06 May 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adversity, be of good cheer, bowing down, christ jesus, Christian persecution, coming back strong through faith, crown of righteousness, determines whether, for the prize, giving up, halfway home, i have overcome the world, I press toward the mark, in the world, John Maxwell, knowing Christ and his resurrection, learning from our problems, life-changing encounter, move forward in faith, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, not turning back, pandemic, peace, personal satisfaction, positive attitude, set a good tone, stoning of Stephen, the believer's earthly goal, the breath of life, the high calling of God, the Lord accosted him, the road to Damascus, the way you deal, thou good and faithful servant, to a glorious future with Jesus, trials, tribulations, Wednesday Wail, welcome home, with the worst, you get the best
Philippians 3:14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
So it’s a fine looking Wednesday…what are we up to today eh friends and fellow saints in Christ? I do hope we said something sensible and worthwhile to the Almighty when we arose this morning, so we could set a good tone for our day and get His perspective on it all. And sadly this morning, I must admit that I find myself in the writer’s worst position; having a lot to say, but yet having nothing worthwhile saying. (smile) But then, as I was just sifting the numerous pieces of paper on my desk with oodles of things to say, I came across this saying attributed to John Maxwell, the famous American author, speaker and pastor.
He reputedly said that ‘The way you deal with the worst determines whether you get the best.’ Now that might sound a bit confusing and sort of backwards, but when you look at it carefully, it does make some sense. All it’s really saying is the way we deal with the worst things in our lives, the adversity and trials and tribulations through which we all will and must go through, will basically determine the outcome. And that’s quite true; the way we handle our failures and disappointments, the rough times, like now in this current pandemic.
There’s a mighty difference in results between bowing down and giving up, or learning from our problems and coming back strong through our faith and the faithful promises of our great God. It’s all about our attitude towards our problems my people. And when we have this marvellous promise and guidance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we ought not to give up, but have our backbones and bellies strengthened and ready for another run at life. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)
Mama Mia! What a wonderful scripture of encouragement. Yes, I know it’s easier said than done, but the good things about those encouraging scriptures is that the more often we practice them and put them into action, the easier the next difficulty becomes. It’s like they say; practice makes perfect! And I think we have a perfect example of this in the life of Bruh Paul. He was amongst the best educated and wealthy and powerful young men in Israel, with an astonishing zeal to persecute Christians.
But after his life-changing encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, (Acts 9) he became rather obedient to Christ, counting all those other worldly supposedly important things ‘dung, that I may win Christ.’ (Phil. 3:8) And in the verse before that He states: ‘But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.’ (Phil. 3:7) So you see in one of Bruh Paul’s worst times in his early days, being knocked off his horse or mule or donkey, (smile) made blind and simply told by Jesus, to go to Damascus and he’d be told what to do, (Acts 9:6) he could have kicked up a fuss, and not obeyed, and his life would never have amounted to what it finally amounted to.
Remember, this was the man who instigated and encouraged a lot of Christian persecution and abuse, including the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:54-60), and furthermore, he was on his way to Damascus to persecute believers, when the Lord accosted him, who then became the great apostle spreading the gospel of Christ to us, the Gentile world. And look at all the ‘suffereration’ and persecution he went through on Christ’s behalf, to preach the gospel. He did not let them bother him, but rather took them in stride, being assured that the Lord would look after him.
From one who had not faith at all, to one who had probably more faith than most, is certainly a mighty leap, but it did not come easy, and it was only made possible by the tough times he went through, and how he handled them. His stated goal was : “That I may know him (Christ), and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made comfortable unto his death.’ (Phil. 3:10) And he sincerely pursued that goal all his apostolic life. And I think that all believers should set before them, these words written to the church at Philippi, as our basic goal.
‘Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: (knowing Christ and His resurrection): but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 3:13-14) Yes friends, as believers we are all need to move forward in the faith, and we cannot allow the baggage of the past to keep us back. We all have a high calling in Christ, and need to keep pressing forward towards our mark.
And the scholars offer these explanations. ‘3:14. The mark is the objective of verses 10 and 11 (i.e., knowing Christ). The prize is the personal satisfaction of having attained it, as well as the divine commendation and reward to be granted in heaven for having reached this goal on earth. The high calling of God is the divine summons extended to the believer for salvation.’ Ah mih people, a lot of what happens to us in this life is determined by how we respond to life. And as true believers, we’re required to respond to it with a faithful and positive attitude.
Just look at all the tough times people like Bruh Joseph, Bruh David, Moses, Job and Abraham went through, a lot of it unfair and unjust, but they all stood strong in the Lord and kept a good attitude, knowing that the Lord would eventually see them through. That’s the strong faith and trust in Almighty God that we need to show in these tremulous end times if we want to be real ambassadors for Christ! Now let’s go home declaring (yeahhh!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the world know of our sincere faith and trust in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
As one strong voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And will it ever be glorious when the Lord welcomes us home with these marvellous words; ‘Welcome home thou good and faithful servant!’ Much LOVE!
…receiving heaven’s crown of righteousness…should be the believer’s earthly goal…
P.S. It’s a good thing I kept a good attitude when I didn’t know what to write. (smile) Much LOVE!
30 Mar 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Anselm, aspires to inspire, blessings, comes into the world, courage to continue, failure, failure is not fatal, fools, friend, giving up, God is light, God's attribute, gospel truth, growing in Christ, in him is no darkness, Jesus saved us, keep on learning, lights every man, looking for love, LOVE, pick sense from nonsense, rest on the plateau, say something, settling down, shut up, social media, something that finds you, something to say, something you find, success is not final, sweet Tobago, thanks and praise, the duchess worried, the Holy Spirit, the true light, walk in darkness, walk in light, wisdom, wise men speak
John 1:9. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
And then it was Saturday, a day of rest. All the confusion of getting from there to here and settling down in Sweet Tobago has finally gotten to me. (smile) Would you believe I was up around 7, had coffee on the porch, gave some thanks and praise for all my many blessings, then went back to bed? That had the duchess worried about me because that’s not my style.
And would you believe that I got up again around 9, had coffee again, and I can go back to bed again? But no! I am going to stand up strong and write the Bit before going back to bed, it is already late, can’t allow it to be much later. And with all that jawing, (smile) since it’s Saturday, let’s turn to the quotes we received from our friend Anselm this week, as he sincerely aspires us for a better tomorrow.
And this first one is very interesting and applicable to our lives as true believers in Jesus Christ: ‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.’ Yeh friends, when we achieve success in whatever walk of life, that is not our final pinnacle, we don’t just stop there and rest on that plateau, but we keep on learning and attempt to have more success, for resting on our laurels just gives the enemy a brighter spot in our lives.
As true believers, we need to keep growing in Christ until the day He takes us home. And we all know that what we term failure is not the end, but just the beginning of getting up and starting again. Remember there are no words in Jesus’ vocabulary like ‘failure’ and ‘giving up!’ And He imbues us, through His Holy Spirit with the courage to carry on. So we are not lacking in any way!
Then there’s this: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ And that’s the living truth my people! When we as good and righteous men do nothing to rectify a wrong situation, then the evil people win! Oh, we often say that it’s not our business and we’re not going to get involved, but what yuh think happens when we don’t eh? The bad guys win! No decision is a decision!
That brings us to this interesting quote: ‘Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.’ And isn’t that the awesome truth! Just look at the amount of nonsense that fools are talking over social media nowadays eh! It’s appalling, like we have no life unless we’re totally involved in it. But all power be to them yes, I beg to refrain from it! I talk enough foolishness without spreading it on all the forms of social media that we have nowadays. (smile) Oh, how our society would be greatly improved if some of us would just shut up!
And the next quote says: ‘LOVE isn’t something you find. LOVE is something that finds you.’ And I guess there’s some truth to that, because ofttimes when we go searching for LOVE we don’t find it, but it’s at the most unexpected and unsuspecting times that LOVE falls right in out laps! I’m sure many of us have fallen in LOVE when we least expected it, with people we’ve least expected to fall in LOVE with! (smile) But that’s the nature of LOVE; God’s greatest attribute! It can hit you at any time, in any place, with anyone! Glory to God!
And the last quote says: ‘It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.’ And that my friends is the God-awesome truth! When our world and circumstances are the darkest, that’s when we have to focus most intently and intensely on the light that’s there in our souls, but hidden from us just then. The name of that light that’s always there is Jesus! Yes friends, as John says: ‘That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.’
Yes my brethren, even if you profess not to believe in Jesus, His light has been branded, burnished into your soul on the day you came to be. There’s a li’l pocket in each of us which can only be filled by God, and in there is that true light that shines at the end of the tunnel, we just have to seek it with all our hearts, souls, bodies and minds, it doesn’t just show up, and even if it should, we still have to receive it and accept it, that’s a condition of having the light shine in our lives.
And now listen to these fateful words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the subject of the Light. ‘Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light…’ (John 12:35-36)
There you have it friends, Jesus declaring that He was the Light of the world! And we all know that Jesus does not, cannot lie, so that must be gospel truth! And His wise advice to the people of His time, to walk in the light, has also been given to us in these turbulent and very strife filled times. However, just like the people of Jesus’ day refused to accept His advice, in like manner, a whole lot of us nowadays are also refusing to accept that heavenly wisdom.
Chuh! How foolish that is my people, because Jesus is the ONLY ONE who can shine true light on our dark times. But I guess until we really reach the end of our rope, we don’t consider it important to turn to Jesus for help. But that’s so unwise my brethren, because the Father made us, Jesus saved us, and the Holy Spirit dwells in us to show us the way to the true Light. You can’t get away from those facts my brethren, so please let’s make up our minds to seek the true light which will brighten our world for ever and ever nuh! That’s wisdom at its brightest! Much LOVE!
…God is light…in him is no darkness at all… (1 John 1:5)
P.S. Yes, it is late and long, and probably a tad ditzy too, (smile) but I know that with the wisdom of Jesus indwelling you, you can pick sense from nonsense! (smile) Much LOVE!
14 Jun 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a sheep before shearers, afflicted, as a lamb to the slaughter, atonement, charitable organizations, Christ's sacrifice, church, come unto me, compassionate heart, complaint, courage, creativity, curse, Daily Bread Devotionals, damage, disasters, do God's will, down and out, dumb, electricity, faithful believers, floods, Florida Keys, for the sake of another, generously, give, give God thanks, given unto you, giving up, glory hallelujah, God's economics, good measure, government, great invitation, greatest sacrifice, greedy, heavy laden, hoard, humility, hurricanes, I will give you rest, in a positive manner, labour, measured to you again, money, motivates us, nature of man, needy, negative circumstances, negative stuff, negative word, no one understands like Jesus, opened not his mouth, oppressed, personally testify, pressed down, Puerto Rico, running over, sacrifice, sacrifice ourselves for others, same measure you mete, self-control, self-discipline, selfish, shaken together, share with others, stingily, succour, sunny days, supposed neighbours, talents, the living truth, the Love of Christ, thunderstorm, Thursday's Blessings, time, tornadoes, trailer parks, trials, tribulations, trying conditions, urgent, volcanoes, wildfires, windstorm, wisdom
Isaiah 53:7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
‘Sunny days are here again! Glory Hallelujah!’ Yeh friends, it’s sunny and beautiful once again, although yesterday did turn out nicely, except that in the afternoon a mild thunderstorm swept through the area leaving a devastating windstorm in its wake.
Ah Lord eh! The thunderstorm wasn’t bad, but the wind provoked the region all evening, late into the night, blowing down stuff and causing a fair amount of damage. Thankfully my property didn’t seem to suffer any damage this time, as the last windstorm we had blew down a part of my fence.
And if that’s the extent of our disasters, then let us give God much thanks and plenty glory yes, because so many others are undergoing much worse disasters, like floods, volcanoes and wildfires, and the tornado and hurricane seasons will soon be upon us in full force, so we have a lot of negative stuff to look forward to.
And I was just reading that a lot of people in Puerto Rico and the Florida Keys are still living in very trying conditions, without electricity, in rundown trailer parks etc, nine months after the last hurricane devastated their areas. How sad is that eh friends? Where is the government…and the church…and we, the supposed neighbours… and the many charitable organizations that are constantly collecting money from us eh?
I don’t know the answers nuh friends, but I do know that in the LOVE of Christ, our fellow men and women should not be living in such trying conditions through no fault of their own. And to help alleviate our concerns, I have two seminal quotes from the Daily Bread Devotionals. The first says ‘No one understands like Jesus.’
And isn’t that the living truth my people! Nobody understands our trials and tribulations like Jesus because He experienced them too in His earthly sojourn. So in times when our small, finite understanding fails us, He is the One we need to go to and just lay all our burdens before Him.
Remember what He said in His Great Invitation: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ (Matt.11:28) And He was not joking my brethren, but being very serious. There’s no other Being in man’s history who has ever made such a declaration! That’s because no other has ever had the parts to fulfill it. But Jesus does my people.
So whenever we’re down and out and don’t know what to do, please turn to Him, that’s the wisest thing to do, and He will give you succour. I can personally testify to that. He might not drive away the negative circumstances, but He will certainly give you the wherewithal to bear them in a positive manner. And sometimes that’s all we really need if we are true and faithful believers.
And the second quote is: ‘Christ’s sacrifice of Himself, motivates us to sacrifice ourselves for others.’ Or at least it ought to. Unfortunately though in too many cases it does not. In fact, the word ‘sacrifice’ is not one that’s used much in our everyday lives. Some people don’t even know it, or know what it means.
And for our information, here is how the dictionary defines it. ‘Sacrifice: Giving up of thing for the sake of another that is higher or more urgent, thing thus given up, loss thus entailed.’ Yeh friends, it means giving up something, losing something for somebody else’s sake, because their need is more urgent than ours.
And what’s the greatest sacrifice ever made on the face of this earth? That of Jesus giving up His sinless, holy life for our sinful, disgusting one, so that atonement could be made for our sorrowful, sinful state. The Good Book declares: ‘He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.’
Yeh friends, that’s how Jesus died on our behalf; without a word of murmur or complaint. So why is it so difficult for us to give up much simpler stuff for others eh? Why are we so greedy and like to hoard stuff for ourselves, even when we sometimes have no use for them?
I guess that’s the natural nature of man, especially in today’s selfish and greedy world, and the LOVE and sacrifice of Jesus have not yet truly infiltrated our hearts and souls so that we can become more like Him, generous to a fault. But we LOVE to get, to receive. Oh brother do we ever!
But please remember these immortal words of Jesus: ‘Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom (pocket). For with the same measure that you mete (use to give) withal it shall be measured to you again.’ (Luke 6:38)
Yeh friends, that means if you give stingily, you will be given back stingily. However if you give generously, you will receive generously. That’s just the law of God’s economics. So please let us start giving generously nuh, of our time, talents and money, so that we can receive generously from God and man too. It’s only wisdom friends.
Now let’s go home declaring our Thursday Blessings, that the Lord has so generously bestowed on us, although we don’t deserve many of them. But that’s the kind of God He is! So all together now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance!
I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Now please note that the Lord didn’t give us all of that to hoard for ourselves, but to go out and share with the less fortunate. So let’s do His will on that nuh, so that He can bless us even more. Much LOVE!
…it is so much better…to give than to receive…but we must also learn how to receive…in humility…
24 Feb 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: all things are possible, alone, anger, Anselm, baptized, bond, bone-chilling cold, Christians, Church of Christ, cliches, cliques, come together, defeated, dissension, disunity, diversion, duties, enjoyed with others, evil, evil cohorts, fighting, find God's purpose, finish line, flooding, free, functions, Gentiles, get the good, giving up, glorious truth, God's calling, individuals, Jews, looking at the past, Lucifer, mere words, need to do now, new interpretations, no man is an island, not one member, One Body, one spirit, original gospel, philosophy, ponder, power struggles, rain, receive Christ, resentment, reward, rule the world, significant aspect, slave, snow, solidarity, spring-like break, stranglehold, success, success is empty, surrounded by winners, the believer, the body, truth, U.S. Midwest, U.S. South, unity, walk with god, without the bad, you can't go it alone
1 Corinthians 12:14. For the body is not one member, but many.
Ah friends, how nice it is to get a spring-like break amidst the bone-chilling cold of winter that’s been dogging us for some time now! And this past week has certainly been like that in my area. The temps have mainly been above freezing and it might even continue like that for the next couple of days.
But I guess you can’t get the good without the bad, for though it’s been warm, it’s been rainy and cloudy, with flooding in several areas. More rain and flooding are expected this weekend across the U.S. South and Midwest. But I’ll take the rain and whatever, over the snow any day. (smile) That’s possibly because I’m not personally experiencing any flooding. Let’s pray for those who are undergoing that kind of disaster right now my brethren.
And since today is Saturday, it’s time to look at some of the quotes our friend, Anselm, sent us this week, in his heartfelt attempt to inspire us for a better tomorrow. The first one says: ‘You can’t knock on opportunity’s door and not be ready.’ That should be obvious. Why would you be seeking an opportunity if you were not ready and able to undertake it eh? But unfortunately, a lot of us misguidedly do it.
And the second tells us: ‘Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.’ What glorious truth that is my people! You’re never really defeated until YOU decide to give up! How can you be defeated if you keep on fighting, keep coming back again and again eh?
And that philosophy applies ever so much to Christians, because in our Lord and Saviour’s vocabulary there is NO GIVING UP! Why should there be, when ALL THINGS are possible through Christ? That’s a very significant aspect of the believer’s walk with God, and his ability to grow in Christ’s image. If you don’t believe that, then you’re lost from the very start.
Now listen to this quote. ‘Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.’ Now I don’t know if you need to look so far ahead – possibly take it in smaller increments – but you do need to decide what you’re going to be all about later on in life, so that you can do the stuff that’s necessary to get you there.
However, with the believer, it’s a li’l different. We need to discover God’s calling for our lives, so that we can walk successfully in His will. Yuh see, what we might like to do in the world, is not always what the Lord wants us to do. And as a faithful believer and follower, it behooves us to find God’s purpose and follow it as closely as possible.
And the last quote says: ‘Success is empty if you arrive at the finish line alone. The best reward is to get there surrounded by winners.’ And that’s oh so true! You can’t really enjoy success if you’ve achieved it all by yourself. Success is meant to be enjoyed with others.
In the first place, you will very seldom achieve success if you don’t surround yourself with positive, successful thinking people. That’s why there are clichés like ‘no man is an island’ and ‘you can’t go it alone.’
And Bruh Paul took pains to point out that the church of Christ is one body, though it’s made up of individuals, hence his writing to the church at Corinth that includes our Bit. ‘For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond (slave) or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.’ (1 Cor.12:12-14)
Yeh friends, believers are all a part of ONE BODY; that of Christ; of His Church! Regardless of colour, creed or race, once you receive Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you are baptized with His Spirit that immediately comes to dwell in you, and you become a part of that big body called Christ’s Church.
As Bruh Paul philosophizes to the church at Rome. ‘For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office (function): So we being many, are one body in Christ, and every one (individually) members one of another.’ (Rom.12:4-5)
Ah mih people, in every organization the members have different functions and duties, which holds that organization together. If those members don’t perform their functions in a serious and positive manner, then the organization won’t last long. It’s the same way with Christ’s church. If we, as members, don’t play our individual parts, then the body won’t function as it should.
And that’s exactly what’s happening in Christ’s church right now. There is too much anger and resentment, too many power struggles and cliques, too much dissension and disunity, too much diversion from the original gospel, with people preaching all sorts of different things and filtering in new interpretations as dictated by the world. How can Christ’s church be successful under those conditions eh? NEVER!
That’s why Lucifer and his evil cohorts currently have the world in a stranglehold; they are united, but Christ’s people are not. Yes my fellow believers, until we stop talking and fighting against each other and come together as one, evil will rule the world. Now let’s sit down and ponder that. Is that what we truly want? Much LOVE!
…unity and solidarity should not be mere words in Christ’s church…
P.S. Sorry for the lateness of the Bit. It’s Saturday, so I slept in. (smile) Much LOVE!
16 Dec 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: able to judge, Apotex, at the end of the tunnel, attract great things, Barry Sherman, be wise, being grateful, believers, believing, blessings, chasing the world's wealth, Christ's return, Christ-like, Christian, curses, discerner, dividing asunder, faith, faster than lightning, feed your mind, feel like quitting, find the positive, foul play, friends, generic drug companies, get better, giving up, handle the truth, his word runneth swiftly, intentions of the heart, Isaiah, joints, learning, light, like a sharp sword, living, LOVE, made my mouth, marrow, material wealth, negative thoughts, no-win situation, pay serious attention, Pharma, piercing, positive thoughts, power, powerful, quick, readiness, ruin, run from the truth, sends forth his commandment, shadow of his hand, sharper than any twoedged sword, spoke everything into existence, sword of the Spirit, the truth will set you free, the Word of god, think why you started, thoughts, today, tomorrow, trying
Hebrews 4:12. For the word of God is quick (living), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of (is able to judge) the thoughts and intents (intentions) of the heart.
Ah Lord friends, we never know how our lives will end nuh, that’s why our faith keeps preaching readiness for Christ, whenever He returns, or you depart this earthly life. This fact was sadly brought home by the death of one of Canada’s wealthiest couples, Honey and Barry Sherman.
They were found dead in the basement of their mansion yesterday, with no outstanding evidence of foul play. The mansion was apparently up for sale, around 7million dollars, and a real-estate agent going to prepare for an open house found them. Steups!
Barry Sherman was the founder of Apotex, one of the largest generic drug companies in the world. So once again, it’s been proven that material wealth and power cannot keep you from joining the ranks of the deceased according to your timetable. Please let that be a lesson to some of us who are foolishly chasing the world’s wealth and power. Our condolences go out to the Sherman family.
Now since it’s Saturday, let’s turn to some interesting quotes from our friend Anselm. And the first one hits you like a bullet: ‘When you feel like quitting think about why you started.’ Now that’s telling it like it is, for in almost everything we undertake, there will come a time when things get so difficult that we will think about giving up.
I’m sure Barry Sherman in bringing Apotex to success felt like giving up many times, what with having to fight the big Pharma companies who didn’t want cheap renditions of their drugs flooding the market.
But I’m sure many times too he invoked the basic ideas of this second quote. ‘Everything will get better. Try to find the positive in every bad situation. There will always be light in the end of the tunnel.’ And as we see, there was indeed light at the end as Apotex eventually became successful.
This next quote also contains great truth. ‘Don’t start your day with negative thoughts from yesterday. It will only destroy your wonderful today and ruin your great tomorrow.’ And so many of us unwisely do that and just spoil our day from the get go. That’s why they say: ‘The more you feed your mind with positive thoughts, the more you can attract great things into your life.’ More truth friends!
And finally: ‘Great things happen to those who don’t stop believing, trying, learning, and being grateful.’ That’s a mantra for our Christian faith right there my fellow believers! We have to keep on believing, keep on trying, learning and being grateful for all of God’s goodness, if we want to grow and mature in a Christ-like manner.
And the first exercise in all of that is acknowledging the awesome power of God and His Word as set forth in our Bit. ‘For the word of God is quick (living), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of (is able to judge) the thoughts and intents (intentions) of the heart.’
Yeh friends, when you talk about might and power, there’s ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that beats the word of God. It has to be powerful if it spoke everything into existence. And why so many of us still try to fight it, I really don’t know, because it’s simply a no-win situation.
And if you don’t believe me, remember what Bruh Paul says in Ephesians, re God’s armour: ‘And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’ (Eph.6:17) Oh my brethren, there’s no sword or sword player to match the Word of God when it’s in full stride, in full play!
And the prophet Isaiah, in describing Israel as the Lord’s servant declared: ‘And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me…’ (Is. 49:2) Likewise my fellow believers, our mouths are like sharp swords when we speak the Lord’s word, that’s why we have to be careful when we open our mouths, since we can either use them for blessings or curses.
Our words set the tone for our lives and many of those around us. Even people we’ll never know will be affected, either for good or bad by our words. One of the best examples of that is this Blog; a lot of people whom I don’t know read it, and my statements can affect them in so many ways. That’s why I have to be careful in what I say.
But that doesn’t mean I have to run away from the truth because it might affect some people negatively! Not at all! For Jesus said the truth will set you free, and if you can’t handle the truth then that’s your problem! Anyway friends, I know that all of you can handle the truth, so there’s no need to worry. (smile)
And we’ll end with some interesting words from Psalm 147 – Great is our God and of great power. The psalmist declares with strong conviction: ‘He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth swiftly.’ (Ps.147:15)
Yeh mih people, let’s remember that the word of the Lord is all over the earth and it moves faster than lightning, so please, let’s be wise and pay serious attention to it. Much LOVE!
…the word of God rules…no ifs ands or buts about it…
30 Sep 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a better tomorrow, abhor, acknowledge God, advice, Anselm, as bad as, buckle down, calm.feeling fine, Canadian weather, chasten, consistently, correction, cover all bases, depart from evil, diligently, earthly living, fail, failure is never final, fear the Lord, giving up, God's plan for you, gold, Good Book, grace, have a vision, he shall direct thy paths, health to thy navel, heavenly Father, house work, in all thy ways, intimate fellowship, Jesus Christ, laze around, lean not, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, manual, marrow to thy bones, nothing of any consequence, one-liners, peaceful, possessions, precious jewels, profit, purpose for living, put God's plan into action, run errands, Saturday, scripture 101, silver, stop trying, strength, succeed, success, that's life, thine own understanding, trust in the Lord, truth, understanding, vagaries of our climate, vats, what is your why, windstorm, wine, wisdom, with all thine heart, woke up freezing, work on your gift, you want to breathe
Proverbs 3:5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.
Welcome to a fairly bright Saturday friends! It’s a day some of us like because we can just laze around and do nothing of any consequence, while others abhor it, because they have to do house work and run errands outside.
And who knows what’s going to happen today eh? Just to give you an example of the vagaries of our current climate. Yesterday morning after the little rain fell, at least in my area, because others complained of a good downpour, it was bright and sunny, then by mid afternoon a wicked windstorm blew up and continued for most of the night.
Right now though, it’s so peaceful and calm, you’d never believe the crazy way the trees were dancing yesterday. And if that wasn’t enough, last night I went to bed at an early hour, around 11 – that’s real early by my standards – feeling fine, but a couple of hours later I woke up freezing.
I wasn’t sure whether I was just hungry, or the house was indeed cold, but to cover all bases, I came downstairs, had something to eat and turned on the heat. And now I’m thinking that it must have been both, because at minutes to eight in the morning the temperature is only 6 degrees Celsius in my area.
But that’s our Canadian weather! A few days ago I was blasting chilly wind through the house, today it’s the hot stuff! (smile) Anyway as the song says, ‘That’s life!’ And since it’s Saturday, let’s look at what words of wisdom our friend Anselm graced us with this past week, as he endeavoured to inspire us for a better tomorrow.
And it was even a shorter set of one-liners than last week. So let’s see if I can arrange them in some sort of sequence that makes sense. First off is ‘What is your “Why?” I guess that means what is your purpose for living? What is the plan God has for your life? And He does have a plan for each and every life He creates. But do you know yours?
And then with that gift in mind, you should ‘Have a vision.’ Have a vision of how you are going to put God’s plan into action. And one of the most important aspects of it all is to ‘Work on your gift.’ Yeh friends, we can only get better at anything if we work consistently and diligently at it.
So whatever gift God has given us we have to just buckle down and work on it. With that comes the option to ‘Succeed as bad as you want to breathe.’ That means we must have this awesome desire to do God’s work. Consequently, we’ll ‘Fail our way to success.’
Just keep on doing and doing and doing…until we succeed. For failure is never final, until we stop trying. And we all know that the words ‘giving up’ don’t exist in the vocabulary of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
But the most important part of all that stuff above is to include our heavenly Father in EACH and EVERY aspect of our lives, for He IS interested in ALL THAT WE DO! And furthermore, we won’t be able to do all that we have or want to do without His help. So it only makes sense to involve Him in our everyday lives.
This brings us to our Bit, and some of the best advice in the Good Book, that invaluable manual for earthly living. Listen to Cousin Sol as he declares: ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.’
Oh my brethren, truer words were never spoken! And Cousin Sol just goes on to lay it down with grace and truth. ‘Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones.
Honour the Lord with thy substance (possessions), and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses (vats) shall burst out with new wine.
My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary (detest) his correction: for whom the Lord LOVETH he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise (gain) of it is better than the merchandise (profit) of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.’ (Prov.37:14)
Oh friends, that’s the condensed version of right living right there in those few verses! If we have to read anything at all in the Good Book, those verses should be a priority, because they teach us everything we need to know to live a godly life.
Trust in God and not in our finite, fallible and small minds. Have intimate fellowship with Him. Honour Him in all we do and share what He allows us to have with Him and with others. And don’t get upset when He corrects or punishes us, because He’s only doing so because of His great and awesome LOVE for us.
And therein lies wisdom and understanding, which are more precious and valuable than silver, gold and other precious jewels! And that my brethren, is the lesson for today.
Please, please, let’s learn it and write it deep in our hearts, minds and souls, so that we can observe it each and every day. Much LOVE!
…Scripture 101…look to the Lord for EVERYTHING…in EVERY circumstance…
13 May 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a heart for Jesus, adversity, Anselm's quotes, blessed of my Father, builds our faith, Christian faith, commitment, commune, compassionate, cover the naked, do better, do wrong, downtrodden, easy, easy living, entitlement, evil, falling standards, foundation of the world, free will, giving up, goats, good, hard, healing, helping others, hunger, I was a stranger, I was hungry, I was in prison, I was sick, I was thirsty, Jesus, know better, lazy day, learn to do better, LOVE, naked, on his right hand, pandemic, pointing of the finger, poor, poverty, rampant, righteousness, Saturday, sense of purpose, share thy bread, shared, sheep., smiles, sweet sighs, sympathetic, tender, the glory of the Lord, the name of the game, the tumbling tumbleweeds, tolerant, true religion, unfortunates, vanity, we'll reap what we sow, wickedness, yoke, you came unto me, you clothed me, you gave me drink, you gave me food, you took me in, you visited me
Matthew 25:35. For I was an hungered (hungry), and ye gave me meat (food): I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in.
Ah mih people, our favourite lazy day, Saturday, is here at last! God bless Saturdays! And I see some big smiles and hear some sweet sighs as we just plan on lazing through Saturday, doing as little as possible.
But don’t worry, that’s your entitlement. You are allowed at least one day each week to just commune with yourself and your Maker, while just rolling along with the tumbling tumbleweeds. (smile)
So as we laze along this blessed Saturday morn, let’s check out some of our friend Anselm’s quotes for this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. I like this week’s quotes because they are simple and practical.
Hear this first one: ‘It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.’ Now isn’t that the very truth? It surely is, because in these whatever you may call them times, nobody wants to do anything that’s difficult. Easy living is the name of the game!
And that goes for our Christian faith too. As soon as a lot of believers’ come upon adversity, they are quick to think about giving up. They don’t realize that it’s the adversity that builds our faith. And that’s why our standards are continually falling.
And the second quote says: ‘How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.’ Oh so true my people! It’s just another way of warning us that we’ll reap what we sow, and we need to treat others the way we want to be treated.
This next one sounds like something Granny would say: ‘As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.’ Ah friends, where has that sense of purpose, that commitment to helping others gone eh?
Nowadays it’s predominantly each man for himself, and let the other one get by as best he can. I remember the days when the world wasn’t as prosperous, but there also wasn’t as much hunger and poverty, for we shared whatever little we had with the unfortunates. But today, in a world filled with plenty, hunger and poverty are rampant, pandemic to say the least.
Steups! The Lord must look down from His high heaven and sadly shake His head sometimes, asking Himself, just where did He go wrong. But it wasn’t Him that went wrong it was us, we had too much free will and evil had a stronger pull on us than good.
But hopefully this last quote will help us. ‘Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.’ It’s as simple as that friends, we can’t do better until we know how to do better. So I guess our quest now is to learn how to do better.
And I have to laugh here at the philosophical stuff than Anselm’s quotes bring out every week. But it does the soul a lot of good, gets us thinking a little more than we normally might. It also brings us to our Bit, Jesus immortal words on the topic.
‘For I was an hungered (hungry), and ye gave me meat (food): I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in. Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.’ (Matt.25:35-36)
Yeh friends, that’s the kind of stuff that Jesus is looking for from His followers. If we do those things, then when Jesus comes into His kingdom, we’ll be like the sheep, on His right hand, and not goats on His left. ‘Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ (Matt.25:34)
Oh my brethren, we seem to forget that Jesus came to save the lost, the sick, the hungry, the poor; in other words, those who were having a hard time making it in life. If we go back to Isaiah, where he describes true religion, we’ll see where the Lord rags on Israel for their hypocritical fasting in the first 5 verses of chapter 58.
Then He says: ‘Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal (share) thy bread to (with) the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out (wandering) to thy house?
When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health (healing) shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee: the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward ( rearguard).
Then shalt thou call, and the Lord will answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of these the yoke, the putting forth (pointing) of the finger, and speaking vanity (wickedness).’ (Is.58:6-9)
Oh friends, that’s what true religion is supposed to be about, not the hypocritical rules and regulations that pass for it today. And you’ll see that it’s not only when Jesus came that caring for the poor and downtrodden became a part of our faith.
So let’s get serious about what we’ve said here this morning nuh, and try to do what we know is right, so that at the coming of Jesus’ kingdom, we’ll end up on His right hand and be called blessed. Much LOVE!
…unless we sincerely try to help others…we can’t truly say…we have a heart for Jesus…
21 Feb 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Abraham Isaac and Jacob, Achish, Amalekites, B.S. baffles brains, better late than never, bitter, blocked arteries or veins, captive, cast out, cleanse any infection, David, David encouraged himself, deceits, encourage ourselves, every breath I wake, faith, frailty, giving up, grieved, heifer dust, hits the fan, I am with you always, I live under your power, in the Lord his God, in times of need, infection, inflammation, Israelites, Jehovah Rapha, LOVE, mend what is broken, my friend Jesus, mysterious workings, open, our God is great, Our Healing Prayer, prayer, put no trust in man, recreate me, remove all inflammation, responsibility, root out, Saul, selfishness of man, share His love, succumbing, the beloeved of god, the enemy's lies, the first One, the Good Book, the Great Physician, the healing power of your Spirit, the Lord God Jehovah, the Lord our Healer, the Lord's miraculous, the Philistines, the soul of all the people, to go to bed late is to be up early, tower of faith, trust, Tuesday Mantra, unproductive cells, untenable situation, unto the end of the world, Ziklag
1 Samuel 30:6b. …but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
Ah friends, these real late mornings are a killer yes! Going to bed at five in the morning does do justice to Shakespeare’s saying that to go to bed late is to be up early. (smile)
But as they also say, better late than never. So though we might be somewhat late, we’re not irrelevant. (smile) That’s why they say too, that B.S. baffles brains!
Anyway, on a serious note, let’s begin by offering up an interesting prayer a friend gave me a few days ago. There’s no title to it, but I’ll call it ‘Our Healing Prayer,’ and you’ll see why later on.
So please pray with me. ‘Heavenly father, I call on You right now in a special way. It is through your power that I was created. Every breath I wake, I live under your power. Father, I ask you now to touch me with that same power. For if You created me from nothing, You can recreate me.
Fill me with the healing power of Your Spirit. Cast out anything that should not be in me. Mend what is broken. Root out any unproductive cells, open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild any damaged areas. Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection.
Let the warmth of your healing LOVE pass through my body to make new any unhealthy areas so that my body will function the way You created it to function. And Father restore me to full health in mind, body and spirit so that I may serve You for the rest of my life. I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!’
Now isn’t that just beautiful friends? It surely is! And what I like about it is that it gets right down to the nitty gritty, doesn’t pull any punches, it’s all about healing. And truthfully, nobody needs that kind of healing prayer right now more than me, as so many parts of my body are malfunctioning.
And we all know that our mighty God’s name is Jehovah Rapha – The Lord our Healer. Yes friends, our God is the Great Physician. As the prayer says, if He created us, then he can surely fix us. So He should always be the first One we turn to for healing, in fact for everything. That’s what He sincerely desires of us.
Now let’s turn to our Bit for today: ‘…but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.’
Ah mih people, I don’t know why, but that statement just kept churning in my mind this morning, so I figured the Lord wanted me to write on it. And you know what? It’s a very poignant statement. It occurs in the Good Book when Bruh David was running from Saul, and went to live with the Philistines, who set him up in the city of Ziklag. (1 Sam.27)
Now on one particular occasion, when the Philistines were going to fight Saul and the Israelites, Bruh David and his men lined up with them. But though the Philistine king, Achish trusted Bruh David, his leaders did not, so they sent him back home to Ziklag. (1 Sam.29)
But lo and behold, when David and his men get back to Ziklag, they discover that the Amalekites had struck in their absence and burned the town with fire. Luckily though, they had not slain the inhabitants but carried them away captive, including Bruh David’s two wives and family.
And the first part of the verse that contains our Bit, tells us: ‘And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved (bitter), every man for his sons and daughters.’ (1 Sam.30:6a)
Ah friends, yuh see the great responsibility and the built in frailty of leadership. None of Bruh David’s people considered that he had also lost his sons and daughters, they were only concerned about themselves. It just goes to show that when the heifer dust hits the fan, the true selfishness of man shines through.
And that’s why my people, we keep saying to put no trust in man, but to lay it all in the Lord God our Creator, for He is the ONLY ONE you can trust when the chips fall. Now what would Bruh David have done if he didn’t have the Lord God of his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to fall back on eh? Crapaud smoke ‘im pipe!
Likewise friends, when things get real rough with us, and there seems to be nowhere to turn, we need to have that unconditional trust in our God that will enable us to encourage ourselves in Him. That’s when our faith needs to be ever so strong that we don’t even think about giving up and succumbing to the enemy’s lies and deceits.
And what did Bruh David do in his untenable situation? The only wise and sensible thing; he turned to God in prayer, asking if he should go after the Amalekites or not. The Lord told him to pursue them, and through the Lord’s miraculous and mysterious workings, he found them and destroyed them and got back all his people and his goods. (1 Sam.30:7-20)
Yes my people, our God is great, and if we sincerely seek Him, we will find Him, and He will help us. So please, let’s build that tower of faith nuh, so that in times of need, it will be there to keep us strong in the Lord God Jehovah, our Creator and Provider.
Now let’s go home encouraging ourselves in the Lord by declaring, in all sincerity and truth, our Tuesday Mantra.
As one now: ‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’
And having said that, let’s go out now and put it all into action as our friend, our Lord and Saviour Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!
…believe it when Jesus says……lo…I am with you always…even unto the end of the world… (Matt.28:20b)
SCRIP-BITS 