10 Sep 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fool's wisdom, a royal dwelling, Abednego, almighty god, Babylon, baying at the moon, beautiful, by the might of my power, communing with God, compromising, conscience, Daniel, deviate, egotism, egotistical ways, emptying your soul, fall and winter mode, fate was sealed in heaven, fiery furnace, foolishly basking, for the honour of my majesty, God abases those that walk in pride, God does as He wills, God's dominion is from generation to generation, God's kingdom is everlasting, God's mighty and marvellous works, God's ways are justice, God's works are truth, harmonic sounds of nature, heathen, heathen king, history of Israel, How great are God's signs, I blessed the most High, interpretation of dreams, intriguing, jehovah god, king nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes to heaven, LOVE, majesty, mental illness, Meshach, Mother Nature, Nebuchadnezzar, none can restrain God's hand, normal lifestyle, Old Testament, pay close attention to god's reasoning, pay enough attention, peace be multiplied unto you, praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, priased and honoured him that lives for ever, pride, quiet time, reason returned unto me, receptive God, relaxation, ruler of heaven and earth, selfish, sense of peace, shadrach, signs and wonders, singing God's praises, slinky cat, steals the Lord's thunder, sumptuous palace, super full moon, testimony, the army of heaven, the High God, the most High rules in the kingdom of men, warning, wisdom
Daniel 4:30. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for for the house of the kingdom (a royal dwelling) by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
Aye Friends, did you see the big, super full moon last night? It was just so big and beautiful! Like two normal full moons, placed one on top of the other, with the bottom one ensconced about a third of the way into the one on top. It’s the second consecutive month I’ve seen it, but I have no idea of its significance, if any. It surely looks beautiful and intriguing though! (smile)
And talking about intriguing, last night I made sure that I went to bed at an earlier than usual hour, so that I could also get up earlier. Why? Because though I claim to be on a summer hiatus and am not killing myself, or compromising my normal lifestyle to get the Bit our early, my conscience bothers me when it’s late.
Just imagine that eh! Oh, I’m so sweet and conscientious! (smile) But it’s just true. I like it to be available when my readers get up, though realistically, that’s not always possible. Not to worry though, because I still got in all my required activities last night, I just began earlier than usual. (smile)
That included my quiet time out on my porch, quietly communing with Mother Nature and our Creator in the peaceful hours of the night, where it’s just the insects singing their praises to Almighty God, with a slight breeze gently rustling the leaves of the tree, which unfortunately in my area are beginning to go into their fall and winter mode.
Oh I also saw my nocturnal friend last night; a long, slim and slinky black, brown and white cat. He usually slinks silently by along the walkway at the bottom of the porch steps without paying me any notice sitting at the top.
And it’s always amusing to see it take the same route all the time; around to the right side of a big tree in the yard, across the sidewalk to the right side of the stop sign, then diagonally over to the far side of the junction where the two streets meet. And it comes back exactly the same way, doesn’t deviate at all.
Last night though, possibly because I was standing up baying at the big, beautiful full moon when it finally broke through the cloud cover, it didn’t come by the walkway, just stood up in the road and looked curiously at me for a few moments, before quietly heading off down the other side of the street.
And yuh telling me that quiet time out on my porch with Mother Nature and our wonderful Creator isn’t beneficial!
Oh Friends, you all must try it sometime, especially those of you who have constant warm weather all year round. It just brings a quiet sense of peace and relaxation as you sit and listen to the harmonic sounds of nature, while emptying your soul of any problems that are currently bothering you to a closely listening and very receptive God.
It doesn’t get any better than that Friends! And having testified more than I intended to, (smile) let’s see what space and time we can find for our Bit: ‘The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom (a royal dwelling) by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?’
Now yesterday, we saw that though Daniel warned king Nebuchadnezzar about the sickness he’d face if he continued in his prideful and egotistic way, Neb still carried on in the same vein. And a year later, while walking through his sumptuous palace, before those words could even come out of his mouth, his fate was sealed in heaven.
Now my people, what I want us to pay close attention to is God’s reasoning behind Neb’s fate. It’s quoted several times: ‘until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.’ (Dan.4:32b)
Oh my brethren, that is something that mankind today, foolishly basking in their selfish and egotistical ways also need to learn. Jehovah God is, was, and will always be the ruler of heaven and earth, and He gives whatever He desires, to whom ever He desires! He gives, and He takes away!
And if you read the Old Testament, you’ll see that God had Nebuchadnezzar, a heathen king, playing a major role in the history of Israel. And the sad part is that Neb had oodles of opportunity to see God’s mighty and marvellous works through Daniel’s correct interpretation of his dreams and also the faith of his three buddies, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace incident.
But like so many of us today, he just didn’t pay enough attention to God’s movement in his life. However, like many of us, at the end of the day, he was singing God’s praise. Let’s hear some of his testimony.
Before telling the story of his vision of the tree, he proudly proclaims: ‘Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.
How great are his signs! And how mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.’ (Dan.4:1-3)
What a moving testimony from a heathen king Friends! But it gets better. After his mental illness he staunchly declares: ‘And at the end of the days (time) I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes to heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed (considered) as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay (restrain) his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness (splendour) returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in (restored to) my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgement (justice); and those that walk in pride he is able to abase (humble).’ (Dan.4:34-37)
Ah Friends, if a heathen king could declare such a moving testimony, it behooves us to pay close attention to the pride and egotism in our own behaviour, because it’s a fool’s wisdom to think that we can do much without God’s help!
And if it’s one thing the Lord won’t stand for, as we saw in the passage from Isaiah yesterday (Is.42:8), is us, or anybody else stealing His glory. And if we foolishly try to do it, then we will pay a hefty price like Nebuchadnezzar did.
So let’s take king Neb’s words to heart and behave in a suitable manner nuh, so that the Lord can raise us up, instead of abasing and humbling us. That’s wisdom of the highest order! Much LOVE!
…who shall steal the Lord’s thunder and get away with it eh…NOBODY…
09 Sep 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a halfway moment, a haughty spirit before a fall, Babylon, blessings, boantrophy, break off thy sins, breath of life, by the might of my power, change our minds, Creator, Daniel, decision making, decree of the most High, dream interpretation, dreams, drive thee from men, earthly days, eat grass as oxen, evil pride, exile, for the honour of my majesty, god moves in mysterious ways, graven images, hair was grown like eagles' feathers, hands of Almighty God, humiliating experience, I am the Lord, iniquities, Israelites, king nebuchadnezzar, Lord God Jehovah, LOVE, master of the magicians, mental illness, mistakes, mortal man, my glory will I not give to another, nails like birds' claws, Nebuchadnezzar, neither my praise to graven images, omnipotent god, Pearl S. Buck, possible outcomes, power of God, praise, pride, pride goes before destruction, provider, ramifications, righteousness., rough and tumble world, showing mercy to the poor, Spirit of the Holy God, split second moment, stump of the tree, the kingdom has been taken from thee, the most High rules in the kingdom of men, thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, tranquility, visions, warnings, wet thee with the dew of heaven, wisdom, zoantrophy
Daniel 4:30. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for for the house of the kingdom (a royal dwelling) by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
Oh Friends, it doesn’t seem as though my late night endeavours are blending well with my early morning rising to write the Bit nuh. What a momentous discovery! (smile) But it’s all good. Sometimes some things just have to be done late at night. Let’s just hope that they are the exception rather than the rule.
I’m still enjoying my semi-summer weather though, which usually ends up with an early morning spell on my front porch, communing with the peaceful moments of nature and my wonderful Creator. So it’s not all fun and frolic. (smile)
Now here’s an interesting quote from Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer and novelist. ‘Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied.’
And that’s quite true. Decision making is often a process, rather than just a split second moment, and just before pulling the trigger there’s usually a point where we can change our minds. The problem though is that once we make up our minds on something, it’s often difficult to change them, despite warnings of the dangers ahead.
That means we need to take our time, try and not rush the decision making process without properly considering the ramifications of all the possible outcomes. That brings us to our Bit, a perfect example of what we’re talking about.
‘The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of my kingdom (a royal dwelling) by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?’
And we all know the story of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who besieged Israel and carried the Israelites into exile in Babylon. This particular episode deals with his dream about a huge, powerful, stately and useful tree. (Dan.4:10-16) His astrologers, magicians and soothsayers though couldn’t interpret the dream, so he called in Daniel to do it.
And it’s interesting to see how king Neb perceives Daniel, from prior experience with his dream interpretation. (Dan.2) ‘But at last Daniel came before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods (Spirit of the Holy God):
And before him I told the dream saying, O Belteshazzar, master (chief) of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods (Spirit of the Holy God) is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell (explain to) me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.’ (Dan.4:8-9)
However, after being told the dream, Daniel was troubled by the interpretation he received from God. The king saw this and said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, (if only) the dream be to (concerned) them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to (concerned) thine enemies.’ (Dan.4:19)
Then Daniel goes on to tell the king that the dream heralded his sickness, mental illness. (Dan. 4:20-23) The essence of the vision was thus: ‘This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:
That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times (years) shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure (assured) unto thee, after that thou shalt have known (come to know) that the heavens (heaven, God) do rule.’ (Dan.4:24-26)
Now to most of us, hopefully such an interpretation would have made us think twice about our current lifestyle. And Daniel even warns king Neb about it. ‘Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness (by being righteous), and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening (prolonging) of thy tranquility.’ (Dan.4:27)
But Neb fails to take Daniel’s advice, and a year later, while walking in his sumptuous palace, he foolishly declares the words of our Bit.
And the Good Book tells us: ‘While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed (has been taken) from thee.
And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times (years) shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.” (Dan.4:31-33)
Ah mih people, yuh see how our omnipotent God does move in mysterious ways, His power and glory to protect!
Neb unwisely felt that his glory was all his doing. But the Lord God Jehovah showed him differently. The same thing happens to us daily Friends; we mistake the power and blessings of Almighty God for our power. But as Cousin Sol so wisely informs us: ‘Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (stumbling). (Prov.16:18)
So please, let’s pay careful attention to the lustful and evil pride that tends to rise up in us when we are on top of the world and wisely realize that it’s not our power and might that got us there, but that of our Creator and Provider. For remember what He so vividly states in Isaiah 42: ‘I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.’ (Is.42:8) Nuff said!
And we’ll close with some significant information from the scholars re Neb’s illness.’4:33. Two important questions arise form this incident: (1) Could it happen to a man? and (2) Could it have happened to Nebuchadnezzar? The answer to both questions is Yes. There is a mental illness known as zoantrophy in which a man thinks and acts like an animal. It is also called boantrophy, more specifically when a man thinks of himself as an ox.
In answer to the second question, this illness is not mentioned in Nebuchadnezzar’s annals, but one would not expect such a humiliating experience to be chronicled. On the other hand, his long reign of 43 years (605-562 B.C.) is more than long enough to include the lengthy sickness.’
So my brethren, let’s take all of this to heart as we make our journey through this rough and tumble world, always remembering where the real power of the universe lies…in the hands of Almighty God! Now that is truly heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!
…wherefore does mortal man think he’s so powerful…when he does not even have power over the breath of his life or length of his earthly days…
10 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Acts of the Apostles, answered prayer, Archimedes, awesome God, calamitous winter, christianity, commitment to prayer, communal, confession, confusing times, covenant, Daniel, divine judgement, Elementary my dear Watson, Eureka, evening sacrifices, faithful and loving God, faithful life, fool's wisdom, friends, glorify God, glory hallelujah, God has heard my supplications, God has heard my voice, great man of faith, Greek imperfect tense, heavenly wisdom, Holy Ghost, honest report, hot day, hour of prayer, humble, humility, I Love the Lord, I will call upon god as long as I live, John, joy, judgement, justice, life, LOVE, loving kindness, meek, meekness, mercy, ministry of the word, new mercies, ninth hour, offering of incense, outdoor activities, personally experienced, Peter, praise and glory to God, pray, prayer, prayer is the best form of communication with god, praying, rightousness, seek the Lord, Sherlock Holmes, sincere heartfelt prayers, spreading the gospel, testimony, the gospel, the Lord's anger, the voice, those that keep god's commandments, those that Love God, troubled times, whopping hot, wisdom, Zephaniah
Psalm 66:19. But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
All praise and glory to our wonderful God this Thursday morning my people! And that’s not just for life and new mercies, but also for what promises to be a whopping hot day, with temps in the mid teens! Glory Hallelujah!
Oh, I know to you folks down south that’s cold, but to us Northerners, that’s almost like a summer’s day, especially after the crazy and calamitous winter we’ve had. And I’m sure that there’ll be lot’s of folks out and about half-naked, running, walking, bicycling, playing games, and trying to do all the things we do come the summer time.
Good for them yes! But I doubt that I’ll be joining in any outdoor activities just yet, for I’m still trying to get rid of this nagging cough and cold. Let’s just hope that the temperature stays high from now on. And no doubt a whole lot of people are praying for that. Why?
Because as we’ve been saying for the last few days, prayer is the best form of communication with our Maker! And if we sincerely believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob created us, then it is only logical to pray to Him for whatever we desire. As Sherlock Holmes would undoubtedly tell his sidekick: ‘Elementary my dear Watson!’
And also, as we’ve seen from our Bit, our faithful and LOVING God does answer prayer. ‘But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.’
Oh Friends, I don’t see how we can doubt the awesome power of prayer nuh, especially if you claim to be a true believer in Jesus Christ! Therefore, today we will continue to show scriptures that deal with the mighty workings of prayer.
Hopefully something there will cause something in us to go off like the ‘Eureka’ effect that the Greek scientist Archimedes experienced when taking a bath, discovering that the level of the water rose when he got into it. That helped him to solve a scientific problem he was then working on.
First off, listen to the psalmist as he opens Psalm 116; praise for deliverance from death. ‘I LOVE the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me (hath listened to me), therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.’ (Ps.116:1-2)
Oh what a beautiful testimony my brethren! That’s how ALL God’s people should be declaring their never-ending commitment to prayer!
Now hear how that great man of faith, Daniel, began his prayer for his people. ‘And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful (awesome) God, keeping the covenant and mercy (LOVING-kindness) to them that LOVE Him, and to them that keep his commandments.’ (Dan.9:3-4)
Oh Friends, we all know the wonders the Lord worked in Daniel’s long and faithful life – and it was all done through sincere and heartfelt prayer! Now there’s no reason why the Lord cannot work wonders in our lives too, wonders that glorify Him, if we also turn to Him in serious prayer.
And the prophet Zephaniah, in talking about the scope of divine judgement, declared to Israel, and consequently to ALL OF US: ‘Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgement (upheld his justice); seek righteousness, seek meekness (humility): it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.’ (Zeph.2:3)
And how do we seek the Lord? First and foremost through PRAYER, my brethren!
And we’ll end with a couple of instances of prayer being ultra important from the Acts of the Apostles. Chapter 3 of Acts begins thus: ‘Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.’ (Acts 3:1)
Now if two of the most important apostles could be involved in regular prayer, why shouldn’t we be too eh?
And the scholars explain that verse thus: ‘3:1. According to Jewish reckoning, the day began at 6.a.m. Hence, the ninth hour is 3 p.m.. The Jewish prayer time was held in conjunction with the evening sacrifices and offering of incense (cf. Luke 1:8; Rev.8:3-4). Peter and John commonly went to the temple to pray at this hour. The Greek imperfect tense could well be translated “used to go up.’
That makes it a habit Friends! One that we all should adopt!
And finally, from Acts 6, where the number of believers and disciples had multiplied and Christianity had become so communal, it created a problem for the disciples to serve everybody’s needs and still continue with their own duties of prayer and spreading the gospel.
‘Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason (desirable) that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore brethren, look ye out (seek from) among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word,’ (Acts 6:2-4)
Oh Friends, yuh see that prayer and spreading the Word were so important that the original 12 disciples desired to devote their time to do just that. So how can we, especially in these very troubled and confusing times, not turn to prayer and the Word in like manner eh? It’s a fool’s wisdom, if we don’t my brethren!
So please, let’s get right on the prayer scene and into the Word nuh, and thus show our heavenly wisdom. Much LOVE!
…there’s a joy that comes from praying…and then having those prayers answered…a joy which words cannot fully explain… but must be personally experienced to understand it…
07 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adjustments, attributes of a leader, blessed, Blessed be the name of God, blessing of God's Name, Bruh David, chant up a storm, commuinion with God, contemplation, Cousin Sol, Daniel, Daniel 2:20. Daniel, discernment, echo Daniel's sentiments, energy, exalted, Friday chant, further your glorious kingdom, generous help, give strength, glorious name, glory, God's mercies, God's wisdom and might, greatness, harmony, head above all, holy spirit, importance of prayer, indisputable fact, intercession, Jesus Christ, Lent, Lenten season, look at life, majesty, man of prayer, moderation, modicum of circumspection, Nebuchadnezzar, path to heaven, peace, people of god, power, praise, Praise the Lord, prayer, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, right perspective, rising of the sun, serious approach, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, thanks, thanksgiving, the things on earth, things in heaven, unbreakable passion, victory, walking and talking with God, week of work, wisdom, zest
Daniel 2:20. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.
Well Friends, it’s that day again – Friday… And strangely the shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!’ are not as loud as usual. (smile) I guess we’re too tired from all the partying we did earlier on in the week, and then the Lenten Season’s seriousness added it’s own li’l bit of moderation and ‘modicum of circumspection,’ as Jeeves would say.
And that’s definitely not a bad thing my people, because every so often we do need to tone down our boisterous selves and take a more serious approach to, and look at life, meaning the things and people that surround us. And as we’ve been saying all week, Lent is the best time to do that, since it’s a season for contemplation and adjustments.
And as always, our Friday Chant will help us get the right perspective on handling the weekend. So let’s chant up a storm. Hn, hn! Sorry, I forgot that we’re too tired to chant up a storm, but let’s just do the best we can. (smile)
As one voice 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.’
Hopefully Friends, that prayer will restore some of our energy and zest, and allow us to go out and do a good job for Jesus. Don’t worry about it though, just talk to Jesus as you go along, and He will enable you to do whatever you need to do.
Now let’s turn to our Bit. ‘Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.’
Yesterday, we saw where the Lord blessed Daniel with supernatural discernment, re the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation. Today, I want to look at a few scriptures where other people of God echo Daniel’s sentiments.
Sadly, I could only find one scripture pertaining to the blessing of God’s Name, and that comes from Psalm 113, God’s mercies are many.
After opening the psalm with praise, the psalmist continues: ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!’ (Ps.113:2-6)
Yeh mih people, who is like unto our God eh? And all God’s people joyfully trilled: ‘NOBODY!’ And that my brethren is an indisputable fact!
However, concerning God’s wisdom and might, there are numerous scriptures that shout it out. Let’s take in a couple, beginning with Bruh David’s thanksgiving and prayer when he was preparing to hand over the throne of Israel to Cousin Sol.
Oh, oh fellow believers, the Holy Spirit just guided me to another scripture where the Lord’s name is blessed. Thank You Lord! I sincerely bless Your Holy Name! And lo and behold it comes right before the passage I intended to quote.
So here it is all together. ‘Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.’ (1 Chr.29:10-13)
What beautiful words of prayer and praise to our wonderful God, my brethren!
And we’ll close with an interesting note from the scholars’: ’29:10. David again shows himself to be a man of prayer (cf. 16:2, 7-36; 17:26-27). Those who stand before God’s people should likewise be capable of leading them in genuine intercession and communion with God.’
Oh Friends, we can never overestimate or overstate the importance of prayer in our daily lives, neither the importance of our leaders being able to lead us in genuine communication with God, for it’s one of the necessary attributes, a necessary ability of a leader.
Now may the Lord of heaven and earth bless and keep us safely, and cause His countenance to shine brightly upon us this day, as we journey on our path to heaven, to be with Him forever in LOVE, Peace and Harmony! Much LOVE!
…walking and talking with God…ought to be the believer’s unbreakable passion…
P.S. Oh my people, please note how short and sweet the Bit is today, and say a grateful, ‘Thank You Lord!’ (smile) Much LOVE!
06 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: almighty god, Arioch, astrologer, Azariah, Babylon, Blessed be God's name, Chaldean, changes the times and seasons, Christ died for our sins, communication, confusion, consequences, Daniel, Daniel 2:20. Daniel, darkness, desperation, difficult thing, disobedience, disobedient, disturbances, earthly pilgrimage, Father God, free, gives wisdom to the wise, God's truth, God-given attributes, growing, Hananiah, high esteem, holiness, in sync with God, interpret a dream, jehovah god, Jesus Christ, knowledge, Lent, Lenten season, life and death, light, LOVE, magician, maturing, Mishael, natural state, Nebuchadnezzar, necessity of prayer, New Year's resolution, night vision, not one iota of doubt, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, one and only true living God, painful, path to heaven, pay a hefty price, plodding along, pray, prayer, progress, raises up kings, ready access, rebellion, rebellious, regress, removes kings, righteousness., seek mercies of God, serve and worship, sinfulness, spirit, standing still, the God of heaven, the Word of god, truly believe it, undefiled by humans, understanding, walk with Christ, wisdom, wisdom and might, wonderful god, work diligently
Daniel 2:20. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.
Ah Friends, this being the season of winter, it’s nothing special to wake up and find a beautiful layer of snow covering the ground. I can’t help remarking how wonderful the snow looks when it lies quietly in the dark, or even in the sunshine, as yet undisturbed, undefiled by human hands and feet. (smile)
But you know that once we humans get into anything, or any place, we always cause disturbances and confusion. I guess that such is the nature of the beast. But that doesn’t mean because something’s in our nature that we have to automatically give into it.
For though sinfulness is our natural state, we don’t have to be always or thoroughly sinful, because Christ died and paid for our sins, so that we could be set free and live in holiness and righteousness before Almighty God.
And this Lenten season is a time for us to consider who God is, and what He means to us. It’s a time to delve into the Word of God to discover His truth, and also delve into our own souls to see how the contents of both match up.
Then we need to aspire to, and work diligently to bring them into sync. For unless our lives are in sync with God’s Word, we are being disobedient, being rebellious, and will eventually pay a hefty price for that disobedience and rebellion.
So Friends, this is the ‘rightest’ time to consider how we’ve done so far in keeping our New Year’s Resolution to improve our walk with Christ this very meaningful year of 2014. Has there been noticeable progress, have we regressed, or have we just stood still? Only you and God can decide the answer to that question.
But it’s rather important that we monitor our walk with Christ, to ensure that we are indeed growing and maturing, as we journey along on our earthly pilgrimage. And we can see from the Scriptures that that is what Daniel and his three amigos, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (their Jewish names) were doing, when Daniel blessed the God of heaven and declared in our Bit:
‘Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.’ And there’s not one iota of doubt on that proclamation my brethren!
For as Daniel continues: ”And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth (raises) up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know (have) understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
I thank thee and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.’ (Dan.2:21-23)
Yes mih people, our omnipotent, omniscient and omni-present God does all those things… and more! And I guess some of you who don’t know the story of Daniel are wondering what all the fuss is about.
Well Friends, it was a rather serious matter, one of life and death! The powerful Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream that deeply disturbed him, and so he called his wise men, his magicians and sorcerers to interpret it for him.
But when they asked him to tell them the dream, he refused. He wanted the wise men to both tell him the dream, then its interpretation. On top of that, he threatened to kill them all if they couldn’t do both things. (Dan.2:1-9)
In exasperation, the wise men finally told the king: ‘There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
And it is a rare (difficult) thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before (no other who can tell it to) the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.’ (Dan.2:10-11)
And they were quite right my fellow believers, except for one point; not ‘gods’, but the ONE and ONLY TRUE LIVING GOD, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who is a most mighty and powerful Spirit!
Now that answer certainly didn’t sit well with king Neb, and he commanded that all the wise men in Babylon be destroyed. Now Daniel and his buddies were numbered amongst the king’s advisers, but when Daniel heard of the king’s decree from Arioch, the captain in charge of the cleansing, he wondered about the king’s haste, and was told the reason by the captain.
Daniel therefore went before the king and asked for some time to consider the matter. (Dan.2:12-16) And the scholars’ note here that ‘Daniel was obviously held in high esteem, as his ready access to the king demonstrates.’
And the Good Book declares: ‘Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing (decree) known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: That they would desire (seek) mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish (be destroyed) with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.’ (Dan.2:17-19)
Then our Bit comes in. Oh Friends, oh Friends, I can’t help reminding us every day of the wonderful God we serve and worship!
The problem though is that you’ll never see it until you truly believe it! And unfortunately, there are too many of us who don’t believe it, consequently we don’t do the things necessary for God to show up in our lives, that’s why we are sadly plodding along in desperation.
But you can see, as the scholars wisely note, that ‘Even though Daniel had special, God-given attributes, he and his friends still had to pray.’
And that’s the crux of the problem right there, my people! We’re never too mature, too holy, too righteous, or too anything else that we don’t need to pray. If even, Jesus Christ, the mighty Son of the mighty Jehovah God had to pray, why wouldn’t we, poor mortal minions, His fickle and fallible creation, need to do likewise eh?
So Friends, please, let’s note the necessity of prayer in all our lives. For prayer is the method of close and positive communication with our Creator, and without it, we can do NOTHING, NOTHING AT ALL, in our own strength!
Please let that bit of wisdom sink deep into our hearts and souls today, so that we can walk a better and truer path to heaven and Father God Himself! Much LOVE!
…no prayer…means no communication with our Maker and heavenly Father…truly an unwise deed…for the consequences can be rather painful…
15 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: advice, alive and kicking, appliances, attitude of prayer, be happy, begin each day with prayer, behaviour to cultivate, better late than never, boycott threat, complications, Daniel, David, deliverance from death, direct my prayer, disciples, encourage, epistle, faults and foibles, fed the five thousand, freezer problem, friends, get serious about prayer, glory hallelujah, God's grace, greatest power on earth, ground swell, heartfelt, holds us captive, importance of prayer, in the morning, intermittent cough, Jesus, joyfully declare, lighten the soul, look up, LOVE, my voice, negative, new fangled, O Lord, planet earth, plastic, poor-me-one, positive attitude, pray without ceasing, prayer, prayer for protection, pronouncement, Psalm 88, recharge batteries, rejoice and be glad, rejuvenation of spirit, see another day, service charge, sincere prayer, sincerity, sorrowful, spiritual energy, the day the Lord has made, the Good Book, the other side, the power of prayer, tip of the iceberg, troubled world, true believers, truth, year of 2014
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Oh Friends, once again we have been blessed with God’s wonderful grace, enabling us to see another new day on His great planet earth! Wow! How thrilling that is!
And I know that you all will agree with me, for despite all the problems in the troubled world and our individual lives, very few really are ready to leave here and go over to the other side. There’s something about earth, with all its faults and foibles that still holds us captive.
Perhaps it’s simply because we know what’s here, but aren’t truly sure about what’s on the other side, although they claim it’s much better there.
In any case, since we’re here, and most likely want to be, let’s be happy, and like the psalmist, joyfully declare: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we WILL rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps.118:24) That positive attitude certainly helps more than a negative, sorrowful, poor-me-one behaviour.
Oh by the way, a service man did come yesterday to look at our freezer problem, at an exorbitant service charge. Hn!
Apparently there’s a small plastic cup – no surprise there, for everything’s plastic now – where the water runs through to the icemaker. But whenever that cup gets clogged with ice, and the icemaker calls for water, the water cannot run into the cup and into the icemaker. So as water is wont to do, it finds other channels to run into.
Consequently, by the time he checked it yesterday, everything was clear and free, and the only thing we can do is keep a close eye on it, because there’s no finding out why it happens. Ah Lord eh! And last night we had to turn off the icemaker because the bucket was already full of ice.
And the techie agreed with my contention that the earlier appliances worked much better than these new fangled ones, neither did they have as many complications when something went wrong. Although it gave him more work, he wasn’t thrilled with the new stuff, and suggested that we complain to the manufactures themselves, not to the service people.
But which big manufacturer listens to the small man eh, unless there’s a big ground swell and a serious threat of boycotting their products?
Anyway, that’s enough preamble for today. (smile) Yesterday’s Bit was one of the longest, if not the longest one I’ve ever written, and I promise today’s definitely won’t be as long. So in keeping with that promise let’s get to our Bit from Bruh David’s prayer for protection.
‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’
And I was up early enough today to do my prayer thing and still get the Bit to you at a reasonable hour. Glory Hallelujah! And we’ll continue looking at scriptures that show us the importance of prayer, as well as encourage us to get more involved in it.
And there’s lots of truth in the advice to begin each day with prayer. Bruh David and Daniel (6:10) did it, and in Psalm 88, a Maschil (Contemplation) of Heman the Ezrahite, a cry for deliverance from death, the psalmist also proclaims: ‘But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent (come before) thee.’ (Ps.88:13)
Now we already know that Jesus got up very early every morning to go out into a quiet place and pray. (Mark 1:35) But that wasn’t the only time He availed Himself of the power of prayer. And we have a good example of that after He fed the five thousand, (Matt.14:15-22) and sent His disciples over to the other side of the lake by ship, then went off by Himself to pray.
‘And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart (by Himself) to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.’ (Matt.14:23)
Apparently after using up all that spiritual energy, He needed some recharging of His batteries, some rejuvenation of His Spirit. And believe me Friends, nothing recharges or rejuvenates us like sincere prayer!
Now let’s move on to Bruh Paul. Oh my brethren, I don’t know if anyone has spoken about the importance of prayer more than him! In every epistle he encourages his readers to pray. And his most astounding pronouncement on the subject is simply this: ‘Pray without ceasing.’ (1 Thess.5:17) Plain and straightforward my people!
The scholars dissemble the verse thus: ‘The Greek word here rendered without ceasing is used in secular literature to denote a man suffering from an intermittent cough – one that is not continuous, but occurs at intervals. Just as the individual has the tendency to cough, though does not always do so audibly, so the believer ought to remain in the attitude of prayer though not always praying audibly.’
Therefore Friends, as true believers, we ought always to have that attitude of prayer about us, though not necessarily praying aloud. It’s a most wonderful behaviour to cultivate. And as promised, we won’t ramble on any more today.
But my brethren, that’s only the tip of the iceberg concerning prayer in the Good Book. However we’ll leave you to ponder those few verses today. Don’t want to complicate your busy minds and lives more than they’re already complicated. (smile) .
But please, please, let’s get serious about prayer in this important year of 2014 nuh, both for others and ourselves, because it’s the greatest power on planet earth, when entered into with heartfelt sincerity. Much LOVE!
…there’s nothing like prayer…to lighten the believer’s soul…
P.S. Aye mih people, the Bit will most likely be plenty late tomorrow, because I’m going out of town this evening, and I don’t know when I’ll find the time to write it. But rest assured that once I’m alive and kicking, you will receive it. It’s just a matter of when. And as they say; better late than never. (smile) Much LOVE!
14 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: begin each day with prayer, best example, big part of our lives, bye-gone days, call upon God, calm, ceasing to pray, cheaply made gadgets, Christian manner, commanding voice, contention, conveniences, cry aloud, Daniel, deceitful friends, dedicated button, dim his perspective, direct my prayer, distractions, divine duty, dutiful husband, enrich our lives, evening, exorbitant service charge, fix the problem, flying colours, gave thanks, God forbid, good old days, guidance, hear my voice, help, I will pray, ice maker, ice storm, imperative call, importance of prayer, in love, in the morning, Israel, Jerusalem, Jesus, kneeled, longwinded, look up, LOVE, malfunction, maturity, Maytag appliance, morning, motto, my voice, new fangled technology, noon, one function, open windows, our leader, out of the blue, plot to kill, practice what you preach, prayed, prayer quotient, problems, raises my hackles, right or wrong, righteousness., service man, sin against the Lord, sinfulness, smile, soulful lament, speaking the truth, test, Thank the Lord, the Lord's standards, three times a day, undesirable situation, wasp nest
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Oh For the good old days eh! And you’re no doubt wondering what caused that soulful lament for those bye-gone days?
Well, it’s because yesterday afternoon, while I was trying to catch up on some rest, for I’m not over whatever bug’s been bugging me for the last ten days. But I am getting better… Thank the Lord I’m getting better! Though not as quickly as I’d like.
Anyway, out of the blue, I head this imperative call: ‘Randolph, come here!’ Chuh! I sighed at being disturbed, while wondering what was wrong now. The Duchess is one of the few people who call me Randolph, and anytime I hear that commanding voice, it automatically raises my hackles. (smile)
But as a dutiful husband, I got up and went downstairs, only to find the Duchess standing in front of the opened freezer door of the fridge, watching water come pouring out.
Oh, she’d already done what she could; put some towels on the ground to sop up the water, taken out the ice-maker, and turned off the water. But the residue in there kept coming out for a couple more minutes.
She was obviously not thrilled, because as usual, she was trying to do several things at the same time. It appears that she had just come from outside talking to the man who was cleaning up the trees from the ice storm damage, and found the undesirable situation.
By the way, she had him cut down the wasp (jack spaniard) nest that had been hanging so blithely from the tree limb outside my kitchen window. Aww! Now I don’t have anything to look at and chuckle about when I look out there.
But my brethren, you would certainly have been proud of the ole fella, for I responded in a very calm and Christian manner. Wow! What maturity! (smile) I allowed her to go and continue her other chores, while I simply did what I could to clean up the resultant mess.
To tell the truth, I was even surprised at how calmly I handled the situation. I guess the Holy Spirit did a magnificent job in me. And who says He doesn’t work hard eh!
The long and short of the story is that the freezer section contains an automatic icemaker that provides either crushed or cubed ice, along with a waterspout. However the icemaker is always causing problems, either not making ice or making too much ice.
Just a couple weeks ago, it malfunctioned again, that time causing a terrible ice build up in the freezer. Everything in there was so caked with ice that we had problems taking them out. A service man came, obviously at an exorbitant service charge, but apparently all he did was de-ice the freezer, not fix the problem that had caused it in the first place.
Now yesterday the water section acted up. My contention is that the older fridges with just a small freezer section, where you put your ice trays to make ice, never caused those problems. But these fanciful, cheaply made gadgets with so many features constantly cause problems.
And this is supposed to be a top of the line Maytag appliance, whose advertisement wrongly boasted about the Maytag repairman never having anything to do because their products were so good. Hogwash! I won’t even get into the problems we’ve had with a Maytag stove.
Hn! The amount of times we’ve had service people out to fix one thing or another, and the cheap knobs that keep falling off. I would certainly think twice about buying another Maytag appliance.
But coming back to my original contention, I don’t use much ice, especially in the winter, and I never drink from the waterspout, because I find it tastes terrible. What did we do before we had fridges that automatically gave ice and water eh? We got along quite fine!
And besides there were less possibilities of a number of things going wrong, as now happens with all the supposed conveniences on them. And I was made to understand that’s how all the fridges are now made. The Lord help us! And another service man is supposed to come today, of course at some ridiculous service charge.
But that’s one of the reasons why I don’t like all this new fangled technology; they try to put too many features into a single item, and they never seem to work properly, plus when one breaks down, it causes eternal problems. And don’t even talk about the one button that does several different things, as they have in all these new gadgets. Steups! It’s just a bit much for my mentality. I like my one button dedicated to one function.
And having ‘preambled’ at length on my opening sentence, (smile) you all know that the ole fella’s longwinded, let’s turn to our Bit, which conveys such a powerful and important directive.
‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’
Yes Friends, the best way to begin each and every day is with prayer! Remember Jesus did it, (Mark 1:35) so why should we not follow our leader, the best example of righteousness that we have. And today we’re going to highlight some scriptures that show the importance of prayer, and which also encourage us to make prayer a big part of our lives.
And we’ll start with an interesting, but little talked about scripture. It comes from 1 Samuel. ‘Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and right way.’ (1 Sam.12:23) That was Samuel’s promise when he addressed Israel re their high level of sinfulness.
And the scholars have an interesting note on that verse. ’12:23. Despite Israel’s sin, Samuel LOVED Israel and Saul (cf.16:1) and pledged his continued help, especially in praying for them and teaching them the Lord’s standards. His LOVE for them however, would not dim his perspective as to what ways were right or wrong in Israel. He would do his divine duty of speaking the truth in LOVE (cf. Eph.4:15).’
And I’ll spoil us by quoting that last verse, since I know that very few are going to look it up. Bruh Paul is talking about the new life in Christ. ‘But speaking the truth in LOVE, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.’ (Eph.4:15)
Meanwhile, in Psalm 55, a cry against deceitful friends, Bruh David boldly declares: ‘As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.’ (Ps.55:16-17)
Bruh David says that he will pray at least three times a day. That brings us to Daniel who apparently did the same thing.
‘Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a (that) day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime (had been doing before this).’ (Dan.6:10)
So although he knew that there was a plot afoot to kill him because of his praying to the God of his forefathers, he continued doing as he had always done. And the scholars point out: ‘6:10-11. Daniel was past 80 years of age at this time, yet he was still on his knees thanking God and asking for His guidance and help.’
Oh what a wonderful example for us to follow my people. Please let’s up our prayer quotient nuh. It will certainly enrich our lives. Much LOVE!
…to pray…and yet to pray again…should be the motto of ALL believers…
P.S. The Bit’s late because I didn’t get up early enough to start my day with prayer, and still have enough time to send it our early, plus I had a couple of unavoidable distractions in between.
Ah Friends, it’s not easy, that was a test to see if I was practicing what I preach. Don’t worry, I get tested on most of the stuff I write about, sometimes even before I’m even finished writing about it.
Obviously I don’t pass them all, or not as well as I should, but I’m happy to say that I passed this one today with flying colours! Wow! Aren’t you proud of me? (smile) Much LOVE!
23 Nov 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: admonition, almighty god, anxious, barren woman, best advice, blessed be the Lord's name, blessings, Daniel, darkness, deep and secret things, dilemma, dreams and visions, faith, fearful, forgiving, friends, God's mercies, going down of the moon, greatly to be praised, greatness of the Lord, help, his glory above the heavens, hope, house of god, humbles himself, in a rut, Israel, Jacob, Jesus, kicking a dead horse, knowledge, lead, light, LOVE, mental juices not flowing, merciful, might, mother of children, mysterious ways, Nebuchadnezzar's dream, needy, omnipotent, poor, portent, praise, praise His name, Praise the Lord, Praise ye the Lord, prayer, princes, promises of Abraham, righteousness., rising of the moon, rough times, seasons, seek something new, Sermon on the Mount, servants of god, servants of the lord, sing Hallelujah, struggles, sufficient, surrender, sustain in times of need, take it to heart, thanks, the kingdom of God, The Lord is good, The Lord's high above all nations, The Lord's name is great, the Lord's never let me down, the rising of the sun, things in heaven and earth, things of God, things of the world, times, to the going down of the sun, trouble, trust, truth, turn to God, understanding, vanity of idols, wisdom, wise, worry
Psalm 113:1. Praise ye the Lord (sing Hallelujah). Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s been in a rut for the past forty five minutes or so, looking for a Bit that he could get his mind around. Brother! I sure have been spoiled these last few days dealing with the promises of father Abraham, since I didn’t have to seek out something new to write on everyday.
Oh, I knew what I wanted to write about, but unfortunately the mental juices just weren’t flowing in that direction. And you know how sometimes we refuse to let an idea go, although it’s just not working for us. What is the saying, something like kicking a dead horse? Well that was my dilemma.
Possibly the Lord didn’t want me to write on that topic today. Who knows eh, with Him and His mysterious ways? However, I always had hope. My faith might not be as great as Abraham’s, but it’s strong enough to sustain me in times of need. Furthermore, the Lord’s never let me down before in all my struggles, so why should He now eh? I always knew that He would eventually lead me to something that pleased Him.
And that’s exactly what we have here from Psalm 113; God’s mercies are many. And indeed they are my people! So let’s get into our Bit, and do just as it says: ‘Praise ye the Lord (sing Hallelujah). Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.’
Yes my brethren, the Lord’s name is indeed great and greatly to be praised! And as the psalmist continues: ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.’ (Ps.113:2-3)
And for those of you who work nights and sleep days and don’t see the sun, we can change that to: ‘from the rising of the moon to the going down of the same.’ (smile) But whatever time you are awake, the Lord’s name ought to be praised my brethren. And why is that you ask? Simple; because He’s great!
‘The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth!’ (Ps.113:4-6)
And Friends, we all know the answer to both those questions is a plain and simple NOBODY!
And we ought also to praise Almighty God because He sincerely cares for the poor and needy. ‘He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill (the ash heap); That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. He maketh (causes) the barren (childless) woman to keep house (dwell in a home), and to be the mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.’ (Ps.113:7-9)
Ah mih people, those are certainly most excellent reasons to praise our omnipotent, forgiving and merciful God! And if you want some more reasons, then listen to Daniel after the Lord revealed the secret of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him.
‘Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings and setteth up (raises up) kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge unto them that know (have) understanding:
He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.’ (Dan.2:20-23)
Oh Friends, how many more reasons do we need for praising our great God eh? He’s mighty and wise; controls the times and the seasons; raises up and removes kings; gives wisdom and knowledge to those who seek and deserve them. He also reveals to mankind, like He did with Daniel, the portent of dreams and visions, of secret things, and knows what the darkness contains, like our plentiful, deep, dark deeds. (smile)
So what more can we ask eh? The Lord God Jehovah is Lord and God over all! Therefore He deserves constant and unending praise, but that’s something, we the Lord’s supposed followers are sadly lacking in at this current time. Oh I know that the world’s in a sorry state, and our lives lack the certainty they had just a few years ago, which makes us somewhat fearful and anxious.
But my fellow believers that’s no reason for us to be more taken up with the things of the world – food, clothes, houses, jobs – than with the things of God, and thus cut down on our prayer and praise. Instead, it’s in the rough times that we most need to turn to God, cozy up to Him, not turn away, because He’s the ONE from whom all our help, all our blessings come.
And please remember Jesus’ admonition from the Sermon on the Mount: ‘(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow (do not worry about tomorrow): for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble) thereof.’ (Matt.6:32-34)
Oh Friends, please, please, let’s take all of that to heart! It’s the best advice we can ever get. And to show our hope, trust, faith and surrender to Almighty God, let’s close with some appropriate praise from Psalm 135; The greatness of the Lord and the vanity of idols.
‘Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord. Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his particular (special) treasure. For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.’ (Ps.135:1-5)
And that, my fellow believers, is divine, gospel, undeniable, indisputable and any other truth there is! (smile) Much LOVE!
…Praise Him, praise Him…Glory Hallelujah…He is LOVE…He is LOVE…
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