20 Jul 2023
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: bring glad tidings of good things, curse, divine protection, do our bounden duty, enough willing harvesters, even unto the end of the world, faith favour, fat fannies, go ye therefore and teach all nations, good freinds, great family, have everlasting life, how beautiful are the feet of them, how shall they hear without a preacher, how then shall they call on him, I am with you always, in whom they have not believed, kingdom work to perform, labourers in the harvest of the lost, LOVE, negative word, not random figures, not willing that any should perish, preach the gospel of peace, preplanned workers, self-control, step up to the plate, the harvest truly is plenteous, the labourers are few, the Lord of the harvest, Thursday Blessings, to do God's will, will raise him up at the last day
Romans 10:14a. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
Now Thursday hasn’t opened as nicely as Wednesday did. Oh, it’s fairly sunny and cool, but there’s a bit of cloud cover which Wednesday did not have, and that has therefore lowered it in the spectrum of summer sunny days. (smile) But life is still good, we’re alive and thankful to our great and wonderful God for allowing us to see another day on His wonderful planet Earth. And believe me, many people did not get that opportunity to see today, so we’d better had be really thankful, for who knows if this might be our last one.
And furthermore, the Lord allowed us to see today because He has kingdom work for us to perform. Yes friends, that’s one of the reasons we’re here, in this place and time, to do God’s will, the plans He’s prepared for us even before we were formed in our mother’s womb. That means we’re not just random figures, but important pre-planned workers for God’s kingdom, labourers in the harvest of the lost and sinful, a harvest that is now exceedingly ripe and ready for reaping.
So, it behooves us to get out there and begin reaping the harvest, instead of just lolling on our fat fannies, talking nonsense, gossiping and complaining like so many of us supposed kingdom labourers are doing. Remember Jesus’ words on the subject to the disciples? ‘The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth the labourers into his harvest.’ (Matt. 9:37-38)
Yes my brethren, the lost and sinful were in great numbers in Jesus’ time here on earth, but with more people on the earth now, the numbers are even greater than before, and unfortunately look to be increasing, as more people seem to be leaving Christ’s church than are joining it. And who’s fault is that? Ours obviously! Because we have been ever so reluctant, lazy, afraid and whatever to get out into the world and live sincerely for Jesus.
But that’s our job. That’s what Jesus commissioned us to do. ‘Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations , baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:19-20)
And that’s our raison d’etre my people, our purpose for being on planet earth right now, to win souls to Christ, to reduce the numbers that will be lost when Christ comes again. Remember Peter’s words on the subject? ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ (2 Pet. 3:9b) So who knows, the Lord might just be waiting for us to get out there and get busy, being the true salt and light of the world, bringing more people to Him in sincere repentance, before sending Jesus back.
And to bear out the truth of that statement, Jesus promised: ‘And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.’ (John 6:39-40) So you see both the Father and Son are very much interested in saving as many souls as possible, but they are depending on us to be the guiding light that brings others to them.
That brings us to one of my favourite scriptures; the way Bruh Paul voices the dilemma of bringing people to Christ in his letter to the church at Rome. ‘How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. …So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’ (Rom. 10:14-15, 17)
Ah my fellow believers, that says it all! People can only hear about the gospel of Christ if others go to them and tell them about it; others there meaning we believers. They will never know the glad tidings of good things that Jesus’ gospel of peace holds until we step up to the plate, in whatever capacity, preacher, comforter, friend, and tell them about it. That’s why the overflowing and abundant harvest that’s ever so ripe for harvesting will only be reaped according to the effort that we labourers, we believers put into it.
And let’s remember that if we don’t get up and do a good job, asap, that many souls will be lost to Christ, be eternally separated from Almighty God, the worst fate that can ever befall a human soul, and the fault for many of them being lost will lie right on our lazy, uninterested and weak shoulders. And when the Lord asks why we were not more diligent in seeking souls for His kingdom, what answer will we give eh? We didn’t think it was our job, or we were just lazy and disinterested. Those answers won’t hold any water my people. So please, please, let’s get busy and do our bounden duty nuh, so that no souls will be lost when Christ returns.
Now let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Thursday Blessings which were so generously bestowed on us by the Father, so that we can go out and do the very work we’re talking about. As one voice: ‘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 every day! Amen!’
And having activated those blessings, it’s our duty to now go out and share them just as generously with those we meet, so that Christ’s kingdom can be furthered! Much LOVE
…a harvest will only be successful reaped…if there are enough willing harvesters…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
12 Apr 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a wise army, assurance of salvation, atonement for sins, celebrate, Christ has opened paradise, Christ is Risen today, Easter Sunday, fat fannies, fear not, fighting the good fight, forgiveness, Good Friday, hail the resurrection, Happy Easter, he that liveth, Hosanna, I am alive for evermore, I am the first and the last, Jesus won the battle, lives again our glorious king, love's redeeming work, lowers its work ethic, making disciples, Musical Mercy Tree, never let's down it's gusrd, not faithfless, pandemic situation, pie in the sky promise, recapture lost territory, redemption, reign with him, rejoice, resurrection, salvation, save us, sit on our laurels, spreading the gospel, suffer with him, Thanks be to God, the keys to hell death and the grave, through our Lord Jesus christ, to all parts of the world, victory over sin and the cross, was dead, which gives us the victory
1 Corinthians 15:57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Happy Easter
First there was Christmas – the birth of Christ, the greatest gift ever to mankind; then Good Friday – the savage torture, injustice and horrible crucifixion He endured for the payment of our sins; then today – Easter Sunday, His triumphant resurrection from the dead! Yes friends, today is possibly the most important of those three days, because without Christ’s resurrection our faith would be worthless, since eternal life would have been merely a pie in the sky promise. That’s why it’s ever so important that Jesus won the battle with Satan for the keys to hell, death and the grave and rose victorious.
Jesus told it thus to John in His Revelation: ‘Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.’ (Rev. 1:17c -18) Oh my bredrin, it couldn’t be any plainer than that! And though we have no corporate fellowship these days because of the lockdown for the Covid-19 virus, it is still such an important occasion in our faith calendar that we must do our best to celebrate it with whatever means are at our disposal.
And as always, we’ll open with a song of praise and worship, one that is ever so appropriate for this momentous occasion. It’s the old hymn by that magnificent writer, Charles Wesley, titled ‘Christ the Lord is Risen Today!’ But before we get into it, listen to this enthusiastic monologue that opens the version of the hymn from the Simple Series Musical ‘Mercy Tree’ available on Youtube. ‘We have gathered to lift up the name of Jesus. We rejoice in His victory over sin and the cross. Our cries of ‘Hosanna! Save us now!’ have been answered. Our Redeemer has conquered death! And because we are certain of that, we have reason to celebrate!’
Mama Mia! What awesome truth that is! So, without further ado, let’s celebrate, let’s rejoice in the resurrection of Christ, the redemption of our sins and the sure promise of eternal life! In a rollicking, but soulful and harmonious fashion let’s sing the praises of Christ our wonderful King! ‘Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia! Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia! Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia! Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
LOVE’S redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia! Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia! Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia! Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia! Foll’wing our exalted Head, Alleluia! Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia! Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia! Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia! Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia! Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia! King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia! Everlasting life is this, Alleluia! Thee to know, Thy pow’r to prove, Alleluia! Thus to sing, and thus to LOVE, Alleluia!’
Oh friends, what a magnificent rendition of a magnificent hymn! Wow! And as somebody wrote, every word in it truthfully refers to Christ’s work in the resurrection! And I particularly like two statements therein. The first is ‘LOVE’S redeeming work is done!’ And is it ever! The enormous price of Christ’s life has been paid for our sins for ALL TIME! Now that’s certainly nice to know! And the other statement that captivates me is: ‘Christ has opened paradise.’ And that He surely has done, by giving us the option to believe in Him and spend eternity in His amazing presence.
Now since all of us know the Resurrection Story itself, with the women coming in the early morning to check on Jesus, finding the tomb empty and two angels telling them that He is risen and gone to Galilee to meet them, and they running to tell the others, and Peter and John coming to check it out, and Mary Magdalene mistaking Jesus for the gardener until He calls her name, (smile) we won’t get into it, rather we’ll look at some other scriptures that have to do with our own resurrection and how we ought to behave.
The first thing is Bruh Paul’s advice to Timothy: ‘Thou therefore endure hardness (hardship) as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.’ (2 Tim. 2:3) Now that’s rather important if we want to set a good example to the unbelievers and create heavenly rewards. And yes, ministry is not an easy task, especially with the enemy constantly trying to spoil our testimony. We must be willing to suffer privation if we want rewards. And I like how Bruh Paul continues later on: ‘It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer (endure), we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us. If we believe not (are faithless), yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.’ (2 Tim. 2:11-13)
Yes friends, it’s all a matter of standing strong and faithful, of growing and maturing; of suffering with and for Christ, if we want to reign with him in eternity. As the scholars explain: ‘2:11-13. The principles of endurance are enumerated on the basis of the assurance of salvation.’ And there’s no better time for us to show true faith and endurance than RIGHT NOW in this scary pandemic situation!
And to bring it all together, hear these marvellous words of Bruh Paul to the Corinthians. ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave (Hades), where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 15:54a-57) Now all of that is gospel truth my people. Death and the grave were defeated. They can’t touch us anymore, because of Christ’s victorious resurrection on Easter Sunday. And we owe it all to the great LOVE that our heavenly Father had, and still has, and will always have for us.
But in the long run, the crux of the matter is our behaviour, as Bruh Paul said to Timothy above, and as follows to the church at Corinth. ‘Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain (futile) in the Lord.’ (1 Cor. 15:58) Oh my fellow believers, not because we achieved victory through Christ’s sacrificial death we can afford to now sit on our laurels and our fat fannies and do nothing.
Please note, that the enemy, though he was soundly defeated by Christ, has not turned tail and run home whimpering, but has revamped his army of evil minions and is still out there fighting, trying to recapture his lost territory. That means that we also need to continue working as hard as we can, keep on fighting the good fight, doing what Jesus desires of us; spreading the gospel to all parts of the earth, and thus helping to making disciples of the unbelievers. That’s what Christ’s death, resurrection, redemption and atonement of our sins requires of us. So let’s get to it this Easter Sunday as we celebrate and rejoice over His magnificent victory nuh! Much LOVE!
…though victorious in battle… a wise army…NEVER lets down it’s guard…or lowers its work ethic…
25 Sep 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a parable, adrenaline, all night in prayer, antidote, ask in prayer, aura of love, bask in the love of Jesus, believing, Christians, complaining, confidence, conquerors, constant activity, courage, death, deserted place, enthusiasm, evil, fat fannies, friends, get a move on, glorious kingdom, God's attention, good news, humble servants, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, joy, King of Kings, lies, Lord of Lords, LOVE, men of faith, men ought always to pray, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, not to faint, our benefit, patient, persevering, prince of peace, promise, rejoicing in hope, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, rest, resurrection, salvation, share the Love of Jesus, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, steadfast in prayer, surrender, taunts, the four corners of the earth, the Son of God, to this end, tribulation, trust, truth, ungodly world, weary souls, weeping, whining, wiles, wisdom, with God's help, workers of iniquity
Luke 18:1. And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
Awright mih people, it’s that time again, Monday morning! So let’s be up and at ‘em nuh, bright and beautiful! No whining and complaining, just a faithful promise to bask in the LOVE of Jesus all day long, and consequently share that LOVE and the good news of His death, resurrection and salvation to all those with whom we come into contact.
Nothing could be better than that! We’d be enjoying ourselves as well as telling others about our wonderful Lord and Saviour, the ONE, the ONLY Son of God, Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Mighty Counselor, etc. etc! Who else has as many names as our Master eh? NOBODY! That just goes to show how far reaching is His influence and power.
However, He wants us to take his glorious message to all and sundry, to the four corners of the earth. And He’ll give us the ability and energy to do so, but we have to get up off our fat fannies and get a move on. So, if by chance, you are feeling the after effects of a tiring weekend, don’t worry, we have the antidote for your problem; our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. Let’s belt it out now nuh, so we can get the adrenaline flowing and our spirits lifted.
‘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!’
Yes friends, that prayer surely woke us up, boosted our spirits and gave us the courage to get a move on, to be about Jesus’ work. And why do you think that prayer energized us eh? Because prayer is the effective medium of communication between us and our heavenly Father. That’s what He commanded; we talk to Him through prayer.
No wonder Jesus made the connection in our Bit, during His earthly sojourn. ‘And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.’ Obviously Jesus knew the connection of prayer between God and man, and also the power that sincere prayer possessed.
Consequently, after He cursed the fig tree and caused it to die, He said to the disciples. ‘And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.’ (Matt.21:22) But please note, the most important word in the sentence is ‘believing.’ Unless you believe, you won’t receive.
And Jesus did practice what He preached, for Luke tells us: ‘And it came to pass that in those days, that he (Jesus) went out into mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.’ (Luke 6:12) Meanwhile Mark records: ‘And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary (deserted) place, and there prayed.’ (Mark 1:35)
So friends, if the Son of God, needed to pray to communicate with His heavenly Father, who are we not to need the same eh? And please remember, it’s ALL FOR OUR GOOD, OUR BENEFIT! God doesn’t need prayer. Who is He going to pray to, Himself? And in these perilous and turbulent times we need prayer more than ever. And all the great men of faith, both told us to pray, and prayed fervently themselves.
Let’s check out a few examples. Hear Bruh Paul on the topic of prayer to the Romans, as he explains how Christians ought to behave: ‘Rejoicing in hope; patient (persevering) in tribulation; continuing instant (steadfastly) in prayer.’ (Rom.12:12) Prayer was to be a constant activity in their lives.
Now listen to Bruh David. In Psalm 5 – A prayer for protection, he declares: ‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning; O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell (sojourn) with thee.’ (Ps.5:3-4)
Then in Psalm 6 – A prayer for mercy, he warns his enemies: ‘Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.’ (Ps.6:8-9)
Ah friends, sincere prayer is the ONLY way to get our God’s attention, as evidenced by Jesus, Bruh David and many other great men of faith. So let’s review our prayer scene and try to improve it nuh, obviously with God’s help, since we can’t do much without Him. Much LOVE!
…without prayer…man is totally lost…
11 Mar 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a better tomorrow, a thief in the night, agony, amateurs, Anselm, aspire, at any time, be sober, bearing me up, breathing fire, build up one another, cares of life, carousing, children of darkness, children of light, comfort yourselves, darkness, depart this earth, drunkenness, edify, encourage each other, enjoy our tomorrows, equal opportunity employer, evil doers, exterminate, fair, faithfulness, fat fannies, forgiving, get up and go to work, helmet, hurs, inspiration, inspire, invent, knickers, leads and guides, licentious lifestyle, lord jesus christ, LOVE, loving-kindness, make amends, minutes, plead for forgiveness, positive difference, rich people, salvation, scientists, Second Coming, self-controlled, sit and wait, sleep, surfeit, swing of things, take heed to yourselves, the breastplate of faith, the hope of salvation, the Lord's Day, the Warrior King, the wicked, time, tomorrow, trials, tribulations, unawares, under the weather, up to scratch, use our time wisely, wake, warning, watch, weighed down, white charger, winter's morn, wrath, your hearts be overcharged
Luke 21:34. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged (weighed down) with surfeiting (carousing), and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Aye mih people, how all yuh doing this cold winter’s morn eh? The ole fella’s feeling a bit under the weather this morning, seems like I’m getting a cold or something of the sort. But not to worry, for the Lord is bearing me up, as He faithfully promised in His word, and I’m soon going to get into the full swing of things and begin writing the Bit like a champion. (smile)
Ah friends, how could I not LOVE the Lord eh after all the faithfulness and LOVING-kindness He’s shown me over the years? I come to write, and I don’t know what to write, and He leads and guides me. I come to write, and I’m not feeling up to scratch, and He uplifts me, gives the wherewithal to do His bidding.
Consequently my heart rejoices and my lips offer Him much thanks and praise, for He is a most wonderful God! Amen! So now that I’m uplifted, (smile) let’s get on with writing the Bit nuh. And since today is Saturday, we’ll look at a couple of quotes from our friend Anselm, who aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow.
The first one is fairly long, and says: ‘Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.’
Now all of that is quite true, but the problem is, how many more tomorrows do we have eh? Moses in his only Psalm, Psalm 90 – From everlasting to everlasting thou art God – pleaded with the Lord: ‘So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom (gain a heart of wisdom). (Ps.90:12)
Yes my fellow believers, none of us know when we’ll depart this earth, so we have to use our time wisely. That’s why we have to do what the second quote advises. ‘Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.’
Ah friends, we can’t afford to be like amateurs and sit on our fat fannies and wait for inspiration. We just have to get up and do whatever needs doing! That’s the only way to make a positive difference in our world and also enjoy our tomorrows, regardless of how many we have left. And that segues very nicely into out Bit; Jesus warning re His Second Coming, and the way we should not live our lives.
‘And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged (weighed down) with surfeiting (carousing), and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.’
That means we ought always to be prepared, be ready for whenever He returns, be it today tomorrow or many years hence. The important thing to remember here friends, is that Our Lord and Saviour will one day come back as the Warrior King, on His white charger, breathing fire and ready to exterminate the evil doers.
That we know for a fact, but we just don’t know when. And since it could be at any time, we can’t afford to be caught with our knickers down at our feet. (smile) So we cannot live a licentious lifestyle and be caught unawares, either by our passing, or His return, for then there will be no further opportunity to make amends and plead for forgiveness.
Now yesterday we saw where Bruh Paul told the Thessalonians that the Lord’s return might come like a thief in the night (1 Thess.5:2) Today we’ll continue his message. ‘But ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. But ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober (self-controlled).
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and LOVE; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together (encourage each other), and edify (build up) one another, even as also ye do (are doing).’ (1 Thess.5: 4-11)
There we have it friends, straight from the mouth of Bruh Paul! We are not children of darkness but of light, and as such ought to live sober and self-controlled lives, watching out for Jesus’ return. And if we do that, then we won’t be affected by the trials and tribulations, the agony that the wicked, the children of darkness will suffer on the Lord’s Day.
As true believers, we will be spared the Lord’s wrath. So let’s be sensible and wisely redeem whatever time we have left nuh mih breddren, for that time could be up at any second, without any warning. Much LOVE!
…either your last breath…or Jesus’ return…can spell the end of your time…so please be prepared…
16 Sep 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a brand new day, a breath of summer, a glorious future with Jesus, a shower of grace, abounding with thanksgiving, absent in the flesh, another glorious day on God's great earth, as for me and mine, awesome truth, Beauty for Ashes, beware lest any man spoil you, blessings, boggles my mind, Bruh Paul, cherishing Jesus, Colossians, deceived by the lies of Lucifer, died for sinners, enthusiasm, enticing words, eradicate Jesus from our society, false teachers, fat fannies, focusing on Jesus, forgiveness, glory hallelujah, glory to God, God took away my sorrow, grace of Jesus Christ, gullible, hope for tomorrow, I am halfway home, I'm not turning back, I'm so glad to be alive, Im not looking back at the past, Jesus went to the cross, lest any man should beguile you, Lord and Saviour, Love for Jesus, loving Jesus, mercy, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, my hands are fixed securely on the plough, my neck of the woods, philosophy, present in the spirit, principles of the world, promises, put a smile upon my face, put our complete trust in Jesus, sit on our laurels, stand strong and steadfast in faith, surrender our all, thank God, the breath of life, the fullness of the Godhead, the Godhead, the tradition of men, till our dying day, until eternity, vain deceit, walk in him rooted and built up in Jesus, walk obedient to Jesus' word, we are complete in Jesus, we will follow Jesus, Wednesday Wail, work God's plan for our lives
Colossians 2:4. And this I say, lest any man should beguile (deceive) you with enticing (persuasive) words.
Ah Friends, welcome to another glorious day on God’s great earth! Glory Hallelujah! That means God still has work for us to do down here, so let’s not merely sit on our laurels, rather our fat fannies, (smile) but instead sincerely work the plan God has for our earthly lives.
And it does promise to be a bright and sunshiny day in my neck of the woods. A breath of summer is still gloriously in the air… Oh glory to God! You people with summer like weather all year round won’t truly appreciate the reality of true summer temps in the middle of September.
But enough talk. It’s Wednesday, which means it’s wailing time. So let’s wail nuh. As one harmonious wailer 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 I do hope that’s the awesome truth in our lives my people! I do hope that we all are steadfastly concentrating on, consistently focusing on Jesus and all that He so wonderfully stands for. He is wonderful, isn’t He? Oh my, my!
When I think about all that He’s done for us, when there was absolutely no reason to do it, I simply cannot imagine not LOVING and cherishing Him as my Lord and Saviour.
And just to show how wonderful Jesus is, listen to the chorus of one of my favourite songs that I heard last night, and just had to share with you again.
The song’s called ‘Beauty for Ashes,’ by Jermaine Cowan, and the chorus says: ‘Beauty for ashes…In a shower of Grace. Hope for tomorrow…It’s a bright, brand new day. Took away my sorrow…Put a smile upon my face. Beauty for ashes…In a shower of grace.’
Oh my people isn’t that truly wonderful? Of course it is! And it’s exactly what Jesus does for us when we surrender our all, put our complete trust in Him and try to walk obedient to His Word. That’s why it boggles my small, finite mind when people refuse to acknowledge His Lordship and LOVE Him, especially when there’s no one else around to do the things He does.
Is mankind crazy, or just stupid, plus gullible, to be deceived by the lies of Lucifer and his evil cronies, and thus try to eradicate Jesus from our society? I don’t know nuh Friends, but all I can say is, that as for me and mine, we will follow Jesus until our dying day, in fact until eternity! Oh Glory to God!
Yes my people, it’s true enthusiasm. And every day that I live and grow a little more in His Word, and experience more of His wonderful blessings, my enthusiasm and LOVE for Him increases! And that’s exactly how it ought to be my brethren.
That brings us to our Bit, which is ever so relevant to what we’ve said above. They are words of warning against false teachers and teachings from Bruh Paul to the Colossians. ‘And this I say, lest any man should beguile (deceive) you with enticing (persuasive) words.’
Ah Friends, we do need to be very careful of whom and what we read and/or listen to, because there are a lot of glib and persuasive false teachers and teachings circulating in our distressed and turbulent world, and it’s very easy to fall under their spell, unless one has the teachings of and LOVE for Jesus sincerely wrapped around your hearts and minds.
Now listen to Bruh Paul as he continues after our Bit. ‘For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your (good) order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Beware lest any man spoil you (plunder, take you captive) through philosophy and vain (empty, futile) deceit, after (according to) the tradition of men, after (according to) the rudiments (basic principles) of the world, and not after (according to) Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power (rule and authority).’ (Col.2:5-10)
Ah Friends, that warning is still in effect today, so let’s pay serious attention to it nuh. Christ is the end all and be all! He controls the universe and all therein! His words are faithful promises and will not be diluted or diminished! And above all, we have been given ALL that we need to handle this world; we are complete in Him, therefore it’s not necessary to look to anyone or anywhere else for anything that we need.
Please remember that my people, and let’s stand strong and steadfast in the faith and in the LOVE, mercy, forgiveness and grace of Jesus Christ! For that is indeed the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!
…only Jesus went to the cross and died for us sinners…so how can we put our trust in…or believe in anybody else eh…
14 Apr 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a cloudless blue sky, a cry of anguish, a glorious Tuesday, a song of praise, accomplish all our desires, affliction, all that labour and are heavy laden, appreciation, brokeness, Christianity means action, come unto me, common sense, each step of the way, elevate our earthly lives, enhances growth, every experience is an opportunity to grow, fat fannies, fear the Lord, forgiveness, fulfilling, hungry, I have not refrained my lips, I have preached righteousness, I told you so, I will give you rest, in the great congregation, it's a little too late, learn from our mistakes, Limping Home, LOVE, mocked and maligned, never stop learning, O Lord thou knowest, One Year Book of Bible promises, pay my vows, praise, proclaimed the good news of righteousness, proclamation of God's Word, prodigal journey, Psalm 22, rest, Ruth Harms Calkin, seed of jacob, soiled and shabby, sprintime, stimulating, sttoped and stupid, sweep it under the rug, the cross, the end of our tether, the judgements of thy mouth, the Love Revolution of Jesus, thirsty for God, tons of bright sunshine, truth, turn to our Higher Power, unburdening of our souls, unfathomable love, variety of happenings, walking continually with God, walking with god every day, welcome, wisdom
Psalm 40:9. I have preached righteousness (proclaimed the good news of righteousness) in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained (restrained) my lips, O Lord, thou knowest.
Ah Friends it’s the promising start of what hopefully will be a totally glorious Tuesday!
Yesterday wasn’t bad nuh, with the decent sunshine, warm temps and all that, but late in the afternoon the sun chose to be hidden betwixt the dark clouds and the rain. Let’s hope for a cloudless blue sky and tons of bright sunshine this spring day.
And yuh know Friends, I saw something yesterday in my One More Day Devotional for People with Chronic Illness that got me thinking I should share with you. It says that ‘Every day, every experience is an opportunity to grow.’
And isn’t that the God-awesome truth my people. Our experiences are like the springtime, which enhances growth. And we’d be rather foolish if we did not use the wide variety of happenings that we all experience to enlighten and elevate our earthly lives. It’s like the old saying, we should learn from our mistakes.
And remember too, that once we’re alive we should always be learning. We should NEVER stop learning! Learning something new every day, keeps the doctor and the funeral director away! (smile)
And as an added bonus, here’s this poem from The One Year Book of Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. I couldn’t help but include it since it portrays so many of us so vividly.
It’s titled ‘LIMPING HOME,’ and astutely declares: ‘Lord With a crooked stick for a cane I’m limping home. Mocked and maligned Stooped and stupid Soiled and shabby I limp toward You. You could say, “I told you so.” You could say, “It’s a little too late.” You could say, “Wait while I think it over.”
You could sweep me under the rug – We both know I deserve far less. But when I see the cross And the Man who died there Suddenly I know I limp Toward unfathomable LOVE And there is forgiveness Rushing toward me. I don’t ask for a banquet, Lord Nor do I need a gold ring. I’m so hungry So thirsty For You.’
More awesome truth Friends! We try to do it our way, on our own, but eventually realize that that’s impossible. And hopefully, when we’ve reached the end of our tether, we turn to our Higher Power, who is indeed the One that causes us to successfully accomplish all our desires.
And it’s interesting to note, that on our prodigal journey back to the Father, we suddenly discover the appreciation and wonderful welcome that’s waiting there for us, and the hunger and thirst for His unfathomable LOVE just overwhelms us. The sad part though, is that it often takes our brokenness to bring us to that realization.
And the rather appropriate promise for that poem come from these beautiful and welcoming words of Jesus. ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ (Matt.11:28)
But for some ungodly reason, too many of us hesitate and/or refuse to accept that promise of rest and unburdening of our souls, and thus struggle more than is necessary to make it through this earthly life. That’s definitely not even common sense, much less wisdom my people!
So where then are common sense and wisdom found, you ask? Oh my brethren, those two marvellous traits are found in walking continually with God and doing what our Bit declares. ‘I have preached righteousness (proclaimed the good news of righteousness) in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained (restrained) my lips, O Lord, thou knowest.’
Yes my people, the proclamation of God’s Word to the world is a rather integral part of our earthly lives!
And we’ll continue with the stuff I had left over from yesterday, which consists of a few more verses from Psalm 22 – A cry of anguish and song of praise. Listen to Bruh David exhort us: ‘Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed (descendants) of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him (hold Him in awesome reverence), all ye the seed of Israel.
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.’ (Ps.22: 23-25)
Oh Friends, how wonderful and productive this life, and this world would be, if we only carried out those vows and promises! But unfortunately, that’s only going to happen, if and when we get truly serious about promoting and promulgating the LOVE Revolution of Jesus Christ.
As individuals, we have to ask ourselves, how interested we really are in doing that, then get up off our fat fannies and do it. Remember Friends, that Christianity is an ACTION word, and nothing is more fulfilling and stimulating than walking with God every day, each step of the way. Much LOVE!
…with my lips…have I declared…all the judgements of thy mouth… (Ps.119:13)
06 Feb 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: accomplish the work of Jesus, bottom line, capital city, caring, Carnival, Christian, Christian beliefs, circumspection, coconut water, compassion, cruel governments, cutting costs, don't give a damn, Esplanade, fat fannies, floundering, Friday chant, friends, generous help, glorious kingdom, gospel truth, homelessness, hunger, Jesus, Jesus began to teach them, Jesus Christ, Jesus was moved with compassion, joy, Last Lap, Library, light under a bushel, lost, market, May the Lord be with him, modus operandi, poverty, pray ye thereofre, profits, salt, saving grace, Scarborough, stuffed our faces, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the harvest is truly plenteous, the labourers are few, the Lord of the harvest, the poor are getting poorer, the rich are getting richer, the wisdom of heaven, they were as sheep not having a shepherd, tourists, ungodly world, unsaved, unwashed
Mark 6:34. And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people (a great multitude), and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
Aye mih Friends, is Friday, the Friday before Carnival Friday…! And you know the standard response to that:
‘Oh TGIF! Thank God is Friday! Work soon finish for this week, then is party time on the weekend! Mama Yo! Next weekend is Carnival, so we playing mas from now till then! Thank God for Fridays yes!’
And you better believe that statement of playing mas from now to next week, because that’s what many people are going to do; party every night from now till Last Lap, when Carnival finishes, two Tuesdays from now. That’s the standard modus operandi from way back when. And I can tell you from personal experience that it’s a very interesting situation. Hn, Hn!
Anyway, we all know that’s not the godly way to carry on, so let’s chant our simple Friday Chant which gives us a better perspective. All together now: ‘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.’
Now that’s the approach we ought to use towards the weekend! So please let’s rein in our ungodly lustful appetites and have some circumspection re our behaviour, for that’s what the Lord desires of us.
And as per the lateness of today’s Bit, I really can’t be blamed, that lies at the duchess’ door. Just as I was about to start writing it this morning she woke up and asked if I was ready to go to the market. Now I had promised to take her, but didn’t really expect her to get up so early, so when she surprised me, I had no choice but to keep my promise. (smile)
Would you believe that we’ve been here for over a week and this is the first time we were going into town? Hn! We left home around 9 o’clock to go into the bustling capital city of Scarborough. And believe me, it was truly bustling today, it being Friday and a big tourist ship had recently docked in the port.
We encountered a traffic jam just outside of town, which slowly wended its way down to Wilson Road where I turned to go into the market. Now to me that’s the new market, although it’s been there for many years.
When I talk about the market, I mean the old one up town. Obviously there was no parking anywhere close by and I drove around until I found a spot behind the Library, to me the new Library, because my Library was uptown too, near to the old market. (smile)
Anyway, we walked around the market, looking for my half-brother Hamer, who sells in there, and whom we had been unsuccessful in contacting, but apparently he wasn’t there today. So we just continued walking around buying stuff, half of which we had never intended to buy, but once we saw it, decided we needed it.
An hour or so later, after having a coconut water, we finally exited the market, loaded down with several bags. It was now a bit of a jam to get out of the city, but we stopped at the Esplanade to check out my sister’s-in- law flower shop.
Thankfully, we found her there, and there was much joy in the reunion, though it was somewhat reduced when we learned that my brother was in the U.S preparing to undergo surgery for some vein problems in his legs. May the Good Lord be with him, and cause the surgery to be successful.
We visited for a while, then when we were leaving, we asked her about a good place to eat, and she pointed to a place, Jattan’s, just over the street. We walked over there and stuffed our faces, then left for home, where we arrived around one o’clock, and obviously the ole fella had to rest from such exhausting activity. (smile)
I even managed to talk the duchess into lying down, which she usually doesn’t do during the day. Next thing yuh know, we’re both fast asleep, and I’m getting up after three, and the duchess just woke at four. And that’s why the Bit is so late.
‘And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people (a great multitude), and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.’ And like Jesus did, I’m expecting you all, in your Christian belief, to have compassion on me. (smile)
Ah Friends, as we’ve been saying for the last few days, compassion is one of the biggest things, if not the biggest thing, that we’re lacking in this cruel, evil, ungodly world. We don’t seem to care a whole lot about people again. Just look at the hunger, poverty and homelessness that surrounds us, in a world where there is more than enough for everyone! Steups!
But as the old adage goes, the rich are indeed getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. And unfortunately, the rich don’t seem to give a damn about the poor! Just look at how they are throwing people out of work every day, to improve their bottom line, their profits.
No one’s thinking about increasing productivity to increase profits, just cutting costs, which means cutting employees. Ah Lord eh! But they still expect those people to exist, to eke out some low level of subsistence and to buy their products.
Chuh! The cruel governments are also making it harder for unemployed people to receive Unemployment Insurance by increasing the time line for qualifying for it. What evil jerks!
That’s why Friends, as a society, we have to very seriously think about turning back to our godly roots, finding Jesus and putting Him back at the forefront of our lives where He belongs. For He is the only one who seems to have compassion for the lost and floundering.
Listen to this heart-moving scripture nuh. ‘But when he (Jesus) saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted (were weary), and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.’ (Matt.9:36) And isn’t that the gospel truth my Friends! We’re all running around like chickens with our heads cut off, like dumb sheep without a guiding, caring and compassionate shepherd. And the best shepherd there is, is none other than Jesus!
Hear the scripture continue: ‘Then saith he (Jesus) unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into the harvest.’ (Matt.9:37-38)
Oh my brethren, Jesus is talking about the great amount of unwashed, unsaved, ungodly in our society, and we, His true and faithful followers, are the ones expected to go in and help reap the harvest of souls that’s there ready for harvesting. So please let’s do what’s expected of us nuh. And the first thing we have to do in reaping the harvest is show care and compassion to the unfortunate and needy ones.
So again, I plead with us to get up off our fat, complacent fannies and do some serious reaping of the harvest as is expected of us by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. That’s what it means to be a true follower of Christ, a true Christian.
So let’s throw off the bushels, the shades from our lights, so that they can shine brightly in a darkened world, and increase the salt in our souls so that we can successfully accomplish the work that Jesus has called us to do. That’s the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!
…Jesus died to save us…now we need to tell others about His saving grace…
11 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a believer's life, action, appendage of love, appreciation, atoning sacrifice, attributes, baubles and bangles, Bruh Paul, Christians, competitor, corruption, defeats the purpose, diligence, discipline, earthly walk, easy life, effort, evil cohorts, evil doers, evil powers, evil ways, faithfulness, fat fannies, fear, figuratively, followers of Jesus, fruit of the Spirit, fulfills the law, furrows of love, gentleness, God is LOVE, God's help, God's plan for our lives, goodness, gratefulness, hatred stirs up strife, heartfelt prayer, hearts, holiness, homelessness, Jesus Christ, joy, joy in heaven, justice, kindness, literally, long-suffering, losing the battle, Love covers all sins, Love does no harm, love experience, Love God, love of the Father, LOVE Revolution, Lucifer, make hay while the sun shines, man's sinful nature, meekness, mere token, minds, motives of our hearts, negativity, New Year's Day, oppression, outward actions, peace, petty concerns, plough, poverty, procrastinating, rhetoric, self-control, serious challenge, shape up, sincerity, sins, sitting on laurels, sliding into hell, specific purpose, spritually resembling Jesus, standing steadfast, suppression, temperance, thankfulness, time waits on no one, unbelievers, walk in LOVE, whim and fancy, wise words, work seriously, worthwhile institutions, wretched souls
Romans 13:10. LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.
Oh Friends, can you believe it’s already the 11th of January! But we just celebrated New Year’s Day last week!
Yes, it seems 2014 is going to be a fast moving year like 2013, so we had better shape up and do the things we need to do; stop procrastinating, stop believing that we have lots of time to accomplish our life’s work. For some wise people said long ago, that time waits on no one, and that lost time can never be regained, so it’s best to make hay while the sun shines. (smile)
And how do we do all of that? First of all by finding out the plan God has for our lives, then diligently living it out with His help. And He does have a plan for each every life that He creates. He doesn’t just make us on a whim and fancy, but for a specific purpose. That means if you don’t know His plan for your individual life, then you have to ask Him. And you know He’ll never refuse to answer sincere, heartfelt prayer.
But Friends, whatever specific plan God has in store for us, it always has the appendage of LOVE attached to it. Why? Because God is LOVE! (1 John 4:8b) That is one of His many glorious attributes, possibly the most important one as it pertains to human life. For as Jesus said the most important aspects of human life are to LOVE God, ourselves and our neighbours. (Matt.22:37-40)
Therefore, if we are to be true followers of Jehovah God, then LOVE MUST play a very large and important part in our lives. 1 John 4:10 tells us that it’s because God LOVED us so deeply that He sent Jesus to die as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, so He could cover His attributes of holiness and justice. Consequently, ‘Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:11) That means followers of Jesus ought to walk in LOVE!
And our Bit certainly confirms that LOVE is of the utmost importance in a believer’s life. ‘LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law.’ So if we’re walking in LOVE, then we’re fulfilling the law of God!
However Friends, talking about walking in LOVE, and actually doing it, are two entirely different things, if only because of man’s sinful and rebellious nature and the unbelievable negativity that our world embraces. Therefore to truly walk in LOVE is not easy, it is indeed a serious challenge. But as everything else in our world, it is doable with our diligence and the help of God.
And the beauty of the whole LOVE experience is that when we truly put it into action, that’s the time we come closest to spiritually resembling Jesus. Oh what joy that ought to produce in a believer’s life!
However, our nature is also to shy away from anything that’s difficult; anything that takes some time, discipline and diligent effort. But just look at what Jesus suffered for us nuh my brethren. Our difficulties are a joke compared to what He went though to save our wretched souls. And all for one big reason…the LOVE OF THE FATHER!
So why can’t we now show a little gratefulness, a little thankfulness by grabbing hold of our plough and looking straight ahead, plough some beautiful furrows of LOVE eh? It’s the least we can do to show our appreciation. We won’t always be perfect and/or successful, but the Lord knows this, and it’s the sincerity of effort that counts.
And sadly my brethren, too many of us refuse to make that effort, that’s why Christ’s church and His LOVE Revolution is losing the battle to Lucifer and his evil cohorts. We seem to want the easy life, but life’s not easy; it never was, and never will be, however you cut or slice it!
Oh Friends, have you noticed how hard the evil powers fight for what they believe in? They don’t sit on their laurels and fat fannies and spout a lot of rhetoric. They get up and work seriously and diligently towards their goals. And if the church of Christ wants to win the battle of this world, then we have to do the same thing. And I don’t mean working hard to acquire the baubles and bangles of the world, but letting the LOVE of God show in our earthly walk, through what Bruh Paul terms the fruit of the Spirit.
And he describes it thus: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith (faithfulness), Meekness, temperance (self-control): against such there is no law.’ (Gal.5:22-23)
Now mih people, that is what we, as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, ought to be showing to the world! But are we doing that? Not half as much as we should! And oftimes it’s just mere token spiritual fruit we offer, from our minds, but not sincerely from our hearts, which defeats the whole purpose, because God doesn’t look at our outward actions, but at the motives of our hearts.
So Friends, let’s get up and get a serious move on nuh. Yuh see how our world is both literally and figuratively sliding down into hell! And we supposed Christians are suffering the downward slide because we’re not doing enough to convince unbelievers that Jesus and His church are worthwhile institutions to support and enjoy.
Oh mih breddren I know I’m coming on somewhat strong, but I’m just tired of seeing the evil and corruption, the poverty, the homelessness, the oppression and suppression that’s currently dominating our world. And sadly, it’s getting worse daily, while we believers squabble amongst ourselves over petty concerns, instead of standing up steadfast and strong against the evil doers, and living the kind of life that truly reflects Jesus. We’re either kow-towing to the evil doers in fear, or joining them because we too enjoy their evil ways.
And we’ll end with some wise words on the subject from Cousin Sol. ‘Hatred stirreth up strifes: but LOVE covereth all sins.’ (Prov.10:12)
Oh my people, with those awesome words of wisdom and truth ringing in our ears this Saturday morning, please, let’s go out into the sinful world that surrounds us and cover up plenty more sins than we’re currently doing nuh. It’s what Jesus commanded us to do. (Matt.28:19-20) Let’s show the world what true LOVE really is! That would bring such joy to heaven. Much LOVE!
…to be successful at anything…you need to stay several steps ahead of your competitor…so let’s rev up the LOVE Revolution nuh…
05 Feb 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Candid Camera, disappointment, eternal life, falsehood, fat fannies, glorious service, God sees all, hypocrites, integrity, Jesus is alive, Jesus' words, LOVE Revolution, loving kindness, loyalty to God, Peace and Love, ponder our goings, price of justice, prince of peace, pull the wool, rebuked by God, Sacrifical Lamb, sacrifice, salvation, straight and narrow path, The eyes of the Lord, ways of man, Wonderful Counsellor
Job 34:21. For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.
Ah Friends, I don’t have a soul-stirring intro for you this morning, (smile) but I do have some wonderful news: Jesus is alive and kicking! Kicking very strongly too! Not no mickey-mouse business. What can be better than that eh? Nothing really, for that means His followers, which we are, will also be alive and kicking strongly, since as He goes, so do we. And all Jesus’ followers proclaimed a powerful proclamation: ‘Jesus is alive! He is alive today and forever! Blessed be the name of Jesus! Amen.’ But Friends, if we’re His followers, then we have to get up off our fat fannies and actually do some strong kicking, do our job to help the LOVE Revolution that Jesus began to make some serious progress, cause it won’t be done for us. Jesus has already done His part, it’s now time for us to do ours. We can’t ride on Jesus coattails and hopefully get by either, because as our Bit reminds us: ‘For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.’ Yes mih people, Jesus’ eyes are forever on us, and He’s also constantly monitoring the motives of our hearts, so it’s even worse than being on Candid Camera. We can’t get away with anything; neither external nor internal. But in spite of that, many of us still try to pull the wool over Jesus’ eyes. What a joke friends! And we not only make ourselves look foolish when we do that, but we also reveal the low level of our faith, and our lack of true understanding of Jesus. But don’t despair my brethren, for it doesn’t mean that Jesus will push you aside and leave you to flounder aimlessly, because it’s the lost, the sick, the lonely, oppressed and misunderstood that He came to save, as He so poignantly declares in Matthew 18. ‘For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.’ (Matt.18:11) Ah mih breddren, what a wonderful person is our Jesus! Words certainly can’t describe Him adequately. What do we call Him? Wonderful Counsellor, Prince of Peace, Heavenly Advocate, Sacrificial Lamb, etc. etc! Wow! No one entity can play as many roles as He did, and still does. Please praise Him for His glorious service and sacrifice to the children of undeserving men! But as our Bit explains, there’s one drawback for us to Jesus all embracing powers; He sees all that we do, all the time. And in these evil, ungodly times, we definitely need to buckle down and start behaving like true followers, not like the hypocrite Pharisees of old. For remember that Jesus experienced the same problems and emotions that we do, when He sojourned here on earth. That means when we don’t do as we should, He will experience great disappointment. It’s just like how we’re disappointed when those close to us do wrong. And I believe that disappointing Jesus is one of the worse things we can ever do. After all He’s done, the sacrifices He’s made on our behalf, the least we can do is try to please Him, since we can never repay the LOVING-kindness that He’s shown us. But getting back to our Bit, I want to share some scriptures that also declare that the eyes of our Creator are constantly on us. Now there are so many that most likely I won’t be able to share them all today. Anyway, let’s begin with the time that Asa, king of Judah, was rebuked by the seer Hanani, for relying on the king of Syria for help in war, rather than on the God of his fathers. ‘For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward (loyal, at peace with) him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore henceforth thou shalt have wars.’ (2 Chr.16:9) But instead of turning to the Lord and repenting, Asa got angry, threw Hanani in jail, and oppressed some of his people at the same time. Now listen to Asa’s end: ‘And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign, was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not the Lord, but to the physicians.’ (1 Chr.16:12) Oh Friends, when we are rebuked by the Lord, please let’s not get angry and do foolish things that we’ll live to later regret. For our God only rebukes us because He LOVES us. It’s always for our own good. Just like when we rebuke our children for wrongdoing, it’s not so much to punish them, but to make them see the error of their ways, because we care for them, and want them to stay on the straight and narrow path that leads to salvation and eternal life. That’s the same thing our God wants for us. As Job says, in speaking of his integrity. ‘Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? If I have walked with vanity (falsehood), or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; Let me be weighed (let Him weigh me) in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.’ (Job 31″4-6) Ah Friends, living in this fallen, ungodly world is difficult at the best of times, and we will make mistakes, but overall the motives of our hearts should be right with God. Integrity is one of the pillars on which Jesus built His church, but unfortunately, today we’re seeing that pillar of integrity slowly crumble as we either turn away from Jesus, or pay mere lip service to His challenges. How can we expect others to believe in Jesus when we don’t follow through on our promises eh mih people? When we say one thing and do another? When we fight amongst each other over petty stuff, then go out and preach Peace and LOVE? It just doesn’t work like that my brethren. And we’ll end with some wise words from Cousin Sol. ‘For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth (observes, weighs) all his goings.’ (Prov.5:21) Oh Friends, please, let’s do like the Lord today nuh and ponder our goings, and make sure that they are on the straight and narrow path, for that’s wisdom at its zenith. Much LOVE!…to those who know right…but do wrong…the price of justice rises even higher…
SCRIP-BITS 