A Reminder of the Overwhelming Importance of Trust and Faith in Jesus Christ for Christians!

22 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

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

Mark 5:36b.        Be not afraid, only believe.

So friends, it’s now Tuesday, we’ve successfully gotten past our nemesis, Monday, and are well on our way to a glorious week of work, all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! What a blessing it is to have Jesus in our lives, to help us travel the ofttimes rocky road we call life. But even with Jesus in our lives, this earthy sojourn is still not any easy road to hoe, for all kinds of ungodly things and powers keep fighting for our attention, bombarding us with all sorts of carnal things, trying to distract us from our witness for Christ.

But that’s where sincere prayer comes in, it helps to quiet our souls, our worries and our fears. And today we’ll look at one such prayer from the July In Touch Devotional. So please pray with me. ‘Lord, when my prayers are met with silence or I experience one disappointment too many, hope seems naïve, something for a fool. In those jaded moments, I pray to know somewhere in my soul – deep, deep down – that it’s safe to trust You, God. On the hard days, help me to see a shimmer of hope and hold on, to turn to You and make it to the next day. In Jesus’ name, amen.’

And you know what friends, we all experience such days, especially in these fearful and crazy times our world is currently going through. But it’s worth noting that Jesus is our help in any and every situation, we just need to call on Him. But there’s one proviso, as stated in the Book of Jeremiah. ‘Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto (listen to) you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ (Jer. 29:12-13)

Yes my people, we can’t only run to Jesus when life gets tough and forget about Him in the good times. We have to be continually having communion with Him, so that when those rough and tumble times come, we’re already in His presence and we don’t have to go searching for Him like crazy, as so many of us seem to do. And as long as we live, there will be problems, hurts, disappointments and all the other unfortunate moments of life. But let’s remember what Jesus said as per those times: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)

Now that’s much easier said than done, but if you truly believe in Jesus, then you will know that He’s faithful to keep all His promises, but it also takes work and faith on our part to stay strong and believe His words. It all doesn’t happen automatically like so many supposed believers think. No! It’s a two way street. God has a part to play, and so do we, but until we do ours, God won’t do His. So all the promises in the Bible are sincere and true, but in most cases we have something to do to access them, like believing and waiting in faith.

Remember the incident with Jesus and Jairus, the Jewish synagogue ruler who came to Him seeking help for his sick daughter? As He was on His way to heal her, He got waylaid by the woman with the twelve years issue of blood. But as Jesus was talking to the woman, He overheard them tell Jairus that His daughter was dead. He immediately turned to Jairus and said, ‘Be not afraid, only believe.’ (Mark 5:36) And that ought to be our Chrisitan motto! Be not afraid, only believe, for when we do that, the powers of heaven align with us and take us through the tough times.

And I like how this commentary explains that verse. ‘So what does it mean for the Christian to not fear, but only believe? It means to cling to every promise of scripture as a blood bought truth and refuge for our souls. It means to trust that God will not fail us, that He will not prove to be deceptive, that He will not back out of His promises.’ And that’s the gospel truth my brethren! God will never renege on His promises, but we do need to hold on tightly to them, if we want to see them come true.

As Jesus said, ‘If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove (move); and nothing shall be impossible unto you.’ (Matt. 17:20) That means with even a small amount of faith, we can do great things and overcome seemingly impossible obstacles. So can you imagine what we can do with great faith? Not only move mountains but move the world!

Then there’s this final question: why do we think we have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us eh? It’s to give us power and faith and hope, comfort and guidance to live the Christian life! But there again, we need to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and do what it commands us if we expect to have divine intervention in our affairs. So friends, let’s wake up this Tuesday afternoon in late July of 2025, and realize that the enemy is bearing down on us with all he has, but we have the power to withstand him, if we choose to do so, for as John writes in his first epistle. ‘Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.’ (1 John 1:4)

More indisputable truth my people. The Holy Spirit that lives within us is greater than the devil that’s in the world! As this commentary explains: ‘The verse emphasizes that the power of God residing within believers is stronger than any worldly power or challenge. It suggests that those who believe in God have a source of strength and resilience within them that surpasses any external forces they may encounter.’ But we first need to believe and then work with the power within us for any of it to come true!

Now let’s go home declaring our Tuesday Mantra letting all and sundry know to whom we belong lock, stock and barrel! As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’

Now, we’re duty bound to go out and share that amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…God’s given us all we need to live the life He desires…but we must first accept His gifts…then put them into action…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

The Overwhelming Importance of knowing on which side One’s Bread is buttered!

12 Oct 2024 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 6:16.        These six things doth the Lord hate: yea seven are an abomination unto him (his soul).

Oh, it’s a beautiful lazy-day Thanksgiving Saturday in my neighbourhood; bright and sunshiny, though somewhat windy and cool. But it’s the middle of October in the northern climes, so what do we expect eh? We’re blessed that it’s not colder at this time of year, and temps are still getting up into the teens. 

But be that as it may, I certainly enjoyed the largesse of our lazy-day Saturday, by lolling around in bed quite late. That was only made possible though by my going to bed at a rather late hour this morning, consequently, the Bit is even later than usual. But it’s a lazy-day Saturday…and what’s a lazy-day Saturday for if not to loll around and do very little …or even nothing? (smile) 

Anyhow, enough of my excuses, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with all sincerity. As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And, oh, how our lives and our world would benefit enormously if many more of us would turn to God and sincerely seek greater intimacy with Him! Remember, that’s one of the major reasons for which He created us; to have strong communion with Him, and share LOVE back and forth! But sadly, our world and many in our Christian faith don’t seem to see it that way, thus, comparatively speaking, there’s a big void, very little intimacy between our Creator and the millions of His creation who walk this ungodly and disaster-prone earth. 

And that could never be a good or pleasant situation my fellow believers. How could it be when we have little true and sincere communication between ourselves and the One who created us and still controls our lives eh? And it doesn’t make any sense when we’re down here struggling in these fearful times, having tried all of man’s solutions without success, that we simply refuse to turn to God, which is the best option there is. 

The one good thing about the Israelites of old is that when they strayed from God and He punished them for it, they had the good sense to run back to Him as quickly as possible in repentance and soul searching. But we, we have grown so big for our britches, so sinful and ungodly, with all our wonderful technology and modern inventions, that we don’t even give turning back to God a thought, a possible solution, when our world is falling apart around us. Hn! What foolish, arrogant, stubborn and hardhearted creatures we’ve become. 

Please my people, let’s remember these wise words of Cousin Sol in Proverbs. ‘These six things doth the Lord hate: yea seven are an abomination unto him (his soul). A proud look (haughty eyes), a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations (devises wicked plans), feet that are swift in running to mischief (evil), A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren.’ (Prov. 6:16-19) And unless you’re living on some other planet, you will know that all those things that are abominations in the Lord’s sight are the very things that are currently very prevalent on this planet Earth! 

Now, if the Lord so strongly dislikes those practices, it’s obvious that He will also dislike and reject the people who practice them. And right there we have ample reason to contemplate the sad state of our world and all the disasters that are  suddenly befalling it with greater frequency than usual. I don’t know why, but with every new disaster, natural or man-made, I keep thinking that this is a warning from God. 

And even if I am wrong, what do we have to lose by sincerely turning back to God, giving up our evil ways, renewing our communion with Him, and thus getting back into His good graces. It’s foolish to be wanting to stay in Satan’s good graces when he can do nothing but negative stuff for us, when the One True God, Jehovah who created the word and all therein, is waiting with wide open arms to welcome us back to His magnificent fold. 

That’s the wise position we ought to pursue, but unfortunately Satan has so many of us so wrapped up in his evil doings, so caught in sinful bondage, while keeping us in total darkness, that it’s become rather difficult for us to break through the darkness and the bondage of sin. 

But friends, if we truly desire to do that, all we have to do is call on the name of Jesus and He will come and save us from both the bondage of sin and the oppressing darkness that Satan has us wrapped up in. He will break those bonds of sin and take us into the bright and powerful light that He represents, while offering forgiveness of sins, salvation and eternal life, instead of the eternal death and separation from God that followers of the enemy will suffer. 

As the Bible so wisely and truly tells us: ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Rom. 6:23) And the very important thing to notice there my brethren is the last phrase; ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ Yes, eternal life or any serious communication with God can only be accomplished through Jesus Christ, for, as the Son of God during His short tenure here on earth He outrightly declared (chuh!!!) ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’ (John 14:6) 

And that’s the gospel truth friends! If you want to see or associate with the Father, you have to go through the Son Jesus! Why? Because the Father has promoted Him to the highest name ever for His obedience and LOVE in taking the sins of the world on His sinless shoulders and dying on the cross at Calvary so that we sad and sorrowful sinners could be set free. 

So please, on this Thanksgiving Saturday, let’s contemplate all that we’ve said, and make a wise decision to sincerely seek Christ with all of our hearts, souls, bodies and minds, for it’s what He truly desires! Much LOVE!

…man was made to live in godly light…not sinful darkness…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 August 2018 Luke 12:32.

09 Aug 2018 Leave a comment

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

Luke 12:32.   Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Oh mih people, it’s a brand new day with new mercies and blessings, so let’s be wise and enjoy it and give the Lord thanks for allowing us to see it nuh! 

And I’d certainly like to know what it is between me and lighting yes! Remember a couple of days ago I told you about going out on my front porch to see the rain and how two flashes of lightning immediately drove me back inside? 

Well yesterday afternoon I was sitting on my porch reading, waiting for my young daughter to come and pick me up and take me out. The rain was merely drizzling, when out of the blue, a fiery bolt of Zeus’ lightning suddenly lit up the dark and dreary-looking sky. Then soon thereafter, Thor unleashed a thunderous thunderclap of thundering thunder! (smile) Hn! Yuh know where I ended up? Back inside, of course! 

Ah Lord eh! A body can’t even sit down quietly on his porch without being threatened eh, without fearing for his life! (smile) And quite appropriately, today we’re going to talk about fear, starting with some wise insights on the subject from Uncle John (John Hagee). 

And the first thing he says is ‘Don’t let fear destroy you.’ But sadly we live in such fearful times, when both the physical world and mankind seem to be in serious upheaval that fear is rampant, even among Christians. However, according to Uncle John, the two words that Jesus used most were ‘Fear not!’ And He did indeed tell us quite often not to be afraid, but so many of us lack spiritual maturity that we let fear rule our lives. 

Now hear are some things Uncle John said we should not be afraid of in particular and good reasons why not. The first is: ‘Don’t fear death – For Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Don’t fear the past – Because it’s forgotten and forgiven. Do not fear the unknown – Because God is the revealer of every secret. Do not fear powers and principalities  – Because you have the power of the cross. 

You have the power of Jesus’ Name. You have the power of His Word. You have the power of His blood. You have more firepower than the U.S President… (smile) And it comes to you just with the mention of the name of Jesus!’ 

Glory be mih people! Yuh see all the reasons why we should not be afraid. Jesus is the omnipotent ruler of this world, and if we’re supposed to be living under His umbrella, His jurisdiction, then we should have little or no cause to be afraid of anything! 

And we’ll continue by highlighting a few scriptures where Jesus told His people not to be afraid, beginning with our Bit. ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’ 

Yes friends, that’s the indisputable truth! Why else would He have sent his most precious possession, His Son, to die for a bunch of ingrates like us eh? But we can’t just sit on our fannies and do nothing. We have to genuinely seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, as well as watch and wait for Jesus’ return. 

And earlier on, while telling them whom to fear and whom not to fear, Jesus declared. ‘And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.’ (Luke 12:4-5) Oh my, my! 

And as the scholars explain: ‘12:4. The body’s death is not the end of a person’s life. 12:5. God is the One with this power (to cast into hell) (James 4:12).’ And since I LOVE you all so much, and want you to know the scriptures, and know you won’t look it up for yourselves, I’ll spoon-feed you with that verse. (smile)  

It occurs when James is talking about us having consideration for our brother. ‘There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?’ (James 4:12) And that’s a very good question with all the unsubstantiated judgemental behaviour that’s going on these days. 

But turning back to Jesus. Listen to Him on Easter morning, having triumphantly risen from the dead. To those who first saw Him, He said: ‘Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.’ (Matt.28:10) What an occasion was Jesus’ resurrection eh friends! The most momentous occasion the world has seen so far! 

And we have time for just one more of Jesus’ ‘be not afraid.’ This one to His disciples on the boat on the stormy sea, and He comes walking towards them on the water. When they saw Him, were they ever afraid and cried out in fear that it was a spirit. ‘But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer (take courage); it is I, be not afraid.’ (Matt.14:27) Ah mih breddren, what else can I say eh? You heard it all from Jesus Himself! 

Now let’s go home loudly and proudly and sincerely declaring our Thursday Blessings, a mark of Jesus’ bountiful benediction to His followers. 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!’ 

The next step is to go out now and share those wonderful blessings with the less fortunate, because that’s why Jesus so generously endowed us with them. Much LOVE!

…the only fear mankind should have…is that of displeasing Almighty God…

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 April 2013 Daniel 9:19

10 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

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

Daniel 9:19.     O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. 
 
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s up bright and early this wet, Wednesday spring morning! That’s because I went to bed early last night and caught up on some of the rest I’d been missing. There’s nothing like a good night’s sleep to rejuvenate both body the body and mind. And like we’re finally getting the early rain to prepare the ground for planting, as the past two evenings the rain has fallen mightily in my area. It’s about time too, we’ve seen enough of that white stuff. And talking about that, the snow this year has been rather resilient, for though we’ve had several warm days in the last little while, yesterday morning there was still a few mounds of the stuff lurking around. But thank the Lord that threat is now over for a few months, though the rain reminds me of the leak in my laundry room. And to make matters worse, I understand that my maintenance person is now frolicking in the warm, sunny, colourful, twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. But not to worry, the Lord will look after me, as He’s been doing all along. That brings us to our Bit: ‘O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do (listen and act); defer (delay) not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.’ Oh Friends, that was a part of Daniel’s prayer for his people Israel, when they were in captivity in Babylon. God’s city of Jerusalem was a mess, destroyed by Israel’s enemies. Unfortunately today it’s still a mess, this time though with mostly religious strife. It’s a prayer that all Christians should still be praying in these evil, troubled and fearful times, because Christians all over the world are still being horribly persecuted and subjected to dreadful oppression; physically, mentally and emotionally. In many places they can’t worship openly, can’t even say the Holy Name of Jesus out loud, but in very soft whispers, for fear of terrible retribution by the ruling enemy. That is just so sad my brethren, and even if we can’t do anything about their physical circumstances, we can always, should and must pray for those who are suffering simply because they believe in Jesus Christ. Now that kind of persecution is indeed terrible, but to some extent our behaviour in the supposed free world, where we can worship openly, is even worse, because we are steadily allowing the evil powers to erode all the gains that Jesus and His church have made in our society over the last few hundred years. The founding fathers must be turning over in their graves, completely horrified at the sad state of the church today, and the overall evil, immoral, greedy, selfish society in which we now live. It’s basically the same thing they ran away from in old Europe; the harsh repression of the powers that be, and the inability to worship their God in peace and dignity. Unfortunately Friends, we are going right back to that kind of society, and unless we believers get up and actively stop it, the pendulum will eventually swing right back to those harsh times of fearful worship and repression. Oh my fellow believers in Christ, we simply CANNOT allow that to happen! Jesus sacrificed His holy, sinless life so that we could be free, free to worship Him in peace and LOVE. So please let’s step up to the plate nuh, let’s stand strong in His awesome might and power and reject, reverse the evil, ungodly trend that’s threatening to take over the world and cause the downfall and eventual demise of Christ’s church. That must NEVER happen my brethren! Please remember the powerful, reassuring words of Bruh Paul to Timothy: ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.’ (2 Tim.1:7) That means there’s no need to be afraid of the enemy. They can’t do us anything for worshipping Christ. We have to take the bull by the horns and take back what’s rightfully ours through Christ Jesus. Oh my brethren, if we don’t unite soon and quickly move as one to secure Christ’s church, it will eventually be lost in the dust of history. Now that would definitely be a waste of Jesus’ selfless sacrifice. Do we want to have that sin on our conscience my people? Absolutely not! Well then, let’s get up off our fat, lazy, comfortable rear ends and fight for our rights to worship in peace and have our society back under the protective and prosperous umbrella of Jehovah God! It doesn’t take great wisdom to see that the downhill slope we’re quickly sliding down and the numerous disasters we’re currently experiencing are all a part of our turning away from our Creator. And it’s all well and good to make ardent supplications like Daniel in our Bit and Asaph in the following scripture. ‘Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, purge away (make atonement for) our sins, for thy name’s sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, where is their God? Let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging (avenging) of the blood of thy servants which is shed.’ (Ps.79:9-10) Oh Friends, the Lord’s already made atonement for our sins through the sacrifice of Jesus’ life, and He was also much better known to the heathen even fifty years ago, than He is now. So whose fault is it that our society is going to the dogs, without the support of Almighty God eh? Certainly not His, but ours! Oh Friends, the long and short of the story is that we’re in a partnership with God, and if we do our part, He will do His. He’s faithfully promised never to leave or forsake us, but by the same token we’ve got to seek Him. He’s not going to come looking for us. So let’s rise up do our thing nuh, fight the enemy tooth and nail, so we can bring the many lost souls out there to Christ, and thus ensure the resounding victory and success of Jesus’ LOVE Revolution. That my Friends, is one of our major purposes here on God’s great earth. So if we truly desire to make Jesus’ church a success here on earth, then please, let’s all get serious and diligently do our parts nuh. That’s divine wisdom for an earthly life! Much LOVE!…all the talk in the world…won’t get Christians anywhere…much more action is badly needed…