Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 February 2018 1 Corinthians 12:14.

24 Feb 2018 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 12:14.   For the body is not one member, but many.

Ah friends, how nice it is to get a spring-like break amidst the bone-chilling cold of winter that’s been dogging us for some time now! And this past week has certainly been like that in my area. The temps have mainly been above freezing and it might even continue like that for the next couple of days. 

But I guess you can’t get the good without the bad, for though it’s been warm, it’s been rainy and cloudy, with flooding in several areas. More rain and flooding are expected this weekend across the U.S. South and Midwest. But I’ll take the rain and whatever, over the snow any day. (smile) That’s possibly because I’m not personally experiencing any flooding. Let’s pray for those who are undergoing that kind of disaster right now my brethren. 

And since today is Saturday, it’s time to look at some of the quotes our friend, Anselm, sent us this week, in his heartfelt attempt to inspire us for a better tomorrow. The first one says: ‘You can’t knock on opportunity’s door and not be ready.’ That should be obvious. Why would you be seeking an opportunity if you were not ready and able to undertake it eh? But unfortunately, a lot of us misguidedly do it. 

And the second tells us: ‘Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.’ What glorious truth that is my people! You’re never really defeated until YOU decide to give up! How can you be defeated if you keep on fighting, keep coming back again and again eh? 

And that philosophy applies ever so much to Christians, because in our Lord and Saviour’s vocabulary there is NO GIVING UP! Why should there be, when ALL THINGS are possible through Christ? That’s a very significant aspect of the believer’s walk with God, and his ability to grow in Christ’s image. If you don’t believe that, then you’re lost from the very start. 

Now listen to this quote. ‘Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.’ Now I don’t know if you need to look so far ahead – possibly take it in smaller increments – but you do need to decide what you’re going to be all about later on in life, so that you can do the stuff that’s necessary to get you there. 

However, with the believer, it’s a li’l different. We need to discover God’s calling for our lives, so that we can walk successfully in His will. Yuh see, what we might like to do in the world, is not always what the Lord wants us to do. And as a faithful believer and follower, it behooves us to find God’s purpose and follow it as closely as possible. 

And the last quote says: ‘Success is empty if you arrive at the finish line alone. The best reward is to get there surrounded by winners.’ And that’s oh so true! You can’t really enjoy success if you’ve achieved it all by yourself. Success is meant to be enjoyed with others. 

In the first place, you will very seldom achieve success if you don’t surround yourself with positive, successful thinking people. That’s why there are clichés like ‘no man is an island’ and  ‘you can’t go it alone.’ 

And Bruh Paul took pains to point out that the church of Christ is one body, though it’s made up of individuals, hence his writing to the church at Corinth that includes our Bit. ‘For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond (slave) or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.’ (1 Cor.12:12-14) 

Yeh friends, believers are all a part of ONE BODY; that of Christ; of His Church! Regardless of colour, creed or race, once you receive Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you are baptized with His Spirit that immediately comes to dwell in you, and you become a part of that big body called Christ’s Church. 

As Bruh Paul philosophizes to the church at Rome. ‘For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office (function): So we being many, are one body in Christ, and every one (individually) members one of another.’ (Rom.12:4-5) 

Ah mih people, in every organization the members have different functions and duties, which holds that organization together. If those members don’t perform their functions in a serious and positive manner, then the organization won’t last long. It’s the same way with Christ’s church. If we, as members, don’t play our individual parts, then the body won’t function as it should. 

And that’s exactly what’s happening in Christ’s church right now. There is too much anger and resentment, too many power struggles and cliques, too much dissension and disunity, too much diversion from the original gospel, with people preaching all sorts of different things and filtering in new interpretations as dictated by the world. How can Christ’s church be successful under those conditions eh? NEVER! 

That’s why Lucifer and his evil cohorts currently have the world in a stranglehold; they are united, but Christ’s people are not. Yes my fellow believers, until we stop talking and fighting against each other and come together as one, evil will rule the world. Now let’s sit down and ponder that. Is that what we truly want? Much LOVE!

…unity and solidarity should not be mere words in Christ’s church… 

P.S. Sorry for the lateness of the Bit. It’s Saturday, so I slept in. (smile) Much LOVE!

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 15 June 2014 Genesis 18:19

15 Jun 2014 Leave a comment

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

Genesis 18:19.      For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgement (righteousness and justice): that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

HAPPY  FATHER’S  DAY!

 

Oh my fellow Fathers out there in God’s great world, here’s wishing us a Happy Father’s Day!

 

And no doubt you’ll be surprised to hear that on such an auspicious day, I don’t know what to say. (smile) Or rather, I have so much to say, that I don’t know where to begin. Hn, Hn! So then, let’s begin at the most appropriate place nuh; the beginning.

 

The Lord thought that respect for one’s parents was so important that He enshrined it in His basic rules for living; the Ten Commandments. ‘Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.’ (Ex.20:12) And Moses repeats it in Deut.5:16. So one of the rules we must adhere to is honouring our parents, and on this particular day, our blessed fathers.

 

Now I don’t know how coherent this message will be, (smile) because I’m leaning towards just pulling out bits of scripture dealing with earthly fathers and what’s expected of them. Anyway, let’s see where the Lord leads us.

 

In the meanwhile, listen to what the Lord had to say in our Bit about Abraham as a father: ‘For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgement (righteousness and justice): that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.’

 

And that my people, is what our God would like to say, and have said of all earthly fathers! The epitome of a father is one who directs his household to keep God’s Word!

 

For as Moses reminded the Israelites in the wilderness: ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

 

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

 

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house, and on thy gates.’ (Deut.6:4-9)

 

That my people is how important the word of the Lord is! Unfortunately though, in this modern day and age, very few families are doing that. And since the father is the acknowledged head of the family, (Eph.5:23) it rebounds badly on him. Consequently, there are way too many ungodly households in our society, and that’s partly why it is going downhill.

 

A responsible father ought to be saying, in the words of Bruh David: ‘Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear (reverence) of the Lord. (Ps.34:11) That’s because, as the caretaker of the family, a father is expected to have wisdom. No wonder Cousin Sol declares: ‘Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.’ (Prov.4:1)

 

But then again, in this modern day and age too many fathers are definitely not showing the wisdom that they ought to, and a lot of that stems from their not having  fathers who had the necessary tools to teach them properly. This brings up the major problem of too many households without fathers.

 

Without a strong and godly father at the head of a household, that household will undoubtedly suffer some disadvantages, for a mother can only do so much, although there are many mothers who raise godly children. And even in households with fathers, the behaviour of the father is not always appropriate.

 

Cousin Sol says: ‘A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife (lessens contention).’ (Prov.15:18) And unfortunately, today a lot of fathers don’t have the patience and self-control and thus stir up a lot of strife in their households.

 

That brings us to Bruh Paul’s famous warning to the church at Ephesus. ‘And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture (training) and admonition of the Lord.’ (Eph.6:4)

 

And the scholars tell us: ‘6:4. Fathers can provoke their children to wrath by injustice, loss of temper, undue severity, cruelty, favouritism, suppression, sarcasm, ridicule, and misuse or abuse of authority. Nurture basically means “training,” here denoting spiritual education. Admonition is instruction that points out one’s responsibilities and duties. Of the Lord is in Greek a subjective genitive. This indicates that behind the parents’ rearing and instruction of their children stands the Lord as the chief teacher in child education. Parents do not rear children alone.’

 

And that’s the gospel truth my brethren! So you can see from that how important it is for a father to be a man of understanding and common sense, of justice and righteousness. But sadly, in this ungodly world we’re raising far too many ignorant, unfaithful fathers.

 

And I won’t even bother to get into the aspect of fathers siring so many children with different women and not even supporting them. Right now that’s the bane of our society. And you mothers have to bear some of the blame for that.

 

I’ll just end by saying, by pleading to the fathers out there, please, let’s start taking our responsibilities seriously nuh. It’s the children, our children who are going to suffer, who are in fact suffering from either poor fatherly guidance, or no fatherly guidance at all. And that does not bode well for the future of our society at all, for that trait will just keep being handed down from generation to generation, until it just turns into complete irresponsibility, and thus further damage to the children.

 

Oh fathers, please wake up and realize that when we don’t do right, it’s always the children who bear the brunt of the damage! It’s high time for us to try and replicate the behaviour of our Father in heaven towards us. I’m sure we wouldn’t like it if He ignored and abandoned us. Remember do so ent like so…and what goes around comes around! Much LOVE!

 

…fathers…provoke not your children to anger…lest they be discouraged… (Col.3:21)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 December 2013 Romans 12:4-5

09 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

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

Romans 12:4-5.   For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office (function): So we being many, are one body in Christ, and every one (individually) members one of another.

Aye mih people! How you all doing this bright and picturesque Monday morning eh? Oh, I know that many of us are under the weather, probably undergoing serious problems, be they physical, material, financial or emotional. But I sincerely hope that at least our spiritual lives are in prosperity mode this morning, which will allow us to at least stand up strong to, if not overcome, whatever problems are coming against us.

For remember that the joy of the Lord is indeed our strength, (Neh.8:10) and it’s only when our spirits are in good communion with our heavenly Father that we are able to bear up under unfortunate worldly circumstances and eventually vanquish them. Wow! What a mouthful! (smile)

And Monday is the day that we most desperately need perfect communication with Almighty God, that we can be lifted up, enabled to go back out and labour after overdoing it on the weekend. Chuh! Be quiet nuh Lucifer! God’s people aren’t overdoing it… stop trying to make them feel guilty! Hn! Hn!

Anyway Friends, just in case, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with proper reverence and sincere salutations, so that our spirits can be lifted, our joy in our great and wonderful God restored, and our warrior mentality honed to razor-like sharpness for the upcoming battles of this new work week.

Now, as one big, exuberant and harmonious choir, let’s sing: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.

We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.

Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’

Oh mih people, yuh know that our singing is getting better and better each week! And it not only warms the cockles of my heart, but also those of the heavenly host. Mama Mia! They’re delighted, in fact overjoyed to see that their earthly family is finally coming together in the ONENESS that the Son and the Father so avidly desire.

And logically speaking Friends, the only way we can ever improve in any area of life is by working together. And please remember that Jesus died that we could all be gathered together as ONE; ONE BODY, ONE CHURCH, ONE SAVIOUR, ONE SPIRIT, and ONE GOD!

As Bruh Paul so eloquently puts it in his letter to the church at Rome, featured in our Bit: ‘For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office (function): So we being many, are one body in Christ, and every one (individually) members one of another.’

Yes my fellow believers, though we are individuals with differing functions, yet we are all expected to operate as one overwhelming body under the harmonious umbrella that’s Christ’s church.

Then Bruh Paul further explains: ‘Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity (liberality); he that ruleth with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.’ (Rom.12:6-8)

Hn! So my brethren, though we all have different gifts and different duties to perform as a part of Christ’s church here on earth, we’re supposed to perform, to operate like the smooth, well-oiled, awesomely engineered, finely synchronized apparatus that’s the human body!

But unfortunately that’s the furthest thing from the truth these days, for instead we’re all fighting against each other with all the denominations and divisions within those denominations. I’m sure that Jesus sometimes sits down, shakes His head and sadly sighs: ‘What else do I have to do to make them work together eh?’

And that’s the gazillion dollar question Friends! For until we stop working against each other and begin working more closely together, the way Jesus envisions it, His church will never soar to great heights that He desires, and sadly Lucifer will continue to have a field day at His expense. And I’m sure that’s not what we truly want to see happen.

Now listen to this telling verse from Bruh Paul in the same sequence as above. ‘Let LOVE be without dissimulation (hypocrisy). Abhor that which is evil; cleave (cling) to that which is good.’ (Rom.12:9)

What wonderful advice my brethren!

And the scholars have an interesting note on that verse. ’12:9. Without dissimulation (lit. “without hypocrisy”). The Christian’s conduct in the local church toward fellow believers is to be a volitional (desire, will) caring for others, LOVING faithfully in spite of the responses received. THE LOVE IS TO BE GENUINE AND UNFEIGNED.’

The bold capitals are my doing, because I consider that statement to be rather important, and right now we’re nowhere close to achieving that desired result. So my people, if we truly want to please Jesus and grow His church substantially, we have to start working seriously together, embrace and uplift the LOVE REVOLUTION, and stop allowing the evil doers to divide and conquer us.

That, my fellow believers, is both earthly and heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!

…only by working together as one…can we truly bear righteous fruit…in Jesus’ Name…

P.S.  Oh Friends, please excuse the lateness of the Bit, but I had some technical problems. Much LOVE!