Today’s Scrip-Bit   4 May 2023 Isaiah 55:12a.

04 May 2023 Leave a comment

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

Isaiah 55:12a.       For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace:

Ah Lord eh! Another day of wimpy sunshine and dark clouds…but at least it’s dry! And as they say, one out of three ain’t bad. (smile) Yes friends, the almost constantly drizzling rain, the feeble sunshine and dark clouds do get a bit bothersome and annoying after a while. You’ve got to remember though that it’s spring; springtime when the land is watered after a long, dry, cold spell of winter where everything went into hibernation, and now they need the water to moisten their systems so that they can regain that freedom of life and living once again. 

Yes, but what’s happened to the strong sunshine that they also need to grow and refurbish themselves? Why isn’t that making a more regular appearance eh, and not the feeble stuff we’ve been recently receiving? Who knows? We just need to remember, believe and conduct ourselves with the confidence that the Good Lord, the Creator and Controller of the universe is still there running things, and that whatever happens it’s for the best. Remember His thoughts and ways are higher than ours, (Is. 55:8-9) and thus we’ll never understand everything He does, that’s why He is God. If we understood everything He said and did then we’d be like Him and therefore have no need of Him. 

That brings us to this interesting scripture right after that passage on His higher thoughts and ways, which seem directed to my contention above, (smile) while describing and setting us clear on His power and intentions towards us. The prophet says on God’s behalf: ‘For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void (empty, without fruit), but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.’ (Is. 55: 9-11) 

Oh friends, the Word of God is amazingly powerful. Remember that’s what He used to create the universe. The only thing He didn’t speak into existence was mankind. And remember too, how the author of Hebrews describes it: ‘For the word of God is quick (living), and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of (able to judge) the thoughts and intents (intentions) of the heart.’ (Heb. 4:12) 

Yes, my fellow believers, that’s the incomparable power of God’s word, which He uses to do His omnipotent will, as well as scrutinizing our lives, and telling us the necessary things, attributes, characteristics. etc. that we need to know about Him. That’s why it’s ever so important to know the word, to read and study it. We can’t know anything about our great God unless we seriously delve into His word, because that’s what He uses to communicate a lot of His desires and demands to us. And that’s how we come to understand what we know about our magnificent Creator. 

However, as the scholars tell us: ‘While God may certainly be known by men, He is still incomprehensible in the totality of His person and purposes. Therefore, He reveals Himself to men by His word, which shall not return to Him void (in vain). The Word of God, therefore, accomplishes His purpose in announcing salvation to all mankind.’ And the beauty of our God is that He promised salvation to all mankind long before Jesus ever came to bring the promise to fruition. As Bruh Paul says of God to the Roman church: ‘…he calleth those things which be not as though they were.’ (Rom. 4:17) 

Yes, our God has that awesome power to talk about things that have not yet happened as though they have already happened, because He is the source of all the happenings in the universe. But getting back to the early promise of salvation. Listen to Isaiah detail it. ‘For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you with singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir (cypress) tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.’ (Is. 55:12-13) 

Now that’s what God promised His people Israel a long time ago, and in due time, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to fulfill the promise by sacrificing His sinless life on the cross of Calvary to pay for our sins. As Bruh Paul said in his second letter to the church at Corinth: ‘For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.’ (2 Cor. 5:21) That’s how much God LOVED us and still LOVES us: putting the weight of all our sins on the shoulders of His sinless Son, so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin, from the hellfire and damnation that are the natural rewards of sin. 

And this most outstanding verse from Bruh Paul’s letter to the Romans, says it all. ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his own LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) Ponder on the enormous importance of that statement for a few moments my brethren. God didn’t wait for us to change; He made the first move. That, if nothing else, ought to prove how much He truly LOVES us. All other supposed Gods wait for their followers to come to them, hat in hand, but our most wonderful Father took it upon Himself to get down to our level and show how much He truly cared for His wonderful creation, though we really didn’t deserve it. 

But with Him, it’s not about our deserving anything, it’s about Him wishing to give good things to us. And talking about giving good things to us, here is a marvellous example, the undeserved blessings, we call our Thursday Blessings, that He’s so generously bestowed on us to do His earthly work. So let’s declare (yesss!!!) and activate them right now nuh. 

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!’ 

Now it’s our bounden duty to go out and use those blessings in a generous manner to promote Christ’s everlasting kingdom! Much LOVE!

…the word of God…has the awesome power of life and death…  

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   18 January 2023 Psalm 145:3.

18 Jan 2023 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 145:3.       Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding).

And then it was Wednesday; the middle day of the work week, another damp, cloudy day, with just a hint of sunshine, like what seems to be an oasis in the desert when you are dying from thirst, but is actually a mirage, a figment of your imagination. (smile) But thankfully our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is no figment of our imagination, no mirage, but real flesh and blood when He lived here on earth. 

And we know that for a fact because his sinless and holy blood was shed for all to see, so that He could pay our sin debt in full! ‘Glory be to thee O Jesus Christ: Saviour and Redeemer of this sinful world! You are great and greatly to be praised for all You’ve done so selflessly for us. We praise and worship Your Holy Name!’ 

And in honour of Christ’s majestic and holy name, today we’ll look at Psalm 145, Bruh David’s great Psalm of Praise, titled – God’s Unsearchable Greatness, which so beautifully and eloquently describes our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Please read with me: ‘I will extol (praise) thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding).’ (Ps. 145:1-3) 

And is that ever the indisputable truth my fellow believers! Our God is great, and greatly to be praised, and we can’t truly understand Him, because as He says, His thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours. (Is. 55:8-9) But His Word does give us some insight into His marvellous character, and we do see enough of His marvelous works through the prophets and Jesus Christ to know that He is all powerful, all knowing and ever-present. 

Thus, Bruh David continues: ‘One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare (steups!!!) thy mighty acts.’ (Ps. 145: 4) Now let’s just stop there for a while and consider, meditate and ponder on that verse. Do we really understand what it means? It means that it’s our bounden duty to pass on the Lord’s words, acts and all His doings to the generation that comes behind us, in other words to our children. That’s how the story of our God and His greatness will survive! 

And that’s how it’s survived for the last two thousand years, by being passed down through word of mouth and positive actions from parents to children. Remember what Moses said to the children of Israel re God’s Word? ‘And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.’ (Deut. 6:6-7) 

Oh my people, have we obeyed that command? Unfortunately not. Our generation has not done its job, we have not instructed our children sufficiently in the wonders, mercies and LOVING-kindness of our great God, that’s why they are running around like chickens with their heads cut off, following every ungodly theory and idea. We have failed to give them the stable, solid, rock-like foundation that’s only to be found in Christ Jesus. The wherewithal that has them positively focused, knowing exactly where they are going, and with whom. 

But no, we were either too busy, afraid, or just too lazy to impart the wonders of Jehovah God to our children, so now they are easy pickings for any and every weird, evil and ungodly scheme that springs up in this satanically controlled world. We have obviously not done, or done sufficiently, what Bruh David says in the next couple of verses. ‘I will speak of (meditate on) the glorious honour (splendour) of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible (awesome) acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly (eagerly) utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.’ (Ps. 145: 5-7) 

Hn! Now please tell me if those things are happening in our world today, at least to the extent they ought to be? Absolutely not! Men are not speaking of God’s goodness and greatness, instead they are blaspheming His holy name and trying to rid our society of Him, and we His supposed followers are not putting up a big and courageous enough fight to stop it! I believe that in this current hedonistic society, more people are turning away from God than are coming to Him, and that certainly does not augur well for the generations to come. 

We have already allowed them to take the Bible and the Ten Commandments out of the schools and public places, and they are now inculcating a lot of nonsense, of lies and untruths in the heads of our children, what’s next eh? As supposedly true believers, ambassadors and agents of Christ Jesus, we should be putting up a more robust, determined and demanding fight for our rights and privileges as Christians. And if you think that’s a joke, just look around and see which group of people are losing their God-given privileges the most: Christians! 

The next move is persecution, although we are supposed to be living in a supposedly Christian society. But that’s no longer the truth either. Please give your head a shake and wake up and see the reality around us nuh. The enemy has mounted a very large and sophisticated war-machine, and we need to stop it before it gets any further. That’s our raison d’etre, our reason for being; to spread God’s Word. 

Remember the Great Commission that Jesus gave us, before he departed this earth. ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway(s), even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:18-20) 

Now, how many of us supposed believers can truthfully say we are seriously and sincerely carrying out that godly assignment eh? Merely a handful of our supposedly great numbers! And that certainly is not good enough my fellow saints if we expect things to change for the better. Remember, we are the only group who desires to see the world improve. That means we are the ones who have to get the ball rolling and keep it rolling! There are only two sides yuh know, Jesus’ side and the other side. And the other side seems intent on taking the world down to hell in a handbasket. 

Are we going to allow that to happen on our watch? I sincerely hope not! That means we have to get together, stop allowing the enemy to divide and conquer us, then mount an even bigger and more powerful campaign than the enemy to retake our world for our children and our children’s children. And we can do it with the help of Jesus, if we would only get serious, stop being afraid, stop being lazy and lethargic, stop LOVING the things of the world, and begin truly seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness! End of sermon! (smile) 

Now, for those of us who are sincerely trying our best to live for Christ, let’s go home declaring (yesss!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our wonderful position in Christ Jesus. As one voice:  ‘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!’ 

Now, here’s one more bit of encouragement. If we endure to the end with Jesus, then that promised future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine! So let’s be wise and strong and endure to the end nuh! Much LOVE!

…stand up, stand up for Jesus…you soldiers of the Lord… 

P.S. Would you believe I intended it to be short and sweet? But them’s the breaks! where the Spirit leads, I must follow! And it’s good though. (smile)  

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