The Wisdom in Living a Simple, God-directed Life!

19 Jul 2024 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 3:5.       Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

And then it was Friday… but the shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday! were not as loud or as plentiful as they usually are because many people are still in disaster mode and don’t have the enthusiasm, energy or faith to raise their voices in praise. But raising out voices in praise is exactly what we ought to do in dire situations because acknowledging God raises our levels of energy, enthusiasm and faith, despite our negative circumstances. 

And to make matters worse, this morning there’s been a technological breakdown with a computing firm called Cloudstrike, which has paralyzed systems and events all over the world. It’s not a hacking or invasion of the system but a technological problem and hopefully by day’s end it will be corrected. But in the meantime many institutions, both large and small cannot carry on their business as usual. Consequently, a large portion of the population has also had their activities curtailed by the outage. 

It just shows the tremendous reliance we’ve placed on technology and the worldwide difficulties it causes when something goes awry. But that’s the way of our current world, Information Technology (IT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are now ruling the roost. And we’re now experiencing what can happen when we place all our eggs in one fragile basket, for though technology is wonderful when it works properly, but the smallest wrinkle can cause monstrous problems. 

We just have to learn to handle those times when technology lets us down. And the first thing we should always do when unexpected situations arise is go to God in prayer for wisdom and strength to handle them. He is our guide and protector and will NEVER lead us down the wrong path. And we have God’s faithful promise of that from way back when Moses said it to the Israelites: ‘And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.’ (Deut. 31:8) 

Yes friends that’s the Lord’s ever-faithful promise! And since He does not change, as this commentary tells us: ‘Malachi 3:6 says, “I am the Lord, I change not.” Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus is the same “yesterday, today, and forever.” When everything else shifts and changes, you and I are still standing on a solid, unchanging foundation.’ Wow! What assurance we have my brethren! 

And furthermore God doesn’t lie, as the Bible assures us: ‘God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?’ (Num. 23:19)  That means whatever He promises, or says He’ll do, it will be done! Matter fixed! And when it comes to seeking godly direction, these wise words from the wisest man who ever lived, Cousin Sol, should be our guiding light. 

‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy way acknowledge him, and he shall direct (make smooth or straight) thy paths. 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 firstfruits 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 chastisement of the Lord; neither be weary of (detest) his correction: for whom the Lord LOVETH he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.’ (Prov. 3:5-12) 

Oh friends, those are verses to live by! Why? Because they encompass all of what God expects from us! Trusting in Him, and not in ourselves; having a reverential fear of Him and not engaging in evil; honouring Him by being generous in our relationships, first to him, and then to our fellow man; and not despising His correction when we do wrong. If we follow those basic desires of God, then our paths will be straight, our bodies will be strong and healthy, our lives will be prosperous; overall, the Lord will cause His face to shine upon us. 

But yuh know what? Our intelligence and information levels have risen so much in the last century, that we no longer focus on the simple things in life, everything now needs to be more sophisticated and complex, otherwise it’s not worthwhile. But friends, the simple things have always been, and will always be the best way to go. And we’ve said that to point out the simple commands that Cousin Sol lays down for the perfect Chrisitan life, but we try to make it much more complicated than it ought to be. And hopefully, this time around, those simple directives will stick in our minds and we’ll put them into action and thus simplify out much too complicated lives. (smile) 

Now, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant to help with our earthly problems. Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough…  because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. 

We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And if we truly desire divine aid, then we’ve got to set a better example as believers in Jesus Christ! Much LOVE!

…Jesus lived a simple life for a reason…it was the easiest and best life to live…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   6 February 2023 Psalm 133:1.

06 Feb 2023 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 133:1. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

Aw shucks friends, it’s Monday again! But you know what: ‘Today I will celebrate Monday. I will embrace the potentiality of the new week!’ Glory to God! By Jove, that’s how we ought to do it! And that bit of wisdom comes from a cutting of the comic strip ‘Between Friends’ that I recently found in my old Bible. No doubt I’ve shared it before, but it’s never too old for a rerun. But here’s the clincher, the last panel spoils it all by grumpily saying: ‘tinged by the aftershocks of the old week.’ 

And sadly that’s how many of us behave; desiring to be strong in the new week, but allowing the negatives of the past week to intrude on our good intentions. But please, let’s remember that good intentions are just that, they don’t pay the bills or cook the food. It’s only when we hook actions to those good intentions that things truly begin happening. Therefore, I’m asking us this week to secure positive actions to our good intentions, so that we can make it a great week for our Lord and Saviour Jesus, because that’s to whom all our efforts ought to be directed.  

And here’s why we must consider Jesus in all our endeavours and actions. Just before telling Peter about His upcoming denial, where Peter would deny Him thrice, before the cock crowed twice, Jesus informs His twelve main followers: ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another; By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:34-35) 

Yes friends, showing LOVE; that’s compassion, kindness, mercy and forgiveness to each other is a mighty good way for people to know that we are sincere followers of Christ Jesus. Too often though, the way we treat fellow believers doesn’t show that distinction at all. I don’t know what it will take for us to truly believe that regardless of our race, class, colour or creed, that once we hold up Jesus as Lord and Saviour, then we’re all in the same boat and we should not allow petty differences to cause us to give Christ a bad name, like the uncalled for strife and unwise disunity amongst us are currently doing. 

When you are in the same boat on a rough and tumultuous sea, any unwise behaviour will mean the ruin of all. And yuh better believe that our world right now is indeed a rough and tumultuous sea; a raging storm like we’ve probably never seen before. Consequently, if we want to ride out this raging storm and come out as the chief survivors, then unity of Jesus’ people is absolutely essential. Because we all know the enemy’s favourite tactic is to divide and conquer. 

But we have to conquer that divisive action with a strong and steadfast togetherness in Christ, despite our differences. It’s as Bruh David acknowledges in Psalm 133: ‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.’ (Ps. 133:1) And that’s the glorious truth my people! It’s one of the greatest blessings we can ever have! There’s nothing as wonderful and precious in this world as unity; people dwelling together in good faith and being kind and forgiving to each other! 

Here’s how Bruh David describes it nuh. ‘It is like the precious ointment (oil) upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts (edge) of his garments; As the dew of Hermon (Mt. Zion), and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing; even life for ever more.’ (Ps. 133:2-3) That’ how it is when people dwell in unity; God blesses them!  Remember Abraham’s wise plea to his nephew Lot when disunity disrupted their lives. ‘And Abraham said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.’ (Gen. 13:8) 

Yes my fellow believers it couldn’t be said any simpler or clearer! And let’s not forget what Bruh Paul said in his first letter to the Corinthians, re the body or church of Christ. ‘For as the body is one, and hath many members (parts) 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) 

And that’s the indisputable truth! We are indeed all a part of one body, that’s Christ church, but like our human body, the church has many members, and also like the human body, if it doesn’t work together in harmony, the whole body falls into disrepute and disrepair. That’s it in a nutshell. All aspects and parts of the church of Christ must work together in unity if it wants to stay alive and of good enough account to make a significant difference in our divided and upended world. 

Now, let’s take the bull by the horns and go to God, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn asking for His help to come together in unity and uplift Christ’s church. 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!’ 

It’s obvious now that our next move is to pray and turn from our evil ways, if we want to see positive help from heaven. Much LOVE!

… let brotherly LOVE continue…for Christ is LOVE…

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