09 May 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a day of simply doing good, a wide variety of things and actions, ablutions, admonish, admonishment, anointed Jesus, before the cocks crowed, business driven world, Christians, church service, communication with Jesus, communing with God, day of calamity is at hand, definitive command of God, doing good, easier to do good than evil, enthusiasm, evil, fellowship, foundational scripture, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, gather's His thoughts, generous help, God anointed Jesus with the Holy spirit, God was with Jesus, good heart, good soul, head start on a Friday, healing all that were oppressed by the devil, heavenly Father, hits the streets, holy spirit, How Jesus lived His earthly life, in a nutshell, in due time, Jesus Christ, Jesus went about doing good, Jesus' love, junk yard dogs, lazy, LOVE, love of Christ, Lucifer, Lucifer's evil nature, lusts of the world, man's sinful and wicked nature, party down the place, pastor, petty frame of mind, quiet place to pray, recompense, rejuvenation process, relaxation, renewed and refreshed in soul body and mind, rest, righteous friend, righteousness., seeking vengeance, something for everyone, soulful chanting, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, Thank the Lord for the weekend, the Good Book, the LOVE of Jesus, their foot shall slide, vengeance is mine, vile and evil people, weekend, wicked, wisdom, wisdom of all wisdom, wrongly directed enthusiasm
Acts 10:38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil; for God was with him.
Ah mih people, the ole fella’s a tad tired this Friday morning…
And totally ignoring my incapacity, the crowd raucously declared: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes, and we done work for a couple of days! Thank the Lord for the weekend, so that we can party down the place!’
Thanks very much Friends… Now I know who my true Friends are not! (smile)
But such is the importance of Fridays in our crazy, business driven, modern world, that many people would disregard important stuff just to get a leg up, a head-start on a Friday. But my fellow believers, we know that’s not the right way to handle the weekend, because that attitude will get us in even more trouble come Monday morning, when it’s time to resume work.
So to help us in mitigating some of that wrongly directed enthusiasm, let’s chant our Friday Chant. With some soulful chanting 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, that’s more like how we should handle the blessed two days off work that we’ve been so graciously granted – more like a rejuvenation process than one that makes us even more tired and miserable.
And that segues quite nicely into our Bit: ‘How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil; for God was with him.’
And do I ever LOVE that particular bit of scripture! That’s because it tells us in a nutshell, how Jesus lived His earthly life, and how we are to be, if we want to live ours as He did His.
In my mind’s eye, I imagine Jesus getting up early in the morning, before the cocks even began crowing, making His ablutions, then going out to some quiet place to pray. Then after sincerely communing with His heavenly Father, He comes back home, has breakfast, gather’s His thoughts, contemplating what the day might hold, then hits the streets for a day of simply doing good!
I also like that phrase ‘doing good,’ because it encompasses such a wide variety of things and actions, something for everyone. And something must be wrong with me yes people, but I find it so much easier to do good than to do evil.
In fact, all faithful believers in and followers of Jesus Christ, in other words, ALL CHRISTIANS, ought to find it much easier to good rather than evil. It’s just supposed to be who we are!
Unfortunately though, such is the sinful and wicked nature of man, especially when grafted with the world’s driving lusts, that many supposed Christians are numbered amongst some of the most vile and evil people on planet earth!
The worst part of that situation though Friends, is that it turns others off of Jesus when they see His supposed followers behaving like junk yard dogs, with Lucifer’s evil nature flowing up out of their hearts and minds.
Ah mih people, my heart gets rather heavy when I think of all the wrong doing and evil deeds that are committed by us Christians, many of them for no good reason. Ofttimes we’re either too lazy to do otherwise, or we’re in a petty frame of mind, possibly seeking vengeance, instead of leaving it up to the Lord, as He has so often instructed us to do.
And just to give us a gentle reminder of that scripture, (smile), here is where it originates. ‘To me belongeth vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.’ (Deut.32:35)
Yes Friends, that’s the definitive command of our mighty God! And for paraphrases on it, you can check out Ps. 94:1; Rom.12:19; and Heb. 10:30.
And I’m chuckling here, because I never intended to admonish us today, but rather to share some foundational scripture on the matter. I guess though, that the Holy Spirit saw the need for admonishment and guided me there.
Anyway Friends, the long and short of the story is that CHRISTIANS ARE EXPECTED TO DO GOOD IN ALL ASPECTS AND WALKS OF THEIR LIVES! However, we can’t accomplish that without a heart, mind and soul truly filled with the LOVE OF JESUS.
Therefore, I’m pleading with us, that today, and everyday hence, we get to the nearest outlet that serves up JESUS’ LOVE, and fill up our hearts, souls and minds with it. It could be from a number of sources; through the Good Book, a church service, a pastor, a righteous friend, or even our own serious and sincere communication with Jesus.
But we definitely need to refill our souls and recharge our batteries with the LOVE OF CHRIST EVERYDAY, if we want to do His will. That’s the wisdom of all wisdom! Much LOVE!
…just like a tree can only bear one type of fruit…likewise…good things and actions…can only come from a good heart and a good soul…
02 May 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adviser, all praise and thanks to God, another week of work, as a tree planted by waters, be anxious, belly and backbone, blessed, blessed is he who trusts in the Lord, blessings, business, clouding our senses, corrupt governments, crooks, cursed, cursed is he who trusts in man, debts, debts incurred in getting education, decadent lives, degrading, downtrodden of society, drought, economic system, education, efficient, embracing the materialistic world, evil cohorts, evil rapists, famine, fellowship, first world nations, floods, folly of our choices, foolish decisions, foundations of society falling apart, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, future generations, generous help, godliness, godly, greedy, higher standard of living, homelessness, hope in the Lord, I pray in Jesus' name, if you don't hear- you'll feel, in Jesus' name, in the name of profits, inefficent, inhabit parched places, Jesus Christ, leader, lost jobs, lower wage costs, Lucifer, lusts of the flesh, make it in the material world, makes my heart terribly sad, man-made disasters, menial, mercies, natural disasters, Nero, outsourcing, part-time work, poor getting poorer, poverty, present age, profits, refreshed, relaxation, remove God from our lives, renewed vitality, resist temptations, rest, rich getting richer, righteousness., Rome burning, senseless world, shall not fear, siphoning the cream, spreads her roots by the river, storing up treasures, straight and narrow path, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, Thank God the work week finish, the Good Book, the Holy Spirit, the shrub in the desert, the wilderness, the year of drought, third world countries, true believers, truth, weekend, whose heart departs from God, yielding fruit, you get the government you deserve, you have done worse than your fathers, you walk after the stubbornness of yoru evil heart
Jeremiah 16:12. And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination (stubbornness) of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me.
And then it was Friday…! ‘Friday… already?’ Some questioned. Yes, Friends, it is indeed Friday! This week has passed very quickly.
Then all those who were too busy working to notice that it was Friday, rose up with a mighty shout of joy: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes! Things must be real good when we don’t even realize that it’s Friday. All praise and thanks to our great God for His many mercies and blessings that are going to flow this weekend! Thank God the work week finish!’
Yeh mih people, life has to be good when we don’t even know it’s Friday. But as always, let’s chant our Friday Chant to help us keep the right perspective on the upcoming weekend.
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.’
Now that ought to help keep us on the straight and narrow path that leads to Jesus. So let’s turn to our Bit: ‘And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination (stubbornness) of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me.’
Ah mih people, those words are so very true of our society today that it makes my heart terribly sad. What is our problem eh? When God was our leader and adviser we lived such good lives. But now that Lucifer and his evil cohorts are running the show, our lives have turned sour and most miserable.
The basic foundations of our society are falling apart. The economic system is a mess, with thousands of jobs been lost everyday, all in the name of profits. That corresponds to the big outsourcing, where jobs are being transferred to countries with lower wage costs, thus the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer.
The best we can do is offer part time, menial, underpaid work in the service industry. Our children are graduating from school and can’t find jobs to match their qualifications, so they take whatever they can find, if they can find anything, and wonder how they’re going to pay back the large debts they incurred to get that unfruitful education.
All of that unfortunately brings back the horrors that we tried to eradicate with a higher standard of living. That means poverty, the abject kind is on the rise. Don’t even talk about homelessness. The situation in the supposed first world nations is possibly worse than in the third world countries. That’s how bad it is.
And sadly, the inefficient, corrupt, greedy governments that we’ve elected over the last couple decades couldn’t care less about the downtrodden members of their society. All they talk about is business, business and more business, when the business people are the biggest crooks in the world, just siphoning off the cream from the society so that they can lead ever more decadent and degrading lives. Steups!
But yuh know Friends, whoever said that you get the government you deserve was quite right! And until we elect godly, efficient, people with belly and backbone to stand up against the evil rapists of our society, things will never improve. But it’s all got to start with us my people, with the true believers in Jesus Christ!
Why? Simply because we are the only ones who give a damn about the downtrodden! At least we’re supposed to. Unfortunately though, too many of us are also trying to make it in the material world, storing up treasures for ourselves down here on earth, rather than in heaven.
And if we believe in the Good Book at all, we’d take very seriously these words of our Creator to the people of Judah, way back when.
‘Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in (the strength of) man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath (shrub) in the desert, and shall not not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.’ (Jer.17:5-6)
Oh my brethren, those words are slowly coming to pass as our society moves further and further away from Almighty God! Famine, floods, drought and all sorts of natural disasters, as well as man made ones, are levelling our planet while we behave like Nero did while Rome was burning – indulging in lusts of the flesh!
What’s wrong with us eh? Why can’t we see and understand the folly of the choices we’re making to embrace the materialistic world that’s now controlling almost every aspect of our lives?
As believers in Jesus we can certainly resist the temptations that come against us. We have His awesome power dwelling in us – the Holy Spirit that’s meant to lead and guide us into all truth and righteousness. But we are letting the evil powers continue to remove God from our lives. Ah mih people, how sad!
And we’ll close with some more true words of scripture. ‘Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see (fear, be anxious) when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful (anxious, worried) in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.’ (Jer.17:7-8)
Oh Friends, there’s nothing to compare in those two readings. The last one is obviously the only one that makes any sense. So please please, in Jesus’ Name I’m pleading with us to let go of the absurd materialism that’s clouding our senses and turn instead to the godliness and righteousness of our forefathers, so that future generations will be blessed and not cursed by our foolish decisions in this present age.
It’s the only thing that makes sense in this senseless world! Much LOVE!
…if you don’t hear…at some stage you’re certainly going to feel…and feel very hard too…
18 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Adam and Eve, adopted children of God, agony, All praise honour and glory to Jesus, auspicious, bend our knees, Bless His Holy Name, bow our heads, Christian, cringe with fear, day of judgement, death, depths of our souls, dwell in harmony, Easter, everlasting thanks, exorbitant price, extraordinary thing, faithful, fear, fellowship, footsteps of love, for they know not what they do, forbidden fruit, forgive them, forgiving Deity, freedom, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, Garden of Eden, generous help, give Jesus everlasting thanks, glory, Good Friday, good news, goodness, graciousness, greatest gift ever bestowed on man, heartfelt prayer, heirs with Jesus, high price of justice, holy spirit, honour, human-rights, intercession, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus is worthy, joy, justice, justified, King of Kings, lead and guide, light of Jesus Christ, loathing, Lord and Saviour, Lord jesus, lord jesus christ, Lord of Lords, LOVE, loving, magnanimity, magnify Your Holy Name, marvellous works, memorable Friday, no bounds, no more tears sorrow pain, obedience, patience, pay for our ghastly sins, pay our sin debt, payment for all of mankind's sins, peace, perseverance, praise, reconciled, refreshed, relaxation, renewed, rescue, rest, resurrection, right fellowship with God, righteous, rivers of blood, sacrificial deed, selfless, sincere gratitude and thanks, sinners, sins, Son of Jehovah God, stripes, terrible ordeal, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, TGIGF! Thank God it's Good Friday, Thank you Jesus, tragedy, trials, tribulation, truth, unblemished lamb to the slaughter, unconditional LOVE, unity, worship and praise Jesus, worthless sinners, worthy enough
Luke 23:34a.Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
GOOD FRIDAY !
Oh Friends, that fateful day called Friday has rolled around once again! However, today is not only a Friday, but an extraordinary one that we term GOOD FRIDAY! Today we remember and celebrate the most auspicious and memorable Friday that has ever occurred in man’s history!
And though the event that occurred two thousand years ago today was a horrific tragedy; the stuff that took place on the surface was certainly bad, but its outcome was the greatest gift ever bestowed on mankind, that’s why it can be called good!
So today instead of just singing ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ We need to sing ‘TGIGF! Thank God it’s Good Friday!’
And you know that we’re referring to that memorable day when our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ sacrificed His sinless life, went like an unblemished lamb to the slaughter, to pay for our ghastly sins, so that we could once again have right fellowship with our heavenly Father.
And all of God’s people, feeling the trembling and gratitude boiling in their hearts, spontaneously sang out: ‘All praise, honour and glory be to our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of Jehovah God! Bless His Holy Name! Worship and praise Him and give Him everlasting thanks, for He is indeed worthy of it all!’
Yes my people, Jesus Christ is certainly worthy of more praise and thanks and honour and glory than we can ever give Him! For there is nothing or no one else who could have satisfied the Father’s high price of justice to pay our sin debt in full.
And that’s payment for ALL of mankind’s sins, from day one in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, right down to the day of judgement, and that promised time when sin shall be no more. When there shall be no more tears, no more pain and sorrow, but we shall all dwell in harmony and unity under the everlasting light of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (Rev.21:3-4)
Oh what a wonderful person is our Jesus! Let’s give Him some more thanks and praise nuh mih breddren. ‘Oh Lord Jesus Christ, there are not enough powerful and thankful words in our vocabulary to truly praise and thank You for Your selfless, sacrificial deed on our behalf. But with whatever we have, we’re pouring out our most sincere gratitude and thanks this Good Friday morn, hoping that You accept it with Your usual graciousness.
We know that it was a terrible ordeal You underwent for us worthless sinners, though You and the Father thought us worthy enough to pay such an exorbitant price to save us. We know You didn’t have to do it, but Your obedience to the Father knew no bounds, so you bore with great patience, perseverance and magnanimity the trials and tribulations the Father decreed as the price of our freedom.
In Your most horrible moments of agony, You were even gracious enough to cry out the words of our Bit: ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ Only a truly LOVING and forgiving Deity could do such an extraordinary thing! Thank You Lord Jesus, thank You, thank You, thank You!
Unfortunately, that’s the best we can say. But for that awesome sacrifice, we promise to bow our heads, bend our knees and acknowledge You as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. We will give You all the praise and thanks we can muster, and walk obediently in Your footsteps of LOVE, peace, joy, goodness, human rights and justice, from this day forth and forever more!
Please accept our heartfelt prayer, and let Your Holy Spirit lead and guide us into all truth, so that we can magnify Your Holy Name and spread the good news of Your Story, all over planet Earth! This we pray in Your Holy Name, on the rivers of blood that flowed from the stripes inflicted on Your broken and abused body on that horrible day, two thousand years ago! Amen! And again we say, Amen!’
Thank You Lord Jesus Christ for coming to our rescue! Just the thought of where we would have been, where we would have ended up, without your faithful and LOVING intercession, makes us cringe with fear and loathing!
But thankfully, through the amazing and unconditional LOVE of the Father, we now have nothing to fear, and instead are now gloriously declared righteous, reconciled, justified, adopted children of God, heirs to His kingdom with You, and so many other wonderful things that it would take us all day to name them!
Father in heaven… Lord Jesus… all we can say again is THANKS! Thanks from the innermost recesses of our hearts, and the very depths of our souls! We LOVE You, and will try our very best to walk obedient to Your dictates. In Jesus Name we pray all of this. Amen!’
Oh Friends, this is what I was guided to write this Good Friday morning. I do hope that the sentiments expressed therein will touch your hearts, minds, bodies and souls like it touched mine.
Over the last couple of years I’ve been guided to a greater appreciation of the suffering that Jesus underwent on our behalf, and now the Easter season has truly become the best part of the Christian calendar for me, for that’s where Jesus wrought His most marvellous works.
Please let us mourn the death of our Saviour today, while remembering the awesome good that came out of it. And as we close, let’s chant our Friday Chant with much enthusiasm! Thought I’d forgotten eh? (smile)
‘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.’
Now Friends, and fellow believers, let’s just remember that after the death, comes the glorious RESURRECTION! Much LOVE!
…the price of reconciliation can never be repaid…because it was born out of such unbelievable LOVE…
11 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a loving and magnanimous God, be anxious for nothing, Bruh Paul, christianity, conviction, deficiency in faith, efficacy of prayer, enthusiasm, epitome of wisdom, faith, faithful to prayer, fear, fellowship, fervent prayer, following Jesus isn't easy, Friday chant, fulsome prayer, glorious kingdom, God has heard my prayer, God will never give us more than we can handle, Herod, holy spirit, James, Jesus Christ, John Mark, keep our spirits high, LOVE, loving kindness, many were gathered praying, men plan but God's will prevails, omnipotent god, peace, persevered in prayer, Peter, Philippians, power of prayer, prayer, Rejoice in the Lord, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, rewards in heaven, rewards on earth, righteousness., sea of anxiety and fear, supplication, sweat shop, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, thank God, thanksgiving, the Lord answers prayer, the peace of God which passeth all understading, ungodly climate, ungodly world, walk of faith, wisdom
PSALM 66:19. But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
And then it was Friday, and the people were in an uproar: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes mih brethren! I couldn’t hack another day in that sweat shop nuh! Thank God for these two blessed days off!’
Yes Friends, I know how bad it can be in some of the places some of us work, but sometimes we just have no choice, because that’s the only job we can get at this time, and it’s certainly better than no job at all. But all is not lost my people, we have a LOVING and magnanimous God who looks after us, and He will not allow us to bear more than we can handle.
As we keep saying, following Jesus is not easy, but it is always interesting, and will bear great rewards at a later date, either down here on earth or up in heaven. So please don’t give up, the trials and tribulations won’t last forever. And to help us handle the weekend the right way, let’s chant our Friday Chant with much enthusiasm to keep our spirits high.
Altogether 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.’
Now let’s work out the day, with the joy of the Lord in our hearts, faithfully looking forward to a great weekend! That brings us to our Bit: ‘But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.’
Now such powerful conviction should be held by ALL believers, if we are faithful to prayer, for the Lord faithfully answers our sincere prayers! But Friends, so many of us are lost and lacking in serious prayer, and prayer is so important in the Christian walk of faith, that we are continuing this series of messages on prayer, highlighting scriptures that prove its efficacy.
Today we’ll highlight two more instances where prayer was masterful. The first comes from Acts 12, where Herod kills James and imprisons Peter, intending to bring him before the people after Passover. (Acts 12:1-4) However, our great and wonderful God had other ideas and plans. Remember, men plan, but it is God’s will that prevails!
‘Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.’ (Acts 12:5) And we all know the story of how on the night before Herod planned to bring Peter out, the angel of the Lord came to the prison and miraculously led him out to freedom. (Acts 12:6-11) And as the Lord would have it, he ended up at the house of John Mark’s mother Mary, ‘where many were gathered together praying.’ (Acts 12:12)
Yuh see the power of prayer my people! But just like it is with us in today’s ungodly climate, when Peter knocked on Mary’s door, his friends didn’t believe it was really him, saying it was his angel. They even called the servant girl who answered his knock and heard his voice crazy, though she was absolutely positive that it was Peter. (Acts 12:13-15)
‘But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.’ (Acts 12:16) Oh Friends, how marvellous are the works of our omnipotent God! And always in our best interest too!
The scholars though have an interesting take on that episode of scripture. ’12:12-16. Though the prayer of the church was fervent due to Peter’s situation (v 5), there was a deficiency in faith (vv 15-16). Evidently they did not believe God would answer in this miraculous way, or so soon.’
And doesn’t that sound very familiar? It sure does, because even today many of us still don’t believe in the efficacy of prayer although there are numerous examples to show that it works. But regardless of how strong the believers’ faith was, the important thing is that they persevered in prayer, and the Lord answered their prayers.
That brings us to the second scripture passage we’ll look at today. It’s Bruh Paul talking to the Philippians about rejoicing in the Lord. ‘Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.’ (Phil.4:6)
Oh my brethren, Bruh Paul could not be any simpler and straightforward than that! So why aren’t we following it eh? I really don’t know. But here is what he says will happen if we pray continually. “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ (Phil.4:7)
Oh mih people, mih people, isn’t peace what we’re all searching for? Well right there we’re told how to get it! And not the peace of the world, but the peace of God! So why aren’t we doing as the Good Book says eh, and continue to stubbornly cling to our own paltry efforts to find peace in an ungodly, wicked world?
Anyway my fellow believers, today, RIGHT NOW, please let’s allow those simple but momentous words to loudly reverberate in our souls, bodies and minds, so that we can be convinced of the power of prayer, and use it consistently each and every day of our lives, for it is indeed the epitome of wisdom! Much LOVE!
…without fulsome prayer…a believer is lost…adrift on an endless sea of anxiety and fear…
04 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: almighty god, anger, anxiety, assuring, begging bread, calamity, cast down, comforting, confusion, crime, depart from evil, distribution of wealth, do good, early retirement, eternal truth, evil, evil doers, fallible, fellowship, focused, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, generous help, God's largesse, godly men, godly wisdom, happy manner, healthy, hope, immortal, indisputable fact, inequality, infallible, jehovah god, Jesus, leisure, LOVE, mortal, necessities of life, peace, pensions, pipe dreams, poor getting poorer, poor stewards, poverty, relaxation, remove Jehovah God, resentment, rich getting richer, righteous forsaken, sacrifice, sad demise, several jobs, shall not stumble, shortcomings of our society, sickness, sincerity, sins, still can't make ends meet, stressed out, strife, survive in this rat race world, technological revolution, Thank God it's Friday, the weekend, ungodliness, walk safely, wealth, wealthy times, wisdom, work, working harder
Proverbs 3:23. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
Oh Friends, it’s Friday, it’s Friday! The weekend’s come, and labour’s done! Thank God it’s Friday!
Yeh mih people, it is indeed Friday, but it never fails to amaze me at how much our society looks forward to those two days off. This was once supposed to be the generation of leisure, of take it easy, of so much wealth etc. that we didn’t need to work our sorry tails off any longer.
Hn! But what’s happened eh? In the midst of all the technological revolution, we’re now working harder than ever, often at several jobs, and still can’t make ends meet!
We’re the most stressed out and anxiety wired generation ever, in times of supposed peace. There’s also more poverty, homelessness, sickness, crime – both white and blue collar – plus oodles of resentment, anger and strife, accompanied by unforeseen ungodliness and evil, in what’s been amongst the wealthiest of times.
Oh my brethren, how did we ever get this way eh? Whatever happened to the dreams of a four and three day work-week, and early retirement with pensions we could afford to live on? Steups!
Unfortunately, those are not even pipe dreams nowadays, but more like impossible ones! Ah Lord eh! We certainly have been very poor stewards of God’s largesse.
I guess there are many reasons for our sad demise, but one of the biggest is the distribution of wealth. The rich have indeed been getting richer and the poor poorer! And once that great inequality in wealth exists, society cannot function in a healthy, much less happy manner.
When so many don’t even have the wherewithal to purchase the basic necessities of life, there must be confusion and calamity – especially when you also remove Jehovah God from the equation!
Anyway Friends, this wasn’t meant to be a treatise on the shortcomings of our society, just a brief edification. (smile) So let’s get to the matter at hand and chant our Friday Chant with much sincerity and hope, to keep us strong and thoroughly focused on what we need to do to survive in this rat-race world.
So let’s chant up a storm this Friday morning nuh! ‘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.’
Awright mih people, that ought to give us enough of the right perspective in how to handle the weekend! So let’s move on to our Bit, one of God’s great promises. ‘Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.’
Yes Friends, when we give Jehovah God sovereignty over our lives, we WILL indeed walk in the safety and security of His everlasting LOVE and omnipotence!
What can be more assuring and comforting than that eh? Nothing my brethren! Nothing at all!
If we can’t trust the Creator and Controller of this great and wonderful universe, whom then can we really trust? Certainly not mortal and fallible man!
Now let’s check out some scripture that corroborates our Bit, from two of the most godly and God endowed men that ever lived.
First up is Cousin Sol with a proverb of eternal truth. ‘He that walketh uprightly walketh surely (securely, safely): but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.’ (Prov.10:9)
And that’s an indisputable fact Friends, as we’re seeing every day, as more and more evil doers are being brought to light.
Now hear Bruh David; a man after God’s own heart. ‘The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again (does not repay): but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth (land); and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off (destroyed). The steps of a good man are ordered (established) by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed (descendants) begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed (descendants) is blessed. Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.’ (Ps.37: 21-27)
Oh mih people, my fellow believers, what words of grace and godly assurance! And Bruh David lived them! It wasn’t any hearsay, but a true testimonial of his life. Though he occasionally stumbled and fell, the Lord never entirely cast him adrift. Of course he paid a price for some of his more heinous sins, but his name still reverberates throughout the Good Book as a man of God.
All I can say Friends, is that if you deal sincerely and truthfully with Almighty God, He will do the same with you. But you have to put your trust in Him first. He has already done His part by sacrificing Jesus to pay for our sins. It’s up to us now to receive His awesome grace, mercy, LOVE and forgiveness. And if we’re truly endowed with godly wisdom, then we’ll do just that! Much LOVE!
…if you can believe you’re in good hands with All State…a company run by fallible men…why can’t you believe you’ll be in even better…the best hands…with infallible, immortal…Almighty God…
28 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abominable, Alpha and Omega, anger, basic attitudes, Beginning and the End, blatantly, bless the Lord, Book of Revelation, buy wine and milk without money, chant, come buy and eat without money, come to the waters, corruption, cowardly, disobedience, don't abuse the weekend, don't despair, envy, eternal separation from God, evil doings, exorbitant price, faith, false glitz and glory, fearful, fellowship, fire and brimstone, foregoing God's free gift of grace, forsaking God, freedom from toil and labour, Friday chant, friends, glorious kingdom, God's favour, God's Word, Good Book, greed, he that overcomes, holy spirit, idolaters, ignominous end, incompetence, inflationary world, Isaiah 55:1. Ho, jealousy, Jesus Christ, jesus name, judgement day, justice, liars, LOVE, loving kindness, maganimous and magnificent God, marvellous and miraculous services, mercy, murderers, no money, oh my soul, our great God, pain, pain Jesus' heart, peace, proper focus, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, resentment, riotous living, sacrificing His life, sanctify, serious attention, sexually immoral, shall inherit all things, sins, sorcerers, stumble and fall, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the evil one, the hammer falls, the norm, the second death, the sin level, the way the world works, truth, unbelieving, ungodly world, vacillate like the tide, wake up, wanting more and more, water of life, week of work, whoever is thirsty, whoremongers, wickedness, wide and winding road, without price, work everything out for our good
Isaiah 55:1. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Oh Friends, I’ve gotten the message! Yes, you already know that today is Friday, because I can hear your joyful shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes! And thank God that work soon done for another two big days! Bless the Lord, oh my soul, for that short bit of freedom from weary toil and labour!’
Ah mih people, I know how hard some of us work to make a few dollars which never seem to be enough in this ever inflationary world. But please don’t despair, for our great God will be with us, if we be with Him, and work everything out for our good.
Now that also means not abusing the weekend with strictly riotous living, but also engaging in some fellowship, rest and relaxation to rejuvenate our souls and continue the cycle come Monday morning.
Oh, oh! I know that right now many of you don’t even want to hear about Monday, but it’s the reality of our situation, and the sooner we face up to it, the sooner we’ll have peace on the subject. Otherwise we’ll continue to unwisely vacillate, be washed one way, and then the other, like the tide on the beach’s edge.
So to help us keep everything in proper focus, let’s chant our Friday Chant, as loudly and gloriously as we were just singing ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!
As one sincere and harmonious body 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 Friends, please keep that in mind as you go through the weekend, so that you don’t overdo it, then stumble and fall. And to further help us with all that we’re dealing with, we have this wonderful Bit that we’ve been studying for the last couple days.
‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.’
Oh mih breddren, every time I read that verse of scripture, it just reminds me of how magnificent and magnanimous a God we serve and worship! Wow! There’s NO other being in the universe either able or willing to provide such a marvellous and miraculous service to those in need!
But as we’ve been saying, a lot, in fact too many people are forsaking God, foregoing His free gift of grace in all areas of their lives. Why? Only God alone knows for sure! Instead of wisely seeking God’s everlasting favour and LOVING-kindness, they are foolishly turning in droves to the idols and crooks and deceivers of this world.
Yes my brethren, too many of us are still stupidly running behind the material things of this world, spending hard earned money for that which isn’t really important, and labouring to accomplish goals that don’t truly satisfy our spirits.
It’s clearly discernible from our basic attitudes, where we already have a whole lot of stuff, but we keep on wanting more and more, even though the increase doesn’t do us any real justice, but that’s the way the world works, so we do the same thing.
But please remember Friends, we’re only supposed to be IN the world, NOT a part of it.
Jesus even prayed to the Father on the subject on our behalf. ‘I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil (one). They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them (set them apart for Your purposes) through thy truth: thy word is truth.’ (John 17:15-17)
Oh my people, what will it take for us to truly wake up and realize that we’re going down the wide and winding road that leads to eternal separation from Jehovah God eh? Look at the sad state of our world nuh!
No institution, even Christ’s church is running smoothly. All of them are filled with wickedness, greed, envy, jealousy, resentment, anger, incompetence and corruption!
And the sad part is that it’s all done so blatantly these days. Very few of us take the trouble to hide our evil doings, because it has now become more or less the norm around our evil and ungodly world.
How Jesus’ heart must pain Him when he sees what we’ve come to! I’m sure He must often regret ever sacrificing His holy, sinless life to pay for our disgusting, abominable sins because we don’t seem to truly appreciate it, the way we’ve upped the sin level of our world.
But Friends, please pay close and serious attention to these immortal and true words found in the Book of Revelation. ‘And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst (who thirsts) of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful (cowardly), and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers (sexually immoral), and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.’ (Rev.21:6-8)
Oh mih people, that’s a very serious warning! One which we should all take to heart if we believe that the Good Book is indeed God’s Word, in truth and in deed.
If we do, then we need to shape up immediately, else when the hammer falls on judgement day, we’ll be looking at eternal death. And believe me, all the false glitz and glory of this present world are definitely not worth such an ignominious end! Much LOVE!
…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…or he will eventually pay…a rather exorbitant price for his disobedience…eternal separation from Almighty God…
21 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fighting chance, a foothold in our lives, a sheep in wolves' clothing, absolute truth, almighty god, anger, another week of labour, asaph, awesome words of wisdom, believers in Jesus Christ, bet your bottom dollar, but flesh, circumspect about our behaviour, compassion, Creator, cross at Calvary, destroyed them not, disobedience, earthly wealth, every hour, every minute, faith walk, fellowship, fleshly enjoyment, fleshly lusts, forgave their iniquity, forgiveness, frailties, free, Friday chant, fun, generous help, glorious kingdom, God of many chances, grieve him in the desert, hungering, in Jesus' name, infiltrate our souls, iniquity, Israel, Joshua, leaps and bounds, legacy, material things, meditate, mindset of our society, Moses, obeying the Word of God, of every day, prosperous, provoke, rebel, relaxation, remembered not his power, renewed and refeshed, renewed in body soul and mind, repent, return to worshipping Almighty God, rise from the ashes, rise from the mire, sacrificed His life, safe parameters, short memory, sin, sinfulness, sinless Son of God, tables have turned, technology, temptation, tempted God, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, thanks, the enemy, the enemy's lurking nearby, the evil one, the Good Book, the Holy One of Israel, the law, the Lord God of their fathers, thirsting, time to enjoy the weekend, turned away from God, turned his anger away, weaknesses, wine women and song, worthless things of the world, wrath
Psalm 78:38. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
Aloha Friends! Yuh know it’s Friday…? Apparently you do, because I can hear you round the corner singing loud and clear: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes! Another week of labour done. And now is my time… my time to enjoy the weekend as I please… Free from massa slavery…!’
Now that’s quite true my brethren, but it’s also not the entire picture. Though we are indeed free to do whatever we so desire on the weekend, as believers in Jesus Christ, the holy and sinless Son of God, who selflessly sacrificed His life for us on the cross at Calvary, we have other things to consider besides fleshly enjoyment.
Things like not overdoing the party scene and allowing the evil one to get a foot hold in our lives, anymore than he already has. We need to control our fleshly lusts, be somewhat circumspect about our behaviour.
And it’s not only on the weekends that we need to be careful in our faith walk – the weekends just provide more freedom to do so – but each and every minute and hour of every day, because the enemy doesn’t ever take a break from trying to infiltrate our souls.
Sometimes it might seem like he’s leaving us alone, but you can bet your bottom dollar that he’s lurking somewhere nearby, possibly in disguise too, like a sheep in wolves’ clothing, just waiting to pounce when we step out of God’s will.
Anyhow, as always, let’s chant our Friday Chant to help us remember that the weekend is not all about wine, women and song, but also very much about Almighty God!
So as one, big, honey-voiced, harmonious chanteuse, (smile) let’s chant. ‘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.’
Yeh mih people, we have to try and stay within certain safe parameters, so that we don’t need to invoke our Bit too often: ‘But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.’
And why did the Lord restrain His anger? Because as our Creator, He knows all our weaknesses and frailties. And as Asaph, the psalmist continues: ‘For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. How oft did they provoke (rebel against) him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not his hand (his delivering power), nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.’ (Ps.78:39-41)
Yes Friends, Israel’s memory was very short indeed! Once they became free and/or prosperous, they forgot the Lord God of their fathers, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, their Redeemer and strong shield, and they began hungering and thirsting for the worthless things of the world.
And yuh know what my people? That is exactly what we are doing today!
During the last few decades, as our technology improved by leaps and bounds, and our lives became filled with earthly wealth and material things, we gradually turned away from the God who had made all that prosperity possible.
Oh my fellow believers, our society only prospered because we were walking more in God’s Will back then, than in disobedience. However, now the tables have turned; since we’re walking in much more disobedience and sinfulness, our prosperity has also declined – and a whole lot too.
Like Israel, we have forgotten who brought us to the dance, we have forgotten those awesome and immortal words of wisdom and absolute truth that the Lord spoke to Joshua when He appointed him the new leader of Israel, after the death of Moses.
‘Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper (have success or act wisely) whitherseover thou goest.
This book of the law shall not depart out of (be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ (Josh.1:7-8)
Oh my people, what’s so difficult to understand there eh? Nothing! It’s as plain as day!
And those are possibly two of the most important verses in the entire Good Book, for if we follow them conscientiously, we WILL have success and prosperity!
And if you’re wondering why our western society is floundering and quickly going down hill, just consider those two verses and our current relationship to them.
Oh my fellow believers, if we ever hope to restore our success and prosperity we need to repent and return to worshipping Almighty God, like the Israelites did!
It’s not too late, because our God is a God of many chances, but never believe that He won’t destroy us, if we don’t comply with His law. So let’s rise up today, in fact, RIGHT NOW, and try to change the foolish, disobedient mindset of our society.
That’s the ONLY WAY we’ll ever rise from the mire in which we’re now steadily sinking, and thus give those who come after us, a fighting chance to enjoy success and prosperity all the days of their lives.
Please, let’s make that our everlasting legacy nuh! Much LOVE!
…a society can only rise from its ashes…like the phoenix…when it sincerely repents…and genuinely returns to obeying the Word of God…
07 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adjustments, attributes of a leader, blessed, Blessed be the name of God, blessing of God's Name, Bruh David, chant up a storm, commuinion with God, contemplation, Cousin Sol, Daniel, Daniel 2:20. Daniel, discernment, echo Daniel's sentiments, energy, exalted, Friday chant, further your glorious kingdom, generous help, give strength, glorious name, glory, God's mercies, God's wisdom and might, greatness, harmony, head above all, holy spirit, importance of prayer, indisputable fact, intercession, Jesus Christ, Lent, Lenten season, look at life, majesty, man of prayer, moderation, modicum of circumspection, Nebuchadnezzar, path to heaven, peace, people of god, power, praise, Praise the Lord, prayer, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, right perspective, rising of the sun, serious approach, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, thanks, thanksgiving, the things on earth, things in heaven, unbreakable passion, victory, walking and talking with God, week of work, wisdom, zest
Daniel 2:20. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.
Well Friends, it’s that day again – Friday… And strangely the shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!’ are not as loud as usual. (smile) I guess we’re too tired from all the partying we did earlier on in the week, and then the Lenten Season’s seriousness added it’s own li’l bit of moderation and ‘modicum of circumspection,’ as Jeeves would say.
And that’s definitely not a bad thing my people, because every so often we do need to tone down our boisterous selves and take a more serious approach to, and look at life, meaning the things and people that surround us. And as we’ve been saying all week, Lent is the best time to do that, since it’s a season for contemplation and adjustments.
And as always, our Friday Chant will help us get the right perspective on handling the weekend. So let’s chant up a storm. Hn, hn! Sorry, I forgot that we’re too tired to chant up a storm, but let’s just do the best we can. (smile)
As one voice 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.’
Hopefully Friends, that prayer will restore some of our energy and zest, and allow us to go out and do a good job for Jesus. Don’t worry about it though, just talk to Jesus as you go along, and He will enable you to do whatever you need to do.
Now let’s turn to our Bit. ‘Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his.’
Yesterday, we saw where the Lord blessed Daniel with supernatural discernment, re the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation. Today, I want to look at a few scriptures where other people of God echo Daniel’s sentiments.
Sadly, I could only find one scripture pertaining to the blessing of God’s Name, and that comes from Psalm 113, God’s mercies are many.
After opening the psalm with praise, the psalmist continues: ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!’ (Ps.113:2-6)
Yeh mih people, who is like unto our God eh? And all God’s people joyfully trilled: ‘NOBODY!’ And that my brethren is an indisputable fact!
However, concerning God’s wisdom and might, there are numerous scriptures that shout it out. Let’s take in a couple, beginning with Bruh David’s thanksgiving and prayer when he was preparing to hand over the throne of Israel to Cousin Sol.
Oh, oh fellow believers, the Holy Spirit just guided me to another scripture where the Lord’s name is blessed. Thank You Lord! I sincerely bless Your Holy Name! And lo and behold it comes right before the passage I intended to quote.
So here it is all together. ‘Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.’ (1 Chr.29:10-13)
What beautiful words of prayer and praise to our wonderful God, my brethren!
And we’ll close with an interesting note from the scholars’: ’29:10. David again shows himself to be a man of prayer (cf. 16:2, 7-36; 17:26-27). Those who stand before God’s people should likewise be capable of leading them in genuine intercession and communion with God.’
Oh Friends, we can never overestimate or overstate the importance of prayer in our daily lives, neither the importance of our leaders being able to lead us in genuine communication with God, for it’s one of the necessary attributes, a necessary ability of a leader.
Now may the Lord of heaven and earth bless and keep us safely, and cause His countenance to shine brightly upon us this day, as we journey on our path to heaven, to be with Him forever in LOVE, Peace and Harmony! Much LOVE!
…walking and talking with God…ought to be the believer’s unbreakable passion…
P.S. Oh my people, please note how short and sweet the Bit is today, and say a grateful, ‘Thank You Lord!’ (smile) Much LOVE!
28 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: apostasy, Asherah, associating with the heathen, Azariah, Baalim, bacchanal, brown girl in the bottle, Caleb's brother, Canaanite, Canaanite Gods, Carnival, Carnival Friday, carnival time, children of Israel, coming of Jesus, commandments, conviction, dark and dangerous paths, deafening, deliverer, DETERMINATION, did evil in the Lord's sight, disobedience, drunk or sober mind your business, ear plugs, empowered, exasperation, fellowship, fertility goddess, Friday, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, generous help, godly grateful, godly peace and rest, Granny's warning, groves, hearsay, idolatrous, imbibe, intermarrying, irresponsibility, irresponsible, irresponsible tendencies, Israel, joyful and raucous shouts, life changing effects, Mesopotamia, mistakes, mouthed platitudes, New Orleans, one true God, Othniel, pagan nations, paganism, particular purpose, Pentecost, personal experience, pleasure traps, pray in Jesus' Name, proven formula, redress, relaxation, renewed and refreshed, repentance, rest, Rio, serving and worshipping Jehovah God, sincerity, sinful and ungodly times, sinful pleasures, son of Oded, strife, T&T, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the anger of the Lord, the enemy, the land had rest, the Lord's Spirit, the Spirit of God, their own devices, time of need, ungodly, week of work, wisdom of heaven
2 Chronicles 15:1. And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.
And then it was Friday… Carnival Friday to boot! So you can imagine the huge amount of joyful and raucous shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!’ that are going up to heaven. It’s getting so deafening that the Lord has to put in earplugs to safeguard His hearing. (smile)
And if most of those shouts were truly godly grateful, it wouldn’t be so bad, but the fact of the matter is that most of them are simply mouthed platitudes for us to go and enjoy the earthly and sinful pleasures involved in the carnival bacchanal. You can imagine the highly ‘partyfied’ state of Rio, New Orleans and T&T!
But Friends, at no other time is Granny’s warning more important than at Carnival time, because we know it’s so easy to fall into the pleasurable traps of the enemy. So please, I beg of you all, this weekend especially, to remember that drunk or sober, you are expected to mind your business.
And be exceedingly careful of that brown girl in the bottle… or whatever colour girl she might be, for all of them are very capable and very likely to lead us down dark and dangerous paths, if we imbibe too much. We tend to get very loose and irresponsible then, and can suffer serious, life changing effects and situations through that irresponsibility.
And to help us guard against our natural irresponsible tendencies, let’s chant our Friday Chant in all seriousness. As one loud voice 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 mih people, this weekend, more than ever, we need to take our Friday Chant very seriously because it can prevent us from making some silly but very serious mistakes. And the ole fella’s talking from personal experience here, not hear say! (smile)
Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded’
Yeh Friends, in olden times the Lord’s Spirit wasn’t dwelling in every believer as it is now, after the coming of Jesus and Pentecost. Back then the Lord empowered certain individuals for a particular purpose when He needed them.
And yesterday we saw a time when Israel was real idolatrous and ungodly and the Lord, in exasperation, left them to their own devices. (Judg. 2:16-23) Just as He’s currently leaving us to our own ungodly and disobedient devices, and we’re suffering the pangs of rebellion in a very catastrophic world.
So the Lord left the pagan nations around Israel to test their determination and sincerity to walk in obedience to His commandments. (Judg. 3:1-4)
The Good Book describes it thus: ‘And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim (Baals, name or symbol of Canaanite gods) and the groves (Asherahs, names and symbols of Canaanite goddesses.’ (Judg.3:5-7)
The scholars tell us that ‘the groves were the detestable sacred trees or poles used in Canaanite worship centres as symbols of life and fertility. These were sacred to the worship of the Canaanite fertility goddess Asherah. Moses had warned against their use and given instructions to Israel to destroy them when they entered the land of Canaan (cf. Ex.34:13; Deut.7:5; 12:3; 16:21-22).
Unfortunately the use of such poles would prove to be a continuing fascination for Israel and a source of deepening apostasy. (cf. 2 Kin.17:9-11).’
Oh mih breddren, that’s exactly what we are doing today; intermarrying and associating with the heathen in a big way. But even worse, instead of bringing them to belief in the ONE, TRUE GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we’re embracing their paganism.
Don’t you think that will anger our God now, just as it angered Him back in the disobedient days of Israel? It surely will! And here’s how he dealt with Israel.
‘Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushan-rishathaim eight years.’ (Judg.3:8)
What else did they expect eh? And that warning goes for us today too Friends! But fortunately for the Israelites and us, our God is very merciful and forgiving.
‘And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
And the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim. And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.’ (Judg.3:9-11)
Oh my fellow believes, how I hope and pray that the Lord would raise up someone like Othniel today in out dire time of need, so that he or she could defeat the pagan powers that are controlling us, albeit through our disobedience, and give our land some godly peace and rest from the continuous struggles and strife that’s been plaguing it for oh too long. Please pray for God to positively address the situation very soon.
Remember though, that godly assistance WILL NOT COME WITHOUT SINCERE CONVICTION AND REPENTANCE! So if we want to see godly improvement in our world any time soon, then we need to start working RIGHT NOW, to seriously bring conviction and repentance to it.
With those two things permeating our society, we CAN NEVER GO WRONG! Why? Because that’s the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!
…in sinful and ungodly times…the proven formula for redress…is sincerely turning back to serving and worshipping Jehovah God…
21 Feb 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: achieving reconciliation, Adam, alienated, angelic beings, ascension, atonement, bacchanal, blessings, borders, boundaries, bounden duty, Bruh Paul, celebrations, Christ's contention, clothed in righteousness, Colossians, come to seek and save, death, deceitful one, dilgently address, disobedience, divine means, Drunk or sober mind yuh business, enemy, erect strongholds, evil, false step, fellowship, follow Jesus, free gift, Friday chant, generous help, glorious kingdom, God's holy throne, good news, gospel truth, Granny's advice, great commission, heavenly presence of God, heavenly rewards, heavenly wisdom, heretics, holy, holy spirit, humanity, implementation, in the future, inferiority, Jesus Christ, jesus name, Jesus' gospel, joyful shouting, judgement, justification, leggo-beast, let our hair down, lost, LOVE, made peace, malicious, Mardi gras, Mas in T&T, mythological figure, never go wrong, New Orleans, obedience, perfectly holy, poisonous fangs, proper relationship with Christ, protection, put a spoke in your wheel, reconciliation, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, resurrection, righteous, righteousness., Rio carnival, roaring lion, sacrificial death, salvation, sinners, sly, Son of man, standard warning, superiority, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the blood of his cross, things in heaven, things on earth, to live by, ultimate purpose, unaccepteable, wicked works, wisdom, words of caution
Luke 19:10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
And then it was Friday…! That’s obvious with all the joyful shouting of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! Work soon over, and the partying start…! Thank God is Friday yes!’
And nowhere right now are the shouts louder and more joyous than in Rio for their carnival, New Orleans for their Mardi gras, and T&T for Mas… Bacchanal fuh so! As those bacchanalian celebrations are only another week away.
However Friends, despite your not liking to hear Granny’s words of caution, because you think it puts a spoke in your wheel, stops you from doing certain things, it is indeed necessary for your protection.
That’s because it’s at these kinds of ‘leggo-beast’ celebrations, where the evil, deceitful one is ever present, like a roaring lion, constantly on the lookout for someone to get his poisonous fangs into, and thus erect strongholds in our minds, souls and bodies. (1 Pet.5:8)
But since this is unacceptable in a believer’s life, we need to ensure that certain boundaries, certain borders are not crossed, are not invaded by the sly and malicious enemy. Thus Granny’s warning ought to be taken very seriously. ‘Sonny boy, please, ah beg yuh, drunk or sober, please mind yuh business!’
And that’s really a standard warning we should all live by, my people, especially in big celebratory times, when we let go and let our hair down.
And as always, to help us get the right perspective for using the weekend, let’s chant our Friday Chant with all sincerity. ‘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 Friends, the weekend’s not only for partying, but also for rest and fellowship. Now let’s turn to our Bit. ‘For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.’ And this is definitely the last day for it. (smile)
So what scriptures do we have to share that support Christ’s contention that He came to save us? Let’s begin with Bruh Paul talking to the Colossians, re reconciliation in and through Christ.
‘And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in (on) earth, or things in heaven. And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight.’ (Col.1:20-22)
Now here are some thoughts from the scholars on those verses. ‘1:21. Reconciliation is the act whereby God, through Christ’s atonement, brings men who are at odds with Him back into a peaceful, proper relationship with Himself.’
‘1:22. In the body of his flesh through death (or, “by His fleshly body through death”). The Colossian heretics may have argued that Jesus’ humanity and death indicate His inferiority to the angelic beings in the universe. Paul turns the argument against them, showing that His death points to His superiority; for His death is the divine means of achieving reconciliation to God.
To present you holy… in his sight (or, “to bring you holy… into His presence”). This expresses the ultimate purpose of reconciliation: it is to eventually usher the believer, made perfectly holy, into the heavenly presence of God.’
Oh my brethren, we can NEVER GO WRONG, IF WE FOLLOW JESUS!
And finally, listen to Bruh Paul in his missive to the church at Rome, talking about sin through Adam, and salvation through Christ. ‘Therefore, as the offense of one (false step) judgement came upon all men to condemnation; even so be the righteousness of one (righteous act) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.’ (Rom.5:18-19)
And that’s the gospel truth of all gospel truths, my fellow believers in Jesus Christ!
And the scholars have this to say re those two verses. ‘5:18-19. Paul’s reference to Adam shows that he understood Adam to have been a real person. Adam was not a mythological figure any more than Jesus was.’
Oh Friends, our Jesus was definitely not a mythological character, for it’s only through His sacrificial death, resurrection and ascension that we are now able to come before God’s holy throne clothed in righteousness.
And that’s the GOOD NEWS OF JESUS’ GOSPEL, which He asked us to go forth and share with all mankind, to all the corners of the earth, so that all the earth would hear it and have a chance for salvation. (Matt.28:19-20)
Please my fellow believers, let’s take that commission very seriously and diligently address ourselves to its implementation. For it’s not only our bounden duty, but also heavenly wisdom, and will bring us great heavenly rewards in the future too. Much LOVE!
… he who doesn’t know the Son…unfortunately…will NEVER KNOW the Father…
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