The Indestructibility of God’s LOVE For His Human Creation!

20 Feb 2025 Leave a comment

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

Romans 8:35a.        Who shall separate us from the LOVE of Christ?

And it’s a somewhat cold and cloudy Thursday morning in my part of the universe. The sun’s striving valiantly to come out, but not with a whole lot of success. Thankfully, that does not apply to us faithful believers in Christ Jesus, for He’s promised that when we are obedient to His will, we can do all things through the strength He provides us. (Phil. 4:13) Therefore we should not be dismayed, or afraid to keep on keeping on when things look somewhat dismal, and we can’t seem to make the right decisions in our prevailing circumstances. 

That’s why I  LOVE this verse from the prophet Isaiah, where God tells 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) Oh friends, there could not be a better promise than that from the Lord our God, Creator and Controller! 

And just for your information, they say that the phrase ‘do not be afraid,’ occurs 365 times in the Bible. Therefore, it must surely be important for our wellbeing. And this commentary offers an interesting take on the subject. It says, ‘There’s a word in that verse, you don’t hear much anymore… dismayed. Dismayed means feeling distress or anxiety, typically at something unexpected. It also means to look around in terror. God is speaking with tenderness here, telling us not to look around as one might do in danger or in a state of alarm.’ 

Now that’s the gospel truth my fellow believers! For all through the Lord’s Word we are reminded not to be afraid, not to live in fear, not to be dismayed, because our great and ever-faithful God is always with us! That’s why Bruh Paul could make these wonderful statements of trust and faithfulness in that mighty Chapter of Romans 8. 

‘Who shall separate us from the LOVE of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the LOVE of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’  (Rom. 8:35-39) 

Wow! What a wonderful scripture! And the scholars offer this explanation per the last two verses. ‘We cannot be separated from God’s LOVE, because it is set forth in a person who is God Himself, Jesus Christ, our Saviour. God’s desire to redeem believers cannot be frustrated, because He is definitely greater than any potential enemy. His plan will be realized because it is His purpose (cf. vs. 28).’  Which says: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) More acknowledgement that though life will not always be easy, God will eventually work it all out for our good. 

And all these promises that our great God has made are certainly wonderful, but the problem is that they don’t just happen automatically. No! We must have the hope, faith, and trust to believe them, and live a life, an obedient life, that will allow them to come true. And yes, we all want to have things easy, but that obviously is not God’s desire. He desires that we grow in spiritual maturity, and the only way to grow is through adversity, through hard times. That’s because in the good times we learn nothing at all, or very little, but when the times get tough, we need to hunker down and show our true selves, show the mettle that we truly possess, all with God’s help!  

And the marvellous thing about our God is that He not only helps us in all situations, but that He’s also bestowed underserved blessings for us to do His earthly work. He’s not asking us to do stuff in our own strength, which He knows we are incapable of doing. So, He gives us the tools to do it. We call these particular tools our Thursday Blessings. And to activate them, we must declare them aloud. So, let’s do that right now nuh. 

As one strong and 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 made that awesome declaration (yesss!) we must now go out and use those blessings to help others, just as generously as the Lord bestowed them on us, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…true believers in Christ…ought not to be afraid of life…and the troubling circumstances that can and will confront them…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 April 2015 1 Thessalonians 5:17

07 Apr 2015 Leave a comment

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

 1 Thessalonians 5:17.   PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!

Ah Friends, it seems like the ole fella’s Easter Monday celebrations were a bit much for him, because he could not get up at a reasonable time this morning. Hn, hn! But the sad part is that the celebrations weren’t anything big, just a simple gathering of immediate family.

Now can that mean the ole fella is getting too old for even the simple celebrations? Definitely not! And I take great umbrage at anyone who endorses that erroneous idea! (smile)

For here are some great truths; the caffeine is hot and sweet and strong, and our great and LOVING God is still on His throne controlling His universe, which means all is well!

Now why wouldn’t things be okay eh, especially since the Father sent His only Son to be a sacrificial Lamb, to die for our sins, and then rise triumphantly from the grave a couple of days ago, so that our sins could be forgiven, our souls washed as white as snow, and we could be reconciled to Him?

That testimony Friends, I now put to us, should be the uppermost thought in our lives, not only at this Easter season, but all year round! We ought to let it buoy us up, keep us strong and faithful.

Just thinking about what Jesus did for us should raise our spirits to great levels and cause us to want to work diligently and ceaselessly to bring His Word and undying, unconditional LOVE to the heathen, to the unbelieving hordes.

And you know that’s all He really asks of us; to live according to His will and let others see the wonders He works in the lives of those who display total obedience to Him.

And I have a most appropriate and beautiful quote from my One More Day Devotional, Meditations for People with Chronic Illness. Someone in their innate wisdom gave me that devotional long before I even had any chronic illness. (smile) But this quote is attributed to one Hartley Coolidge, for whom I couldn’t find any proper info, although it seems he might have been the son of the famous British poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Anyway, Hartley is reputed to have made this statement which I’ve shared with you some time before, but it is so noteworthy that it needs to be shared again and again: ‘Be not afraid to pray, to pray is right. Pray if thou canst with hope, but even pray.’

Oh my people what wisdom and godly advice! Prayer should indeed be our number one response to our every problem and our every need. And further to that, here is how the devotional describes prayer. ‘Prayer is a creative expression of my spiritual needs. It offers me a deep sense of personal satisfaction and continuously reminds me of all life’s forces.’

And is that ever so true my people! Prayer is our lifeblood, our lifeline to our Creator, and it should never be broken! We can’t afford to have it malfunction in any way whatsoever, otherwise our lives will lose all semblance of hope, of right and wrong, of faith, of good and bad, of God and the evil one. That means, as our Bit so rightly informs us, we should ‘Pray without ceasing.’

Now it doesn’t mean we should always be audibly praying, but we should constantly have an attitude of prayer about us, which will help us ‘maintain gratitude in the face of adversity.’

That means Friends that prayer is ever so important in the life of a Christian. Even to the extent that Bruh Paul tells Timothy: ‘I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.’ (1 Tim.2:8)

So whatever your geographical position or location, you ought to pray, espousing a pure and truthful life, without disputes and angry tensions.

Meanwhile Cousin Sol tells us in Proverbs that ‘The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.’ (Prov.15:8)

Yes my people, our God delights in the prayers of His people. Nothing warms the cockles of His heart like when His people come to Him in sincere prayer. Remember that is our most important line of communication with Him. Prayer is so important that even Jesus, though being of the Godhead, resorted to it each and every day, in every situation.

Mark informs us: ‘And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary (deserted) place, and there prayed.’ (Mark 1:35)

Jesus made it a habit to pray, to get with God before He began His day, so the Spirit of God would be there to guide and lead Him on a right and true path, give Him the wisdom to make proper decisions.

Oh Friends, so do we also need to come to God in prayer, as early as possible on each day of our lives, so that we can receive the wisdom, strength and guidance to handle our day in a way that pleases God.

And we’ll end with this eye-opening situation, where Jesus teaches His disciples about prayer. The Good Book describes it thus: ‘And it came to pass, that, as he (Jesus) was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

And he said unto them, when ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil (the evil one).’ (Luke 11:1-4)

There we have it Friends, the basic foundation of our foundational prayer! So as we go about our earthly pilgrimage in this wild, woolly and wicked world, please let us never forget to keep prayer uppermost in our hearts and lives, for that is God’s desire for us, as well as eternal wisdom on our part. Much LOVE!

…to pray…to pray… and yet to pray…that is the substance of faith…