Today’s Scrip-Bit   8 February 2022 Joshua 24:15d.

08 Feb 2022 Leave a comment

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

Joshua 24:15d.     As for me and my house, we WILL serve (follow) the Lord; that’s for sure!

Oh sleep, thou sweet elixir! How much do I LOVE thee eh? Let me count the ways! ( smile) Ah friends, last night the ole fella got his first all-night rest in a long while! I stayed in bed all night long from about eleven-thirty p.m. until seven a.m. Wow! That’s a record! I did awaken a couple of times and got up once to go the bathroom, but did not engage in any of my usual night owl activities. And the body does feel somewhat rejuvenated, but my ole aching back is paying for that long, unaccustomed sojourn in bed. (smile) But as they say, you never get something for nothing! 

And on this damp, cloudy Tuesday morning  in early February of this crazy and troubled year of 2022, I believe we should turn to, pay some much needed attention to what we call acclamations; Bible verses and other li’l sayings that we can use to refresh and renew our spirits when the enemy tries to beat us down, as he so dearly likes to do. So, let’s begin with this one that we all know and hopefully repeat every day. ‘This is the day the Lord has made, I WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’ (Ps. 118:24) 

And what about this one that so gratefully releases our faith? ‘God will supply ALL of my needs through His riches in glory through Christ our Lord and Saviour!’ (Phil. 4:19) Mama oh Mama! What a powerful scripture that is my people! It enables us to go about our Christ-centred business, each and every day, without worrying about how, why, where and when our personal needs will be met. Please give our great God some thanks and praise for that most awesome and faithful promise! 

Then there’s this most amazing and edifying scripture: ‘I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!’ (Phil. 4:13) Yes, friends, there’s nothing we can’t do through Christ who is our awesome strength! He created the universe and all therein, and still controls it from His heavenly throne. He is omnipotent, omniscient and omni-present; meaning He is all-powerful, sees and knows all, and His almighty presence is all over the globe at the same time. And He LOVES us unconditionally, showing that majestic LOVE by sending His Only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross of Calvary to atone for our abominable sins…and that while we were yet sinners. (Rom. 5:8) 

Imagine that nuh mih people, before we ever thought about God, He thought the most wonderful things about us; reconciling us to Himself, justifying us through the blood of Jesus, sanctifying us, setting us apart for His own…etc. etc. just giving us every chance possible to come back to Him, to have our sins paid for and thrown away as far as the east is from the west, our souls washed white as snow, and thus able to spend eternity in His LOVING fold! What an awesome God we serve my faithful brethren! 

Now here is an acclamation I don’t think you’ll find written as such in scripture, but it is certainly alluded to all the time. It says: ‘I will not tolerate strife in my life!’ And that’s certainly something we should always be aware of, because strife can crop up at anytime and anywhere and it’s oh so detrimental to our health, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Bruh Paul had this to say about strife. ‘For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying and strife, and divisions (dissensions), are ye not carnal (fleshly), and walk as men (living according to man and not God)?’ (1 Cor. 3:3) 

Meanwhile, Jesus’ brother, James, puts it thus: ‘For where envying and strife is (where self-serving exists), there is confusion and every evil work.’ (James 3:16) Yes my people, wherever and whenever jealousy, selfish ambition, foolish pride and those negative things exist, strife and confusion will be there with them. And that does nothing but distract from and cut down on our Christian witness. 

Now hear this marvellous acclamation that I make sure and say every day, because it’s possibly the most important. In the profound words of Joshua: ‘As for me and my house, we WILL serve (follow) the Lord; that’s for sure!’ (Josh. 24:15) Yeh friends, every day I ask the Lord to make that a fact, make it come true, because I can only do so much to bring it to pass, but He has the power to lead my family along the right path, the straight and narrow one. So that sort of encompasses everything. 

And here’s this last acclamation for today: ‘If God be for me, who can be against me eh? (Rom. 8:31) And the immediate and confident answer is NOBODY! Ah friends, if the Creator and Controller of the universe is on your side, who the dickens can be against you eh? Not a single soul! For the One who looks out for you is the mightiest of the mighty, and can turn any situation into a good one, as He’s so faithfully promised to do in this magnificent and overwhelming scripture: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to those that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) 

Glory be! What a wonderful affirmation the believer in Christ Jesus has for his eventual future! And yes, I know I said that the acclamation before that one would be the last, but you have to go with where the Holy Spirit leads you. (smile) And it has finally led me to this one, to be the last. And though again, you can’t find it romanticized in the scriptures, it is embedded very deeply therein. And it declares: ‘I WILL live a balanced life, and I WILL get sufficient rest each and every day!’ 

Now, that’s what I am attempting to do, because I can see and feel how not living a balanced life and not getting sufficient rest is taking a negative toll on me, in all aspects of my life. And here is the truly last acclamation (smile), it’s called our Tuesday Mantra. So, let’s declare it in full and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, 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!’ 

Now, with all that ‘acclamating’ (smile) let’s hope that we have a wonderful day, as we go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Jesus with others, so that they too can come to LOVE and serve Him as faithfully as we do. Much LOVE!

…it’s no sacrifice to live for Jesus…not after all the selfless sacrifices He made for us…  

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   13 December 2021   2 Timothy 1:6.

13 Dec 2021 Leave a comment

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

2 Timothy 1:6.     Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting (laying) on of my hands.

The big day of Monday is up friends, let’s get out there and handle it with the grace and strength that we derive from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It’s what He expects of us, and what we should expect of ourselves as His disciples. And most likely it’s not going to be easy to achieve our purpose, but that’s what Jesus brings to the table; the ability for us to do what He desires of us. Remember what He told the disciples when He bade them to go out all over the world and make other disciples in His name? ‘…and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:20b) 

That’s why we also have scriptures like ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ (Phil. 4:13) And ‘My God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus.’ (Phil, 4:19) They remind us that Christ is always with us through His Holy Spirit, both in the good and bad, hard and easy times, but we have to know the Word, then activate in our lives when the moment arrives. 

And then we come to the main topic for today, exhortation for endurance, like Bruh Paul made to Timothy, when he told him. ‘Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting (laying) on of my hands.’ (2 Tim. 1:6) Bruh Paul was there urging Timothy to ‘stir up,’ keep alive the flame that God gifted him, that’s the grace of God. And likewise, we are also required to keep the flame of our gift of grace from God burning brightly. Remember we are the light of the world. 

And we have all the tools to do it, because as Bruh Paul continues: ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.’ (2 Tim. 1:7) Yes friends, we have it all; all that we need to retake the world from the evil forces that are now controlling it. The power, meaning the ability to accomplish whatever God wills, the LOVE, that’s the agape or brotherly affection and compassion for each other, and the sound or disciplined mind to keep it all on track. 

Then Bruh Paul said it like this to the church at Rome. ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.’ (Rom. 8:14-15) Oh my faithful brethren, if we have become the adopted children of Almighty God, then we cannot be in bondage to fear, because the mighty power and Spirit of God dwells and works in us to dispel fear. 

That points us to this reassuring scripture passage from Jesus, where He tells the disciples: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) And we all know that is not very easy to do in the carnal and ungodly world in which we currently live, but if we use all the tools that Christ has given us, we will be able to endure and even burn brightly while we are enduring. (smile) We must use God’s word to do His will and His work. 

Listen to another encouraging bit of scripture from Jesus nuh. ‘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) Nobody knew better than Jesus that we would have trials and tribulation, persecution and resistance. He mentioned it in the Sermon on the Mount when talking of the Beatitudes. ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’ (Matt. 5:11-12) 

Yes, it can be rough being a follower of Jesus, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. They persecuted Him, and they are likely to persecute those who follow Him. And He repeated it again later on specifically to the twelve disciples, after He had chosen them. ‘And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.’  (Matt. 10:22) 

Oh my fellow saints, following Jesus is an exercise in faith and endurance, or what the old folks called ‘belly and backbone.’ If you don’t have either of them, life in His camp will be extremely difficult. But the good thing is that they can be learned, and Jesus gives us all the tools we need to do it when we accept Him as Lord and Saviour. But we must get down to brass tacks and play our part. Following Jesus is not for whiners. As He says, to be His disciple, we have to sacrifice our will for His, then take up our cross and follow Him. It’s not easy, but it’s very possible, and most adventurous. 

And He never turns us down when we have problems and come to Him in sincere prayer seeking comfort and consolation. And do we ever need those things right now in this divided and troubled world. So, let’s go to our God and Saviour for divine favour and succour through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. 

Altogether now: ‘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 it would help, if we were sincere in our pleas and promises. Much LOVE!

…let the weak say…I am strong…                                                                                                                   

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 June 2020 Proverbs 18:21.

09 Jun 2020 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 18:21.    Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that LOVE it shall eat the fruit thereof.
 

It’s Tuesday morning, bright and sunshiny in my area, but a rather troubling time all over the world. So let’s get together and acclaim our faith nuh, for there’s nothing better than speaking what God and His Word says about us and our circumstances and situations. Remember, there’s POWER in the Word, spoken or otherwise, so let’s wisely declare some of it over our lives right now nuh. So altogether, in loud and sincere voice: ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’ Wow! What a mighty proclamation! 

And furthermore; ‘God will supply all of my needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus, our wonderful Lord and Saviour!’ Therefore; ‘As for me and my house, we WILL serve the Lord!’ Now on that subject, there’s absolutely no doubt as to who will be the Guide and Leader in my Yard: Jehovah God Himself! Consequently, ‘I will be enabled to do ALL things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me, who is my strength and my impregnable high tower and fortress!’ 

And because of all the above, I can say with the utmost certainty, that ‘The God of all grace, who has called me to His eternal glory in Christ, after I have suffered a little while, will Himself restore me and make me strong, firm and steadfast.’ Oh glory to the Most High God my people, who has promised never to leave nor forsake us, and who will continue the work He’s begun in me, making me more mature and Christlike, until I die, or his Son comes back! He’ll never stop working in and on me! What an awesome promise! 

That’s why I can shout to the hills: ‘If God be for me, who can be against me eh?’ NOBODY! Not a single soul, because He has promised in His awesome Word that NO weapon formed against me will prosper, and that the enemy who comes against me one way will inevitably flee seven ways, and that though a thousand shall fall at my left hand and ten thousand at my right, no harm whatsoever will come to me, and I will lay me down and sleep in peace and safety because HE watches over me! Mama Yo! 

And because of all that I can proudly say, ‘I will not tolerate strife in my life. And I am an overcomer through Christ Jesus! I am also above and not beneath. The head and not the tail. I am more than a conqueror, through Christ who LOVES me!’ Wow mih bredrin…Wow! How mighty and faithful are those promises of our omnipotent and magnanimous and merciful and gracious God eh! As the Good Book says: ‘Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering; for he is faithful that promised.’ (Heb. 10:23) 

That’s why I can also declare with awesome certainty that ‘Something good is going to happen TO me today! And Something good is going to happen THROUGH me today!’ Oh how magnificent is the Word of our God when we declare it aloud my people! It certainly works to raise our spirits, strengthen our faith and get us moving in the right direction, along the straight and narrow path that leads to Jesus and His wonderful kingdom! Oh friends, I do hope those acclamations stirred you all up as much as they did me. (smile) 

Yuh know how the ole fella is, once he gets fired up, it’s hard to stop him, and I was fired up there just now. But I also want to encourage us to make acclamations a daily part of our lives; to say some out loud when we get up or before we get to doing our daily chores. As for me, I say some every morning I come down to the office to start writing the Bit, and you’ll be surprised how they set the mood for me, encourage me to get it into the Word and see what God has in store for that day. And you don’t have to say what we’ve said above, but whatever is bothering you, or weighing on your mind you can acclaim it away with words of your own making. 

Remember that God created everything in the world but humans by speaking them into existence, as Hebrews declares: ‘Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed (prepared) by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear (are visible).’ (Heb. 11:3) 

Then Cousin Sol wisely reminds us: ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that LOVE it shall eat the fruit thereof.’ That means our words will play a great part in the way our lives unfold. If we continually speak evil, then evil will be the foundation of our lives. And if we purpose to speak good, then good will be the foundation of our lives. Remember too, that we will each give an account of our words and actions come the day of judgement. And I don’t think that Christ will be accepting any excuses, especially if we knew the truth but never followed it. 

So please, let’s endeavour, starting right now, to only speak words that will uplift and motivate those with whom we come into contact, and thus we’ll be less worried about Jesus questions on that fateful day. (smile) Now let’s go home declaring (yeahhh!) our Tuesday Mantra, telling all and sundry, who and whose we are. 

In strong voice with sincere hearts. ‘In God’s eyes, 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 spoken it, the onus is now on us to go out and action our words. Much LOVE!

…and the Word was made flesh…and dwelt among us…and we beheld His glory…as of the only begotten of the Father…full of grace and truth… (John 1:14)

Today’s Scrip-Bit 24 April 2020 Matthew 4:4.

24 Apr 2020 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 4:4.    ​It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
 

Aye mih people, it’s another day in the life; another uncomfortable and unpredictable day in the sojourn, the pandemic and panic of Covid-19, with no end really in sight as yet, just more confusion, so let’s do the wise and smart thing and begin our day with some age old encouragement nuh, some acclamations that have been tried and tested and found rather useful down through the ages of time! And if that isn’t a Bruh Paulian sentence, I don’t know what is! (smile) 

So please declare out loud with me: ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!’ (Ps. 118:24) And on top of that: ‘God will supply ALL of my needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus, our wonderful Lord and Saviour!’ (Phil. 4:19) Mama Yo! What could be more encouraging than that eh? Well this: ‘I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!’ (Phil. 4:13) And yuh feel that divine and supernatural strength just flowing through your veins now mih people? I know you do! Because we just know that ‘If God is for us, who the hell can be against us eh? (Rom. 8:31) Not a single, bloody soul my faithful brethren! 

Because He is the most powerful being in the universe, and if He’s got our back, then we’re safe like nobody or nothing else can make us! Therefore, with ALL of that wonderful stuff going for us from and through our omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent Creator, we can truly and faithfully declare these marvellous words that Joshua declared so long ago: ‘As for me and my house, we WILL serve the Lord!’ (Josh. 24:15) Yes, precious people, as long as we draw breath on this earth, regardless of whatever trials and tribulations may come against us, let us not stray from that tried and true path that leads through Jesus Christ, right to the throne room of Almighty God in the high heavens! Amen! 

And I don’t know about you all, but that has certainly energized me! (smile) So, since it’s Friday, let’s hear what the ordinary, most likely out of work, workingman has to say nuh. And as always, he opens with: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ (but not with his usual enthusiasm and expectant tone.) ‘Chuh! But that sounds so hollow though, since there’s nothing to look forward to. Friday’s become just like any other day, not the prelude to the weekend, like it was when I was working. Doh even remember when last I worked. This Covid-19 nonsense been going on for so long now. 

Thankfully though, I’m now getting a few dollars from the government that helps to pay the mortgage and put some food on the table…but it’s definitely not enough to do everything. I can’t even work a li’l overtime to get me over the top. Ah Lord eh! When it all going to end eh? Like we all in jail yes! Can’t even go outside and talk to nobody…got to keep this social distancing foolishness…oh I know it’s necessary, but it’s still seems foolish…staying six feet from people when yuh see them, even though yuh ent see nobody in a long time! Steups! But ah guess we still have to give God thanks that we still alive and kicking some, and as they say, this too shall pass…just hope it don’t take too much longer to pass nuh…’ 

Yes my fellow saints in Christ Jesus, that’s how this lonely, anxious and unpredictable time is affecting a lot of us, believers included. That’s why it’s ever so necessary for us to delve into God’s Word and find encouragement to keep us going strong in faith and courage. Remember Jesus’ rebuke to Satan when he tempted Him in the first time in the wilderness about making bread from stone. Now that would have been a piece of cake for Jesus to accomplish, but then He would have been bowing to Satan’s request, which as the Son of God, He could not do; therefore He replied: ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ 

He was referring there to Moses earlier warning to the Israelites way back when they came out of bondage from Egypt and the Lord was teaching them how He wanted them to live as His Chosen People. (Deut. 8:3) And that provision still stands today my people. In the Word of God is where we find ALL that we need to successfully live this life! It’s our Guidebook for earthly living! And the Lord specifically said it to Joshua when He made him the leader of the Israelites after Moses’ death. 

‘This book of the law shall not depart out of 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 shalt thou have good success.’ (Josh. 1:8) Oh my people, my fellow saints in Christ, what more has the Lord God Almighty has to say to us to make us listen and get into His most marvellous Word eh? He’s stated it as clearly as possible: when you read it consistently and study it, then put it into practice, then you’ll be successful and prosperous! That’s a no-brainer! 

But we’ve become so blooming full of ourselves and figure the li’l knowledge we have is so great, that we refuse to follow the simple, but tried and trusted way set out in the Lord’s guidebook. That’s foolish friends, especially in these disturbing and scary times. So let’s get wise and return to the Good Book nuh, where we can find enormous encouragement, assurance, grace, mercy, forgiveness, salvation and eternal life! It’s the ONLY answer to ALL our problems! Now let’s go home doing what we’ve also been encouraged to do, communicate with Holy God through prayer; our rejigged Friday Chant. 

As one sincere voice now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. It’s been pretty rough…though not from work, but from all the confusion and havoc that the Covid -19 virus causing. We not accustomed to that Lord, and it really telling on us. But with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat this virus. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the sure and wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the  least amount of loss to life and property as possible. 

And please use this situation to also bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, and also introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion because of the way we, your faithful believers, handle the situation. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And then we do what the Good Book says: wait expectantly, displaying hope and faith; keep on reading and praying, and doing good and not evil. Much LOVE!

…without bread…the body dies…but the spirit lives by…the Word…