03 May 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a new crop of believers, a word to the wise is sufficent, abundantly pardon, as the rain waters the earth, backsliders, Bible, bread to the eater, call ye upon him while he is near, christianity, crying out for help, destroy the earth, divine aid, error of their ways, faith, foolish pride, free choice, Friday chant, give seed to the sower, god, good examples of godly living, great sinfulness, have mercy upon him, in the thing which I sent it, it shall accomplish that which I please, it shall prosper, Jesus, Jesus Christ, let the wicked forsake his way, LOVE, mercy, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my thoughts higher than your thoughts, my ways higher than your ways, my word shall not return void, mysterious ways, neither are your ways my ways, only lasts for a short time, our sinful world, payback is hell, puny minds, return unto the Lord, salvation, season of rebellion, seek ye the Lord while he may be found, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the example we faithful believers set, the heavens are higher than the earth, the pleasures of righteousness, the pleasures of sin, the snow from heaven, the sweetness of sin, the throne of grace, the unrighteous man his thoughts, truth, ungodly ways, wake up and and smell the coffee, wisdom
Isaiah 55:6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
And this Friday morning in early May, as we shout ‘TGIF! Thank God It’s Friday!’ we celebrate the rebirth of the flora around us. Yes friends, spring has finally shown it’s green and wonderful face after such a long absence. And what amazes me, is that a couple days ago, trees that had no leaves, merely some brown buds, today are overflowing with greenery. But that’s how the awesome plan of God for the smooth running of the universe works; in mysterious ways that our finite and puny minds can never grasp or fully understand.
That ought to remind us of these magnificent and oh so true words of the Lord, spoken through the prophet Isaiah, informing the Israelites, and us too, that God abundantly pardons. ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is. 55:6-7)
Ah mih people, that call which was issued to the Israelites in their season of rebellion and sinfulness so many years ago, is again being issued to us in our great sinfulness and ungodly ways, for few, if any other generations have been more wicked and ungodly than ours is today. And we badly need to seek the Lord for His mercy and pardon if we expect to survive for any length of time on this earth, because as we continue in our sinful and ungodly ways we keep destroying God’s planet as well as ourselves. And if we play the scenario out to its complete fulfillment then we’ll simply destroy the earth and all therein.
That’s the foolish and arrogant plan we’re following right now. And the only way to put a stop to it, is to turn back to the God of our forefathers, who created and still controls the universe. And these further words of Isaiah ought to wake us up to reality, help us take our foolish heads from the sand in which it’s so thoroughly buried that we don’t know right from wrong, or whether we’re coming or going.
Listen up: ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void (empty, without fruit), but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing which whereto I sent it.’ (Is. 55:8-11)
Oh friends, we certainly cannot deny the truth of those statements! The Lord’s ways and thoughts are certainly higher than ours. His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence far outweighs what little power and understanding we possess, and we cannot begin to understand His person and purposes. That’s why He is God and we are simply His creation! Although in our foolish pride we ofttimes behave as though it’s the opposite way, and we end up paying a hefty price for that unwise thinking. But unfortunately the high price of disobedience doesn’t stop us from being rebellious and ungodly.
Let’s remember that our gift from God of free choice was not meant to choose the ungodly things of Satan, but the everlasting and wonderful things of God. But as always, mankind has abused that gift, turning more to the pleasures of sin advocated by Satan, than the pleasures of righteousness advocated by God. And that’s why our world is in such a mess right now, with strife and all the negative emotions of the evil one overwhelming our world.
But here’s what the Lord promised the Israelites if they turned back to Him. ‘For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall calp their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up a fir (cypress) tree, and instead of the brier (thorny plant) shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.’ (Is. 55:12-13)
Now doesn’t that scenario sound so much better than the one in which we’re currently enveloped? It surely does! So why don’t we turn from our evil ways, embrace the righteousness of God and make it come to pass eh? Remember, the sweetness of sin only lasts for a short while, then comes the payback. And payback is …hell! And that’s exactly what we’re suffering right now here on earth. Remember God’s Word will not be spoken in vain. Whatever it’s sent out to do, it will accomplish. And He sent it out in the first place promising salvation to all mankind, which has been accomplished by the work and sacrifice of Jesus.
So please, let’s get smart nuh, use the wisdom that God gave us and turn back to Him while He can still be found. And to help us do that, let’s go to the throne of grace through the prayer of our Friday Chant, seeking the help we so desperately need in these evil and ungodly times. Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help.
Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you.
Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Now friends, there’s an interesting proviso to receiving divine help…we must first show that we’re turning from our evil ways and being good examples of godly living. That’s what drives divine help! Much LOVE!
..a word to the wise is sufficient…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
09 Apr 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a wise masterbuilder, all things are yours, anointing, as babes in Christ, bad boy of the week, carnal, Christ is God's, Christians are all One, dissensions, divisions, drinking spiritual milk, eating spiritual food, envying, every man's work shall be made manifest, faith, fed you with milk and not with solid food, fleshly lusts, foolish pride, for other foundation can no man lay than Jesus, free will, good intentions, grace, he taketh the wise in their own craftiness, hunger for the wisdom of men, hurry, if any among you seemeth to be wise, in god's eyes, Jesus Christ, labourers in Christ, let him become a fool, let no man deceive himself, let no man glory in men, LOVE, mercy, receive a reward, revealed by fire, shall be saved, share His love with my neighbour, spiritually mature, strife, stump our toes, suffer loss, that he may be wise, the beloved of God, the day of judgement, the thoughts of the wise are vain, the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, to do His will, trust my friend Jesus, Tuesday Mantra, unto carnal, unto spiritual, walk as men, wisdom, worry, ye are Christ's
1 Corinthians 3:18. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world (age), let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
And then it was Tuesday; the day we use to recover from our Monday inefficiencies and insecurities. (smile) Now, since we’ve had fellowship with the Lord and other believers in His sanctuary on Sunday, we ought to be rearing to go on Monday. But it’s not until Tuesday that we really have it all together and our work week running smoothly. Somehow, despite all our good intentions, we never seem to get it right on Monday, possibly because it’s seemingly ingrained in our minds as the bad boy of the week, therefore, we always seem to stump our toes on Monday.
But if that’s the way it is, then we just have to learn to live with stumped toes on a Monday. (smile) All the Lord can do is give us the power, the grace, the mercy, the anointing, whatever we need to do His will, but it’s ultimately up to us to use the tools He provides.
And today, the Good Library opened unto the first Book of Corinthians, and, most appropriately, the first words I saw were these: ‘Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world (age), let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain (futile). Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.’ (1 Cor. 3:18-23)
Ah friends, wonderful words of wisdom. Man ought not to take himself too seriously, but trend more towards God. As Cousin Sol so wisely says in Proverbs: ‘Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.’ (Prov. 3:7) And when Bruh Paul talks about the Lord taking the wise in their own craftiness, he is there quoting from Job 5:13. Now since the Lord knows whatever we are up to, and since most of it is vain and futile in His eyes, why do we still hunger for the wisdom of man and not that of God eh? I guess it’s a combination of our free will and our foolish pride. But the immediate question is why did Bruh Paul pen those words to the church at Corinth?
Because there was still a lot of envying and strife amongst the congregation. At the beginning of the chapter, he writes: ‘And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat (solid food): for hitherto (until now) ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions (dissensions), are ye not carnal (fleshly), and walk as men (according to man)?
For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but that God giveth the increase.’ (1 Cor. 3:1-7)
Oh my faithful brethren, unfortunately the church is still in a state of carnality after all this time. Too many of us are still only able to drink spiritual milk and not eat spiritual solid food, we only know the elementary aspects of our Christian faith, and cannot handle the more serious doctrines. Why? Because there’s still a lot of strife, envying and fleshly lusts in Christ’s church, that keeps it seriously divided and thus unfulfilled. That means we are nowhere near fulfilling the work that Christ expects of us. And like the factions that destroyed the unity in Corinth, the ones who are destroying today’s unity are not walking in the Spirit but allowing the flesh of man to dictate their ungodly behaviour.
And Bruh Paul continues his discourse on the subject. ‘Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are all labourers (God’s fellow workers) together with God: ye are God’s husbandry (field), ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 3:8-11)
And there we have the crux of the problem: the ONLY foundation worthy of being built upon is that laid by Jesus Christ! But sadly, many of us are building on foundations not laid by Christ, and some who are building on Christ’s foundations are using different materials to build upon it. However, Bruh Paul further explains: ‘Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble (straw); every man’s work shall be made manifest (become evident) for the day (judgement day) shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try (test) every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide (endures) which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved: yet so as by (through) fire.’ (1 Cor. 3:12-15)
Yes my fellow believers, come the judgement day, our works will be tried by fire, and if they stand up strong like the incombustible elements mentioned above (gold, silver, precious stones), we will receive a reward. However, if we build with combustible elements, like wood, straw and hay, then our work will be consumed by the fire, meaning our work was not satisfactory, and though we will be saved, our rewards will be negated.
So what do we get from all of this eh? First that we Christians are all One; labourers in Christ, and as followers of Christ we are thus children of God, therefore everything that we have comes from the Father, and consequently our differences and divisions based on allegiances to mere men are absurd and ungodly. But then too we need to build our earthly work on the foundation laid by Christ, that’s His gospel and the examples He set for us, and take care to build with good, strong materials, that can withstand God’s judgement.
And now my fellow saints, it’s all up to us. So let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) 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!’
And having said that, we now need to go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!
…it’s high time believers become spiritually mature…stop drinking spiritual milk…and begin eating solid, spiritual food…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
05 Apr 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a new flock of believers, because I love you, Bible, christianity, crying out for help, despising the shame, divine help, do as I have done unto you, Easter celebrations, endured the cross, faith, foolish pride, for the joy that was set before him, frightened, give the Lord thanks, god, his goodness to the children of men, I choose to obey, I have given you an example, ill at ease, incompetent, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus gave up his sinless life, looking unto Jesus, LOVE, obedient to god, our sins forgiven, our souls washed clean, return backsliders to your fold, sacrifice, selflessness, set down at the right hand of God, Spiritual Tug-of-War, stand strong and steadfast, teach me thy statutes, Thank God it's Friday, the author and finisher of our faith, the error of their ways, the indisputable truth, the simmering unrest, thou art good and doest good, traffic congestion, ungrateful sinners, wake up and smell the coffee, washing of feet, wisdom, wouldn't do this for anyone else -but you
Psalm 119:68. Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
And then it was Friday, with all the shouts of ‘Thank God it’s Friday!’ Yes friends, we’re all glad to see the weekend, so we can rest from our hard week’s work. Hn! Or rather rest from our excessive Easter celebrations. (smile) But Easter is nothing to laugh about, because it’s when we were guaranteed resurrection from the dead and eternal life if we believe in Jesus Christ. So don’t overdo the celebrations, but don’t make light of the situation either.
Now, my sincere apologies for the Bit being so late today, but I had an early appointment in Toronto for my cataract surgery one week check up. And the highways were fairly decent, both ways, but it’s the streets in the city itself that are bustling with a mix of traffic and construction, causing lanes to be closed and traffic backed up. But as they say, you have to do what you have to do, and my trip was successful, both in terms of the report on my eye and getting back home safely. Give the Lord thanks for His goodness to the children of men!
And today we’re going to look at a rather interesting poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promise with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, titled ‘Spiritual Tug-of-War.’ It’s something that all of us have experienced at some time or other in our Christian lives. So please read with me: ‘Lord. I’ve waited long enough No longer can I withstand This spiritual tug-of-war between us. Today I will do what You asked me to do. I still don’t want to, Lord – Surely You know that. I’m frightened and ill-at-ease. I feel foolish and uncomfortable. I almost feel put-upon. What You’ve asked of me slaps at my pride. Nevertheless, I choose to obey You Simply because I LOVE You. Do You understand, dear Lord? I wouldn’t do this For anyone in the world – but You.’
Ah friends, many are the times when we engage in a tug-of-war with the Lord, because He asks us to do something that we feel is inappropriate, too low brow for our high esteem of ourselves, and it just dusts up our pride. And yuh know what? Ofttimes the Lord asks us to do certain things just for that reason; to kill our foolish pride. For if there’s one thing He totally dislikes is human pride, because that makes us believe and behave like we don’t need Him. Furthermore, do you think that Jesus really wanted to go to the cross and sacrifice Himself for a bunch of ungrateful sinners? Of course not! But He did it because the Father asked it of Him, and He LOVED the Father that much to give up His sinless life so that our sins could be forgiven and our souls washed clean.
And what does our Christian faith teach us? That we ought to behave like Jesus: use His life as an example for our own. Remember what Jesus told the disciples at the Last Supper, after He had washed their feet. ‘For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord (master); neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.’ (John 13:15-17)
Oh my fellow believers that’s one of the many truths Jesus passed on to us during His earthly sojourn. And it’s a big one too, especially after He had just finished doing a servant’s job; one of the lowliest and nastiest jobs in those times, washing someone’s dirty feet. And believe me, feet could get very dirty in those days as they wore sandals without socks on the dusty dirt streets of the land. This scripture from Hebrews also warns us: ‘Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Heb. 12:2)
Likewise friends, we ought to put aside our worldly shame and foolish pride and do what the Lord asks of us, because of the joy that emanates from doing His will, and the wonderful rewards we will eventually get if we obey without much complaining. And here’s one other reminder. The growth in our Christian maturity and faith will cease until we have done His will. Neither is God very likely to change His mind on whatever He’s asked of us. So yes, sometimes stuff God asks of us is difficult; we feel incompetent, or it’s shameful and pride killing, but don’t forget the Lord never asks us to do something without a very good reason – in His eyes (smile) and always gives us the wherewithal to do it.
So let’s try to be more obedient to God’s will nuh, and sincerely reduce our tug-of-war bouts because we truly LOVE Him, and anyway, all that He asks is really for our benefit. And I got so carried away that I forgot to mention the Bible Promise for our poem. It comes from Psalm 119, and says in the King James Version: ‘Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statute’ (Ps. 119:68) Meanwhile the NIV (New International Version) says: ‘You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.’
And my fellow saints, whichever version you choose, it’s still the indisputable truth. Therefore, if we truly LOVE the Lord, then we desperately need to improve our maturity level, using Christ as our shining example. Now let’s go to the throne of grace seeking divine aid for all that ails our turbulent world.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough … because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We also fervently pray Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
And let’s not forget that divine help will only be forthcoming when we begin being better examples of Christianity than we currently are! Much LOVE!
…LOVE means selflessness and sacrifice…like Jesus…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
22 Mar 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a word of warning, all such rejoicing is evil, and doeth it not to him it is sin, backsliders, beware of covetousness, Bible, boast not thyself of tomorrow, boasting, buy and sell and make profit, christianity, continue there a year, divine help, eat drink and be merry, error of their ways, faith, foolish pride, Friday chant, go into a city, go to now ye that say, god, he that layeth up treasure for himself, I will say to my soul, if the Lord will, is not rich toward God, it is even a vapour, Jesus, Jesus Christ, LOVE, one one cocoa full basket, simmering unrest, snowy weather conditions, Soul thou hast much goods laid up for any years, stand strong and steadfast, take heed, take thine ease, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, that appeareth for a little time then vanisheth away, the devil's playground, the example we faithful believers set, the green eyed monster, the parable of the rich fool, the throne of grace, the Wrath of a Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, thou fool, thou knowest not what a day may bring forth, to him that knoweth to do good, today or tomorrow, we shall live and do this or that, what is your life, wisdom, ye rejoice in your boastings
Proverbs 27:1. Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Well, it’s that day, when all the voices around the world can’t help but sing ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ Let’s hope that those who went to work on clear, dry ground this morning won’t be too unhappy when they have to make the evening drive home in snowy weather conditions. Yes, the snow has begun coming down in my area, and granted, right now it’s merely trickling down, but as my Jamaican people would say, ‘one one cocoa full basket.’ And that’s the truth, a little of anything builds up over time, so if the snow continues to fall, even as slowly as it’s now doing, by this afternoon a fair amount would have fallen and made driving and walking conditions difficult.
So, a word of warning, unless you must go out, don’t go! (smile) And today we’ll talk about a very popular but unwise thing that we all do from time to time. It comes from the wise words of Cousin Sol in Proverbs, under the general heading of ‘The Wrath of a Fool. It says: ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’ (Prov. 27:1) And doesn’t that sound familiar. It certainly does! For as James, Jesus’ brother, so wisely wrote to the Jewish diaspora.
‘Go to now (come now), ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice (boast) in your boastings (arrogance): all such rejoicing (boasting) is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ (James 4:13-17)
Oh my people, what wonderful words of wisdom and good advice are to be found in that passage of scripture! First, we make all sorts of pronouncements about our future without including God, without even asking for His opinion and/or direction. That’s not wise, for who knows what another day may bring, since our lives are as vapour, that’s here one minute and gone the next. A lot of people went to bed last night expecting to get up this morning and continue life as usual, only to be disappointed, because they were either too ill to get up or the Lord had called them home during the night. That just shows how little control we have over our lives.
Again, many people who have left home this morning hale and hearty to go to work, won’t return home this evening because they either got sick at work and ended up in the hospital, or they met in a car accident and unexpectedly departed this life. So that should teach us two things; firstly, to always involve God in all of our decisions, to seek out His eternal wisdom on whatever we’re planning to do. And secondly, to always be good to the ones we LOVE, show them true appreciation, and tell them we LOVE them at every opportunity, for we don’t know if or when we will be unexpectedly separated.
Now, all of that reminds us of the parable of the rich fool that Jesus told, when asked about dividing an inheritance between two brothers. First off, He warned: ‘Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.’ (Luke 12:15) Yes friends, the tentacles of the green eyed monster; envy, jealousy, selfishness and covetousness are rampant in our world today. We must remember though that our earthly possessions are not the most important things in our lives, for as we said earlier on, our lives are like a wisp of vapour; one minute here, then gone the next. So why spoil our already short lives by coveting and fighting for earthly things that we will just leave behind for others to fight over eh? It’s the height of foolish pride!
Then Jesus told this most appropriate parable. ‘The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits (store my crops)? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow (store) all my fruits (crops) and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’ (Luke 12:16- 21)
As usual, my fellow saints, Jesus did not mince words. He spoke it loudly and plainly. Those who don’t have God in their lives, as their guiding light, will eventually stumble and fall into the darkness of the evil one. Please, let us learn the necessary lessons from all that we’ve said this morning, so we don’t fall into Satan’s evil net. Now, it’s time to go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, asking for help in these our desperate times of need.
As one voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly.
And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
And I’d just like to remind us that no divine help will be forthcoming until we show the ‘trusting faith’ and be the good ‘examples of faithful believers,’ we spoke of in our prayer. Much LOVE!
…boasting…in and of ourselves…is the devil’s playground…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
08 Sep 2023
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a hard day's work, a heinous crime, a salacious invitation, a Sunday afternoon stroll, brought in a Hebrew to mock us, complain and remain, dead tired, deceitful measures, doing the Lord's will, foolish pride, Friday chant, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, heralding beautiful autmn, his wrath was kindled, how then can I do this great wickedness, indelibly tarnished, judgemental society, leaves losing their green colour, lie with me, loyalty, obedience, omnipotent hrlp, praise and raise, prospering under God's favour, put him in prison, return backsliders to your fold, self-discipline, sin against God, sinful world can wake up, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the error of their ways, the evil one puts a hand in the situation, unexpected storms, ungodly times, wake up and and smell the coffee, what lengths Satan often drives us to
Genesis 39:9b. how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God.
And without fail, the exclamation ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday! has gone up around the world. But though the day is somewhat bright and shiny, there’s a threatening cloud cover hovering in the background. And the recent heatwave seems to be over, with a return to more normal temps for this time of year.
However, in keeping with the cooler weather, some trees are already beginning to lose the green colour in their leaves, heralding the beautiful, colourful season of autumn, but also a precursor to the cold, dreaded time call winter. (smile) But that’s the way God planned it for these northern climes, and if you don’t like it, then you are free to move somewhere else, where there’s sunshine and hot temps all the year round.
Yes mih bredrin, in this crazy world of ours, we’re always complaining about something, mostly about what we don’t have and believe we deserve to have. But life doesn’t revolve around complaining, but around praise to Almighty God! As the saying goes: ‘Complain and remain; praise and raise!’ And until we start doing much more of the latter, our circumstances will remain the same.
But enough philosophizing, let’s get to the dramatic and most interesting and intriguing story of Bruh Joseph. Yesterday we left him in his master Potiphar’s house prospering under the favour of God. But just as bad things must end sometime, I guess all good things must also end sometime, especially when the evil one inserts a hand into the circumstances. And this he did in Bruh Joseph’s case.
The Bible tells us: ‘And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her (longing) eyes upon Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in this house (he knows not what is in this house except through me), and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand. There is none greater in this house than I, neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God.’ (Gen. 39:7-9)
Wow! What self-discipline and loyalty to refuse such a salacious invitation! And please notice what Bruh Joseph called the proposition, not only ‘great wickedness’ but more importantly, ‘a sin against God.’ That shows exactly where his mind and spirit were steadfastly focused. But yuh know when Satan gets the bit in his mouth, he relentlessly keeps pulling at it, and thus Potiphar’s wife kept bugging Bruh Joseph to sleep with her.
But he kept refusing, until the Bible tells us: ‘And it came to pass, about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business (work); and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment (coat), saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment (coat) in her hand, and fled, and got him out.’ (Gen. 39:11-12)
Ah friends, what lengths Satan often drives us to eh! The woman refused to give up her goal of having Bruh Joseph lie with her, possibly because her pride was hurt at his constant refusal, and she was even willing to assault him to have her way. As the scholars put it: ‘Her first approach involved flattery (vs. 7), then the drawn-out enticing (vs. 10), and finally the ambush (vs.12).’ And as they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And it’s often the gospel truth too, like it was in this case.
We read in the Word: ‘And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment (coat) in her hand, and was fled forth (outside), That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock (laugh at) us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment (coat) with me, and fled, and got him out. And she laid up his garment (coat) by her, until his Lord came home.’(Gen 39:11-16)
Ah Lord eh, the evil games Satan has us play over foolish pride! And as the scholars note, that was the second time Bruh Joseph’s coat was used in deceit about him. Remember how his brothers used his coat of many colours dipped in goat’s blood and torn up, to prove to his father that he was dead. ((cf. 37:31-33). And obviously, when poor Potiphar came home dead tired from a hard day at work, his deceitful wife spun him the same tale.
‘And it came to pass when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me, that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.’ (Gen. 39: 19-20)
And who says being a true believer is easy eh! But what else could Potiphar do, except believe his wife. Doubting her would have created even more strife and deceit in the household. But it’s been said, that deep down Potiphar, knowing Bruh Joseph’s loyalty to him and to his God, did not believe Bruh Joseph would commit such a heinous crime. And that’s possibly why he did not have Bruh Joseph put to death asap, as he most certainly was able to do.
But unfortunately, we see the same deceitful measures being applied on a very large scale today, and whether they are all true is another story. However, it’s having unfortunate consequences for the men, because once the allegations are made, without any questions asked, they are adjudged guilty by our judgemental society. And even if the allegations are later proven to be totally untrue, the men’s reputations and futures are nonetheless indelibly tarnished.
But that’s another story for another place and time. Now let’s go the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, to seek mercy and grace in our desperate time of need. Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help.
Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Now let’s remember that divine help calls for obedience and sincerely doing the Lord’s will. Much LOVE!
…living sincerely for Christ…is very seldom…a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
27 Mar 2023
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a negative vein, a positive answer from heaven, bound in affliction, drought, famine, foolish pride, get rid of God, God's children, God's given us the power to get wealth, heal our land, his mercy endureth for ever, humble servants, Jehovah Rapha, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, reap the big boomerang, scourges of cancer and stress, strong faith in Christ, such as sit in darkness, thank you Lord for your magnanimous gifts, the devil's goading, the God who heals, the shadow of death, turn from our evil ways, undeserving children, weapons of mass destruction, worldwide sickness and disease
Psalm 107:1. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy (LOVING-kindness) endureth for ever.
Aye mih people, it looks like spring has really sprung this Monday morning in the last week of March. Once again, you can hear the joyful birds singing their sweet songs of morning praises to their Creator and giving their thanks for seeing another day. Now that’s what we should also be doing, because we have even more to be thankful for than the birds of the air. The sun’s up and shining brightly, and I believe the weather is above the freezing mark, giving us another reason to be glad for the air we breathe and God’s breath of life that’s energizing our souls, our bodies, and our spirits.
And all of God’s children said a grateful and thankful: ‘Thank you Lord for your magnanimous gifts to your underserving children!’ That brings to mind the opening verse of Psalm 107: ‘O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy (LOVING-kindness) endureth for ever.’ (Ps. 107:1) And that’s the indisputable truth friends! God’s mercy (LOVING-kindness) is from everlasting to everlasting! That’s why we are still around to tell the tell the tale.
Unfortunately though, not as many of us as should, do truly give God thanks for His mercy and goodness. Right now, so many people and situations are crying out for the removal of God from our society, but please think for a moment, if we actually got rid of God – which by the way will NEVER happen – what would become of us eh? We certainly can’t govern or rule ourselves. Just look at the mess we’re in right now, even with God somewhat in the picture. Can you imagine if there was no God to help us up when we falter and fall, like so many of us are doing?
And what I can’t understand, is that we can’t fix our problems, but we don’t have the wisdom to turn to God, because our foolish pride and the devil’s goading is preventing us from doing so. Oh friends, I beg of you to listen and turn back to God. Please look at what’s happening to our world; the scary, unpredictable weather conditions, with more powerful hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and so many other natural disasters than we’ve ever known at one time. Not to mention, the pervasive drought and famine all over, the economic futility and poverty in a world of plenty.
Then add the worldwide sickness and disease in a time when we’re transplanting hearts and other organs like it were child’s play, but the scourges of cancer and stress are still consuming our young in great numbers because of the food we eat and the lifestyle we live. We’ve put man on the moon and are tearing up and down in space, like it was our own backyard, while focusing on building ever bigger and more powerful weapons of mass destruction. No wonder there are wars and turbulent times all over. It’s almost impossible to find a place on the globe where there’s no strife and serious unrest.
And yet we look down our noses at the Israelites who had God’s goodness surrounding them, but when they became prosperous turned away from Him because of foolish pride, believing they had engineered their prosperity on their strength. In Deuteronomy 8, Moses warned the Israelites of that very thing. But they didn’t listen, and it’s the very same thing we are doing today. We’ve entirely forgotten that it’s the Lord God Almighty who has given us the power to get wealth and prosperity. (Deut. 8:18)
But the big difference between the Israelites and us is that when they suffered their disastrous times for turning away from God, they eventuallywoke up, realized their mistake and turned back to Him, and were reinstated in His mercy. But not us. We’re so modern and inventive, twenty-first century people, we don’t need some far away, nebulous being to handle our affairs. And that’s why all the negative stuff that’s currently overwhelming our world is going to continue, with Satan forcing us down further into the mire of darkness, until we either wake up and smell the roses, or our world implodes.
We certainly cannot continue in this negative vein, without more disastrous things happening, because each one just fuels the other. Remember the basic law of God’s economy? You reap what you sow, more than you sow and later than you sow! And we’re already reaping the harvest of our earlier negative deeds, but one day, if we persist in this negative manner, we’re certainly going to reap the big boomerang. Remember, another law of nature is what goes around comes around.
That’s why we should take these cathartic, cleansing and refreshing words of Psalm 107 very seriously. ‘Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness (LOVING-kindness), and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron (prisoners): Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned (despised) the counsel of the most High:
Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder (broke their chains in pieces). Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness (LOVING-kindness), and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass (bronze), and cut the bars of iron in sunder.’ (Ps. 107: 8-16)
Yes my people, that’s what the Lord did for the children of Israel, and what He will do for us if we get wise and ask Him. And there’s no better time to do that than right now! So, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn and place our petition before Him. Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’
And if we truly expect a positive answer from heaven, then now is time for us to keep our part of the covenant and turn from our evil ways. Much LOVE!
…God is the Creator and Controller of the universe… while we are only frail and fragile created beings…why do we keep forgetting that eh…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
07 Dec 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: all about making sacrifices in His name, can separate us from the Love of God, Covid19 virus, deep dissatisfaction and disaffection, ever-faithful God, foolish pride, for brethren to dwell together in unity, heal the sick, how good and how pleasant it is, I am persuaded, I am the beloved of god, in god's eyes, Jehovah, lift up the dead to eternal life, living for Jesus, natural disasters, nay in all these things, nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, right the sinking ship, share His love with the world, stubborn disobedience, that neither death nor life nor angels, the joy of brotherhood, the Love of Christ, the power to calm the storm, through him that loved us, trust my friend Jesus, Tuesday Mantra, up in arms, wars and rumours of wars, we are more than conquerors, we value the easy life, when the chips are down, Yahweh
Romans 8:37. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.
Oh mih bredrin, we moving on! Yes, we conquered Monday, and we going to do the same to Tuesday! Glory be! And how could we not be conquerors when we have a conquering Lord and Saviour named Jesus Christ! As the Good Book so confidently declares of us: ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom. 8:37) Yes friends, with the LOVE of Christ flowing through, over and under us, how can we be anything but mighty conquerors eh? And yuh know what too? We can never lose that LOVE, unless we foolishly decide to give it up.
And if you don’t believe me, then listen to what God’s Word says about it. ‘For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the LOVE of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Rom. 8:38-39). What an awesome statement of LOVE, encouragement and assurance my people! Nothing…yes NOTHING can separate us from God’s LOVE found in Christ Jesus!
Wow! How big and beautiful is that knowledge eh! That brings us to question then, why do we act powerless, afraid and discouraged when we have all those wonderful assurances from our omnipotent and ever-faithful God? Remember, there is only one thing that can match the LOVE of God, and that’s His wrath! So, what do we need to experience then eh, His LOVE or His wrath? We might say the former, but too often we behave like it is His wrath we want to experience.
Why then the stubborn disobedience, the foolish pride and the overwhelming ungodliness that’s permeating our world eh? We must think that He’s joking when He speaks of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Otherwise, why would we behave in the foolish and disobedient manner that we’ve manifested in this last generation? We’ve come to value the easy life with all its amenities so much, that we are unwilling to make any sacrifices whatsoever to uplift ourselves or others.
But we talk about living for Jesus…Hogwash! Heifer Dust! How can you be living for Jesus when you don’t want to make sacrifices eh, when living for Jesus is all about making sacrifices in His name? He said it Himself. If we want to be His disciples, we have to die to ourselves, give up our will, surrender it to His, then take up our cross and follow Him. Now that does not necessarily mean living a broken down, destitute life, but it does mean willing to do it if that’s what He asks of you, although He does not usually go to such lengths.
And there is something else that we’ve also lost in this past generation…that’s the joy of brotherhood. Remember the marvellous and ever so truthful words of Bruh David from Psalm 133? ‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment (oil) upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard : that went down to the skirts (edge) of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.’ (Ps. 133:1-3)
We obviously have forgotten that living together in unity, be it at the family or nation level is a blessed thing, authored by our God. Else why would our world be in such turmoil, with resentment, anger, hatred and fighting oh so prevalent, right from the basic family unit up through to national scene itself? There’s war and rumours of war all over the world, and the uncertainty and disagreements over the Covid 19 pandemic has only served to make matters even worse. And as each new variant of the virus crops up, our world becomes more discombobulated and separated.
I don’t know what it will take for us to realize that the only option left to us is turning back to the God of our forefathers, whom we have so petulantly, that’s childishly and unwisely tried to drive out of our society. We obviously can’t seem to fix what’s wrong on our own, because everything we try turns out worse and there appears to be no agreement on anything at all these days, for everybody is up in arms about something or the other, whether it be the virus, the climate, the economy, race and gender problems, religious differences, etc. etc.
No one seems satisfied with the status quo, and all want their concerns to be met with and fixed immediately, if not yesterday. What else can we expect then but deep dissatisfaction and disaffection throughout our individual societies and the world at large. And a good point to note here, the natural disasters also seem to be getting worse, with more fires, floods, earthquakes, volcano eruptions and famines all happening at the same time. There’s no doubt that our world is in a mess, and at a most important crossroad in time.
Who knows what the future holds? Only Almighty God! The same one we are trying to rid our society of. But friends, wisdom and common sense decree that if we want to right our world, a major revival in the name of Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to go! For He is the Saviour, the ONLY ONE who has the power to calm the storm, right the sinking ship, heal the sick and lift up the dead to eternal life. And do we ever need those divine remedies in our world right now my people! So let’s try and get wise nuh, and turn back to Jesus…that is, if we want our world to survive the death throes it’s currently experiencing.
Now, for those of us who are trying to do the right thing, live sincerely for Jesus, let’s go home declaring (oh yeahhh!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole world know who and whose we are, to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong 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 the world. Amen!’
And having made those magnificent statements, it now behooves us to go out and share the reality with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Jesus like we do. Much LOVE!
…to whom do you turn when the chips are down…Jesus!…Yahweh!…Jehovah!…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
01 Dec 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a hot bed of grumbling and complaining, be in the world not of the world, both to will and do his good pleasure, Christ's Church, complaining, disobedience to Almighty God, do all things without murmurings and disputings, endure to the end, everything will work out for good, foolish pride, glorify your father in heaven, I am halfway home, I'm not turning back, impervious to defeat, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, it is God which worketh in you, Let your light so shine before men, LOVE, mind-blowing times, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, my hands are on the plough, never give up, strife, the breath of life is still flowing through me, the Lord chastised the Israelites for complaining, the sons of God, there is no legitimate reason for murmurings and disputings, they may see your good works, think victory all the time, tirelessly fighting for supremacy, to a glorious future with Jesus, unconquerable spirit, Wednesday Wail, with fear and trembling, without rebuke, work out your own salvation, ye may be blameless and harmless, ye shine as lights in the world
Philippians 2:14. Do all things without murmurings (grumbling) and disputings.
Well, we’ve opened unto a fairly decent Wednesday, the first day of December; with no snow and some sunshine. Yes, the clouds are there, tirelessly fighting for supremacy, but the sun is in ascendance right now. Thank the Lord! But friends, how I do wish that we, the followers of and believers in Christ had that unflagging, indomitable, unconquerable spirit like those clouds have as they fight the sun’s awesome power, where we never give up, where we are impervious to defeat and only think victory all the time!
That’s the kind of faith and spirit we need more than ever in these over-the-top, mind-blowing times that none of us have ever before experienced. And instead of complaining like we do, we ought to be crying out to Jesus and living the way He wants us to, believing, as He faithfully promised, that everything will work out for good in the end, for those who sincerely LOVE and abide in Him. And as we promised yesterday, if God spared our lives, which He’s obviously done (smile), we’ll continue talking about that disgusting and ungodly attitude that we too often have, called ‘Complaining.’
Now yesterday we saw back in olden times where the Lord chastised the Israelites for too much complaining, especially when He was keeping them in food and drink. They didn’t like manna, and wanted meat, so He gave them so much meat that it eventually turned their hearts against it, became loathsome to them. And I theorized that the same thing is happening to us today with all the disasters, both natural and manmade, as well as the Covid plague that just won’t go away, because of our stubborn, foolish pride and disobedience to Almighty God.
But enough of my theorizing, let’s turn to the New Testament for some words on the subject of complaining, since some of us wrongly believe that the Old Testament has nothing to offer us in these supposed modern times. And Bruh Paul, the wise man that he was, spoke to the subject in no uncertain terms in his letter to the Philippians. Listen as he tells them. ‘’Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.’ (Phil. 2:12-13)
And we know that means not literally working for our salvation because that’s a free gift given by God, and has nothing to do with our works, but the carrying out of it to its logical conclusion depends on us. We need to work out the new life not just for our profit but for the benefit of others also. And if we work out and show the new life divinely worked in us, we will live worthy of the gospel, in harmony with each other, seeking the progress of the gospel. We will also regard each other as more important than ourselves, be concerned with the needs of our fellow brethren, and make the appropriate sacrifices in obedience to God, as did Jesus.
In doing all of this, we will work out or express the new life we have through Christ. And having said a lot of that in the beginning of the chapter and elsewhere in his letter, Bruh Paul continues: ‘Do all things without murmurings (grumbling) and disputings. That ye may be blameless and harmless (innocent), the sons (children) of God, without rebuke (fault), in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation (generation), among whom ye shine as lights in the world.’ (Phil. 2:14-15)
Bruh Paul couldn’t be any clearer than that! Christians are not to be continual grumblers and complainers and disputers! Now remember, it’s God who is working in us, for us to do His good will and pleasure, and that can ofttimes be difficult, calling for sacrifices and such, but don’t lose sight of the fact that in the end it will all work out to our benefit.
And I like the scholars’ explanation of verse 14. They say: ‘Since God is producing in the Philippians the willing and doing of His good and perfect will (vs.13), there can be no legitimate reason for murmurings and disputings. Not only are they forbidden to complain about the difficulties and persecutions that will befall them in carrying out God’s good pleasure, but quarreling among themselves is also prohibited.’
Wow! Now that declaration also stands for us today my fellow believers. And how I wish we could all function in such a Christian manner. But unfortunately, Christ’s church right now is a hot bed of grumbling and complaining, of cliques and groups resentful and jealous of each other, of a whole lot of antagonism and evil doings in the body of Christ! If we follow verses 12 and 14, then we would become blameless and harmless. But due to the significant amount strife in the current church this is presently not true
And are we ever living in the midst of a perverse, crooked, evil and depraved world. Thus, we are expected to help the lost, since that’s the only way that they will ever know Christ. However, in doing so, we must try and not call our witness into rebuke or disfavour by behaving like the world. Instead, as Christ Himself describes us: ‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid….Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt. 5:14, 16)
Oh friends, our crazy, discombobulated world desperately needs us to be bright lights shining in its evil darkness! Please, please, let’s come up higher nuh, so that we can be the kind of light that Jesus desires us to be. And one way to do that is by stopping the grumbling and complaining that we do daily, over petty and unimportant stuff. Don’t you think it’s breaking Jesus’ heart when He sees the disgusting and disturbing state of disrepair that His church has fallen into? I’m sure it does. And we can’t give Him wrong if sometimes He even asks Himself if His life sacrifice was worth it, considering our willful disobedience and unchristian behaviour.
So we all need to look in the mirror and truthfully ask ourselves if we are indeed shining lights in the world’s darkness, or just adding to its darkness. Now, for those of us who are sincerely trying to be lights, let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our wonderful and enviable position in Christ Jesus.
Altogether 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 we need to be in it for the long haul, because those who endure to the end will find that the future is even more glorious than we can ask or even imagine! Much LOVE!
…Christians ought to…be in the world…but not of the world…
P.S. Please excuse the lateness of the Bit, but life, as it is wont to do, unexpectedly intervened and delayed my writing. Thanks for the forgiveness! (smile) Much LOVE!
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
05 Jul 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a merciful forgiving gracious God, after our own likeness, breathed into his nostrils, by him all things consist, disobedience to God's Word, foolish pride, forgive us and heal our land, give us wise guidance, God said let us make man in our image, impaired or tarnished image, Jehovah Rapha, LOVE, mass confusion, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, no man can say Him nay, of the dust of the ground, our Father who art in heaven, right motives, sincere prayer, sincere repentance, the breath of life, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the God who heals, the Lord formed the man, the LOVE of money, their individual cause is right and just, unwise mindset, up in arms, we have no need or use for God, willful sin, your humble servants
Genesis 1:26. And God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our own likeness…
How goes it this Monday morning friends as sickness, strife, economic anxiety, natural disasters and numerous controversies rage around our world? I don’t know if our world has ever been in such turmoil on so many fronts, at the same time, in basically a time of peace. Everybody seems to be displeased and up in arms about something. And everybody believes that their individual cause is right and just and needs immediate remedial action. Ah Lord eh!
The good Lord must be sitting in His high heaven sadly shaking His head, because He knows that many of our problems could be solved by simply turning back to Him and His righteous and holy ways. Yes friends, plenty of what’s wrong with our world can be directly traced to willful sin and disobedience to God’s Word, stemming from foolish pride and the unwise mindset that we have no need or use for God in our world, or our individual affairs.
How can that ever be true, when God is our Creator and Provider eh? All that we are, and have, emanated or emanates from Him. In the first place God created us. The Good Book tells it thus: ‘And God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our own likeness…’ (Gen 1:26) Yes friends, we are a creation of Almighty God! God created us in His own image to boot, which means we have a likeness like unto God. We might not be identical, but we are indeed similar.
And though we have fallen through our sin, we still have an impaired or tarnished image of Him. And how do you think we got life eh? Listen to the Good Book again. ‘And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.’ (Gen. 2:7) Oh my people, it is God’s breath, His ruach, or living spirit in our mortal bodies that gave, and still gives us life. Without it, we would be lifeless. So how can we believe that God is not important in our lives eh?
And here is another unbelievably important aspect of God in our lives. Moses reminded the Israelites of it in these words. ‘Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, and the earth also, with all that therein is.’ (Deut. 10:14) And if you don’t believe Moses, then listen to Bruh Paul. ‘For by him (God) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in (on) earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities (rulers), or powers (authorities): all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by (through) him all things consist (are held together).’ (Col. 1:16-17)
That means that heaven, the earth, and everything in them belong to the Lord, because He created them. And we are only stewards of His possessions down here. Ever wonder why we come into this world with nothing, and also leave it with nothing? As Bruh Paul informed Timothy: ‘For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.’ (1 Tim. 6:7)
And the scholars offer this tidbit of info on that verse. ‘This is a divine means of showing man that since material wealth is relatively insignificant, he should pursue the important things mentioned in verse 11.’ And this is what that says: ‘But thou, O man of God, flee these things (the LOVE of money, lust of the flesh); and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith,LOVE, patience, meekness.’ (1 Tim. 6:11)
And speaking about material wealth, please check out this very interesting and important verse of scripture which Moses warned the people of Israel about, a long time ago. ‘But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee the power to get wealth, that he may establish (confirm) his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.’ (Deut. 8:18) Please consider that my brethren, it was God Himself who gave Israel, and consequently us, the ability to get material wealth and the blessings that He had promised their forefathers.
And right here it would do us a wealth of good (smile) to remember Job’s fateful words. ‘Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ (Job 1:21) Yes friends, the Lord made Job materially wealthy, then He took away that wealth. Then He gave Job even more than he had previously. That ought to show us the power the Lord has over us and all the earth and heaven, and convince us that our best bet is to stick with the one who not only brought us to the dance, but also gave the dance. (smile)
So, having reconsidered our options, and realizing on which side our bread is truly buttered, let’s go to God right now nuh, offering up sincere mea culpas through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. As one voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’
And as with all prayer, let’s hope that when the Lord searches our hearts, He will find that our motives were right and our prayer sincere. Much LOVE!
…the earth is the Lord’s…and the fullness thereof…no man can say Him nay…
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24 Jun 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a positive outlook on life, Be merciful unto me O god, bounden duty, compassionate heart, curse, divine promotion, foolish pride, forgiven our abominable sins, God's children gave thanks for life, how excellent is thy loving-kindness, in thy light shall we see light, my soul trusteth in thee, negative word, play the big man, prosper and succeed, providing a means to be saved, put their trust under the shadow of thy wings, satisfied with the fatness of thy house, save me from reproach, saw the light of day, self-control. self-discipline, the children of men, the fast pace of this new world, the steadfast love of God, Thursday Blessings, true belief in God, unto God that performeth all things for me, we run to keep up, what shall I render to Jehovah, with thee is the fountain of life
Psalm 36:7a. How excellent (precious) is thy LOVING-kindness, O God!
Then came Thursday, bright and beautiful… And all God’s children gave thanks for life and health and all the other good things that the Lord has done for them! Now please don’t make me a liar. (smile) I do hope that you all did give Jehovah some thanks and praise when you arose this morning and saw the light of day. And if by chance you forgot to offer up a little prayer of thanks, please take a moment and do so now. The Lord won’t hold it against you, for He knows that we are weak and ofttimes forgetful while we run to keep up with the fast pace of this new world. But once you remember and come to Him with sincere repentance, He will forgive.
And as the song asks, ‘What shall I render to Jehovah, for He has done so much for me?’ The answer is simply to remember Him in all your doings, and offer heartfelt thanks and praise. Bruh David spells it out in spades in Psalm 36 – The steadfast LOVE of God, when he confidently declares. ‘Thy mercy (LOVING-kindness), O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgements are a great deep (ocean): O Lord, thou preservest man and beast.
How excellent (precious) is thy LOVING-kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness (fullness) of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.’ (Ps. 36:5-9)
Oh mercy, mercy me! How can life get any better than that eh mih people? No way! For when you are in touch, in close contact, with the fountain of life and the author of light, you’ll experience both life and light to the utmost degree possible for mere mortals! Wow! No wonder we give our great and generous God so much thanks and praise!
And that’s only right and proper, seeing that He has done so much for us; giving us life and sustenance, and most importantly providing a means for us to be saved, to be forgiven of our abominable sins against His honourable personage, through the death and resurrection of His sinless Son on the cross of Calvary.
Ah mih people, the answer to ALL of our problems is keeping God first place in our lives. That’s what Bruh David understood and did. Although he made numerous mistakes, and some serious ones like adultery with Bathsheba and the consequent murder of her husband Uriah, he always turned to the God of his forefathers and cried out for mercy, forgiveness and help. He knew which side his bread was buttered on.
Hear how he cries out for deliverance in Psalm 57 nuh, when he was hiding in the wilderness in a cave, after fleeing from his deadly enemy, King Saul. ‘Be merciful unto me. O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast (pass).’ (Ps. 57:1)
Yeh friends, do we call out to our heavenly Father with such desperation when we find ourselves falling into uncontrollable situations? I do hope so. For He is the often the ONLY One who can help, or extricate us from those soul-searing situations. And there’s no shame or disgrace in crying out to him for help nuh, because that’s what He’s there for, what He expects of us. But, in our foolish pride, too many of us try to play the big man and refuse to bow down and cry out for help.
That’s a very bad mistake friends, for you know that if it’s one thing the Lord detests is foolish human pride, because that means we don’t need Him, and He desires us to be ever and always needed by Him. So my people, if we say we believe in and trust in God, why are afraid to, or are too proud to call out to Him for help eh? Hear Bruh David again, as he continues in Psalm 57. ‘I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.’ (Ps. 57:2)
Now do we ever cry out like that in in times of desperate need? We ought to. But then that depends on the level of our faith in Almighty God whom we claim to believe in. Bruh David strongly believed that God would do all things for Him, so he was comfortable and secure in crying out to Him for help. And that’s the basic reason we still read about him today. His life wasn’t easy, but he firmly believed and trusted, and thus was successful. Listen to the level of faith and assurance he felt. ‘He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up (hounds me). Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.’ (Ps. 57:3)
Yes precious saints of Christ, that’s the level of faith, of assurance we all need to possess if we claim to believe in the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! We need to be positive that the Lord God will always work on our behalf. That’s what caused Bruh David to be called the friend of God, and a man after His own heart. It wasn’t his penchant for doing right, because he did an awful amount of wrong, but He always turned to the Lord, always kept Him first place in his life, was most assured in God’s might and power, forgiveness and faithfulness to look after those who sincerely trusted in Him.
Now that’s what is sadly lacking in the life of so many believers today. We talk a good talk, but when it comes to putting our talk into action, we fail dreadfully, because our faith, our level of trust and surrender is not as high as it ought to be, and our level of pride and trust in ourselves and of mortal man are too strong. So friends, please let’s wise up and truly realize from whence comes our help nuh. It comes from Almighty God, not his weak and finite creation, mankind. End of sermon! (smile)
And for those of us who are sincerely trying to raise the level of our faith and trust in God, let’s go home now declaring (awright!!!) our Thursday Blessings, that He has so generously provided for us to do His earthly work. Altogether now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’
Now let’s fulfill our bounden duty by going out and sharing those amazing blessings with others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us. Much LOVE!
…to show true belief in God…requires plenty action…not mere talk…
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