Today’s Scrip-Bit   24 April 2023 Mark 5:36.

24 Apr 2023 Leave a comment

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

Mark 5:36.      Be not afraid, only believe.

Get to it friends, it’s Monday, the first day of the work week, and hopefully the spiritual renewal and confidence you received yesterday from participating in praise and worship with fellow believers is still running high as you step out to do the Lord’s bidding today, and all this week. (smile) Yes, renewing our trust and confidence in our Creator and refilling our spiritual reservoir are two of the major benefits we receive from going to church. 

However, if you did not get to church yesterday, or you did, but today you’re not feeling up to scratch, your saltiness and light are not at the level you desire, then let’s delve into a few of the many verses of scripture that will put some pep in your step, rebuild your confidence, renew your enthusiasm for Christ and refill your spiritual reservoir. 

And we’ll begin with this favourite verse for the beginning of each day that we enjoy God’s breath of life. ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps. 118:24) Now that’s the number one verse or intention with which we should greet each new day, because the Lord not only desires us to do His will, to worship and praise Him, but most importantly to enjoy doing it. Remember Christ said that He came for us to have life more abundantly, (John 10:10) and what’s the purpose of having an abundant life and not enjoying it eh? No reason whatsoever! 

Now, this next simple but most powerful verse, one of our favourites, should always be close to our lips. It’s these marvellous words of encouragement from Bruh Paul to the church at Philippi. ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’  (Phil. 4:13) Wow mih bredrin! What a mighty scripture that is! Let’s not forget it and always keep it ready to awaken our confidence and courage, for we can indeed do ALL things that Christ desires us to do through the strength that He infuses us with! Remember, He never asks us to do something, then not give us the wherewithal, the anointing and the tools to do it. 

Then we have these powerful words of encouragement and truth to the children of Israel, that Moses enshrined in their memory, as well as ours. ‘Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go before thee: he will not fail thee nor forsake thee.’ (Deut. 31:6) Now that should be one of our foundation scriptures my people, one that our trust and faith in Almighty God should be based upon and bring us confidence and courage whenever we think of it. 

Just imagine nuh, that the Lord God Jehovah, the Creator and Controller of this amazing universe thinks so much of us that He goes before us to lead the way, to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths.(Ps. 119:105) There couldn’t be a greater sense of LOVE and compassion than that! And you can’t have words of encouragement and confidence and not include the wisdom of Cousin Sol. Listen to him as he encourages us to keep the Lord’s commandments, in particular wisdom and knowledge. 

‘My son, let not them depart from thine eyes, keep sound wisdom and discretion: so shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace (favour) to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear (terror), neither of the desolation of (trouble from) the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken (caught).’ (Prov. 3:21-26) 

Those are indeed marvellous words of encouragement my fellow believers, but for them to work, we have to do our part. Yes, all those encouraging and confidence building verses call for true trust, surrender and belief on our part…or they will not work in our lives. It’s of the utmost importance that we write them indelibly in our hearts, then believe them and put them to work when our spirits plummet or fear strikes us. The Lord has provided us with all sorts of good stuff, none greater than salvation and eternal life through Christ Jesus. 

But please, let’s remember the incident when Jesus was on His way to heal the synagogue leader, Jairus’ daughter, when He got waylaid by the woman with the issues of blood, who believed that she would be healed if she could just touch His garments, and thus she pushed through the crowd around Him, and it happened just like she believed. That ought to reassure us that belief is a rather important aspect of our faith. But while Jesus was dealing with the lady, there, He heard someone come up to Jairus and say that his daughter was dead. Jesus though quickly turned to Jairus and said: ‘Be not afraid, only believe.’ (Mark 5:36) 

Yes friends, those are the two most important aspects of our Christian faith; courage and belief. And I have left the best for last. Although there are many more encouraging and confidence building scriptures in the Good Library, these are two of my ‘favouritest’, (smile) because they came straight from the horse’s mouth and brooked no arguments. It’s the Lord God Almighty talking to Joshua when he made him the leader of the Israelites after the death of Moses. 

‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’ (Josh. 1:8-9) 

And my fellow saints, that is exactly what the Lord our God is saying to each one of us today and every day that we draw breath. That’s our blueprint for success right there, from the Master Architect Himself! But just like it is in constructing a building, if the builder doesn’t follow the architect’s plans, then the building won’t turn out the way He designed it. Likewise, if we don’t follow God’s plans for our lives, we won’t achieve the destiny He planned for us. 

Now, let’s go to the throne of grace with confidence, and through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, ask for divine assistance to fix our world. As one voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.  

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And as always, to receive positive answers from heaven, we need to keep our promises! Much LOVE!

…one must know the word…then follow it…before one can be prosperous and successful… 

P.S. Yes friends, the Bit might seem late and long, but please remember that God and His word are always inspiring… and on time! (smile) Much LOVE!  

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ         

Today’s Scrip-Bit   5 June 2022 Acts 2:4.

05 Jun 2022 Leave a comment

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

Acts 2:4.      And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.​

​Sunday oh Sunday! The Lord’s Day! A day of praise and worship, rejuvenation and reassurance! What a blessed day! Especially this Pentecost Sunday when we remember the birth of our church, the memorable day when the Holy Spirit descended from on high and entered the souls of the disciples and other followers of Jesus who were celebrating the Feast of Weeks in Jerusalem. That fulfilled Jesus’ promise to the disciples before He ascended into heaven, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, ‘For John (the Baptist) truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.’ (Acts 1:5) 

Then they wanted to know if Jesus would be coming back then to set up His kingdom. ‘And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power (authority). But ye shall receive power after that (when) the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and in the uttermost parts of the world.’ (Acts1:7-8) Then He was taken up from them. But some fifty days later, in Jerusalem, on this day, two thousand years ago, Christ’s promises were fulfilled. 

The Good Book describes the amazing happening thus: ‘And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord (one purpose in mind) in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven (divided) tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.’ (Acts 2:1-4) 

Yes friends, that was the pivotal day when the Holy Spirit began dwelling within each believer. Hitherto, the Spirit acted externally, and was only temporary, and for exceptional circumstances. But after that great show of firepower, where it baptized the followers, it moved to an internal position, and once a person receives Christ as Lord and Saviour, he or she is immediately filled with the Holy Spirt, to lead, guide and comfort them. Glory Hallelujah! And who says we don’t worship a most wonderful God eh? Tell them for me, that they don’t know what they’re talking about, and they shouldn’t knock it until they try it. (smile) 

And I believe that one of the reasons why some people refuse to come to Christ is because they are afraid they’ll discover that everything we say about Him is true, and then they’ll be hooked and can’t go back to their old ungodly lifestyle. So they stay away and talk all sorts of nonsense, about things they really know nothing about. Anyhow, on that memorable day, after the Holy Spirit baptized the believers, they came out speaking of Christ in various languages to the many visitors in Jerusalem celebrating the feast. 

They thought that the believers were drunk, but Peter got up and with a loud voice informed them that they were not drunk, but it was simply the fulfillment of the prophecy of the prophet Joel about the outpouring of the Lord’s Spirit. ‘And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.’ (Joel 2:28) Then Peter went on to preach a mighty sermon, and at the end they had some three thousand converts. Wow! What a day! And you can read all about it in Acts 2:14-42. (smile) 

And like that day, today we doing things different from normal, meaning we usually have the worship first and then the sermon after, but today the Holy Spirit decided to change it up, (smile) in celebration of that great Pentecost Day that He came to begin dwelling in the hearts of believers in Christ. And to celebrate this Pentecost day, our song of worship is very appropriate. It’s done by the Jamaican Gospel singer Jabez, and it’s aptly titled ‘Drinking from My Saucer.’ Yes friends, our cups are so overflowing with Christ’s LOVE and amazing blessings that our cups are overflowing and we have to drink from our saucers. How many of us remember doing that when we were young eh? Drinking from the saucer to cool the tea. But that was when they used saucers. (smile) 

Enough talk though, let’s open with these words of praise. ‘We Worship You Lord, we worship You with all of our hearts, souls, bodies and minds.’ Now, it’s time to raise our soulful voices in sweet sacrificial praise: ‘I’ve Never Made A Fortune, And It’s Probably Too Late Now, Oh but I Don’t Worry About That Much, Cause I’m Happy Anyhow. And As I Go Along Life’s Journey, I’m Reaping Better Than I Sow. I’m Drinking From My Saucer, Because My Cup Has Overflowed. I haven’t Got A Lot Of Riches, And Sometimes The Going’s Rough, But I’ve Got a friend in Jesus, And That Makes Me Rich Enough. 

I Thank God For all His Blessings on me, And The Mercies He’s Bestowed. I’m Drinking From My Saucer Because My Cup Has Overflowed. I Remember Times When Things went Wrong, And my Faith Wore Somewhat Thin, But All At Once The Dark Clouds Broke, And the Sun Peeped Through Again,’ And right here, there’s a monologue: ‘You know, right now you may be going through some rough times in your life, but I’m here to encourage you today, not to give up. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP! I pronounce a blessing upon your life, upon your family. You must prosper and be in good health in the name of Jesus. I believe it with all my heart.’ 

And we sing: ‘So Lord, Help Me Not To Grumble and complain About The Tough Rows That I’ve Hoed. I’m Drinking From My Saucer Because My Cup Has Overflowed. And If God Gives Me Strength And Courage to go on living, When The Way Grows Steep And Rough I’ll Not Ask For Other Blessings Jesus, For I’m Already Blessed Enough, And May I Never Be Too Busy, To Help Others Bear Their Loads, Then I’ll Keep Drinking From My Saucer Lord, Because My Cup Has Overflowed! Yes, I’ll keep drinking from my saucer Lord, Cause my cup has overflowed, Oh my cup has overflowed…. Yes My cup has overflowed…’ 

Mama oh Mama! And isn’t that the gospel truth! Our cups have certainly overflowed since we’ve placed out trust in Christ Jesus! And if yours haven’t overflowed, then you must be doing something wrong! And it doesn’t mean that there are no problems, or will never be any, but there is assurance that the Lord will work them all out for our good, and will eventually bring us through them safe and sound, in better shape than when we began! 

Oh praise His mighty and compassionate name my people! Now let’s go home with a passion and enthusiasm for Christ, with a fire in our bellies, like the fire that came down from heaven on that Pentecost Day, so long ago! (smile) Much LOVE!

…God’s LOVE and promises…never fail… 

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