08 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: banner of christ's church, bear anything that comes against us, believers in Jesus Christ, bone-chilling cold, carefree, catering to the rich and powerful, condemned, destroyed, destruction, earthly lives, elections, evil, evil ways, evildoer, failure of male leaders, fatherless and widows, fear, fragile world, friends, fruit of their doings, God's anger is not turned away, God's faithful promise, God's wrath, half-naked, hate, have mercy, have no joy, hope and pray, hot sunshine, hypocrite, in faith, indisputable truth, innocent, Isaiah, Isaiah's words, Jerusalem is ruined, judgement, judgement of Judah, Leaders, leaders failing us, lining their pockets, living truth, look on their faces, LOVE, misleading the people, mouths speak foolishness, never leave or forsake us, oppressing the poor and needy, paths, perfect justice, persevere, persist, prosperity, reality of life, rebel against God, repent, repercussions, reward of his hands, righteous people in office, serving and worshipping God, show of their countenance, sin, Sodom, stand steadfast and strong, state of shock, taking God out of society, the righteous, this people, to err, trying times, turmoil, unified, voting, weather, wicked, witness, woe, wrath of man, you'll reap what you sow
Isaiah 9:16. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Ah Friends, it was a shock; physical, emotional and mental shock, at having to get dressed in several layers of clothing last evening to go out in the minus 12 Celsius temperature, get in a cold car and drive around salt encrusted streets bordered by high snow banks, with my windows tightly closed to keep out the bone-chilling cold.
And just consider that some 24 or 30 hours before, I was running around half-naked, in the bright and hot sunshine, getting into cars that were steaming hot, hurrying to open the windows to let some cool air in. Hn! No wonder I was in a state of shock! (smile)
But that’s the reality of life, and we just have to hope and pray in faith that the Lord will enable us to bear anything that comes against us, as He has so faithfully promised. And that doesn’t pertain to just the weather, but to all walks and aspects of our earthly lives. Yes my people, we have to be very careful and cognisant of all that’s happening around us these days, for life’s not as innocent and carefree as it used to be.
As our Bit so wisely draws to our attention: ‘ For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.’ And many of us will recognize that as indisputable truth in these rough, evil and trying times.
Ah mih people, our leaders are failing us terribly; catering to the rich and powerful, as well as lining their own pockets, while oppressing the poor and needy, and above all, taking God out of our societies. That’s why our world is so fragile and in so much turmoil.
But as Isaiah continues after our Bit: ‘Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly (foolishness). For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still (in judgement).’ (Is.9:17)
Yeh Friends, the Lord’s wrath is still in place, still stretched out to punish us. And it will remain there until we repent of our evil ways and turn back to truly serving and worshipping Him.
As the scholars say of that last verse. ‘The leaders are specifically condemned for misleading the people. Isaiah’s words here are reminiscent of his message in chapter 3.
And this is what he says there, re the judgement of Judah. ‘For Jerusalem is ruined (has stumbled), and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of (rebel against) his glory. The show of their countenance (look on their faces) doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded (brought) evil unto themselves.’ (Is.3:8-9)
Oh Friends, doesn’t that sound just like our current society? It surely does!
But Isaiah continues to give the Lord’s message. ‘Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given (done to him).’ (Is.3:11-12)
Oh my fellow believers, per God’s faithful promise, the righteous will be saved, but the wicked shall receive their just reward of destruction, for our God is a God of absolute and perfect justice!
And we’ll end with the verse following those above. ‘As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err (lead thee astray), and destroy the way of thy paths.’ (Is.3:12) And those words are living truth my brethren!
For as the scholars explain it: ‘Children are their oppressors, and women rule over them indicates the utter failure of male leadership in their society.’
Oh Friends, the failure of male run societies has been an ongoing tragedy from the beginning of time, and ours today is certainly no different! But as serious believers in Jesus Christ, we have to stand steadfast and strong and try to improve the wrong that’s constantly and cruelly being done. That’s the task Jesus allotted to His followers.
It’s not easy, but if we persist and persevere, and resist the advances of the evildoers around us, while standing steadfastly on God’s promises to always help us and never leave or forsake us, we will be able to successfully battle the disgraceful leaders of today. That includes voting in all elections, and even more importantly, putting righteous people in office.
But my brethren, in order to do all that, we also have to be unified under the banner of Christ’s church. For until we begin coming together, instead of drifting further apart, nothing much will change for the better, but just get worse. I guess to a certain extent our problem is fear of human repercussions. But which do you think is worse, or which do you fear most; the wrath of man, or the wrath of God?
I’ll leave us to ponder that question. And when you’ve come to a conclusion, please act seriously on it. And a good guide is to remember that from day one, the Lord has built His universe on the irrefutable and wise principle of whatever you sow, that’s exactly what you will reap. So please be careful of the seeds you sow, for they will either come back to harm or help you. Much LOVE!
…you can’t sow corn and reap peas…or sow destruction and reap prosperity…neither war and reap peace…or hate and harvest LOVE…
28 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: after one time is two, against our neightbours, attributes, backbiting, betterment of mankind, biblically speaking, blessing from God, bounden duty, Bruh David, busyness of life, Canada, character, Christ-like character, Christian, clean hands, condemn, control tongues, corruption. unfaithfulness, daily constitutional, deceit, disgusting weather, eradicate, evil, false rumours, fiery splendour, follower of Christ, food place, fraud, good character, gospel truth, greed, grocery, headache, hearts, heavenly wisdom, holy hill, holy tabernacle, honour, idols, innocent, Jesus, keep people apart. long periods of time, king of glory, lift up soul, Lord, LOVE, make memories, make up, memories, necessary improvements, negative things, never something that you had, North country, old friend, pardners, personal integrity, pride, promises, proper example, pure heart, qualifications, reminisce, reminiscences, responsibility, reverence, righteousness., room for improvement, rule the roost, salvation, selfishness, sojourn, speak truth, sufficient time, swearing, thanks, the world in shambles, to serve the Lord, Tobago, unchristian activity, unrighteous, usury, vacation, vanity, visited, vows, walk uprightly, wind and rain, winding down, worthy
Psalm 15:1. Lord who shall abide (sojourn) in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
And then Friends, it was Tuesday! Unfortunately, the vacation time is winding down. But not to worry, for there’s yet sufficient time to get in whole lot more activities and make many more memories, so that when I’m sitting in my rocking chair in the cold North Country, I can just reminisce and chuckle at the reminiscences.
And that’s what life really is all about yes people; making good memories. For when old age arrives and you physically can’t do much of anything, all you will have then are memories of the way your life was spent. Therefore it’s very important that we make as many good ones as possible.
For as the Johnny Bristol sings in his song of some years ago: ‘Memories don’t leave like people do. They always stay with you. Whether they been good or bad. They’re never something that you had.’
Gospel truth my brethren! Memories never leave us. When all else fails, memories will still be there. So let’s try and make as many good ones as possible nuh. Now let’s see what good ones I made yesterday. (smile)
Oh, in the early morning hours, some wicked wind and rain lashed my little area – twice to be exact. And what amused me was that in between each episode, the sun came out in all its fiery splendour. Also, around lunch time some friends from Canada came to visit. They are only here for about three days.
Then in the afternoon, I went down to Store Bay for my daily constitutional. I believe the last time I mentioned that, I said testimonial, but it was really constitutional I meant. And that’s simply something good that you do for yourself on a fairly regular basis.
But lo and behold, as I entered the change room at Store Bay, I saw a man sitting there buckling the straps on his sandals. His face seemed familiar, but his cap was hiding the upper portion of his face. So I looked closer at him, only to realize that it was another old friend from Canada, one whom I hadn’t seen in ages, although we don’t live far from each other in the North Country.
But the busyness of life and the disgusting weather often keep people apart for long periods of time. You might talk to them regularly on the phone but hardly ever see them.
Anyway, as the Lord would have it, his wife, daughter and himself were just finished bathing and were planning to drop in on us on their way home. So we just visited right there, since they were only in Tobago for the day.
Nothing much happened after that. I got my dip, said some thanks to a couple of people who had been instrumental in safely securing my bag last week, stopped in the grocery and a food place, then came home and relaxed as best I could with the stupid headache still bothering me.
A couple pardners dropped by for a short visit later in the evening. But other than that it was quiet, had an early night because of the headache, which unfortunately is still bugging me some, almost two days later. I guess though, as the old people would say; after one time is two, since I hardly ever have headaches, especially ones of this magnitude and length.
But for whatever purpose the Lord’s allowing it, I just have to get a grip and keep on doing what I have to, knowing that eventually He will make all things right. And those are the good memories I made yesterday. (smile)
Now let’s see what the Lord wants me to write on biblically speaking, today? And Friends it seems like He wants us to focus today on the important question of: ‘Lord who shall abide (sojourn) in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?’
Yes my fellow believers, that’s an interesting and also very important question! Who is worthy to serve in the Lord’s tabernacle, what are the qualifications necessary for that awesome job?
And Bruh David answers the question he just posed in the following two verses. ‘He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up (receives) a reproach against his neighbour.’ (Ps.15:2-3)
Oh Friends, that means that the person who serves in the tabernacle must have personal purity. But all those things also pertain to the ordinary Christian. EVERY follower of Christ needs to walk uprightly, work righteousness and speak truth from their hearts. It’s all a part of the Christian make up and character. Neither can we be spreading deceit and false rumours with our wicked, hard to control tongues, or doing evil against our neighbours.
As Bruh David also asks in Psalm 24, the King of glory: ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? (Ps.24:3)
And his answer is basically the same: ‘He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity (to an idol), nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.’ (Ps.24:4-5)
Unfortunately though mih breddren, those characteristics are in very short supply these days, even amongst supposed believers! That serious drop in moral standards and otherwise, are why our world is now such a troubled, evil, disaster-prone and calamitous place.
The attributes of good character and personal integrity have sadly lost their position of high standing and importance. They are no longer considered necessary aspects of human life. These days fraud, corruption, deceit, unfaithfulness, selfishness, pride and greed rule the roost.
And it’s sad that many of us believers dabble too much in such unchristian activity, instead of being the ones to uphold the Christ-like character and integrity. That brings us back to Psalm 15, where Bruh David continues his discourse on the qualifications for working in the Lord’s sanctuary.
One ‘In whose eyes a vile person is contemned (despised); but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.’ (Ps.15:4-5)
Yes my people, those are all qualifications that the ordinary but serious believer also needs to possess. We ought not to uphold the works of the unrighteous, but remember they are also God’s creation. And furthermore, at times we also behave unrighteous, and we surely don’t want others to despise or condemn us then.
We need to honour those who reverence God, and promises and vows should be taken seriously, neither should we take advantage of the already disadvantaged. But unfortunately all the negative aspects of those things are rampant in our troubled, misguided world. Like the constant and severe oppression and suppression of the poor and needy and the insatiable greed of the wealthy.
Oh my brethren, those things should not be happening on such a large scale. And it is our responsibility, the responsibility of the true and serious believer, first to eradicate those negative things from our own lives, set a proper example, then try and eradicate them from our immediate circle and surroundings, then keep moving up to the higher levels of our society, and finally the world.
That’s our bounden duty Friends, for nobody else has any real and serious interest in the overall betterment of mankind, which is what Jesus came to do, and what His followers ought to be doing!
Therefore, please let’s ponder our individual situations today, re the things we’ve talked about, then, with the Lord’s help obviously, try to make the necessary improvements. And even for those who are already fairly decent, there is always room for improvement.
Let’s make Jesus proud of us nuh, by living the kind of life He desires of His followers. That’s heavenly wisdom my people! Much LOVE!
…until believers improve their own performance…the unbelievers will rule…and the world will remain in shambles…
26 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: armour of god, assaults, batting number two, bless others, blessed, breastplate of righteousness, breath in our bodies, cast off the works of darkness, church, coconut tart, conversion, curry crab and dumpling, defeat, etched indelibly, evil, evil day, far from the madding crowd, favour, fiery darts, fireworks, gird your waist, giving thanks, God's little Acre, good times, gospel of peace, hearts souls and minds, helmet of salvation, historic names, holy spirit, honeymoon, interesting, joyous, LOVE, magnanimous god, moment in time, Most High, new acquaintences, nostalgic memories, old friends, one in a lifetime occasion, partying, persverance, powers of darkness, prayer, put on, redeeming spirit, run for its money, saints, salt, sand, schemes of the devil, sea, sensible way, shield of faith, smile, soca riddims, soul searching, spiritual armour, stand, supplication, sword of the Spirit, take up the armour of light, Thank You Lord, the day's at hand, the night is spent, the whole armour of God, truth, ungodly planet, vacation, wiles, wind and rain, wisdom, wise, Word of God
Romans 13:12. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
And what is shaping up to be the second best vacation ever, keeps rolling along nicely! Yes Friends, it has indeed been a blessed and joyous eleven days so far on God’s Little Acre! But has it really been eleven days already? Let’s see. I arrived here on the 16th, and today is the 26th. Yeh people, that makes it 11 days inclusive!
Our magnanimous God has certainly shone His incredible favour down on me in those past 11 days. Almost everything I’ve wanted, I’ve been blessed with; from a clean, quiet, comfortable and spacious place to stay, to coconut tart, pigeon peas soup, curry crab and dumpling, sea, sand, salt and good times with old friends and new acquaintances. How can I ever complain eh?
Rather, I’m giving thanks and saying ‘Thank You Lord! Thank You ever so much for looking after me! And I pray that as I continue to serve You to the best of my ability, You will keep on blessing me, so that I can bless others.’ Oh my brethren, that’s the only wise and sensible way to go on this evil and ungodly planet!
Right now though, at about two thirty on what has turned out to be a bright, sunny and windy Sunday afternoon, I’m having a cup of caffeine, struggling to come awake. Hn, hn! It’s already been a busy day. I was up and off to church for 7.30 this morning. And though it ran for almost two hours, it was interesting and soul searching.
I then came home and fed my face and had to catch up with some lost night time rest, for yesterday was hectic. That included a trip in the hot afternoon sun to the Windward side of the island, after my episode in Store Bay. Passing through villages and towns with historic names like, Hope, Mt.St.George, Belle Garden, Roxborough and Delaford, certainly brought back nostalgic memories of my youth on the island.
Because of time constraints, we stopped in Delaford at a beach called Kings Bay and hung out there for a short period. Strangely enough though, although the beach seemed fine, either through laziness to change my clothes and then change back again, and /or the movement of the Spirit, I just did not feel like bathing in the sea, and that surely says something.
Oh I just had a bit of delicious watermelon from my brother’s garden to cool the heat in the body. (smile) The winding hilly roads of my youth are still there, with very little been done to straighten or widen them. However the surface quality in many parts is crying out for serious fixing.
Then by the time I got home and rested some, my half-brother and his wife showed up with the curry crab and dumpling that they had promised to make. Mama Yo! Was it ever delicious mih people! I even got a new convert in the Duchess. (smile) She finally appreciates why I’ve always talked so highly of the exotic T&T dish.
And while we were here visiting with my brother and his wife, a party was simultaneously happening somewhere nearby in the compound, with plenty talk, laughter and hot soca riddims rocking through the atmosphere, accompanied at one stage by some brilliant fireworks.
At one stage too, a strong wind storm and driving rain erupted. But as anyone from these parts knows, a little wind and rain doesn’t stop the party. It only prevents one from going to work. (smile) Oh the wind and rain were hot to trot this morning too. The radio announcer was warning people not to leave home without their umbrellas, and I drove to church amidst intermittent showers.
And that my Friends, is where we stand at this most auspicious moment in time!
And for those of you who are fast and inquisitive enough to wonder what was our Number One vacation experience. Well it was a trip the Duchess and I took, what… possibly 20 years ago, to Jamdown, (sweet Jamaica) and stayed far from the madding crowd down in the Parish of Trelawney, renting a townhouse there and going on some guided tours around the island.
Now we’ve never been tour people, always wanting to do our own thing, in our own time, but the Lord must have guided us to that, because it was the BEST TIME EVER! The things we did and places we went, are etched indelibly in our hearts minds and souls. And try as we want, we’ll never be able to recreate that enthusiasm and energy that arises in such one in a lifetime occasion.
We were young, no younger and stronger then, and could handle the hectic pace that was necessary for those endeavours. Our honeymoon, right here in Tobago, forty odd years ago, has so far been batting number two, but it’s certainly getting a run for its money from this current experience.
For your info, it seems that another joyful gathering is taking place nearby in the compound. I can’t see anybody, but the sound of talk, laughter and sweet soca are circulating through the airwaves. It sure seems like a partying compound.
And now that you know as much as I do, (smile) let’s see what out Bit has to offer. ‘The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.’
Yes my people, it’s certainly time for us believers to wake up and realize that the powers of darkness are smothering a lot of the world! Believers need to get serious about their Christian faith, to wake up and realize that Beelzebub is on a serious tear. And as Bruh Paul informs us, it’s only by putting on Christ’s armour of light, can we ever hope to beat back and eventually defeat those strong and evil powers that hide within the darkness of the world.
And the best way to bring that home to us, is by quoting Bruh Paul’s immortal, admonishing and ‘exhortatious’ (I just like how it sounds) advice to the Ephesians. ‘Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (schemes) of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities (rulers), against powers (authorities), against the rulers (world-rulers) of the darkness of this world (age), against spiritual (spiritual hosts of) wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you (take up) the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Be ready for constant assaults from the wicked one).
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about (girded your waist) with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked (one).
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.’ (Eph.6:10-18)
That says it all my brethren! I didn’t plan on quoting the last five verses which describe the spiritual armour, but I knew that very few of us would actually look it up, if I asked us to. So I decided to spoon feed us, (smile) so that we can get the full gist, the real importance of the subject.
It makes the Bit longer, but you can’t have it both ways. We need to get clothed, and stay clothed as long as possible in the strengthening and perceptive spiritual armour of God, if we want to bring the world to acceptance and conversion to Jesus.
So please, let’s go out and do that today, and every day, while there’s breath in our bodies nuh. That’s the wisdom of the age! Much LOVE!
…only as believers are filled with the redeeming Spirit of the Most High…will they be able to put up a good fight against the powers of darkness…
20 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adrenalin, anointing, aura of love, blessings, call to arms, changing the world, Church of Christ, come together, confess, confidence, conquerors, day of the awakening, destruction, devastation, direct my prayer, divide and conquer, Elijah, enthusiasm, equal rights, eternal life, evil, faults, friends, further your glorious kingdom, get down to brass tacks, God's people, good news, harm, heaven, hiding their heads in the sand, holy spirit, humble servants, importance of prayer, in the morning, invincible, Jesus Christ, justice, lies, Lord God Jehovah, LOVE, make a difference, mickey-mouse stuff, Monday Morniing Battle Hymn, natural disasters, nature, one day at a time, passions, peace, powers of evil, pray for one another, prayer, prayer of faith, prayer of the righteous, rain, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, righteousness., rise up, rumours of war, saving and redeeming gospel, saviour, sins, spiritual armour, spirituality, steadfast faith, strife, suffering, taunts, things of the world, trespasses, trust, ungodly world, unified fight, victorious, wake up call, wars, weary souls, wiles, wisdom, worthwhile inroads
Psalm 5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Oh Friends, it’s Monday: Monday 20 January 2014! The year that the Lord God Jehovah will make a mighty impact on this planet Earth, that He created! Fellow believers, this year we’re going to receive such a wake up call that we’ll be unable to avoid the Lord’s call to arms.
You’ll notice that since 2014 stepped in the strife around the world and the natural disasters have escalated. And believe me Friends, if we, the ones appointed by Jesus to take the good news of His saving and redeeming gospel all over the world, don’t do it, then we’ll see even worse strife and disasters, many of the latter man-made.
Oh my people, the talk about wars and rumours of wars is no longer prophetic, for it’s been currently fulfilled, with serious strife in more places than those where some semblance of peace reigns. So mih breddren, if we truly want our children to live to see a brighter day, then WE have to seriously step up to the plate and do some serious proselytizing, since it’s only by spreading the Word around the globe, that LOVE, peace, equal rights and justice will ever find a true foothold.
Oh my people, it’s high time we stop the mickey-mouse stuff we’ve been fooling ourselves with and get down to brass tacks, because the enemy; the powers of evil, Lucifer and his evil cohorts, have stepped up their programme of evil devastation and destruction. That means we have to take even bigger steps than them, if we even want to catch up, much less to pass them.
Friends, this is not just my feeling, but it’s right there out in front of us for all and sundry to see. But please remember that there’s none so blind as those who refuse to see. And sadly, a great many believers are either too taken up with the things of the world, or are foolishly hiding their heads in the sand like the ostrich, hoping that the evil tendencies will disappear on their own.
But Friends, I have news for us; that’s a fallacy, a very foolish one too! If we try to run and hide from the situation, it will only get worse, and eventually catch up to us and engulf us in its evil claws. So please, let’s stop trying to side step the problems nuh, for we’re only doing ourselves irreparable harm.
Oh Friends, this is the day of the awakening! This is the day that God’s people must rise up and take the fight to the enemy! And as our Bit so wisely advises, the best way to do that, is to begin the day in prayer, in serious communication with the Most High. ‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’
So now my people, as we always do on a Monday morning, let’s look up, and raise our voices, direct our prayer, our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to our wonderful Creator, Provider and Protector. As one harmonious, blessed union, let’s pray.
‘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!’
And with that adrenalin now pumping through our veins my brethren, let’s go out into the evil world that surrounds us, this first day of the work week, and make a serious and worthwhile difference in Jesus’ name nuh. I don’t like to keep harping on it, but it’s only through our strong, indefatigable and sustained efforts, RIGHT NOW, that our grandchildren will inherit a half-decent world.
Remember how we recently talked about changing the world, one day at a time? Well now it’s become imperative that we do so!
Now let’s get into the last scripture in this series of messages on the importance of prayer in a believer’s life. It comes from the epistle of James, recognized as Jesus’ earthly half brother. One of those who, in the early days chastised Him and didn’t believe, but who later came to see the light, as I’d like us to do.
And in talking about patience in affliction, James boldly proclaims: ‘Is any among you afflicted (suffering)? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Confess your faults (trespasses) one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual (effective) fervent (supplication) prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are (with a nature like ours), and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth (land) by the space of (for) three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.’ (James 5:13-18)
Oh Friends, I can’t say it better than that! I can only hope and pray that this Monday morning, we will all go out and stand up steadfast and strong for Jesus. In His Holy name, we pray. And all God’s people gave a loud and rousing shout of ‘So be it! Amen!’ Much LOVE my brothers and sisters in Christ!
…only as the church of Christ comes together…and fights a serious and unified fight…will it ever be victorious…otherwise the enemy will keep on dividing and conquering us…
09 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bed of roses, action word, agape, antibiotics, awesome truth, believers, between a rock and a hard place, bravely, Bruh Paul, charity, cooped up, disciples, doesn't boast, doesn't envy, dr robert h schuller, each generation, eros, evil, exciting thought, eye-opening experiences, faith is dim, fantastic, fantastic lesson, God LOVES me, God's help, God's LOVE, good fortune, good news, grace and favour of God, graceful truth, gumption, happy report, heahten, holy sentence, holy spirit, Hour of Power Devotional, hypocrites, ice, incomprehensible, iniquity, Jesus Christ, laugh, life's a blast, LOVE, Love does no harm, LOVE FOR EACH OTHER, Love fulfills the law, LOVE one another, LOVE Revolution, marathon session, negative emotions, never fails, new commandment, no waiting, not arrogant, not evil, not rude, not selfish, petty problems, pharmacy, prophecies, put in my heart, ran the race, rejoice, root canal, sadly lacking, scoff, short of Love, slush, snow, sparsely populated, suffers long, temptations, tests, Thank you Father, the Way of LOVE, tongues, troubled world, truth, ugly reality, unbeliever, ungodly world, unloving attitude, walking with Jesus, warm cocoon, wisdom, withstand
Romans 13:10. LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.
Aye mih breddren, life’s certainly a blast yes! For the first time in about ten days, I actually ventured out of my safe, warm cocoon yesterday, and faced the ugly reality that is the outside world. It’s the longest I’ve ever been cooped up in a house that I can remember.
At least when I had prostate cancer surgery a few years back, it was summer, and I could sit outside on either the front porch or the back deck. In any case though, I never really felt cooped up this past week because for most of it I was sick and the weather was terrible. And it seems that quite a few people did the same thing, for the same reasons.
Anyway, would you believe I did a marathon session out there yesterday! Wow! Bruh Paul would have been proud of how I ran that race! (smile) I left home, went up the street to a nearby Walmart, then went all the way down to the other end of the city, to the banker, the barber, the grocer and the doctor.
Mama Mia! In truth though, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds, because the last four places were in close proximity to each other, about two blocks separated them all. So I got up my gumption and bravely walked through the snow, ice and slush that covered the sidewalks and parking lots.
And wonder of wonders, in NONE of those four places did I have to wait, for all of them were sparsely populated! As soon as I walked into everyone, I was immediately served. I had to laugh at my good fortune, because as most of you know those four places usually call for a fair amount of waiting.
But then I realized that it was our wonderful God pouring out His abundant grace and favour on me, since I wasn’t in the best of shape, and it was still windy and cold. Obviously I let Him know that I was very thankful. The only place I had a short wait was at the Pharmacy later on where I went to get some antibiotics that the medic prescribed.
That’s why Friends, today, like Gramps Schuller (Robert H. Schuller) I can certainly attest to and loudly proclaim that ‘GOD LOVES ME!’ And also say along with His prayer from His Hour of Power Devotional.
‘Thank you, Lord, for this holy sentence, this good news, this happy report, this exciting thought, this graceful truth, this fantastic lesson. GOD LOVES ME! Even when I’m at my worst — GOD LOVES ME. Even when my faith is dim — GOD LOVES ME ANYWAY! It’s incomprehensible and fantastic! Thank you, Father. Amen.’
Ah mih people, I keep reminding us that walking with Jesus is not a bed of roses, but betwixt and between the tests and temptations, there are indeed wonderful, refreshing, rejuvenating, interesting and eye-opening experiences. The only problem now is that I have to go to the dentist today for some root canal work. Let’s see how that will play out. (smile)
But enough of my petty problems, let’s turn to our Bit, which deals with LOVE, something that our troubled world so badly needs but unfortunately is sadly lacking.
As the old song so truthfully stated back then, and is even more appropriate now, in these sad days of strife and the preponderance of negative emotions: ‘What the world needs now, is LOVE, SWEET LOVE. That’s the only thing, there’s just too little of…’
And oh my brethren, is that ever so true! LOVE comes from our God, and is what makes our world go round, or function properly, but right now we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place because we’re so SHORT of LOVE.
We claim to know about God’s LOVE for us, but what we seem unable to fathom and put into place is OUR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER. And a long while back, Bruh Paul put it to the Romans this way in our Bit: ‘LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.’
Now that’s the awesome truth Friends! For even before Bruh Paul’s comment, Jesus Himself commanded His disciples, and therefore us, and all His true followers: ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:34-35)
Oh my fellow believers, Jesus was talking there about revolutionizing the world through LOVE! It was the beginning of the LOVE Revolution, which each generation of believers is supposed to carry on, but which, unfortunately we’re not doing, since we’re not showing LOVE to each other.
Remember it’s through our showing of LOVE to each other that the world will know that we’re disciples of Jesus. And since we’re not doing it, that means we’re not His true disciples.
No wonder the unbeliever, the heathens and many others laugh and scoff at us, and consider us hypocrites because they quite plainly see our ‘UNLOVING’ attitudes and behaviour towards each other and the world in general.
That’s why I keep reminding us that LOVE is an ACTION WORD! We simply can’t talk it and expect it to happen. LOVE only takes place when we DO SOMETHING TO SHOW IT!
Consequently, Bruh Paul, who saw the need for LOTS OF LOVE in the evil, ungodly world, penned one of the most beautiful chapters of the Bible; re the WAY OF LOVE. And we’ll close by quoting a few appropriate verses from it, just to remind us what TRUE LOVE is all about.
And we’re not talking about ‘Eros’ or romantic LOVE, but ‘agape’, the spiritual LOVE that flows from God, and is supposed to be so jubilantly and vibrantly working in us through the Holy Spirit that indwells us.
So please listen up Friends, neighbours, heathens, whoever you are, for only these things will ever right our wrong-sided world.
‘Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (LOVE) envieth not; charity (LOVE) vaunteth not (does not brag on) itself, is not puffed up (arrogant), Doth not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (keeps no accounts of evil);
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity (LOVE) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail (cease): whether there be tongues, they shall cease, whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.’ (1 Cor.13:4-8)
And that’s the God-awesome truth my people! Therefore, let’s ponder all these things today nuh, and with God’s ever-present, never-ending help, make the necessary changes in our attitudes and behaviour, so that we can leave this world a much better place for our children. That’s the only wisdom there is! Much LOVE!
…if we’re not actively doing LOVE…then we’re not true disciples of Christ…as simple as that…
P.S. Friends, the Bit’s long and late, but it’s what God put in my heart to write today. Much LOVE!
06 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abandoned, admonish, adrenalin, all year round, aura of love, be proud, believe, best present, blustery winter's morn, bright sunshine, brother, Bruh Paul, busybodies, Christ-like feeling, Christmas Season, commanded, confidence, conquerors, correct, Creator of the universe, death row, Devil's workshop, disobedience, enemy's wicked taunts, enthusiasm, evil, excommunication, faithful Being, forgiveness, further your glorious kingdom, good works, goodwill to men, grace, heavenly Father, hoopla, humble servants, idle hands, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, joy, judgement morn, jump start, keeping lives and families together, lies, lord god almighty, lord jesus christ, LOVE, meddlesome ways, meddling, meet the enemy in battle, mercy, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, new year 2014, New Year's hangover, obedience, peace, Praise the Lord, praise Your Holy Name, pray, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, sally forth, second chance, serve a useful purpose, shame, should not eat, sing God's praises, snow, snow-white Monday, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, strength and energy, surrender, Thessalonians, ungodly world, valiant fight for Jesus, walk disorderly, warm temps, warn, we're not afraid, weary souls, week of work, well doing, wiles, wonderful god, work ethic, worthwhile inroads, would not work
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.
Oh Friends, it’s Monday, a beautiful snow-white Monday in my area, and the ole fella’s feeling a tad better. Praise the Lord!
However for those of you going to work in the Greater Toronto Area, please leave early, and be very careful, for there’s a fair amount of snow on the ground. And for those of you enjoying bright sunshine with warm temps, please enjoy it and pray for us who unfortunately don’t have that luxury. (smile)
Anyway Friends, it’s Monday and all the hoopla from the Christmas season is now over, but please let that Christ-like feeling of joy, peace and goodwill to men reign all year round. It’s the best present we can give to Christ.
And I know that many of us are still suffering from the New Year’s hangover and don’t want to go back to work, but that’s life mih people, for as Bruh Paul says, if you don’t work, you shouldn’t eat. But though we find it extremely difficult to get up and get back in the flow of things, we just have to.
And as always, our Monday Morning Battle Hymn is here to help us do just that. So with all the strength and energy we can muster this blustery winter’s morn, let’s sing it out loud, believe and be proud.
‘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!’
Now my people, let’s allow that adrenalin build up to jump start our motors and get us going, so we can get out there and fight a valiant fight for Jesus, thereby enabling us to walk closer with Him this new year of 2014. For remember, that’s what we’ve resolved to do.
And Friends, I can’t help but sing and extol our wonderful God’s praises everyday, because everyday He does something that amazes me. Now, after writing above, about Bruh Paul saying that if you don’t work, you shouldn’t eat, I went looking for that particular scripture, so I could note it.
And, lo and behold, I not only found it, but found in it a Bit that nicely dovetailed with the work ethic that we were talking about on this first Monday in the new year. Up until then, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to write about.
That’s why I keep saying that our great God is the most faithful Being there is, if we sincerely try to adhere to His dictates. We might not understand all that He says or does, but we can be assured that He will never leave us suspended in mid-air without a safe way to escape.
Now let’s turn to that most interesting Bit. ‘For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.’
And there’s a lot of sense to that my people! As Bruh Paul continues: ‘For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.’ (2 Thess.3:11-12)
And there are undoubtedly many amongst us who fall into that category; spend more time meddling than working. And the scholars have this to say about those verses.
‘3:10-12. Paul expounds his simple and straightforward work ethic; If a person will not work, he should not eat! The Thessalonians’ diversion encouraged their meddlesome ways, demonstrating that “idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.’ Or as we would say; the devil finds work for idle hands.
However my fellow believers, please note Bruh Paul’s next words. ‘But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish (warn, correct) him as a brother.’ (2 Thess.3:13-15)
So though there are annoying and meddlesome people amongst us, we still need to keep up with our good works.
As the scholars put it: ‘3:14-15. This instruction falls short of excommunication. Paul intends his readers to shame the brother, who is not an enemy, into obedience.’
Yes Friends, we ought to try our very best to get our misbehaving brothers and sisters to see the light, not simply abandon them because of their disobedience.
Remember that if God had simply abandoned us because of our disobedience, right now we’d be sitting on death row, waiting for the judgement morn to come, when we’d be separated from Almighty God forever. But He, in his great mercy, LOVE and forgiveness, gave us a second chance, and so should we to our brethren.
And we’ll end with Bruh Paul’s words. ‘Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all… The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.’ (2 Thess.3:16, 18) Much LOVE, my brethren!
…but let none of you suffer…as a busybody (meddler)…in other men’s matters… (1 Pet.4:15b)
05 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 2014, all ages, as I walk, blossom, burden, but thou art strong, calamity, come to our senses, command, common cold, conspiracy, covenant, cursed, daily walking close to thee, day one, dear Lord, disrupted, emotional, error of our ways, evil, evil heart, faithful Lord and Saviour, falter, feeble life, feel lousy, fellow believers, fighting a cold, fingers, foolish choices, forefathers, fragile world, friends, god, God's universe, gospel truth, guide me, hellish earth, help, hymn, I am weak, I'll be satisfied, idols, inclined their ear, iniquities, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Judah, Just a closer walk, keep me from all wrong, let it be, lilies of the field, lord of hosts, mechanisms, medicine, mental capacity, my plea, negative consequences, obey, obey God, one and only God, other gods, polluted the atmosphere, positive change, prophet jeremiah, prophetic words, refused to hear, resolution, snares, spelling mistakes, spiritual, strife, stubbornness, stupid, thick heads, time everlasting, too late, troubles, true reflection, turned back, unfaithful, unpredictable, weather patterns, well-being, wisdom, world of toil, worship their own work
Isaiah 2:8. Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s in a lousy state this first Sunday morning in January of 2014. Steups! I’ve been fighting a rather challenging cold for the last few days. Ah Lord eh! All I’ve been doing is resting and taking stuff to try and minimize its effects, but… Chuh! Every morning I get up and expect it to be better, I find like it’s gone back to an earlier stage.
And you know that there’s no sickness in this whole wide world that makes you feel as miserable as the common cold. You know you’re not dying, but you feel so lousy, that you might as well be. (smile) I don’t even think I’m going to church this morning.
However Fridns… What a beautiful spelling of Friends, Fridns! We’re not going to do this nonsense again today are we? I made more spelling mistakes in writing the Bit yesterday than I’ve ever done before. The spelling check didn’t even have to point them out to me, they were so glaring. Like the cold’s affecting my mental capacity, which already isn’t the greatest. (smile)
Anyway, as I was about to say, though I can’t seem to physically get rid of the cold on my terms, must let it run its course, I do have the medicine for my spiritual and emotional well being. And it’s to be found in this old but very beautiful hymn: Just A Closer Walk With Thee. So please sing it with me my brethren.
‘I am weak, but Thou art strong; Jesus, keep me from all wrong; I’ll be satisfied as long, As I walk, let me walk close to thee.’
Now let’s raise the roof with the chorus Friends: ‘Just a closer walk with Thee, Grant it, Jesus, is my plea, Daily walking close to Thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.’
Wow, mih people! That sure hit the right spots in my soul! Hope it did in yours too! But that’s exactly what we need in this New Year, a single-minded resolution that will take care of everything else.
Yes my fellow believers, we can’t ask for, or have a better resolution than walking closer with our faithful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! For when we do that, our lives just blossom like the lilies of the field!
As the second verse of the hymn says: ‘Through this world of toil and snares, If I falter, Lord who cares? Who with me my burden shares? None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.’
And that’s the gospel truth my people! Only our wonderful Lord and Saviour truly cares about our troubles, and furthermore, is willing to help us bear our burdens down here on this hellish earth. Our fellow man might say they do, and sometimes they really do, but none of them can’t help us the way that Jesus Christ can.
That’s why it’s ever so important Friends, to not let our Bit be a true reflection of our society. ‘Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.’
For if that is the true state of our land, then we can’t expect much, if any help from our Lord and Saviour, because that means we’ve broken our covenant with our God; not to worship any gods but Him. And in fact, then we’re not only being unfaithful, but also stupid, because THERE ARE NO OTHER GODS BUT HIM! HE IS THE ONE AND ONLY GOD; ALIVE AND KICKING FROM DAY ONE UNTIL TIME EVERLASTING!
I don’t know what it will take for us to get that through our thick heads nuh Friends. Now hear these prophetic words of the Lord of Hosts, as spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, re the broken covenant.
‘Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; And say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God….
Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked everyone in the imagination (stubbornness) of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did not. And the Lord said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil (calamity) upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto (hear, listen to) them.’ (Jer.11:2-4, 8-11)
Ah mih people, there’s not much to debate there, because all of that also applies to our time. There’s no doubt that we’ve turned our back on God, and that there is a definite conspiracy to take Him out of our lives and societies. So what else do we expect eh?
And the sad and senseless part of it all is that a lot of the calamity that we’re now experiencing, isn’t so much the Lord sending it on us, but it’s more the result of our own foolish choices and stubbornness, e.g. the widespread strife that exists in our rather fragile world, and the scary, unpredictable weather patterns that are now becoming the norm, because we’ve so badly polluted the atmosphere. We’ve recklessly disrupted the finely tuned mechanisms of God’s universe!
Ah mih people, all I can say is, I hope that we soon come to our senses and realize the error of our ways, before it’s too late to make a positive change. So let’s go home, singing the last verse of our hymn.
‘When my feeble life is o’er, Time for me will be no more; Guide me gently, safely o’er, To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore. Just a closer walk with Thee, Grant it, Jesus, is my plea, Daily walking close to Thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.’
Yes my people, please ponder seriously on all that we’ve said, and let’s make 2014 the year that we truly walk closer with Jesus, because it’s the wisdom for all ages! Much LOVE!
…true wisdom declares…obey God…or face the negative consequences…it’s that simple…
02 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 2014, anger, anger of the Lord, backfire, blessed, bow down, calamity, chosen people, Christmas Season, climb over, come up higher for Jesus, conscious actions, consequences, Controller, Creator, cry out, delivered, depravity, descend to the level, disaster, disgust, dislike, disobedience, displease God, distress, don't quit, emotional, enemies, evil, eyes of faith, faced with a mountain, faith, faith at work, find a pass through, foolish sheep, forgiveness, forgotten Jesus' promise, forsook the Lord, friends, god, gold mine, gone astray, Good Book, hatred, hearts, heavenly Father, high time, humiliate, idolatry, idols, in the sight of, Isaiah, Israel, Israelites, jealous god, Jesus Christ, joyous time, keep on striving, kindness, LOVE, manifested, manmade idols, material things, mercy, minds, negative emotions, obnoxious, of the universe, oppress, pagan gods, peace, Philistines, pleading, ponder, Possibiity Thinker's Creed, Possibility Thinking, propitiation, prosperous year, punished, resentment, rich and fertile soil, righteousness., sacrifice, sake of our children, seek first, serious effort, serious note, sinful attitudes, sinned against, sins, souls, sowing seeds, spiritual, the kingdom of God, tribulation, tunnel underneath, turned His back, vexatious policies, with God's help, work of our own hands, worship
Isaiah 2:8. Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.
Oh Friends, can you believe it’s already the 2nd of January 2014? (smile) And I’ve made one mistake already. I put 2013 in the big heading above instead of 2014. But the ole fella’s only human, and that kind of error is usual until the new year really gets into our systems.
But my people, on a more serious note, the Christmas season is coming to an end, and I’m pleading with us, please, please, let’s not allow the kindness, mercy, peace, forgiveness and LOVE that we’ve shown throughout this joyous time to die. Let’s not allow it to turn back to the evil, the anger, the hatred, resentment and other negative emotions that we had, and exhibited before Christmas began.
It’s obvious that we can’t LOVE everybody, every minute of every day, but we definitely don’t have to descend back to the level of dislike, disgust and depravity that we were at in 2013. It’s high time we come up higher for Jesus’ sake!
And here’s a word, a reminder, re coming up higher, from Gramps Schuller (Dr. Robert H. Schuller). He calls it the Possibility Thinker’s Creed. And Possibility Thinking my Friends, is just faith at work, because as believers, we need to see the world through the eyes of faith.
So let’s remember and truly believe that: ‘When faced with a mountain, I will not quit! I will keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath, or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine – with God’s help.’
Yes Friends, let’s start this blessed and prosperous year of 2014, by sowing those seeds of possibility thinking, of faith, deep into the rich and fertile soil of our hearts, souls and minds!
Now let’s turn to our very first Bit of this new year. And it’s a very serious Bit my people. ‘Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.’
Oh my brethren, Isaiah could surely have been writing about us, instead of the Israelites of old! Why? Because we too have such a multiplicity of idols in our lives these days, that it’s not funny. Remember too, the definition of an idol; anything we place before God in our lives.
And that covers a multitude of things Friends, because we seem to place all the material things of the world, as well as all its evil, obnoxious and vexatious policies before the Creator and Controller of the universe. I don’t know how many times we must be reminded that our God is a very jealous deity and wants us to bow down to no other supposed deity but Him. And surely not those that we’ve made with our own hands!
It also seems that we’ve completely and conveniently forgotten Jesus’ promise, that if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, that all the stuff we need, material, spiritual, emotional and whatever else, will be provided to us by our Heavenly Father! (Matt.5:24-34)
Please read that again my fellow believers, so that it can sink into our minds and spirits, and thus be manifested in our conscious actions. It’s the only way we’ll ever remove the idolatry from our lives.
And just to show how all this idolatry could backfire on us, we’ll recall one occasion from the Good Book, where the Lord turned His back on His chosen people, Israel.
‘And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth (Baals and Ashtoreths), and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served him not.
And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.’ (Judg.10:6-7)
Yes Friends, the Lord allowed their enemies to humiliate them.
‘And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim. And the Lord said unto the children of Israel, did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?
The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry (out) unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation (distress). (Judg.10:10-14)
What more is there to say my brethren? Not much. The children of Israel knowingly and wilfully abandoned, turned away from the God of their fathers to worship pagan gods and man-made idols. And the Lord, as promised, punished them severely.
Now tell me, why do you think that our individual societies, and our world in general are in such a mess eh?
It’s simple Friends; we too have turned away in droves from worshipping the ONE and ONLY TRUE GOD, who created us, who LOVED us so much, that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be a propitiation, a human sacrifice for our sins.
And now, like foolish sheep, we have all gone astray, forgotten Him, and instead turned to idols of our own making. So what else can we expect but disaster and calamity eh?
Please ponder on these things today, my fellow believers, and then let’s make a strong and serious effort to overcome those sinful attitudes that we know displease our God. If we don’t want to do it for our sake, then please do it for the sake of our children and those who come after us.
Let us not allow it to be said, that our generation caused it all to fall apart. It’s not too late… if we begin RIGHT NOW! Much LOVE!
…when will we ever learn…that disobedience to God’s will…will ALWAYS bring serious consequences…
01 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 2014, almighty god, awesome, battle, be glad, beat the air, belly and backbone, body of Christ, Book of the Law, Bruh Paul, built on the rock, castaway, commanded, continual conversation, Corinthians, corruptible, created, crown, crown of righteousness, day and night, death, departure, desires, discipline, disqualified, dissension, division, essential, evil, evil world, exercise, expectant faith, expectations, fellow believers, fight, finished the race, foolishly think, fought as strong, friends, give thanks, glorifying God, godliness, good fight, gumption, Happy New Year, hearts, heavenly Father, help of Jesus, house divided, hungry hope, image of, imperishable, incorruptible, intelligent beings, intimate walk with Jesus, Jehovah-Jireh, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus' church, joining together, Joshua, joy, kept the faith, last testament, leader, leading and guiding, living for God, Lord your God, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, Lucifer, meditate, minds, mirror image of Jesus, New Year's resolution, obtain, one true God, peace, perishable, practice makes perfect, preached, prize, promise, race of life, reading God's Word, righteous judge, run, running the race, self-control, simple, simple formula, souls, stood up, straight and narrow path, straightforward, strive, stronger, success, temperate, the essence of Jesus, The Israelites, to prosper, to the left, to the right, training, training programme, turn aside, ungodliness, ungodly delights, walk with jesus, we will rejoice, wiser, Yahweh
Deuteronomy 5:32. Ye shall (carefully) observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Oh my beautiful Friends and fellow believers, I’m wishing you and yours a Happy New Year; a bright and prosperous 2014, filled with hungry hope, expectant faith and overwhelming LOVE for our great God, our pilgrim selves and neighbours, who have all been created in the image of the ONE TRUE DEITY, Almighty God, Yahweh, Jehovah Jireh!
Yes my people, 2014 will be a wonderful year, because we will all live up much better to our New Year’s resolution of having a closer and more intimate walk with Jesus, than we did in 2013. The whole point of the exercise is to get closer and closer, become a better mirror-image of Jesus every year that we’re alive.
And 2014 will be no different, for we’ll continue to build the LOVE Revolution that is destined to engulf this evil world, with our most able leader, Jesus Christ at the helm. Oh my people, with Jesus Christ leading and guiding us we can NEVER GO WRONG!
So today, let’s all promise that in 2014 we’ll buckle down, take our faith and it’s world-wide spread seriously, develop plenty gumption, plenty belly and backbone, and with the help of Jesus raise the level of godliness in this too evil world.
And the only way we can do that Friends, is by joining together, for remember that a house divided against itself will eventually fall, but one that’s working together, that’s built on the rock, as Jesus’ church is, will stand forever! That means as the body of Christ we have to start working together instead of against each other, as Lucifer is intent on having us do.
And unfortunately in 2013 he has succeeded much more than he should have; the church has seen its fair share of dissension and division, evil and ungodliness has definitely increased, while believers have not stood up and fought as strong a battle as we ought to.
But all of that is going to change for the better this watershed year of 2014 – isn’t it my brethren? I just know that it will, because we’re getting wiser and stronger and more intimate with Jesus each and every day!
Wow! What a year 2014 will be Friends!
And that’s where our Bit comes in, for living for and glorifying God, is what its all about: ‘Ye shall (carefully) observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.’
Yes my people, it’s that straight and narrow path that leads to God that we must concentrate on walking this New Year. And to get us going today, let’s joyfully declare: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made, we WILL rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps.118:24)
Oh Friends, when we start out with joy, peace and LOVE, the essence of Jesus, in our hearts, minds and souls, how can we go wrong eh? NEVER!
That’s why it’s so essential from the moment we awake, till the moment we close our eyes to sleep, that we give thanks, we keep up a continual conversation with our heavenly Father, who is the ONE that enables us to prosper in this crazy world. And a big part of all that is regularly reading His Word.
As He told Joshua when He anointed him leader of the Israelites: ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ (Josh.1:8)
Oh my people, as I keep saying, our God keeps it clear, simple and straightforward! What’s in there not to understand eh? You read His Word, do what it says and you’ll be prosperous and successful!
Wow! What a simple formula for success!
But we, the great and intelligent beings that we are, or rather foolishly think that we are, just won’t buy it. Why? I don’t know. Perhaps it’s too simple; perhaps we think it will keep us back from enjoying some of the evil and ungodly delights of this evil and ungodly world?
But Friends, whatever is keeping us back from taking hold of God’s Word and running the biggest and best race of our lives, please let’s drop it, or them, this year and concentrate strictly on Jesus and His desires for and expectations of us.
Hear Bruh Paul tell it to the Corinthians nuh: ‘ Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery (competes for the prize) is temperate (has self-control) in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible (perishable) crown; but we an incorruptible (imperishable). I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under (discipline) my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (be disqualified). (1 Cor.9:24-27)
Yes my people, that’s our biggest problem, bringing our bodies and minds under subjection, into a godly kind of discipline. But as Bruh Paul says, if we want to win the race, we have to put in the training time. It’s like everything else in our world; practice makes perfect.
And if we want to have a last testament like Bruh Paul, then we have to get to work seriously on our training program RIGHT NOW! ‘For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure (death) is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course (race), I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that LOVE his appearing.’ (2 Tim.4:6-8)
Oh my fellow believers, each and every one of us ought to be able to make that statement when our time to cross over to the other side draws near. But unfortunately we won’t be able to do so, unless we start training properly and seriously for that awesome race of life in Jesus Christ RIGHT NOW!
So I’ll leave us to ponder on all that now, and please, let’s enjoy this first day of 2014, as though it’s the first day of the rest of our lives, for in many ways it just might be. Much LOVE!
…turn not to the right hand…nor to the left…remove thy foot from evil… (Prov.4:27)
31 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 2013, 2014, Abraham, actions dispute claim, actions speak louder than words, all the law, anger, angry spirit, avast security system, Beelzebub, calamitous, christianity, cops, courageous, deceitful, disatrous, do as God commanded, do the right thing, don't turn aside, don't worry, drink, drunk drivers, drunk or sober mind your business, eat, evil, evil cohorts, faithfully believe in, fellow believers, focus on Almighty God, forgiveness, Gentiles, Granny's advice, great god, have success, headeaches, heavenly Father, hope, in the church, interceded with god, Internet Explorer, intimate walk with Jesus, jesus name, Joshua, kingdom of god, LOVE, Love god ourselves and neighbours, loving kindness, lying, mantle of leadership, mercy, Moses, needs, negative emotions, New Testament, New Year's Eve, New Year's resolution, Old Testament, our benefit, prosper, rampant, rant, reverence, righteous people, righteousness., ringing in the New Year, run around, save the world, second chances, seek, seek God, serve and worship, sincerity, Sodom, strong, tenderness, to the left, to the right, topsy-turvy, ungodliness, wear, wisdom, wise, wrong foot
Deuteronomy 5:32. Ye shall (carefully) observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Oh Friends, sorry this is somewhat late. I wanted to wish you a Happy New Year’s Eve, but right now my spirit is somewhat angered. I’ve been using a free avast security system on my desktop computer for a while now, just simple net surfing stuff, and I never really had a problem with them. However, they’ve been bugging me to buy their advanced system, so since I’d been using their protection for free and it wasn’t bad, I decided to do the right thing and purchase their system.
Lo and behold this morning when I came down to write the Bit, I decided to finally download the new avast system. Hn! What a mistake! It seems to have downloaded the system properly, but then said it need to close so everything could take effect. So I agreed to do it then. But upon rebooting I could not get back into Internet Explorer, which I use. I tried several times, but with no luck.
Then I tried logging in with Firefox, and was successful. However I don’t like the other servers. That’s just me. (smile) Then when I tried to contact avast, I got the usual run around, with oodles of screens to fill out questions, to which I’ve had no reply, except acknowledgement of my query.
Then when I got on to my laptop, which I’m on now, I got on to Internet Explorer without a problem, so I decided to check the site showing on my desk top, only to find that the avast system was blocking Internet Explorer from opening up. So the long and short of the story is that I’m on the verge of cancelling the avast system.
Ah Lord eh! Yuh see why I don’t like computers and all the nonsense they entail! And they never seem to cause problems until you need them most. Steups! And that’s my rant for the day. (smile)
Now dear Lord, please free up the ole fella’s mind, take away the anger and all the negative emotions, so that I can write a Bit worthy of You. In Jesus’ name, I pray.
So what’s new and exciting in your lives this New Year’s Eve morning, my fellow believers? (smile) I surely hope it’s better than mine, for who needs the unnecessary headaches eh? Life is already filled with enough necessary ones. Many of you will no doubt be ringing in the new year at some party or other, but please remember Granny’s advice: ‘Sonny Boy, drunk or sober, please mind yuh business.‘
And we all know that this is a time when Beelzebub is at his deceitful and lying best. So let’s not begin the new year off on the wrong foot, getting trapped by him and his evil cohorts.
As for me, I’m going to be doing my usual stay at home thing, spending it with my family. Going out in all the cold weather isn’t appealing anymore, and then you have to be careful with the cops and the drunk drivers on the road. Plus it’s supposed to snow in my area today. Who needs the headache eh, when I can enjoy it just as much at home?
Anyway, let’s finally get to our Bit. ‘Ye shall (carefully) observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.’
Ah mih people, we couldn’t have a better Bit to ring in 2014! Why, you ask? Because it brings, and hopefully keeps our focus on Almighty God, whom we claim to so faithfully believe in. Unfortunately though, too many of our actions dispute that claim. And remember that actions do speak louder than words.
Just look at our world, at the church, the body of Christ nuh. We certainly can’t say that we’re living up to our Bit, to God’s Word, to our promise to faithfully serve and worship Him? Evil and ungodliness are so rampant all over, even in the church, that it would be difficult, like when Abraham interceded with God to save Sodom, (Gen.18:22-32) to find enough righteous people to save our world.
However Friends, we’re indeed fortunate to have a God who gives second chances, and while we’re alive it means that there’s still hope for us. But for that to happen my people, we have to have a serious return to the dictates of Christianity; faithfully LOVING our wonderful God, ourselves and our neighbours.
We desperately need to do as the Lord instructed Joshua when he took over the leadership mantle from Moses. ‘Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper (have success) whithersoever thou goest.’ (Josh.1:7)
Oh my fellow believers, it doesn’t get any simpler or plainer than that! And if like some, you believe that’s Old Testament stuff, then listen to Jesus saying the same thing.
‘Therefore take no thought (don‘t worry), saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.‘ (Matt.6:31-32)
There we have it Friends, the New Testament version, of doing what the Lord commands, then all your needs will be met! And isn’t our God a great God? I couldn’t have chosen a better ending for this last Bit of this topsy-turvy, often disastrous and calamitous year of 2013.
Please my people, please let’s make 2014 a much better year in seeking God and His righteousness that we did 2013 nuh. Remember it’s all for our benefit, especially our children. There’s nothing the Lord wants from us except our sincereLOVE and reverence, but we need oh so much from Him; His mercy, His tenderness, His forgiveness, His LOVING-kindness, etc.etc.
So let’s be wise this new year and return to Him with a new found sincerity. That’s truly wisdom at its highest. Much LOVE!
…there’s only one New Year’s resolution that’s necessary…to develop a closer and more intimate walk with Jesus…for then…as promised… everything else will be taken care of…
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