12 Dec 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a pot of gold, accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour, according to his glorious power, all that labour and are heavy laden, all things work together for good to them that love God, amidst all the anxiety and confusion, at the end of the rainbow, be filled with the knowledge of God's willl, be of good cheer, be responsible and stay safe, being fruitful in every good work, better Christian witnesses, by the example that we set, can disappoint very quickly, can wake up and smell the coffee, come unto me, crying out for help, defeat the simmering unrest in our land, delivered us from the power of darkness, divine aid, do not cease to pray for you, don't depend on others to make you happy, embrace your love and compassion, faith, find joy in Jesus, find rest unto your souls, Friday chant, gentle and humble, giving thanks unto the Father, happiness, happiness can be fleeting, hits the nail on the head, holy spirit, humans are irresponsible and unpredictable, i have overcome the world, I stand at the door and knock, I will come into him, I will give you rest, if any man hear my voice and open the door, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, in me ye ight have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation, in whom we have redemption through his blood, increasing in the knowledge of God, introduce a new flock of believers, Jesus Christ, Jesus is the only who will not let us down, Jesus never disappoints, joy, learn of me, life just gives us time and space, LOVE, meek and lowly in heart, mercy, my yoke is easy and my burden light, No one is guaranteed happiness, nothing can be better than living for Jesus, omnipotent help, our sinful world can wake up, place our trust in Almighty God, problems escalating, return backsliders to your fold, salvation, scripture of promise, show them the error of their ways, stand strong and steadfast in faith, strengthened with all might, take my yoke upon you, tests our faith through tough circumstances, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the forgiveness of sins, the joy found in Christ is everlasting, the most assurance of happiness, the throne of grace, these things I have spoken unto you, these ungodly times, time of need, to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, to them who are called according to his purpose, translated us into the kingdom of his Son, trusting faith, truth, unexpected storms, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness, walk worthy of the Lord, we experience joy with Jesus, we must fill it with joy and meaning, who hath qualified us, will sup with him and he with me, wisdom, wise guidance
Matthew 11:28. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Oh friends, at long last it’s Friday, and we can see a pot of gold, the weekend, at the end of the rainbow, this work week. And to make things better, although it’s cold and windy, the sun’s shining brightly, just the way we like it! No wonder we’ve sent up sincere prayers of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’
And today we’re going to look at interesting quote from my ‘I LOVE You’ Poster my young daughter gave me years ago. Now this quote sounds familiar, and I might have used it sometime ago, but like so many of these sayings, they are worth hearing over and over. And this one resonates with awesome truth. It says: ‘No one is guaranteed happiness. Life just gives us time and space. It’s up to us to fill it with joy and meaning.’
And that hits the proverbial nail right on its proverbial head. Happiness is not guaranteed, and often it doesn’t last very long. But we have to make ourselves happy, and the best way to do that is by starting off with Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, for through Him, even if you don’t have happiness here on earth, you will certainly have it with Him wherever He is in the next life! And in Jesus we don’t experience happiness so much as joy, which is a much deeper and more lasting experience.
Now, we also have to pay attention to another aspect of the happiness situation, that is depending on others to make us happy. That’s not always wise, for human beings are so frail, fragile, irresponsible and unpredictable that if we depend on others to make us happy, in no time flat they can disappoint us, and the whole happiness house will come crashing down upon our heads. So it all comes right back to basing our happiness, our joy in Jesus, who is the ONLY One who will never let us down.
And why would He, after sacrificing Himself for our sins on the horrific cross of Calvary, and pleading with us through His Great Invitation to come to Him for rest and comfort. ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly in heart (humble and gentle): and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt. 11:28-30)
He’s also constantly knocking at the doors of our hearts, so He can enter in and dine with us. He says it quite plainly: ‘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) Who else offers these faithful comforts eh? Nobody else but Jesus!
Oh, we humans might be faithful for a moment or a short while, but eventually we all disappoint to some extent. Jesus NEVER disappoints, if you understand His teachings and His commandments. Life with Him will not necessarily be easy, in some cases it might even be more difficult, as He tests our faith through tough circumstances, but we are assured that He will not let the devil have us, He will see us through to victory eventually. As Bruh Paul says in this awesome scripture of promise. ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28)
Yes friends, if we sincerely surrender to and place our trust in Almighty God, though we will suffer trials and tribulations, we are assured that the end we will fine. It’s like Jesus reassures us in the gospel of John, where He says: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) Now that’s not always easy to do, but if we put our sincere trust in Jesus, He will help us to do it.
And we’ll end with one of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible, and one that sets the basic standard for life and joy in Christ. It’s Bruh Paul’s prayer for the Colossians. So please pray with me: ‘For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet (qualified us) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in (the) light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated (transferred) us into the kingdom of his dear Son (the Son of His LOVE): In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.’ (Col 1:9-14)
Wow mih bredrin! Tell me what can be better than living for Jesus eh? NOTHING! And where can we find the most assurance of happiness here on earth and in the next life? With Jesus; where else! And now that we’re convinced that Jesus provides the best scenario for happiness and joy in this world and the next, let’s go to the throne of grace through our Friday Chant seeking help in this dire time of need that our evil world makes necessary.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
And yes, our sinful world does need to wake up, but so do we Christians, and start showing better witness for Christ, if we expect to receive divine aid. Much LOVE!
…happiness can be fleeting…but the joy found in Christ is everlasting…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
05 Dec 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a means of restoring faith in you, allow God to lead us, amidst all the anxiety and confusion, apostasy, arguments with fellow workers, be responsible, become better witnesses for Christ, blasphemers, boasters, brutal, but denying the power thereof, by the example that we set, covetous, crying out for help, defeat the simmering unrest in our land, despisers of good, diligence, discontent, disobedient to parents, dissatisfaction, excellence, faith, false accusers, fierce, Friday chant, from such turn away, get ahead, God is faithful, God will make a way of escape, God will not suffer you to be tempted more than you can bear, goes against our natural instincts, haughty, having a form of godliness, he that shall endure to the end, heady, high minded, holy spirit, in the face of suffering or persecution, in the last days perilous times shall come, incontinent, introduce a new flock of believers, irreconcilable, Jesus Christ, keep God first place in our lives, lasting faith is emsostrated throuh perseverance, LOVE, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, mankind is on a rampage of ungodliness, men shall be lovers of their own selves, mercy, money lovers, new technology, no temptation has overtaken you, omnipotent help, our sinful world can wake up, overbearing bosses, patience, patience under pressure, proud, reckless, religion without power or spiritual life, return backsliders to your fold, salvation, Satan is laughing all the way to hell, serious problems are escalating, show them the error of their ways, sitting in traffic, slanderers, smelling like roses, stay in the race, steadfastness, such as is common to man, talk to God, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, that you can endure it, the example that we faithful believers set, the false teachers abound, the same shall be saved, the throne of grace, the times are very decitful, there is no escapting temptation completely, these ungodly times, tials.challenges, traitors, true breakers, true faith is worth the rewards, truth, unexpected storms, unholy, until the very end of life, we're working for God not man, wisdom, with the temptation, without natural affection, without self-control
Matthew 24:13. ‘But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.’
So, at long last we’ve come to Friday, the day that most workers look forward to, knowing that the next day is Saturday and they can do their own thing. Consequently, every Friday they shout to the high heavens: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and the weekend is finally here! No more sitting in traffic twice a day, like it’s a parking lot; no more glares and stares from overbearing bosses, and no more arguments with fellow workers over petty stuff! Just peace and quiet for a couple of days! Thank the Lord for that!’
Yes friends our work day world is getting crazier and crazier with all the new technology and ways of working that are being introduced and changed, but we have to keep up as best as possible, if we at least want to stay in the race, much less get ahead. We might not like some of the new stuff, but we each have to talk to God and find out what He wants us to do in our workday world. And whatever He tells us to do, even if it goes against our natural instincts, we ought to do it, with diligence and excellence, because in the long run, it’s Him we’re working for, not mankind.
None of us really know where our world is headed, but if we keep God first place in our lives, and allow Him to lead us, we will come out of it all, somewhat worse for wear, but smelling like roses. (smile) And when we look back at what He’s brought us through, all we can say is a grateful ‘Thank You God!’ And this a good scripture verse to remember when we’re going through out trials and tribulations. Bruh Paul writes thus in his first letter to the Corinthians; ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor. 10:13)
Now, before we misinterpret that verse, let’s make it clear that it does not mean that the Lord will enable us to avoid all temptation, but that He will enable us to handle and endure it. For there is no real escaping temptation in this sinful and ungodly world, that’s why believers have to be so careful about whom they talk and walk with, for the times are very deceitful, and the false teachers and preachers do abound. And you better believe that these words of Bruh Paul to Timothy on the subject are now glaringly in vogue in our current society.
He says: ‘This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous (money lovers), boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection, truce breakers (irreconcilable), false accusers (slanderers), incontinent (without self-control), fierce (brutal), despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady (reckless), high-minded (haughty), lovers of pleasures more than (rather than) lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.’ (2 Tim. 3:1-5)
Brother! It seems as if Bruh Paul is living today and writing about our current world, for all that he’s listed there is what’s currently taking place! Mankind has gone on a rampage of ungodliness and sinfulness, and Satan is laughing all the way to hell, because he has so many of us going down to destruction with him.
Now here are some interesting explanations from the scholars. As per the last days, they began with the birth of Christ and will culminate in Christ’s return to earth to set up His kingdom. The prediction of perilous times indicates that apostasy (falling away from the faith) will characterize the final day so the church age.’ And is it ever doing so, as many of the previous believers are foolishly moving away from faith in Christ, for one reason or another. Meanwhile ‘a form of godliness is mere religion without power or spiritual life. Paul commands Timothy to turn away from those false teachers.’
But please my fellow believers, I implore us not to forget these wise words of Christ about the end times. ‘But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.’ (Matt. 24:13) And I like how this commentary explains that verse. It says; ‘It signifies that true, lasting faith is demonstrated through perseverance through trials and challenges. It emphasizes the need for steadfastness and patience in one’s beliefs, even in the face of suffering or persecution, until the very end of life or the end times as described by Jesus. This concept is a common theme in the New Testament, and the Greek word for “perseveres” (hypomenō) suggests a steadfastness and patience under pressure.’
And that’s the living, gospel and infallible truth my people! Faith in Christ calls for much steadfastness and patience under pressure. But let’s remember, when we cry out to Him for help, He does give us the wherewithal to handle our problems. So let’s go to the throne of grace right now through our Friday Chant, boldly, but humbly, seeking divine aid for the many problems we’re currently facing.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
And does our sinful world ever need to wake up, but it will not, until we believers become better witnesses and ambassadors for Christ! That’s the long and short of the story! Much LOVE!
…true faith in Christ is not easily maintained…but it’s surely worth the rewards…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
14 Nov 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fool's voice is known by multitude of words, a means of restoring faith in you, a multitude of people, a new flock of believers, a society speeding to hell, all for our benefit, be not rash with thy mouth, be responsible, better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, blaspheme against god, by the example we faithful believers set, Christian witness, crying out for help, desperate times of need, divine aid, every one that is hasty, faith, Friday chant, God holds the breath of your life in His hand, he that hasteth with his feet sinneth, he that is perverse in his lips, he that refraineth his lips is wise, holy spirit, in the multitude of words, is a fool, it is not good, Jesus Christ, joy and gladness, lay aside every weight, let not thine heart be hasty, let thy words be few, like chickens with their heads cut off, LOVE, make mistakes in the name of speed, mercy, more detrimental than beneficial, more haste less speed, omnipotent help, problems escalating, return backsliders to your fold, road rage, run with patience, rushing back and forth, salvation, seeing we are compassed about, show them the error of their ways, so great a cloud of witnesses, speed, spew venom, stand strong and steadfast, stay safe, talk a good talk, technological times, tend to plenteousness, tend to poverty, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, that the soul be without knowledge, the accent on speed, the confusion of these ungodly times, the race that is set before us, the simmering unrest, the sin which doth so easily beset us, the thoughts of the diligent, there wanteth not sin, to utter anything before God, traffic jams, trusting faith, truth, wake up and smell the coffee, wisdom, wise guidance
Proverbs 19:2b. and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.
And then, finally, it was the big day, Friday! And all the shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ have ascended to heaven on high. Yes, there’s always much joy and gladness when the last day of our work week rolls around, meaning that the weekend is upon us, and our time is mostly ours to do as we choose. For a couple of days we can forget the twice a day traffic jams and the multitudes of people rushing back and forth like chickens with their heads cut off, in a hurry to get wherever they want to go, but getting nowhere quickly. Unfortunately, that’s how it is when we rush and push, for there’s always someone pushing back trying to go the other way.
But sadly, that’s the way of our society nowadays; everything is about speed, and we get impatient and angry if we have to wait a few seconds for the computer to warm up. It’s a foolish now for now society we currently live in. Just note the road rage that erupts over one car not moving quickly enough to suit the driver of another car, even when there’s no way much for the first car to move. But that’s the way we live in these technological times, where it’s all about how fast we can get things done, although we make too many mistakes in the name of speed.
And on days like today, where everyone is trying to get in and out as quickly as possible, so that they can enjoy the weekend sooner, matters usually get more tense and stressful, and the possibility of things boiling over greater than normal. That’s why the old people very wisely categorized it all with this simple saying, ‘more haste less speed.’ And most of us have realized that down through the years, but we still try to keep up with the speed of our society., so that we can feel or appear to be with the in-crowd.
Now there are several scriptures in the Bible that warn about haste. So to help us apply the brakes in this speeding to hell society, let’s check out a few of them nuh. And not surprisingly, several of them come from the wisdom of Cousin Sol. Listen to this first one from Proverbs. ‘Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.’ (Prov. 19:1-2)
There it is in black and white friends, from the wisest man ever! If you are too hasty with your feet you are committing sin. And taking that literally, can you imagine the amount of us that are committing that sin each and every day? Multitudes of us! Let’s hope that causes us to slow down some nuh. (smile) Then there’s this other wise saying from Cousin Sol. ‘The thoughts (plans) of the diligent tend only (lead surely) to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want (surely to poverty).’ (Prov. 21:5) Now that is something many of us can attest to, for we have all done things in haste that did not work out to our benefit. But our society keeps on doing it.
Now here’s another bit of wisdom from Cousin Sol, but this time as the preacher from Ecclesiastes, and it pertains to how we speak to God. He says: ‘Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be too hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon the earth, therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business (effort or activity); and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.’ (Eccl. 5:2-3)
What marvellous advice my brethren! Because with our quick inclination, or predisposition to get angry at each other, we also get angry with God very quickly and spew venom towards or blaspheme against Him if we don’t get our way, or don’t get it as quickly as we desire. Now that’s certainly not a wise way to interact with Almighty God, your Creator and the One who holds the breath of your life in His hands. That leads to this other caution about our words. Cousin Sol wisely declares (steups!!!): ‘In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth (restrains) his lips is wise.’ (Prov. 10:19)
And that’s oh so true my people! When we unleash a barrage of words through provocation or whatever other reason, we invariably commit some sin through our anger and inappropriate words. So it’s obviously wise to take time to think before we speak. And finally we’ll look at this scripture that we all know, which tells us about endurance and patience. It comes from the author of Hebrews. ‘Wherefore seeing (since) we also are compassed about with (surrounded by) so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset (ensnare) us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.’ (Heb. 12:1)
Yes my faithful brethren, it’s time for us to settle down, take our time, and concentrate on patience and endurance, rather than haste and speed, for the latter two will only get us into more trouble than we truly need. So, with those words of wisdom, (smile) let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant seeking divine aid to help in these desperate times of need.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Ah mih people, as usual, we talk a good talk, but unfortunately our actions don’t back up our talk, and until they do, meaning we aspire to better Christian witness, divine aid will not be forthcoming. It’s as simple as that! So please, let’s wake up and get our act together nuh! Remember it’s all for our benefit, not God’s! Much LOVE!
…the accent on speed in our society…is more detrimental than beneficial…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
07 Nov 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a legitimate goal, a means of restoring faith in you, a personal relationship with jesus, a strong bond, afflicted hearts cling to each other, amidst all the anxiety and confusion, be found in him, because of their faith in Christ, by the example we faithful believers set, can still die more to sin and self, Christian witness not good enough, companionship in sorrow, count them but dung, crying out for help, derail our stated purpose, develops betwen those who share tragedies, discontent, dissatisfaction, divine aid, divine commendation, divine summons, eat meat and solid foods, establishes the most intimate and lasting of ties, every Christian's goal, experience Christ's resurrection power, faith, forgetting those things which are behind, Friday chant, grow in spiritual maturity, has not arrived spiritually, help the rest of us to be responsible, holy spirit, I count all things but loss, I may win Christ, I press toward the mark, imputed to the converted sinner, intorduce a new flock of believers, Jesus Christ, let past guilt pull him down, LOVE, made conformable unto his death, mercy, not having mine own righteousness, of the law, omnipotent help, our sinful world can wake up, plenty belly and backbone, reaching forth to what lies ahead, relaxation, rest, return backsliders to your fold, salvation, seeking the deeper things of Christ, serious problems are escalating, share in Christ's sufferings, show them the error of their ways, spiritual disaster, stay safe, stop drinking only milk, suffered the loss of all things, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, that I may know him, the divinr righteousness, the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, the fellowship of his sufferings, the goal, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, the joyful personal satisfaction, the power of his resurrection, the prize, the reward to be granted in heaven, the righteousness which is of God by faith, the simmering unrest, the throne of grace, the wise guidance, there is room for improvementcan still die more to sin and self, these ungodly times, this one thing I do, to handle these unexpected storms properly, to know christ deeply, to rest on past laurels, truth, wake up and smell the coffee, wisdom, with God's help
Philippians 3:14. I press toward the mark (goal) for the prize of the high (upward) calling of God in Christ.
And then it was Friday, a somewhat cool and cloudy day, with expectations of rain, but that did stop us from shouting out: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ Yes friends, it is Friday and the weekend’s here with the promise of some rest relaxation and partying. Let’s hope that we get more of the first two and less of the latter, you know why. (smile)
And what’s on the agenda for today? I believe it’s talking about the high calling of God, as Bruh Paul wrote to the church at Philippi. In the 3rd chapter, he says: ‘I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung (rubbish), that I may win Christ. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is of God by faith.’ (Phil. 3:8-9)
The long and short of the story is that Bruh Paul gives up all his past heritage, education and privileges, counting them as not important in comparison to knowing Christ. And to ‘win Christ,’ the scholars tell us, he had to give up all his religious credentials, all his own efforts and accomplishments so that he could believe and be saved, so that the Lord could impute him with the divine righteousness that’s imputed to the converted sinner because of their faith in Christ. And he wants to know Christ so badly, that he declares: ‘That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;’ (Phil. 3:10)
Ah mih people, I wonder how many of us desire to know Christ so deeply, that we might both experience His resurrection power and share in His sufferings, and thus be more conformed to His death? Not too many of us, I dare say. (smile) And according to the scholars, ‘Paul wants “the righteousness …of God” (vs.9), so that he can obtain a personal relationship with Jesus in actual day-to-day experience. This knowledge of Christ is obtained by experiencing in daily problems, needs, ministry, and so forth, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
Knowing Christ also entails participating in His sufferings. Paul desires to share in the Lord’s sufferings because they bring him into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Him; companionship in sorrow establishes the most intimate and lasting of ties, as afflicted hearts cling to each other.’ And that’s an awesome truth as many of us know from our personal sufferings with others. A bond much stronger and long lasting is developed between those who share tragedies.
And the important thing to note here is that Bruh Paul doesn’t believe He’s come to the point of conforming to the life he desires in Christ as yet, which is to know Christ to such an extent, experiencing His power, sharing His sufferings, being made like Him in death, and experiencing resurrection from the dead. The scholars tell us; ‘At this point in his life the apostle does know Christ, but not to the full extent possible. He has experienced His power, but not to the degree he desires. He has been made like Jesus in His death, but he can die still more to sin and self. He does “walk in newness of life,” but there is room for improvement. And unlike the perfectionists who claim to be sinless in this life, Paul admits that he is not. If the chief of the apostles does not feel he has “arrived” spiritually, then neither should we.’
And that’s a very good suggestion. (smile) But then, to add to all of that, Bruh Paul says: ‘Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended (laid hold of it): but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth (forward) unto those things which are before (ahead), I press toward the mark (goal) for the prize of the high (upward) calling of God in Christ.’ (Phil. 3:13-14) Now there’s an interesting and very legitimate goal for us to pursue! It won’t be easy, and it will take plenty belly and backbone, but with God’s help we can certainly achieve it.
And the scholars offer these explanations. ‘In ever pursuing his goal to know Christ (vs. 10) Paul refuses to let past guilt pull him down, or to rest on past laurels. Either could spell spiritual disaster.’ And that’s something we should also pay close attention to in the attainment of our own goal of knowing Christ. Guilt and past successes can easily derail our stated purpose. Then the scholars acknowledge: ‘The mark is the objective of verses 10 and 11 (i.e., knowing Christ). The prize is the joyful personal satisfaction of having attained it, as well as the divine commendation and reward to be granted in heaven for having reached this goal on earth. The high calling of God is the divine summons extended to the believer for salvation.’
And yes, it’s heavy stuff, but if we want to grow in spiritual maturity, thereby growing in Christ, then we need to delve deep into the harder and more difficult stuff, start eating meat and solid foods, stop drinking only milk. And we can certainly do it if we make up our minds to do so. Especially with divine aid that can now be gotten directly from the throne of grace. So let’s go there right now through our Friday Chant asking for help in time of need.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Oh friends, our prayer was heartfelt, but I doubt we will receive much divine aid, if any, because our Christian witness is simply not good enough. That means we have to improve it, if we want divine aid. So please, let’s concentrate on doing that nuh. Much LOVE!
…seeking the deeper things of Christ…ought to be every Christian’s goal…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
05 Sep 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a doting grandfather, a light unto my path, a new flock of believers, a tough nut to crack, a true perspective of your majestic power, adopted children of God, all day long, all seeing and knowing, backsliders, claims you as Maker and master, concentrate on your greatness, crying out for help, dominance, enlarge my narrow vision, error of their ways, fight the evil that's controlling our world, forgive me O God, Friday chant, give me even now, God cares for his creation, God is the Creator and Controller of the Universe, heavenly Father, hegemony, holy spirit, I put my hope in you, I shamefully confess, Jesus Christ, joint heirs with Christ, lead be by your truth, limited comprehension, LOVE, meditating on god's word, mercy, my neck of the woods, my snall concept of you, narrow vision, omnipotent, omnipotent help, omnipresent, omniscient, on the palm of your hand, on thee do I wait all the day, on whom you've set your love, One Year Book of Bible promises, open our eyes, our divine heritage, our God is a great God, our sinful world, our strife-filled world, overcome the enemy, perilous times, point out the right road for me to follow, poor witness for Christ, powerful, problems escalating, puny faith, Ruth Harms Calkin, salvation, sanctified, shew me thy ways O Lord, show me the path where I should walk, simmering unrest in our land, small prayers, somewhere in the wild blue yonder, stimulate my trust, teach me thy paths, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the child, the example we faithful believers set, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, The God of my salvation, the God who saves me, the leading of the Holy spirit, the weekend, thy word is a lamp unto my feet, totally transform, truth, unexpected storms, wake up and small the coffee, whose name is engraved, wisdom, with deep contrition, Your Child God
Psalm 25:4. Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.
And it’s a cool, windy, cloudy Friday in my neck of the woods, but that doesn’t make a difference when it comes to shouting out ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ Yes friends, the way our work system is set up, the couple of days off at the weekend is sanctified, (smile) and we avidly seek it, regardless of the weather or what’s happening around our strife-filled world.
And today, we will look at an interesting poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, titled ‘Your Child, God.’ And once we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, we all become the adopted children of God, joint heirs with Christ, with a right to our divine heritage, entitled to all our heavenly Father has. (Rom. 8:17) But, sadly, oftentimes we don’t behave like children of God, or even know what He is truly like.
So please read with me: ‘O God With deep contrition I shamefully confess My small concept of You My puny faith My limited comprehension. Forgive me, O God And enlarge my narrow vision. Stimulate my trust As I concentrate on Your greatness. Give me even now A true perspective Of Your majestic power To totally transform the child On whom You have set Your LOVE – The child whose name is engraved On the palm of Your hand The child who claims You As her Maker and Master. Your child, God! Me!’
Oh my fellow believers, that poem is simple but it says a lot, and is very relevant to our uncertain and difficult times, for as the poem says, many of us don’t see or know the true greatness of the wonderful God we claim to serve. Many of us think that He’s either a doting grandfather, or a tough nut to crack, who’s somewhere out there in the wild blue yonder, with little power, not paying much attention to what’s happening down here on Planet Earth. But all of that is totally untrue. Our God is neither a doting grandfather, a hard man to please, or not paying attention to our problems.
In fact He’s the exact opposite of all that! He’s the Creator and Controller of this universe, that means He must have a lot of power to do such an awesome job. And He does care for us, so much so that instead of letting us all go to hellfire and damnation with Satan for our persistent disobedience and rebellion, He sacrificed His only begotten Son to give us another option; that’s salvation and eternal life with Him. So tell me how could anyone who does all those things not be great and majestic, LOVING and compassionate?
Our God is so great that He’s described as Omnipotent, that’s having lots of power; Omniscient, that’s all knowing, all seeing and wise; and Omnipresent, that’s all pervading, being everywhere, universal. And it’s oh so important for believers to know the true scope and greatness of our God, to enlarge our narrow vision, because if we don’t, we’re liable to seek small stuff from Him, offer up small prayers, not understanding the full reach of His awesome might and power.
And in these hate filled and angry times, we desperately need His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence, to help us fight the evil that’s controlling our world. It’s time for us to open our eyes and begin thinking of our God as the de facto, or in reality, the great and awesome God that He is! And we can only accomplish that feat by concentrating on God, on His Word and the leading of His Holy Spirit.
Now the Bible Promise given for this poem comes from Psalm 25 titled ‘Trust in the Lord.’ The New Living Bible Translation puts it thus: ‘Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord; point out the right road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.’ (Ps. 25:4-5) And to believe that, your God must be big and mighty, fearsome and fearless, LOVING, compassionate, kind and merciful! And that’s exactly what our God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is! So, thinking small doesn’t’ do our God any favours or give Him any accolades at all.
And for our enlightenment, (smile) here’s how the good ole King James Version puts the verses from our Bible Promise. ‘Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.’ (Ps. 25:4-5)
Yes my brethren, in these perilous times, we do need to turn to the God of our salvation and sincerely ask Him to show us His ways, teach us what He desires us to know, and lead us in His truth. And as we said earlier on, all of that begins with reading and meditating on God’s Word, then with the help of the Holy Spirit, putting it into action in our lives. As Psalm 119 wisely advises: ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’ (Ps. 119:105)
Now, to help us get our act together, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, seeking grace in desperate time of need. As one voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help.
Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
And divine aid is certainly in the offing, but not until we improve our poor witness for Christ, which has given the evil enemy undue hegemony or dominance over our world. Much LOVE!
…until Christians truly believe and act like our God is a great God…we will never overcome the enemy…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
28 Jul 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bulwark for love and freedom, a merciful forgiving and gracious God, a new theatre of strife, a small inkling, a warning from God, all ye that labour, anguish, at breakneck speed, back of my neck, became obedient unto death, before it's too late, being alone, being found in fashion as a man, chaotic world, Christ needs our help to save the world, Christ's Church, Christ's way of life, come into deep waters, come unto me, crying out for help, disaster laden world, disobeyed your word, divided by petty differences, divine aid, ease the pain, faith, faith if it hath no works is dead, faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers, fighting the good fight, find rest unto your souls, gentle, get back to basics, get our prerogatives straight, getting dirty and gritty, give up the fight, God sent not his Son into the world to condemn it, greed for ever more money, he humbled himself, heavy laden, holy spirit, hot town, humble and obedient, humble servants, I am meek and lowly in heart, I will give you rest, in over our heads, Jehovah Rapha, keep your promise to prosper us, keeps getting worse, learn of me, lost their way, LOVE, mass confusion, mentally incapacitated, mercy, mine eyes fail while I wait for my God, Mother Earth, my burden is light, my throat is dried, my yoke is easy, negative stuff, no help is forthcoming, numerous forest fires, our light has grown dim, our perspectives in order, our salt has lost its flavour, praise Your Holy Name, pray, refuse to interact with each other, ripe for the taking, running to Jesus, salvation, save me O God, sincere repentance in our hearts, sincerely seek your face, sink in deep mire, sitting ducks, something is wrong with your mind, stand up strong, steadfast in faith, strife, strong faith in Christ, summer in the city, take my yoke upon you, take serious and sincere action on Christ's behalf, thank you for life, the chaos on the earth, the death of the cross, the floods overflow me, the God who heals, the great invitation, the many suffering from negative situations, the only one, the oppressive heat, the power to solve our problems, the throne of grace, the waters are come in unto my soul, the world through him might be saved, tired of fighting, to alleviate our problems, too many denominations, truth, turbulent times, turn from our evil ways, turn you off of hell, unassailable odds, unvarnished dictatorial power, wasting our prayers, we cannot give up, we divide ourselves, we have all sinned, weary of crying, what hell would be like, where there is no standing, wisdom, wise guidance and direction
James 2:17. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
‘Hot town, summer in the city…the back of my neck getting dirty and gritty!’ Yes friends that what it’s been like for the past week, and most likely what it will be like for the next couple of days. The oppressive heat is causing all kinds of illnesses. And then we have the numerous forest fires burning around the country and around the world…it surely seems like hell on earth.
And if this weather and all the other negative stuff that’s happening doesn’t turn you off of hell and have you running at breakneck speed to Jesus, then I’d say that something is definitely wrong with your mind. (smile) For if this is only a small inkling of what hell will be like, then why would I want to go there eh? No reason whatsoever! So please, let’s take this as a warning from our heavenly Father, to wake us up and get our prerogatives and perspectives straight and in order before it’s too late.
And furthermore, none of the strife and anguish that’s taking place right now on Mother Earth is lessening or getting better, but instead, every day seems to bring a new theatre of strife and anguish to the forefront of our already chaotic and disaster laden world. And I guess like Bruh David in Psalm 69, we should be crying out to the Lord for help in these days of undeserved suffering for many. And what was his petition?
He cried out: ‘Save me O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul (neck). I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while wait for my God.’ (Ps, 69:1-3) And sadly friends, that is what’s happening to a large portion of today’s world population. We’re in over our heads, for one reason or another, and we’re crying out for help every day, from one god or another, but no help seems to be forthcoming.
The chaos on the earth just keeps getting worse. And why is that? Who knows? The grab for unvarnished dictatorial power and greed for ever more money is all over, and we can’t seem to stand up strong against it. And that goes doubly for Christ’s church, which was meant to be a bulwark for LOVE and freedom. But how can we stand strong against the enemy when we’re separated, totally divided by all sorts of petty differences and dissensions, with so many denominations and sub groups that refuse to interact with each other, which leaves us like sitting ducks ripe for the taking.
Satan doesn’t even have to divide us, for we have created the divisions for him. He simply has to conquer us. I believe, that in these trying and most difficult times, the church is required to put up sincere and strong resistance against the evil enemy. That’s what Christ died for. Remember what He said to Nicodemus? ‘For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:17)
And He died for that very purpose. As Bruh Paul writes to the Ephesians: ‘And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil. 2:8) So Christ did what He came to earth for, but the problem is that He cannot save the world by Himself, that’s why He needs disciples, people like us who believe in Him and what He stands for and are prepared to stand strong and steadfast in the faith, even to the death, to serve His purpose and plan.
Unfortunately though, the church as a whole, seems to be fighting against itself and not so much against the enemy. Meanwhile, many individual believers seem to have lost their way, and no longer seem to care about what’s happening in our world, or we are simply tired of fighting the seemingly unassailable odds, thus our salt has lost its flavour, and our light has grown dim. But let’s take a moment on this hot and sweltering Monday morning in late July of 2025, to contemplate what will happen if we give up the fight for Christ’s way of life.
And then let’s remember His Great Invitation, which He issued to all and sundry, and which still stands: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly (gentle and humble) in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt. 11:28-30) Yes my fellow believers, we’ve got to get back to the basics and refresh ourselves, so that we can continue fighting the good fight in Jesus’ name, for we cannot ever give up.
And to help us do that, let’s go right now to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn seeking divine aid in these turbulent times. Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’
And yes, praying is necessary, but until we take up all the tools we have and take serious and sincere action on Jesus’ behalf, we’ll just be wasting our prayers. Much LOVE!
…even so…faith…if it hath not works…is dead…being alone… (James 2:17)
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
18 Jul 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a new commandment I give unto you, as I have loved you that ye also love one another, assurance that we're not alone, be not dismayed, be responsible and stay safe, bring every evil tongue to judgement, by this shall all men know that ye are my disiciples, christianity, concerns, confusion of these ungodly times, crises, crying out for help, defeat the simmering unrest in our land, discontent and dissatisfaction, dissension, distill fears, divine promises, do not fear, fade away over the weekend, faith, fear thou not for I am with thee, Friday chant, frustrations of the work week, God is active in our everyday lives, God's unwavering support, hang all the law and prophets, holy spirit, I am thy God, I will help thee, I will strengthen thee, if ye have love one to another, if ye love me keep my commandments, improve our Christian witness, it breaks Christ's heart, Jesus Christ, joy, like they never existed, LOVE, love is missing from our world, Love thy neighbour as thyself, mercy, no love no peace, no weapon formed against us shall prosper, omnipotent help, on these two commandments, our chaotic world, peace, persoanl struggles, petty differences, problems are escalating, salvation, stand strong and steadfast, strife within Christianity, take comfort in God's presence, Thank God it's Friday, that ye love one another, the BIBLE, the first and great commandment, the main attraction in our lives, the straight and narrow road of Jesus, the throne of grace, the wide and winding road of Satan, thou shalt love the Lord thy God, trusting faith, truth, under divine protection, unexpected storms, up in arms, uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness, wake up and smell the coffee, wisdom, wise guidance, with all thy heart soul and mind
John 13:35. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.
And then it’s Friday! Thank God for that! Although the day is going to be sunny, but much cooler than the last few, we’re still excited to welcome the weekend! For the concerns and frustrations of this past work week will fade away over the weekend like they never existed, and we’ll begin afresh next Monday. How true that is my people. There are always concerns and frustrations to deal with in this crazy and ever more chaotic world.
But with Jesus as the main attraction in our lives, we don’t have to be overly concerned with them, or be concerned to the point of worry, for He has promised that no weapon formed against us will prosper, and that we will bring every evil and lying tongue to judgement. (Is. 54:17) That means we are under divine protection., for as the prophet Isaiah also writes on God’s behalf: ‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.’ (Is. 41:10)
Yes friends, we’re commanded not to be afraid, because our great God is active in our everyday lives. There’s assurance that we are not alone. We have divine assistance, which provides comfort, strength and unwavering support. That means in any personal struggles or crises, we must remember that we’re not alone, that God is fighting alongside us, for us, and we can therefore take comfort in His awesome presence. And let’s hope those faithful, divine promises distill any fears or worries that me might currently have, because that’s what they were given for.
And remember one of Jesus’ most spoken phrases was ‘Do not fear.’ So, if we’re true believers in Jesus, then we ought to abide by His commands. As He says in John’s gospel: ‘If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments.’ (John 14:15) And one of His most important commands was this: ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:34-35)
Oh my people, I’m sure it breaks Christ’s heart when He sees how terribly we follow that commandment! For we certainly do not treat each other with the LOVE that’s expected of us. There’s so much dissension and petty differences in the lives of individual believers, as well as the church as a whole, that we definitely could not say we’re LOVING each other the way Christ LOVED us. Not even close!
No wonder there’s so much strife within Christianity, as well as the world, because that most godly attribute, LOVE, is sadly missing. And where there’s no LOVE, there can be no peace, joy or comfort. And the sad fact is that we all claim to be searching for peace and joy, but how can we find those when we refuse to have LOVE, for God, ourselves, and for each other.
Remember the great commandments? Jesus stated them thus to the arrogant lawyer who tried to tie Him up with foolish questions. ‘Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and prophets.’ (Matt. 22:37-40)
So you see my fellow believers, everything in this world hangs on one thing, that’s LOVE! LOVE for God, ourselves and our neighbours. Without that divine attribute first and foremost in our individual lives, the Church, and the world in general, there’s no hope whatsoever of us ever attaining joy, peace and minds free from worry. That means all the foolishness that’s being tried and proposed in the world for joy and peace are simply talk, or rather a waste of time, for there’s NO LOVE between those of us trying to make peace. Everybody’s up in arms over some real or imagined slight or ill treatment, but no one’s willing to forgive and forget those real or imagined affronts.
So, we’ll apparently continue going down the wide and winding road that Satan has laid out for us, rather than the straight and narrow one that Jesus has initiated. But one thing’s for sure; we won’t lose hope! No sir! So, with that most miraculous and provocative thought in heart, mind, body and soul, let’s go to the throne of grace through our Friday Chant, seeking divine aid for whatever ails us.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Now, let’s not fool ourselves by thinking that because we’ve prayed sincerely, that divine aid will be quickly showered down upon us. Not at all! And why is that, you ask? Because our witness for Christ is not good enough, and until we make some serious improvements to it, no divine aid will be forthcoming. We need to do our part before the Lord does His. Much LOVE!
…it’s impossible to understand…why so many hearts and souls…made from, and for LOVE…refuse to LOVE…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
04 Jul 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 4th of July, a delicate whispering voice, a few tears fell, A Friendship Observed, a future and a hope, a gentle internal prompting, a means of restoring faith in you, a modicum of circumspection, a still small voice, a strong wind rent the mountains, a very personal task, a way god commuinicates with individuals, a willingness to listen, affirmations, after being zealous for the Lord, after the earthquake a fire, after the fire, after the wind an earthquake, anguish, anxiety and confusion, be responsible, brake in pieces the rocks, calamity, call upon me, confessions, crying out for help, defeat the simmering unrest in our land, discipline, discontent, dissatisfaction, divine aid, dramatic displays of power, ecstasy, faith, father's death, Friday chant, God speaks to all His people, God whispers secrets to all of us, God's whispered secrets, godly information, groping, holy spirit, hundreds of memories encircled the room, I know the thoughts that I have toward you, I will hearken unto you, if you'll listen, insights, intense struggles, introduce a new flock of believers, Jesus Christ, Jezebel, journals, joy, LOVE, make a positive difference, mercy, omnipotent help, One Year Book of Bible promises, our sinful world, pray unto me, problems are escalating, pull up our socks, purging, questions, record of life, recounting of his inner life, return backsliders to your fold, reuires attentiveness, Ruth Harms Calkin, salvation, seek me and find me, semons, spiritual encounters, stand strong and steadfast, stay safe, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the example we faithful believers set, the Lord passed by, the Lord was not in the fire, the story of Elijah, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end, to handle the unexpected storms properly, to live the godly life, trusting faith, truth, U.S.A Independence Day, ungodly times, wake up and smell the coffee, when ye search for me with all your heart, wisdom, wise guidance, zealous for the Lord
1 Kings 19:12. And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice (a delicate whispering voice).
And today is another birthday celebration; the U.S.A’s Independence Day, when on the 4th of July 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted and the 13 North American colonies officially separated from Great Britain. And can you imagine the celebrations down there, especially since it falls on a Friday! There’d be more ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ shouts than normal for the long weekend. But again, we must issue the caution to have a modicum of circumspection during the celebrations for our world is already flooded with enough disasters to last us more than one lifetime, and accidents happen rather easily and quickly when we don’t pay particular attention while celebrating. End of sermon!
Today I want to share an interesting but not exclusive story from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. This one’s titled ‘A Friendship Observed.’ And I truly don’t know if I’ve ever shared this one before, (smile) but it does make very interesting and appropriate reading.
So please read with me. ‘After my father’s death, I sat in his quiet office sorting through years of sermons and journals. A few tears fell on the pages. My task was very personal. Hundreds of memories encircled the room. I was amazed, yet pleased, when I began to compare my journals with my father’s. Our groping and intense struggles, our affirmations and confessions were so often interlaced. It would never have occurred to us to share our journals while Dad was still living. Diaries, letters, journals, and even phone calls were private.
Today I reflect upon my own record of life – page after page of spiritual encounters. Anguish, questions, purging, joy, discipline, insights, ecstasy, faith – God’s whispered secrets. Suddenly the early beginning became very much alive: A little girl, seven or eight, hearing her father say, “If you’ll listen – really listen – God will whisper secrets to you!” My father had said something very beautiful and strange. How did he know that God would whisper secrets to me? But as I sorted through my father’s careful recounting of his inner life and journey, it suddenly became very clear: He too, had heard God’s secrets!’
And yuh know what friends, that’s a truth we all ought to know, for God speaks to all of His people, He whispers secrets to all of us…but like the story says, the qualifying statement is that we really, really have to listen to hear those secrets that God’s whispering to us. And if we don’t truly listen, then we won’t hear them, and then we’ll be lost or miss something(s) very useful and or necessary for us to live the godly life.
Remember the Lord and the Holy Spirit speak mostly in a still, quiet voice. And we have a magnificent example of that from the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19, hiding in a cave up on a mountain, running from Queen Jezebel’s promise to kill him, after he had killed a great number of her evil prophets. And the Lord came and asked him what he was doing there, and he claimed that after being zealous for the Lord, he was the only one left, and they were trying to kill him.
Then the Lord told him: ‘Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. and behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent (tore into) the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice (a delicate whispering voice).’ (1 Kin. 19:11-12)
Yes friends, so it is, that oftentimes the Lord is not in the earthquake, the storm, the fire or whatever disaster might happen, but in a quiet voice thereafter. And I like how this commentary explains it. ‘The phrase “God speaks in a still small voice” originates from the biblical story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. It describes a way God communicates with individuals, not through dramatic displays of power like wind, earthquake, or fire, but through a gentle, internal prompting. This still, small voice is often interpreted as a quiet, internal whisper or intuition that requires attentiveness and a willingness to listen.’
Please note again, that to hear that still small voice we must be very attentive and ever so willing to listen, or else we’ll miss the godly information being shared. And interestingly enough, the Bible verse for our story today is one that we all know and like to quote, although we might not action it as much as we ought to. (smile)
It comes from Jeremiah: ‘For I know the thoughts that I have toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you an expected end (a future and a hope). Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto (listen to) you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ (Jer. 29:11-13) Yes my people, that’s what it takes to find the Lord and make Him listen; seeking Him with all your heart. Now let’s do that by going to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant.
Altogether: ‘‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly.
And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Oh my people, our world is very sinful, and our Christian witness needs to be much improved if we hope to make a dent in it. So let’s pull up our socks nuh so that we can make a positive difference, and also receive divine aid! Much LOVE!
…to listen…to listen…and to listen…that’s how you hear…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
21 Jun 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fool's wisdom, acknowledge God's sovereignty, after a hard week's work, all liars, be wise and choose life, between a rock and a hard place, blaspheme His holy name, blessing and cursing, both thou and thy seed may live, choose life, crying out for help, deepen my breath, disobedient, do our won thing, draws us closer to our heavenly Father, established it upon the floods, eternal death, eternal death with Satan, eternal life, eternal life with Christ, every step of the way, faith, find ourselves in trouble, fools despise wisdom and instruction, free will, good communion, he hath founded it upon the seas, holy spirit, I call heaven and earth, I have set before you life and death, I may know you all the more, I praise you for your unceasing nearness, I want to be with you now, in the name of Jesus, increase my awareness of you, indwelling Holy Spirit, intimacy with god, intimacy with His human creation, Jesus Christ, Jesus is with us, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, LOVE, mercy, more in tune with Satan than with God, no more death, no more pain, no more sorrow, nomore cruing, pray without ceasing, quiet my soul, rebellious, relax my muscles, robots, salvation, selfish, sexually immoral, slow my thoughts, stay in the good graces of God, thank you for this tenderness, the abominable, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, the fearful, the former things are passed away, the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, the world, the world and they that dwell therein, to make a living, to record this day against you, traffic jams, true wisdom is clinging sincerely to Jesus, truth, under the umbrella of His shed blood, warms the cockles of God's heart, whoremongers, wisdom, you can't be contained, your love both surrounds and fills me, your peace and love are present
1 Thessalonians 5:17. Pray without ceasing.
And after Friday comes Saturday; our lazy-day Saturday, when we just laze around and try to catch ourselves after a hard week’s work, of battling the twice a day traffic jams and all the other stuff we have to contend with out there in this crazy world, as we try to make a living, all in the name of Jesus! And we only succeed because Jesus is with us every step of the way, through His indwelling Holy Spirit!
So, seeing that we don’t have to rush off anywhere today, let’s take a moment and offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, with all sincerity and truth. As one strong voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’
Now, that just quiets our souls and draws us a li’l closer to our heavenly Father, giving Him His greatest desire, more intimacy with His human creation. For, remember one of the main reasons He created us, is that we could have good communion together. The unfortunate part of that plan though, is that we’ve used the free will He gave us to become selfish, disobedient and rebellious, not desiring to have much communion with Him, preferring to do our own thing without any interference whatsoever from Him.
But that’s a fool’s wisdom, and it’s only when we find ourselves in trouble, between a rock and a hard place that we run to Him, crying out for help. And when He doesn’t answer our cries for help, we get all upset and blaspheme His holy name. What we need to remember is that He is the Sovereign ruler pf this universe; it’s Creator and Controller, and answers to NO ONE! Bruh David stated it in no uncertain terms: ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods (rivers).’ (Ps. 24:1-2)
Yes, He is the one that created everything and controls it all. And until we get that straight in our puny minds, we’re liable to go off on all sorts of foolish tangents in this crazy and chaotic world, that will only make our lives more difficult than necessary, and will eventually ruin us. That’s why it’s wise and necessary to stay in the good graces of Almighty God, keeping in constant touch with Him through prayer. As Bruh Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: ‘Pray without ceasing.’ (1 Thess. 5:17)
In other words, have a running communication with the Father. As you go about your day, talk to Him about everything. Oh friends, you don’t know how it warms the cockles of His heart when we bring Him into all of our affairs, be they simple or complicated. It certainly does, because He created us so that He could get involved in our everyday lives, and gave us free will so that we would not be merely robots, but have some choices in our lives, hoping that we would choose Him, and His way of life over everything else.
Sadly though, today we seem more in tune with the fallen angel, Satan, than we are with our Creator. But please remember that Satan is also a created being, and only exists by the grace of God, and when He believes the time is right, Satan will be destroyed, along with all those who have taken shelter under his evil wings. That means true wisdom is clinging sincerely to Jesus Christ, for those who are under the umbrella of His shed blood will enjoy eternal life with Him.
As Cousin Sol so wisely says in Proverbs: ‘The fear (reverential awe) of the Lord is the (principal) beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ (Prov. 1:7) And he’s right on both points. The first step in gaining knowledge is by submitting to God and His revelation. And fools do indeed despise wisdom and knowledge because they think they know it all. But thankfully some of us do bow to the Lord’s sovereignty and accept His Word as wisdom and truth, the things which will give us a good life here on earth and an even better one in the life to come, where there will be no more tears, no more death, or pain or sorrow, or crying, for the former things are passed away. ( Rev. 21:4)
However, if we don’t acknowledge God’s sovereignty here’s what we have to look forward to. ‘But the fearful (cowardly), and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers (sexually immoral), and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.’ (Rev. 21:8) Now that’s the two ends we humans will eventually face; eternal life with Jesus, or eternal death with Satan; the choice is ours.
But like the Lord so strongly advised Moses to say to the children of Israel so long ago: ‘I call heaven and earth to record (witness) this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.’ (Deut. 30:19) Oh friends, it’s the same thing the Lord’s saying to us today; be wise, choose Me, choose life and not death, because in death, it’s all over, but in life, it goes on forever.
So please, I implore us, on this bright and sunshiny lazy-day Saturday in June 2025, let’s take a moment to review all we know and have heard, then be wise and choose life nuh! Much LOVE!
…when the battle rages…it’s wisest to choose the reigning king…over the foolish, untried usurper…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
06 Jun 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living
Tags: a means of restoring faith in you, a new flock of believers, amidst all the anxiety and confusion, be responsible, cause for pause, ceaseless drive for wealth and power, chaos, chastened every morning, Christian living, corrupt, crying out for help, disaster areas, drifting smoke from wildfires, eyes bulge with abundance, faith, feudal states, Friday chant, genocide, God is good to Israel, gospel truth, holy spirit, I almost stumbled, I have cleansed my heart in vain, I saw the prosperity of the wicked, I was envious at the foolish, in whose powerful name we stand, inequality of wealth, inhumanity, is there knowledge in the most High, LOVE, man's fault, man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn, mercy, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped, no bands in their death, no holds barred, no pain in their death, no regard for planet earth, not in trouble as other men, omnipotent help, plagued like other men, pride surrounds them like a necklace, problems escalating, return backsliders to your fold, salt and light, salvation, simmering unrest, sinful world, slavery, stay safe, such as are of a clean heart, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the error of their ways, the example your faithful believers set, the King of Kings, the Lord of lords, the ordinary man, the poor are getting poorer, the powerful attraction to a wealthy lifestyle, the prosperity of the wicked, the rich are getting richer, the ungodly, the world to come, their eyes stand out with fatness, their strength is firm, then I understood their end, these ungodly times, they increase in riches, to handle the unexpected storms properly, to whom we belong, too few have too much, too many have too little, too painful for me, truth, until I went into the sanctuary of God, violence covers them like a garment, wake up and smell the coffee, washed my hands in innocency, who prosper in the world, wisdom, wise guidance
Psalm 73:3. For I was envious at the foolish (boastful), when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
And it looks like it might be a hazy and somewhat smokey Friday, as smoke from the wildfires drift our way. And it’s indeed possible, for I remember smelling the smoke in the air a couple of years ago when the wildfires were particularly bad. But that hasn’t stopped the shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ from being sent up to heaven.
Ah Lord eh! What a sad state our world has come to, with only chaos and disaster all over our beautiful earth! But that’s man’s fault, not God’s, as in our ceaseless drive for wealth and power, we have done everything to abuse and destroy all that God’s made. What a destructive, childish, selfish and greedy animal is man, with very little regard for planet earth or his fellow man! That’s why down through the years this saying has continued to be ever so true: ‘Man’s inhumanity to man, makes countless thousands mourn!’ Nowadays it’s millions!
And if that isn’t the gospel truth, I don’t know what is! From slavery, to genocide to feudal states, to right now when the inequality of income and wealth is so vast that so few have the majority of the wealth and power, while so many have next to nothing. But do you think that gives us cause for pause? Not on your life! For the haves are trying to take even the little that the have nots possess. I don’t know how much they want, or how much they need to live, but unfortunately their mantra is more…ever more.
That’s why even the psalmist Asaph was perplexed and envied the wealthy, as he writes in Psalm 73 – Prosperity of the Wicked. ‘Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean (pure) heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone (I had almost stumbled), my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish (boastful), when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.’ (Ps. 73:1-3) And for the ordinary man, who’s trying to make an honest living, it’s difficult not to be envious of the boastful, greedy and wicked wealthy.
And there’s no doubting the powerful attraction to that lifestyle, since we all desire to live the good and easy life. It made even a spiritually strong man like Asaph almost to stumble spiritually and lose his faith. And why not, especially as Asaph continues: ‘For there are no bands (pangs or pain) in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain (serves as a necklace); violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness (bulge with abundance): they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning (scoff at) oppression: they speak loftily (proudly). They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them (drained by them). And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world (are always at ease); they increase in riches.’ (Ps. 73:4-12)
Yes my faithful brethren, that’s exactly what’s happening in our world today; the rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer! And the rich are blatantly showing that they don’t give a damn about God or man by their utter avariciousness. Sadly, there are no holds barred to their greed. That’s why Asaph could further say: ‘Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain (kept my heart pure in vain), and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus; behold I should offend against (would have been untrue to) the generation of thy children. When I thought to know (understand) this, it was too painful for me (too troublesome in my eyes). Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.’ (Ps. 73:13-17)
Glory be my people! It was only when Asaph went into the Lord’s house that he understood what would eventually happen to the greedy and wicked and evil. Now, the same remedy might apply to some of the many of us who understandably are envious of the wicked and prosperous. We might just need to visit the Lord’s house and talk to Him, or let Him talk to us about the situation. For as it’s been said throughout the Bible, the wicked may prosper in their day, but eventually they all will be destroyed by the Lord God Jehovah! And they’re so bold face to ask, how does the Lord know, and if there’s knowledge in the most High? That blasphemy alone will condemn them to certain death.
So let’s remember that though the wicked might be prosperous in this world, they will not be in the world to come, therefore let’s avoid envying them, since this world doesn’t count as much as the other. And yes, that’s hard to do when we see the amount of inhumanity being meted out to the poor and downtrodden, but please remember whose we are, and in whose powerful name we stand…Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, the most powerful person in the universe!
Now, let’s go to the throne of grace through our Friday Chant, seeking divine help in these very awful and very atrocious times. All together: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help.
Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
And if we’re truthful to ourselves, we already know that much of the world’s sad state can be attributed to the faithful not being good examples of Christian living, not spreading enough salt and light to the unbelieving world. So, let’s try and turn things around by better witnessing nuh. It’s not too late to start! Much LOVE!
…now might be the wicked’s time…but tomorrow it will Jesus’ time…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
Previous Older Entries
SCRIP-BITS 