Today’s Scrip-Bit   4 June 2022 Matthew 19:26.

04 Jun 2022 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 19:26.        With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Oh mih people, our friend, lazy Saturday, is with us again. Thanks be to God! (smile) And Saturdays are important to our way of life because it gives us a chance to wind down from the exhaustive work week that most of us endure, with the endless running around to get to the babysitters and then to work on time, through traffic jams morning and evening. And the rushing about does take a toll on all our faculties; mental, physical and emotional. So, Saturday comes along like a breath of fresh, clean spring air, where we don’t need to rush out, and can mostly relax and ever so gratefully say ‘Thank the Lord! Blessed be His glorious Name!’ 

Now, having raised our hats to Saturday, (smile) let’s see what quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And the first one says that ‘Positive anything is better than negative nothing.’ And I don’t think we can really find fault with that sentiment because positivity is always better than negativity. For even in times of negativity, in sad or unfortunate circumstances that we don’t cause or control, like the pandemic and unrest in our streets that we’ve been recently experiencing, it’s the positive thoughts and attitudes that help us to get through them in one piece. 

But to be positive about anything means that you must have a strong foundation, and an assured reason for that positive mindset. That’s why doubters are very seldom positive, they are unable to constantly visualize a good outcome. I guess we can liken positivity to our Christian faith, because that’s what it’s based on; the positive, reassuring and encouraging and solid foundation of Christ Jesus. As the Good Book tells us: ‘Now faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (conviction) of things not seen.’ (Heb. 11:1) 

Yes friends, we are positive and have faith in Jesus although we’ve never seen Him in the flesh, but we’ve heard enough about Him and His marvellous works and have enough personal experience to know that He is faithful and true and that we can believe wholeheartedly in Him. So being positive is a good thing, because it usually draws positive stuff to you, but the best positive situation we can ever come into is belief and faith in Jesus Christ. 

Then the next quote solemnly declares: ‘Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.’ And that’s oh so true, because we can never accomplish anything until we take action, get moving with whatever it is we hope to accomplish. It’s like the saying; ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ If you don’t get up off your fanny and begin working on your project, it will never be accomplished. 

The first thought should always be, ‘let’s do this, let me try,’ because it’s only your actual action or trying that will even get it started, much less accomplished. And the second thought should be, ‘I can do this!’ That positive mindset is necessary to stir up your passion and enthusiasm. And if you’re a Christian, then even better, you can say: ‘I can do this through Christ who strengthens me!’ Yes my fellow believers, we can do anything that’s within Christ’s will for us. 

And I think I might have gotten ahead of myself here, (smile) because the next quote deals with exactly what we just said. ‘Virtually nothing is impossible in this world if you just put your mind to it and maintain a positive attitude.’ There is one drawback to that quote though, it leaves Jesus out of the situation, and only if Jesus is involved is ALL things possible. There are some things you can put your mind to as much as possible and maintain as much of a positive attitude as you desire, but you still won’t do them, unless you are focused on Jesus, because it’s only through HIM, that ALL things are possible! 

As He said in Matthew 19, in answer to the disciples’ amazement, when talking to them about the difficulty of a rich person entering heaven, comparing it to a camel going through the eye of a needle. ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.’ (Matt. 19:26) And so it should be if God is the Creator and Controller of the universe! And if He is as omnipotent, omniscient and omni-present as we claim, then nothing should be impossible to Him! 

And just for our info, the prophet Jeremiah said it in his prayer, long before Jesus did. ‘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 (difficult) for thee.’ (Jer. 32:17) And whether we believe it or not,  that’s the gospel truth my people! (smile) 

That brings us to the last quote for today, which wisely advises: ‘My dear friend, clear your mind of can’t.’ Yes mih bredrin, that’s indeed wise advice, especially if you are a believer in Christ Jesus, for remember what we just said, ‘All things are possible to and through Christ!’ But even if you are not a believer, you definitely don’t need the word ‘can’t’ in your vocabulary because it just wreaks of negativity and automatically introduces that negative tendency, that tendency to doubt, to be anxious and not believe that you can do what you are contemplating, or handle the situation before you. 

And once that negative connection of doubt is introduced, it begins eating up your passion and enthusiasm and your assurance that you are able. And without that positive thought, ‘I am well able,’ your ability to accomplish whatever it is will be compromised, because that terrible word ‘can’t’ has brought in thoughts of possible failure instead of success. 

And just one more thought before we go on this glorious, sunshiny but somewhat cool Saturday morning. (smile) Let’s all remember that failure is never failure, failure is never accomplished until we stop trying. So, the thought for today is to always keep on keeping on, to get back up every time you fall, never stop trying, for when you stop trying, that’s when you die, both spiritually and emotionally, and eventually physically! Much LOVE!

…life was meant to be lived positively…and you can’t get any more positive than…living for Christ…  

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​       

Today’s Scrip-Bit   21 May 2022 Proverbs 13:20.

21 May 2022 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 13:20.     He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

Well hello there Saturday, you beautiful day! Yes, right now you’re somewhat cloudy, but I’ll take you every time, because you’re mine to do with as I please! When you come around, you make no demands on my time, you allow me to do whatever I want; eat, sleep, party, laze around, go out, stay in…it’s all up to me! So why wouldn’t I cherish you eh? In whatever form you come, rain, shine or snow, you’re still Saturday, and mine to do with as I please. (smile) 

But yuh know what? I just realized that statement was not quite true, for on Saturdays we have to check out the quotes our friend Anselm sent us during the past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. (smile) But we can live with that one li’l thing, can’t we? Oh yes! And this first quote falls right into our wheelhouse. ‘Every day, do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow.’ Now that’s not rocket science, just simple common sense. Whatever we do today, ought to help improve our tomorrow, otherwise it’s not worth doing. Why do something consciously that will spoil our tomorrow eh? 

Unfortunately, a lot of us do that because we don’t think before we act. We don’t sit and wisely consider the consequences of our actions. That’s not wisdom my people. Look here, the world will bring enough unfortunate circumstances to our tomorrows without any help from us. So, starting today, right now, let’s promise ourselves to think before we act. Before we make any decisions, let’s ask ourselves, will this improve my tomorrow or make it worse, will it improve my testimony for Jesus or detract from it? Remember we’re supposed to be living for Jesus, so whatever we do is very important in His scheme of things. 

And the Good Book gives us so many warnings on the subject, especially in Proverbs 13:16-25,  where Cousin Sol, the wisest man ever, contrasts the doings of the wise and the foolish. Please listen closely to this warning. ‘Every prudent man dealeth (acts) with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.’ (Prov. 13:16) In other words, ‘Wise people think before they act; fools don’t—and even brag about their foolishness.’ Then hear this other snippet of wisdom nuh. ‘He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.’ (Prov. 13:20) 

Yes friends, as our parents use to tell us: ‘Show me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are.’ And that’s no lie, for we say a lot about ourselves with the friends we choose. And today’s second quote is like the first. (smile) ‘Always desire to learn something useful.’ Now that’s common sense at its best! What’s the point of learning something that’s not useful eh? None whatsoever! But that’s today’s style. We fill up our heads and time with a lot of nonsense, stuff that serves no useful purpose in our lives. 

Just consider the amount of foolishness, outright lies and other ‘unuseful’ stuff that’s floating around the internet and social media nuh…But we just lap it up willy-nilly, without checking to see if it would be of any benefit to our personal situations. We get so immersed in it that it begins to dictate our thoughts and lifestyles. All this nonsense about influencers and people getting so many likes on their posts that are invariably doctored or simply untrue. Do we know who these people that are paid big money to influence us really are? No! Ninety nine point nine percent of the time we don’t. But we allow them to influence the way we live. That’s utterly ridiculous and foolish my fellow brethren in Christ. 

The only thing we need to influence us is the BIBLE; the Word of the Lord! It’s the believer’s guidebook and thus contains EVERYTHING for successful living down here on earth…and up in heaven too. That’s what we ought to be reading and following, not the nonsense that’s being prevaricated by the ungodly world as truth and wisdom! Don’t forget these marvellous words of truth from Bruh Paul to Timothy. ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished (equipped) unto all good works.’ (2 Tim. 3:16-17) 

Yes friends, ALL we need for living is found in the Lord’s Word! Then there’s this quote. ‘Don’t let one cloud ruin your whole day.’ That’s more wisdom in spades my people! So often we allow one mishap to ruin our entire day, especially if it happens early in the day. Somebody offends us, or we do something wrong and we spend the rest of the day being offended or mad at ourselves, and consequently we are unable to do anything productive, making it a wasted day. As we said earlier, life will bring us enough problems, we don’t need to go out of our way to make our own. So please, let’s stop making one cloud ruin our day nuh, stop letting one, usually unimportant circumstance steal our joy which comes from Almighty God. 

And no, all that we’re saying isn’t always easy, thus, as the next quote wisely tells us: ‘Be patient. It won’t happen overnight. Just hang in there and have faith that it will work out.’ That’s the gospel truth friends. Nothing worth having comes quickly, therefore we must be patient and persevering if we truly want whatever it is. Failure is oftentimes also a big part of the process. But we need to get back up and continue our efforts every time we fail. Remember the saying: ‘Failure is not really failure until you stop trying.’ 

Yes, only when we stop trying can we say that we’ve truly failed, for if we get back up and keep running our race, there’s always the chance for success. And as always, Cousin Sol has something to say on the subject. ‘For a just (righteous) man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief (stumble into calamity).’ (Prov. 24:16) Yes friends, we can always trust Cousin Sol to have a word for us in good season. (smile) 

Then this last quote says it all my people. ‘The only thing we never get enough of is LOVE; and the only thing we never give enough of is LOVE.’ And there’s no doubting those words of wisdom, because if there was more LOVE in our world, both given and received, it would not be in the shambles that it’s currently in. For LOVE truly makes the world go round, it brings out all the Christ-likeness in us. But hate, like what our world is currently filled and overrun with, merely brings out the strife, resentment, envy and all the other negative and evil things of the enemy. It causes nothing but destruction! 

Look at how long it takes to build anything, but then look at how quickly it can be destroyed. LOVE focuses on building, but hate concentrates solely on destruction. And I believe these words of Jesus, as He explains about being the good shepherd, admirably convey that sentiment. ‘The thief cometh not, but for (except) to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:10) 

Ah mih people, Jesus indeed came to build not to destroy. He wasn’t a thief, but a good shepherd. And good shepherds build, look after and save their flocks. And Jesus said it quite plainly. ‘For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:17) And building can only be accomplished through the spreading of LOVE. So please, please, let’s remember that my fellow saints in Christ and go out into the hating world and spread LOVE, the LOVE of Jesus, so that we can counteract the destructive hate of the enemy. That’s what Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!

…what the world needs now…is LOVE sweet LOVE…it’s the only thing…there’s just too little of… (Jackie DeShannon) 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​