Today’s Scrip-Bit   14 October 2021 John 10:10b.

14 Oct 2021 Leave a comment

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

John 10:10b.     I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

And is it ever a beautiful looking day out there today my people! Sunshine, blue skies, with the leaves on the trees displaying a myriad of amazing fall colours; red, green, yellow, gold, russet and numerous combinations of them all! It is indeed one of those days when we have to raise our heads, hearts, eyes and hands, and sincerely declare: ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it! Yes friends, it’s one of those days that’s so beautiful, that despite our many problems, rejoicing comes naturally to our soul! Glory be! 

And when we add the wonder of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to all that, can you imagine the fire that’s set a burning in our spirits and souls! Wow! It’s what really makes life worth living! It’s the abundant life that Jesus spoke of when He said: ‘The thief cometh only but to for (except) to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:10) 

Oh my people, only with Jesus as the cornerstone, the foundation of our lives can we ever hope to attain and enjoy that abundant life which we all so desire. And the abundant life is not just one filled with good earthly things, but even more with wonderful spiritual and heavenly things, like salvation and forgiveness of sins, peace in the midst of the storm, unconditional LOVE, reconciliation to God the Father, justification through the Son and a transfer of His righteousness to us through His demise on the cross. 

Now how can you ever desire or acquire a better life than that eh? No way! And that’s what Jesus’ brings to our lives when we put Him first in all our dealings. Not second or third, but a faraway first! He doesn’t play second fiddle in any band, that’s any life, but always first. And that’s where so many of us fall down; we try to relegate Christ to the least or less important positions in our lives, but still expect to enjoy the abundant life that He alone can provide. That’s utter foolishness friends! 

For only when Christ is truly Number One in our lives, will the abundant life ever flow our way. It’s a built-in requirement of the Father, and who can say Him nay eh? None of us, since He’s the Creator and controller of our universe. And I believe it’s right and wise and proper (smile) that right here, in these turbulent and dangerous times, we should consider the words of the prophet Isaiah as he long ago spoke of the majesty of the Lord. Yes my brethren, it’s in serious times like these that we need to remember who our God really is, so please listen up to Isaiah, when he asks? 

‘Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted (measured) out heaven with the span (9 inches), and comprehended (calculated) the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his councillor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgement (justice), and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of (in) a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance (in fine dust on balance): behold, he taketh (lifteth) up the isles as a very little thing.’ (Is. 40:12-15) 

Oh my fellow believers, NO ONE assisted the Lord our God in creating the universe and all therein! He is the SOLE CREATOR AND RULER of the universe! And until we, mankind, His creation, wake up and realize that awesome fact, we will forever be holding the proverbial short and heifer dust end of the stick! 

Listen to these explanations from the scholars re the Freedom of God. ‘40:13. God is the only Being in the universe that possesses independence from the Creation. The only limits to God’s freedom are in His own nature and attributes. He is unlimited in His existence. Because His existence relates to His nature rather than His will. God will exist forever. He who exists by reason of His nature rather than His volition (will, choice), must have existed – and must continue to exist – forever. 

Illustration: When God revealed His name to Moses at the burning bush, He called himself “I AM” (Ex. 3:13-15). This name emphasizes God’s self-existence, the fact that He has always existed and always will. Application: Neither anyone nor any outside force will affect God’s relationship to us. He will deal with us according to His nature because He is free from outside influence. (First ref. Gen. 6;17; Primary ref. Is. 40:13; cf. Rom. 12:1).’ 

Yes faithful saints, NOTHING, or NO ONE, will or cannot influence our God, re His dealings with us, or anything else, for He is a law, or rather, the LAW unto Himself. And I don’t know what it will take for us to fully realize and appreciate that fact nuh, so that we can revere and be obedient to His dictates, and thus stay in His good graces. 

And it’s not like we don’t have the example of the Archangel Lucifer trying to overthrow Him, but fought a losing battle and was unceremoniously kicked out of heaven with his foolish minions. So, I just can’t understand why we are allowing that once powerful Lucifer, who is now the powerless Satan, to turn us against our Creator, the same way he deceived our forefathers Adam and Eve. It’s totally non-understandable, non-comprehensible, in fact, totally foolish and stupid, since he has nothing better to offer us. All his glittering stuff is just that, glitter, with no gold! A façade, or frontispiece with no inside. 

So please, let’s ignore his deceitful entreaties like the sickness and plague they are nuh. Instead, let’s look to our heavenly Father who in His LOVING-kindness, bestows numerous blessings on us to do His earthly work, which we refer to as our Thursday Blessings. And since a blessing is not a blessing until it is declared, let’s declare them in strong voice right now: 

Altogether: ‘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 now that we have been so generously blessed, let’s go out and share those blessings just as generously with others, so that they can come to know and LOVE Jesus just like we have! Much LOVE!

…regardless of what the world says…the good and abundant life can ONLY be found…in Jesus…                                                                                                            

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 5 September 2018 Matthew 26:42.

05 Sep 2018 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 26:42.   He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except (unless) I drink it, thy will be done.

Alive! Alive and kicking mih breddren! Yea! The Good Lord has seen it fit to allow us to see another blessed day on His wonderful Planet Earth! Glory be! That means He still has stuff for us to do down here. So let’s go out willingly and do His work today nuh! Make it our priority this Wednesday, as it ought to be! 

And all God’s people gave a loud and grateful shout of ‘Praise the Lord! Bless His holy Name, for He is indeed worthy of much thanks and praise! Amen!’ 

Yeh mih people, our God is indeed a great and powerful God, but also an ever-LOVING and caring deity. That means He doesn’t just cast us off, even when we deserve casting aside. But He works with us, encourages and comforts us, gives us second, third, fourth and even fifth chances to turn our lives around. No other supposed deity does that! That’s why He is indeed the GREATEST! 

But though He’s LOVING and kind and all that, He still has rules and boundaries and will not allow us to get away with too much nonsense. I’m reminded of that by this piece in our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, titled ‘Method of Achievement.’ 

Please pray with me. ‘I said to You: Lord, crush my resentment Chisel my rebellion Chain my self-centredness Crash my inconsistency Stifle my fears. You said to me: I will cleanse you with My blood I will melt you with My LOVE I will flood you with Myself Until you grasp anew – Our intention is the same But the method is Mine.’ 

Glory be mih people! The method is certainly God’s! He will do whatever we want, but it will be His way, according to His will, and His time! He’s just reminding us who is the Boss! Who is the Creator and the Created! And though He is indeed our Friend, our BEST Friend, He is also our Lord, our God, our Maker and Master, so we have to know our place! Amen! 

Even Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour acknowledged that the Father’s will was most important. As He says in our Bit, when He was anguished in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before His crucifixion. ‘He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except (unless) I drink it, thy will be done.’  

Yeh friends, even in Jesus’ darkest hour, He acknowledged that the Father’s will was uppermost. And all through His earthly sojourn He never claimed that He was here to do His will, but always the Father’s. Listen to His reply to the disciples when they offered Him food at the well of Jacob, after He had spoken to the Samaritan woman. ‘Jesus saith unto them, My meat (food) is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.’ (John 4:34) 

Ah my brethren, doing the Father’s will should also be our main job on this Planet Earth! He made us, created us for His purpose and if we’re truly faithful, we’ll do what He desires. He has a plan for every life He creates, and it’s our duty to talk to Him and find out what He desires of us personally. 

And the scripture promise for our poem today was this interesting passage from Isaiah. ‘Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him the path of judgement (justice), and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?’ (Is.40:13-14) 

And the simple answer to that friends is NOBODY! It was ALL His own doing! 

And the scholars offer this interesting explanation re the Freedom of God. ’40:13. God is the only Being in the universe that possesses independence from the Creation. The only limits to God’s freedom are in His own nature and attributes. He is unlimited in His existence. Because His existence relates to His nature rather than His will, God will exist forever. He who exists by reason of His nature rather than His volition must have existed  – and must continue to exist – forever. 

Illustration: When God revealed His nature to Moses at the burning bush, He called Himself “I AM” (Ex.3:13-15). This name emphasizes God’s self-existence, the fact that He has always existed and always will. Application: Neither anyone nor any outside force will affect God’s relationship to us. He will deal with us according to His nature because He is free from outside influence. (First ref. Gen.6:17; Primary Ref. Is.40:13; cf. Rom.12.1).’ 

Ah friends, that might be somewhat confusing to some of us, but my favourite part is that nothing or no one will influence God’s relationship with us. Yayyyy! Glory to God! Now, having said all of that, let’s go home rejoicing, declaring our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know our position in Christ Jesus! 

So in strong voice, with sincere hearts, let’s wail mih breddren! ‘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 as always, I can’t help but think that the eternal future with Jesus will be even more glorious than we can hope or imagine! Much LOVE!

…God is…was…and always will be…that’s comforting knowledge to the believer…