24 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Spiritual Living
Tags: abominable transgressions, abounding in the work of god, appreciation, Beelzebub, believers in Jesus Christ, blessings, bounden duty, Calvary's cross, Christ defeated death and the grave, Christ triumphantly rose from the dead, cold spring wind, confident in the glory and victory of Jesus, damnation, death, death is swallowed up in victory, Easter Season, eternal death, eternal life, ever-faithul, ever-Loving, everlasting victory, faithful, first Easter Sunday, forgiveness, furthering God's glorious kingdom, futile, give thanks and praise, give you much thanks and praise, glorifying God's name, glory hallelujah, grace, grateful, Hades, heavenly Father, holy character of Jesus, holy spirit, Jesus Christ, joy, lord jesus christ, LOVE, loving, Lucifer, magnify Your Holy Name, mercy, o death where is thy sting, o grave where is thy victory, oodles of optimism, optimism, our labour is not in vain, pardon sin, praise, prince of darkness, reconciliation, repay, right standing, righteous God, sacrifice, saviour jesus, set us free, sincerely worship and adore you, sinful undeserving children, sinless soul, sins, Son Jesus, song of praise, spring has sprung, stark naked, steadfast, thankful Lord and Saviour, thanks, Thanks be to God, the birds are singing praises to God, the blood of Jesus, the gift of God is eternal life, the Good Book, the LOVE of God, the price of sin, the shedding of blood, the sinless One, the sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the law, the wages of sin is death, trials and tribulations, unconditional LOVE, unmovable, victory, wallowing in the misery of our sins, we truly Love you, wonderful news of Easter
1 Corinthians 15:57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh Friends, it seems like spring has finally decided to stay sprung! Glory Hallelujah!
And I say that because there’s finally some green colour appearing in the previously dead looking brown grass, the temps are staying fairly standard between 7 and 12 degrees Celsius, and when I got up just now I heard some birds singing their early morning praises to their Maker!
How wonderful eh! It’s so refreshing and revitalizing to hear the birds singing praises, because they are ever so faithful in it. Sometimes I think the Lord should have made us like the birds, without a mind of our own, for then we would have been much more faithful than we currently are.
Unfortunately though, the trees don’t seem to be buying into this optimism that spring is finally getting serious about coming, for there is not one single green bud on any of them. They all still dancing stark naked in the oftimes brisk and cold spring wind.
We believer in Jesus Christ however, are filled with oodles of optimism, through, and for the LOVE of God! We are so filled with it that it’s overflowing, and consequently filling others with the wonderful news of this Easter Season, where Christ so triumphantly rose from the dead – Mama Mia! – and in the process defeated the twin evils of death and the grave, and therefore the ruler of Hades, Lucifer.
Oh Friends, this Easter Thursday morning, let’s put a big smile on our faces, and release the immense joy that’s in our hearts and souls with a song of praise to our Maker nuh!
Like the birds, let’s show Him our great appreciation for designing, putting into action and successfully carrying out His incredible plan of reconciliation, which so LOVINGLY brought us back into right standing with Him.
Please pray with me now: ‘Dear heavenly Father, You are so wonderful to Your sinful, undeserving children! We continually make You sad and mad at our misdoings, but You just keep on LOVING us! You keep on granting us Your awesome forgiveness, mercy and grace, blessing us with stuff we definitely don’t deserve.
Oh Father, this morning we’re here to tell You that we truly LOVE You! We sincerely worship and adore You! We do magnify Your Holy Name and give You much thanks and praise!
Oh gracious Father in heaven, we are especially grateful and thankful for Your most wonderful Son Jesus, who became our Lord and Saviour on that first Easter Sunday two millennia ago, by sacrificing His holy life to pay for our abominable transgressions.
Oh Father, we are truly sorry that You had to put such trials and tribulations on Jesus for our sakes, but we know that You are a just and righteous God and cannot just pardon sin; a price, including death and the shedding of blood must be paid for it.
And You LOVED us so much, considered us so worthy, that You gave Your Only son, Jesus Christ, the ONLY sinless soul beside Yourself, to pay for our sins!
Oh heavenly Father, You know that we can NEVER repay You for that awesome, unconditional LOVE, but we will try our best to live lives down here on earth that will magnify You. Lives that will continue to grow in the holy character of our Saviour Jesus, thus glorifying Your great Name and furthering Your glorious kingdom. We pray this on the blood of Jesus that was shed for us on Calvary’s cross. Amen!’
Oh mih people, mih people! What the Holy Spirit can do in your soul eh! I have to chuckle here, because I never intended to even have a prayer, much less such a long one. But as usual, the Holy Spirit guided me there. In any case, it is right, and also our bounden duty to pray and give thanks and praise to our heavenly Father, especially at this Easter season, when He so faithfully caused us to be reconciled to Him!
And believe me Friends, that is no small undertaking or unimportant event! In fact it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to mankind! If our wonderful, ever-faithful and ever-LOVING Creator didn’t care so much for us, we’d still be wallowing in the misery of our dreadful sins, headed for eternal death and damnation in the foul and vile company of the prince of darkness, Beelzebub.
For remember, as the Good Book so pointedly states: ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through (in) Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Rom.6:23)
But then Bruh Paul further clarifies the situation to the Corinthians, and consequently us: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave (Hades), where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 15:54b-57)
Yes my fellow believers, don’t ever forget those memorable, momentous and most important words of our Bit! Let’s plant them deep, deep, deep in the inner recesses of our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, because that is indeed why we are able to laugh, sing and shout ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ this Thursday morning two thousand years after Jesus gave us that everlasting victory!
Wow! What a mighty God we serve and worship my brethren!
So as we prayed above, and Bruh Paul so timely reminds us: ‘Therefore my BELOVED brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain (futile) in the Lord.’ (1 Cor.15:58)
Absolutely not my fellow believers! So please, let’s stand steadfast and strong this morning, and all the remaining days of our lives, confident in the glory and victory of Jesus Christ! Much LOVE!
…oh how could we not LOVE Jesus…the sinless One…who made our sins His own…and LOVINGLY set us free…to some day dwell with Him in heaven…and always faithful be…
08 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: almighty god, ambiguity, Amen, assumptions, believing in God's promises, Blessed be God's name, Blessed be the name of God, communication, communication guidelines, communication skills, communication styles, confidentiality, counsel, Daniel 2:20. Daniel, deceived, deceiver, deliver us from evil, depth of riches, don't worry, el numero uno, empathetic, ever-Loving, extol the Lord, forgiving, fruit of his doings, glory, God's omnipotence, gospel truth, head honcho, infinite, inquity, Jesus, judgements, keep in close contact with God, lifts up the humble, look to Jesus, lord of hosts, loving kindness, magnificent God, merciful, might, never leave nor forsake us, perceptions, ponder, praise, Praise the Lord, Psalm 147, respect, respite from cold weather, responsibility, sensitive, sing unto the Lord, stand tall, strength, strong points of God, temptation, thanksgiving, the final word, the mind of the Lord, the power and the glory, thine is the kingdom, think before you talk, tolerate, true believers, trust God, understanding, wisdom, wise, work out all things for good
Daniel 2:20. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.
Ah Friends, at last it seems like we’re going to have a brief respite from the exceedingly cold temps that’s been overwhelming us the past few weeks. This weekend promises to be above freezing – not all that much- but anything above freezing is surely welcome. (smile) Praise the Lord!
But who knows how long that will last eh? However, as true believers, we need to take whatever comes against us in our stride, faithfully believing in God’s promises that He will never leave nor forsake us (Heb.13:5), and to work out all things for our good when we walk in obedience to Him. (Rom. 8:28)
Therefore, let’s stand tall, and though the weather or other things might be getting to us, let’s just look to Jesus as He desires. It’s not always easy to do, but do it we must. And how did Jesus handle His earthly problems? Basically by not worrying, doing what He was supposed to do, keeping in close contact with the Father, and trusting Him to make things right. And so should we, my brethren.
Now hear are some respectful communication guidelines that we can all use. I got this from my pastor at a recent Advisory Board Meeting, and was guided to share it. Apparently it has been copyrighted by Eric H.F. Law in 1995. It’s laid out in acrostic form, and the letters spell RESPECT, but because of our format we have to do it otherwise.
And it says: ‘R = take RESPONSIBILITY for what you say and feel without blaming others. E = EMPATHETIC listening. S = be SENSITIVE to differences in communication styles. P = PONDER on what you hear and feel before you speak. E = EXAMINE your own assumptions and perceptions. C = keep CONFIDENTIALITY. T = TOLERATE ambiguity because we are not here to debate who is right or wrong.’
Now they all are useful parameters, though I have a slight problem with the last one, tolerating ambiguity, since sometimes you do need to make decisions and distinctions as to who or what is right and wrong. But I do believe that if we put those practices to work, our communication skills will improve a whole lot. Now that includes communication with Almighty God too. (smile)
But it’s time to turn to our Bit: ‘Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.’ Yes Friends, wisdom and might are among the numerous strong points of our wonderful God!
And today we’ll continue looking at scriptures which uphold Daniel’s contentions. Let’s begin with Job, when he answers his supposed friends’ harsh accusations, acknowledging God’s omnipotence in the process.
‘With him (God) is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding. Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up (imprisons) a man, and there can be opening (no release). Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.’ (Job 12:13-16)
And oh my fellow believers, there’s absolutely no doubt about the power and wisdom of our majestic and magnificent God to do all those things!
Now listen to the psalmist extol the Lord from Psalm 147: ‘Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite (Lit. innumerable). The Lord lifteth up the meek (humble): he casteth the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God.’ (Ps.147:5-7)
Now that’s exactly what we ought to be doing my brethren – giving much praise and thanks to our ever-LOVING, merciful, forgiving, wise and powerful God!
And Jeremiah proclaims in his prayer: ‘Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard (too difficult) for thee: Thou showest LOVING-kindness unto thousands, and recompensest (repay) the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them:
The Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name, Great in counsel, and mighty in work (deed): for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.’ (Jer.32:17-19)
Jeremiah really poured it on quite thick there. (smile) But it’s all gospel truth, my people!
And this testimonial wouldn’t be complete without a word from Bruh Paul. To the Roman church, he declares: ‘O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.’ (Rom.11:33-36)
And as we LOVE to do whenever possible, we’ll give Jesus the final word on the topic. In His teaching us to pray, He concludes: ‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.’ (Matt.6:13)
Yes my brethren, our God is the great I AM, the Head Honcho, El Numero Uno, Number 1 in all the universe! Let’s NEVER, NEVER forget that! Much LOVE!
…if Jesus says that the Father is the GREATEST…then it must be so…since He cannot lie…
17 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Abraham, actions, better example, bidding, blessing of the Lord, camels, chance, changing times, Christmas Season, comprehend, disappointed, discrepancy, divine appointment, divine decree, divulged his purpose, donkeys, draw nourishment, drives people crazy, embryonic ideas, ever-Loving, faithful and fulfilled prayer, faithfully, fellow believers, first and foremost, fits the needs, flocks, focused, forms, fully know, god, God's plan, gold, gold bracelets, gold nose ring, Gramps Schuller, guidance, hard done by, hearts, heavenly Father, herds, higher thoughts, inescapable truth, Isaac, Jesus Christ, Laban, lifeline, live our faith, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, loving kindness, luck, maidservants, makes rich, master, material welath, mature in Christ, menservants, Mesopotamia, methods, minds, mysterious ways, Nahor, no sorrow, notable impression, novel way, omnipotence, parameters, prayer, quench thirst, Rebekah, right direction, Rober H Schuller, selfish and petty requests, servants, shapes, shekel, sick, silver, sizes, souls, spread the word, the answer, the antidote, the Good Book, the power that pulls everything together successfully, tired of snow and cold, True LOVE, umbilical cord, unborn infant, uncertainty, undeniable truth, unfathomable, vice-versa, weather people, wife
Proverbs 10:22. The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
Oh Friends, I don’t know about you all nuh, but I’m tired of the snow and cold already! And that’s only the first big snowfall and cold spell of the year. I guess I’m tired mainly because I had to be out and about in it all.
But here this, the weather people are forecasting above freezing temps and rain for later this week! That discrepancy and uncertainty is what drives people crazy and also gets them sick, because they don’t know how to properly prepare for the weather in these changing times.
However Friends, I also have the answer, the antidote for it all; prayer!
And like Gramps Schuller (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) describes it in his devotional for yesterday: ‘Prayer is the umbilical cord that allows you – with your embryonic ideas – to draw nourishment from a source that you, like an unborn infant, can neither see nor fully know or comprehend – God our heavenly Father! Prayer is the power that pulls everything together successfully.’
And that’s a novel but absolutely true way to put it my people! When I read it yesterday, I just knew that I had to share it with you. And would you believe that I’ve been reading that devotional for a number of years now, and that idea did not even sound familiar when I read it yesterday.
Ah Lord eh! Makes you wonder what I’m thinking about when I read them. (smile) I guess though, that I wasn’t mature enough in Christ for it to make a notable impression on me, before yesterday. But who knows, since our God moves in such mysterious and unfathomable ways with His higher thoughts and methods.
Anyway, the important thing is that I’ve finally recognized it, so let’s turn to our Bit. ‘The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.’
More undeniable truth my brethren! For when our God blesses us, we know that we are blessed, and He doesn’t include any sorrow in it. Now maybe the sorrow will come before, or even after the blessing, (smile) but the blessings are usually blessings alone.
And we’ll continue from where we left off yesterday, with Abraham’s servant being sent to his master’s home country, Mesopotamia, to find a wife for Isaac from his brethren. And Friends, it’s not by luck or chance, but rather by divine decree and guidance, that Abraham’s servant ended up in the city where Nahor, Abraham’s brother dwelt.
Neither was it luck or chance, but divine appointment, that caused Rebekah to come out and fulfill all the conditions that the servant had desired of the Lord in prayer.
Oh mih people, yuh see the wonderful and inescapable truth of what we’ve been saying above, about prayer being the lifeline, the umbilical cord to God! The servant prayed faithfully, setting some parameters, and asking the Lord to send someone favourable to fulfill them.
And I like how the Good Book says that before he was even finished making his requests known to God, that Rebekah showed up. (Gen.24:15a) Oh my brethren, we can’t ask for a better example than that of faithful and fulfilled prayer!
And if you read what transpired afterwards, as I asked you to do yesterday, (Gen.24:16-25), you’d have seen Rebekah offer the servant drink, as well as offer to quench his camels thirst. And when she’d fulfilled her pledge, he gave her an expensive gold nose ring, weighing half a shekel, approximately $960.00, since a shekel of gold is worth around $1920.00. To that he added 2 gold bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight. Do the math my people.
And after he enquired about her family, she then ran home and told her family about the strange happening that had befallen her. That brought her big brother Laban out to meet the servant. And to make a long story short, (smile) they invited him to lodge with them. He graciously accepted the offer, and after the camels were looked after, they set food before him, but he refused to eat before he divulged his purpose. (Gen.24:28-33)
‘And he said, I am Abraham’s servant. And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses (donkeys).’ (Gen.24:34-35)
What I want us to note here my fellow believers, is the difference in blessings. In the first scenario, the Lord showed the servant favour by granting his prayerful request, while in the second, He gave Abraham material wealth.
So not because our Bit says that the blessings of our God make us rich, it doesn’t necessarily mean material wealth. The blessings of our great and wonderful God can come in all shapes, sizes and forms, whatever suits His purpose. His omnipotence and LOVING-kindness don’t limit Him to any one kind of blessing.
And that’s something all believers ought to fully understand. Not because we pray for material wealth or any other kind of blessing means that we’ll automatically receive it. We’ll be showered with whatever fits the needs of God’s plan for our lives.
And until we fully understand and appreciate that point, we’ll always feel disappointed and/or hard done by our God. But we need to remember that God’s not there to simply do our bidding, to serve our selfish and petty requests.
On the contrary, we are here to serve His desires; to LOVE Him, to LIVE out our Faith, and to SPREAD His Holy Word! At times though, we seem to forget that HE is the MASTER, and we are the SERVANTS, not vice versa!
And on that oh so important remembrance, we’ll close for today. I don’t want to give us too much to ponder on, (smile) just enough to keep us focused in the right direction – on Jesus Christ, our ever-LOVING Lord and Saviour. Much much LOVE my fellow believers!
…this Christmas season…let’s show the world what true LOVE is all about nuh…by keeping Jesus first and foremost…in our hearts, minds, souls and actions…
03 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 2 Samuel, a believer's life, Absalom, abundance, adversity, Bathsheba, be wise, better example, blessed, Bruh David, chagrin, children of Ammon, Christians, civil war, cleanse, confess, consequences, despised, destroyed, disagreement, disobedience, disrepute, divine truth, dressed down, earthly and heavenly lives, essence of wisdom, ever-Loving, evil, evil leader, faith, faithful, faults, forgive, forgiveness, forgiving, good and proper, gospel truth, gracious, gross misconduct, hand of Saul, harsh judgements, house of Israel and Judah, hypocrites, in the sight of the sun, individual circumstances, integral parts, judgements, justice, light of jesus, Lord god of Israel, LOVE, loving kindness, Lucifer, lusting, merciful, mercy, nansi story, omnipotent god, perfect example, pilgrims, pity, plod on in faith, plotting, preach, promises, prophet Nathan, rebellion, rightousness, scriptural standards, secretly, sinful darkness, sinfulness, sins, strife, the Lord's commandment, the Word of Almighty God, trust, unfathomable, unrighteousness, unwanted, Uriah the Hittite, usually comes to light, what's done in darkness, wisdom, wise living
1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Aye mih bredden, I never expected these wonderful promises of our ever-LOVING, merciful, forgiving, gracious, omnipotent God to take up so many days nuh! And we’re only on the second one, with quite a few more to go through.
But that’s a-okay, because they are all very integral parts of our faith, of both our earthly and heavenly lives. And without them… Hn! I refuse to even think about that option, for in our serious sinfulness, we would have been destroyed long ago.
So please, let’s be wise and plod on in faith and trust as true pilgrims, as those promises teach us about the divine truth and wisdom contained in the Word of Almighty God. And today we’ll see the perfect example of our Bit, lived out in a believer’s life. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
Yeh Friends, that perfect example of the real life working of our Bit is to be found in none other than Bruh David. 2 Samuel 11, tells us about his seeing the beautiful Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, lusting after her, lying with her, then plotting to have her husband killed in battle.
Most of the populace were none the wiser, but Almighty God saw his abominable sin and sought justice as is His wont. Remember that saying that what is done in darkness, is often brought to light. So in 2 Samuel 12, the Lord sends the prophet Nathan to Bruh David with some nansi story about a rich man having a visitor, and instead of killing one of his many sheep to serve his visitor, took the pet lamb of his neighbour.
Oh Friends, yuh see how our Lord can be even more devious than us when it’s called for. Now when Bruh David hears Nathan’s story, he’s furious at the rich man.
‘And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely (deserves to) die. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.’ (2 Sam.12:5-6)
But can you imagine Bruh David’s chagrin when Nathan says to him: ‘Thou art that man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things (much more).
Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.’ (2 Sam.12:7-9)
Yeh mih people, Nathan dressed down Bruh David real good and proper in the Lord’s name!
And as the scholars’ so rightly note: ’12:5-7. How easy it is to see the sins of others without applying the scriptural standards to ourselves (cf. Matt.7:3-5)! David called for the full weight of the law to be applied (cf. Ex.22:1)’
That last reference deals with the stealing of animals and the repayment. But the scholars’ statement is gospel truth! We’re always quick to pass harsh judgements on others, but never apply the same standards to ourselves, as Jesus points out in the first reference (Matt.7:3-5), quick to take the splinter from someone else’s eye, without removing the big beam from ours.
But sadly, the Lord wasn’t done with Bruh David, for Nathan continued with his rebuke. ‘Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil (adversity) against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ (2 Sam.12:10-12)
What a fiery dart to Bruh David’s heart mih breddren! And yuh better believe that the Lord was very serious.
For as the scholars’ tell us: ’12:10-11. These judgements came to pass literally in the sins of his own household (ch.13), the rebellion by his own son Absalom (ch.15), and the civil war that followed (chs.16-20). David was never to fully know rest again.’
Oh Friends, you can read those referenced chapters for yourselves and realize the truth of the scholars’ words. But thereafter, because of his gross misconduct, Bruh David was always embroiled in some sort of strife or disagreement, a lot of it within his own family.
It just goes to show my fellow believers that the Lord is very serious about His Word, re promises, and disobedience. Bruh David was king, and should have known better, especially since the Lord had blessed him so much, showered him with such worldly abundance and LOVING-kindness. A better example was expected from him.
Likewise, the Lord expects better examples from us, His adopted children. We can’t afford to preach one thing, then go out and do something entirely different, thus bringing disrepute upon the Lord and His righteousness.
Unfortunately though, we do it all the time, and that is why so many hold Christians up as the biggest hypocrites on the planet. And oftimes they are quite right.
So Friends, to day let’s sit down and consider our individual circumstances and see if there be any serious faults in us nuh. And if there be any, let’s immediately confess them to the Father, and sincerely ask for His mercy and forgiveness, for that is the very essence of wisdom and wise living.
So until we meet again tomorrow, the Lord in favour, let’s try our best to walk in the revealed light of Jesus, and not wallow in the sinful darkness associated with the world and Lucifer, its evil leader. Much LOVE!
…please remember that…disobedience ALWAYS brings…unwanted, unfathomable consequences…
13 Nov 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: according to His purpose, all things work together for good, charles stanley, cloud over the earth, colours, computer mouse, computers, covenant, deleted expletives, destroy all flesh, don't worry, ever-faithful, ever-forgiving, ever-Loving, ever-merciful, everlasting covenant, every living creature, exiled, faithfulness, flood, friends, glory hallelujah, God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, God's contemplating, heavens, holding my breath, inconvenience, land of my birth, less stressful life, Lord God Jehovah, Love God, navel string, Noah, promises of God, rainbow, series of messages, serve and worship, sign, sign of God's goodness, sincere plea, Spirit of the Lord, T&T, Thank You Lord, those who LOVE God, today's the day, typewriter, vacation, wipe out mankind, wonderful god, work through, you can never go home again
Genesis 9:6. I do set my bow (rainbow) in the cloud, and it shall be for a token (sign) of a covenant between me and the earth.
Ah Friends, what would we do without computers eh? Have a much less stressful life, that’s for certain! Have you ever noticed that they choose the absolute worst time to act up? I sure have. For instance this morning I came down here early to get an early start…
Chuh! I might as well have slept in, because after booting up satisfactorily, the stupid mouse refused to work. I unplugged it, then plugged it back in, banged it on the desk, clicked it numerous times, but nothing happened.
So finally in frustration I went upstairs to get the mouse from my laptop computer. By the time I came back though, I had some 39 entries for Internet Explorer on the go. Hn!
Then you think I could shut them down? No way! I eventually had to switch off the whole computer. Steups! Then by the time it booted back up, there was this message saying it was downloading updates, which slowed up all the stuff I tried to do.
Then to make matters even worse, it cut in and said that the computer needed restarting so that the updates could take effect. Ah Lord eh! By then I was ready to throw it through the window. (smile) But the Spirit of the Lord prevailed, and I simply used a few deleted expletives.
But that’s why I like my typewriter; just turn it on, slip in a piece of paper and go! No laughter from the penny section now my children. Anyway, if that’s the biggest inconvenience that the Lord has planned for me today, then I’ll definitely declare a big, ‘Thank You Lord!’
But I’m not holding my breath, because that might just be the smallest one for the day. However, I know that whatever He causes to come against me, He will help me to work through, once I come to Him with a sincere plea.
As Bruh Paul told the Romans and reminds us today: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to those that LOVE God, to them who are called according to His purpose. (Rom.8:28)
So if we LOVE God, and He’s called us to be one of His elect, then we don’t have to worry about anything, because God will work it out for our good, one way or the other.
Now Friends, today we’re starting a series of messages on the promises of our great and wonderful God. I got this idea from Uncle Charles (Charles Stanley) some weeks ago, when he preached a sermon on it, but I obviously never got around to doing it until the Lord said today’s the day.
And we’ll begin with one of the first promises God made to man, our Bit. ‘I do set my bow (rainbow) in the cloud, and it shall be for a token (sign) of a covenant between me and the earth.’
Yeh Friends, after the Lord caused the flood to wipe out mankind and his evil from His beautiful earth, He covenanted with Noah and his sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth, to set a rainbow in the heavens.
‘And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow (rainbow) shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
And the bow (rainbow) shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.’ (Gen.9:14-16)
So mih people, whenever we see a beautiful rainbow arcing through the sky, let’s remember that God is contemplating His ‘everlasting’ promise to never destroy the earth with water again.
Please note my brethren, that it wasn’t just a promise for some short period of time, but an everlasting one; one that would last forever and ever. That’s how much our God valued His promise to Noah and His earthly creations. And please notice too, that our magnificent God didn’t use some little wishy-washy sign to remind Him, but a glorious arc of beautiful colours set in his blue heaven.
That reminds me of my trip to T&T last year. On the plane from Trinidad to Tobago I espied a beautiful rainbow outside my window, one that followed me all the way to landing, which I took as a good sign; a sign of God’s goodness and faithfulness.
And believe me Friends, the vacation in the land of my birth, or as the old people would say, where my navel string was buried (smile) from which I had been exiled for some thirty years, turned out to be most excellent. So I simply don’t believe the adage that you can never go home again.
In fact I’m hoping to go back again some time in the not too distant future, and eventually spend my last days there. ‘Glory Hallelujah!’
And on that glorious note we’ll close today Friends, because we don’t have enough time and space for another promise. But don’t worry, tomorrow, our God in favour, we’ll look at one or more great promises of our ever-faithful, ever-LOVING, ever-merciful and ever-forgiving God.
We simply cannot ask for a better Deity than the Lord God Jehovah, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Please remember that my people, and live accordingly. Much LOVE!
…to mankind…promises are made to be broken…but to God…promises are made…NEVER TO BE BROKEN…so that His children can always feel safe and secure…in whatever situation…what a wonderful God we serve and worship…
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