Today’s Scrip-Bit 12 February 2015 Deuteronomy 16:17‏

12 Feb 2015 Leave a comment

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

 Deuteronomy 16:17.  Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.

Well Friends, it’s throwback and thanksgiving Thursday! And I’m writing these beautiful words of LOVE from the verandah of my little cottage in Lowlands, with much thanksgiving! I’m giving thanks for all that I have, all that I am, and all that the Lord is calling me to be.

And not to forget, enormous thanks for being in Paradise on another lovely tropical day, when back in the North Country, snow, ice and cold weather reign supreme!

Oh my people, I truly feel for all of you who are up there undergoing the cruel brunt of winter. And sadly, in another couple of weeks I’ll also be feeling sorry for myself when I return to face it. (smile)

But like the good soldiers in Christ that we are, and with His ever-faithful promises to look after us in each and every trial and temptation, plus the fact that like everything else, winter too shall eventually pass and give way to spring, we shall overcome any and every adversity that comes against us.

Please, let’s believe all of that, and walk with it in our hearts, minds and souls, through strong and trusting faith in Jesus Christ, our ever-LOVING Lord and Saviour!

Enough sermonizing for today though. (smile) Now, re adventures. I didn’t do much yesterday, just went into town to the market, so the duchess could get her yellow yam. Hn! Then we visited a couple of old family friends and a couple of school chums; from one end of Scarborough to the next.

The sun was hot sir! I know I came to get sunshine, but not that hot! (smile) And driving around hill and dale on the narrow, badly maintained roads that are still the same width since my youth, was a task in itself, especially with the duchess as my co-pilot. Hn, hn!

One of the people I visited was a 91, well more like 92 year old woman because her birthday is next month. She still lives by herself and looks very good for that age, still getting around on her own to a certain extent, though people, good Samaritans come around and check on her regularly.

Now that’s something I’d LOVE to do; live out my last days in decent health in sweet Tobago! Hopefully that’s in the Lord’s plan for my life. (smile)

But mih people, the best news I’ve heard in a long while, in Tobago or anywhere else, is the recent reconciliation of one of the school friends I visited yesterday and his younger brother.

Thank the Lord for that! He does move in mysterious and glorious ways! For there can be no better or higher action in human life than reconciliation, especially if the break up was originally over petty, unimportant stuff. It’s just like when Jesus died, so that sinful humanity could be reconciled to the Father.

Oh Friends, there’s nothing as sad as a broken relationship especially between siblings, because then it hurts the overall family, the smallest, but most important social entity in our society. And unfortunately the family, as we know it, is dying out because of too many of those break ups, plus the fact that the world now holds the individual as more important than the family.

How often nowadays, do we who live together in the same house, eat or get together as a family to play some game, or just talk eh? Certainly not as often as we should, if we want to protect the sanctity of the family. We’re all so busy with our individual lives that family time is now not a big consideration.

And it’s definitely something we should try to recapture, although the world with its 24/7 schedule, and its widespread communicating devices are making it very difficult to do. It’s a modern day paradox that we are communicating more, but becoming lonelier, because we’re not actually getting together with each other in person.

And even when we do get together, all we do is pull out our little toys and play on them. Chuh! It’s heartrending to see a group of people sitting together, and none of them talking to the others, or even looking at them, their eyes glued to the little screen in front of them, and their fingers busily typing away. Steups!

It’s become so ridiculous, that they could also be sitting together and tweeting or texting each other, instead of talking. When we prefer to communicate through a device, rather than talk to each other face to face, it only means that our society is going further and further downhill. That’s the selfish, impersonal state to which we have finally sunk.

Ah Friends, with all that unscheduled, but vitally important talk, I don’t know how much space and time we have for our Bit. ‘Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.’

Words of immortal truth my people! But are we putting them into practice in this evil, cruel, ungodly society? Not as much as we ought to, for as we said, we’ve become a selfish, individualistic, greedy society, where ‘me, myself and I,’ are the most important pronouns in our vocabulary.

Now let’s look at some scripture that deals with the subject. Yesterday, we saw where Bruh Paul told the Corinthians that whatever and however they sow, that’s what they will reap, and God LOVES cheerful and generous givers, and He always give us enough for our needs. (2 Cor.9:6-8)

Now the scholars in their explanations mentioned Proverbs 22:9, which I doubt, any or many of you checked out. So here it is in living colour. ‘He that hath a bountiful (generous) eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.’ (Prov.22:9)

Yes my people, in God’s kingdom, generosity is ALWAYS blessed!

Meanwhile in Psalm 37 – The true state of the wicked – Bruh David rightly and wisely declares: ‘The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again (does not repay): but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth (land); and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off (destroyed).’ (Ps.37:21-22)

More gospel and immortal truth that my brethren! And we’ll stop there for today, so that we can ponder all the things that we’ve spoken about. So let’s focus steadily on our God today, rather than the things of the world; allowing His words to function in our lives, by being caring, forgiving, compassionate and giving! For that’s the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!

…God is the ultimate giver…and besides…you can’t outgive God…no way Jose…

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 28 September 2014 Hosea 7:13

28 Sep 2014 Leave a comment

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

Hosea 7:13. Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

 

Well Friends, Sunday, the Sabbath day has rolled around again, and it’s promising to be another Tobago day! (smile) Praise the Lord! Glory Hallelujah! All of that means it’s time for us to relax from our labour, take it easy, and concentrate our focus, even more than normal, on Almighty God, our Creator and Provider, for that is what He did after creating the universe.
 
Sadly though, with our busy, 24/7 scheduled society, some things just cannot be shut down in midstream, and thus life is not as simple and easy as it used to be. However, it is important that each and every one of us put aside at least one day in each week to stop labouring and totally give ourselves over to God and family.
 
We should also make time to join together in worship and fellowship with other believers, so that we can give thanks and praise together as one body in the risen Christ, as well as encourage ourselves and strengthen our faith. That is done much easier through a gathering of like believers.
 
Now here is a very interesting paragraph I just read in the Introduction to a booklet by Jack Kuhatschek, titled: ‘A Message for All Time – Understanding and Applying the Bible.’
 
It states: ‘When you realize that the Bible isn’t primarily about rules but relationships, your Scripture reading will be transformed. And when you discover that God’s Word isn’t mainly about laws but LOVE, you’ll feel the heartbeat of the One who made you for Himself.’
 
Oh Friends, I was definitely intrigued by those statements, because if you really look at the Bible in those terms, it does become much easier to understand. We’re not dealing with rules and regulations per se, but with personal relationships between a God who made man in His image, to have a LOVING relationship with Him.
 
 But to have a LOVING relationship with a just and holy God necessitates our behaving in certain ways, ways that reflect the right and true image of our Creator.
 
That brings us to our Bit: ‘Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.’
 
It’s oh so simple my brethren: God’s people, Israel, rebelled against Him in spite of His overwhelming, unconditional LOVE for them, and the special acts of wonder, mercy and justice He performed on their behalf.
 
As the Good Book continues: ‘And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled (wailed) upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn (grain) and (new) wine, and they rebel against me. Though I have bound (trained) and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief (devise evil) against me.
 
They return, but not (upward) to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.’ (Hos.7:14-16)
 
Yes my people, both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern one of Judah rebelled against God, and both suffered serious setbacks, terrible disasters because of it. And I like the info the scholars provide on the last verse.
 
‘7:16. A deceitful bow has every appearance of being good, but the arrows that it propels miss the intended target. God has wonderful things for Israel, but they have continuously mistaken His favour for favouritism and have misused His blessings for their own ends.’
 
And isn’t that ever so true! The Israelites abused God’s favour, foolishly thinking that because they were God’s chosen people, they could get away with rebellion. But unfortunately my dear Friends, our great and wonderful God doesn’t operate that way. Remember a good relationship appoints responsibilities on both sides. As they say, it takes two to tango, and two hands to wash.
 
Now God did His part by liberating the Israelites from bondage in Egypt and moving them to the Promised Land. Thereafter, He simply expected them to do their part of the covenant; be obedient to His dictates and serve and worship Him with due reverence and appreciation. But they didn’t, and eventually paid a stiff price for their disobedience.
 
Likewise my brethren, we in this current age have also forsaken the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who after all our forefathers’ disobedience, still had that fervent LOVE for us, and still desired a close relationship with us.
 
That burned in His heart so much, He made the ultimate sacrifice, paid the ultimate price for our disobedience by crucifying His sinless Son, Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary, to redeem us once and for all time from our abominable sins.
 
Oh Friends, that redemption was the beginning of God’s greatest gift to us, for it led to salvation and eternal life! 
 
Hear how Peter puts it: ‘Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible (perishable) things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation (aimless conduct) received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (sinless):
 
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest (revealed) in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.’ (1 Pet.1:18-21)
 
Now, our more immediate fathers to some extent did that, had faith and hope in God. But recently my people, in the last couple generations, we have totally strayed from their walk with God, and instead are desperately trying to rid our society of Him, by removing Him from all the special places where he was originally placed and revered; like schools, work, public places, and even homes.
 
Now put yourselves in God’s place Friends. How would you react to such treacherous behaviour eh? Yuh see how He reacted to Israel’s disobedience? Do you think He’ll react any differently to ours? Off course not! And then we naively wonder why our world has suddenly become such a hellish place.
 
Oh my fellow believers, I don’t know to what extent, but I do know that the current tragedy that’s our world, has some correlation to our removing Jehovah God from our society, and if we don’t turn our woeful and wicked ways around soon, even more destruction will come upon us.
 
So if we want to see our children and grandchildren endure real ‘sufferation’ then we can continue the way we’re going. If not, then we have to change course, and change quickly too, get Jesus’ LOVE Revolution into top gear and beat the iniquity workers at their own game.
 
My fellow believers, it’s all up to us now, because the evil doers like the status quo. So please, let’s be wise and do the right thing nuh. Much LOVE!
 
…he who has ears to ear…let him hear…else he’s going to feel… 
 
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 September 2014 Job 14:14

07 Sep 2014 Leave a comment

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

  Job 14:14.   If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time (hard service) will I wait, till my change come.

Okay mih people, we’ve come full circle, it’s Sunday, the first day of the new week! Time to fellowship, worship, sing praises and give plenty thanks to our wonderful God!

Remember Friends, that the way we treat today, the way we prepare, will have an immense impact on the other six days of the week. If we prepare well, then the rest of the week will flow smoothly.  So let’s be sensible and get our priorities in order today nuh.

As the Good Book proudly proclaims: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’ (Ex.20:8) That means focusing on God, family, worship and rest, as much as possible today, given the 24/7 beehive-like activity of our current society.

Much as we would like to, we simply can’t shut down everything like the old days, but that doesn’t mean we can’t lay aside many of our supposedly oh so important activities. We like to claim that everything needs doing today, right now, but in reality that isn’t true. It’s just the natural go, go, go mentality of modern society that has us trained that way.

Just look at how we react when an emergency crops up; we immediately drop everything else and concentrate on that, leaving the supposedly so very important activities untended for hours, sometimes even days. Then when the emergency is over, we come back and pick up those activities where we left them off.

I guess then the best way to handle the Sabbath in the right way, is to consider it an emergency; an emergency to meet and greet our great Creator, so that we can refresh our attitudes, regain both our physical and spiritual strength to face the world without fear and trepidation for the following six days.

If God, in His omnipotence, could rest from His labour for one day after creating the universe, why can’t we feeble, finite humans do the same eh? And that’s all I have to say on the subject! (smile)

So let’s now turn to our Bit: ‘If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time (hard service) will I wait, till my change come.’  

Waiting, my Friends, waiting on Jehovah God is everything! As Bruh Paul said to the Galatians: ‘For we through the Spirit wait (eagerly wait) for the hope of righteousness by faith.’ (Gal.5:5)  

And the scholars’ explain that verse thus: ‘5:5. Through the Spirit means that by the Holy Spirit’s help, which is obtained by faith, believers wait for the hope of righteousness, that is, live the Christian life awaiting the consummation of their salvation.’

No doubt about it my brethren; if we believe in God, then we will wait on Him and His perfect timing. And as Bruh Paul also informed the church at Rome: ‘For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain (suffers birth pangs) together until now.

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for  (eagerly awaiting)  the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience (perseverance) wait for (eagerly await) it.’ (Rom.8:22-25)  

What Bruh Paul is basically talking about here is the senseless pain we’ve been made to suffer through Adam’s fall from grace, and the waiting we’re doing for us to be redeemed in body.

And not only on heavenly things must we learn to wait, but also on earthly things. It takes time to build, to grow, to put together anything at all, and in the process there’s always a period of waiting, which this current society doesn’t do well at all, with its gung ho, always on the go, now for now approach. But that’s why patience, the art of waiting, is called a virtue, and why Job is called the Father of patience.

Now hear these wise and wonderful words of Bruh David from Psalm 62: God only is my rock and my salvation. ‘My soul (silently) wait thou only upon God; for my expectation (hope) is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved (shaken).

In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.   Selah.’ (Ps.62:5-8)  

Words of absolute truth and wisdom my people!  Now listen to how the Lord instructed the prophet Habakkuk, when He told him to write the vision of his prophecy on stone tablets.  ‘For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.’ (Hab.2:3)

Yes my fellow believers, all things promised by Almighty God WILL come, when He considers the time to be right! Our part is to do our best and hang in with hungry hope and expectant faith till the God appointed time.

And we’ll close with one of the most direct and important instructions of waiting in the Good Book; that from Jesus to the apostles before He ascended into heaven.

‘And being assembled with them (the apostles), commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.’ (Acts 1:4-5)

And we all know that some forty days later, at the feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended ‘from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven (divided) tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:2-4)

And from that time on Friends, the Holy Ghost has indwelt EVERYONE who believes, who puts their trust and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. What more can I say eh my people?

It’s now up to us to follow through with a strong passion and focus on the things of God, led by the Holy Spirit, be the figurative salt and light of this ungodly and evil world, so that Jesus’ LOVE Revolution will prevail, and God’s great wish will come true – that ALL will come to salvation. Much LOVE!

…to every thing…there is a season…and a time…to every purpose under heaven… (Eccl.3:1)

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 5 August 2014 Matthew 6:15

05 Aug 2014 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 6:15.    But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
 

Ah Friends and neighbours, the party’s over, Caribana’s done with for another year! That means it’s time to get up and go to work, so you can earn some money for next year’s costume. (smile) Yeh, T.O. will return to some semblance of normalcy after the last four or five days of hectic gatherings. Praise the Lord!

 
And I sincerely hope that all those going back out to work today are not in too bad shape after all the partying and what not. In light of that, let’s boldly and confidently affirm this ‘I CAN’ affirmation.
 
‘I CAN have victory in my life by dealing with the things that are keeping me from God’s best. I am confronting my struggles head-on so I CAN overcome them. God has given me the strength to focus on Him and push through. NOTHING will hold me back. This is my declaration of what I CAN do through Christ.’
 
And if you believe all that Friends, then it’s doable! Remember Jesus said all we had to do was believe, for all things were possible through Him, if we simply believed.
 
In one particular aspect of our lives though, we seem to have a hard time believing, and that’s in the area of forgiveness. Please note what our Bit adamantly declares: ‘But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.’
 
Yes Friends, it’s right there in black and white; if we don’t forgive our human brethren, then our heavenly Father will not forgive us. Why is that so difficult to understand eh?
 
Oh, I know that we’re living in a very selfish and grabby-grabby society that considers self to be of overriding importance, but if we’re confronted with such an important teaching, why, in heaven’s name, are we ignoring it to such a high degree?
 
Oh my people, we’re allowing the evil, ungodly world to intrude and have too much sway in our lives, only thinking about ourselves. On second thought though, this is one occasion when we should be thinking very much about ourselves.
 
Why? Because if we don’t forgive, we won’t be forgiven either. And all of us have a whole lot of things that we need forgiveness for.
 
Now, as we noted yesterday, forgiveness isn’t always easy, in fact, most times it’s pretty difficult, and sometimes, depending on the particular situation, it can take a while to accomplish. But without a doubt my fellow believers, it’s a MUST in EVERY Christian’s life!
 
And Cousin Sol gives us a good idea of how forgiveness, or in this case, how unforgivness works. ‘Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.’ (Prov.21:13)
 
Ah mih people, once again it’s the simple principle by which our mighty God runs His universe: you reap what you sow. So if you sow forgiveness, then you’ll reap forgiveness. But if you unwisely sow unforgiveness, then that’s what you’ll reap in your time of need.
 
And let us get one thing straight here my brethren; the second most important thing about forgiveness is that it’s not about the other person or persons involved in the situation, but primarily about us.
 
It’s in our best interest to forgive, not only because then will we also be forgiven, but because forgiveness doesn’t allow all the hurt, anger, resentment, bitterness and the many other negative emotions that often crop up, to reside in our souls and make us rancid and sour, and lose God’s joy, and put hatred in our hearts rather than LOVE.
 
And I can tell you this from personal experience my people. You feel so much better, emotionally, physically and mentally when you forgive.
 
Think about it this way nuh: somebody does you wrong, be it on purpose or not, what’s their reaction eh? Some may say they’re sorry, and truly are, while some might just ignore you and go on about their business, and others might not even realize that they’ve wronged you.
 
But tell me Friends, how will your withholding of forgiveness hurt or disturb them eh? In no way really; for they’ve either apologized, or don’t know, or don’t care! They’ve moved on with their lives, and it’s only you that’s left holding the sorry bag of unforgiveness, eating yourself up over the wrong that’s been done to you.
 
That’s certainly not a wise move my brethren. Just look also at what Jesus said to Peter when he asked, ‘Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but Until seventy times seven.’ (Matt.18:21-22)
 
Peter must have cried ‘Yikes!’ when he heard Jesus’ response. But that’s how important forgiveness is in Jesus’ circle my people; not just a few times, but numerous times. As the scholars wisely declare: ‘Unlimited forgiveness must characterize the true disciple.’
 
Then Jesus went on to elaborate, as He was wont to do, by telling them the parable of the servant who owed his employer oodles of money, but was unable to repay it, so he cried out for mercy, and his employer mercifully forgave him the entire debt.
 
But then, that same forgiven servant went out and found another servant who owed him a small sum, which he couldn’t repay at the time. However, when the servant cried out for mercy, he refused and had him thrown in debtor’s prison.
 
Remember the principle Friends; whatever you sow, you will reap. Now his fellow servants on seeing that unworthy reaction, went and told the employer of the forgiven servant’s unforgiveness.
 
‘Then his Lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst (begged) me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?
 
And his lord was wroth (angry), and delivered him to the tormentors (torturers), till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.’ (Matt.18:32-35)
 
Oh Friends, that’s enough for today. Let’s take some time and ponder it all nuh, and see how our individual lives line up with God’s Word, then wisely ask Jesus to help us in those areas in which we’re weak, or tend to falter.
 
You know He will be only too glad to help, because He is indeed our Helper. Much LOVE!
 
…forgiveness is often more important to the forgiver than the forgivee…and that’s the gospel truth…

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 August 2012 Exodus 20:3

09 Aug 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Exodus 20:3.    Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
 
Oh Friends, please, please beware of Lucifer, for he’s one very evil trickster! All he wants to do is steal your joy. And I tell you this from personal experience. Now yesterday somebody said something to me, re my behaviour, and because I thought there was some truth to it, I began seriously pondering it. I asked the Lord for guidance, discernment and everything possible, but unfortunately for a few hours there my mind sank into a state of depression and self-doubt. And the sad part is that I don’t usually respect or value this person’s opinion, but because I was already thinking along those lines, I sort of accepted it. But thankfully I’m mature enough now in Christ Jesus, that I just kept focusing on Him and my mind eventually came back around to the truth. The truth that though all the thoughts my mind processed might have been important and necessary, it was also essential not to beat myself up for anything I might do or allow to happen. Oh my people, we all do things or allow things to happen that we possibly shouldn’t, but please, I implore us, please let’s not beat ourselves up over them, because then we’re only playing the game by Lucifer’s rules, and he wins when we do so. He wins when we lose our joy in the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We obviously need to contend with whatever the problem might be, but we cannot afford to let doubts cloud our spiritual path. We just have to keep our minds and thoughts focused on God, His Word and His ever faithful promises, so that we can remain on the straight and narrow path, and not let the deceitful Lucifer lead us astray on to the wide and winding road that only leads to death and destruction. And that’s my testimony for today! I was much surprised by it, but who knows if the Lord simply needed a testimony from me to show the true effects of what Lucifer can do. So please take note Friends, and be very wary of the enemy, for he can turn up in the most unexpected places, at the most unexpected time. And the only way to conquer the ole crook is by first being obedient to our Bit: ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ Yes my brethren, we must always strive to put Almighty God first in EVERYTHING we do! That’s the first rule of a successful Christian life! And if we don’t, we’ll only cause more problems than necessary to ourselves, our friends, families and all those we come into contact with. And when a whole society or nation abandons God, then there’s only one outcome; death and destruction! Now listen to this scripture from Jeremiah, re the obedience of the Rechabites: ‘The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment; notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not (didn’t listen) unto me. I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return, (turn) ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods and serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.’ (Jer.35:14-15) Yuh see Friends, when children listen to their fathers, both earthly and heavenly, they will be blessed, as the Lord later pronounced. ‘Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil (doom) that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered. And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want (lack) a man to stand before me for ever.’ (Jer.35:17-19) And I hate to keep saying it Friends, but it’s the truth; that’s the same thing that’s happening to us right now. We have not obeyed the Lord God Almighty in at least the last generation, but instead have kept moving further and further away from Him, that’s why we’re now suffering calamity after calamity, disaster after disaster. And it’s becoming so bad, that before we can fix or recover from one, another one strikes us. Oh Friends, are we that stubborn and stupid, prideful and arrogant that we can’t see what’s happening? We’ve tried all the man made solutions and none of them are working. The only thing left to try is God’s way. And I really don’t know how to get us to do that. I talk the talk and try to walk the walk, but obviously it’s not sufficient. Plenty more of us in the known world will also have to so, before we can get back on the right track. I sincerely hope and pray, and ask you all to do so too, that the LOVE Revolution we so badly need will soon gain serious momentum, so that we can make a positive difference in this fallen, negative world. I pray this in Jesus’ Name. And all God’s people said a loud and penitent ‘Amen!’ Much LOVE!…to every thing there is a season…turn…turn…turn…
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 July 2012 Proverbs 22:6

25 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Inspirational Living Tags: , , , , , , ,

Proverbs 22:6.    Train up a child in the way he should go: and (even) when he is old, he will not depart from it.
 
Oh Friends, I don’t know if you all are like me, but some days I just get tired of people and their foolish antics. I maintain that there’s only one thing wrong with this world, and that’s human beings. Without them the world would be such a beautiful, uncomplicated place. Yesterday was one of those days when I got fed up with people. I won’t get into the whys and wherefores, but suffice it to say that I was very disappointed in certain people, who, to my thinking, could surely have acted better than they did. Anyway, I’m over that now. The Lord gave me the strength of purpose to put it behind me and to just concentrate my focus on Him, since He’s the One leading me and guiding my life, not the untrustworthy people around me. Oh Friends, that’s a very important lesson for all who intend to be serious, diligent workers for Christ, because the enemy and those whom he cajoles into doing his dirty work can cause us to be seriously distracted and lose our sense of priority, which should ALWAYS BE GOD, FIRST AND FOREMOST! I now realize why Christianity is not further ahead than it is; in great part because of the way we treat each other. We often treat perfect strangers much better than fellow believers. And what did Bruh Paul say to the Galatians about that? ‘As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.’ (Gal.6:10) That means we’re to be especially nice to other believers. But unfortunately that advice is not heeded by too many of us believers. We show a lot of jealousy, anger and resentment towards each other, with so many little cliques and gossip-mongering groups within Christ’s church today. It must certainly break His heart to see His people fighting amongst themselves over petty, worldly things and causes, and not doing nearly as much of what He’s asked us to do; namely spread the good news of His teachings and help the poor, sick, hurting and needy. Yes Friends, believe it or not, admit it or not, Christ’s people are still too taken up, too fascinated by the glitzy, worthless things of the world and amassing earthly possessions. And the only way to overcome the desire for those things that are not of God is to get real close to Him, concentrate all our efforts on doing His will, truly surrender our lives to Him, and let Him lead and guide us where He wants, for He has a Master Plan for all our lives. My people, Jesus is somewhat disappointed in His Church. We’ve stood by and allowed the minions of Lucifer to remove Him and His worship from a large part of our society. His Name and His Word are no longer spoken in schools and in many homes where the young can hear it, thereby breaching some of His very specific rules. ‘…Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.’ (Deut.4:10) ‘And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.’ (Deut.6:6-7) Oh Friends, those words were so important that Moses repeated them in Deut.11:18-19. For if the young are not taught about God, how will Christ’s Church survive from generation to generation? But instead of teaching our children about God, we give them all the junk that the world wrongfully considers important and plunk them in front of the television for hours on end so that they can absorb more worldly mores that definitely go against God’s Word and Will. The television has become such a handy tool for parents now, that it’s widely said and believed that it’s the television and not the parents who raise children these days. So what else can we expect eh Friends? And I’m chuckling here now because I never intended to write about my disappointment, but the Spirit in His wisdom led me to it, either as a testimony to others, or because He knew that if I didn’t get it off my chest it would just stay there and rankle my soul. Anyway, He killed two birds with one stone. (smile) I didn’t even know what our Bit was until a moment ago when the Spirit led me to the gospel truth of Cousin Sol’s words. ‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and (even) when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ Yes Friends, that’s the only way to leave a legacy of God behind us. It has to be a part of the children, of the future generations so that it can last. Otherwise it’s just going to die, and when Jesus asks us at the judgement why we didn’t teach the children His Word, as was required of us, what will our answer be eh? ‘Sorry Jesus, we were too busy running behind Beelzebub and his foolish, worthless things and indulging in our selfish, lustful pleasures.’ Oh Friends, that definitely won’t cut it! And we’ll end with some more wise words on the subject from Bruh Paul to the Ephesians. ‘And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture (training) and admonition of the Lord.’ (Eph.6:4) Oh my people, it couldn’t get any plainer than that, so let’s start teaching the Word to our children and grandchildren nuh. And please note, that though some of our children may now be adults, it’s never too late for us to guide them to the Word, we just have to do it diplomatically. (smile) So let’s get a move on, so that we won’t be blamed too much for the lost generation. Much LOVE!…it’s never too late to learn about God…or come to rest in the warm and caring arms of Jesus…   P.S. I hope it’s coherent, since I didn’t plan it. But then as I always say, true believers know how to pick sense from nonsense. (smile) Much LOVE!