Today’s Scrip-Bit   25 January 2024 Luke 12:32.

25 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

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

Luke 12:32.       Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Aye friends, can you believe it’s already Thursday? How can it be eh, when I just wrote and harangued you about being prepared for Monday? (smile) But it seems like this year of 2024 is very intent on moving along quickly, as unbelievably, it’s also the 25th of the month, when some of us haven’t even gotten over our New Year’s hangover. (smile) That means we cannot afford to be lazy and procrastinating, we have to get up and spritely go about Christ’s work, for the devil and his evil cohorts are not sitting on their laurels, they are up and about their business, that’s why our world is in such an evil mess. 

We ambassadors and agents, disciples and believers in Christ need to do the same, and possibly even more, if we expect to make a dent in the devil’s armour and prosperity. Let’s also remember our New Year’s Resolution; to get more intimate with Jesus. We cannot do that if we’re just sitting on our fannies enjoying the comfortable life.  So please get up and get a move on. We all know what we’re supposed to do to, so let’s do it nuh. End of Sermon! (smile) 

And since I still have some scriptures on fear fighting faith, or vise vera, I’ve decided we can use another day of them. And believe me, we all can use them in these fear mongering times. 

As this commentary from the biblestudytools.com website by Micah Maddox reminds and warns us: ‘Fear isn’t something new we are dealing with in our lifetime. We can trace fear all the way back to the very beginning, when the evil one tempted Eve in the garden. At his sly request of questioning God’s truth, fear was ignited in Eve’s heart, and she took the bite of fruit, believing the devil was right. Fear is sneaky, quick, and sometimes debilitating. The hope we have is that God’s Word gives us everything we need to fight against the fears that seem to come at us at the most inconvenient times. 

We do not have to live riddled with anxious thoughts, heart-pumping doubts, and mind-racing possibilities. We can live at peace with ourselves and with God, but we have to practice using our faith muscle. It does not mean we try to do more good than bad, or try to check every box of our holiness checklists in hopes that we out-do someone less holy than us. It means we turn to God’s Word over and over again and we receive the truth and the promises He gives us when fear threatens to take us down. Here are seven verses to help us fight the battle of turning to faith over fear.’ 

And I’ll only use a couple of those verses, for I’ve already used the others she suggests. The first one being the reassuring words of Bruh David from Psalm 56, when the Philistines took him in Gath. He faithfully wrote: ‘What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.’ (Ps. 56:3-4) Now those are mighty powerful words of faith especially when you are living amongst your most deadly enemies, because you have nowhere else to turn. But Bruh David believed them, as he contrasted his threating enemies against his faithful God. And the Lord obviously made a way for him to get out of that scary situation. 

And the commentary on those verses reads: ‘ Choosing faith is choosing to trust God no matter what. It’s not that everything will be perfect or that everything will work out great. It’s in the moment of fear, we know where to turn. It’s not to Google, to a three-step process, a book, a mentor, or even a friend. It’s knowing when we are afraid to turn to Jesus because He is the one who can calm our anxious hearts.’ Now that’s the gospel truth my people! And if you haven’t learned that most valuable lesson as yet, you’d better get on with learning it, otherwise you’re going to fall flat on your face in this evil and ungodly world.

 Next up is this marvellous verse from Isaiah, where the Lord assures us: ‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.’ (Is. 41:10) Now that gets straight to the point; don’t fear, I am thy God and I will help you with my powerful right hand! It could not get any clearer than that my brethren.  And I do like the commentary that Ms. Maddox gives per that verse. ‘God’s hand is a beautiful picture we find in Scripture. When we talk about having faith in God and in God’s hand in each situation, there is an instruction that often precedes the idea of trust. 

It is “fear not.” It’s easy to say but difficult to live out. But over and over God’s Word says, “Fear not.” The question we might follow up with is, but how? How do we fear not when everything around us calls us to questions, fear, and doubt? The answer is found in focusing our hearts and minds on what is true about God and about God’s promises. God is with us. God gives strength. God gives help. God holds us. His hand is not clenched closed seeing if we will survive. He is stretching out His hand to lift us up, hold us, and make sure we are going to make it.’ The problem then is for us to reach out in faith and take the strengthening hand God offers. And that’s left solely up to us. 

Now here’s the last verse for today, simple but powerful words of Jesus as recorded in Luke. ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’ (Luke 12:32) More awesome words of reassurance from our Lord and Saviour. If He says so, then it’s obviously so, as the words of this commentary explain: ‘This Bible verse reminds us that God always has our best interests in mind and that eventually, the kingdom of heaven will be ours. Throughout the Scriptures, He promises this to those faithful to Him. It is short and direct, making it one of the great Bible verses on faith over fear.’ 

Ah mih people, let’s hope that all these thoughts and scripture verses on faith that we’ve gone through over the last few days bring reassurance to our souls and spirits in these fearful times. And they won’t unless we know them and put them to good use. Now, let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Thursday Blessings so that we can activate the many undeserved blessings the Lord has showered down on us to do His earthly work. 

As one sincere voice: ‘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 every day! Amen!’ 

And having activated those blessings, it’s now our duty to go out and use them to help others, just as generously as the Lord bestowed them on us. Much LOVE!

…faith can indeed diffuse fear…but only if we take the necessary action… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   22 June 2022   2 Timothy 3:1.

22 Jun 2022 Leave a comment

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

2 Timothy 3:1.      ‘This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. 

And then it was Wednesday, another hot and sunshiny day in God’s world, with temps again somewhere in the thirties, and we are all enthusiastic to be alive to see and experience all the wonderful things God has in place for us today! Glory Hallelujah! For as the man says in his song: ‘No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.’ And of that we can be very sure because our God is the very beat planner there is, ever was, or ever will be, and nothing that He plans ever goes awry. (smile) That’s how much confidence and assurance we have in Him! For He has never let us down, and we believe He never will. 

Why, you ask? Because He is God, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent and can do ALL things. So why would He promise something that He can’t do eh? Remember too that there is NOTHING He cannot do! And as the false prophet Balaam said to the Balak, the king of Moab. ‘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) 

And I like how the scholars explain that verse. They say: ‘The immutability (unchangeability) of God is stated. The word repent is parallel to lie and is coloured in tone by this very association. Here His repenting is related to falsehood. The concept of the truth of Yahweh is related to immutability. Since God is truth, He does not lie; in fact, He cannot lie. He is unchanging. God is utterly different from man. Something that comes far too easily for many men is impossible for Almighty God. He cannot lie.’ 

And that’s where our God wins out over all the other supposed gods! He doesn’t change, He doesn’t behave like fragile and unstable, unreliable men. He is stable, the foundation of all we hold dear, thus we can put our utmost trust in Him. That’s why the psalmist warns us in Psalm 146 – The blessedness of trusting God: ‘Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man (a human being), in whom there is no help (salvation). His breath goeth forth (spirit departs), he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.’ (Ps. 146:3-5) 

Yes friends, that’s the awesome truth! And possibly the biggest reason why our world is in such a confused and evil mess. We don’t trust the Lord God Jehovah like we use to do, even one generation ago. We’ve now placed our trust in princes, leaders, human beings who by their very nature are unstable, unreliable, untrustworthy and most important of all die, return to the dust from which they were created, ofttimes suddenly and without notice, and then are of no use to us. 

However, the great God, I AM, has been around since everlasting, and will be around till the end of time, and is all powerful and all knowing, therefore we can put our trust in Him! As He says through the prophet Isaiah: ‘I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man (mortal man) that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass.’ (Is. 51:12) 

Ah mih people, why then are we so intent on ridding our society of Almighty God who only has our best interests at heart eh, and who is the ONLY ONE we can ever turn to with assurance and certainty in our time of need? Because we are listening to the workers of iniquity, the disciples of the devil, leaders and false prophets who only want to cause harm and strife amongst God’s people. It’s pride and arrogance, self-importance and self-aggrandizement that’s currently driving our world and unfortunately too many of us are listening to, believing and doing what those evil, ungodly leaders are putting forth. 

Remember what Bruh Paul wrote in his second letter to Timothy about the coming apostasy (turning away from God). ‘This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous (money lovers), boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers (irreconcilable), false accusers (slanderers), incontinent (without self-control), fierce (brutal), despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady (reckless), high-minded (haughty), lovers of pleasures more than (rather than) lovers of God: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof (mere religion without spiritual power): from such turn away.’ (2 Tim. 3:1-5) 

Oh my fellow saints, it’s like if Bruh Paul is living with us right now, for all that he’s said in those few verses have become reality in these last days! The scholars tell us that ‘The last days began with the birth of Christ and will culminate in His return to earth to set up His kingdom. The prediction of perilous times indicates that apostasy will characterize the final days of the church age.’ And only if you are completely out of your mind you won’t realize the truth of the sadly fallen, and still falling standards of our society. We are no longer respecters of men nor God! 

Unfortunately, the devil and his evil minions are now ruling the roost, but that doesn’t mean they will eventually gain the victory, because Jesus has already assured us of that. As one commentator on the agodman.com website writes: ‘The Lord Jesus has already won the battle – He has won the victory, and now our work as the church on earth is to maintain Christ’s victory. Hallelujah, the victory has been won, and we can apply it, stand in it, proclaim it, and make it real to the enemy wherever we are and wherever we go!’ 

And that’s the gospel truth friends. So, let’s allow these upcoming scriptures to fill our hearts, minds, bodies and souls. The first says: ‘…For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.’ (1 John 3:8) Yes friends, when Christ rose from the dead, it meant He defeated Satan, hell, death, and the grave. And, as He said to John in the Book of Revelation. ‘Fear not; I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.’ (Rev. 1:17-18) 

Please let those verses reassure us of Christ’s victory, never forgetting though that we still have to work hard to retain that victory. Consequently, we can now go home declaring (awright!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our wonderful position in Christ, that we are indeed keeping the battle going in His mighty name. 

Altogether now: ‘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 please, never never forget that if we endure to the very end, that that promised future will be even more glorious that we can ever ask or imagine! Wow! So, let’s make sure we endure to the very end nuh! Much LOVE!

…only in and through Christ Jesus…is salvation and eternal life possible… 

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