20 May 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a atrife-filled country, a merciful forgiving and gracious God, Bible, cast over the precipice, chaos, Christ in you, christianity, deviate from God's law, divine guidance, do their own thing instead of God's, faith, forecasters of God's coming glory, god, greed, holy spirit, hunger for power, Jared C. Wilson, Jehovah Rapha, Jesus, Jesus Christ, leggo-beast lifestyle, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, no open vision, our Father who art in heaven, our unfortunate lot, perfect in Jesus, prophetic vision, prosper us, Revelation, run wild like savages, selfishness, serious problems, seriously disobeyed your word, sin, sincere repentance, sincerity, strife, strong faith in Christ, the God who heals, the good foundation, the mystery hid from ages, the people perish, the revelation of God, the riches of glory, the vision is Jesus, the word of the Lord was precious (rare), truth, turmoil, turn from our evil ways, ungodliness, Victoria Day, where there is no visioin, wisdom, with God all things are possible
Proverbs 29:18. Where there is no vision (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Oh friends, what a blessed country is this land of Canada! And on this Victoria Monday holiday, I hope we realize and appreciate our blessedness, especially when compared to so many other countries that are right now only filled with strife and turmoil. Unfortunately though, we are beginning to see some of that strife and turmoil entering our otherwise fairly peaceful land. And if we ignore the good foundation we have and follow the rest of the world where nothing but complaints, dissatisfaction and discontent are ever heard, we too will also end up a strife-filled country.
If we stop talking to each other in all sincerity and truth, stop trying to build on what we already have, and instead allow the world’s greed, hunger for power and selfishness to rise to the top, then our days will soon be doomed like so many other nations who have allowed that to happen to them. Let’s hope and pray that won’t become our unfortunate lot. And yes, we do have serious problems, but they can all be worked out if we would just take the time to do so.
But in this modern society everybody wants everything like yesterday, and furthermore, without doing what it takes to get everything. That however is totally impossible. And even more so if we are not a God-fearing society. For with God ALL things are possible, but without Him, we cannot do a whole lot. Remember Cousin Sol words, that ‘Where there is no vision (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ (Prov. 29:18)
And that’s not the leader’s good ideas and programs for his church but as this excerpt from the commentary by Jared C. Wilson on the subject states: ‘The vision is prophetic vision; what is in mind here is the revelation of God to his biblical spokesmen. Where there is no vision shared with us by the prophets, to whom God revealed the mysteries of the ages, we like savages run wild. In other words, we may have a vision, but if it is not the one given to the biblical representatives of God’s revelation and the forecasters of God’s coming glory, it is not to be conformed to.
“But blessed is he who keeps the law.” The latter part of the verse implies that when the vision of the prophets is held by the people, the blessing of living God’s way ensues. What is the vision of the prophets? It is “the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints” (Col. 1:26; see also Rom.16:25 and Eph. 3:9). The vision is Jesus.’
And these are the complete verses of Bruh Paul’s message to the Colossians: ‘Even the mystery (hidden truth, secret) which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest (has been revealed) to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Jesus.’ (Col. 1:26-28)
Yes, my fellow believers, if a society doesn’t know Jesus and live by His basic rules and guidelines, His standard of morality, then chaos, disaster and strife will be their eventual outcome. In simple language, when societies do not accept divine guidance, the people are unrestrained, they run wild. Or as one commentator puts it: ‘where there is no revelation from God, people do their own thing instead of what God wants them to do.’ But whoever obeys the law is joyful.
And that’s being totally proven by the rash of unrestrained and running wild societies, with the current style being for people to do their own thing instead of God’s. Consequently, there aren’t many joyful societies, if any, but the chaotic ones are indeed plentiful. And I believe this scripture from the days of Israels’ lawlessness are being replicated today. ‘And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious (rare) in those days; there was no open vision.’ (1 Sam. 3:1)
This verse from the Book of Judges also gives us an idea of what was happening with God’s people back then, and what’s also taking place with us right now. ‘In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ (Judg. 21:25) And unfortunately that is exactly what we are reverting to, a do as you like society. But friends we have prophetic vision; the mystery of Jesus has been revealed to us, so why are we living this chaotic, undisciplined, leggo-beast lifestyle eh?
Because with our short-sighted minds, only thinking of today’s pleasures and not tomorrow’s pain, totally influenced by Satan wiles and lies, we choose not to live for Jesus. And that is exactly why our society is going down the drain, almost ready to be cast over the precipice of sin and ungodliness. But all is not lost my people, for as we say, once there’s life, there’s always hope, and with the miracle working God that we serve, if we are willing to turn back to Him, He will surely help and retrofit us, and bring us back to His fold. So please, let’s go to Him now through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn seeking divine aid.
As one strong and sincere voice: ‘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 please remember that divine aid comes only when there is sincere repentance and a turning from our evil ways. Much LOVE!
…chaos always ensues…when we deviate from God’s law…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
06 Mar 2023
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bottomless pit, a facade for the devil, alleviate our problems, cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, Christ's Millennial reign, common sense, divine guidance, don't learn from our mistakes, evildoers will pay for their wrongdoing, fire came down from heaven and devoured them, forgive us and heal our land, hanging like a dark cloud, have it more abundatly, he shall be my son, he that overcometh shall inherit all things, he who has ears to hear let him hear, humble servants, I am come that they might have life, I will be his God, it's all over bar the shouting, it's only a matter of time, Jehovah Rapha, Jesus has already given us the victory, LOVE, Monday Battle Hymn, nuff said, Satan can never best the Creator of the universe, sincerely seek your face, the BIBLE, the God who heals, the indisputable word of God, the thief cometh but to steal, to keep us in darkness and fear, to kill and destroy, trying to intimidate us, wisdom, wresting the keys of hell death and the grave from Satan
Revelation 21:7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Awright friends, the work week is upon us again, and that opening day called Monday, is hanging like a dark cloud over many of us, trying to intimidate us, to raise up the dormant fear that lies deep inside our souls. But yuh know what, that apparent intimidation by Monday is only a façade, a front of the devil to keep us in darkness and fear, so we can’t rise up and conquer him and his evil cronies, like our Lord and Saviour Jesus expects.
Let’s remember though that Jesus has already given us the victory through His conquering Satan, wresting the keys of hell death and the grave from Him, with a triumphant resurrection on Easter Sunday, while the foolish devil wrongly thought that he had finally ensconced Him forever!
But Satan of all people should have known better, having spent so much time with Jesus in heaven as the ark angel Lucifer. Obviously his loss in the battle to overthrow the God of heaven didn’t teach him anything about the power and glory of our magnificent Trinity! However, unfortunately, it’s the same with many of us; we don’t learn from our mistakes.
One would have thought that Satan would have learned from His previous defeat that He could NEVER best the Creator and Controller of the universe, no matter the deceitful and evil means he uses. That’s why Jesus warned us of Satan’s propensity for evil and destruction. ‘The thief cometh not, but for to (except to) steal and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:10)
Now tell me who’s presence would you rather be in, the one who steals and kills, or the one who gives life? The people with common sense and or wisdom would obviously choose the latter. Sadly though, there are many in our world who lack both those attributes and therefore choose the former.
And I guess, for Satan to simply give up the fight, to suffer the terrible pangs of defeat and subjugate himself to Jesus would have meant a terrifying and humiliating end that he could not face. So, like an animal whose back is against the wall, with no apparent avenue of escape or victory in sight, its only resort is to brace itself and come out fighting, regardless of the possible consequences. And that’s how it is with Satan.
There was obviously no way for him to accept an honourable defeat at the hands of Jesus, so his only face-saving response was to come back out fighting to the death, with whatever dirty and evil means he has at his behest. But we believers all know that it’s all over bar the shouting for the devil and his evil cronies, because they will eventually end up in the lake of fire when Jesus gets around to dealing with them.
Yes friends, it’s only a matter of time, as the Bible, the Lord’s indisputable, unquestionable Word in Revelation 20 tells us that before Christ’s Millennial reign, the devil will be chained and locked up for those thousand years of peace and righteousness on earth in a bottomless pit, the abode of evil spirits (cf. 9:1-11; Luke 8:31).
Then after the expiration of those thousand years, he’ll be released to make strife and war with Gog and Magog on the earth again. But then what happens? After losing that final battle, when ‘fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever.’ (Rev. 20: 9b-10)
Now please note this other very important scripture about the end times, re the fountain of life. John writes: ‘And he (Jesus) said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful (cowardly), and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and the murderers, and whoremongers (sexually immoral), and sorcerers, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’ (Rev. 21:6-8)
Oh my people, if you truly believe the Bible, the Word of Almighty God, then there’s no more to say! It’s clear as day that evildoers will pay a very steep price for their unbelief and wrongdoing. It’s only a matter of time. And though our God is long-suffering, He will run out of patience at some stage of the game and pull the plug if we continue with our ungodly and evil shenanigans. So it’s totally up to each individual to choose how they will spend eternity. Nuff said.
But the wonderful thing about our God is that when we need help, we always have access to His throne room. So let’s go there right now nuh, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn and ask for His divine guidance. As one sincere voice: ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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!’
Now, if we’re serious about the sentiments and promises we made in the prayer, then we’ll need to go out and action them for divine help to come. Much LOVE!
…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
23 Jan 2023
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: all that call upon him in truth, all the wicked will he destroy, divine guidance, do your thing for Christ, enlightenment, eternal separation from God, false gospel, false teachers, full of salt, God our number one priority, God's Unsearchable Greatness, he will fulfill the desireof them that fear him, holy in all his works, humble servants, Jehovah Rapha, let all flesh bless his holy name, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, my mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, negative situations, offer encouragement, raiseth up all that be bowed down, refuse to pay him homage, shine like a blazing fire, the God who heals, The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him, the Lord is righteous in all his ways, the Lord preserveth all them that love him, the Lord upholdeth all that fall, wise guidance
Psalm 145:20. The Lord preseveth all them that LOVE him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
Well, a fine Monday morning to all you my Scrip-Bit friends and family! I do hope that all is well with you on this the first day of the new work week, and you’re bright eyed and bushy tailed, excited to get out into the evil and ungodly world and do your thing for Christ; be full of salt and shine like a blazing fire, so much so that those who come into contact with you, simply cannot refuse your witness!
Wow! Yes that’s the way we ought to be my fellow believers, especially in these rather disturbing and turbulent times, where Christ’s church and His LOVE Revolution are falling behind the eight ball. But we’re not here today to cast aspersions, or render judgement, rather to offer encouragement and enlightenment.
And I had to chuckle a short while ago when I came to write the Bit and had no inkling what to write about. So in my mind I asked, ‘What should I write about today Lord?’ And in a few seconds the answer came: ‘Go back to Psalm 145!’ So, since He’s the Boss and I’m just an obedient servant, then we will go back to Psalm 145, Bruh David’s Psalm of Praise to God’s Unsearchable Greatness. And beginning in verse 14, where we had stopped the last time, we read with great encouragement.
‘The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee (look expectantly to you); and thou givest them their meat (food) in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy (gracious) in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear (reverence) him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord preseveth all them that LOVE him: but all the wicked will he destroy.’ (Ps. 145: 14-20)
Yes my fellow saints that’s the greatness and everlasting faithfulness of our Lord God Jehovah! He NEVER turns away those who sincerely put their trust in Him in all sincerity and truth. And He’s great and loyal enough to stand up for all who cry out to Him, to come to their rescue! Now that’s the wonderful, merciful, gracious and LOVING God we serve! There’s no other like Him in all creation!
And I like how the scholars spell out the specifics for us. They say: ‘After the characteristic call to praise (vs. 1-2), David offers four key reasons to praise the Lord in the section called the cause for praise vs: 3-20): the Lord is great (vs. 3), He is gracious and merciful (vs. 8-9), He sustains all who fall (vs. 14), and He is righteous in His ways and kind are His deeds (vs. 17)’ And what’s the welcome conclusion of all that? A renewal of the call to praise in (vs.21), which we haven’t look at as yet.
So let’s do that right now nuh. In conclusion, Bruh David solemnly proclaims: ‘My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. Amen!’ (Ps. 145: 21) Oh my people, if we could only do those two things – praise the Lord and bless His holy name – a li’l more often that we do, life would improve so much, that we wouldn’t even recognize it. (smile)
And that’s a major problem we have amongst believers today. For whatever reason, too many of us refuse to praise the Lord and bless His holy name, refuse to pay Him the homage He so rightly deserves for all the wonderful things He’s done, is doing, and has promised to do for us. Please remember that second to last verse: ‘The Lord preserveth all them that LOVE Him; but all the wicked will He destroy.’
And believe me that’s no idle promise as so many of us believe today in this era of false gospel and false teachers. Our God never makes promises He doesn’t intend to keep, which you can discover by looking through the Old Testament. So please, let’s not get caught up in all the lovey-dovey and feel-good stuff that some are preaching and wake up and understand that if we don’t truly LOVE God and act accordingly, we will end up amongst the wicked and be sentenced to eternal separation from Him, the worst sentence we can ever get. End of Sermon!
Now, let’s go to Him, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, asking for divine guidance and protection. As one strong and confident voice: ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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!’
So, if we desire to see positive, God-given changes in our lives and our world, then we have to do our part; that’s turn from our evil ways and adopt His righteous ones. As simple as that my fellow saints. Much LOVE!
…sincere LOVE for God…ought to be our number One priority…that’s what Jesus said…and He doesn’t lie…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
02 Dec 2022
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a son of man, anger inflames talk, be made the righteousness of God in Him, choose life, come short of the glory of God, come to God in love, consequences for our behaviour, divine guidance, do the devil's bidding, for all have sinned, free will, Friday chant, God so loved the world, godliness brings rewards, happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, he gave his only begotten son, he hath made him to be sin for us, he returneth to his earth, his breath goeth forth, in that very day his thoughts perish, Jesus is only a prayer away, job frustration, LOVE, omnipotent help, put not your trust in princes, run amok, simmering unrest, sin brings punishment, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, the gift of God is eternal life, the wages of sin is death, trusting faith, wake up and smell the coffee, whose hope is in the Lord his God, you and your seed may live
Psalm 146:5. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:
And it’s Friday, so everyone’s joyfully shouting: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the work week is over! Glory be!’ You know it always amuses me at our different reactions on Mondays and Fridays; one of anger and frustration and the other of happiness. But the fact is that life goes on as planned, regardless of our reactions. And despite all of our advancements, none of us know what’s going to happen on any particular day of our lives, nor in our oh so messed up and confused world. So why not enjoy every day that we are alive, regardless of what day it is eh, and whether we have to go to work or not?
The truth is that ONLY the Lord God Almighty knows what’s going to happen, and He’s not telling, because He desires us to put our sincere trust, faith, and hope in Him, to rely completely on His mercy, grace and LOVING-kindness. And that makes very good sense since He is the Creator and Controller of the earth and all therein. Why look to anyone or anything else for safety, comfort, prosperity and health when we have the ONE who created and controls it all to look to eh?
And Psalm 146 puts it so nicely and wisely. ‘Put not your trust in princes, nor in the (a) son of man (human being), in whom there is no help (salvation). His breath goeth forth (spirit departs), he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever.’ (Ps. 146:3-6) And that’s so easy to do, through the medium of prayer. As they say, Jesus is only a prayer away; that means a couple of breaths and words away.
But no, because we have free will, we figure we are entitled to do what we want, when we want, and with whom we want. But that’s a great fallacy my brethren. The Lord didn’t give us free will to run amok and do the devil’s evil bidding, but to choose to come to Him in LOVE and true fellowship. No wonder there are consequences for all of our behaviour, both good and bad. And believe me, some of those consequences are very far reaching, even to the destiny we face at the end of this earthly life. Please remember Bruh Paul’s very serious warning to the Roman church. ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through (in) Jesus Christ.’ (Rom. 8:23)
Now that’s possibly the most significant warning in all the Bible, because it gets right down to brass tacks, doesn’t mince words about our eternal fate. Now, whether or not you believe Bruh Paul’s warning is entirely up to you, but be assured that it is the truth, and a life of sin will be paid for by death, both physical and spiritual. And since we were all born in sin, because of our forefather Adam’s sinfulness, we are automatically labelled for death: ‘For all have sinned, and come (fallen) short of the glory of God.’ (Rom. 3:23)
And for that we will pay a hefty price unless we repent, turn from our evil ways and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, whom the Father sent to die on the cross at Calvary, so His sinless blood could be shed and pay for our sins. Yes friends, our sin debt has been paid in full by Jesus Christ. As Bruh Paul writes in his second letter to the church at Corinth: ‘For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.’ (2 Cor. 5:20)
Oh my fellow saints, how great and wonderful is our Father God! How deep and marvellous is His LOVE for us, that He sent His only begotten Son to die for a bunch of ungrateful sinners like us! You must admit that He had to think very highly of us to do such an amazing and selfless deed. Jesus said it thus: ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:16-17)
That says it all right there friends! Jesus came so that we could be saved, because the Father LOVED us so much, He didn’t want to see His most precious creation languish in hell, in pain and suffering for eternity. So He gave us another option; one of redemption and reconciliation, through belief on the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ. But the choice is all up to us. That’s the crux of the matter. And my heartfelt advice is that we do like Moses told the Israelites: ‘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, 31:19)
Oh friends it couldn’t be any clearer than that! And for those of us who have chosen life, let’s go to God in prayer, through our Friday Chant, asking for His divine guidance and continued grace and mercy. Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the several viruses and our many other problems are causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help.
Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the viruses and the simmering unrest in our land. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks.
And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic, the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land that’s threatening to boil over, as a means of restoring faith in You, 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, if we truly want a positive answer to our prayer, then we’d better wake up and smell that coffee and turn from our evil ways. Much LOVE!
…sin brings punishment…godliness brings rewards…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ
14 Sep 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a false witness, a forgiving God, a heart that devises wicked schemes, a high look, a lying tongue, a proud heart, adversity, calamities, can't run away and hide, come short in obedience, compliance to your word, defer not to pay it, divine guidance, end of story, failed miserably, faithful confidence, feet that be swift in running to mischief, foolish pride, forgive us, God ought to be our first resort, hallmarks of our modern society, hands that shed blood, he hath no pleasure in fools, heal our land, hear our prayer, heartache and calamity, humble hearts, it is better to trust in the Lord, Jehovah Rapha, lack of faith, LOVE, lucifer tried, mano-a-mano, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, negative situations, not taken for granted, pain and sorrow, power to solve our problems, put confidence in princes, step up to the plate, than to put confidence in man, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the only one, trials and tribulations, turn from our evil ways, turn to God in prayer, vow a vow unto God, we have all sinned, wisdom, wish them away
Psalm 118:8. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
So here we are on a Monday morning in mid-September of this historic year 2020, amidst numerous calamities, many trials and much tribulation, overwhelming adversity like most of us have never seen before – and are not liable to see ever again. But the sad fact is that they are here with us, we can’t run away and hide from them, or simply wish then away, that means we have to step up to the plate and deal with them mano-a-mano.
And the first step in dealing with any problem is one we all know, but don’t invoke as often as we should. I’m referring to turning to Almighty God in prayer; taking our problems to Him and asking for His divine guidance and wisdom in handling them. The sad fact is that too many of us first try to solve our problems ourselves, or turn to other humans, and when that doesn’t work, then, and only then, will we probably turn to God as a last resort. But friends that’s the ultimate in stupidity!
Remember what the psalmist advises: ‘It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to put confidence in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.’ (Ps. 118:8-9) So, regardless of the earthly status of a human being, our trust and confidence in them ought to be very carefully considered and not taken for granted. That in turn means, our great and sovereign God ought to be our avenue of FIRST resort, rather than the LAST! That kind of action shows up our foolish pride and our lack of faith in Him.
And you know one thing our God dislikes with a passion is foolish pride that shows up in our not trusting or needing Him. Hear how Bruh David puts it on the Lord’s behalf: ‘Whoso privily (secretly) slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer (endure).’ (Ps. 101:5) And Cousin Sol further reminds us that amongst the seven deadly sins that the Lord hates is ‘A proud look (haughty eyes), a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.’ (Prov. 6:17)
But unwisely, those are the very things that we have chosen to pursue in our society. We trust man more than God, so much so that we’ve been trying to get God completely out of society, having already removed Him from our schools, our homes and public places. Sadly too, even a lot of what we preach in the church nowadays is not His truth. And don’t talk about lying tongues and the shedding of innocent blood… Brother! Those are some of the hallmarks of our modern, technological society!
And we can also add a few more things that are abominations to our God, but which rank very high in our society. ‘A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations (devises wicked plans), feet that be swift in running to mischief (evil). A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.’ (Prov. 6:18-19) Yes my people, all those things which the Lord finds abominable, despicable and distasteful, unfortunately are mainstays of our current society. So what else can we expect if we do all that God dislikes eh? Nothing but pain and sorrow, heartache and calamity!
But the wonderful thing about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is that He is a most forgiving God, and if mankind repents and turns from his evil ways, the Lord is willing to forgive Him. In fact, He’s rather ecstatic when that happens, it warms the cockles of His heart. And I don’t know how many times I have to say it before we believe it: the Lord might not have brought all our worldwide problems upon us, but He has certainly allowed them because He’s tired of our evil ways and our trying to get rid of Him. That’s it in a nutshell.
And until we realize the error of our ways and turn back to Him in repentance, our problems will keep on driving us crazy. Therefore, in true wisdom, let’s take our problems to God in sincere prayer this morning nuh, so that He can alleviate, or show us how to alleviate them. So in faithful confidence, with humble, sincere hearts, let’s present our petitions heavenward, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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!’
Now, our next move my brethren is to reduce the sin and evil in our hearts and in our land. For remember the Lord doesn’t just listen to our words, but more importantly He checks to see if the motives of our hearts are right. And remember too that we’ve just made a vow to repent and turn back to the Lord, so these words of Cousin Sol writing as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes are of the utmost importance. ‘When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer (delay) not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.’ (Eccl. 5:4) End of story! Much LOVE!
…the created cannot overthrow the Creator…Lucifer tried…and failed miserably… (smile)
09 Sep 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a life of faith, a lifelong process, an ongoing process, casting all your care upon him, catch a dove, Christ can give His all to us, Christ died that we might have life, Christ liveth in me, come to terms with our working life, deeper than Bible reading, depending on Christ for all things, divine guidance, Dr. Robert H. Schuler, enjoy it more abundantly, enters our mental consciousness, exalted by the Father, exciting position in Christ, eyes fixed straight ahead, gave himself for me, get used to the humdrum, giving our all to Christ, God demands a total cling to Him, God's guidance, gotten over the hump, great sacrifice, halfway home, hands on the plough, he cares for you, Hour of Power Devotional, I am crucified with Christ, I live by faith, in the Son of God who loved me, Jesus is the answer, living life through the eyes of Christ, Lord of Lords, make God the trustee of our lives, nevertheless I live, not turning back, prayer, righteousness., saints in Christ, same ole, seek the kingdom of God, self-centred desires, spend a life feeling frustrated, spiritual things, surrender, symbol of the Holy spirit, thank God, the breath of life, the celestial wavelength, the Holy spirit is god, the King of Kings, the life I now live in the flesh, the mysterious experience, the name that's above every other name, the New testament, through the Bible, to a glorious future with Jesus, to our current circumstances, tune our minds to, unfailing obedience, Wednesday Wail, worship, yield upward
Galatians 2:20. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of (in) the Son of God, who LOVED me, and gave himself for me.
And then it was Wednesday, the mid-week day, the day we finally feel like we’ve gotten over the hump… Monday and Tuesday are gone and Friday is right there in sight! Glory be! Yeh friends, what a game of musical days we play during those many years of our working life. And sadly, too many of us don’t ever come to terms with it and thus spend a life feeling frustrated about doing the same basic things on the same basic days, over and over.
But that’s what life is all about! We can’t have fun and excitement every day, like some of us feel we ought to, we’d get bored and frustrated and tired of that too. So let’s get used to the humdrum, same ole, same ole way of life nuh, because that’s all we’re going to ever have…that is until we reach heaven. (smile)
And besides that, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ died that we might have and enjoy an abundant earthly life, and have it even more abundantly. (John 10:10) And that doesn’t mean just having plenty of earthly things, but also plenty of heavenly and spiritual things. And is only when we pursue those last two, seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, that we really find, really discover the enjoyment that life has to offer. (Matt. 6:33)
Bubba! What a day when we discover that, believe it, and truly put it into action! Our lives become so much more meaningful than they were previously, and we find that we have so much more to live for. That’s why the wisdom of heaven proclaims that ‘JESUS IS THE ANSWER!’ Yes my people, the name of Jesus is the name that’s above every other name, exalted by the Father because of His unfailing obedience and great sacrifice! He’s been made the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, to whom each knee must bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:9-11)
And how do we accomplish all of that eh? Through just one word: ‘SURRENDER!’ Yes to really take advantage of all that God has provided for us, we need to completely surrender our lives to Him and His will. Hear these words on that subject nuh, from Gramps Schuller’s (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional.
He asks? ‘How are we guided? The answer is no secret. Surely God speaks to us through the Bible! Those who read it quietly and prayerfully find God’s guidance. And prayer is still the mysterious experience where we tune our minds to the celestial wavelength and ask God to guide us. In addition, there are thousands of people who will testify that in the quietness of worship God entered into their consciousness to illuminate them. But I would suggest that the real secret of receiving divine guidance is deeper than Bible reading, prayer, or worship.
The key word is SURRENDER! Surrender your sins, your self-centred desires, and your life to Jesus Christ. surrender your mind to the Holy Spirit. Are you sure you want guidance? Would you take it if He gave it? Do you know how to catch a dove? It is interesting that in the New Testament the dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is God who enters into our mental consciousness.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors to the San Juan Capistrano Mission in southern California try to catch the white doves that flock in the ancient mission. You may reach out with your hand, fingers open, and just as you are about to grasp the feet of the dove, it flaps its wings and flies away. So you try again. You reach out with your hand cautiously, slowly, furtively, and just as you are about to grab the bird, it escapes again.
The secret is this: Simply extend your hand. Hold it out straight in front of you. Open your palm. Wait quietly. And the dove will come and rest right in the middle of your hand. Surrender your soul, your mind, your spirit that way to God, and He will take over your life and guide you.’
Mama Yo mih bredrin! What awesome words of wisdom from Gramps Schuller! That’s the only healthy, sensible and wise way to live this life! Anything else is going to get us nothing but a wasted life! And what does total surrender to God mean and include. Listen to this definition. ‘The word surrender in this sense is derived from the Greek word “paradidomi” which can mean yield up, transmit, and entrust. Surrendering all to God means to yield upward rather than to our current circumstances. God demands a “total cling” to Him—not anyone else.’
Peter talks about ‘Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you’ (1 Pet. 5:7) That means God wants us to cast ALL of our cares, anxieties and worries upon Him, surrender everything, entrust ALL we have to Him, make Him the trustee of our entire lives; finances, emotions, health, etc. etc. Now, ‘The key to entrusting is leaving the cares with God and allowing Him to remain the trustee. This can be an ongoing process.’
Yes my fellow saints in Christ, surrendering to God is not an overnight process, but a lifelong one. And I don’t think anyone exemplified this better than Bruh Paul when he wrote to the Galatians. ‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of (in) the Son of God, who LOVED me, and gave himself for me.’ (Gal. 2:20)
Now that’s surrendering to God! Giving up all that you are to Him, living your life through the eyes of Christ, allowing Jesus to cultivate His desires, virtues, character and power in us. Living a life of faith, depending on Christ for our strength and ALL our necessities. That’s true surrender! So for those of us who are currently undergoing that surrender process, let’s go home now declaring (awright!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the world know of our unique and rather exciting position in Christ.
All together now, in strong voice, with sincere hearts: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And that means if we stay surrendered to the end, the future will be ever so glorious, more than we ask or imagine! Much LOVE!
…only in giving our ALL to Christ…can He give us His ALL to us…
22 Aug 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a positive outlook, bow down, comapssionate heart, come with psalms, curse, day of temptation, divine guidance, don't leave, err in their heart, ever-faithful, food for man's soul, forty years, geneously share, go astray, grieved, harden not your heart, he is our god, hear his voice, hoarding, Jay Douglas, Ken Boothe, kneel before the Lord, let us sing unto the Lord, like people do, LOVE, make a joyful noise, memories, Moving Away, negative word, only true and living God, our Maker, out of bodage, praising God, promises, prosper, provocation, salvation, self-disciple, shout joyfully, Silver Words, songs, succeed, sware in my wrath, thanksgiging, the deep places of the earth, the God of Abraham Issac and Jacob, the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand, the strength of the hilss, Thursday Blessings, to all who love Him, to the rock of our salvation, will not enter my rest, work it out for good, worship
Psalm 95:1. O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) to the rock of our salvation.
A blessed Thursday to you my Scrip-Bit friends and family! Let’s hope that all is well in your world! And even if it isn’t, my prayer is that you will have the wisdom, the faith and trust, to surrender all your problems to Almighty God who has sincerely promised to work them all out for the good of those who LOVE and serve Him with sincere hearts and minds!
And we know that He keeps all His promises faithfully, because one of His many names is Ever-Faithful! Glory to our great God, my precious people!
And you wouldn’t believe how the ole fella partied yesterday evening down in the Ex, down by the Bandshell! Brother! And why wouldn’t he when he was listening to some excellent live reggae music eh? Opening the proceedings was local star, Jay Douglas and his band, who sounded good, as they always do!
And the headline artist was none other than the sweetest voice to ever come out of J.A, Mr. Ken Boothe himself! Wow mih people! You can imagine how the Lakefront mash up when Mr. Boothe come out in his red suit and burst out in song with that same suave, sweet voice that made him one of J.A’s most LOVED performers. And though he’s a li’l older and stouter, the voice is still as sweet and still brings back glorious memories.
I always remember the first Ken Boothe song I ever heard, something called the ‘Song of the Swallow.’ I can still remember to this day, going to a party, some fifty two years ago, in the early days of CAST, then just a technical school, up in my favourite village of Papine, and hearing the sweet, mellow voice singing out: ‘If the song of the swallow, Could reveal all my sorrow, Then that’s the song I’d sing. And tonight you’d hear, the saddest song of the year, and you’d be mine once again, Come tomorrow.’
And yuh can imagine how the ole fella carry on when he sang that song last evening. As well as tunes like ‘Silver Words, Moving Away, Freedom Street, I’m going to tell you goodbye babe,’ and a host of others! Mr. Boothe’s hits are so numerous that I didn’t even remember some of them until he sang them.
Yes friends, the ole fella had a wonderful time drifting down memory lane with Mr. Boothe. And as he so wisely reminded us, ‘memories don’t leave like people do, they always stay with you.’ And they certainly do! That’s why it’s ever so important to make good memories, especially when you’re young.
And consequently, considering all the aforementioned, it was a no brainer then, when I opened the Good Book a short while ago and my eyes fell on these wonderful words of praise written many moons ago by the psalmist, that it was meant to be Today’s Bit. (smile)
Rejoice with me people! ‘O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) unto him with psalms (joyful songs). For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.’ (Ps.95:1-3) And so He is indeed my fellow believers! In fact he is the ONLY True and Living God in existence!
And how do we know that? Well for a start: ‘In his hand (his possession) are the deep places of the earth: the strength (heights) of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.’ (Ps.95:4-5) And that’s gospel truth my brethren! So it’s only wise that we bow down and worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who created this great universe and all therein, including us, mankind, arguably, His greatest creation! (smile)
Yeh friends, sometimes I do wonder about man being God’s greatest creation, although the physical reality says so. But the mental aspect, the behaviour, the foolish and unwise desire to run from God, to wipe Him out from our society; that certainly doesn’t warrant us being amongst the greatest!
Our attitude and great desire should instead be like the psalmist decrees: ‘O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand (under His care).’ (Ps.95:6-7a) Now that’s how a grateful creation behaves towards its Creator!
Not as the psalmist continues: ‘Today if ye will hear His voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation (rebellion at Meribah), and as in the day of temptation (trial, testing) in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted (tried, tested) me, proved me, and saw my work.’ (Ps.95:7b-9) Imagine that nuh; after all the wonders and goodness the Lord did for the Israelites, taking them out of bondage in Egypt, providing water and manna for them, they still doubted and tried to test Him.
That’s why they languished for so long in the wilderness. ‘Forty years long was I grieved (disgusted) with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err (go astray) in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.’ (Ps.95:10-11)
Unfortunately my people, that’s the same way our world is behaving today! And yuh know what? It’s the same solution God has to the problem: we will not enter into His rest if we are disobedient and distrustful and worship other false gods and idols, which so many of us are doing! So let’s come to our senses nuh, wise up and start behaving the way we ought to, that is if we truly want to enter into His rest.
But for those of us who are sincerely trying to do as He desires, let’s go home now declaring (bravo!) our Thursday Blessings which the Lord has so generously rained down on us, so that we can do His work. All together in loud voice, with sincere hearts and minds: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance!
I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Now let’s go out and use those wonderful blessings to help others, as Jesus so greatly desires of us nuh. Remember too, that they’re not for selfishly hoarding, but for generously sharing! Much LOVE!
…worshipping and praising God…is the best food for man’s soul…
26 Jan 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Spiritual Living
Tags: another day in the life, atonement, Bad News, be right with God, beat pan, believer, call us home, cancer, caring, character, compassionate, demise, divine guidance, extinguished like a flame, fellow believers, for God so loved the world, friends, glory to God, gospel truth, have everlasting life, he gave his only begotten son, holy spirit, I am not what I do, I am not what I have, I am not what people say about me, I am the beloved of god, I can trust my friend Jesus, I don't have to hurry, I don't have to worry, in the bosom of the Lord, irreverent ways, Jesus Christ, joy, joy comes in the morning, kindness, LOVE, memories, Montego Bay, pranks, propitiation, resting peacefully, share His love with the world, sincerity, sinners, studying, the LOVE of God, Tuesday Mantra, U.W.I, weeping, weeping endures for a night, whoever believes in him should not perish, wisdom
John 3:16. For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Ah Friends, it’s another day in the life! Glory to God! So we had better enjoy it while we have it because it’s very fragile and can be extinguished as quickly as a flame. Apparently this happened to one of my best buddies recently.
Last Sunday evening I opened my e-mail and was greeted by one saying ‘Bad News.’ Obviously, with some anxiety, I wondered what that bad news could be. Unfortunately it informed me of the passing of my friend, and sometimes accomplice, Paul Lawrence at the University of the West Indies Hospital in Mona Jamaica. Ah Lord eh!
I had no idea that he was even sick. Apparently he was recently diagnosed with oral cancer, had surgery last week, and was recuperating nicely, then suddenly and unexpectedly passed away early Sunday morning. That’s why it’s ever so important to have our lives right with our Maker, because we never know when He’ll call us home.
Paul and I spent a lot of good times together when I attended U.W.I in Mona, many years ago. I first saw Montego Bay when he invited me to stay down there with his family. We were in the same classes, beat pan together, and generally had a good time around the campus. Those were the days!
Studying was not even an option. (smile) I remember at the end of our first year, Paul coming to me to teach him statistics! Hn! What a joke! I was certainly no better than him in that subject.
And on the day of the exam, in the big, quiet room, we just looked at each other and laughed, because the questions were way above our heads. Then, long before the official end, we just gave up our papers and walked out.
Obviously we failed that subject, but passed the make up exam a few weeks later. And on reflection, I have to assume that was through divine guidance, since we didn’t know much more than the first time. (smile)
Aye Pablo mih brother, you might be gone but certainly not forgotten. You were much LOVED for your kindness as well as your pranks and sometimes irreverent ways. I know your family is hurting through your unexpected demise, but they are strong and will always have you in their hearts. Hope you are resting peacefully in the bosom of the Lord. Bye!
Yeh Friends, Pablo is gone, and many of you who read the Bit knew him, and though we might miss him, we just have to enjoy the memories and move on with our lives until our day of departure arrives. Remember that weeping and sadness may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. (Ps.30:5)
And since it’s Tuesday morning, let’s declare our Tuesday Mantra with true feeling and sincerity. As one now: ‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’
Yes my fellow believers, above all else we are the beloved children of God, friend and brother of Jesus! That no one can take away from us. So please let’s live like it nuh. Let’s be LOVING and kind, caring and compassionate, like the Father and Jesus have been to us, as so wonderfully declared in our Bit.
‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’
Oh my brethren, every time I read that sentence my heart just lights up as it appreciates the awesome LOVE our Creator had, and still has for us, awful sinners that we are!
Now let’s continue looking at the particular scripture in John’s first gospel, which so eloquently speaks of that undeniable LOVE! Yesterday we ended at verse 8: ‘He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE. (1 John 4:8)
We’ll pick it from there. ‘In this was manifested the LOVE of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.’ (I John 4:9)
And the scholars have this to say about that verse. ‘’4:9. To grasp God’s LOVE aright, one must look to how God has demonstrated it. Here John is in total harmony with Paul (Rom.5:8).’
And for our edification, (smile) Romans 5:8 says: ‘But God commendeth his LOVE (demonstrates His own LOVE) toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ Now there’s no higher way that God could have shown His awesome LOVE for us my people!
And John continues with his declaration that lends authenticity to Bruh Paul’s statement. ‘Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he (first) LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation (atonement) for our sins.’ (1 John 4:10)
That’s the gospel truth friends! And the scholars declare: ‘4:10. No human LOVE is the standard for understanding God’s great compassion, but God’s own action on man’s behalf.’
More gospel truth people! Our finite human minds are too small and our standards too low, to truly comprehend God’s amazing compassion for us!
And John continues: ‘Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we LOVE one another, God dwelleth in us, and his LOVE is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.’ (1 John 4:11-13) More words of truth and wisdom friends!
And we’ll end with this explanation from the scholars. ‘4:11-13. God’s character, through His Spirit, is to shape and progressively dominate the character of the believer. The Spirit of God imparts the will to LOVE.’
Please my fellow believers, let’s allow the Holy Spirit to do it’s job in is today nuh, for that is the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!
…when the Holy Spirit truly works in us…it produces the LOVE of God…
P.S. Sorry about the lateness of the Bit friends, but it’s just been one of those nights. (smile) Oh, it might be even later tomorrow, because I’m going out of town tonight, and I don’t know what time I’ll actually return. But hang in there, it will eventually arrive, the Lord in favour. Much LOVE!
19 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a part of the world, actions, almighty god, Amen, ask for, behold the sun, best interest, blessings, calamitous days, cautionary note, comparison, condemned, consciousness, constancy in prayer, constancy of weather, corrupt, cursed, day of judgement, days of darkness, deceitful world, decision, desired reults, divine guidance, doing godly stuff, embracing ungodly activities, encouraged, enemy, engulfed, enjoyment of life, enlist, enthused, evening, every work, evil, evil stuff, evil world, eyes, faithful, feeding connection, friends, futile life, futility, give account, gladness, good, good fruit, heavenly Father, hold out our hands, hopeful, Hour of Power, idle word, immortal words, insights, Jesus Christ, Jesus' desires, joy of the lord, joyful fellowship, joys, judged, judgement, judgement day, justified, lead us away, lifeblood, light, light is sweet, live for Jesus, living truth, LOVE, machinations, mistakes, moment of prayer, morning, mysterious ways, new day, new week, omnipotent god, pleasant thing, possibilities, prayer, prosper, puzzling, receive, rejoice, righteous, robert h schuller, sap our strength, secret thing, share, sink deeply, solve problems, sow seed, sown, stand the test, strong sensation, succeed, sunlight, sure of success, testing flames, the help of God, things of God, thwart, treasure of the heart, true believers, trust God, umbilical cord, upright in heart, vanity, wicked designs, wisdom, word of warning, workings, wrested
Ecclesiastes 12:14. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Oh Friends, wonder of wonders! It’s supposed to go up to 4 degrees above freezing with sunshine in my area today! Bubba! From minus temps during the last few days to plus temps today, then back to minus tonight. That’s going to cause much icing up, then freezing rain and possibly snow on the weekend.
What a mish mash of weather conditions! There’s just no constancy to it these days. But my people, there is constancy in prayer; the lifeblood of the faithful, of the true believers in Jesus Christ!
And here is a prayer I’ve been trying to include since the day we spoke of prayer being the umbilical cord, our feeding connection to Almighty God. It comes from Dr. Robert H. Schuller’s Hour of Power Devotional, and says.
‘Father, I have a strong sensation that you brought me to this moment of prayer because you plan to share with me insights to solve my problems. So I will go out and face the sunlight of a new day and a new week crammed with undiscovered possibilities. I am encouraged! I am enthused! I am more hopeful than I have been in a long time! Amen.’
Yes Friends, I do hope that encouraged us some this morning, because in this cursed and evil world, we desperately need to build hope, encouragement and enthusiasm, if we’re going to live sincerely for Jesus. The world tries to sap our strength, energy and enthusiasm and lead us away from the things of God.
But we need to enlist the help of our God through prayer to thwart the evil stuff that comes against us. And right now, too many of us are still being a part of the world, involved in, and embracing its ungodly activities, instead of just being in it, doing godly stuff, as Jesus desires. And that is definitely not in our best interest. Why?
Because as our Bit so plainly states: ‘For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’
Yes my brethren, all our work will be judged by the Almighty at some stage, and it won’t go down well with the judge if our works were evil, were too tied up with the ungodly machinations of this ungodly world. So what are we to do then?
The Preacher wisely declares: ‘In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper (which will succeed), either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.’ (Eccl.11:6-7)
Yes Friends, since we don’t understand the mysterious ways and workings of our omnipotent God, and are never totally sure of success, we need to get involved in the good and godly things that life has to offer, and trust God to produce the desired results.
However, the preacher includes a word of warning here. ‘But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity (futility).’ (Eccl.11:8)
And isn’t that the living truth! Now here some notes from the scholars. ‘The comparison with light (v.7) speaks of the enjoyment of life (cf. Ps. 97:11).’
Ah mih people, I’m going to spoil us here by quoting that referenced scripture, since I know that very few of us will take the time to look it up. (smile) “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” (Ps.97:11)
Now getting back to the scholars’ notes. ‘Verse 8 adds a cautionary note to enjoyment that may be summarized in two ideas: (1) There will be many days of darkness, calamitous days. (2) All that cometh is vanity: That is, joys will not come easily, they must be wrested from a puzzling and futile life.’
And don’t we all know that my fellow believers! Real joy in this unstable and deceitful world is hard to come by, unless we are tied by that umbilical cord of prayer to our heavenly Father, and ask for and receive His divine guidance and blessings.
That’s why the Good Book so staunchly advises us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. (Neh.8:10) For only when we have a joyful fellowship with the Creator and Controller of the universe, can we really be strong and thus resist the wicked designs of the enemy.
Oh Friends, I wish I could impart the true importance of all that we do on this pilgrimage down here on earth, because it’s going to make a substantial difference in our after-lives. And if you don’t believe me, listen to Jesus, as He talks about good and corrupt fruit.
‘A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ (Matt.12:35-37)
Now those aren’t my words Friends, but the Master’s, the Son of God, our Lord and Saviour, so it is certainly reasonable to expect that He knows what He’s speaking about.
Oh my people, we can’t do much about what’s already passed, but we surely can do something about the days to come. Therefore my fellow believers, from today, RIGHT NOW, let’s try to get those immortal words of Jesus to sink deeply into our consciousness nuh, so that we can more closely watch our words and actions, thereby cutting down the mistakes we make, and consequently the judgement we’ll face, come that judgement day.
That’s wisdom at it’s highest and very best my brethren! Much LOVE!
…on that fateful day…our words and actions…will either stand the test…or they will be engulfed by the testing flames…the decision is ours to make…NOW…
20 Aug 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: affliction, back to school, body, busy schedules, Cleanse your hands, divine guidance, draw near to God, exalted, exhortations, faithfulness, fear, flee from satan, followers of Jesus, following Jesus, gloom, God resists the proud, good works, grace, heart, humble, humble apologies, humble yourselves, humility, in the sight of the Lord, in vain, inner thoughts, jealousy, Jesus' teaching, joy, justified, lament, laughter, LOVE, LOVE for God, LOVING heart, lusts, man's envy, maturing, meek, mind, mourn, New Year's resolution, outward deeds, peace that transcends understanding, petty, pilgrim's path, pride, resist the devil, school of hard knocks, scowling faces, scriptures, self-aggrandisement, selfish, short attention spans, sinners, soul, sour taste, speak directly to our hearts, submit yourselves to God, the good work of God, true believers, unchristian things, ungodly world, weep, wonderful LOVE, worldliness
Luke 18:14. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Oh Friends, can you believe that we’re already closer to the end of August than to the beginning! Where does the time fly eh? Just the other day we were all excited about the upcoming Caribana celebrations, but now we’re thinking about schools opening in early September and all that that entails. Brother!
And please accept my most humble apologies for forgetting to remind us (smile) about our monthly check up on the state of our great New Year’s Resolution; that of following Jesus more closely, of becoming more like Him, of maturing in His school of hard-knocks, of humility, of good works, of faithfulness, and of LOVE for God and all His creation.
If you haven’t done that for this month on your own, then please do it now, since it’s always easier to do it in small bits than in big chunks.
And we’ll continue with our Bit of the last two days, because it is extremely important for us to understand the principle it details. ‘I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.’
I also have some scripture with which to try and impress the importance of that principle, humility, on us, meek and humble followers of Jesus. (smile)
Ah Friends, that smile is more one of heartache than happiness, because too many of Jesus’ supposed people are still too caught up in the petty, selfish, me and I stuff, the foolish self-aggrandisement that our ungodly world admires and does its best to encourage.
But true believers simply cannot afford to get caught up in that selfish system, where I, the first person, am always first. Instead we need to get into Jesus’ teaching, where I, always comes last.
Now I heard this story recently about a lady who went to church and saw the chairs in the sanctuary placed in a confirmation she didn’t like. Apparently they had been set that way for a few weeks. She then asked one of the ushers when the chairs would be replaced in their earlier configuration.
The usher replied that she didn’t know. And would you believe that fine, upstanding Christian lady walked out of the church and didn’t stay for the service!
Ah Lord eh! And then we wonder why unbelievers look at us with a scowl on their faces and a sour taste in their mouths. But it’s because of those stupid, selfish, very unchristian things that we do in front of them. Now was the position of the chairs so important to the conduct of the worshipping of God? Obviously she felt so.
Anyway Friends, enough of me. I’ll just let the scriptures speak directly to our hearts now. And we’ll begin with James talking about worldliness and pride. ‘Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy (yearns jealously)?
But he giveth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh (near) to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded. Be afflicted (lament), and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness (gloom). Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up.’ (James 4:5-10)
Ah mih people, there’s nothing I can add to that, except clear up some uncertainty by giving us the scholars explanations.
Re verses 5 and 6: ‘Although many believe that verse 5 refers to the positive ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit, yearning jealously over the believer, the tenor of verse 4 and 5 is negative, speaking of man’s envy. The good work of God begins at verse 6 in contrast to 4 and 5 as the conjunction indicates.
But he giveth more grace is literally “greater grace” (Gr.meizona). God gives grace that is greater than the world’s attraction of verse 4 and the inner lust of verse 5 (cf. Rom. 5:20), and so can withstand both.’
Re verses 7-10: ‘Therefore: The exhortations that follow logically result from the conditions in verses 1-6. Resist the devil: Do not submit to fear, or flee from Satan, but stand against him (1 Pet. 5:8-10). Satan cannot lead into sin against one’s will.
Draw nigh: God will not be unmoved; His welcoming response is always near (cf. Deut. 4:7; Lam. 3:57; Luke 15:20). Hands and hearts: The cleansing of one’s life must involve both outward deeds and inner thoughts (cf. Ps.24:3-4).
And as always Friends, I encourage us to read the scriptures that the scholars recommend. They’re placed there for our benefit, because they do help us in understanding the Word.
And I guess that’s it for today mih breddren, because we already have a lot of stuff to ponder on, and what I still have to say will definitely make the Bit too long. Please note my conscious interest in our busy schedules and short attention spans. (smile)
We’ll just have to continue this topic tomorrow, God in favour. Till then faithful followers of Jesus, please, please let’s look to Him for divine guidance and counsel rather than to man.
And may He grant us the wisdom, strength and courage to tread the difficult pilgrim’s path He’s laid out for us, plus the peace that transcends all man’s understanding, and the wonderful LOVE that flows from the everlasting wellspring of His most generous and LOVING heart. Much LOVE!
…when a man truly knows Jesus…oh…he can’t help but LOVE Him…with all his heart, mind, body and soul…
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