02 Jun 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a better tomorrow, a big posse, a difficult journey, a roof to sleep under, a single best friend, adventuresome, all kinds of evil, Anselm, aspires, basic amenities, be contented, be happy with what you have, betrayal, blessed, comfort zone, complain, contentment, desire to be rich, destruction, divine means, dog and pony track, drown men, eternal life, exit the world, faith, follow Christ's advice, food to eat, for your benefit, friends, fruitful, godliness, good things happen, gospel truth, great gain, greediness, greedy, Guide, hangers ons, higher the number, in time of need, inspires, interesting, internet connection, leader, lesser, life's basic necessities, LOVE, many sorrows, material wealth, meekness, misconception, missing out, more fun, negative things, patience, peace, perdition, pierced themselves, righteousness, ruin, seek first the kingdom of God, seeking for more, selfish, serve God and mammon, strayed from the faith, the Christian's life, the LOVE of money, the natrue of our society, think positive, Timothy, walking hand in hand with Jesus, we brought nothing, we can carry out nothing, wisdom, you can count on
1 Timothy 6:6. But godliness with contentment is great gain.
All right friends and family, here we go again; one more time around the dog and pony track called Life. (smile) And though it’s oftimes a difficult journey, it certainly is an interesting and adventuresome one, made even more interesting and fruitful if you’re walking hand in hand with Jesus, the great Saviour of the world!
Wow! What an awesome guide and leader He is! And if you’re not walking with Him, then unfortunately you’re missing out on the best part of this earthly life, and consequently the eternal life too. So please check Him out nuh. You’ll be surprised at what He has to offer…and it’s all for your benefit.
And with it being Saturday, let’s turn to some quotes of this past week from our friend Anselm, who genuinely aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And we’ll begin with the shortest one: ‘When you think positive good things happen.’
And that’s generally true. It doesn’t mean that you won’t have any negative things happen, but they will be mostly positive, since what the mind focuses on, is what generally comes to pass.
And like Anselm was in a friend seeking mood this week (smile) as he offers these two quotes on the subject. ‘There is a misconception among people that the higher the number of friends you have, the more fun you’ll have. The fact is the lesser friends you have, the lesser you have to deal with.
Trust me; it doesn’t matter how many friends you have, all that matters is how many friends you can count upon when you are in need.’ And ‘Having a single best friend is better than having ten random friends who aren’t going to be with you for long.’
Oh my people, how many of us have suffered betrayal and rejection by those we thought were friends eh? We all have, because it’s a human frailty. The wisdom lies in having a few staunch and genuine friends you can call on in times of need. A big posse is not a set of friends, but a group of hangers’ ons. And remember the corollary to the above; to have genuine friends, you must also be a genuine friend.
Then there is this last one: ‘You are living in your comfort zone, having an active Internet connection, food to eat, TV to watch and a roof to sleep under. Do remember that even if you have only these four basic amenities, you are richer than 75% of the world’s population. Be happy for what you have, but don’t settle for it.’
I would say that you are better off than more than 90 percent of the world, and you shouldn’t just be happy, but be darm happy and contented and feel extremely blessed, because there are so many others in the world struggling and suffering with much less than you have.
But unfortunately the nature of our society is that the more we have, the more we complain about the few things we don’t have. We never seem to value sufficiently the things we do have, always seeking for more, when we don’t even have the time or the resources to handle it. And it just results in a greedy and selfish society, of which we are the cream of the crop.
But Bruh Paul’s words to Timothy in our Bit should be the norm in our society. ‘But godliness with contentment is great gain.’ And isn’t that the gospel truth my brethren? It surely is! When we have God first place in our lives we’re not selfish or greedy, because He induces a peace and contentment in our souls regardless of our particular situations.
And the verse following our Bit highlights the ridiculousness of fighting and killing ourselves over the material wealth of the world. ‘For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.’ (1 Tim.6:7)
And the scholars offer this very interesting explanation of that verse. ‘6:7. And it is certain we can carry nothing out (or, “because we are unable to carry anything out”): Man enters the world at birth possessing nothing, in order to teach him that he will exit the world in the same manner – taking nothing with him. This is a divine means of showing man that since material wealth is relatively insignificant, he should pursue the important things mentioned in verse 11.’
And those things include ‘righteousness, godliness, faith, LOVE, patience and meekness.’ Now here is this very seminal verse as Bruh Paul continues: ‘And having food and raiment (clothing) let us therewith be content.’ (1 Tim.6:8)
The scholars explain: 6:8. This verse prevents the wrong understanding of verse 7, that material possessions have no place in the Christian’s life. By figure of speech food and raiment stand for all of life’s basic necessities. These are all the believer needs, and having these he can be content.’
However, contentment is not a mainstay of our current society. We are more apt to follow this agenda that Bruh Paul talks about. ‘But they that will be (desire to be) rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful (harmful) lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition (ruin and destruction).
For the LOVE of money is the root of all (kinds of) evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith (for which some in their greediness have strayed from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.’ (1 Tim.6:9-10)
Ah mih people, the desperate seeking after money and the material possessions of this world only cause more problems than they solve. So please, let’s stop it nuh, and follow Christ’s wise advice: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt.6:32) That’s all there is to it! Much LOVE!
…you cannot serve God and mammon (money)…at the same time… (Matt.6:24b)
21 May 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abject fear, approach to God, assurance, aura of love, awe, boldness, casual, celebrating, Christians, confidence, dominant characteristic, dread of punishment, drunk or sober, enthusiasm, eternal rejection, evil, faith, fear, flippant, friends, God is LOVE, Granny's warning, herein is love, holy spirit, humble servants, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, joy, lies, long weekend, LOVE, mind yuh business, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, no fear in love, not made perfect, on a tight reign, out of the loop, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, respect, rest, reverence, salvation, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, supremacy of love, taunts, the day of judgement, the greatest of these, the Spirit of the Son, torment, trust, truth, ungodly world, veneration, Victoria Day, weary souls, wiles, wisdom
1 John 4:18. There is no fear in LOVE; but perfect LOVE casteth out fear: because fear hath (involves) torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in LOVE.
And then it was Monday; Monday of a long weekend in the British Commonwealth of nations celebrating Queen Victoria’s birthday! And to tell you how far I am out of the loop, I did not even realize that this was a long weekend until yesterday. Hn! Life surely passes you by when you’re having fun! (smile)
That means a lot of people around the world aren’t working today, but are at home or wherever celebrating, which means we also have to invoke Granny’s warning for all believers. ‘Sonny boy, drunk or sober, please mind yuh business. And don’t give the devil any chance at all to get into your life!’
And a lot of stuff is going to be happening in the North Country today, especially with the glorious sunshine out there. Let’s hope the Spirit of the SON keeps us on a tight rein. (smile)
But since in many parts of the universe life and work go on as normal this Monday morning, we need to encourage those who have to labour while we play. So let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to help them gather themselves together.
In strong voice now: ‘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 as usual on a day like today, many of the voices that were the strongest were also harsh and out of sorts from the exuberance of the holiday weekend. (smile) But that’s just life; we’re always more enthusiastic when we don’t have to get involved in an unwanted task.
And today we want to look at an important verse of scripture from John’s first epistle: ‘There is no fear in LOVE; but perfect LOVE casteth out fear: because fear hath (involves) torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in LOVE.’
Oh friends, those two words, ‘fear’ and ‘LOVE’ rule most of our lives. Earlier on John declares: ‘And we have known and believed the LOVE that God hath to us. God is LOVE; and he that dwelleth (abides) in LOVE dwelleth (abides) in God, and God in him.’ (1 John 4:16)
And the scholars offer this explanation. ‘4:16. John, like Paul (1 Cor.13:13), stresses the supremacy of LOVE as a characteristic of God, and therefore as a dominant characteristic of the true believer.’ That means if true LOVE isn’t one of our dominant characteristics, then we’re not truly into God, and vice versa.
And John continues: ‘Herein is our LOVE made perfect (LOVE is made perfect among us), that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as he is, so are we in this world.’ (1 John 4:17)
Now hear the scholars. ‘4:17. Herein points back to verse 16. By dwelling in LOVE, and thus having God dwelling in him, the believer gains the priceless assurance that he need not fear the coming judgement. This is our assurance, if we LOVE in this world as He does.’
Yes my people, we need God’s LOVE dwelling in us, if we are to walk this earth reassured and without fear of the days to come. And why is that? Because as our Bit says: ‘There is no fear in LOVE; but perfect LOVE casteth out fear.’ So if you have LOVE, you won’t fear, and if you have fear, you can’t have LOVE. As simple as that!
And the scholars explain: ‘4:18. Fear hath torment: Abject fear of God is based on dread of punishment. But God’s LOVE for us renders such dread obsolete. Fear is still part of the Christian walk in the sense of profound reverence, the unwillingness to violate God’s trust in us (see Acts 10:35; 13:26; 2 Cor.7:1; Eph.5:21; Phil,2:12; 1 Pet.1:17). Believers need not fear eternal rejection as a result of God’s judgement (John 5:24), but this does not mean a Christian’s approach to God is to be casual and flippant.’
Ah mih people, I think we should all take a few minutes and look at those scriptures, I just did, as they all drive home the point that though we should not fear God in the sense of having personal courage to come to Him with confidence, we definitely need to show Him deserved reverence, honour and admiration.
And as the definition of reverence declares: a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe and veneration. Yeh friends, that’s how our God must be to us. Much LOVE!
…and now abideth faith…hope…LOVE…these three…but the greatest of these is…LOVE… (1 Cor.13:13)
18 May 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a thief in the night, a thousand shall fall, adversity, barriers, be prepared, boundaries, damnation, drinking, eating, faith, followers of Jesus, for our good, Friday chant, full steam ahead, fun, furthering your glorious kingdom, He is my refuge, hellfire, I will say of the Lord, in him will I trust, in his essence, in Jesus name, in perspective, Jesus is coming back, lustful flesh, my fortress, my god, on the outside looking in, on top of stuff, open arms, our earthly purpose, Our god, our wits about us, pestilence, pilgrim, plugged nickel, refreshed, relaxation, renewed, rest, save us, security, sense of purpose, surrender, take refuge, TGIF!, Thank God is Friday, thanks and praise, the reward of the wicked, the weekend, the works of Jesus, thy shield, to the max, toehold, too late, trust, truth, under his wings, walk in darkness, week of work, whatever catches your fancy, wisdom, workingman
Psalm 91:2. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Aye friends, sorry the Bit’s somewhat late, but the ole fella’s definitely not in great shape this morning. I got up late and not feeling too hot either. But here we are, with the help of the Good Lord journeying on like a good pilgrim (smile).
And it’s Friday, so you know the workingman is in his essence, shouting out loud to all and sundry: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday at last! The weekend…the weekend…it here finally! So let the party begin; eating and drinking and whatever catches your fancy! Massa had he time all week; is our time now, so live it up to the max! Thank God for Friday and weekends yes, otherwise our lives wouldn’t be worth the proverbial plugged nickel!’
And wouldn’t the enemy like us to take that advice. Just to let it all hang out and do whatever our lustful flesh dictates. Hn! But as followers of Jesus, we’re smarter than that. We know that we need to keep everything in perspective and don’t go overboard on anything, because that would just be inviting the enemy to enter our lives and get some kind of toehold.
So we’ve set up boundaries and barriers to enable us to stay within the protected areas. That’s why our Friday Chant is not as explosive as the workingman’s song. Let’s declare it now nuh, with sincere enthusiasm and a strong sense of purpose.
‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen!’
Yeh friends, as believers, we need to keep ourselves in good functioning mode, keep on top of stuff, so that we can work the works of Jesus at a moment’s notice. We do need to be refreshed and renewed, but never to lose sight of our earthly purpose.
And to help us do that, here is this refreshing and reassuring verse of scripture enshrined as Today’s Bit. ‘I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.’
Oh friends, oh friends, what a position of trust, faith and total surrender! It’s the best decision we can make in this life as per our security! Listen as the psalmist continues the security features of God’s network.
‘He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust (take refuge): his truth shall be thy shield and buckler (small shield). Thou shalt not be afraid for (of) the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Not for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth (lays waste) at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come night thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.’ (Ps.91:4-8)
Yeh mih people, that’s the kind of security that our God provides. Now that doesn’t mean we will never see any kind of adversity, absolutely not! But it does mean that we will not live this live as fearful namby-pambys, and whenever adversity comes, we will be able to bear up under it with the Lord’s help, because He has faithfully promised to work everything out eventually for our good.
And that’s the reassurance we have in His awesome word. No other faith or religion even promises anything like that, much less are able to deliver it like the Lord can. Give glory to His precious and holy name my people! For He is the one who made us, who saved us, and still LOVES us despite our undeserving nature!
What a mighty God we serve and worship! Give Him thanks and praise all day long, for what He’s done, is doing, and has faithfully promised to do for us in the future! How can we not sincerely LOVE and adore Him eh people? I can’t understand why we are trying so hard to get Him out of our lives and our society when He is the ONLY ONE who can save us from hellfire and damnation.
If we had our wits about us, we’d be running instead full steam ahead to His open, waiting LOVING arms, because He is indeed our fortress, our refuge and our God!
Oh my brethren, let’s wake up and smell whatever we need to smell before it’s too late nuh! Jesus is coming back some time soon, when, we’re not sure, but like a thief in the night He can come at any time. And the sad part is that when He comes, all bets are over. There will be no more time for changing our minds and we’ll just end up unfortunately on the outside looking in.
And I’ve said it often enough, that will be the worst place for a human to be, come the time of Jesus. So let’s get wise and be prepared nuh, that we will be ready for whenever He comes, even if it’s today. That’s wisdom at its greatest height. Much LOVE!
…the only thing that really matters…we’re prepared when Jesus comes…
13 May 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fantastic job, a Mother's legacy, a mother's love, adore, always caring, assurance, awesome strength, bearing children, bearing good fruit, been forgiven, birthing them in travail, Bloodline, by reason of many waters, cantankerous families, cause us grief, cavorting in heaven, certain of His promise, challenges, deceitful, earthly sojourn, faith, feminine towers, follow their example, following His commandments, fountains of living water, fruitful, fruitful vines, full of branches, God's LOVE, goodness and mercy, grace for everyday, guilt, Happy Mother's Day, heaven's gift of love, Honour Christian Mothers, honour your mothers, instruments of god, joyful mother, keep house, kindness, let your lights so shine, life forevermore, like a vine, LOVE, Mother's Day, navel string, never ending, nourishing waters, of our society, one in charity, one in love, Onward Christian soldiers, our cross to bear, par excellence, planted by the waters, praise the One Divine, Praise ye the Lord, raising faithful families, reap what we sow, revere, sons, take away all sorrow, teaching us the way, testimony, the backbone, the barren woman, the original sin, thy mother, time, tribute to Mothers, unconditional, wipe away each tear, worshipping the Lord
Ezekiel 19:10. Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood (bloodline), planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
And then it was Sunday once again, our favourite day for worship, but it’s also a special Sunday where we celebrate the Mother figures in our lives. Those feminine towers of awesome strength and assurance, the backbone of our society. And in my search, I discovered a real appropriate and praiseworthy hymn dedicated to them. It’s called ‘Honour Christian Mothers’ and is sung to the tune of ‘Onward Christian Soldiers.’
So let’s open today’s proceedings paying sincere homage to the matriarchs in our midst nuh. In full voice let’s sing: ‘(Chorus) Honour Christian Mothers, instruments of God; Raising faithful families, worshipping the Lord.) Following His commandments, showing us the way: LOVE and faith and kindness; teaching us to pray. (Chorus)
“Let it be,” say mothers, trusting to obey, Finding strength, grace for every day. Challenges surround us, but we will not fear. God’s LOVE will sustain us, help, our cross, to bear. (Chorus) God be with our mothers who have gone before, certain of His promise: life forevermore. In His many mansions, LOVE again we’ll share, He will take away all sorrow, wipe away each tear. (Chorus)
Honour Christian Mothers – Heaven’s gift of LOVE. Join with them in service to the Lord above. Follow their example, let your lights so shine – All will see your goodness, praise the One Divine. (Chorus) Onward, still, ye mothers, tho’ the time will come; Sons will leave their parents, daughters leave their homes. We’ll remain united, Mother’s legacy; One in LOVE and faithfulness, One in charity. (Chorus).’
Oh friends, I could not find out the author of those lyrics, but they surely are a terrific tribute to the Mothers that raise and LOVE us! And if you’ll remember people, yesterday morning I got up and went downstairs early on to get something to eat. Well here is what the Lord caused me to write about Mother’s Day, before I came back up to bed.
‘Wherefore, O wherefore art thou Mothers? Is it because of the original sin that you have been given the painful and difficult, but ever so necessary task of bearing children in thy womb, birthing them in travail, then raising them in deceitful and cantankerous families?
Well, whatever the reason, I want to acknowledge that you have done a marvellous, a fantastic job down through the ages, and your God and mankind are very proud of you. Therefore, we wish you ALL Mothers, a very happy, blessed and prosperous Mother’s Day! Happy Mother’s Day Mothers!
And you know, as tears well up in my eyes, my one regret is that my mother, Molly, is not here so I can share those fateful words with her. Oh, like all of us, she had her faults, but nonetheless, she was a mother par excellence!
Yeh Mols, although it’s been almost seven years now since you went to be with Lord, the ole fella misses you, and is crying, as he seems to do every Mother’s Day without you. That’s the one time the tears come without any reservation whatsoever. (smile)
And I’m surely sorry if I didn’t treat or appreciate you as well as I should have. But I know in your sweet soul, you’ve already forgiven me for that. So rest in peace, please Mols sugar. And I do hope that you are cavorting in heaven with Jesus and the angels, as is your right as a believer.’
Oh friends, there will always be some resilient guilt in us, as to whether we treated our mothers as best we could. But please don’t let it cause us grief, because we’ve already been forgiven for it, since that’s what good mothers do. That brings us to our Bit. ‘Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood (bloodline), planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.’
And although that scripture was meant to pertain to Israel, there are so few real references to mothers, all of which I have already used. I wanted something new, and this fits the bill perfectly, for that is exactly how mothers are. They are like a fruitful vines planted by nourishing waters, just bearing good fruit regardless of the circumstances. They are like fountains of living waters, always bubbling forth with goodness and mercy.
One psalmist put it this way: ‘He maketh (causes) the barren (childless) woman to keep house (dwell in a home) and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.’ (Ps.113:9) Yeh my brethren, we should absolutely praise the Lord for mothers, since we’d be completely lost without them.
And I’m chuckling here as I come to the end of this Mother’s Day message, because it’s something I also wrote yesterday, though not under my own steam. The Lord played one of His tricks on me. Yesterday morning after I went back up to bed, He got into my head with all sorts of stuff for this message, and finally I had to get up and write it down.
And this is what I wrote. ‘Son’s honour your mothers because they, or rather you are a significant part of them, since they bore you for nine painful, uncomfortable months, and it’s to them that your navel string was attached. And most likely they’ve played a most significant role in your life. So it behooves you to adore and revere them.
Daughters, please endear yourselves to your mothers, because one day you might also be a mother. And since we reap what we sow, your child will probably treat you the way you treat your mother.
And finally, let’s not only celebrate our Mothers on this one day of the year, but everyday of their earthly sojourn, for they have certainly put in their time and testimony to deserve it.’ Much LOVE!
…a Mother’s LOVE…is like the Lord’s…unconditional…always caring…and never ending…
10 May 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a better person, a compassionate heart, a different person, a majority, a proven winner, a worse person, adversity, affirmation, almighty god, angry, as the brightness of the firmament, bat of an eyelash, bitter, build my faith, closer to God, common sense, courage, creativity, curse, cynical, disaster, disillusioned, divine protection, dr robert h schuller, drive me away from God, emblazon, end times, faith, faithfulness, good friends, good health, gospel truth, Hawaiian people, hope, Hosea, Hour of Power Devotional, imprisoned by hope, keep on praying, keep trucking on, lead you to God, left out, Let your problem, LOVE, loving-kindness, mental billboards, mercy, more patient, my attitude, negative attitude, negative word, never give up, pouts, prisoners of hope, prosper, rebuked by God, restore double, run away and hide, shatter my faith, shine, showers, sins, sour, stars for ever, stronger, succeed, success, take it to God, talent, the wise, this problem is past, Thursday's Blessings, turn many to righteousness, turn to God, turn to the stronghold, untapped resources, vision of Daniel, volcanic activity, wait on God., wisdom, wiser, you and god, Zechariah
Zechariah 9:12. Turn ye to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render (restore) double unto thee.
Well mih people, we might not have as nice a day as the last few, because they’ve called for showers, and we did have a small thunder squall earlier in the morning, but yuh know what? Right now, though it’s somewhat cloudy, the Sun is fighting valiantly to come out and shine, shine, shine! Yeh it does look hopeful out there. And yuh know the SON is always out there doing His thing! So no need to worry on that side of the ledger. (smile)
Unfortunately however, those people in Hawaii are experiencing more volcanic activity, so let’s keep up our prayers for them, that the whole thing will soon settle down without further disruption and disaster.
Now here is something from Gramps Schuler’s (Dr. Robert H Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional. It gives us a very good insight into problems, and is appropriately titled: ‘Let Your Problem Lead You to God.’
Gramps Schuller writes: ‘No problem leaves you where it found you. Read this affirmation out loud: “I will be a different person when this problem is past. I will be a wiser, stronger, more patient person; or I will be sour, cynical, bitter, disillusioned, and angry. It all depends on what I do with this problem.
Each problem can make me a better person or a worse person. It can bring me closer to God, or it can drive me away from God. It can build my faith or it can shatter my faith. It all depends on my attitude. I intend to be a better person when this problem leaves me than I was when it met me.” There are vast untapped resources of faith and talent that can only be discovered in adversity.’
And isn’t that the gospel truth my brethren! It’s unfortunate, but the fact is that only through adversity can we build or discover true faith. And when adversity comes, the way we handle it will indeed make us a better or worse person. If we try to run away from it and hide, or adopt a completely negative attitude, then it will eat us up faster than the bat of an eyelash.
But if we keep our peace and recognize that the problem is bigger than us and take it to God, then we’re already in the driver’s seat! Glory to God! Remember friends that you and God are a majority in EVERY situation, and with Him by your side, you can win every battle.
If you are a wise believer, then taking your problems to God is a no-brainer, because that’s what He has asked us to do. He wants to be involved in EVERY situation in our lives, big, small or otherwise! And if we don’t involve Him in everything, He feels left out and pouts, just like we do, when we’re not invited in. (smile)
Oh friends, we cannot pick and choose which situations in our life to allow God into, that’s why I’ve chosen this encouraging scripture from the prophet Zechariah, as he talks about Zion’s future king, to be our Bit today. ‘Turn ye to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render (restore) double unto thee.’
Oh my people, what wonderful advice! And though it was given thousands of years ago, it’s still as pertinent today as it was back then. It only makes sense to turn to whatever is strong in our lives, not what is weak. And the strongest thing there is, is Almighty God, so why wouldn’t we turn to Him in all wisdom eh?
But what I like most about that passage of scripture is the phrase, ‘prisoners of hope!’ Wow! It sounds like the perfect name for believers. Imprisoned by hope in Jesus Christ, we just keep trucking on in faith and never give up! I think it’s high time we emblazon that phrase on our mental billboards, and truly begin considering ourselves as prisoners of hope. We can never go wrong if we do.
And yuh see what happens when we do behave as prisoners of hope? The Lord renders double unto us. He blesses us even more than He has already. So why not become a true prisoner of hope then eh my people? Wisdom and common sense demand it!
And now, I just want to add a couple of obscure scriptures that most of us might not know, but which encourage us to turn to God. Listen to Hosea, as he talks about Ephraim’s sins being rebuked by God. ‘Even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is his memorial. Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy (LOVING-kindness, faithfulness) and judgement (justice), and wait on thy God continually.’ (Hos.12:5-6) Now that’s a proven winner!
And lastly, these most encouraging words from the vision of Daniel re the time of the end. ‘And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.’ (Dan. 12:3)
Oh my brethren, what a wonderful promise! And since we consider these times, the end times, what better way to go than by being wise and shining brightly and turning others to Christ! Mama Mia! That verse surely excited me! (smile)
Now, since we are wise, and are prisoners of hope, let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings, all that the Lord has given us for being so smart. Hn, hn! Altogether now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life!
I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection!
I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
What a wonderful God we serve and worship! But remember people, that’s not all for us, but also to share with the less fortunate. So let’s go and do that now nuh. Much LOVE!
…if you’ve got to be a prisoner…there’s none better…than being one of hope in Almighty God…
09 May 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fall, a glorious future with Jesus, a haughty spirit, a proud look, abides forever, accede, arrogance, as the eagle, be of a humble spirit, bombastic ego, breath of life, bring me down, clefts of the rock, continue praying, deceived thee, destruction, divide the spoil, does the will of God, dream, drunkards, exalt thyself, faith, fame, glad to be alive, glory, glory hallelujah, God hates pride, gospel truth, halfway home, hate evil, haughtiness, haughty eyes, Hawaiian volcano, high habitation, hope, inner joy of dreaming, love not the world, lust, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, make the man of God, midway point, not turning back, of the world, our faith, panting, passes away, personal desires, perverse mouth, physical desires, plod on to the end, pomp, power, pride, pride goes before destruction, pride of life, pride of thine heart, riches, self-interests, serenity, spring weather, stumbling, the crown of pride, the fear of the Lord, the LOVE of God, the love of the Father, the proud, things of the flesh, trampled, Wednesday Wail, what is what, wine and roses, your amigo, your ego
Proverbs 16:18. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (stumbling).
And then it was Wednesday; the midway point of the workweek, but yet another glorious day seems to be in the offing in my area! This spring weather is really outdoing itself yes! (smile)
But unfortunately not all around is wine and roses and glorious weather, because the Hawaiian people are still being plagued by their convulsive volcano, and those things can be so temperamental that you never know what they’ll do or when. So please, let’s continue praying for them and helping however we can.
And this morning I’m going to give us a few reminders about what is what in our faith. (smile) First off, please remember that ‘Faith gives us that inner joy of dreaming again.’ Yeh friends, it’s the presence of faith, catapulted by hope that enables us to dream. Without them dreaming wouldn’t happen.
And remember too, that there’s ‘Serenity in the LOVE of God.’ In fact that’s the dwelling place of Serenity, so if you don’t have the LOVE of God within you, then you won’t be able to achieve Serenity. And lastly, this one is ever so important, remember that ‘Your ego is not your amigo.’
Definitely not mih breddren! Our ego more often than not lines up as our enemy, because it’s pride based and has us panting for the things of the flesh and behaving in a fleshly manner. So when it begins to cozy up to you, please check it very carefully before you accede to its desires.
I guess that can only lead to a lesson on pride and egotistic stuff. (smile) Thus our Bit: ‘Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (stumbling).’ And we all know that to be gospel truth!
Unnecessary pride and haughtiness and a rather bombastic ego never last long. How could they eh, when the Lord declares amongst the seven things He thoroughly dislikes is ‘a proud look (haughty eyes).’ (Prov.6:17a)
And Cousin Sol continues later on in Proverbs: ‘The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the forward (perverse) mouth, do I hate.’ (Prov.8:13)
Meanwhile Isaiah declares in his condemnation of Ephraim: ‘Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim…The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden (trampled) under feet:’ (Is.28:1,3) Yeh friends, those that are full of pride shall eventually be brought low. That’s why Cousin Sol advises after our Bit: ‘Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil (plunder) with the proud.’ (Prov.16:19)
And the big thing nowadays is to be in the upper echelon of society, to walk with the rich and famous. We boast about whom we know and associate with in the corridors of power. But friends, that show doesn’t get us any place really, for what happens when our supposed rich and famous associates are no longer rich and famous eh?
And it something that happens everyday. Being rich and famous isn’t guaranteed for a lifetime, especially if you flaunt your worldly assets in people’s faces. You know the ones who put you up there will bring you down even faster than they put you up, and take even more joy in doing so.
Remember the scripture we recently quoted from the prophet Obadiah re the destruction of Edom. ‘The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as (high as) the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.’ (Obad.3-4)
Yes my brethren, pride and power and pomp and glory and fame and riches do not make the man that God desires. I think John says it best in his first epistle. ‘LOVE not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man LOVE the world, the LOVE of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh (physical desires), and the lust of the eyes (personal desires), and the pride of life (self-interests), is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.’ (1 John 2:15-17)
That’s the word of the Lord my people. And if we believe that it’s true, then if we are wise, we will pay serious attention to it, and try to follow it as best we can. What more can I say eh? We all have to make these personal decisions for ourselves.
Now let’s go home joyfully declaring our position with and in Jesus through our Wednesday Wail. In strong and sincere voice now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday!
I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And for those of us who wisely plod on to the end, will that future ever be glorious! Much LOVE!
…if the Lord hates it…then it doesn’t make sense to have it…and He surely hates pride…
06 May 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a continuum, a process, according to your faith, Anansi stories, be it unto you, believe ye, believing without seeing, communion, confidence, conscious commitment, don't give up, enigma, every aspect, experiencing God's love, faith, faith walk, fellowship, for our good, forsake me never, from glory to glory, from this day on, God is faithful, grace, grow our faith, He'll understand, hear the Word, his helping hand, humble plea, I'll lean upon, I'll walk with God., in God's time, leave you in the lurch, lose faith, Mario Lanza, mercy, my faith is strong, never walk alone, no death, no faith, no fear, personal expereince, prayer, problems, reassurance, Simon the Cyrene, soften our hearts, spring rebirth, statement of truth, strong faith, Student Prince, submit, successful walk with God, suffer stuff, Sunday, surrender, take up your cross, talk with God, testimony, the level of faith, the Lord's sanctuary, troubled world, weak faith, wishy-washy, work everything out, work for God, worship
Matthew 9:29. According to your faith be it unto you.
Well friends, it’s the big day, Sunday, the time we make our way to the Lord’s sanctuary to fellowship and worship and receive reassurance and confidence in our faith walk. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it today because of my illness, but my Pastor, Fr. Jeff has promised to come and visit and give me communion after church. So I’m still in the loop. (smile)
Anyway, as usual, let’s get prepared to hear the word, soften our hearts, by offering up some praise and worship to heaven. And today we’ll offer up that old spiritual song from the movie ‘Student Prince,’ made famous by Mario Lanza. It’s called ‘I’ll walk with God,’ and is such a beautiful way of reaffirming our faith, in this most appropriate time of spring rebirth and a troubled world.
Let’s sing my brethren, with sincere hearts and strong lungs. ‘I’ll walk with God from this day on. His helping hand I’ll lean upon. This is my prayer, my humble plea, May the Lord be ever with me. There is no death, tho’ eyes grow dim. There is no fear when I’m near to Him. I’ll lean on Him forever And He’ll forsake me never.
He will not fail me As long as my faith is strong, Whatever road I may walk along. I’ll walk with God, I’ll take His hand. I’ll talk with God, He’ll understand. I’ll pray to Him, each day to Him And He’ll hear the words that I say. His hand will guide my throne and rod And I’ll never walk alone While I walk with God.’
And is all of that ever so true my people! If we walk faithfully with God, He’ll look after us. That’s his promise! And He doesn’t ever break promises. I particularly like that last line, about I’ll never walk alone, while I walk with Him. Glory be people! What an awesome statement of truth!
But first, before all of the above can happen, we need to have the faith to submit, to completely surrender our lives to Him, because God wants to be involved in EVERY aspect of our lives. He can’t be included in some things and not in others. And that’s where the problems come in. We either don’t have faith, or we suffer from weak faith, but a sincere and successful walk with God requires strong faith.
Oh I know that faith is a process, a continuum along which we grow, from glory to glory, but we have to make the solid, and conscious commitment to do it. We can’t be wishy- washy and stop, or faint as soon as problems arise, because its those same problems that cause our faith to grow. Yeh friends, unfortunately faith only grows by experiencing God’s LOVE, mercy and favour at work in our lives, especially during the rough periods.
And to show that I know what I’m talking about (smile) listen to this testimony. It’s been a year and half since I’ve been diagnosed with head and heart problems, and in the natural, you’d expect them to be fixed much sooner than they have been.
Oh, only the head problem has been fixed so far, and that just last week, the heart still remains an enigma. I went into the hospital a month ago to fix the heart problem, but some other thing cropped up and they changed their minds. I’m still waiting to hear from them.
But what amazes me is that everybody claimed I was so sick, but yet they had me traipsing from hospital to doctor to heart clinic and back again, taking all different kinds of medication and nothing was getting done. Now I could have given up hope and said, ‘Chuh! Forget all this nonsense yes!’
But I didn’t, because I’ve been walking with God long enough now to understand that He will keep His promise to work everything out for our good, but in His own time. That’s the cut-tail part about walking with God; in His own time. And unfortunately, His time is seldom our time. He uses these opportunities to grow our faith.
So if you’re going through some tough and dark times, please, please don’t give up or lose faith. The Lord WILL see you through eventually. He’s just checking to see if you’re truly into Him, as you claim. It isn’t easy people, but our God is faithful, that much I can tell you for sure. And if He sees that you’re willing to take up your cross and walk with Him, without a doubt, He’ll help you to carry it, just like He sent Simon the Cyrene, to help Jesus carry His on that fateful day. (smile)
He will NEVER leave you in the lurch. And until you sincerely believe that, your faith won’t grow. If you want to work for God, you better had be prepared to suffer stuff, because he doesn’t want people without the necessary experiencing telling His people a whole set of Anansi stories, on subjects they know nothing about. That’s why, most of the stuff I tell you, I can vouch for it from personal experience.
And I have to chuckle here, because this was never meant to be a personal testimony, but that’s what the Lord apparently wanted. And who am I to say him nay eh? (smile)
And we’ll end with this most pertinent scripture, when two blind men came to Jesus to receive their sight. ‘And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.’ (Matt.9:28-29)
Yes friends, according to the level of our faith, the Lord will work in our lives. It’s as simple as that. He’ll meet us at whatever point we are, but we have to first believe that He can do what He’s promised. That’s what faith is all about. Much LOVE!
…faith is believing without seeing…
30 Apr 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a believer's arsenal, a righteous man, afflicted, armour of god, aura of love, called by my name, Confess your faults, Creator of the universe, dangerous, debtors, debts, difficult, doubting, enthusiasm, evil prevalent, faith, families, fervent prayer, forgive their sin, further your glorious kingdom, heal their land, humble servants, humble themselves, I will hear from heaven, jobs, lies, lifting up holy hnads, men pray every where, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, my people, Our Father, pray, rejuvenation of spirit, repentance, save the sick, seek my face, sin, sing psalms, temptation, the power of prayer, the prayer of faith, turn from their wicked ways, unfair, vitlaity, weary souls, wiles, wisdom, without wrath
2 Chronicles 7:14. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
And then it was Monday again…so I guess most of you readers are already at work, struggling after a partying weekend…but not my people, because we know better than that. (smile) Uncharacteristically though, I’ve been sleeping through most of the day. I guess the ole bod needs the rest. I’m not doing badly though, should be out of here tomorrow.
But let’s do what we have to do, let’s sing out our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, because it’s prayer and is useful at any time of day or night. As one voice now: ‘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!’
Glory be my people! Prayer is such a wonderful thing! It not only connects us to our Triune God Head, but it also uplifts our souls and spirits at the same time. What could be better than that eh? That’s why it’s the most important weapon in a believer’s arsenal. And it’s possibly why I am still alive and kicking today; because of all the pleading prayers you all made on my behalf.
So please, let us never belittle or downplay the power of prayer, especially since it’s the method the Creator chose for us to communicate with Him. As He says in our Bit today: ‘If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’
And the scholars tell us: ‘7:14-15. While this promise was originally given to Solomon regarding the people of Israel, it is certainly applicable to all who will call on the Lord in repentance and faith. These verses stand as a high expression of God’s LOVING readiness to hear the prayers of a repentant people (cf. 6:37-39; James 4:8-1).’
And in these modern times where sin and evil are so prevalent, do we ever need to pray for help to overcome our numerous problems. That’s why in the New Testament we’re told so often about prayer and praying. Like Bruh Paul told the Thessalonians: ‘Pray without ceasing.’ (1 Thess.5:17) That doesn’t necessarily mean every minute of every day, but on a regular basis. Prayer should just be a thought away from our minds. And Bruh Paul told Timothy that ‘I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.’ (1 Tim.2:8)
Meanwhile James admonishes: ‘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 the 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, that ye may be healed. The effectual (effective) fervent prayer (supplication) of a righteous man availeth much.’ (James 5:13-16)
Yuh see friends, prayer is helpful in every situation of our daily walk with Christ! Be it in the church or out of it. And Bruh Paul reminds us in Ephesians, that even when we put on the life-saving armour of God, we still need prayer to help us along. ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.’ (Eph.6:18)
And the scholars explain: ‘6:18. Praying is grammatically linked to “stand” in verse 14. Without prayer, God’s armour is inadequate to achieve victory. Prayer is indispensable. Always means “on every occasion,” that is, when Satan attacks. In the Spirit signifies that with the Spirit’s help such prayer for divine aid is to be made. Watching thereunto means ‘being vigilant in this very matter” of prayer. They are to pray not just for themselves but also for all saints; spiritual combat is both and individual and corporate matter.’
Oh my people, I couldn’t have put it any better. And I believe the best way to end this refresher course on prayer is with the prayer that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ taught us. ‘After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (the evil one): For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen!’ (Matt.6:9-13)
Please friends and fellow believers, let’s remember to never belittle the power of prayer, instead, let’s wisely lift it up to the great heights that it is supposed to take in our lives nuh, because it’s all for our benefit. Much LOVE!
…to pray…and yet to pray…and to keep on praying…that is wisdom of the highest order…
26 Apr 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a gift from God, a servant of Christ, abundance, bad luck, be multiplied to you, be obedient, belief in Jesus christ, charles stanley, Commit thy way to the Lord, courage, creativity, curse, delight thyself in the Lord, divine power, do goo, dwell in the land, escaped the corruption, eternal life, evil world, expect something for nothing, faith, faithfulness, fruit of the Spirit, given to us, given us all things, glory, God's unmerited favour, godliness, good examples, grace, great and precious promises, holy spirit, Holy Trinity, is in the world, judgement, justice, licentious behaviour, light, lustful, mercy, negative situations, negative word, noonday, partakers of the divine nature, peace, personally testify, Peter, precious faith, promises, prosper, prosperous life, reward, righteousness, salt, salutation, salvation, self-control, self-discipline, share God's blessings, Standing on the promises of God, succeed, talent, testify, that pertain unto life, the desires of thine heart, the gift of God, the knowledge of god, the Lord's faithfulness, the wages of sin is death, third person, thou shalt be fed, through lust, Thursday Blessings, trust in the Lord, virtue, wisdom, you reap what you sow
2 Peter 1:4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Oh friends, this salutation seemed like the best way to begin today’s message, as it runs with our Bit. And if it was good enough for Peter, it’s good enough for me. (smile) Randy O’Brien, ‘a servant of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like (the same kind of) precious faith with us through the righteousness of (our) God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through (in) the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to (by) glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.’ (2 Peter 1:1-4)
Oh my fellow believers, you all hear that? Through our belief in Jesus Christ, we’ve been given ALL things that pertain to life and godliness, accompanied by ‘great and precious promises’ which help us get away, and stay away from the lustful and licentious behaviour of this evil world. Wow! What could be better than that eh friends? NOTHING REALLY!
The Lord has implanted His Holy Spirit to dwell in ALL believers, and the power of the third person of the Holy Trinity provides ALL that we need, or will ever need to be successful in this life. Please remember that, and seriously take hold of it nuh.
The fruit of the Spirit has already been planted in us, all we have to do now is ask the Lord to help us water and nurture them so that they can grow and show up in our lives, so that we can be good examples to the world, salt and light, and glorify and exalt His most precious and Holy Name! Glory be my brethren!
And we going to continue looking at some of God’s promises today. And this is one of my favourite, because I am currently living it. The immortal and oh so true words of Bruh David. ‘Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed (feed on his faithfulness).
Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgement (justice) as the noonday.’ (Ps.37:3-6)
Oh friends, if it’s one thing I can testify to is the Lord’s faithfulness. Although I’ve been going through a rough time medically this past year and a half, with no real relief in sight, you wouldn’t believe how the Lord has been blessing me during this time, surprisingly making some of the desires of my heart come to pass. Brother! Is he ever a wonderful God!
The problem with most of us is that we expect something for nothing – both from man and God. But that’s not real life my people! Generally speaking, you get back when and what you give. As Uncle Charles (Charles Stanley) likes to say; ‘You reap what you sow, more than you sow, and later than you sow.’ That’s just a fact of nature!
That brings us to this awesome but also frightening promise: ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Romans 6:23) Yeh mih breddren, if you insist on following the sinful, lustful world, death will be your eventual reward.
However, if you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and do your best to be obedient to His rules and principles, then you will receive the most wonderful gift there is; that of salvation and everlasting life with Christ. As the scholars tell us: ‘6:23. Wages: Emphasizes what we deserve. Gift of God: Emphasizes God’s unmerited favour.’
Yuh see the difference friends? One is what you deserve; the other is mercy, giving you something good that you don’t deserve. And please remember that salvation is indeed a gift from God, we can’t do anything to deserve it. All the good works we do mean nothing unless we believe in Christ as Lord and Saviour, for that’s the way the Lord set it up, so that none of us could boast about our good works.
And that, I think, brings us to the end of these messages on the promises of God. I implore us to study them and take them to heart, because as Peter says, they’ve been given to us so that we can lead a good and prosperous life here on earth. Please don’t let them go to waste, and then complain about your bad luck and other negative situations. Then you only have yourself to blame.
Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings which have been showered down on us because we have tried to be obedient to God’s law and have taken up and held on to His many generous promises. All together now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life!
I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection!
I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
And one of God’s most important laws is for us to now go out and share those blessings with the less fortunate! Much LOVE!
…promises…promises…I’m standing on the promises of Christ my God…
23 Apr 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a wonderful life, adrenaline, angry world, at ease, aura of love, be afraid, be quiet, being confident, believe god's Word, Christians, come unto me, confidence, conquerors, distress, dwell safely, enthusiasm, evil, faith, friends, glorified, glorious kingdom, great invitation, heaven, heavy burdened, holy spirit, humble servants, if God be for us, inspirational words, inspired by God, invincible, Jesus, jobs, joy, justifed, labour, let not your heart be troubled, lies, listen to God, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, obey God, obits, peace, predestinate, pulses, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, rest for your souls, righteousness., Roman church, salvation, secure, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, take my yoke, taunts, the BIBLE, the heaven we don't, the hell we know, the other side of the river, this one thing, too good to be true, trust, truth, ungodly world, who can be against us, whoso hearkens unto me, wiles, wisdom
Proverbs 1:33. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet (secure, at ease) from fear of evil.
One more morning…one more Monday… to go out and face the cold, cruel and evil world! Or would you rather not be around to face it eh, have your picture staring back at you from the obits instead? (smile) Definitely not! Most of us would vote for seeing another Monday morning though they seem to cause us constant distress.
That’s possibly because what awaits us on the other side of the river appears to be so grand, too good to be true, and nobody has ever come back from there and told us the real story. So until we just can’t help it, do otherwise, we’ll stay on this side of the river, unhappily accepting the hell we know, instead of the heaven we don’t.
But friends, we ought to believe God’s Word because it is true. So if He says a wonderful life awaits us on the other side, why doubt it eh? As we saw yesterday the Bible, though actually written by men, was inspired by God, and one truth from it is greater than the wisdom of all mankind. Anyway, we still on this side, (smile) and we still have Monday to get through, so let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to help us get started nuh.
All together now: ‘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!’
Yeh friends, I know our pulses are beating a little faster and the adrenaline is now swiftly coursing through our bodies, so let’s get a move on before we lose the rush nuh. (smile) And today we’re going to continue talking about the great and wonderful promises of God.
And the first one today is our Bit; wise and holy inspiration of God to Cousin Sol. ‘But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet (secure, at ease) from fear of evil.’ A promise of absolute truth my people! When we listen to God and obey Him, we are not afraid when evil comes against us. Why?
Because as Jesus told His disciples and consequently promised us: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) Wow! What a promise! Exactly what we need in this evil, confused, hateful, ungodly and angry world. And it’s available to whosoever wants it.
All you have to do is to accept Jesus’ Great Invitation: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly in heart (gentle and humble): and ye shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt.11:28-30)
Glory be my breddren! How can you beat that promise eh? No way Jose! And if yuh still having doubts, then try this promise for size. The inspired words of Bruh Paul to the Philippians, after letting them know that he’s been praying for them from the first day that they received Christ. ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Phil.1:16)
Yeh friends, whatever God begins in us, He will complete it, or keep it going until Jesus returns. There are no if, ands, or buts about that! And we going to end with some more of Bruh Paul’s wise and inspirational words, this time as he talks to the Roman church about life in the Spirit.
‘Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?’(Rom.8:30-32)
Oh precious people, if God, gave up His only Son to save us, and if we are obediently following Christ, then God will obviously be on our side. And once He’s with us, NO ONE, or NOTHING can come successfully against us, because God and any one of us constitutes a majority in any situation. Let’s remember that so we can live it too nuh. More on God’s awesome promises tomorrow, if He wants it that way. Much LOVE!
…God’s promises were never made to be broken…but for each and every one to be fulfilled…
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