1 John 5:14. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.
Oh Friends, what is our world coming to eh? Everyday now brings some unnecessary slaughter of innocents, all in the name of some religion! Religion is supposed to be the opiate of the people, keeping them nice and quiet, peaceful and law abiding. But unfortunately, in these ruthless and cruel times, it’s doing the exact opposite; stirring them up to war-like actions.
Just look at the attack in the mall in Kenya last week, and that on the Christians coming out of church in Northern Pakistan on the weekend! No one, or nothing is safe and sacred anymore from these despicable murderers. They’ll even kill their own, if they think it necessary. And the sad part is that we allow them to get away with it, calling them terrorists, when they’re simply out and out disgusting criminals!
Ah Lord eh! My heart is heavy and angry this morning Friends, but I won’t write what I really want to, because it might not align with God’s Word or Will. I’ll just ask us to keep praying for our fellow believers in so many parts of the world, who can’t openly worship Jesus Christ, who are oppressed, stigmatized and murdered simply because of their faith.
Please pray with me. ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, You know that we truly LOVE and worship You. The problem though is that some of us can do it in perfect freedom, but there are millions of Your children who are being innocently and unfairly persecuted for worshipping You.
Father in heaven, we implore You to help them this day. Lessen their burdens, lighten their yokes, help them to gain the freedom of worship that we blessed ones have, and please repay the perpetrators of this injustice, for You’ve promised to repay any injustice done to Your children.
Please, please help them Father, for their suffering is so great it’s now reached a stage where many may even consider giving up the faith, and we know You don’t want that. Please help them to stand strong, under all the oppression. Let Your Holy Spirit enable them to remain steadfast in faith, though their whole world seems to be falling apart.
Oh heavenly Father, we pray all this in the name of Your wonderful Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, whose blood was shed at Calvary in contrition for our sins. Amen.’
Oh my fellow believers, please let’s invoke a few pieces of appropriate scripture on behalf of our suffering brothers and sisters around the world. The first comes from the heart and soul of Bruh David in Psalm 34, titled, ‘The Lord hears the righteous.’ ‘The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.’ (Ps.34:17)
And the next scripture verse comes from Cousin Sol. ‘The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.’ (Prov.15:29)
Then James tells us that ‘The effectual (effective) and fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ (James 5:16b) And I know that there are many truly righteous people amongst us, so we ought to get a quick and positive hearing.
And finally, the most encouraging of all the scriptures, this from Jesus: ‘And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.’ (Matt.21:22)
Oh Friends, we’ve asked, and many are righteous who have done so. Now let’s perform the last requirement; that of believing. Let’s truly believe for God to help those many, many believers enduring injustice and ‘sufferation’ around the world.
And as a gentle reminder, (smile) let’s turn to heaven once more. ‘Father God, Your people are crying out today in all righteousness and faith! Please answer our heartfelt pleas with mercy and justice, on behalf of our unfortunate friends suffering such unjust persecution. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.’
Ah mih people, let’s be prisoners of hope and stand in expectant faith, that our merciful and mighty God will hear our prayers and alleviate the ‘sufferation’ of believers all over His world. Let’s keep praying for them, and at the same time, improve our own faith and strength in numbers in this supposed free part of the world, because the enemy is picking away, bit by bit, at our Christian house.
Like a bunch of wood ants, they’re finding the unguarded spots in our situation and slowly gnawing away at them. Note the absence of prayer in our schools, public places and numerous homes, plus the subtle attempts everyday to negate our rights to worship in freedom.
People of other faiths are coming to our Christian countries and getting rights that trample on ours. Friends, we cannot allow this to continue. At some stage, like RIGHT NOW, we’ve got to stand up and say, enough is enough, and fight back. Otherwise, in a few short years, our situation will surely deteriorate to such that we won’t have the freedom of worship anymore.
This is a wake up call my brethren! I’m therefore calling on all of us who claim to believe in Jesus, to stand up and be counted! Let’s build our churches! Let’s teach our children the Word! Let’s live the Faith we claim to have, and spread the Word of God, which is so powerful that He used it to create the universe and all therein!
Oh my people, these are the days of sad reckoning. We either have to put up and get some serious action going, or shut up! Which one will it be eh? Are we going to have our descendants living in fear, running and hiding to serve and worship the ONE TRUE GOD of this universe? I think not! So let’s get a move on nuh.
And we’ll end with the godly assurance and confidence that comes to us from our Bit. ‘And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.’
Oh my brethren, please let’s not disappoint Jesus, let’s live up to the excellent standards that He requires of us. That’s the only way we can recapture our world and have it turn again to the Most High God Jehovah! Much LOVE!
…if we believers don’t do the Will of God…how else will it get done eh…
Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 September 2013 1 John 5:14
24 Sep 2013 Leave a comment
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: angry, believe and receive, blood was shed at Calvary, brothers and sisters, burdens, Christian house, churches, confidence, contrition, criminals, ecpectant faith, enough is enough, excellent standards, faith, fellow believers, fervent prayer, fight back, freedom, God's will, God's Word, godly assurance, heart and soul, heartfelt pleas, heavy heart, holy spirit, human-rights, in the name of religion, injustice, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, justice, Kenya, live our faith, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, mercy, Most High God, murderers, negate our rights, one true God, openly worship Jesus, opiate of the people, oppressed, Pakistan, perpetrators, persecution, positive hearing, prayer, prisoners of hope, put up, repay injustice, righteous, scripture, shut up, sins, slaughter of innocents, Spread God's Word, stand and be counted, stand strong, steadfast faith, stigmatized, suffering, teach our children, terrorists, the prayer of the righteous, troubles, unfortunate friends, unjust persecution, wake up call, war-like actions, wonderful Son, worship, worship jesus christ, yokes
Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 June 2012 Ephesians 6:13
28 Jun 2012 Leave a comment
in Inspirational Living Tags: a bountiful day, constant diligence, fervent prayer, LOVE from heaven, new mercies and blessings, pray for those undergoing adversity, spiritual armour, stand your ground in hard times, wonderful God we serve
Ephesians 6:13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Oh Friends, can you feel the LOVE pouring down from heaven with the new mercies and blessings on this new bountiful day? Wow! What a wonderful God we serve! It always amazes me how He protects and provides for us anew each day! I sure hope that all you believers realize this and appreciate it, because if you don’t, you’re missing out on a lot of good stuff. And I’m not merely talking about physical and material possessions, although the Lord does bless us with them, but I mean the personal relationship with Him that just boosts all parts of us, and helps us live a righteous life in this evil world. Oh my people, please get up close and personal with Jesus, so that He can set you on the right path. It’s the ultimate wisdom! And now a bit of sad news; re the floods in Florida from tropical storm Debby and the forest fires burning out of control in Colorado. Ah Friends, please let’s pray some mighty prayers for those unfortunate people involved in those calamitous natural disasters. Whatever the cause or reason for them, let’s ask our kind, LOVING and merciful God to help them bear up under the serious adversity that’s befallen them. That brings us to our Bit: ‘Wherefore take (up) unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.’ Yes Friends, if there’s ever a time we need to do that it’s right now, for we’re living in very evil times. That means we’ve got to be clothed in our spiritual armour at all times and then stand strong because the enemy is moving against us with a mighty push to get us to break down and repudiate our Christian heritage. That must never happen though! And the only way to ensure that it doesn’t is to be always prepared; dressed in your helmet of salvation, belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, sandals of peace, armed with your shield of faith, waving your mighty spiritual sword in earnest prayer. Now yesterday after reading Bruh Paul’s description of the armour of God, I gave you a brief description of them. Today though I want to share a more in depth perspective, re how the terms came about back in the olden days, courtesy of the scholars. Here goes: ‘The whole armour of God consists of six pieces. (1) Truth (v.14a) is a knowledge of the truth of God’s Word. The ancient soldiers loins (waist) were girt about with a leather belt which held most of the other pieces of his armour in place. Similarly, the other pieces of the Christian’s armour depend on, and are held in place by, his spiritual ‘belt’ or his knowledge of the ‘truth’ of Scripture. (2) The breastplate of righteousness (v.14b) may be read ‘the breastplate which is righteousness.’ It represents a holy character and moral conduct. Obedience to the ‘truth’ known produces a godly life (righteousness). (3) Preparation of the gospel of peace (v 15) means ‘eagerness that comes from the gospel of peace’ That is, as the Roman soldier wore special shoes called ‘caligue’ on his foot, enabling him to advance against his enemy, so the Christian must have on his feet (possess) a sense of ‘eagerness’ or ‘willingness’ to advance against the devil and take the fight to him. Such ‘eagerness’ to contend with Satan ‘comes from the gospel of peace.’ The gospel gives peace to the believer, freeing him from anxiety though he advances against such a powerful opponent. (4) The shield of (which is) faith (v 16) means taking God at His word by believing His promises. Such trust will protect one from doubts induced by Satan. (5) The helmet of salvation (v 17a): Since the readers are already Christian they are not here urged to be saved. First Thessalonians 5:8 describes this helmet as ‘the hope of salvation’ that is, the certainty (assurance) of salvation. (6) The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (v 17b): The Greek term rendered ‘word’ is not ‘logos’ referring to the whole Word of God, but ‘rhema’ referring to certain portions of selected verses of Scripture. Praying (v 18) is grammatically linked to ‘stand’ in verse 14. Without prayer God’s armour is inadequate to achieve victory. Prayer is indispensable. Always (v 18) 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 an individual and corporate matter.’ Oh Friends, I hope those thoughts from the scholars either provided some new knowledge or reinforced what you already knew about spiritual warfare. But whatever stage you’re at, this spiritual warfare is indeed a serious matter, so please let’s take it as such and ramp up our knowledge and practice of it, because it’s becoming more important with each passing day in these evil, troubled, confused and calamitous times. We can never know enough about the powers of darkness and their evil intention to allow us to sit on our laurels. We must always be diligent, in possession of all the accoutrements of battle and praying with great fervour and sincerity. That’s the only way to defeat Beelzebub! Much LOVE!…to battle, to battle…we all must go…dressed in our spiritual armour…earnestly praying…and bravely battling the foe…
