Today’s Scrip-Bit   5 April 2024 Psalm 119:68

05 Apr 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 119:68.        Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.

And then it was Friday, with all the shouts of ‘Thank God it’s Friday!’ Yes friends, we’re all glad to see the weekend, so we can rest from our hard week’s work. Hn! Or rather rest from our excessive Easter celebrations. (smile) But Easter is nothing to laugh about, because it’s when we were guaranteed resurrection from the dead and eternal life if we believe in Jesus Christ. So don’t overdo the celebrations, but don’t make light of the situation either. 

Now, my sincere apologies for the Bit being so late today, but I had an early appointment in Toronto for my cataract surgery one week check up. And the highways were fairly decent, both ways, but it’s the streets in the city itself that are bustling with a mix of traffic and construction, causing lanes to be closed and traffic backed up. But as they say, you have to do what you have to do, and my trip was successful, both in terms of the report on my eye and getting back home safely. Give the Lord thanks for His goodness to the children of men! 

And today we’re going to look at a rather interesting poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promise with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, titled ‘Spiritual Tug-of-War.’ It’s something that all of us have experienced at some time or other in our Christian lives. So please read with me: ‘Lord. I’ve waited long enough No longer can I withstand This spiritual tug-of-war between us. Today I will do what You asked me to do. I still don’t want to, Lord – Surely You know that. I’m frightened and ill-at-ease. I feel foolish and uncomfortable. I almost feel put-upon. What You’ve asked of me slaps at my pride. Nevertheless, I choose to obey You Simply because I LOVE You. Do You understand, dear Lord? I wouldn’t do this For anyone in the world – but You.’ 

Ah friends, many are the times when we engage in a tug-of-war with the Lord, because He asks us to do something that we feel is inappropriate, too low brow for our high esteem of ourselves, and it just dusts up our pride. And yuh know what? Ofttimes the Lord asks us to do certain things just for that reason; to kill our foolish pride. For if there’s one thing He totally dislikes is human pride, because that makes us believe and behave like we don’t need Him. Furthermore, do you think that Jesus really wanted to go to the cross and sacrifice Himself for a bunch of ungrateful sinners? Of course not! But He did it because the Father asked it of Him, and He LOVED the Father that much to give up His sinless life so that our sins could be forgiven and our souls washed clean. 

And what does our Christian faith teach us? That we ought to behave like Jesus: use His life as an example for our own. Remember what Jesus told the disciples at the Last Supper, after He had washed their feet. ‘For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord (master); neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.’ (John 13:15-17) 

Oh my fellow believers that’s one of the many truths Jesus passed on to us during His earthly sojourn. And it’s a big one too, especially after He had just finished doing a servant’s job; one of the lowliest and nastiest jobs in those times, washing someone’s dirty feet. And believe me, feet could get very dirty in those days as they wore sandals without socks on the dusty dirt streets of the land. This scripture from Hebrews also warns us: ‘Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Heb. 12:2) 

Likewise friends, we ought to put aside our worldly shame and foolish pride and do what the Lord asks of us, because of the joy that emanates from doing His will, and the wonderful rewards we will eventually get if we obey without much complaining. And here’s one other reminder. The growth in our Christian maturity and faith will cease until we have done His will. Neither is God very likely to change His mind on whatever He’s asked of us. So yes, sometimes stuff God asks of us is difficult; we feel incompetent, or it’s shameful and pride killing, but don’t forget the Lord never asks us to do something without a very good reason – in His eyes (smile) and always gives us the wherewithal to do it. 

So let’s try to be more obedient to God’s will nuh, and sincerely reduce our tug-of-war bouts because we truly LOVE Him, and anyway, all that He asks is really for our benefit. And I got so carried away that I forgot to mention the Bible Promise for our poem. It comes from Psalm 119, and says in the King James Version: ‘Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statute’ (Ps. 119:68) Meanwhile the NIV (New International Version) says: ‘You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.’ 

And my fellow saints, whichever version you choose, it’s still the indisputable truth. Therefore, if we truly LOVE the Lord, then we desperately need to improve our maturity level, using Christ as our shining example. Now let’s go to the throne of grace seeking divine aid for all that ails our turbulent world. 

Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough … because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. 

We also fervently pray Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And let’s not forget that divine help will only be forthcoming when we begin being better examples of Christianity than we currently are! Much LOVE!

…LOVE means selflessness and sacrifice…like Jesus…

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ

Today’s Scrip-Bit   25 March 2024 John 15:13.

25 Mar 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

John 15:13.       Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Monday is here again friends, bright and not too chilly, and I sincerely hope that after our glorious Palm Sunday fellowship, we are strong and confident to handle whatever comes against us this Holy Week. And it was indeed a tough week for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as He experienced a lot of unnecessary and unjust hardship and ‘sufferation’ on our behalf; the worst of it been crucified on Good Friday, and left hanging naked in the hot sun to die of thirst and blood loss, like a common thief. Ah mih people, the things Christ suffered for us could only be based on one and only one thing: that’s LOVE! For nothing else would have caused Him to go through the immense pain, shame and disgrace that He so selflessly endured. 

It’s like He said to the disciples: ‘Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.’ (John 15:13-14) Please note that Jesus laid down His sinless life for those whom He considered His friends. However, you can only be His friend if you do what He asks of you. And that’s what so many of us, His supposed friends and followers are not doing, otherwise our world would not be in such a dire state of evil and ungodliness! 

Christianity is all about LOVE and friendship; the things those two attributes make you want to do! First of all, it was LOVE that made the Father send Jesus to die for us, as the Bible tells us in no uncertain terms. ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) Then Jesus put up with all the painful sacrifice because He LOVED the Father and desired to do His will, and also to save us from a life of hellfire and damnation, in eternal separation from our Creator. 

But in light of all that LOVE and sacrifice we also need to do our part in this partnership, namely walk in LOVE and friendship, reciprocate the feelings our Triune God shows for us. As Bruh Paul so wisely and rightly wrote to the Ephesians: ‘Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in LOVE, as Christ also hath LOVED us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour (aroma)… For ye were sometimes (once) darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove (expose) them… See then that ye walk circumspectly (carefully), not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (dissipation); but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.’ (Eph. 5: 1-2; 8-11; 15-21) 

Now my fellow saints, those are some of the basic things we ought to be doing if we are true believers in Jesus Christ. But unfortunately, too many of us are not doing what we ought and have instead reverted to our old and evil ways. Remember when we became Christians, we became new creatures, new creations in Christ, being required to put away our old way of life and adopt Christ’s new way. (2 Cor. 5:17) But sadly, we are falling down on the job, that’s why the enemy is running away with the world, while a comparative handful of supposed believers try to play catch up. 

But we will never catch up to, much less overtake the evil doers of this world unless ALL of us supposed believers get together, daily take up our crosses and tread the straight and narrow path Jesus desires us to travel. And John put’s it so nicely and simply in his first epistle. ‘Hereby perceive we the LOVE of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good (goods), and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion (his heart) from him, how dwelleth the LOVE of God in him? My little children, let us not LOVE in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.’ (1 John 3:16-18) 

And that’s the gospel truth friends, for LOVE is an action word, not just a mouthful of spoken words, and it most certainly includes sacrifice on behalf of others. The Lord could have said He LOVED us and then did nothing to prove it. However He sacrificed His own Son, and broke His own heart in the process, so that a bunch of ungrateful sinners could gain salvation. But now we think it too difficult to put out a little effort on His behalf. That’s why so many of us supposed believers are suffering so much in this sinful and ungodly world – we’re not prepared to sacrifice, neither for ourselves nor for others! And if we don’t change that ungodly attitude soon, then… crapaud smoke we pipe! End of sermon! 

Now, let’s got to God, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn seeking divine help to straighten out our selfish and lazy ways. Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. 

So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And I guess we should be seriously thinking about turning from our evil ways, if we expect to see any divine help. Much LOVE!

…to truly LOVE…means to be willing to hurt some…

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ

Today’s Scrip-Bit   22 March 2024 Proverbs 27:1.

22 Mar 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Proverbs 27:1.       Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

Well, it’s that day, when all the voices around the world can’t help but sing ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ Let’s hope that those who went to work on clear, dry ground this morning won’t be too unhappy when they have to make the evening drive home in snowy weather conditions. Yes, the snow has begun coming down in my area, and granted, right now it’s merely trickling down, but as my Jamaican people would say, ‘one one cocoa full basket.’ And that’s the truth, a little of anything builds up over time, so if the snow continues to fall, even as slowly as it’s now doing, by this afternoon a fair amount would have fallen and made driving and walking conditions difficult. 

So, a word of warning, unless you must go out, don’t go! (smile) And today we’ll talk about a very popular but unwise thing that we all do from time to time. It comes from the wise words of Cousin Sol in Proverbs, under the general heading of ‘The Wrath of a Fool. It says: ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’ (Prov. 27:1) And doesn’t that sound familiar. It certainly does! For as James, Jesus’ brother, so wisely wrote to the Jewish diaspora. 

‘Go to now (come now), ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice (boast) in your boastings (arrogance): all such rejoicing (boasting) is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ (James 4:13-17) 

Oh my people, what wonderful words of wisdom and good advice are to be found in that passage of scripture! First, we make all sorts of pronouncements about our future without including God, without even asking for His opinion and/or direction. That’s not wise, for who knows what another day may bring, since our lives are as vapour, that’s here one minute and gone the next. A lot of people went to bed last night expecting to get up this morning and continue life as usual, only to be disappointed, because they were either too ill to get up or the Lord had called them home during the night. That just shows how little control we have over our lives. 

Again, many people who have left home this morning hale and hearty to go to work, won’t return home this evening because they either got sick at work and ended up in the hospital, or they met in a car accident and unexpectedly departed this life. So that should teach us two things; firstly, to always involve God in all of our decisions, to seek out His eternal wisdom on whatever we’re planning to do. And secondly, to always be good to the ones we LOVE, show them true appreciation, and tell them we LOVE them at every opportunity, for we don’t know if or when we will be unexpectedly separated. 

Now, all of that reminds us of the parable of the rich fool that Jesus told, when asked about dividing an inheritance between two brothers. First off, He warned: ‘Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.’ (Luke 12:15) Yes friends, the tentacles of the green eyed monster; envy, jealousy, selfishness and covetousness are rampant in our world today. We must remember though that our earthly possessions are not the most important things in our lives, for as we said earlier on, our lives are like a wisp of vapour; one minute here, then gone the next. So why spoil our already short lives by coveting and fighting for earthly things that we will just leave behind for others to fight over eh? It’s the height of foolish pride! 

Then Jesus told this most appropriate parable. ‘The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits (store my crops)? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow (store) all my fruits (crops) and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’ (Luke 12:16- 21) 

As usual, my fellow saints, Jesus did not mince words. He spoke it loudly and plainly. Those who don’t have God in their lives, as their guiding light, will eventually stumble and fall into the darkness of the evil one. Please, let us learn the necessary lessons from all that we’ve said this morning, so we don’t fall into Satan’s evil net. Now, it’s time to go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, asking for help in these our desperate times of need. 

As one voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. 

And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And I’d just like to remind us that no divine help will be forthcoming until we show the ‘trusting faith’ and be the good ‘examples of faithful believers,’ we spoke of in our prayer. Much LOVE!

…boasting…in and of ourselves…is the devil’s playground…

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ

Today’s Scrip-Bit   4 March 2024 Exodus 20:8-9.

04 Mar 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Exodus 20:8-9.       Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work:

Here it is again friends, Monday, the first day of our work week! The day that so many of us so wrongly blaspheme, putting all our problems on it, like the Father placed all our sins on the sinless shoulders of Jesus. But poor Monday gets a bad rap just because it’s the day we return to work after a short and pleasurable weekend. Unfortunately, whatever we call the first day of the work week, it would no doubt come in for some sort of abuse. (smile) But as we’ve said before Monday ought to be our biggest and best day, because we’re fresh and confident after a couple days of rest, including fellowship with other believers in the Lord’s sanctuary on Sundays. 

That ought to just have us bopping, on our toes, rearing to get out into the crazy world and do our thing for Jesus. But sadly it doesn’t happen that way very often. No. Too many of us are too tired from the overzealous partying on the weekend, and thus our spirits are at a rather low ebb, with work the last thing on our minds. Consequently we get out there on a Monday morning, late, tired, grumpy and in no mood to do a good and full days work, so our work and attitude are not up to scratch, which only reflects poorly on our claim to be this big Christian, this sincere follower of Jesus Christ. And Christianity takes another unnecessary hit! 

Oh my people, one of the reasons we so highly recommend church on Sundays is because of the positive influence it has on our Mondays, and thus on our Christian behaviour. Why do you think the Lord stipulated in the Ten Commandments: ‘Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work…. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.’ (Ex. 20:8-11) 

Yes friends, the Lord in His eternal wisdom knew that our frail human bodies would need rest after working for a whole week, else both our work and our bodies would suffer irreparable damage. But obviously we don’t pay close attention to what the Lord says, figuring that we know best, so we work long unwise hours and days, just to get ahead in this material centred world, then wonder why there’s so much stress and sickness in our lives. And yes, it’s good to have nice things and live a good life, but at what cost? 

Remember NONE of the material things we accumulate will go with us when we depart his earthly life, so why kill ourselves to accumulate them eh? That’s why it’s so much wiser to adhere to Jesus’ timely advice: ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt (ruin), and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt (ruin), and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’ (Matt. 6:19-21) 

And we all know that that’s the gospel truth! Wherever our treasures are stored, there will our hearts be focused. That means if we concentrate on storing up earthly treasures, then our focus will be on earthly things, but if we concentrate on storing up heavenly treasures, then our focus will be heavenward, where in all wisdom it ought to be, since you cannot carry any earthly treasures there with you, and neither do moth and rust corrupt, or thieves break through and steal. And what most of us don’t seem to realize is that when you focus on the Lord God Jehovah, He is also able to enrich you with earthly treasures, as well as heavenly ones. 

Remember what Bruh David declares (chuh!!!) in the opening verse of Psalm 24: ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.’ (Ps. 24:1) That means He made the world and thus everything in it belongs to Him and only Him. Thus anything He wants to give to His people He can do it. Yuh see how He enriched Cousin Sol when he ascended the throne of Israel after his father, Bruh David died. Cousin Sol asked for wisdom and understanding to rule his people, but because the Lord was so impressed with his decisions, He also gave Him wealth and wisdom untold, more than any man before or after him! (1 Kin. 3:6-15) 

That just goes to show we don’t have to sell our souls to Satan to get earthly wealth and wisdom, we can also get them from Jehovah God. But even then, we cannot carry the earthly stuff when we depart this earth, that’s why it’s oh so necessary to store up heavenly treasures, so when we get there we’ll have stuff to our name. And with all those words of wisdom under our belts, the most sensible thing to do right now, is to go to the Lord in prayer, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, asking for His divine help to do and live like we ought to on this His great earth. 

As one 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 lest we forget, or didn’t pay serious attention to our prayer; the Lord promised to prosper us if we turned from our evil ways. That means if we expect divine assistance, then we have to get the ball rolling by doing just that! Much LOVE!

…a Christian’s best day should be Monday…not Friday…

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ  

Today’s Scrip-Bit   17 February 2024 John 10:7.

17 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

John 10:7.       Verily, verily, I say unto you, I AM the DOOR of the SHEEP.

And this snow-white, chilly, lazy-day Saturday has opened up with brilliant sunshine! Glory to God! And isn’t it rather interesting and amazing how sunshine can alleviate even the worst of days, both physically and emotionally. I guess that’s just the normal response that the light of Jesus has on us, His oh so important creation. Remember, He created both the sun and us, and all His creations work hand in hand with each other as He’s built in an automatic chemistry between them. Yes friends, in God’s great and wonderful universe, all things work together, for good. (smile) 

Now, let’s turn to our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer and offer it up in all sincerity and truth. As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

That prayer touches my heart, and I know it touches God’s too, because it’s simple and to the point; desiring more of God in our lives, to truly feel His awesome presence and LOVE flowing around, in and through us. And  the Lord always answers sincere prayers like that, because they warm the cockles of His heart, letting Him know that His people truly desire Him to be with them. And that’s why, if we were sincere in that prayer, our hearts and souls are now quiet and at peace, and we can say ‘Thank You Lord, for Your peace and LOVE!’ 

Now, yesterday we began looking at the many I AM’s that Jesus declared (yes!!!) Himself to be, while here on earth, but because of much talking, (smile) was only able to finish the first one; ‘I AM the BREAD of LIFE!’ So without further ado, let’s look at the second one, ‘I AM the LIGHT of the WORLD!’ (John 8:12) Jesus made that magnanimous statement to a group of unbelieving Pharisees, who figured that it could not be true because he was ‘bearing record’ or witnessing of His own self, in other words blowing His own horn. 

But if the foolish, hypocritical Pharisees had taken time to consult the scriptures, the Old Testament, since there was as yet no New Testament, they would have seen several references to Christ as the bearer of spiritual light. Scriptures like this one from Isaiah: ‘The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.’ (Is. 9:2) To whom does that refer, if not to Jesus, the coming Messiah? 

And this scripture from Malachi also refers to Jesus. ‘But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall (grow fat like stall-fed calves). And ye shall tread down (trample) the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord.’ (Mal. 4:2-3) Yes friends, as the scholars explain, ‘the Sun of righteousness is a figurative representation of the Messiah,’ our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

And we all know that the main purpose of the Sun is to bring light to the darkness, therefore Jesus’ coming, brought light to this dark and evil world. And John 1:1-9 gives us further enlightenment on Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world. But because of time and space we can only quote this verse: ‘That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.’ (John 1:9) John the Baptist only came to bear news of the Light, that was Jesus. And most importantly, now that Jesus is no longer on earth in physical form, He’s bequeathed to us, His followers, that designation, when He said: ‘Ye are the light of the world… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt. 6:14 &16) 

That means we have our work cut out for us here, in this world of near total darkness. But that’s a sermon for another day,let’s turn now to the Jesus’ next declaration (yeah!!!) of ‘I AM,’ which has to do with being the door to the sheep enclosure. As He specifies: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, I AM the DOOR of the SHEEP. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I AM the DOOR: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for (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 10:7-10) 

Isn’t that ever so wonderful my people, that Jesus is the door to our salvation! Anyone else who claims to be our Saviour is a liar and a thief, and only comes to disrupt the sheepfold and bring further calamity. But Jesus refuses to allow it, as He says in His next ‘I AM,’ statement. ‘I AM the GOOD SHEPHERD: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling (a hired man), and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling (hired man) fleeth because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I AM the GOOD SHEPHERD, and know my sheep, and am known of them.’ (John 10:11-14) 

Oh my fellow saints, do we truly know and believe that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of our Christian flock, and the door by whom we must enter to receive salvation? I certainly hope so, otherwise we’ll be left out in the cold when Jesus returns. And if you think things are bad now, believe me, they’ll be ever so much worse if Jesus returns and you’re not numbered amongst the sheep of His fold. So please, on this first lazy-day Saturday in Lent, let’s take the time to analyze both our physical and spiritual selves and see if we are in sync with Jesus. And if not, let’s go to the Father, through the Holy Spirit, and ask for divine help to make it so. Turning to the Father for divine help is always the best decision in any situation! Much LOVE!

…whatever your situation calls for…Jesus is the answer…

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ      

Today’s Scrip-Bit   12 February 2024   2 Thessalonians 3:10.

12 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2 Thessalonians 3:10.        For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

Ah mih people, as assuredly as the night follows the day, and the sun the moon, Monday has rolled around once again after Sunday! And usually that means work, although today, for many it means play, as in ‘Play Mas!’  Yes,  around the globe on this Carnival Monday or J’ouvert, there are several festivals, like Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, Mardi Gras in New Orleans and whatever they call it in Brazil, where playing mas, enjoying oneself, letting go in gay abandon is uppermost is most minds. It’s the opportunity to have one last sinful fling before the traditional self-sacrificial time of Lent.  

However, to the remainder of us, it still means work! A name that’s very much disliked, disparaged, and treated like a contagious disease. But the fact is without work our families will suffer, because it’s work that provides money for all the necessities of life. And as Bruh Paul wrote to the Thessalonians so long ago: ‘For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy bodies. Now them that are such we command an exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.’ (2 Thess. 3-10-12) 

Oh friends, there is indeed a large pool of people who are not working, and we know that because of the recent pandemic and the resultant poor economic situation that many lost their jobs, and some who want to work can’t find jobs. But there’s also quite a number, especially of young people who, for whatever reason, don’t want to work, yet they still feel entitled to food, clothing and shelter. And can you imagine us laying down the law in our supposed democracies, like Bruh Paul said, and as they do in Socialist societies, if you don’t work, you don’t eat. Hn! What a day that would be!  

But contrary to what some of us believe, God made man to work, not to just laze about. Listen to the Bible tell it at the very beginning: ‘And the Lord God took the man (Adam), and put him into the garden of Eden to dress (cultivate or tend) it and to keep it.’ (Gen. 1:15) Now, that certainly means our forefather Adam had to do some labour if he intended to keep the garden of Eden as pretty and fruitful as the Lord desired. So, where the many today get the idea of being entitled to not work but yet to live good beats me. 

The problem though is that many of us parents put up with the nonsense, therefore it’s more widespread than it ought to be. We’re afraid to talk to our children, to tell them in so many words to go out and get a job, or find somewhere else to live. But sometimes tough LOVE is absolutely necessary to curb certain types of behaviour and help others be as responsible as they ought to be. Unfortunately though, our society has become soft and fearful, so today, too many of us get away with what we would not have gotten away with, two generations ago. 

And it just seems to be getting worse, instead of better as the society moves towards Artificial Intelligence in a big way. And, as always Cousin Sol has something to say on the subject. No wonder he was considered the wisest man ever. (smile) Listen to these two verses from Proverbs. ‘The soul of the sluggard (lazy) desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat (rich).’ (Prov. 13:4) Now there’s no disputing that comment; the lazy will never have much, while those who put their hands to the plough will greatly increase. 

Then, in the next chapter, Cousin Sol writes: ‘In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips (idle chatter) tendeth only to penury (poverty). (Prov. 14:23) There again, you cannot dispute the wisdom in those words, although sadly, our current society is a hot bed of idle chatter, prone to gossip and worthless talk especially through the easily gained social media apparatus. But have no fear, if we continue with our shortcomings, there will come a time when we pay for them. 

What we don’t seem to realize is that when a society has high standards, it flourishes, and likewise, when the standards are low, it decays. And brother, are the standards of our society ever falling swiftly, consequently our society is going to the dogs, going to hell in a handbasket, and unfortunately many of us don’t seem to care. It’s indeed a sad and sorry time to be alive friends, but this is the exact moment that God made us for, and He knows what He’s doing. That means we have been placed here at this particular time for a good reason, the only problem is finding out the reason. (smile) 

Now you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to find the reason. It’s stated all throughout the Bible; God’s Holy, infallible Word; that’s to glorify Him and bring the unbelievers to His fold, because He doesn’t want to lose not even one single soul to Beelzebub. And His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour said it thus. ‘Ye are the salt of the earth…Ye are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt. 513-16) That’s our purpose my fellow saints, so let’s begin to seriously and sincerely work toward accomplishing it nuh, because our world desperately needs us to turn things around. 

Now, it’s time to go to the throne of grace through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, with the utmost confidence, but also with total reverence, to seek divine help to solve our many problems. Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. 

So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And the only way to satisfy God’s requirements for divine help is by turning from our evil ways, praying and sincerely seeking His face! Much LOVE!

…if Christians lived up to their designated purpose…of being salt and light…our world would be such a wonderful place…

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ                  

Today’s Scrip-Bit   29 January 2024 Proverbs 21:4.

29 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Proverbs 21:4.       An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing (lamp) of the wicked, is sin.

And as Sunday goes into the annals of history, Monday comes storming in like a bold, proud warrior, so sure of himself that he defies anyone to defeat him! But little does Monday know that there’s a group of strongmen called Christians, believers in the Lord of Lords, King of Kings and Light of the world, Jesus Christ, just waiting to devour him in His bright sunshine, as he comes strutting in with his pompous self. He obviously doesn’t know that the Leader of that group of strong, steadfast and faithful believers, Almighty God, hates pride and arrogance, and summarily destroys all those who bear those negative traits. 

It says so, right in the Lord’s Word, per Cousin Sol. ‘These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look (haughty eyes), a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations (devises wicked plans), feet that be swift in running to mischief (trouble). A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.’ (Prov. 6:16-19) Yes friends, those seven things and people who reflect them, our Lord hates with a passion. 

But please note which one Cousin Sol puts first: the man with the proud and haughty demeanour, or behaviour. The Lord dislikes such a man because his behaviour indicates to the Lord that he is above the dictates of God, and therefore has no use for Him. And there’s nothing that gets the Lord’s anger going like one of His petty human creations playing the big man and refusing to bow down to Him. 

And Bruh David said it thus in Psalm 101, when he describes the perfect King, hoping that he himself would follow those dictates, but also foretelling of his descendant, Jesus Christ being the one to fulfill that ideal picture. Re pride, he says: ‘’Whoso privily (secretly) slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off (destroy): him that hath an high look and proud heart will not I suffer (endure).’ (Ps. 101: 5) That just goes to show that the perfect king, that’s Jesus, dislikes the proud and will not put up with him. 

Meanwhile later on in Proverbs, Cousin Sol states it thus: ‘An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing (lamp) of the wicked, is sin.’ (Prov. 21:4) As one translation puts it: ‘Arrogance and pride – distinguishing marks in the wicked – are just plain sin.’ That’s for certain sure! But the plowing of the wicked basically means: ‘their work, all they do; for it is not done to please God but themselves; nor carried on in His strength, but in reliance upon their own, and therefore it is “sin,” not pleasing to Him.’ 

And the bibleref.com website gives this commentary on the verse. ‘This proverb notes that immoral people are guided by arrogance and selfishness. In effect, the arrogant person worships himself. Their life is defined and guided by their preferences, instead of a sincere interest in God’s truth (Proverbs 3:1-5). Such attitudes are completely incompatible with submission to Him (Proverbs 6:16-19; Psalm 101:5).’  You cannot dispute those statements my brethren, because they are pure truth. Our God dislikes anything that smacks of arrogance and selfishness. 

Then, in Romans chapter 1, where Bruh Paul talks about ‘God’s Wrath Against Ungodliness,’ in the long list of ungodly deeds and doers, he includes: ‘Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful (violent), proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,’ (Rom. 1:30) Yuh see that the proud have also made it to Bruh Paul’s list of ungodly things. 

And Jesus verily informed us that ‘There is nothing from without (outside) a man, that entering him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile him.’ (Mark 7:15) Then he ended his discourse with these words. ‘Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness (licentiousness), an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.’ (Mark 7:22-23) Jesus said it; therefore, it must be true! 

That’s why James could advise us about being enemies of God, if we desire to be friends with the world, and one of the many things the world prizes is pride. James says: ‘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.’ (James 4:6-7) That means if we’re seeking God’s grace, then the first thing to do is be humble before Him, because He prizes humility above most of the other human attributes. 

And being humble doesn’t mean being fearful and weak kneed, but showing the proper reverence and respect for our powerful God and Creator, knowing that our dreams and desires, our very lives are in His mighty hands. And we’ll take this last potent scripture from John’s first epistle, where he solemnly warns us. ‘For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh (physical desires), and the lust of the eyes (personal desires), and the pride of life (self-interests), is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.’ (1 John 2:16-17) 

Now,  with those awesome words of wisdom, let’s go to the throne of grace, humbly, but confidently, and through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, ask for divine help in this our time of desperate need. Altogether now: ‘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 there’s only one way to get divine help, that’s by turning from our evil ways to godly ones! Much LOVE!

…only by pride cometh contention (strife)…but with the well advised is wisdom… (Prov. 13:10)

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ                  

Today’s Scrip-Bit   15 January 2024 Proverbs 3:5-6.

15 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Proverbs 3:5-6.       Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct (make straight) your paths.

Oh friends, for the last two days, my neighbourhood has been flooded with sunshine, which reflects so beautifully off the white snow that covers the land. That’s the good news. (smile) The bad stuff is that the holidays are winding down, heralding the steady grind of a five-day work week. And only time and perseverance will get us fully back into the routine. (smile) 

Now, yesterday in worship we sang the popular song ‘I asked the Lord,’ but time and space ran out on us re the scriptural references in it, and we promised to finish it today. So, we’ve already spoken about God’s comfort in discouraging times and leading us through the darkness of this world, but I want to add two more verses to the latter section. The first one comes from Isaiah, and talks about the Great Light: ‘The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.’ (Is. 9:2) And that light was of course our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

The second verse is God’s reassurance through Moses to His people Israel right from the very beginning. ‘And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee: he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.’ (Deut. 31:8) The Lord did keep that promise, and still keeps it to this day, for He NEVER reneges on any of His promises. And that’s something we believers ought to learn and accept as gospel truth! It’s all well and good to know of the promises, but it’s even more important to firmly believe them, for that’s the only way they will ever work in our own lives. 

Turning now, to these lines: ‘I did not ask for riches, He gave me wealth untold- The moon, the stars, the sun, the sky, And He gave me eyes to behold.’ That’s ever so true my people! The Lord did give us eyes to see the beautiful planet He made for us to enjoy. That’s a wealth of natural riches we can never get enough of. But even more profound is this reference to not asking for riches but nonetheless being granted them. It speaks to Cousin Sol’s appointment as king over Israel. The Lord appeared to him in a vison at night and asked him what he wanted. And Cousin Sol said: ‘Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great? 

And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked for long life: but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.’ (1 Chr. 1:10-12) 

Ah friends, yuh see how our marvellous God does move in mysterious ways! Because Cousin Sol didn’t ask for stuff for his own use, but for wisdom and knowledge to govern His people, the Lord gave him all the other stuff. Oh, we should ask for stuff that we need, but there should be a sincerity of heart and truth in it, not merely a desire for personal aggrandizement. Then we come to possibly the most important verse in the entire song: ‘I thank the Lord for everything, And I count my blessings each day;’ 

Oh my brethren, that’s crucial, especially in this cruel and evil world! Yes, instead of counting our problems, as we’re prone to do, every day we need to count the many blessings that God has so generously bestowed on us which will help to carry us through the tough times.  And we all know that we have more blessings than problems, but we’re so enamoured of looking at the negative and complaining, instead of looking at the positive and giving thanks. As Bruh Paul so wisely advised the Philippians: ‘Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep (guard) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’  (Phil. 4:6-7) 

And for brevity’s sake, (smile) we’ll say that that verse also encompasses these words of the song. ‘He came to me when I needed Him – I only had to pray: He’ll come to you if you’ll ask Him to – He’s only a prayer away.’ And there’s absolutely no doubt about that! Then this verse of the song is indeed a gem. ‘I asked the Lord to lead the way, When each step was getting so rough, He said to me “put your trust in me, and I’ll direct your path.” And the authoritative scripture that goes with those words, is none other than Cousin Sol’s wise advice found in Proverbs 3:5-10. 

But for lack of time and space we’ll only quote the first two verses. ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct (make straight) your paths.’ (Prov. 3:5-6) Now, if there were only two scriptures to live by, it’s those two. And the last verse also brings up interesting scriptures. ‘I asked the Lord to come inside And take all my struggles away. He said to me, “Cast your cares on me, and live each day by day.” And the predominant scripture for that comes from 1 Peter. ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him: for he careth for you.’ (1 Pet. 5:6-7) 

And now my fellow believers, with all that wonderful scripture under our belts, (smile) let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn and sincerely ask for divine help in these serious times of need. As one 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 if we truly want divine help, then we need to seriously consider turning from our evil ways. Much LOVE!

…God cares for His human creation…above all others…let’s remember that… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ          

Today’s Scrip-Bit   12 January 2024 Joshua 21:45.

12 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Joshua 21:45.       There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

The week’s finished mih people! That means we can cry out: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday…and the weekend’s here at long last!’ Yes, I know some of us had it hard slogging through a whole five day work week, having not done one for a while. But I’m sure, with the awesome help of Jesus, we all came through it with flying colours. And that’s the beauty of having Jesus as Lord and Saviour; we can always depend on Him, trust Him to help us in our time of need. That reminds us of the song that calls Him, the Way Maker, Promise Keeper and Light in the Darkness. 

And why is he called the Way Maker? Because He can, and does make a way where there seems to be no way! For He is the way, the truth and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him.’ (John 14:6)  So, in the first place if we’re looking for a way, Jesus is the One to turn to. And secondly, ‘By serving as the atoning sacrifice for all of the world’s sins, Jesus made a way for EVERYONE to enter into Heaven.’ How wonderful is that eh my brethren! Jesus made a way for all of us to go to heaven! And thirdly, as He said to the disciples re the camel passing through the eye of a needle: ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.’ (Matt. 19:26) 

That means that Jesus can do ANYTHING! Therefore, He is the person that we need to put our total trust in, to surrender our all to, because He is also a faithful Promise Keeper! Yes friends, our wonderful God and Saviour is still in control of the universe He created and His promises are true. He’s never reneged on one! And there are many scriptures which proclaim that truth. Let’s look at a couple of them nuh, beginning with the Book of Joshua, where it speaks of the division of the Promised Land to the tribes of Israel. The Word says: ‘There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.’ (Josh. 21:45) 

That’s for sure my brethren! Not a single word that the Lord spoke to Israel failed! And later on, Joshua himself said to the people: ‘And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth (going to die): and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.’ (Josh. 23:14) And if the Israelites were truthful, they would have admitted that, since all the promises God made to them about bringing them out of bondage in Israel to the Promised Land were faithfully fulfilled. 

Cousin Sol said the same thing when he made His great prayer to God and speech to Israel after the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the newly built temple. He said: ‘Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest (peace) unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of his servant Moses.’ (1 Kin. 8:56) And what about the father of our faith eh, Abraham? At seventy years of age, he packed up family and his belongings and left his homeland to wander where he knew not, because a God he didn’t know told him to do so. And what of it, you ask? 

Listen to Bruh Paul as he writes to the Roman church on the subject of Abraham’s faithfulness. ‘Who against hope (contrary to the circumstances) believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he (Abraham) considered not his own body now dead, when he was an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: he staggered (wavered) not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong (strengthened) in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded (convinced) that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.’ (Rom. 4:18-22) 

Yuh see friends, the Lord always keeps His promises, though they may take a long time to come to pass, like the twenty five years it took for Abraham and Sarah to have the child, Isaac, who would enable the promise of ‘the Father of nations’ to be kept. But though we sometimes have to wait a long time for the Lord’s promises to come true, like Abraham, we need to be strong in faith, never doubting that they will eventually happen. For as Peter writes: ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but he is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ (2 Pet. 3:9) 

Oh my people, our God takes His promises very seriously and doesn’t make them unless He intends to keep them. Let’s believe that with all our hearts souls, mind and bodies, for if we do, it will stand us in very good stead in this fickle and faithless world. And since we don’t want to make the Bit too long for our short mind spans, (smile) we’ll deal with the ‘Light in the Darkness’ aspect of Jesus’ attributes tomorrow, obviously if God spares life. Now let’s go to the throne of grace through our Friday Chant seeking divine help for our many earthly problems. 

Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough…   because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. 

And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And the best way to invoke that divine help is by taking action and truly setting the example of faithful believers we talk about! Much LOVE!

…there’s no reason whatsoever…to doubt the power, promises and faithfulness of our God Jehovah… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ                       

Today’s Scrip-Bit   29 December 2023 Jeremiah 29:13.

29 Dec 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jeremiah 29:13.       And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

And on yet another wet and cloudy day, the world shouts ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and another long weekend is here!’ This time though, the grateful reprieve from work is for New Years Eve, which falls on the upcoming Sunday. So you know all the plans for the big party are already in full swing; with costumes, champagne, food, partners and all the other frills we need for ringing out the Old Year and ringing in the New one. 

And then there are the resolutions, most of which aren’t even worth the paper they’re written on, since they will be forgotten by the end of the week in which they were made. Don’t know why we keep on doing the foolishness, even when we know deep down that we won’t keep them. But, I guess that’s a part of the New Year’s Eve tradition, so we need to go with the flow. 

And 2023 has been such a rotten and ungodly year, with many people not even being able to celebrate its departure with their usual festivities because of unpredicted and unexpected strife and disaster in their societies. Let’s hope and pray that the new year of 2024 will bring us to our senses, so that most of the strife will end in peace and the disaster areas repaired so that the people can go about a peaceful and productive life once more. 

For, believe me friends, if we don’t wake up and smell the roses this coming year, and instead persist in all the foolish, unnecessary strife and violence, our world will surely implode or explode, or both, such is the high level of discontent and dissatisfaction currently existing on God’s great earth. That’s why we believers so badly need to get our act together, for the world is depending on us to turn this evil and ungodly time around and bring back the more worthwhile values of peace, LOVE and understanding. 

Sadly, those values are constantly being thrown out the window more and more every day, as another theatre of strife opens and more serious disasters befall us. And some of those natural disasters stem from climate change, from the terribly irresponsible and shortsighted manner in which we’ve treated the earth in the last few centuries, since the dawn of industrialization. So we have no one to blame but ourselves for most of the chaos now existing. 

Thankfully though we have our great, forgiving, merciful and gracious God to help us restore some semblance of sense and responsibility to our world. But it’s ever so necessary for us to seek Him out and throw ourselves on His mercy. Remember His promise through the prophet Jeremiah? ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil (calamity), to give you and expected end (a future and a hope). Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto (listen to) you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ (Jer. 29:11-13) 

There we have it friends, the first step in returning some sense of peace and responsibility to our world. We have to seek the Lord with ALL of our heart if we desire His omnipotent help. And Jesus said the same thing when the foppish lawyer asked Him what was the greatest commandment. ‘Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with ALL thy heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL of thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matt. 22:37-40)  

Yuh see that mih bredrin, it all hangs on the basic principle of LOVE: LOVE for God and for each other! But unfortunately that oh so important attribute seems to be sadly missing from our world today. And unless we revive it as soon as possible, crapaud going to smoke we pipe – both literally and figuratively. (smile) 

Thus, it behooves us Christians who talk so much about God and LOVE and peace to get up off of our comfortable fannies and make the effort to turn this world around. It’s our bounden duty. Jesus said that we were the salt of the earth and the light of the world, which means we are responsible for adding a godly flavour to it, and bringing light to the darkness and evil of Satan which is now threatening to overpower God’s earth. 

And my fellow believers, I’m not telling us anything that we don’t already know. The problem is to get us to fulfill the duties that have been assigned to us as ambassadors and agents of Christ. And if we truly and sincerely LOVE Him, then we will make the effort, sacrifice whatever is necessary so that our world can be a much better place to live. And to help get us started, let’s now go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant and aske for divine help in this dire time of need. 

Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. 

We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’  

Now it’s time to rise up and do what we promised: set a good example for the unbelievers. That’s the first step in receiving divine help! Much LOVE!

…talk is cheap…but action needs a price to be paid… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ                

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