The Overwhelming Importance of Christians ALWAYS Giving God Thanks, Regardless of the Circumstances!

24 Apr 2026 Leave a comment

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

Job 2:10a.       What? shall we receive (accept) good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive (accept) calamity?

And then it was the day we all long for, Friday, which causes our Friday Mantra to rise to high heaven: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and the weekend is here at long last!’ And that’s all well and good, but let’s hope we use the weekend to its best advantage, for rest and rejuvenation, and don’t simply waste it away in fun and frolic, as so many of us tend to do.

Oh, by the way, remember that tall tree in my neighbour’s backyard that I recently told you had leaves that made it through both the fall and winter? Well, yesterday I looked out my bedroom window and saw it budding with new leaves, but lo and behold, the old leaves were still there! I can’t wait to see what happens when all the new leaves come out, if the old ones will finally fall off, or remain for the rest of the summer. They will certainly be a strange sight, for the new leaves will be green while the old ones are a light brown. Anyhow, that’s between the Lord and climate change! (smile)

And, today, I have a rather interesting poem to share from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. This one’s simply titled ‘Courtesy.’  And I don’t believe I’ve ever shared this one because it even seems new to me, but as always, they are very appropriate and informative for the times we live in. So please read with me: ‘I tried to be Very courteous. I smiled and said “No thank You, Lord.” You smiled back and said “Omit the first word And I’ll be delighted With your courtesy – And more delighted with your trust.” “Thank You Lord.”

I got a chuckle from that when I first read it, because it does sound like how the Lord might behave, with that sort of underhanded approach. But the truth is that many of us do reject the Lord’s offerings, sometimes in a courteous manner, and sometimes in an angry, discourteous one, especially if He’s offering some thing we don’t like or in our opinion, seems rather difficult or unfair. However, at all times, we do need to remember that remarkable promise of scripture where the Lord assures us that He will work everything out for good in the end, for those who LOVE Him and are called according to His purpose. (Rom. 8:28)

That means we need to accept both the good and bad which comes into our lives with that promise at the back of our minds. Or, as the Bible verse for the poem which comes from Job’s discourse with his wife, when complete disaster befell him, and he was sitting in the ashes after scraping away the many boils that Satan had inflicted on his body. She said to him: ‘Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God and die. But he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive (accept) good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive (accept) calamity? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.’ (Job 2: 9-10)

Yes friends, it’s sometimes tough to accept calamity as though it comes from God, but that’s the best way to handle it, because then we will know that He will make it right in the end. It’s like Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, when teaching about LOVING one’s enemies. ‘But I say unto you, LOVE your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully (spitefully) use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.’ (Matt. 5:44-45)

In other words, the Lord causes the sun and rain to fall on everyone, however, as this commentary says; “Rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Means no matter how good of a person you are, no matter how much you honor God, there’s going to be some rain in your life. The difference is that when you honour God, the storms may come, but when it’s all said and done, you’ll still be standing.’

Glory to God my brethren! Again, we fall back on that marvellous promise from Romans, that in the end, all will be right with us, because our faithful God promised it, and He never reneges on any of His promises. That’s why saying ‘no thanks’ to God is not a good idea, and why He’s always more interested and delighted by our courtesy and more so by our trust. For that’s what separates the proverbial goats from the sheep, or sheep from the goats; (smile) that innate trust, the total surrender to His Word and ways.

And God knows it’s not always easy for us to do what’s right, but He does expect us to make the attempt, even if we fail in so doing. Because then he will see and know that our heart’s in the right place. And that’s all He really expects from us in our frail and finite selves; right motives in a surrendered heart! Now let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, seeking divine aid to stand strong when the storms of life batter us.

Altogether! 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. You know our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving, and we desperately need your help to fix them. 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. So please give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. 

And despite the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times, help us to be responsible, and get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that we can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out next week and further your glorious kingdom by the good 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 unfortunately, it’s not the sinful world alone that needs to wake up and smell the coffee, but also a large portion of we supposed believers, because we’re living just like the rest of the world, and our Christian behaviour needs improving in the worst way! Much LOVE!

…whatever comes against…we should always say…Thank You God…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 June 2021 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

07 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

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

1 Thessalonians 5:18.     ​​In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Oh friends, it’s a glorious Monday morning; a new day of a new week, and we’re all alive and kicking, so please, in gratitude for such blessing, let’s do as the psalmist decreed so long ago nuh! ‘Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.’ (Ps. 150:6) Yes my people, everything and everyone that draws the living breath of the Lord this morning ought to shout ‘Hallelujah! Praise the Lord for His goodness to His creations!’ For there’s none like Him, and will never be any other deity with His LOVE and compassion! That’s the indisputable truth! 

And on a lesser level now, you’ll be proud of the ole fella, for remember last Monday I promised to improve my game, to do more of the things I wanted to do? Well, I did! Still not as much as I would have ideally liked to do, because I was somewhat under the weather with allergies and a cough giving me a hard time. But I did do more than I’ve been doing in the last li’l while! Give the Lord some praise for that! (smile) 

Oh precious people, we can never go wrong by giving thanks to God. That’s one place where we are always on solid ground. As Bruh Paul said to the Colossians: ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus; giving thanks to God and the Father by him.’ (Col. 3:16-17) 

And here are some interesting explanations on those verses from the scholars. ‘3:16. When believers are forbearing, forgiving (vs. 13), and LOVING (vs.14), toward one another, when peace reigns among God’s people (vs. 15), then the church is fertile soil for the blessings produced by the word of Christ.’ Now is that the current state of our church, would we say it’s fertile soil? I would say, certainly not! And per ‘3:17. The beneficial influence produced by the indwelling word of Christ is not only to affect public and private worship (vs. 16), but is also to control ALL areas of a Christian’s life.’ 

Yeh friends, in giving our ALL to Christ, we allow Him…or are supposed to allow Him to control all aspects of our lives. Unfortunately though, many of us don’t give up total control to Christ, but we still want and expect to get the total blessings that come with His control. We can’t live like that my brethren. All we are doing is shortchanging ourselves when we promise to give all, but then withhold some, for we’ll never get the full benefit of Christ’s goodness under those circumstances. 

And I’m chuckling here, because I had not intended to preach, (smile) but just to give us some good tidings re giving thanks. And I see no reason to not continue down that path. Our next section of thanks comes from Bruh Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians, where he sincerely admonishes them…and us, to ’Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ (1 Thess. 5:16-18) 

It could not get any plainer than that my fellow saints in Christ. God’s will is for us to rejoice and pray and give thanks through Christ! What an awesome privilege and benefit! And the scholars explain it thus: ‘5:18. In every event or circumstance (thing) the Christian is to give thanks to God for the good He can bring out of the event, even should the event be unpleasant. The constant attitude of prayer, mentioned in verse 17, will help the believer to maintain gratitude in the face of adversity.’ 

Now that brings us back to the famous verse we all know: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God; to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) So, if we are well looked after in every circumstance, on every front, by an omnipotent and generous God, how can we not be thankful and live the way He desires of us eh? But the truth is that we have been ungrateful and disobedient and consequently have gotten ourselves in serious trouble, and since He is the only One who can relieve our discomfort, we need to go back to Him with thanksgiving and prayer as Bruh Paul advised. 

And to show our new wisdom and understanding, let’s go to Him right now with our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, sincerely laying all our fears and problems at His feet. As one strong 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!’ 

Now, unless the Lord sees sincere repentance in our future behaviour, He will not answer our request positively. So it’s obvious that we need to do much better that we’re currently doing. Much LOVE!

…let him who has ears to hear…hear…                                                                

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8