11 Jul 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: almighty god, another week of work, awesome, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, breathed into his nostrils, cesspool, counsel of the heathen, Cousin Sol, creation, Creator, dust of the ground, failed societies, fear the Lord, fellow believers, fellowship, focus on Almighty God, fool's wisdom, foolish question, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, futility, generous help, God commanded and it stood fast, God created man in his own image, god created the heaven and earth, God directs his steps, God spake and it was done, God's thoughts and ways are higher than man's, godly living, going against god's will, if the Lord commands it not, in the beginning, indisputable truth, Jeremiah, Jesus Christ, jesus name, Lamentations, living soul, LOVE, magnanimous god, make man in our image, man plan's his way, man's power cannot rival God's, mortal man, nobody, omnipotent, Praise the Lord, refreshed, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, sing Hallelujah, sink into the mire, stand in awe of God, state of confusion, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the breath of life, the cesspool of ungodliness, the counsel fo the Lord shall stand, the Good Book, the Lord is sovereign, the Word of god, unequivocal answer, ungodliness, waste of time, weekend, who says and it comes to pass, wisdom, worldly invitations
Lamentations 3:37. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
And then it was Friday… And all the working people joyfully shouted: ‘Yeahhh Friday! Friday at last! Oh how we LOVE you Friday! TGIF! Thank God it is Friday yes!’
Oh Friends, it sure is good to welcome Friday into our lives, but please remember it is just another day, one that the Lord laboured on to create, and we need to put the same energy and godly living into it, like any other day.
So to help us keep our focus on Almighty God, despite the fascinating worldly invitations of the upcoming weekend, let’s chant our Friday Chant. All together now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Yes my brethren, we need to keep in mind that the weekend is not merely for fun and frolic, but also for fellowship and rejuvenation, which will enable us to do a good job for the Lord in the upcoming week.
And today we have a most interesting Bit… Sorry, all of them are indeed interesting (smile) because they are taken from the Good Book; the Word of God.
Nonetheless, in his soulful Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah poses this most important question: ‘Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commanded it not?’
And the unequivocal answer to that foolish question is ‘NOBODY!’
Yes Friends, no mortal man can make anything come to pass if the Lord declares otherwise!
And we just have to look at the awesome Creation, to discover how awesome, how omnipotent is the power of our amazing and magnanimous God. And He’s very forthright in telling us that His thoughts and His ways are way way higher than ours (Is.55:8-9) So how can we expect to out do Him eh?
Now listen to the opening statement of the Good Book: ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.’ (Gen.1:1)
Oh my fellow believers, how could a mortal man ever top that eh, especially when it’s that same omnipotent Creator who created him?
‘And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.’ (Gen.1:26a, 27)
‘And the Lord God 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)
So Friends, from those simple bits of scripture, it’s obvious, or ought to be obvious, that man’s power CANNOT ever rival God’s, and whatever God says, that’s the way it will be!
Hear how Cousin Sol in his God-given wisdom describes it. ‘A man’s heart deviseth (plans) his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.’ (Prov.16:9)
As the scholars so refreshingly declare: ’16:9. The Lord is sovereign over man’s scheming and planning.’
And isn’t that the indisputable truth? It surely is!
Now listen to Cousin Sol again: ‘There are many devices (plans, schemes) in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.’ (Prov.19:21)
Yes my fellow believers, it’s a complete waste of time trying to put plans into place which God does not authenticate or desire to have come to pass. And I can testify to that from hard experience, like most of you also can.
And looking back through history, we can see all the failed societies and great pronouncements and plans of men that have not been successful because God was simply not in favour of them.
And our world is in its current state of confusion because we have not adhered to God’s plan, as outlined in the Good Book, but are foolishly trying to implement our own. And the more we try to do that, the further down we sink into the mire, the cesspool of ungodliness.
The psalmists’ of old wisely recognized the futility of going against God’s will. Hear how the author of Psalm 148 – All creation to praise the Lord – puts it. ‘Praise ye the Lord; (sing hallelujah): Praise the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.’ (Ps.148:105)
And the writer of Psalm 33 – Praise to the Lord for His creation – declares it thus. ‘Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen (nations, gentiles) to nought: he maketh the devices (plans, schemes) of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.’ (Ps.33:8-12)
Ah Friends, neighbours and fellow believers, what more do we need to convince us that if God does not desire something to come to pass, for whatever reason, it will not do so, regardless of all our puny mortal efforts?
So today, let’s be wise nuh, let’s try and bring all our plans into agreement with those of Almighty God nuh, for it is His dictates that will prevail anyway. Much LOVE!
…how can the created ever be greater than the Creator eh…that’s nothing but a fool’s wisdom…
10 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Acts of the Apostles, answered prayer, Archimedes, awesome God, calamitous winter, christianity, commitment to prayer, communal, confession, confusing times, covenant, Daniel, divine judgement, Elementary my dear Watson, Eureka, evening sacrifices, faithful and loving God, faithful life, fool's wisdom, friends, glorify God, glory hallelujah, God has heard my supplications, God has heard my voice, great man of faith, Greek imperfect tense, heavenly wisdom, Holy Ghost, honest report, hot day, hour of prayer, humble, humility, I Love the Lord, I will call upon god as long as I live, John, joy, judgement, justice, life, LOVE, loving kindness, meek, meekness, mercy, ministry of the word, new mercies, ninth hour, offering of incense, outdoor activities, personally experienced, Peter, praise and glory to God, pray, prayer, prayer is the best form of communication with god, praying, rightousness, seek the Lord, Sherlock Holmes, sincere heartfelt prayers, spreading the gospel, testimony, the gospel, the Lord's anger, the voice, those that keep god's commandments, those that Love God, troubled times, whopping hot, wisdom, Zephaniah
Psalm 66:19. But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
All praise and glory to our wonderful God this Thursday morning my people! And that’s not just for life and new mercies, but also for what promises to be a whopping hot day, with temps in the mid teens! Glory Hallelujah!
Oh, I know to you folks down south that’s cold, but to us Northerners, that’s almost like a summer’s day, especially after the crazy and calamitous winter we’ve had. And I’m sure that there’ll be lot’s of folks out and about half-naked, running, walking, bicycling, playing games, and trying to do all the things we do come the summer time.
Good for them yes! But I doubt that I’ll be joining in any outdoor activities just yet, for I’m still trying to get rid of this nagging cough and cold. Let’s just hope that the temperature stays high from now on. And no doubt a whole lot of people are praying for that. Why?
Because as we’ve been saying for the last few days, prayer is the best form of communication with our Maker! And if we sincerely believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob created us, then it is only logical to pray to Him for whatever we desire. As Sherlock Holmes would undoubtedly tell his sidekick: ‘Elementary my dear Watson!’
And also, as we’ve seen from our Bit, our faithful and LOVING God does answer prayer. ‘But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.’
Oh Friends, I don’t see how we can doubt the awesome power of prayer nuh, especially if you claim to be a true believer in Jesus Christ! Therefore, today we will continue to show scriptures that deal with the mighty workings of prayer.
Hopefully something there will cause something in us to go off like the ‘Eureka’ effect that the Greek scientist Archimedes experienced when taking a bath, discovering that the level of the water rose when he got into it. That helped him to solve a scientific problem he was then working on.
First off, listen to the psalmist as he opens Psalm 116; praise for deliverance from death. ‘I LOVE the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me (hath listened to me), therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.’ (Ps.116:1-2)
Oh what a beautiful testimony my brethren! That’s how ALL God’s people should be declaring their never-ending commitment to prayer!
Now hear how that great man of faith, Daniel, began his prayer for his people. ‘And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful (awesome) God, keeping the covenant and mercy (LOVING-kindness) to them that LOVE Him, and to them that keep his commandments.’ (Dan.9:3-4)
Oh Friends, we all know the wonders the Lord worked in Daniel’s long and faithful life – and it was all done through sincere and heartfelt prayer! Now there’s no reason why the Lord cannot work wonders in our lives too, wonders that glorify Him, if we also turn to Him in serious prayer.
And the prophet Zephaniah, in talking about the scope of divine judgement, declared to Israel, and consequently to ALL OF US: ‘Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgement (upheld his justice); seek righteousness, seek meekness (humility): it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.’ (Zeph.2:3)
And how do we seek the Lord? First and foremost through PRAYER, my brethren!
And we’ll end with a couple of instances of prayer being ultra important from the Acts of the Apostles. Chapter 3 of Acts begins thus: ‘Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.’ (Acts 3:1)
Now if two of the most important apostles could be involved in regular prayer, why shouldn’t we be too eh?
And the scholars explain that verse thus: ‘3:1. According to Jewish reckoning, the day began at 6.a.m. Hence, the ninth hour is 3 p.m.. The Jewish prayer time was held in conjunction with the evening sacrifices and offering of incense (cf. Luke 1:8; Rev.8:3-4). Peter and John commonly went to the temple to pray at this hour. The Greek imperfect tense could well be translated “used to go up.’
That makes it a habit Friends! One that we all should adopt!
And finally, from Acts 6, where the number of believers and disciples had multiplied and Christianity had become so communal, it created a problem for the disciples to serve everybody’s needs and still continue with their own duties of prayer and spreading the gospel.
‘Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason (desirable) that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore brethren, look ye out (seek from) among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word,’ (Acts 6:2-4)
Oh Friends, yuh see that prayer and spreading the Word were so important that the original 12 disciples desired to devote their time to do just that. So how can we, especially in these very troubled and confusing times, not turn to prayer and the Word in like manner eh? It’s a fool’s wisdom, if we don’t my brethren!
So please, let’s get right on the prayer scene and into the Word nuh, and thus show our heavenly wisdom. Much LOVE!
…there’s a joy that comes from praying…and then having those prayers answered…a joy which words cannot fully explain… but must be personally experienced to understand it…
03 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adrenalin, aesthetic, artistic pleasure, aura of love, bacchanal, Bacchus, blessed, brass, calamitous, Carnival Monday, catclysmic, confidence, Cousin Sol, Creator of the universe, disastrous, evil emotion, experiment, fame, fellowship, fight the good fight, fool's wisdom, great works, he who loves pleasure shall be poor, holy spirit, honour, humble servants, in search of enduring fulfillment, invincible, jealousy, Jesus Christ, jobs, lasting satisfaction, lord god almighty, LOVE, mas, mind yuh business, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, pain, pan, party hearty, pleasure, point of excess, power, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, suitable for believers, sure conquerors, time, to receive glory, trust, useful purpose, valus of earthly pleasure, wealth, wine, wisdom, word of warning, worthwhile inroads, worthy
Proverbs 21:17. He that LOVETH pleasure shall be a poor man: he that LOVETH wine and oil shall not be rich.
And then it was Monday, Friends… Carnival Monday! And at 4.a.m on a warm summer’s morn, the party-goers are starting to pour out into the streets from the all-night fetes, impatiently waiting for the steelbands to get organized and start jamming some pan to get J’ouvert, the first session of the big road party underway. Mama Yo! Fete fuh so!
Yes mih people, that’s what’s happening in T&T and various places around the world right now, in preparation for two days of pan and brass and mas out on the streets; two days of letting go, two days of uninhibited pleasure dedicated to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and partying, before settling down to a strict Lenten Season.
Meanwhile, I’m out here in the cold, on the outside sadly looking in. Steups! But not to worry Friends, I don’t mind missing the mas itself because in my opinion it’s not half as good as it used to be. What I miss is the heat of the sun.
Anyway mih bredden, one word of warning, please go easy on the pleasure, not too much bacchanal or ‘Luciferous’ type of pleasure, (smile) for as Cousin Sol so wisely advises in our Bit: ‘He that LOVETH pleasure shall be a poor man: he that LOVETH wine and oil shall not be rich.’
And there are absolutely no words to describe the truth of that statement my people!
Now generally speaking, there’s nothing wrong with pleasure, for as the Good Book tells us: ‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created (by your will they exist.’ (Rev.5:11)
That shows our God is not averse to pleasure, that’s why He made nice things; first for Himself, then for us to enjoy. However, when the earthly pleasure reaches a point of excess, it’s no longer suitable for believers.
And there’s plenty of evidence, much research from way back, done by Cousin Sol on the topic. He had great wealth, much wisdom and plenty time, so he decided to conduct a practical and personal experiment on the subject; to try and prove the value of much earthly pleasure.
Listen to him in Ecclesiastes: ‘I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove (test) thee with mirth (gladness), therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity (futility).’ (Eccl..2:1)
Yes Friends, Cousin Sol found that too much earthly pleasure, or just living to enjoy earthly pleasure is vain and futile! You can read the rest of his documentation on the experiment in Eccl.2:2-11)
The scholars also have some good info on those verses. ‘2:1-11. Solomon pursued fulfillment through pleasure (vv. 1-2), wine (v.3), great works (vv. 4-6), wealth (vs.-8), aesthetic and artistic pleasures (v.8), and fame (v.9).
All of these failed to bring lasting satisfaction to the wisest man of all time, yet people three thousand years later are still trying them in search of enduring fulfillment. Musical instruments (v.8) translates an uncertain Hebrew word and possibly refers to a harem or group of concubines.’
So yuh see mih people, Cousin Sol tried it all, but found that embarking on a life of earthly pleasure is nothing but a fool’s wisdom! Hn, hn! That phrase seems to be popping up quite often these days.
But unfortunately so many of the things that are popular today, like the scholars say, belong to that category, and that’s a major reason why our world is so disastrous, calamitous and cataclysmic.
And no, I haven’t forgotten that not all of us can go out on the streets and party today, most of us still have to go out and slave for Massa. So to help us do that, as well as keep the evil emotion of jealousy out of our hearts and souls (smile) let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with great gusto.
All together now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
And on that note, we’ll close for today. Now with the adrenalin running, let’s go out and fight a good fight in Jesus’ Name, make Him ever so proud of us. Much LOVE!
…oftimes…too much pleasure…sadly turns into plenty pain…so party hearty…but remember to mind yuh business…
27 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a shower of roses, apostasy, Azariah, believers in Jesus Christ, bow down unto other gods, calamitous, common sense, corrupted themselves, covenant, crapaud smoke we pipe, deliverance, deliverers, disgusting behaviour, disobedience, doing good on earth, dominant, draw breath, easily enticed, enemies, Eva Rose York, fool, fool's wisdom, God's earth, goodwill, gospel truth, gracious God, greetings, hand of Joshua, heaven, heaven-sent deliverers, humble hearts, I shall not pass this way again, idolatrous and disobedient ways, immorality, Israel, joy, judges, lighten someone's heavy load, live for Jesus, LOVE, mercy, moved to pity, nation, obeying God's commandments, oblivion, one and only true God, oppressed, oppression, out of the hands of their enemies, painful pangs, peace, played the harlot, political instability, prove, rebellion, relieve some pain, remove some barrier, repentance, repentant souls, Saint of the Little Flower, salutations, Scrip-Bit family, second generation, smell the roses, social degradation, spiritual victories, St. Therese, test, the anger of the Lord, the Book of Judges, the Lord delivered them, the Lord raised up judges, the son of Oded, the Spirit of God, theme, there is no god, transgressed, troubled and ungodly earth, turmoiled-filled, wake up, weak, went a whoring, wisdom, world situation, worshipping pagan gods
2 Chronicles 15:1. And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.
Greetings and salutations to all you beautiful people in my Scrip-Bit Family! It is with great joy and LOVE that I come to you this cold Thursday morning in the North Country – only somewhere between minus 10 and minus 19 degrees Celsius.
Now my outside might be cold, but Friends, believe me, inside I’m just burning up with LOVE! And that’s gospel truth! (smile) That’s because I keep trying to live for and like Jesus. Now I’m not always successful, but the basic attributes of LOVE, peace and goodwill to all are certainly there.
It’s also been said that St. Therese, the Saint of the Little Flower declared that she would spend her heaven doing good on earth, letting fall a shower of roses. Now that’s all well and good if you are in heaven, but even more so, Jesus desires that we do much good while we’re right down here on this troubled and ungodly earth. We certainly can’t afford to wait until we get to heaven to do good on earth, or else we might never get to heaven.
And in line with that train of thought, here is a rather appropriate quote attributed to one Eva Rose York. Now from the many Eva Rose York’s I found, I couldn’t specify exactly which one said it. And though I believe I’ve shared this quote before, it’s one of those that’s necessary to repeat every so often, so that we don’t forget it.
And it says: ‘I shall not pass this way again; Then let me now relieve some pain, Remove some barrier from the road, Or brighten (lighten) someone’s heavy load.’
Yes my fellow believers in Jesus Christ, that’s exactly what EACH OF US needs to say and do EVERYDAY we draw breath on God’s earth. For that is exactly what Jesus expects of His true and beautiful followers.
And now that we’ve straightened out that little matter, (smile) let’s turn to our Bit. ‘And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.’
And today we’ll look at another pertinent example of how God allowed His Holy Spirit to come upon one of His chosen people, to try and bring them to their senses.
Oh Friends, it’s amazing how many times Israel turned from following the God of their forefathers to worshipping the pagan gods of those who lived around them. Instead of being dominant and bringing the pagans to their God, they were weak and easily enticed into serving the pagan gods. And it’s also amazing how many times the Lord saved them from themselves and their enemies, despite their gross disobedience.
As the Good Book says: ‘ Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled (plundered) them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after (played the harlot with) other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so.
And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of (the Lord was moved to pity by) their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed (harassed) them.
And it came to pass when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more (behaved more corruptly) than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.
And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
That through them I may prove (test) Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily (immediately); neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.’ (Judg. 2: 16-23)
Ah mih breddren, doesn’t that sound very familiar? It sure does! I never intended to write all of it, but after reading it, it sounded so much like what we’re currently doing, that I just had to share it all.
And it’s also what the Lord is doing to a certain extent right now; leaving us up to our own idolatrous and disobedient ways and purposes, consequently allowing us to suffer whatever fate befalls us. Please note too, like Israel, the many nations around us, who want to conquer us and have us bow to their pagan gods.
And I must share these words from the scholars re the passage of scripture above. ‘2:17-19. The recurring cycle of Israel’s apostasy, oppression and repentance, and deliverance by heaven-sent deliverers forms the key theme of the Book of Judges.
It was a period of repeated spiritual apostasy, growing immorality, social degradation, and political instability. Israel’s “second generation” had forgotten the spiritual victories of the generation of the conquest. Only the mercy of a gracious God kept Israel from disappearing as a nation.’
Oh mih people, mih people, if I didn’t tell you otherwise, I’m sure you’d think that those word were written about this current world situation, because it resembles the present time down to the nth detail! And it’s only a gracious and merciful God who is preventing us from sliding into oblivion.
But please note, He’s getting tired of our disgusting behaviour, and like He did with Israel, is allowing us to suffer the painful pangs of disobedience in a turmoil-filled and calamitous world. And if we don’t smarten up and do like the Israelites, return to seriously serving and worshipping Him, then… crapaud smoke we pipe!
So please my people, let’s wake up NOW and smell the roses nuh, get some common sense and wisdom, so that with humble hearts and repentant souls, we can return to worshipping and serving the ONE and ONLY TRUE and LIVING GOD, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
Let’s stop ploughing ahead in disobedience and rebellion, concentrating on removing God from our society, rather than increasing and glorifying Him. For that my Friends, is a fool’s wisdom. And as followers of Jesus, we should not be numbered amongst fools. Much LOVE!
…the fool hath said in his heart…there is NO GOD…(Ps.14:1)…and that’s exactly why he is a fool…
P.S. Sorry for the slight change of direction, but that’s where the Spirit led me. With the Lord’s favour though, we’ll get back to it tomorrow. Much LOVE!
18 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: accepting Jesus, aggressive, almighty god, angel of the Lord, appeased the evils, awesome truth, bad beginnings, baptizing, bring forth a son, call his name Jesus, cramp, drama, early morning horrors, earthly actions, elixir of sleep, eternal life, eternal separation, eternity, evil one, fool's wisdom, foolish spirit, foundational concept of the gospel, free and easy salvation, free gift, from their sins, full bladder, glory hallelujah, God's will, God's Word, good endings, gospel of Matthew, gospel truth, grace of God, heart-warming, heaven, hogwash, holy spirit, ignorance, indisputable, Jehovah Saves, Jesus Christ, Jesus' purpose for coming to earth, John the Baptist, Joseph, lead and guide, Lord and Saviour, lost, Loving Father, Lucifer, mention of Jesus' name, miserable, New Testament, penny section, refuse to accept, refuse to be saved, rejecting Jesus, repenting of sins, rest, River Jordan, salvation, save, save his people, saving grace, saviour, scriptures, settle in our souls, sinful condition, sinful destination, sleep, Son, spoil our day, take away the sin of the world, that which is lost, the Lamb of God, to save sinners, to seek and to save, to work with God, tossed and turned, unwise moves, war-like, wisdom, wisdom of the ages, wise and good Spirit
Luke 19:10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Oh Friends, I greet you all this snowy morning with the piece of wisdom that ignorance is a helluva thing yes! (smile) And that’s no lie, it’s the gospel truth!
Now hear the reasons for my assertion. Sometime after two o’clock this morning, I was summarily awakened by a cramp in my left thigh. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as some I have, but as I swung my legs off the bed to attend to the cramp, I also realized that my bladder was full. So I got up and hobbled to the bathroom.
Don’t laugh, because that was a good hobble, some day’s I can’t even hobble, I’m more like the hunchback of Notre Dame. Unfortunately though, by the time I had appeased the evils in my body, I found that the sleep had left my eyes.
Now this is where the ignorance comes in. In spite of being wide awake, I insisted that it was too early for me to get up, so I went back to bed, where I tossed and turned, devoid of the elixir of sleep, foolishly telling myself that though I couldn’t sleep, I was getting valuable rest.
Steups! What hogwash! And the sad part is that when I did get up, it was much later than I had planned. Chuh! And that’s why the Bit is somewhat late.
Ah Friends, the evil one will do those sorts of things to us, or rather will lead us to make those sort of unwise moves, so he can spoil our day. But with the grace of God, I’m choosing to believe the cliché that bad beginnings make for good endings. Glory Hallelujah!
Glory Hallelujah indeed! If I had listened to the wise and good Spirit instead of the foolish, evil one, I wouldn’t have put myself through those early morning horrors.
But thankfully our wonderful and LOVING Father in heaven saw how lost and miserable we were in our sinful condition and sent His beautiful Son, Jesus Christ to save us, both from ourselves and the ole crook Lucifer.
As Jesus so assuredly says in our Bit: ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’
And yuh better believe my people, that there are many of us, in fact, way too many of us who are still lost, and worse yet, refuse to be saved, even though Jesus went out of His way and provided free and easy salvation, through simply repenting of our sins and accepting Him as our Lord and Saviour.
Hn! But I’m not here to preach… Chuh! It’s amazing how that word preach likes to flow from my pen, although I insist that I’m not a preacher. (smile) Anyway, I’m not here to talk or teach about that this morning. Yeh, I’m more of a talker and teacher than preacher. Shut up my children! No noise from the penny section! (smile)
What we’ll continue doing today, in this last message on the topic of Christ coming to save us, is look at scriptures which proclaim and/or attest to that fact.
Oh my brethren, I need to retract one thing in that statement. This doesn’t seem to be the last message on Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth! Why? Because I was just checking to ensure that I had exhausted my supply of scriptures on the subject, when the Holy Spirit led me to a whole bunch more.
Yuh see Friends, when you’re sincerely trying to work with the Lord, He does lead and guide you to His Will and to His Word. Sorry for those of you who like to move on to a new Bit every day. But sometimes we need to hear certain things in the Word, again and again, for them to truly settle in our souls.
And we’ll begin our scriptures today with a most important verse from the gospel of Matthew, where the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph and tells him about the serious piece of drama that was about to be enacted in His life, and consequently the world.
‘And she shall bring forth a son, (referring to Mary, his betrothed) and thou shalt call his name JESUS (Saviour): for he shall save his people from their sins.’ (Matt.1:21)
Oh my fellow believers, nothing could be clearer and more explicit than that! Jesus was coming to earth as a SAVIOUR!
And the scholars explain that verse thus: ‘1:21, 22. Call his name JESUS: The name of the child Jesus (Heb. Yehoshua) means “Jehovah Saves.” This points to the very purpose of Christ’s coming into the world – to save sinners.
Placed early in the New Testament, this statement becomes the foundational concept of the gospel. Jesus, by His very name and nature, is the Saviour.’
Yes Friends, even Jesus’ name conveys the message of saving and salvation! So why are so many humans still so reluctant to receive and accept His saving grace eh? Even to the point of getting aggressive and war-like when they hear His name mentioned! Who knows? I guess we all have our various reasons for rejecting Christ’s free gift of salvation and eternal life.
But Friends, I’m here to tell us that whatever reason you choose for rejecting Jesus, it’s a fool’s wisdom, for ONLY Jesus, the Son of God, begotten before every and anything else in this world, can save us from our sinful destination of eternal separation from Almighty God! And that’s definitely not going to be a nice place to spend eternity!
And we’ll close with this magnificent scripture from the John the Baptist, where he was baptizing the repentant at the river Jordan. ‘The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29)
That my people, is the indisputable, most awesome and heart-warming truth! Please accept it as such, and gear all your earthly actions towards it, for in it lies the wisdom of all the ages. Much LOVE!
…just sit and contemplate for a moment…where you’ll end up if you reject Jesus…certainly no place like heaven…
04 Nov 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Advocate, angels, anguish, apostle Stephen, atonement, aura of love, backbone, battle, be exceeding glad, believers, belly, betrayers, buffeted, call to account, civil war, confidence, conquerors, contrite, dangerous, difficult, disposition, earthly battles, encore, enemy's ranks, engage the enemy, enthusiasm, epitome, eternal life, evil minions, faith, fervour, fool's wisdom, fortitude, glorious kingdom, glory hallelujah, heathen lands, heaven, holy spirit, humble servants, impenitent, inroads, invincible, Jesus Christ, Jewish Council, jobs, keeping God's law, King of Kings, lead and guide, lies, Lord of Lords, Lucifer, magnificent, maturity, milk, Monday morning attitude, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, murderers, perilous times, persecuted, pilgrims, praise and worship, prince of peace, regret, rejoice, resist the Holy Ghost, rewards, salvation, Saul of Tarsus, shame, solid food, spiritual armour, standing ovation, statue of Jesus, steadfast faith, strong faith, stubborn, Syria, talk the talk, taunts, thankfulness, the Just One, transgressions, unrepentant, useful purpose, vitality, walk the walk, week of work, Western world, wiles, wisdom
Matthew 5:12. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, a good Monday morning to all you beautiful believers in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, our wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, our Emmanuel – God with us, our Prince of Peace, our heavenly Advocate and so much more!
And all God’s children gave a mighty shout of joy: ‘All praise and power and thanks be to Jesus Christ, the innocent Lamb who was slain as atonement for our transgressions!’ Yeh mih people, what a close Friend and Brother our Saviour is to all!
And just to show how powerful and cohesive a force He is, listen to this story as reported in Sunday’s edition of the Toronto Star Newspaper. The medium sized headlines boldly declare: ‘Amid Syria’s civil war, giant figure of Jesus rises!’ Then in smaller letters: ‘Factions call truce while statue erected on mountain.’ Aye Mama!
The long and short of the story though people, is that in spite of the savage and cruel civil war going on in Syria, all three factions involved, apparently let up so that a 12 metres (approx. 39 ft.) tall statue of Jesus, standing on a base that makes it approximately 32 metres (approx. 105 ft.) high, could be erected on a mountaintop overlooking a pilgrim’s route in olden times, from Constantinople to Jerusalem.
The paper says it took eight years to be completed and was erected on October 14, 2013. And why erect a statue of Jesus in such war-filled times? One church leader was quoted as saying, ‘Because Jesus would have it done.’ And that’s a most appropriate answer. If Jesus wants it done, then it WILL be done!
And that Friends, brings us right back to our Bit: ‘Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’
The Christians in Syria are facing persecution from all sides of the war, yet in their strong faith, they’ve found the time, energy, belly, backbone and fortitude to erect a statue of their Lord and Saviour. That surely deserves shout of ‘Glory Hallelujah!’
Would we have done that our here during such perilous times? I doubt it very much. But that just goes to show the kind of faith we need to acquire before we can truly call ourselves real followers of Christ.
Now that doesn’t mean our efforts aren’t worthwhile, but compared to some of those believers living in heathen lands, we’re merely ‘kindergarters,’ still drinking milk, while they are eating solid food, not simply talking the talk, but walking their walk at a much higher level than us. (Heb.511-14; 1 Pet.2:2)
Oh Friends, that’s a state or stage of maturity which ALL of us in the Western world ought to aspire to! And I hope you have noticed that I’m not haranguing us today about our usual poor Monday morning attitude. (smile)
Anyway, having seen what our fellow believers, are capable of in the midst of war, with Jesus obviously on their side, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with exceptional fervour and thankfulness, so that we too can go out today and engage the enemy in serious battle. And please remember to put on your spiritual armour before you engage Lucifer and his evil minions.
Now let’s raise heaven’s roof with our sweet, melodic voices as we belt out our song of praise and worship. ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Oh mih people, mih people, that was magnificent, mucho magnifico! (smile) But with Jesus as our conductor, how else could it be eh? Wow!
The Father even gave us a standing ‘O’ (ovation), while vigorously clapping and shouting out, ‘Encore, encore!’ Unfortunately though, we have to disappoint Him because we have to go out and fight our earthly battles to glorify His precious Name.
And finally, let’s hear the scripture that I couldn’t get in yesterday. It deals with the second half of our Bit: ‘for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’
Listen to the apostle Stephen speak these memorable words at his trial before the Jewish Council, after which he was stoned to death, martyred through the evil machinations of Bruh Paul, in his earlier incarnation as Saul of Tarsus, the feared Christian hunter.
‘Ye stiffnecked (stubborn) and uncircumcised in heart and ears (impenitent), ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before (foretold) of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition (direction) of angels, and have not kept it.’ (Acts 7:51-53)
And sadly Friends, thousands of years later, we’re still stubborn and unrepentant, still killing God’s people, and still not keeping His law. However, in the long run, we shall ALL have to answer for our actions, so please, let’s instead concentrate on being contrite, repentant and following the law of our heavenly Father, so that we don’t have to bow our heads in as much shame, anguish and regret, when He finally calls us to account.
That my people, is the epitome of wisdom! Much LOVE!
…why jeopardize our salvation and eternal life with Jesus…by letting the evil, deceitful Lucifer into our lives eh…that’s a fool’s wisdom…
30 Oct 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abuse of the law, almighty god, antagonistic groups, arrogance, believe in Jesus, blessed, Blessed are the peacemakers, blessed day, blessings, blood of jesus, breath to see another day, children of God, christ jesus, Christian Church, Christian Gentiles, Christian Jews, chuh, commandments, conversations, divisions, earth shattering, encouraged, enlightened, enmity, Ephesians, everyday aspects, faithful, fantastic happenings, far off, fool's wisdom, foolishness, forgiveness, Gentiles, get in a groove, God's dynamic presence, God's goodness, grace, gracious and faithful God, hatred, health, incensed, Isaac and Jacob, Jews, lack of faith, leap of faith, lip service, lo and behold, LOVE, loving kindness, mercy, miracles, moral distance, Mozambique, mudane business of living, new man, nigh, One Body, partition, passport renewal, peace, power, privilege, rambling on, reconcile, relationship with god, resentment, serve and worship, skype, steups, strength, surrender, testifying, Thank You Lord, thankful, the cross, the god of Abraham, the law, the One True God, trust, ultimate, unity of believers, wealth, winning mood, wisdom, wonder of wonders
Matthew 5:9. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Oh Friends, right now it’s a wet, chilly autumn Wednesday morning in my area, although the weather people say that it will end up being sunny and warmish. (smile) But whatever it is, I’m very thankful, for the Lord has already blessed me three times since I’ve been up.
First off, He granted me health, wealth, strength and breath to see another glorious day. Now just that alone would be sufficient, but in His LOVING-kindness, I had a second blessing.
Before my computer could even warm up properly, I heard this ringing noise coming from it, only to cheerfully discover that it was my young daughter calling me via skype, from somewhere in Maputo, the capital of the island of Mozambique, off the east coast of Africa.
Thence commenced a forty-five minute conversation – yes mih D, that’s how long it was- which is partly why the Bit’s a tad late. Notice I didn’t put all the blame on you either. (smile) Strangely though, we seem to have longer and better conversations when she’s away, than when she’s here. Think on that nuh.
And wonder of wonders, while telling her about my inability to find an envelope with some passport renewal forms and my old passport that was somewhere in the office, lo and behold, I rolled back my chair a little, looked around and spied this brown envelope sitting in full view on a pile of record albums, pulled it out… and voila! There were the missing forms and old passport.
Thank You Lord! And imagine it was right there in front of me all the time, but my eyes weren’t open. And that’s the way we often are my people, when coming to our relationship with Almighty God; things are right there before us, but because of our lack of faith or whatever, we just can’t see them.
So Friends, the ole fella’s in a winning mood this morning! And then they say that we don’t serve a gracious and faithful God… Chuh Steups! Foolishness yes mih people!
The problem with those people is that they don’t truly serve and worship the ONE TRUE GOD, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so how do they expect to receive His endless grace, tender mercies and overwhelming forgiveness eh?
The crux of the matter my brethren, is that before we can enjoy God’s goodness and LOVING-kindness we have to take that leap of faith, where we truly believe in Jesus, seriously trust and consciously surrender our entire lives to Him. Only then will we see fantastic happenings in our lives.
And please don’t expect big miracles and enormous wealth, power and privilege when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, for that’s not how He works. Granted, you can get those things, but generally speaking it’s in the bland, everyday aspects of our lives that our Lord likes to work.
Just look at the blessings He granted me this morning. They’re not earth shattering, but are nonetheless very important in me having a blessed day. That’s why I keep encouraging us to look for the Lord in the small things, the mundane business of living, for He wants to be involved in every aspect of our being. And if you only look for Him in the big, miraculous happenings, you’ll never truly understand and/or appreciate His dynamic presence.
Anyway, time for me to stop rambling on – once I get in this groove, I can go on all day (smile). So let’s get to our Bit: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.’
Now yesterday I promised some more scripture on this Bit, and being faithful, or at least trying to be faithful like our ever-so-faithful God, here it is. Listen to these words of divine truth from Bruh Paul to the Ephesians, re the unity of believers.
‘But now in Christ Jesus ye who were sometimes (once) were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he (he himself) is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition (division) between us;
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make (create) in himself of twain (the two) one new man, so making peace;
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain (put to death) the enmity thereby: And came an preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.’ (Eph.2:13-17)
Now here’s what the scholars have to say about all that. ‘2:13. Because Jews had access to God through His temple in Jerusalem, they were said to be nigh. But Gentile nations, geographically removed from the temple, were said to be far off. These terms of space came to denote moral distance, so that to be “nigh” was to have a proper relationship with God, and to be “far off” was to have an improper relationship with Him.
2:14-15. Who hath made both one: Jesus has formed the two antagonistic groups of Jew and Gentile into a single new party, the Christian church. He did this by removing the middle wall of partition, that is the Mosaic Law. The law was meant to protect Jews from pagan corruptions, but by misconstruing the purpose of the law, the Jews felt superior to the Gentiles, who were incensed at this arrogance.
So Jesus abolished this enmity (hatred), caused by an abuse of the law, by making the law invalid for His church. Of twain one new man: As above, Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles now compose this “one new man” or Christian church.’
So Friends, if we’re supposed to be one church in Christ, how come we’re still so divisive and resentful of each other eh? The simple and obvious answer is that we’re not truly following God. We’re only paying lip service, if so much to it. And that my people, is the wisdom of a fool!
Consequently mih breddren, I do hope that all we’ve said today, has both enlightened and encouraged us, thus making us want to embrace the LOVING-kindness of Jesus even more than when we first begun, because that is truly the ultimate in wisdom. Much LOVE!
…to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…that’s a proven fact my people…I’m testifying to it…
28 Oct 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: aura of love, Beelzebub, blessed, blessings, castigating, christianity, Christians, common sense, confound man, disobedient, enthusiasm, evil minions, fool's wisdom, glorious kingdom, God flourishes, healthy, holy spirit, humble servants, invincible, Jacob, Jesus Christ, jobs, kingdom of heaven, lies, little children, little faith, live by faith not by sight, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, Monday Morning behaviour, mysterious ways, negative light, peals of laughter, pure in heart, read and spell, rebellious, see God, shame, simplicitly, small faith, spiritual armour, spread joy, steadfast faith, straightforwardness, strong, sure conquerors, Thank God it's Monday, the great unwashed, tongue lashing, true wisdom, trust, unfruitful, ungodly world, useful purpose, useless, vitality, wonder of wonders, words of jesus
Matthew 5:8. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
And before you know it, Monday has come around again… Chuh!
Yes Friends, it’s that wonderful day called Monday! Hn, hn!
And wonder of wonders, this morning while walking down the street, as I passed one house, a middle aged gentleman came out on to his front porch and surprised me by raising both arms, his head and eyes towards heaven and loudly declared: ‘Thank God it’s Monday, and I’m strong and healthy enough to go back out to work today and spread some joy and blessings amongst the great unwashed!’
Ah Friends, sadly, I hear the peals of laughter ringing out, not from the unbelievers, but from the supposed believers. Shame on you all! Because you’re not doing it, doesn’t mean that others aren’t. That attitude only shows that your faith is small!
No wonder Jesus constantly criticized the people of His day, by saying: ‘O ye of little faith.’ In the gospel of Matthew, He says it three times – Matt. 6:30; 8:26; 14:31. Today He most likely would have said it more often.
Remember Friends, we’re supposed to live by faith and not by sight. (2 Cor. 5:7) So if we don’t believe, don’t have faith that something good is happening, or going to happen, then how can we ever see it through to fruition eh? Unless you don’t think, want, or expect Christians to change their miserable Monday Morning behaviour.
Anyway, enough castigating and tongue lashing for today. (smile) Let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with much gusto, verve and vitality.
On the count of three; one, two, three: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
That was a tremendous rendition my people! It had to be, because Jesus was singing along, snapping His fingers and tapping His feet, while the Father sat on His throne smiling, overjoyed to see His blessed Son happy with His people’s behaviour for a change.
Now that should wake us up, put us in the right frame of mind and give us the spiritual wherewithal to go out today and successfully do battle against the awful Beelzebub and his evil minions.
And some of our capability to do that is based, or comes in part because of our Bit: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.’ Yes Friends, when our hearts are right, then God flourishes in us!
And we’re continuing with this Beatitude because I have some scripture to share, re the second half; ‘for they shall see God.’
Now listen to this scripture from way back in time, when that ole scamp, that consummate smart-man, Jacob, wrestled with the angel and eventually got blessed.
The Good Book says: ‘And Jacob asked him (the angel), and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the place Peniel (lit. Face of God): for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.’ (Gen.32:29-30)
Ah mih breddren, who would have thought it eh? But that’s how our God operates; in mysterious ways, not using the obvious to do His will, but instead using those whom man considers useless and unfruitful to confound man. Remember His ways and thoughts are ever so much higher than ours! (Is.55:8-9)
And as you know, whenever possible, we like to end with the potent words of Jesus. Here, He’s talking about greatness, explaining that we have to be as pure, as trusting and humble as little children to enter the kingdom of heaven. And to end that section, He says: ‘Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt.18:10)
Oh my people, again we see the simplicity and straightforwardness of our heavenly Leader’s words. He keeps reading and spelling for us, so why is it so difficult to adhere to His commands eh? I don’t know, possibly because it’s just in our nature to be rebellious and disobedient.
And since He gave us freedom of choice, I guess we figure we have to use it in a negative light, just to prove that we can. But whatever the reason my people, turning away from our Creator, Controller and Provider is a fool’s wisdom!
Today therefore, please let’s seriously consider our relationship to Christ, and wisely try to improve it. For that’s truly, common sense and true wisdom. Much LOVE!
…just like a little child looks up to and trusts his earthly parents…even so should mankind look up to and trust our heavenly Father…for to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…
26 Oct 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 1 corinthians 13, absolute truth, awesome truth, Beatitudes, believers, blessed, born again, brave, Christ's representative, Christian attitude, Christians, compassion, confess wrongdoing, divine Love, divine majesty, divine undestanding, divine wisdom, embrace Jesus, enemies, faults, fool's wisdom, forgive our debtors, forgiveness, frailities, generosity, God's grace, God's mercy, good news, good things, gospel truth, holy spirit, illness, in tune with God, Jesus Christ, kind, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, lost, merciful, mercy, offspring, poor and needy, punishment, shortcomings, show mercy, sin, sleeping in, Society of the Little Flower, spiritual strength, St. Therese, St. Thresa of Avila, the Lord's prayer, the right way, time of trouble, troubling circumstances, unfortunate masses, unregenerate men, wonder-working spirit, you reap what you sow
Matthew 5:7. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Well hello there you beautiful believers in Jesus Christ; King of Kings and Lord of Lords! How goes it this wonderful Saturday morning eh? I guess many of you are enjoying a rare morning of sleeping in, that is until your young offspring start clamouring for food and attention. All I can say there though, is better you than me yes. (smile) I went through that many moons ago.
Anyway, today I want to share a poem I got from the Between Friends Magazine published by the Friends of the Society of the Little Flower. It comes from an article written by its Director, Father Bob Colaresi. He himself was quoting a Spanish Carmelite Nun, St. Teresa of Avila. She’s different to the society’s patron Saint, St. Therese, also a Carmelite Nun, but of French origin.
It’s claimed that St. Teresa taught this poem. ‘Christ has no body but yours, No Hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, Yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.’
And that Friends, is the gospel truth, because Christ left us here on earth to do His work; to spread the good, exciting news of His gospel; the wonderful rewards of salvation and eternal life, if we embrace His Deity. It’s now our duty to go around the world, with our eyes, feet ears, hands and bodies, be His representative, and let the lost and unfortunate masses know of all that He’s accomplished on our behalf.
But again, to do Jesus’ work successfully, we need physical, mental and spiritual strength backed by divine wisdom, which can only be had by being in tune with Almighty God. Today’s Bit, another Beatitude, tells us: ‘Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.’
And that is absolute truth in more ways than one. First of all, like Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer; ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’ (Matt.6:12) If we don’t forgive we won’t be forgiven. The same goes for mercy; if we don’t show mercy to others, neither will the Lord show us any. It’s basically the universal motto of, you reap what you sow.
You cannot be neither merciful nor forgiving and yet expect to receive forgiveness and mercy. Hn! Although that seems to be the prevailing wisdom in our world today. Generally speaking, forgiveness is NOT getting the punishment we deserve, while mercy is getting the good things that we DON’T deserve.
Then we have this take from the scholars: ‘5:7. Those who are merciful…shall obtain mercy has reference to those who have been born again by the mercy of God. Because divine LOVE has been extended to them, they have the work of the Holy Spirit in them producing a mercy that defies explanation by unregenerate men. Jesus Himself became the ultimate example of this when He cried from the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)’
Oh Friends, I like that part about ‘a mercy that defies explanation by unregenerate men.’ And that’s the God-awesome truth! For mankind still can’t figure out or understand how Christians can be so merciful and forgiving when faced with serious and troubling circumstances. But it all depends on that Holy Spirit of His Divine Majesty dwelling in us, which shows us the right way.
Unfortunately, mankind will never understand the Christian attitude unless and until he wholeheartedly embraces Jesus, and consequently receives that wonder-working Spirit in his own soul. It all bolls down to, NO JESUS, NO HOLY SPIRIT, and therefore no divine understanding!
And when we talk about God’s mercy, there’s no better example in receiving it, than Bruh David. Listen to him from Psalm 41, Abuse and Assurance. ‘Blessed is he that considereth the poor (helpless, powerless): the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing (his bed of illness): thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness (restore him in his sickbed). I said, Lord be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.’ (Psalm 41:1-4)
Oh my people, two things are evident there: One must be kind and/or show mercy to the poor and needy, and secondly, one must confess one’s own wrongdoing to Jehovah God. Bruh David knew that, and tried to live that way. That’s why the Lord was so merciful to him, in spite of all his shortcomings and wrongdoings.
Unfortunately though, today, many of us figure that confessing our wrongdoings is for the birds, therefore we lose out on God’s precious grace and mercy. And sadly my people, that’s a fool’s wisdom!
Oh Friends, the Lord doesn’t expect us to be perfect, because He never made us that way. But He does expect us to be man and woman enough to own up to our faults and frailties.
Please, let’s be brave and admit our wrongs, so we can receive God’s generous grace, forgiveness and mercy. Now that’s truly divine wisdom! Much LOVE!
…O give thanks unto the Lord…for He is good…for His mercy endureth for ever… (1 Chr.16:34)
SCRIP-BITS 