. ‘Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway(s), even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt.28:19-20)
Friends, those disciples did their thing and brought a whole lot of believers to Jesus. It’s now our turn, but we’re not doing so well because we’re afraid of what the world will say, and also too taken up with the things of the world. Remember friends, following Jesus is not all wine and roses, in fact it entails plenty hard work and a fair amount of suffering, but it is all worth it in the end.
As Bruh Paul says: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are called according to His purpose.’ (Rom.8:28) Yes my people, there’s nothing to fear, the Lord will work everything out for our good eventually. And remember too that Jesus said He would always be with us, right to the very end, so we’ll never be alone. Jesus will always be alongside us.
And then we have this wonderful scripture: ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtaken, befallen) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that yea are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ (1 Cor.10:13)
So my people, we have all the tools and the protection to go out and do the work that Jesus has called us to do. Let’s develop some belly and backbone and go and do it nuh; stop being fearful, stop making excuses and stop allowing the lusts of the flesh to hold us back from performing our bounden duty; the Great Commission. And that’s my spiel for the day. (smile)
Now let’s turn to our Bit about giving our great God the praise and glory He so rightfully deserves. ‘Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes: I, even I, will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.’ Yes my people, that is what we were created to do!
But sadly in this modern age and supposedly progressive times, we have forgotten about God and are foolishly putting our trust in man and the destructible things of the world. And we’ll continue looking at some scriptures of praise, hoping they will make a serious impact on us.
Let’s begin with the confession of the priests and Levites after Ezra read the law to the Israelites and they repented and fasted. ‘Stand up and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.’ (Neh.9:5b) That’s the awesome truth friends! Now listen to Bruh David from Psalm 9 –Praise for God’s justice. ‘I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth (tell of) all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High.’ (Ps.9:1-2)
Yes my brethren, that how we’re supposed to operate as true believers. And even when times are rough, we can say: ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance (my salvation) and my God.’ (Ps.42:11)
And we’ll close with these well-known verses from Hebrews. ‘By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate (share) forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.’ (Heb.13:15-16)
Ah friends, I can only encourage us to do better and pray that the Holy Spirit will work in all our hearts, minds, souls and bodies to the bettering of Christ’s kingdom here on earth. Much LOVE!
…when thanks and praise flow from our hearts…God opens the windows of heaven and pours down His wonderful blessings on us…
06 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Abraham, bad habits, bake and saltfish, barren, belly and backbone, blessings, carcasses, celebration, childbearing age, Christians, chutzpah, confusion, corruption, courage, David, deceitful world, devotions, disobedience, dry season, encouragement, fallen nature, fellowship, friends, give thanks, glory hallelujah, God's plan, Goliath, good habits, gospel truth, Hannah, heart's desire, in the name of the Lord of hosts, Jesus Christ, laid back, lead us down the garden path, LOVE, lustful, mistakes, on which side his bread was buttered, peace, Philistine, praise, prayer, rain, rear their ugly heads, rearing to go, Samuel, Sarah, strength, Sunday, tambourine, the battle is the Lord's, the day of the Lord, the fowls of the air, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, The God of Israel, the Lord God Jehovah, the sanctuary, the spoken word, the vicissitudes of life, there is a God in Israel, thy way O God, Tobago, who is so great a God, wild beasts of the earth, William Somerset Maugham, wisdom, worship, wrong thinking
Psalm 77:13. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?
Oh friends, it’s the day of the Lord, as celebrated by a majority of Christians! So I do hope that we have all gotten, or are in the process of getting our weekly celebration, gathering with other believers to worship and praise and give thanks to our great God and receive his encouragement and strength and peace and wisdom to endure the vicissitudes of life for another week! Praise His holy name, for He is indeed a great God!
Now please note that the Bit is not late. (smile) That’s just the way God planned it. You see I was up early this morning, participating in some devotions, then got ready and went to church.
And you know on this paradise island of Tobago, like everything else, church is also laid back and does take some time. I read the first reading and I shook my tambourine and sang as loudly as I could, given my current asthmatic condition! Glory Hallelujah!
Then I came home and had breakfast, some bake and saltfish, and the obligatory nap came after. (smile) Only thing is it turned into a little more than a nap, since I had not had a decent night’s sleep last night. So you see everything is indeed working out according to God’s plan; I’m up now bright and beautiful and rearing to go!
And talking about bright and beautiful, I see some dark clouds massing up over the southern horizon, seemingly portents of rain which we desperately need in this continuing dry season.
But I won’t hold my breath because over the last few days it has been particularly cloudy, but nary a drop of heavenly blessing has fallen. The strong winds seem to blow them away at the last minute. But then again that might just be God’s plan, and indeed His prerogative.
And this Sunday morning, or rather afternoon, I want to remind us of one thing; it’s a quote attributed to the renowned British playwright and novelist, William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965). He reputedly declared that ‘The unfortunate thing about this world is that good habits are so much easier to give up than bad ones.’
And isn’t that the gospel truth my people! We all have been plagued by habits, both good and bad, at some time(s) in our lives and unfortunately, or in some cases fortunately (smile) the bad ones were always the hardest to give up.
Now why is that eh? I suspect that it has something to with our fallen nature, because most of the bad habits are usually associated with the wrong thinking and beliefs of the lustful and deceitful world which we ofttimes seem to cherish more than the good habits of our wonderful God.
Now that’s just a reminder to be very careful of those bad worldly habits. When they come a calling, or rear their ugly heads in our lives, we need to resist them with every ounce of our beings, through prayer and fellowship, or else they will most certainly lead us down the garden path to more confusion and corruption in our lives than is necessary. End of sermon. (smile)
Now let’s turn to our Bit which espouses the greatness of our God Jehovah. ‘Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary (holiness): who is so great a God as our God?’
And for all true believers, we know that there is NOBODY as great as our God! As I keep asking, how could there be, when He is the one who created the universe and all therein basically through the spoken word. Who, or what, could be mightier than that eh, to just talk the world into existence?
NOTHING or NO ONE!
And we’ll continue looking at some scripture that proves our contention, beginning with the patriarch Abraham, who left his family at seventy-five years of age and wandered out into the unknown because of God’s promise to magnify Him if he obeyed His will. (Gen.12)
And we all know that God did magnify him, because today, thousands of years later, we talk about and worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And how about the Lord’s promise that Abraham would have an heir out of his own loins with his aged wife Sarah? (Gen.18, 21) Who but a great and mighty God could fulfill such a promise when one party was a hundred years old and the other ninety eh, both way past childbearing age?
The Lord God Jehovah is His name!
And again when the prophet Samuel’s mother, Hannah, beseeched the Lord to end her barren womanhood, because she was having a hard time with the mocking of her husband Elkanah’s other fruitful wives, what happened?
Having promised to give the child into His service, the Lord looked down with favour and granted her her heart’s desire, and made him a great prophet amongst his people. (1 Sam.1)
And who caused Bruh David to kill the mighty Philistine giant with five small stones and a sling shot (catapult) eh? Nobody else but the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
Now listen to these immortal words that Bruh David spoke to Goliath. ‘Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite (strike) thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.’ (1 Sam.17:45-47)
And it happened just as he declared it!
Oh friends, I have to chuckle at Bruh David’s belly and backbone yes! Wish we all could have a little bit of it. Just imagine this little runt of a shepherd boy, talking to the mighty Philistine warrior like that nuh!
But as I’ve always said, if nothing else, Bruh David knew on which side his bread was buttered, for despite all his mistakes and disobedience, he never forsook the God of his fathers.
Oh my people, this Sunday, please let’s take all the stuff we’ve talked about and diligently mould it into our minds, bodies and souls nuh, so that we can have the courage, the chutzpah of Bruh David, to stand up strong and declare our great God, when the enemy comes against us.
This I pray in Jesus name. Amen! Much LOVE my people!
…a believer’s bread is buttered on only one side…that of the Lord’s…
19 Feb 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living
Tags: a better tomorrow, advice, anger, Anselm, broken, Clifton Hills Resort, corruption, decisions, don't give up, drink the sweet, dysfunctional, eat the fat, encouragement, Ezra, fellowship, focus, for the joy of the Lord is your strength, Friday chant, friends, fun, furthering God's kingdom, heal, hockey wilderness, hurt, Jesus Christ, joy, joyful, lack of joy, LOVE, loving kindness, mercy, mirth, money, mourn not nor weep, Nehemiah, one of the least, pain, party time, Point Fortin, rejoicing, relaxation, renewed and refreshed, resentment, rest, San Fernando, send portions to the needy, temptation, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the Levites, the Pitch Lake, the weekend, the words of the law, this day is holy, trust, try your spirit, understand, Uriah Buzz Butler Highway, water taxi, week of work, wisdom, wounded, ye have done it unto me
Nehemiah 8:10c. For the joy of the Lord is your strength.
And then it was Friday…
And we all know what happens on Fridays – the people rejoice with shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui! The weekend’s here at long last, and we can say to hell with work for two days! Party time mih breddren! Oh thank the Lord for Fridays yes!’
Ah mih people, I won’t even bother to say that that is not the best use for us to put the weekend to. (smile) I’ll just say let’s chant our Friday Chant so that we can get a better perspective on our two days off.
As one 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.’
Now that makes a whole lot more sense than just partying away the two little days off we have, then going back out to work next week tired and miserable and complaining. I do hope that eventually most of us learn the right way, for until we do, our lives will keep on being dysfunctional, filled with complaints, resentment, anger and a sad lack of true joy, and that’s definitely no way to live.
And to further help us in living functional and joyous lives, here is a quote from our friend Anselm, who always aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow.
Listen up: ‘You’re going to be okay. This pain you feel is going to pass. Maybe not this moment or today or tomorrow, but sometime soon. The hurt will fade. Don’t give up before things get better. You may be wounded, but you aren’t broken. You can and will heal.’
Oh friends, I don’t know about you all nuh, but the ole fella needs that message, that encouragement badly! Now deep down I do know that things will improve health wise, as I’ve already had an inkling of it, but still, when the aches and pains strike out of the blue, with no apparent provocation on your part, it does try your spirit.
That’s why we need to keep our focus steadfastly on the Lord and His tender mercies and LOVING-kindness, so that we won’t give in to the always nagging temptation to give up! And that’s why our Bit is ever so important: ‘For the joy of the Lord is your strength.’
And did I ever have my joy renewed yesterday friends! We took the water taxi from Port of Spain to San Fernando, a cool hour’s ride along the coast of Trinidad. There, a couple of friends met us and drove us through Sando (San Fernando), then down to their home in Point Fortin.
Oh, is the southland ever busy! Brother, the cars are numerous, with all sorts of traffic jams, and then others just swooping by under less than safe circumstances. We saw the highway that was never completed, ostensibly due to lack of money, aided and abetted by serious corruption. Ah Lord eh!
We also saw the Pitch Lake; that mass of regenerating pitch, (asphalt) from which I understand we export, but don’t use ourselves. Anyway it was a very interesting tour, with all sorts of big and beautiful homes along the way, as well as older, not so big ones.
The people are crying that the times they are hard, and no doubt they are for some, but looking at some of what is going up, one would deduce that there is money, and plenty too, in certain echelons of the society.
Nonetheless, we had dinner at a wonderful new establishment called Clifton Hills Resort, situated next to the beach. A small hotel, not yet functional is also situated on the property. It’s well landscaped, the food was delicious and the service excellent.
Then our friends drove us all the way back to Port of Spain, at least an hour and a half drive. The new Uriah Buzz Butler Highway made it a little easier. And wonder of wonders, as I was going up to my room I saw a hockey game on in one of the little booths in the lobby, and I obviously shouted for joy, because I’ve been in a hockey wilderness for three weeks now.
I was just in time to see the third period. And although my team, the Detroit Red Wings lost against the Pittsburgh Penguins, I felt like a thirsty man does when given a drink of water. (smile)
Now let’s end with the rest of the story re our Bit. ‘And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha (Governor), and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
Then said he unto them, go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace (be still), for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth (rejoicing), because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.’ (Neh.8:9-12)
Oh friends, how I wish that we could be so joyful when we hear the word read to us because we understood it. So many of us don’t even pay attention, much less understand.
Then again, we can get all sorts of advice, but we all have to make our own decisions, let’s hope we make the right ones today, especially that of closely following our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for that is indeed the wisdom of all time. Much LOVE!
…in our times of merriment and joy…let’s not forget to share with the needy…for as Jesus said…in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren…ye have done it unto me… (Matt.25:40b)
14 Nov 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a frosty Saturday morning, a rod of pride, a world of plenty, abominable works, Anselm, be patient, corruption, cost effective, Ecclesiastes, followers of Jesus, in the mouth of the foolish, incompetent behaviour, Inspire us for a better tomorrow, less service, LOVE, never cut down a tree in the wintertime, never make a negative decision in the low time, not believing in Jesus is foolish, overlook the positives, property taxes, shame shall be the legacy of fools, spring will come, the fool hath said in his heart, the foolishness of men, the labour of the foolish, the lips of a fool will swallow up himself, the mental elite, the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness, the Preacher, the sin of pride, the storm will pass, the tongue of the wise, the wise shall inherit glory, there is no god, there is none that doeth good, truth, useless talk, wait, wisdom
Proverbs 3:35. The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion (the legacy) of fools.
Oh Friends, it’s a frosty Saturday morning in my area, and the wind has been blowing like crazy for the past two days, making it feel even colder. It definitely wasn’t fun going outside to do anything at all. One time I opened my front door and the wind almost blew it out of my hand. You’d be in the house and every so often just hear it whooshing by. Let’s hope the wind settles down today so we can enjoy a calm and restful time. (smile)
Now check out this situation. This week I got three large plastic bins from the City, ostensibly to put garbage, recyclables and food remains come the 1st of January when those things will be picked every two weeks instead of every week. I don’t even know how I am going to find space in my garage to put those large bins, with two cars and other assorted junk already in there.
Now what amazes me, is that my property taxes are going up every year but now I am getting less service. Something about that just doesn’t seem right to me. And when you figure in the cost of three big bins for each household, I’m sure they could have left it as it was and still do the weekly service.
But our politicians in their wisdom prefer to have three sets of refuse sitting around for two weeks in every home in the region. Can you imagine the stench when you open one of those bins to add more stuff? Ah Lord eh! I know they are going to claim that it is indeed cost effective, and who am I to argue with the mental elite of our city eh? (smile)
Instead I’ll share some wisdom from our Friend Anselm, who always tries to inspire us for a better tomorrow. This quote tells us to ‘Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.’
And it’s all irrefutable truth my people. It’s never wise to make important decisions when we’re angry or sad or in a negative frame of mind, because we tend only see the negatives and overlook the positives in each situation.
A good example of the first advice comes from Gramps Schuller (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) who tells a story about his father cutting down what seemed like a dead tree as the winter approached, only to see shoots blooming from it the following spring. Recently too, I had my landscaper tell me to cut down a tree in my front yard because it was either dead or dying from some kind of beetle infestation, but I told him to wait until next year and see what happens then.
Some days life just gets to be too much yes, my brethren, (smile) and that’s why some of us just can’t measure up to the words of our Bit. ‘The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion (the legacy) of fools.’
No, it’s not always easy to be wise, especially in a world filled with so much unwise stuff and people. But as followers of Jesus we need to make the supreme effort not to be amongst that lot, for they will try to drag us down to their level.
Just not believing in Jesus is foolish, as Bruh David proclaims in Psalm 14 – The foolishness of men. ‘The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.’ (Ps.14:1)
And that is no lie in today’s world Friends, for our societies are all evil and corrupt. A rather small portion of the population is interested in doing good because it’s all about me, myself and I. In other words about selfishness and greed. In a world of such plenty, there should not be so much suffering, and instead of getting better, the situation seems to be getting worse.
And we’ll continue looking at scripture passages that deal with the foolishness of men. Let’s turn to Proverbs 14, where Cousin Sol continues contrasting the wise and foolish. ‘In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.’ (Prov.14:3) Yes friends, we all know what the sin of pride does to us, but yet still many of us embrace it to the extreme.
Meanwhile in Chapter 15, he proclaims: ‘The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.’ (Prov.15:2) Now that seems very logical. (smile)
And in Proverbs 29, Cousin Sol declares: ‘A fool uttereth all his mind (vents all his feelings): but a wise man keepeth it till afterward (holds it back).’ (Prov.29:11)
Now that is a cause we should all espouse, especially when we get angry, for that’s when we say the most hurtful and foolish things, words we may regret later on, but won’t be able to take back and consequently destroy good relationships.
And finally, moving on to Ecclesiastes 10, where the Preacher deals with wisdom and folly, we find him confidently proclaiming: ‘The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness (wicked).
A fool also is full of words (multiplies words): a man cannot tell (no one knows) what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go the city.’ (Eccl.10:12-15)
And the scholars offer this explanation of those verses. ’10:12-15. The fool is characterized by much useless talk (vv. 12-14) and by incompetent behaviour (v.15).’ That says it all Friends.
And what does it say about our society eh, where there’s so much useless talk and incompetence nowadays? I’ll leave that for you to figure out for yourself. (smile) Let’s just try our best not be counted amongst that lot, for we will be doing a great disservice to Jesus’ cause. Much LOVE!
…it is much better to keep quiet and be thought a fool…than to open one’s mouth and truly confirm it…
05 Nov 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a sad tale, aches and pains, action, an apostle of Jesus Christ, Aristotle, brotherly kindness, by their fruits ye shall know them, calling, care, charity, Christian attributes, Christian faith, cleansed from old sins, come out of the woodwork, come to Jesus, compassion, corruption, diligence, disappoints Jesus, divine power, effort, election, energy, excellence, excellence is not an act but a habit, faith, fall, fiasco, fruits, godliness, going to bed early is for the birds, grace and peace, grow in spiritual maturity, help, help of the Holy Spirit, if these things abound in you, in a world of plenty, knowledge, lead and guide us, life, live fruitful lives, LOVE, lust, our bounden duty, our guidebook, patience, people of excellence, perseverance, practice, promises, repetition, self-control, share our good fortune, Simon Peter, spiritual maturity, stumble, superstar, temperance, the BIBLE, the divine nature, the everlasting kingdom, the Holy Spirit, time, toil, true disciples of Jesus, turning and tossing, unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, virtue, we are what we do repeatedly, ye shall neither be barren
2 Peter 1:8. For if these things be in you (are yours), and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren (useless) nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Aye Friends, this going to bed early is truly for the birds yes! Steups! I tried it last night and what a fiasco it turned out to be.
Chuh! I was up almost every hour on the hour, then couldn’t find a comfortable position to go back to sleep, and thus kept turning and tossing.
Then I was finally forced to get up by my aches and pains. It surely seems like they have all come out of the woodwork this morning, and have me doddering around like a real old man. (smile)
Don’t know how people lie in their beds for 8 to 10 hours nuh. I could not even make seven comfortably. After about five, if so much, things begin to go awry with me.
But you know what Friends, I will take those aches and pains any day over the more serious problems that more than half the world has. I at least have a roof over my head, food on my table and a comfortable bed to sleep in, I just can’t spend too much time in it. (smile).
However, a lot of our brothers and sisters around the world, don’t have those luxuries, and may never have them throughout their entire lives. What a sad tale in a world of plenty!
At least I know that as the day goes along and I move around, my aches and pains will gradually diminish, but there are too many unfortunates in this rich world whose lives will never change without help, and it is our bounden duty to help them in whatever way we can.
We have to be people of excellence, of LOVE, care and compassion, as Jesus desires us to be, and share our good fortune with the less fortunate. That’s how people will know that we are true disciples of His.
And while we’re on the subject of excellence, listen to this quote attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C). It says that ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.’
And that’s very true my people. You just don’t develop excellence overnight; you have to work at it continually. That means that excellence can only be achieved through repetition. And that is why we practice and practice and practice yet again, at the things we want to be excellent in.
Nowadays everybody wants to be a supposed superstar, but unfortunately they don’t want to put in the effort and work necessary to become one. I think it’s the same with our Christian faith. We all want to be mature and righteous and otherwise, but we don’t want to do the things it takes to become such.
Those Christian attributes don’t come overnight nuh mih people. Like everything else, they do take a lot of toil and time, effort and energy, misfortune and suffering. But the beauty of our situation though is that we have the powerful help of the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in becoming excellent Christians, provided we’re willing to do what it takes.
No other faith has that divine body continually with them, and I’m sure it disappoints Jesus when we don’t use His Spirit to the max, or in the best ways possible.
Now let’s turn to our guidebook, the Bible, where we have this passage from 2 Peter that exemplifies all that we’ve been speaking about. ‘Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like (the same kind of) precious faith with us through the righteousness of (our) God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through (in) the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this (but also for this very reason), giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance (self-control); and to temperance patience (perseverance); and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity (LOVE).
For if these things be in you (are yours), and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren (useless) nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.’(2 Pet.1-8)
Yes Friends, we already have everything we need to live fruitful lives, we just have to raise them up and work continuously at them. That’s the only way we can grow in spiritual maturity, which Peter is encouraging us all to do.
And Peter doesn’t stop there, he also shows us the other side of the coin. ‘But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off (is shortsighted), and hath forgotten that he was purged (cleansed) from his old sins.
Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (stumble): For so an entrance shall be ministered (supplied) unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ (2 Pet.1:9-11)
There we have it Friends; to become excellent in the knowledge and glory of Christ, we have to work diligently at it. And a large part of becoming mature in Christ is that as we grow, we also put our knowledge, faith, virtue, godliness, brotherly kindness etc. to work.
For we ALL need to remember that our faith, Christianity, is not merely a lot of talking, but even more importantly, plenty, plenty action. So today, as we grow in faith, let’s also grow in our actions nuh, so that others may see our worthwhile fruits and desire to come to Jesus, and get what we have. Much LOVE!
…wherefore…by their fruits ye shall know them… (Matt.7:20)
20 Oct 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a police state, adversity, an errand boy, an historic day, Be not thou far from me O Lord, belly and backbone, Bobby Schuller, change in government, confident boldness, corruption, Could you hurry a little, cries of anguish, cry boldly, deepens dependence on God, deliver my soul from the sword, draconian laws, everlasting wisdom, Federal Sections, glory to God, God is not our errand boy, God's timing, haste to help me, hedged in on every side, humble servants, I am the beloved of god, I can trust my friend Jesus, I don't have to hurry, I don't have to worry, I will praise thee, I'm not what I do, I'm not what I have, I'm not what people say about me, in the midst of the congrgation, Justin Trudeau, left me to my own devices, live obediently to god's will, Lord it's time for you to act, mea culpa, nonchalance, O my strength, obtain answers, One Year Book of Bible promises, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, prayer, promise, Psalmist David, save me, share His love with the world, songs of praise, stand steadfast, Stephen Harper, strengthens faith, the affairs of this world, the annals of Canadian history, the Conservatives, the Creed of the Beloved, the Liberals, the rich and famous, the winds of change, times of trouble, Tuesday Mantra, waiting develops endurance, walking papers, we are the children of God, wisdom
Psalm 22:19. But be not thou far from me O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
Oh Friends, it’s a mea culpa kind of morning! I went to bed real late this morning, and got up much later than I expected or wanted to. I guess the good Lord in His everlasting wisdom decided I just needed the rest, or He simply left me to my own devices, and we see how that panned out. (smile)
Anyway today is an historic day in the annals of Canadian history! Yes mih people, the winds of change have blown across this country in a most remarkable way. We now have a new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and a new governing party, the Liberals, after yesterday’s Federal Elections.
The Conservative Government under Stephen Harper, which has mismanaged the country for almost a decade, got their most deserving walking papers. Glory to God!
Let’s hope now that the micro-management, the secrecy, the draconian laws which have brought us to the reality of a police state, the widespread corruption and the nonchalance towards the ordinary working man, in favour of the rich and famous will now stop, or at least be substantially reduced.
And would you believe that yesterday a wicked windstorm blew across my area all day, possibly heralding the significant change in government. Let’s hope too that the big knock against Trudeau, his youth, merely thirty something, doesn’t affect his governing. At least he doesn’t seem to be as arrogant as His father, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who ran the country from 1968-1979, and 1980-84.
Notwithstanding that though, Pierre Elliot was possibly the most popular Prime Minster in our history. Let’s hope though that Justin does have the wisdom, the belly and backbone that his father had, and a true penchant for improving the entire country, not just the rich and famous.
Anyway, enough politics for today. I’m not a political animal, but I do take some interest in the goings ons around me. (smile) And since today is Tuesday, a wet and cloudy day in my area, we need to declare our Tuesday mantra. Or as the person who wrote it, Bobby Schuller, Gramps Schuller’s grandson, likes to call it, the Creed of the Beloved.
So all together now: ‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’
And that’s exactly how we have to view this life my brethren! The most important aspect of our lives is that we are the children of the Most High God Jehovah! That’s what defines us, nothing else!
And I just could not pass up this poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Caulkin, as it is very reflective of our behaviour. It’s titled: ‘Could You Hurry a Little.’
And it says: ‘Lord, I know there are countless times When I must wait patiently for You. Waiting develops endurance. It strengthens my faith And deepens my dependence on You. I know You are a Sovereign God – Not an errand boy Responding to the snap of my finger. I know Your timing is neatly wrapped In Your incomparable wisdom.
But, Lord You have appointed prayer To obtain answers! Even David the Psalmist cried With confident boldness: “It is time, O Lord, for you to act.” God, on this silent sunless morning When I am hedged in on every side I too cry boldly. You are my Father, and I am Your child. So, Lord, could You hurry a little?’
Oh my fellow believers, I’m sure that many of us have prayed that kind of prayer many a time! And nothing’s really wrong with it, except that too many of us tend to treat the Lord our Mighty God as an errand boy.
Yes Friends, we often don’t remember Him until there is a problem in our life, then we cry out to Him and expect Him to run and fix it. But that’s a totally false image and manner of dealing with Almighty God.
Please remember that He is the Master and we are His humble servants. We are here to do His bidding, not the other way around. And though we are entitled to cry out to Him for help, we also are required to wait patiently on His timing, which is NEVER wrong or late.
And the promise on which that poem was based, is also our Bit for today. ‘But be not thou far from me O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.’
Yes Friends, that was Bruh David crying out for the Lord’s help in one of his many times of trouble. And as I said before, we are also entitled to cry out to our heavenly Father for help. We just need to live obediently to His will during the remainder of the time, if we truly expect Him to help us when adversity rears its ugly head.
We simply cannot live the way we want to, enmeshed in the affairs of this wicked and godless world, then when times get tough, run to Him and expect immediate succour.
And we’ll end today with the remainder of Bruh David’s cry for help. ‘Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling (precious life) from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns (and from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered me).
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed (descendants) of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him (hold him in awesome reverence), all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.’ (Ps.22:20-24)
Yes my people, that’s the awesome promise of our ever-LOVING God: when we consistently live for and praise Him in our daily lives, then we are entitled to cry out to Him for help in times of trouble. And as Bruh David so rightly says, He never turns away from the afflicted, but hears him. Now that’s a promise we can stand steadfast on! Much LOVE!
…for a true believer…cries of anguish…should always be interspersed with songs of praise…
07 Sep 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a prowling wolf, a scarcity of jobs, after one time is two, and were scattered abroad, anger, angst, as sheep having no shepherd, aura of love, because they fainted, Beelzebub, but the labourers are few, calamity, captains of industry, celebration mode, Christians, compassionate hearts, confidence, conquerors, corruption, Creator of the universe, crime, dissatisfaction, drunk or sober mind your business, Eastern Parkway, Election Day, energy, enthusiasm, faith, friends, glorify God's name, godliness, Granny's spiel, guidance, help, humble servants, invincible, Jesus Christ, Jesus was moved with compassion, jobs, Labour Day, lies, LOVE, make a difference, memories, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, Oh Lord God Almighty, pray the Lord of the harvest, prosperity, rebellion, refugees, rejuvenation of spirit, remuneration, renewed vitality, responsible government, rest, serve a useful purpose, societal obligations, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, strife, taunts, the bottom line, the harvest truly is plenteous, the Holy Spirit, then saith Jesus to his disciples, trust, truth, ungodly world, wars, watered down, weary souls, wiles, wisdom
Matthew 9:37. Then saith he (Jesus) unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.
Aye Friends, as they say, after one time is two yes…and sometimes even three. (smile) What brought up that saying is my not remembering that today is Labour Day and thus a long weekend. That means I also forgot to give you Granny’s spiel about; ‘Sonny boy, drunk or sober please mind your business.’ (smile)
Ah mih people, life and times certainly do change yes, as in my earlier years I never forgot two seminal days, Caribana Saturday and Labour Day. But I guess as my physical self deteriorated and I was no longer able to participate as physically as I would like, I just stopped paying any attention to them.
At one stage every Labour Day I would be in New York, checking out the Pan Competition with my Uncle John and Auntie Anne, and trawling the Eastern Parkway from top to bottom, but no longer, those days are simply memories, good ones.
In any case the festivals are not as good as they used to be. Everything is now watered down; the costumes and the music are mere shadows of their earlier years. However, please be careful as you ramp up the celebrations this Labour Day weekend, and remember Granny’s wonderful advice.
And to make matters even more interesting, today is also Election Day in T&T. I wonder how many people have left to go to New York for Labour Day, instead of staying and fulfilling their societal obligations? Whatever happens though, I just hope that we elect a responsible government, because it’s time to cut out all the crime and corruption and get our beautiful twin islands back to a state of godliness and thus prosperity.
Now, to help those who have to go to work on this Labour Day, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with much energy and enthusiasm.
As one soulful choir now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Oh Friends, that was truly energetic and enthusiastic but somewhat hoarse and scratchy, like an old vinyl record on a turntable. I guess many of you have been into celebration mode long ago, and your voices were the loudest because you don’t have to work today. But just remember to be careful, because Beelzebub is out there prowling like a hungry wolf amongst a flock of sheep, just waiting for one of us to go astray, so that he can pounce on us. And we definitely can’t allow that to happen.
And isn’t it upsetting, disturbing and disappointing that on this Labour Day of 2015 there is a dearth of labour for the many labourers? It brings to mind our Bit. ‘Then saith he (Jesus) unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.’ Only now the tables are turned; the harvest is scanty and the labourers are plentiful.
Yes Friends there is indeed a scarcity of jobs for an extremely large labour force. Even people with higher education have to take menial jobs for which they are over qualified. And the sad fact is that the captains of industry don’t care about the social cost of joblessness to the society, they are only interested in the bottom line and their fat, undeserved remuneration, with golden and platinum parachutes et al.
There is no reason in God’s world why a captain of industry should be making three to four hundred times that of a lowly shop floor worker. But unfortunately that is today’s norm. And when they want to cut costs, the first place they cut is the workforce. Ah Lord eh!
And they wonder why there is so much dissatisfaction and angst, anger and rebellion across the whole world. And then the seething strife and numerous wars that are currently dominating the earth don’t help matters either, for they just cause more unnecessary calamity and provoke refugee situations like we’re now experiencing.
But what annoys me most about the situation is that everybody is so concerned about finding somewhere for the refugees to go, when the best solution would be to end the strife and war in the countries from which they are fleeing. That’s where our efforts should be concentrated so there would not be such a big influx of refugees.
Anyway Friends, that’s just my humble take on the situation, which brings us back to our Bit. Before Jesus said it, the Good Book tells us: ‘But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted (were weary), and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.’ (Matt.9:36)
And sadly, that is exactly what’s happening in our world today, both with the refugee situation as well as in many countries, third and also first world. And it certainly seems that we Christians are the only ones who have the compassionate hearts to help stem the roaring tide of ‘sufferation.’ That’s why we need to do as Jesus says afterward. ‘Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.’ (Matt.9:38)
Yes Friends, the only way that we comparatively few Christians can make a substantial difference in this troubled and severely hurting world, is with the Lord’s august help. So please, let’s sincerely pray for His help and guidance and wisdom to enable us to make a worthwhile difference and thus glorify His Holy Name. Much LOVE!
…how can men eat…support their families…if they can’t get work eh…
29 Jun 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a pillar of cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night, abounding in mercy, affliction, attributes of God, aura of love, blessed, brazen, Caleb, christianity, comapssion, comapssionate, commandments, common sense, confidence, consequences, corrupt, corruption, Creator of the universe, dealt proudly, did not heed thy commandments, disobedience, Egypt, elections, endure, enthusiasm, forgiveness, friends, Glory be, Hallelujah, holy spirit, humble servants, inefficient, inept, Israelites, Jesus Christ, Job, Joshua, kindness, lacked nothing, lies, long-suffering, LOVE, loving kindness, manna, mercy, Monday Morning, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, morning drive, Nehemiah, Oh Lord God Almighty, our Lord and Saviour, Pan Am Games, pardon, patience, persevarance, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, righteousness., sinfulness, slow to anger, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, stiff necked, stubborn, the Lord is merciful and gracious, traffic snarls, two-faced, ungodly world, wine and roses, wisdom
Psalm 103:8. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous (abounding) in mercy (LOVING-kindness).
‘Aye ah yie, mih people is Monday! (background voices) -Glory be now! – Oh yah yo, mih breddren is Monday! -Hallelujah!- That means is time to get up and get ready, ready to go out and labour; Labour for Christ Jesus, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour! -Praise His Holy Name! – Sing the chorus Friends. Aye ah yie mih people is Monday! -Glory be now! – Oh yah yo, mih breddren is Monday! -Hallelujah…!’
Yes Friends, just a li’l ditty, a li’l kaiso to lively up ourselves, to put a li’l amusement in our spirits as we face this Monday morning at the end of June. (smile) Thankfully, the rain seems to have stopped in my area, but the ground is still soggy and the roads might still be a tad wet and slippery, so please be careful in your morning drive.
And talking about morning drive, please remember that as of today, all the major highways are down to one lane less, because those lanes, in somebody’s false wisdom, have been converted to HOV lanes, where only cars with at least three passengers can travel for the next month. Ah Lord eh! And all of that was done so that people involved in the Pan Am Games beginning sometime this week, can get around quicker.
Chuh! Obviously the people who pay for all the expenses and the corruption that goes on in these artificial games don’t really matter. They will just have to endure even more traffic snarls with one lane lost to the already parking lot status on our highways. Normal HOV lanes only require two people in the car, so this will force those who carpool to avoid the traffic, right back into even more congestion.
Steups! Let’s just hope I don’t get caught up in too much of it nuh. But there’s no use complaining now, since there’s nothing we can do about it, except in the next elections not vote back into power, this brazen, inept, inefficient, corrupt and two-faced government. So let’s move on and sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with much gusto, and leave them to the Lord.
Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
That was pretty good Friends…in comparison to last week. (smile) Jesus wasn’t as disappointed. And we’ll get right into our Bit. ‘The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous (abounding) in mercy (LOVING-kindness).’
Oh Friends, I don’t know what we would have done without such a wonderful God nuh. Just listen to this litany of wrongdoing that the Israelites committed, and yet the Lord did not destroy them totally. The scripture comes from the book of Nehemiah.
‘But they and our fathers dealt proudly (acted presumptuously or insolently), and hardened (stiffened) their necks (became stubborn), and hearkened not to (did not heed) thy commandments. And refused to obey, neither were they mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.
Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt and had wrought (worked) great provocations (wonders); Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way, neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go.
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old (did not wear out), and their feet swelled not.’ (Neh.9:16-21)
Oh my brethren, what a wonderful God we serve and worship! No other Deity would have put up with the shenanigans of the Israelites; they would certainly have been destroyed, or just left to paddle their own canoe, as best they could. But instead our magnanimous God showed them mercy and forgiveness and looked after them in the wilderness, in spite of their gross disobedience and sinfulness.
But it was not all wine and roses, for none of those who came out of Egypt, except Joshua and Caleb, even Moses, never set foot in the Promised Land. So though our God is wonderful, there are consequences to be paid for continual disobedience.
And we’ll end with a passage from James, where he’s talking about patience in affliction. ‘Behold, we count them happy (blessed) which endure. Ye have heard of the patience (perseverance) of Job, and have seen the end of (intended by) the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful (compassionate), and of tender mercy.’ (James 5:11)
And every believer ought to be able to vouch for that because He has shown compassion, mercy and forgiveness to each and every one of us at one stage, or more like several stages of our lives. Now let’s go out and live up to the expectations and standards He expects of us, for that is indeed the zenith of wisdom and common sense. Much LOVE!
…how could anyone with even a drop of wisdom or common sense…not greatly appreciate the mercy…the long-suffering… the grace…the compassion…and all the other wonderful attributes of Almighty God eh…
14 Mar 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: aim high, boosts our emotional state, brain cramp, bring about improvements, challenge, change your attitude, Christ-like courage, Christian tasks, corrupt, corruption, covetous, ease of life, faith, forward, friends, gain some altitude, get going, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel, good wishes, greedy, healing, lazy, LOVE Revolution, make a difference, move, non-committal, none that doeth good, petty divisions, plana takeoff, prayer is the most powerful force on earth, prayers, relief from pain, rest on our laurels, Scrip-Bit family, self-defence, spiritual forces, stomach cancer, sufferation, the fool said in his heart, the wicked, there is no god, there is strength in numbers, through the pride of his countenance, true church of Christ, Unknown Cancer fighter, wield power, will not seek after God, wishy-washy
Psalm 10:4. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. (All his thoughts are, there is no God).
Oh Friends, I’m cogitating, considering, pondering, thinking how to start the Bit on this spring-like Saturday morning! (smile) Obviously the brain isn’t coming up with anything that will grab my readers’ attention right off the bat, as a good author is supposed to do.
But in self-defence, I plead the fact that I’m a mere human, and thus liable to lapses and breakdowns in my mental functions, especially at my advanced age. In other words Friends, the ole fella’s suffering a brain cramp. (smile).
However though, on a serious note, I do have the perfect way to continue our discourse, and that’s by asking us all to pray for the healing and relief from pain of a friend and fellow church goer, who has recently been diagnosed with some form of stomach cancer. I won’t mention her name because she’s a very private person, and when she reads this – yes, she is a member of our Scrip-Bit family- I know she will be embarrassed.
But that’s okay, I don’t think she’ll mind too much if our prayers and good wishes help her to handle her tough situation with Christ-like courage and faith. I guess we can call her the Unknown Cancer Fighter, for she is a fighter, and the Lord in His great wisdom will know whom we are talking about.
Remember prayer is the most powerful force on earth, so please let’s use it to help alleviate her unfortunate situation. And what’s great about prayer is that even when our prayers haven’t been answered, just knowing that there are fellow believers out there caring, rooting and praying for us, that fellowship gives us a lift, boosts our emotional state. So please, let’s remember our Scrip-Bit family member, the Unknown Cancer Fighter in our prayers.
And for this Saturday morning we also have a quote to make us get up off our fat fannies. (smile) It’s one I received a couple of days ago from my friend Anselm, inspiring us for a better tomorrow. It says: ‘Get going. Move forward. Aim High. Plan a takeoff. Don’t just sit on the runway and hope someone will come along and push the airplane. It simply won’t happen. Change your attitude and gain some altitude. Believe me, you’ll love it up here.’
And that’s a challenge we all ought to accept my brethren, because we have become a lazy, slovenly, uninspired society, spoiled by the relative ease of life that we enjoy. And life will never improve, but just keep deteriorating, if we don’t get up and get a move on. Friends, that also goes for believers, because we too have been very lazy, wishy-washy and non-committal to our Christian tasks.
That’s one of the reasons why the dark and evil aspects of our society are currently in the ascendance over the good, Christian, spiritual forces. We can’t just sit down and expect things to get better my people. We have to do positive and constructive stuff to make them improve. And it’s only by bonding together, like the true church of Christ, not in small petty divisions, that we can wield real power and make a real difference, bring about much needed improvements to our crazy mixed up world.
And why is our world in such a mess? Because the wicked are ruling it! And here is what the psalmist says about the wicked in Psalm 10, from which our Bit comes. ‘The wicked in his pride doth persecute (hotly pursues) the poor: let them be taken in the devices (plots) that they have imagined (devised).
For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous (greedy), whom the Lord abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in his thoughts. (All his thoughts are, there is no God)’ (Ps.10:2-4)
Oh Friends that’s true in one sense, but not so much in another. Yes, the wicked is too proud to seek God, and He doesn’t sit and meditate on His word, but God is in his thoughts in the sense that he is very aware of Him, of His might and power, and thus plots to destroy Him and all those who follow Him.
But as Bruh David declares in Psalm 14 – The foolishness of men: ‘The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy (corrupt): there is none that doeth good, no, not one.’ (Ps.14:1-3)
Oh my people, that’s a rather harsh judgement of our fellow man, but unfortunately there are too many who are wicked and live their lives doing evil instead of good. Corruption is the middle name for our world right now. And it is our job as believers and followers of Jesus Christ to break down those evil walls and systems of the wicked and corrupt.
But we won’t be able to make even a dent in the world of wickedness unless we become active rather than passive, and come together in true power, rather than in small, unable to do much alone divisions. Friends, our world is desperately crying out for a LOVE Revolution; the LOVE Revolution of Jesus Christ and His followers!
Are we going to move it along, or are we just going to rest on our laurels and let it stagnate and finally drift into oblivion? I do hope not, else Jesus’ death and all His ‘sufferation’ on our behalf would be a wasted effort.
And I’m sure that we don’t want to remembered as the generation that let Jesus down. So please, let’s get our act together nuh, remember there is strength in numbers, and let’s get going to retake our world. It’s the only way it will improve. Much LOVE!
…and He said unto them…go ye into all the world…and preach the gospel to every creature… (Mark 16:15)
11 Mar 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: aggrandizement, anger, another brand new day, ars, bad decisions, breath of life, Bruh Paul, churlish, come to God in prayer, corruption, envy, eternal life, evil, evil minions, faith, filled with the Holy Ghost, follower of Jesus Christ, for other foundation can no man lay, for the benefit of mankind, friends, Gentiles, glory hallelujah, good deed, good works, hate, have no fear, I am the way, impotent man, in all walks of life, Israel, Jesus Christ, Jewish rulers, lackadaisical attitude, lead him to Jesus, LOVE, Lucifer, no man comes to the Father but by me, none other name under heaven', our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, power, power drives us crazy, power for power's sake, Praise the Lord, reasoning, resentment, righteousness., rock of offence, rumours of war, salvation, selfish purposes, selfishness, selflessly, sensible thought, shame, sinners, sins, Solomon's porch, stumbling stone, supremacy, the bane of our existence, the centre of contention, the church at Rome, the fight for power, the gospel, the head of the corner, the Jew, the law, the Life, the loving-kindness of God, the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the nature of the human animal, the stone set at nought, the Truth, the well being of man, the wherewithal to perform His work, the works of the law, truth, ungodly purposes, usurp God's power, Wednesday, which is Jesus Christ, whosoever believeth on Jesus, wisdom, Zion
1 Corinthians 3:11. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Well my people, it’s Wednesday, another brand new day on God’s wonderful earth! Wow! And all God’s appreciative children declared a loud and grateful: ‘Praise the Lord! Glory Hallelujah!’
Yes Friends, we need to be thankful for every new day we see, every breath of life that we breathe, for that means God still has something planned for us to accomplish, else He would have taken us home already.
So please don’t be lackadaisical and churlish about greeting each new day, please come to God in prayer and ask Him what are His plans for you on that particular day? Have no fear, if you don’t know, He will certainly inform you of what He desires, and like the wonderful God that He is, will then give you the wherewithal to perform His work successfully.
Oh my brethren, I can’t comprehend the magnitude and LOVING-kindness of our God, that’s why I keep reminding us of the wonderful Deity we serve and worship. There’s none other like Him!
And how could there ever be eh? No two all-powerful Beings like Him could ever survive in this world together. But fools like Lucifer and his evil minions try to usurp God’s power, unsuccessfully of course!
But what is it about power that drives us so crazy eh, that has us doing things that we won’t normally do? And what a lot of us don’t realize is that power for power’s sake is a complete waste of time. And also that with power comes responsibility; the more power, the more responsibility.
And that’s where the problems crop up; so often we don’t take seriously enough the responsibility that power brings, that’s why there’s so much corruption and bad decisions in the power bases of our society. Everybody wants power, but apparently just to use it for his or her own selfish purposes and aggrandizement, not for the benefit of the society or world in which they live.
But fortunately for us there is one with true power, who uses it selflessly, and for the benefit of all humankind. Yes my fellow believers, we’re talking about our most august Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! He had all power in heaven, but chose to give up that awesome power for a while and come to earth to help poor sinners like you and I get salvation and eternal life.
Now why can’t our fellow man do more good works with their earthly power eh, instead of using it for mainly evil and ungodly purposes? I guess that’s just the nature of the human animal. And truly, when most of us get power, especially if we’ve never had much power before, it goes to our head and we just seem to lose the ability for sensible thought and reasoning.
Ah Friends, right now the fight for power, for supremacy is proving to be the bane of our existence. Just look at all the people and groups that are jostling, vying and fighting for power in all walks of life. That’s why there are so many wars and rumours of war, so much hate, resentment, anger, selfishness and envy in our world. It’s all about power!
And I’m chuckling here Friends, because I don’t know how I ended up writing this treatise on power. (smile) That was never my intention at the beginning. But I guess that’s just where the Lord wanted me to venture.
In conclusion, I just want us all to realize the enormous responsibility that comes with power, and if you are a true believer and follower of Jesus Christ, then you are expected to use whatever power you have responsibly, and for the well being of your fellow man, ultimately to lead Him to Jesus, not merely for selfish purposes.
End of sermon! Just hope it didn’t or doesn’t fall on deaf ears. (smile)
Now here’s our Bit. And I believe today is the last day for it. ‘For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’ Words of awesome truth my people! And if it were not so, I would have told you. (smile)
But there are so many references to it in the Good Book that it has to be true. Let’s check out a couple of them, beginning with Bruh Paul’s message to the church at Rome.
When talking about the Jew and the gospel, he declares: ‘What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed (put to shame).’ (Rom.9:30-33)
And here’s a word of explanation from the scholars. ‘9:32. They sought it not by faith: Israel mistook the possession of the law as a means of righteousness, when the law was given only to confirm the Fall and to show the need of God’s righteousness (cf. 5:20). Stumbling stone: This is a reference to Messiah (cf. Is.7:14; 1 Pet. 2:8).’
Now listen to Peter from Acts, when they were accosted by the chief priests and elders, the day after John and himself healed the blind man in Solomon’s porch at the temple. The Jewish rulers wanted to know by what name or power they had done the healing.
‘Then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of (are judged for) the good deed done to the impotent (helpless) man, by what means he is made whole;
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
This is the stone which was set at nought of (rejected by) you builders, which is become the head of the corner (chief cornerstone). Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ (Acts 4:8-12)
Yes Friends, that’s indisputable truth! There is no other name under heaven by which mankind can be saved from his abominable sins!
And as the scholars note: ‘4:12. The name of Jesus Christ is the centre of contention (v. 7,10, 12) and ever will be. Salvation for Jew and Gentile alike is exclusively through the name of Jesus Christ. (John 14:6).’
Now let’s remember that as we go about doing Jesus’ work today my people, for it’s wisdom that will stand us in very good stead. Much LOVE!
…I am the way…the truth…and the life…no man cometh unto the Father…but by me… (John 14:6)
P.S. Oh Friends, the Bit’s late because I went to bed late and then had to get up early to do something else, and by the time I was finished, the brain still wasn’t in functioning mode, so I just went back to bed until it was ready to function. (smile) Much LOVE!
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