08 Oct 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a man of God, abusing our physical bodies, alive, best buddies, blessed, bounden duty, breakdown, bring glory to God, burning the candle at both ends, busy world, Christian, constant jammings, conventional human standards, desires of my heart, diligently, don't shoot the messenger, edifice will collapse, Elijah, enjoy, enough is enough, faith, faithfully, flour, foolish, forgave, foundation, free from the bondage of sin, friendship, from the goodness of our hearts, generosity, giving, glory hallelujah, god's great scheme of things, God's work, help, her whole livelihood, hope, Hour of Power, hugs and kisses, I'll try not to do it again, I'm sorry, inequity of resources, Jesus, Jesus smiles down on us, just flesh and bones, LOVE, mea culpa, meaningless, misfortune, misusing, mites, of their abundance, oil, omnipotent and loving god, out of her poverty, please accept my most humble apologies, please forgive me, poor widow, praise God, prosperity, put into practice, raised her son from the dead, rebelled, rebellion, rocket science, sacrificed, selfish society, selfless act, sensible, simply mortal, smile, standing steadfast and strong for Jesus, stress and strain, superficially, the Good Book, the middle of the week, the poor are getting poorer, the rich are getting richer, the word of the Lord is truth, treasury, trite, truth, Wednesday, winning the battle, wisdom, wise, worldly pursuits, worthless
1 Kings 17:24. And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.
Aye Friends, it’s just one of those days when the old body completely rebelled. It finally said: ‘Enough is enough! You can’t have me constantly going to bed late and yet expect me to get up early! I’m not superman, just flesh and bones yuh know; a simple mortal…and a fairly old one at that! I’m not as young as I used to be, so I can’t stand the constant jammings like I used to before!’
And what could I say eh? Nothing but, ‘I’m sorry, and please accept my most humble apologies…and please forgive me, and I’ll try not to do it again. Mea culpa…mea culpa…’
And yuh know what, being the good Christian body that he is, he LOVINGLY forgave me. Glory Hallelujah! Now we’re best buddies again, with hugs and kisses all around! Oh what a wonderful friendship, just like the kind we’ve been speaking about the last few days.’ (smile)
Ah mih people, that might all sound a bit trite and foolish, but it’s loaded with truth and wisdom. We can’t keep on misusing and abusing our physical bodies without suffering its eventual rebellion and breakdown.
Unfortunately though, in this superficially busy world, too many of us are trying to light the proverbial candle at both ends simultaneously and keep it lit there for a long time. But that only brings misfortune in the end, because our bodies, as well as our minds were not made to take that kind of stress and strain on a long term basis.
And I’m sure all of us will agree that the amount of physically and mentally broken people in our society nowadays is way too high, especially amongst our young people, especially with the kind of prosperity we’re experiencing.
Although the facts and figures do show that our supposed prosperity is only superficial, like everything else around us, for actual prosperity is only going to the already rich, who are becoming richer with each passing day, while the poor are in fact becoming poorer.
Our society is suffering from a terrible inequity of resources, and until that is straightened out, things will only get worse, not better. So please, my people, let’s try to be wise and sensible where our minds and bodies are concerned nuh, since they are our basic foundation, and like all foundations, once they get too weak, the whole edifice which they support will eventually collapse.
And I have to laugh here, because that is definitely not the beginning I envisaged for today’s Bit. But I guess the Lord had a different plan in mind.
Here is what I had written while listening to some music from an Hour of Power religious programme: Oh Friends, it’s Wednesday morning, the middle of the workweek, and we’re alive… All praise to God! And even better yet, we’re winning the battle, standing steadfast and strong for Jesus! What else can one ask eh? Nothing really.
However, while listening to the music I was blessed with this great idea… And it’s not rocket science either. The way I see it, the things I want, the desires of my heart that God has put there, are basically to write words and music and to run horses…and TO HELP!
Yes Friends, HELP! That’s the most important of those four things. Why? Because regardless of how successful we are at our worldly pursuits, if we don’t HELP, then they are all worthless and meaningless in God’s great scheme of things.
Remember what Jesus came to earth to do? To HELP us, to save us from our sinful selves. And we term that most wonderful selfless act of Jesus as LOVE!
So therefore, if Jesus LOVED us so much that He wanted to HELP us and willingly sacrificed His life that we could be free from the bondage of sin, then that logically means that HELP is certainly akin to LOVE! And when you add Faith, and Hope, the most important become HELP and LOVE!
The problem though is that in our basically selfish, I, me, and mine society, the words LOVE and HELP don’t resonate with us the way they used to a generation or so ago. And to make matters even worse, there are more people desperately seeking LOVE and HELP than ever before, especially in a time of general peace.
That unfortunately makes it even more difficult since there’s less LOVE and HELP to spread round now to more people. Ah Lord eh! What a mess we’ve made of our world my fellow believers! And I know a lot of us who are expected to help, also need help in a bad way.
But yuh know what: when we give of the little we have, like Jesus noted of the poor widow who threw her last two mites into the collection plate, then our lives become even more blessed.
Here is how the Good Book recounts it: ‘And Jesus sat over against (opposite) the treasury, and beheld how people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites (small copper coins worth something like one-eight of a cent), which makes a farthing (a Roman coin).
And he (Jesus) called unto his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury. For all they did cast in of their abundance (surplus); but she of her want (out of her poverty) did cast in all that she had, even all her living (her whole livelihood).’ (Mark 12:41-44)
Oh my people, as the scholars explain: ‘12:43-44. God does not measure giving by conventional human standards.’
Yes my brethren, when we give of the little we have, our wonderful God sees the generosity of our hearts and expands our source so that we can give even more.
It’s like how He sent Elijah to the poor widow of Zarephath for food, who herself only had a little flour and little oil to make the last cake for her son and herself, then she was expecting to die after that. But she listened to Elijah’s plea instead and fixed her last bit of food for him.
And yuh see what happened? She and her household miraculously had food for many days after that. Elijah even raised her son from a death-like state. (1 Kin.17:8-23)
That finally brings us to our Bit: ‘And the woman said unto Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.’
Yes my people, that is what is expected of us, every time we open our mouths – truth! And even more so if we are expounding on the Word of our omnipotent and LOVING God!
So please, as we diligently and faithfully go about doing God’s work today, let’s make sure that we try to HELP and LOVE others, and that every word we speak is truth, so that we can bring glory to Him, like Elijah did with the poor widow. That’s our bounden duty! Much LOVE!
…oh when we…HELP and GIVE and LOVE…from the goodness of our hearts…Jesus smiles down on us with even more blessings… Glory Hallelujah!
P.S. Sorry about the lateness and length of the Bit Friends, but all I can say is that the Lord had His special purpose for it, allowing me to write the things I’ve done. So don’t shoot the messenger, (smile) just enjoy it and put it into practice in your lives. Much LOVE!
06 Aug 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a command, as we forgive our debtors, August, believers, body of Christ, Church of Christ, church wardens, clothing, comfort, conditional statement, crapaud smoke we pipe, divesting, elementary priciple, fellow believers, finances, food, for Christ's sake, forgive, forgive our debts, forgiveness, generosity, generous gifts, give voice to, good work, green foliage, grow, harsh reality, harvest, help, holy spirit, if you don't forgive, impartiality, Jesus, Jesus' earthly body, Jesus' kingdom, judgement, July, justice, kind to each other, law of liberty, levels of giving, LOVE, mercy, missions, nakedness, needy, nourishment, orphan, out of luck, outreach, poor, rebuke, repent, special place in God's heart, stranger, succour, summer's almost over, support of parishoners, survive, talent, tenderhearted, the church, the forgiveness hard, the hurt is great, the life of a believer, the Lord's prayer, time, tithes, toe the line, triumph, up the stream, widow, winter, wisdom, without a lifeline, written indelibly in our consciousness, you reap what you sow, your Father won't forgive you
Matthew 6:15. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Oh Friends, do you realize that we’re already in the middle of August, and that just last week it was July? (smile) Yes mih people, the days are certainly rushing ahead fast and furious. The summer’s almost over! Where did it go to eh?
In another few weeks the trees will begin divesting themselves of all their beautiful green foliage, getting ready to face the harsh reality that’s winter in their total nakedness, when food and nourishment become scarce.
Let us hope though, that no human brethren are doing, or planning to put that same strategy into effect, for there is always nourishment and succour available in the body of Christ.
Let me put that in more practical terms; there should always be food, clothing and comfort available to those in need, from Jesus’ earthly body, the church.
That’s one of the basic reasons the Lord instituted tithes; so that His personal storehouse would always have supplies for the poor and needy, for the stranger, the widow and the orphan. Note that God has a very special place in His heart for those people, and has provided for them thus.
Oh my fellow believers, are we tithing to our local church? We should be, for without our generous gifts, Jesus’ church would not be able to function as it ought.
Remember that the church is not merely the building, but even more so the believers who occupy it. And we can’t maintain the buildings, or do the outreach and missions desired by Christ without the generous help of the congregation in terms of talent, time and finances.
Everybody wants to see their church buildings looking spiffy and fine, and want to hear about all the good work that body of Christ is doing in their community and around the world, and that’s a very worthwhile dream and wish, but we also need to be practical and realize that none of it can happen without the generous support of the parishioners.
So I urge us today, to check our individual generosity to our local church, and seriously consider raising our levels of giving, in terms of time, talent and money, for that’s the only way the church, as Christ’s body here on earth, will survive and grow the way He desires it to.
Hn, hn, hn! Yes Friends, I’m here chuckling because I don’t know where all of that came from. I certainly wasn’t intending to write about it. I guess it must have come from the church warden’s meeting I attended last evening, where one of the topics we discussed was finances, and the need to improve, to upgrade ours. And I guess that would be the situation in many other churches too, hence the Holy Spirit’s leading to give voice to it.
Anyway mih breddren, let’s see if we can finish up the message on forgiveness with this Bit today. ‘But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you.’
Oh my people, my people, we can never overestimate the importance of forgiveness in the life of a believer! And it’s simply because we won’t be forgiven, if we don’t forgive. Jesus made that quite clear in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’ (Matt.6:12)
Please note that it’s a conditional statement; forgive us, AS we forgive. Yes my brethren, only as we forgive, will our heavenly Father forgive us. So we had better get that written indelibly in our consciousness and practice it, otherwise we’re simply out of luck. Well not really luck, but you know what I mean; crapaud smoke we pipe, we up the stream without a lifeline. (smile)
Now let’s look at some scriptures that emphasize forgiveness. In this first passage, Luke has Jesus saying these most meaningful words when He teaches forgiveness.
‘Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent; forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.’ (Luke 17:3-4)
Oh Friends, that means that every time we’re asked for forgiveness, we MUST give it! ‘Thou shalt forgive him,’ is a command, meaning that no flexibility is allowed in our behaviour, even though the hurt is great and the forgiveness hard!
I know that sounds sort of rough and unfair my fellow believers, but that’s just the way it is in Jesus’ kingdom, and if you desire to be His follower, then you need to toe the line. It’s as simple as that.
Every organization has rules, and if you want to be a continual member, then you must abide by their rules. The same goes for the church of Christ!
Now listen to James as he talks about impartiality to all. ‘So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgement without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against (triumphs over) judgement.’ (James 2:12-13)
Yes Friends, it all comes right back to the elementary principle in God’s handling of the universe; you reap what you sow. So if you sow things like mercy, forgiveness, justice and LOVE, those are the things you will eventually reap, in greater amount than what you sowed too.
So please my people, let’s faithfully go out and sow the good things of Jesus today nuh, so that tomorrow, when our harvest comes in, we will reap the wonderful abundance that’s granted to those who sow in LOVE, forgiveness, justice and mercy.
As Cousin Sol would say, ‘that’s the wisdom for each and every age!’ (smile) Much, much LOVE my fellow believers!
…and be ye kind one to another…tenderhearted…forgiving one another…even as God…for Christ’s sake…hath forgiven you… (Eph.4:32)
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)
25 Oct 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: alive and kicking, baptizing them, barren, basic purpose on earth, Beatitudes, believe and accept, best interests, blessed, bounden duty, busy schedules, buy wine and milk without money, dear life, desires, divine mercy, each and every day, emotions, evangelize the world, exalted, fallen man, feast, fellowship, filled with hope and faith, fleshly lusts, form and fashion, Friday chant, fun, furthering God's glorious kingdom, generosity, generous help, God's bountiful earth, God's free offer of mercy, good things, grief of spirit, holding out the carrot, hope and faith, howl, hunger and thirst, hungry, I am with you always, jesus name, Jesus' Mother, John the Baptist, joy of heart, light our path, magnanimous god, Mary, mercy, modicum of circumspection, new resolution, offered for free, one more day, prisoners of hope and faith, promises of God, put down, read and spell, rebellious, rejoice, relaxation, rest, rich, righteousness., scriptures, scrumptious delights, show us the way, sorrow of heart, spiritual pregnancy, spiritually hungry and thirsty, teach all nations, technological toys, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, Thanks Lord, the end of the world, the Father, the Great Commission, the Holy Ghost, the Lord's servants, the Magnificat, the SON, true wisdom, try and change the world, wail, warning words, week of work, weekends, wonder of wonders
Matthew 5:6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Oh Friends, one more day, one more day we’re alive and kicking on God’s bountiful earth, filled with hope and faith!
And we’re filled with so much hope and faith in the wonderful promises of Jesus Christ and Almighty God, that we can truly call ourselves lifelong prisoners of hope and faith!
Wow! What a wonderful body, the church of Christ, we belong to eh! And the best part of it all is that today’s Friday, the last day of the workweek before the upcoming glorious weekend.
And to that news, there’s a sterling shout: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday yes, and massa work soon done! Thank God for Friday and the weekend! Glory Hallelujah!’
And Friends, before we run off and spoil the weekend by doing too many ungodly and worldly things, let’s chant our Friday Chant, which will hopefully keep us in check, show us the way, and light our path.
As one grateful 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 my people, we need to have a general modicum of circumspection in life, but especially on the weekends, where we tend to get easily lost in and taken up with fleshly lusts.
Oh, and please remember that resolution we made over the last couple days, to try and change the world in some form and fashion, each and every day. We really shouldn’t have to be reminded of it, because it’s our bounden duty, for some of Jesus’ last words to His disciples was to go out and evangelize the world.
And He gave them this Great Commission: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt.28:19-20)
And there you have our basic purpose on this earth my brethren! So trying to change the world is not a new thing. And in any case we can’t change much, if anything, without the desires and emotions contained in our Bit, truly beating in our hearts, minds, bodies and souls. ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.’
Yeh people, it’s the same Beatitude from yesterday, because there were a few scriptures I wanted to include and couldn’t, for it would have made the message exceedingly long. Yuh see mih people, all yuh see how I’m looking out for your best interests, keeping in mind your busy schedules! (smile)
And the first scripture I want to share comes from Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Even as a young girl, but filled with the Holy Spirit, she knew about hungering and thirsting after righteousness. We see that after she was told about her upcoming spiritual pregnancy and went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, only to find her, who was once considered barren, pregnant with John the Baptist.
Thereafter, in her song of praise, ‘The Magnificat,’ she proudly and confidently proclaims: ‘He hath put down the mighty from their seats (thrones), and exalted them of low degree (the lowly). He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen (helped) his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.’ (Luke 1:52-54)
Ah Friends, even when we don’t remember or deserve God’s mercy, it’s still there held out to us!
Meanwhile, Isaiah, in God’s free offer of mercy to all, enthusiastically declares: ‘Ho, everyone 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.’ (Is.55:1)
Oh Friends, our God is unmatched in His generosity! From way back when He’s been offering those who were spiritually hungry and thirsty to come to His magnificently laid table and feast on His scrumptious delights FOR FREE!
What a most magnanimous God we serve and worship, my brethren! His mercy and salvation are open to all; you just have to believe and accept it. No other supposed deity has ever offered, or can ever offer such a wondrous opportunity for fallen man!
And we’ll close with some more poignant, but grave warning words from Isaiah. ‘Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl (wail) for vexation (grief) of spirit.’ (Is.65:13-14)
Oh Friends, I can’t put it any simpler or better than that. As the old people would say, the Lord’s reading and spelling for us there. And sadly, nothing has changed after so many thousands of years; man is still rebellious, possibly more so, especially with his new found technological toys.
But wonder of wonders, our great God is still holding out the carrot to us, it’s now up to us to take it and show true wisdom. Please, let’s all do that today nuh. Much LOVE!
…when divine mercy is held out… is offered for free…a prisoner of faith and hope…wisely grasps and holds on tightly to it…holds on for dear life…
24 Oct 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abundant life, abundantly, Beatitude, bless your Holy Name, blessed, Christians, consider, dearth, deep desire for righteousness, derogatory situation, destroy, disatrous mess, empty, everyday we draw breath, faithless, filled, fills the hungry soul, foolish, generosity, god-forsaken, goodness, gracious Lord, Guide, have life, humility, hunger and thirst, hunger of soul, hypocritical eyes, in Jesus' eyes, indisputable truth, Jesus, judging others, kill, less fortunate, LOVE, made my resolution, mainstay of society, mercy, one day at a time, one more day, opened up my eyes, planet earth, ponder, poor, possessors of the earth, put your money where your mouth is, ramp up the project, right from wrong, righteousness., rightful heirs, satisfaction, satisfies the longing soul, see myself through another's eyes, Sermon on the Mount, servant mentality, servant part, sincere resolution, spineless, spiritual depth, spiritual poverty, spiritual rebirth, steal, take them to god in prayer, thanks, try and change the world, turn my back on those in need, ungodly, we Love you Lord, wisdom, worthwhile changes
Matthew 5:6. Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Ah mih people, one more day has been added to our years on earth…!
And all God’s children loudly and gratefully declared: ‘Thank You most gracious Lord, for allowing us to see another beautiful day here on planet earth! Please guide and bless us, so that we can walk worthy of You. We LOVE You and praise your Holy Name! Amen!’
Well Friends, if we’re so thankful, then let’s put our money where our mouth is nuh, by ramping up that project we began yesterday, of trying to change the world. Remember we said we’d take it one day at a time, so that means we have to continue doing it today too, and every day that we draw breath in this world.
And just so that you’ll remember what we’re talking about, here’s Johnny Reid, in his Kenny Roger’s sounding voice, to remind us.
‘Today I’m gonna try and change the world. I’m gonna take it one day at a time. I’ve made my resolution, opened up my eyes. Today I’m gonna try and change the world.’
That’s just the chorus, now here’s the second verse… and it’s not the same as the first. (smile)
‘I’m gonna make sure my children know right from wrong. Never turn my back on those in need. Always gonna try to see myself through another’s eyes. Today I’m gonna try and change the world… Chorus.’
Yes my brethren, some more ways in which we can try changing the world every day that we’re alive!
And Friends, those things might seem simple, but they are ever so important, for they are the very things we need to deal with if we’re going to change this god-forsaken, ungodly world in which we live.
We’re talking about things like making sure our children know right from wrong… Steups! Many parents don’t even know that, so how are they going to teach it eh, even if they could find the time?
And then ordinary things like not turning our backs on those in need… Chuh! That’s now a mainstay of our society, for too many of us do it too often. That’s where the servant part, the servant mentality of Jesus comes in. But how many of us supposed Christians want to be servants eh?
Not a whole lot, for in spite of Jesus’ command to the contrary, we still prefer to be served rather than serve, because the name implies a derogatory situation, and being served makes us look important in the hypocritical eyes of the world. But Friends, in Jesus’ eyes, that makes us look real foolish, faithless and spineless.
And before critically and oftimes harshly judging others, many who are less fortunate than us, let’s first try and put ourselves in their place nuh, and see how we’d like others to see us, if the situations were reversed. We so get off on judging others these days, even though we don’t know them from Adam, or have a clue about their circumstances. That’s certainly a big part of why our world is in such a disastrous mess.
However my people, we can’t make any of those worthwhile changes unless we have the words of our Bit buried deep in our hearts, souls and minds. ‘Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.’
Yeh Friends, it’s another Beatitude from Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. It seems like we’re dealing with Beatitudes this meeting, so though we’ve done this one already, some 17 months ago, it’s useful to do it again, because every so often we need reminders. (smile) And I’m sure there’ll be new and different stuff than the last time.
Now here’s what the scholars’ have to say about our Bit: ‘5:6. These future possessors of the earth are its presently installed rightful heirs, and even now they hunger and thirst after righteousness. They experience a deep desire for personal righteousness, which in itself is a proof of their spiritual rebirth.
Those who are poor and empty in their own spiritual poverty recognize the depth of their need, and they hunger and thirst for that which only God can give them. They shall be filled (Gr. chortazo) refers to a complete satisfaction. The Psalmist proclaimed: “He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.” (Ps.107:9)’
And that’s indisputable truth, as many of us can testify to! The problem though is to recognize the dearth, or lack of spiritual depth and then sincerely try to fill it. That means coming to God in humility and hunger of soul, so that He can generously and mercifully fill up that empty space that’s keeping us back from truly enjoying all He has to offer.
Remember Jesus’ promise: ‘The thief cometh not, but for (except) to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:10)
That simply shows my people, that we can’t have abundant life, unless Jesus dwells in us abundantly. Let’s ponder on and consider all these things today, then take them all to God in prayer to help us fix whatever needs fixing. That’s wisdom from on high… therefore of the highest order! Much LOVE!
…oh to be meek and humble…hungry and thirsty for righteousness…so that our eyes can be opened…and cause us to make a sincere resolution…to try and change the world today…
28 Sep 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a relationship with God, afterthought, agnostics, almighty god, bow down, brain, children of Israel, Christ's Church, Creator of the universe, cry out to God, disaster, foolish, foolishness, footnote, freedom of choice, generosity, God's higher plans and purposes, gold, good things flow from God, graven images, heathen, heaven above, heavenly wisdom, help, Hit Parade, idolatrous ways, idolatry, idols, iniquity, jealous god, likeness of any thing, LOVE, mercy, my thoughts are higher than your thoughts, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are higher that your ways, my ways are not your ways, Oh god, one God, programmed from creation, punishing, reason, righteousness., serve God, shield, silver, simple language, spades, Ten Commandments, the Beatles, the body of Christ, the earth beneath, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, things of the world, think, true believers, trust in the Lord, truth, unbelievers, unwise, usurp God's rightful place, work of men's hands, worship
Psalm 135:15. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Hear ye, hear ye my people, the Lord our God is ONE God, powerful and mighty, ruling His universe from the beginning of time, even unto eternity! And those who worship Him, must do so in righteousness and truth. And furthermore, He DOESN’T need man, but man NEEDS Him!
Please note that we are the only one of His creations that has a brain, that can think and reason – although sometimes I wonder about that – all else moves by instinct. That means the Lord made us for a higher purpose than the other living, breathing and moving organisms.
He made us to have a relationship with Him; both individually and collectively, in the early days as the children of Israel, His chosen people, and in the latter days, as the body of Christ’s church. So how then can we refuse to serve and worship Him, although in His awesome generosity He’s granted us the freedom of choice?
As we noted yesterday, ALL good things flow from Him. And even the not so good things only happen because He allows them, since they suit His higher plans and purposes.
Remember His words: ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Is.55:8-9)
How then Friends, can we be so rebellious and stupid to even consider other supposed gods, much less bow down and worship them eh? Our Bit states it quite plainly: ‘The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.’
And isn’t it interesting that Psalm 115, Trust in God, not in idols, says the same thing. ‘Their idols (the heathen’s) are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. O Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.’ (Ps.115:4-9)
And that’s truth in spades my brethren! Those verses today from Psalm 115 are just a tad more expansive than the ones we read yesterday, 15-18 from Psalm 135. But they surely do contain the same important information; that the work of man’s hands can NEVER be gods to be worshipped!
Oh my people, from the very beginning, our God warned against worshipping other deities. His first commandments to the Israelites, His chosen people, were: ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to (worship) them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting (punishing) the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that LOVE me, and keep my commandments.’ (Ex.20:3-6)
Oh Friends, what’s in those commandments not to understand eh? As always, our God speaks in plain, simple, straightforward language. Therefore, if we consider ourselves true believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, how can we in all conscience then justify placing the things of the world before and above Him, as we so obviously do?
Many of us treat God as a footnote, an afterthought, instead of the main frame, the first and most important consideration, which is His rightful place. But when disaster suddenly befalls us – that includes the unbelievers, the agnostics, the don’t care and every other group – the first words to come flying out of our mouths are always: ‘Oh God!’
Now why do we naturally cry out to a God who either doesn’t exist, and/or we don’t believe in eh? That’s because we’ve been programmed from creation, in the depths of our souls that THERE IS A GOD!
Ah Friends, it’s a very unwise and foolish life we live when we don’t put Almighty God and His concerns first and foremost in our lives! There are just no other terms for it. We just have to call a spade, what it is, a spade. No dancing around the subject will change or make it better.
The only way to improve the situation is to turn away from the things that we consider more important than God, and put Him in His rightful spot; NUMBER ONE on the Hit Parade!
It reminds me of back in the heydays of the Beatles. Every week they would have at least four or five songs in the Top Ten. Now our God is much greater than them, that’s why He deserves ALL TEN SPOTS on our Hit Parade, featuring His Ten Commandments! Anything les than that is idolatry, in other words pure foolishness! Nuff said, mih breddren!
Today, I’m therefore asking us all to please consider, seriously ponder our idolatrous ways, and ask the merciful and forgiving God we worship to help us bring them into line with His thinking. That’s heavenly wisdom, my people! Much LOVE!
…simple logic dictates that the Creator of the universe and all therein…is the undisputed Head Honcho of the universe and all things therein…NO ONE can usurp His rightful place…Elementary, my dear Watson… (smile)
25 Aug 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a clean heart, a good man, abundance of the heart, adulteries, awesome package, blasphemy, bodies, calamity, centre of the personality, condemns us, coveteousness, daily blessings, daily bread, deceit, deceitful, defiles man, depths of our souls, dietary laws, digestive tract, diligence, essence of human sin, ever-faithful, evil, evil eye, evil things, evil thoughts, evil treasure, exorbitant price, faithfulness, foolishness, forgiveness, fornication, fountainhead of life, full of evil, fullness of hearts, futility, generosity, generous, good and corrupt fruit, good things, good treasure of the heart, honesty, incurably sick, issues of life, jehovah god, kind of heart, lasciviousness, law of God, licentiousness, LOVE the Lord with all our hearts, loving kindness, madness, minds, mischief, moral consciousness, moral life, murder, new mercy, Old Testament, perversity, pride, purifying the heart, religion, remedy, ritual observances, seat of conscious life, seat of the intellect, seeking spiritual salvation, selfishness, serving, souls, sows discord, spiritual life, spirituality, theft, theology, upright hearts, wicked, wickedness, wildfire, wisdom, worshipping, worthless man
Jeremiah 17:9. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (incurably sick): who can know it?
Oh Friends, morning is breaking, just like all those other mornings of the past! And to sweeten matters, God’s daily blessings are also being prepared anew – no stale stuff – as has been done each and every day, right down through the ages. So our daily bread is on its way, accompanied by new mercy and forgiveness. What an awesome package that is my people!
And all God’s children declared a loud, joyous and grateful: ‘Thank You Lord for Your overwhelming generosity and LOVING-kindness! We LOVE You Lord, and praise Your Holy Name! Please help us to continue serving and worshipping You with fullness of hearts, souls, bodies and minds. Amen.’
Yes my Friends, our God is ever-faithful and generous to us, although we don’t deserve it. But that’s just the kind of Deity He is; that’s just the kind of heart He possesses. The problem though is that our honesty and faithfulness cannot be guaranteed. For as our Bit so wisely declares: ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (incurably sick): who can know it?’
And the answer to that rather imposing question my brethren, is ONLY Jehovah God!
That’s because our hearts are naturally inclined to deceit and selfishness. It can get so bad, that at times we even fool ourselves, thinking that we have such wonderful and upright hearts, only to later discover the true wickedness buried deep in them.
Cousin Sol, in describing a worthless and wicked man, said it a long time ago. ‘Frowardness (perversity) is in his heart, he deviseth mischief (evil) continually; he soweth discord. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.’ (Prov.6:14-15)
And sadly Friends, that’s a rather apt and appropriate description of a great number of humans on God’s great earth, including many so-called believers. No wonder our world is in the sorry state it’s in!
Jesus Himself, on the subject of good and corrupt fruit, had this to say re our hearts. ‘O generation (brood, offspring) of vipers, how can ye being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.’ (Matt.12:34-35)
And if anybody should know about that sort of thing, it’s certainly Jesus!
Then later on, in explaining what defiles, Jesus says: ‘That which cometh out of the man defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness (licentiousness), an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.’ (Mark 7:20-23)
Ah mih people, I guess Jesus condemns us all right there, since we all are guilty of at least one or more of those misdeed, and they all stem from what’s happening down in the depths of our souls.
Now listen to the scholars: ‘Many apparently thought that the food itself forbidden by parts of the Old Testament (see, e.g. Lev.11) rendered the eater unclean. Jesus is not challenging the accuracy of the Old Testament. He is pointing out that what one produces from, not what he takes into, himself is the essence of the human sin.
In context, Jesus is pointing out the futility of seeking spiritual salvation by means of ritual observances, like dietary laws, which are incapable of purifying the heart (i.e., the moral life) A clean heart is something different from a properly cared for digestive tract.’
And while declaring that all things come to the righteous and to the wicked, the Preacher imparts this bit of wisdom. ‘This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.’ (Eccl. 9:3)
But why is the heart so maligned eh? That’s partly because as the scholars explain: ‘Heart could often be translated “mind” in the book. Since the Hebrews had no separate word for “mind,” the word “heart” often served to represent the seat of the intellect. The key to the whole man is his mind. Whatever captures the mind captures the man.
The Old Testament word ‘heart’ often refers to the physical organ of the circulatory system. Both Testaments also see the heart figuratively as the centre of the personality or spiritual life. The heart is the seat of intellect, emotions, will, and moral consciousness. It is the personality which has that extraordinary ability to perceive itself.
The heart is presented as the seat of conscious life and the fountainhead of life. Illustration: Jesus taught that sin came out of the heart of people, thus defiling them (Mark 7:21-23). Yet after conversion, one of the characteristics of Christians is that they have the law of God written in their hearts. (Heb.8:8-12). Application: Christians should LOVE the Lord with all their hearts (Matt.22:37). (First ref. Gen.6:5; Primary ref. Prov.4:23; cf. Rom.2:15)
Please note that I’ve quoted several of the references the scholars gave us, so you shouldn’t have any problems reading the rest. (smile) Remember though that the references are for our benefit; to help us better understand the scriptures.
And we’ll end with this rather appropriate reference from Cousin Sol. ‘Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.’ (Prov.4:23)
Yes Friends, it all begins in the heart and the mind, and then spreads like wildfire after that! So to avoid all the evil and ungodly things that we can become involved in to our detriment, we need to guard our thinking and emotions very carefully, otherwise we’ll certainly get caught up in plenty calamity.
And that definitely doesn’t smack of that most worthwhile attribute called wisdom. So let’s consider ourselves warned. Much LOVE!.
..to him that hath ears…let him hear…or else he’ll pay an exorbitant price for his disobedience…
21 Jul 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: blessed, blessed on earth, bountiful eye, bread, cheerful giver, do good, due season, enthusiasm, everlasting truth, forgiveness, further God's kingdom, generosity, generous soul, God is not mocked, God's approval, God's goodness, God's LOVING embrace, good deeds, goodness, he that thinks of the poor, he that waters, household of faith, human affection, illness, jamaica gleaner newspaper, linked to Jesus, living God, lose heart, LOVE, material rewards, merciful, mercy, move mountains, my needs fulfilled, one true God, passion, pity, positivie attributes, Praise the Lord, prosperous, protection from enemies, pure and blamesless hearts, reap corruption, reap eternal life, richly blessed, right hearts, right motives, sickbed, sorrows turned to joy, sow to the flesh, sow to the Spirit, spirituality, summer, surrender to God, the cockles of God's heart, the hands of god, the hands of poverty, the helpless, the less fortunate, the Lord strengthens, the needy, the orphan, the poor, the powerless, the sick, the stranger, the widow, today's gem, well doing, wise, worthy of praise, you reap what you sow
Proverbs 11:25. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
Ah Friends, at last some decent summer weather! Yes, it’s still warm, but not hot and humid, now in the mid 20’s instead of the 30’s, with a cool, refreshing breeze to minimize the heat. That’s what we finally had yesterday, and are likely to have for the next few days. All the seasons have their good points, but it’s when they get to the extremes, that they lose the human affection. (smile)
Anyway, here’s a quote I read today in a Jamaica Gleaner Newspaper of two weeks ago. It’s taken from something called ‘The Hands of Poverty,’ by Oliver Lawrence. I don’t know if it’s a poem or a book, because I couldn’t find anything about the title or the author on the Internet.
The Gleaner had it under the heading of Today’s Gem. ‘Now from the hands of poverty, I have passed. But from the hands of God, I will never depart. For in Him, my sorrows turned to joy, and my needs, He gladly fulfilled.’
And that quote Friends, is indeed a real gem! Those few words tell us how our lives change for the better once we’ve willingly surrendered ourselves to the LOVING embrace of the living God Jehovah. On our own, we’re nothing, but linked to Jesus….oh my, my, then we can move mountains, do the naturally impossible.
And turning to our Bit, we glean more everlasting truth, re our association with the ONE TRUE GOD of the universe. ‘The liberal (generous) soul shall be made fat (rich, prosperous): and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.’
All of that stems from one law that God designed the universe on; what you sow, the same you shall reap. Therefore my people, if we are generous in what we have and give, then the same generosity, oftimes double in God’s goodness and approval is returned to us.
Hear how Bruh David puts it in Palm 41; Abuse and assurance. ‘Blessed is he that considereth the poor (the helpless or 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 (of illness): thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness (restore him in his sickbed).’ (Ps.41:1-3)
Yuh see people, it’s not only material rewards we’re liable to receive, but also physical protection from our enemies and from sickness. And all God’s children declared a loud and thankful, ‘Praise the Lord!’
And yuh better believe Friends that He is definitely worthy of much praise, much more than we give Him!
Remember too, yesterday, the scholars mentioned Proverbs 22:9, re Bruh Paul’s statement that God LOVES a cheerful giver. (2 Cor.9:7) I don’t know if any of you took the time to look it up, but here it is. ‘He that hath a bountiful (generous) eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.’ (Prov.22:9)
And these other wise words of Cousin Sol also fall into that category. ‘He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.’ (Prov.19:17)
Yes my fellow believers, when we give generously and willingly, it warms the cockles of God’s heart, because that’s the kind of Being He is, and in return He rewards us for helping those less fortunate than us.
Remember too, our God is very interested, is a big booster of the poor, the stranger, the widow, the orphan, the sick, the needy, the powerless and helpless. And anyone who goes out of their way to help any of those unfortunates will be richly blessed by God.
But note though, the motives, the state of our hearts must be right, and we mustn’t be only doing the good deeds to get rewards, but feel a genuine need to help the needy.
Now hear Bruh Paul as he talks to the Galatians on the subject. ‘Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (do not lose heart). And as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.’ (Gal.6:7-10)
Oh my brethren, those words spoken so long ago, still hold true even today! That’s because our God and His basic philosophy doesn’t change! From day one, He’s decreed that what we sow, we’ll reap, and that principle will continue until eternity.
So please, let’s wise up and start sowing good seeds out of pure and blameless hearts nuh. It’s the only way we’ll bring others to Christ and thus further His kingdom. And just in case you didn’t know or realize it, that’s one of our major purposes here on planet earth. (smile)
So let’s get the passion, the LOVE, the enthusiasm, the goodness, the mercy, the forgiveness and all the other positive attributes of Jesus going nuh Friends! For then, and only then, will we become worthy of the title…wise. Much LOVE!
…blessed are the merciful…for they shall obtain mercy… (Matt.5:7)
24 Feb 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: bitterness, choke hold, christianity, cursing, destruction, faithfulness, fallen creation, forgiveness, generosity, God's faithfulness, heartaches, heavenly hosts, human condition, justice, loving, mercy, misery, mornng by morning, Most High God, new mercies, pain, praise and thanksgiving, religion, sadness, saviour jesus christ, sincerity, spirituality, tears, testimony, trust, truth, worship
Psalm 5:9. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
And yet another glorious day in the life begins my Friends, so let’s start it with some thanks and praise nuh. Let’s sing a verse of the old hymn that could probably be called ‘Old Faithful’ because it’s been around for a long time and whenever we sing it, it also regenerates our faith in the faithfulness and trustworthiness of our Wonderful God. Sing with me: ‘Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All that I needed, thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.’ And isn’t that the awesome truth my fellow believers! We can all attest to the faithfulness of God in our lives; in the past, the present, and if we continue clinging to Him, also in the future. He’s just that kind of LOVING, trusting, generous and merciful God to all those who serve and worship Him in truth and sincerity. And all God’s people loudly and joyously declared: ‘All praise and thanksgiving be unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who made the earth, heavens, and all therein, and who controls it with LOVE, mercy, justice and forgiveness! Oh Lord, we your humble servants truly LOVE You, and this Sunday morning we bless and praise Your Most Holy Name! Amen.’ Oh Friends, did you see the big smiles on the faces of our heavenly Father and our Saviour, Jesus Christ as those heartfelt prayers reached up to heaven? Even the heavenly hosts were smiling and adding their own ‘Praise the Lord! For He is good and merciful and forgiving!’ Ah mih bredden, if there could only be such smiles and happiness down here on earth, instead of the many frowns, heartaches, sadness, tears and pain that currently envelop our world, that have us in an ever tightening choke hold. But I guess that’s the price we have to pay for being a fallen creation. And sadly, we’re not helping the situation by consciously steering our lives to the sinful side of our nature, instead of the righteous and godly side. We all have that pocket in our souls permanently reserved for our Maker, which nothing or no one else can fill, but unless we consciously venture to fill it with Him, our lives will end up a total mess. And if you don’t believe me, just take a look around at our society with so many people hurting and searching for relief from their many sorrows. Unfortunately though, they are searching in the wrong places, heading in the wrong direction. They’re turning to manmade aids; drugs, booze, shrinks etc, which are not helping, but making them worse, increasing their pain and sorrows. Ah Friends, there’s only one antidote for the human state, one prescription to ease his pain and suffering: that’s Almighty God, his Maker and Controller! And until we realize that and turn back to Him in droves, just like we’ve turned away in droves, the human state will remain one of exceedingly vile, evil, ungodly conditions. Tragic loss, pain and ‘sufferation’ will continue to be his unenviable lot. That brings us to our very appropriate Bit: ‘For there is no faithfulness (uprightness) in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness (destruction); their throat is an open sepulchre (tomb); they flatter with their tongue.’ And isn’t that the undeniable truth about the state of our society my fellow believers? It sure is! Now let me share a testimony of our Lord’s delightful faithfulness. When I began writing today, I had no clue what I was going to write about. I had not even opened the Good Book to look for a Bit. I just had the verse of the ‘Old Faithful’ Hymn written on a piece of paper, and contrary to my usual method of writing, where I do a rough copy on paper first, I just began writing on the computer and the words and ideas just flowed, so I continued, until I got to the unenviable lot of humans. Then I began chuckling, asked the Lord to guide me to an appropriate Bit, and opened my Bible. And, lo and behold, according to His great faithfulness, I found one in less than five minutes. Just goes to show Friends, that if we genuinely seek our God, we’ll find Him, and He will answer our prayers, especially where it pertains to His Word. Now let’s turn to some thought provoking scripture to corroborate our contentions. This comes from Bruh Paul’s writing to the Romans. ‘There is none righteous, No, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre (grave); with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ (Rom.3″10-18) Oh Friends, doesn’t that describe our world to a T? It certainly does. Bruh Paul uses his vast knowledge of the scriptures, using various bits and pieces to highlight our insufficiency and sad, degenerate state. Listen to the scholars comment on that passage. ‘Paul quotes scripture to prove universal guilt. Scripture, not Paul, is the judge. See Psalm 5:9; 10:7; 14:1-3; 140:3; Isaiah 59:7-8’ Those are some of the scriptures Bruh Paul uses in that very revealing section of Romans. And rather appropriately, just as we began, we’ll end with a glowing testimony from Isaiah on the Lord’s faithfulness. ‘O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.’ (Is.25:1) And that’s the gospel truth my brethren! So let’s go out now and do as that great prophet just said; praise and exalt the name of the Most High God Jehovah, for it is right and meet so to do. Much LOVE!…only in the faithfulness of our heavenly Father…can man put absolute trust…
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