Today’s Scrip-Bit 4 October 2016 Psalm 66:4.

04 Oct 2016 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 66:4.  All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name.   Selah. 

Welcome to a glorious Tuesday morning friends! Oh I know it’s still dark outside as I write this, but I’m also sure that the bright light of Jesus is shining through the darkness, both physical and spiritual, bringing light and comfort to our hearts, minds, bodies and souls! What a wonderful Lord and Saviour we have my people. And there’s truly NONE like Him! 

Oh, and what mysterious and fabulous ways He operates! Check out this small, everyday miracle that happened to me yesterday. I was down the street going to get a roti from the recent hot roti shop, Leila’s. But when I got to the little plaza where it’s situated,  I discovered that Leila’s was closed on Mondays. 

However, just across the plaza I saw a place called Papa Joe’s, with roti also on its menu. So I decided to check it out. When I entered, Papa Joe was attending to another customer, so I walked around looking at the décor.

And lo and behold on the wall I saw this black, marble like plaque with white italic writing on it, surrounded by a fancy white border, with a place setting of a fork on the left side and a knife and spoon on the right. 

Obviously it piqued my interest and I went over to read it. And though I had the Duchess take a picture of it with her phone, I still felt the need to write it down. But now I’ve discovered that my description won’t do it justice, so I’m going to try and send an attachment. 

And this is what I read: ‘Daily MENU  Give thanks Fill a vase with fresh flowers Set a beautiful table Use fresh simple ingredients Use your best china and silverware Prepare every meal with LOVE Use fresh herbs Invite someone Practice good manners Wash your hands Use cloth napkins Chew slowly. Savour every morsel Have great conversation Eat desert Wash your own dishes’ 

Oh friends, isn’t that just beautiful! I certainly find so. And I believe the Lord meant me to see it so that I could share it with you today. It’s just a nice, easy, but wonderful way to live our lives!

However, we can’t do that if we don’t have Jesus in our lives, for it is only through Him that we can rise to such simple, but glorious heights. I hope the attachment came out properly and you shared my enthusiasm for it. (smile) 

Now let’s do what we do every Tuesday; declare our Tuesday Mantra with sincerity, faith and mucho enthusiasm.

All together now: ‘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!’ 

Glory be, my people! NOTHING can beat being a beloved child of God and a trusted friend of Jesus! Wow! 

Now with all of that goodness and LOVING-kindness, why aren’t’ we Christians the happiest people in the world eh? I certainly don’t know. But we ought to be. 

Sadly though, too many of us walk around with our heads hung down, shoulders drooped, with guilt and whatever in our spirits, behaving like martyrs, believing that we should not be happy, enthusiastic and enjoy life.

But that’s totally wrong my brethren, for Jesus said that He came so that we could have life and have it in abundance! (John 10:10) 

That means we don’t need to go around sad and miserable to be considered a true Christian. In fact, as true believers, we should be doing what our Bit says: ‘All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name.   Selah.’ 

Now that’s how real Christians should behave. And the psalmist was even more specific and enthusiastic before our Bit.

He begins the psalm thus: ‘Make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) unto God, all ye lands. Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious. Say unto God, How terrible (awesome) art thou in thy works! Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.’ (Ps.66:1-3) 

Yeh friends, that ought to be the everyday behaviour of the true and devout believer, not a sad and morose existence. Now listen to how Isaiah characterizes the day of the Lord.

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 

And many people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks (pruning knives): nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.’ (Is.2:2-4) 

What a blessed day that will be my people! And the scholars tell us: ‘The setting is the millennial age, when the nations of the world will come to the Holy City (Jerusalem) to learn the ways of God.

Christ Himself is pictured as the Judge who will direct the affairs of the nations during His millennial kingdom. Thus the weapons of war will be turned into tools of peace and economic productivity.’ 

Oh friends, how I look forward to that day; that day when war shall be no more! But why do we have to wait till then eh? We can start right now by pursuing peace, by spreading the good news of Jesus and living in LOVE with God and each other! 

So I implore us today, to begin turning our weapons of war, our negative sentiments into tools of peace, LOVE, joy and economic prosperity, for that is indeed wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!

…the motto of the true believer…make LOVE…not war…

P.S. Sorry friends, but I could not put the attachment in the Blog, so you will just have to rely on my description. (smile) Much LOVE! 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 6 August 2015 John 14:6‏

06 Aug 2015 Leave a comment

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

John 14:6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Aye Friends, welcome to another somewhat cool, but otherwise beautiful summer’s day in God’s wonderful universe!

New mercies and blessings specially prepared for today, this terrific Thursday in August 2015, have already been flooding our space. The most important being the breath of life that’s still flowing through our bodies, which allows us to enjoy the salvation and eternal life offered by Jesus’ debt payment on the cross of Calvary.

Wow! Glory to God! Have you given Him thanks and praise for those two things as yet? As soon as we rise and greet each new day, we ought to float prayers of thanksgiving up to heaven on them. For without them, we either won’t be rising to greet a new day, (smile) or spending eternity with Jesus. And that last option is the most important for a Christian soul.

Now here’s an interesting and rather appropriate quote from Toronto born, North American writer Grenville Kleiser (1868-1935). He says that ‘Today is the day in which to express your noblest qualities of mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have long postponed…’

And my people that is indeed a worthwhile decision, for over the last decade or so, we have become such great procrastinators, even about things that we consider important.

But what better way to show our appreciation for life and God’s grace and mercies than by stepping up to the plate today and doing something that we’ve been putting off, whether it’s volunteering or simply cleaning up stuff that needs to be cleaned up.

That reminds me of the Johnny Reid song that we shared with you sometime aback which declared: ‘Today I’m going to change the world…One day at a time…’

Yeh Friends, we desperately need to change our world, but the reality is that we can only do it one day at a time. And there’s no better time to start than the present. So let’s make today that day nuh.  Let’s override procrastination with pro-action, and with Jesus’ help we can certainly do it.

For as our Bit wisely informs us: ‘Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’ And I like to add to that, He’s also the Light of this darkened world.

So if Jesus Christ is indeed all those things, why aren’t we more enamoured of and interested in Him and His doings eh Friends? Our general behaviour and actions certainly don’t seem to indicate the esteem and appreciation that He truly deserves from us.

It’s also definitely instructional to see how that statement of Jesus came to be made. He was telling His disciples about His going away and preparing mansions for them. ‘And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?’ (John 14:3-5)

Ah mih people, even those who were closest to Jesus in His earthly sojourn didn’t appear to pay serious attention to His words. Jesus then declared our Bit to Thomas, before continuing with this admonishment. ‘If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Philip saith unto him, Lord show us the Father, and it sufficeth (will satisfy) us. Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, show us the Father?

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of my self (of my own authority): but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.’ (John 14:7-10)

Oh my brethren, so sadly, a couple thousand years later, the Lord Jesus Christ is still asking those questions of too many supposed believers! Granted that if Thomas and Philip who actually walked with Jesus had doubts and didn’t fully understand, who are we to be so well informed and enlightened?

But that argument doesn’t hold any water, for we have had two thousand years of much better information and time to understand and ingest the Good News of Jesus. So just like Jesus reproached the disciples back then, He is today also reproaching us for our unbelief, our lack of faith and understanding when it’s all clearly spelled out in His Word and the times of His earthly life.

Friends, it’s either we believe or we don’t believe! There is no halfway point, no way to waffle, no sitting on the fence, being double minded and/or constantly wavering from one position to the other. For as James tells us: ‘A doubleminded man is unstable in all his ways.’ (James 1:8)

So please my people, today, let’s get off the fence nuh, let’s stop procrastinating and wavering. Instead, let’s truly take hold of Jesus and all that He so wonderfully stands for and represents and believe with all our hearts, souls and minds that He is indeed the Way, the Truth, the Life and the Light! Now that is true wisdom! Much LOVE!

…only believe…that He is who He says He is…that’s all Jesus asks of us…

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 August 2014 Jeremiah 6:16

17 Aug 2014 Leave a comment

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

Jeremiah 16:6.     Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
 

Oh Friends, neighbours and fellow believers, it’s the best day of the week – Sunday, the Lord’s Day! So let’s celebrate appropriately by going to His sanctuary and worshipping, singing praises and giving thanks with other believers!
 
Wow! What a blessed day! And if you are too sick or frail to get out, then turn on the tube or the radio and celebrate with others that way. And if by chance you can’t do any of those things, then simply get your Bible out and read it and sing whatever hymns you know and worship with the Holy Spirit and Jesus as your companions.
 
The important thing is to get some celebratory face time with the Father on this restful day. (smile) But please don’t let the joy and singing and pleasure disappear when you come out of the sanctuary or turn off the TV and radio, because that is when our real work for Christ ought to begin.
 
Going to the sanctuary, in fact worshipping is also a means to rejuvenate our spirits, gladden our hearts, so that we can spread the joy and good news of Jesus to others. That’s where we’re supposed to get the energy, enthusiasm and whatever else we need to be good witnesses, good ambassadors for Christ.
 
And as we’ve been saying, it’s also the best way to prepare for that awesome first day of the workweek, Monday. Once you do right, make good preparations on Sunday, Monday will go off like a dream. (smile) And if you don’t believe me, then just try it nuh.
 
Now let’s continue with our Bit of the last couple days: ‘Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.’
 
Ah Friends, that is such an important scripture that we do ourselves a great injustice by not paying proper attention to it. History is littered with nations and individuals who refused to pay it the attention it deserved. Please don’t let us and our society be numbered amongst that unfortunate lot nuh.
 
We all know that when Western society truly had God at the forefront of their lives, it prospered like never before. But now that we’ve foolishly removed God from so many parts of Western life, everything is now on the downslide.
 
There’s very little peace and LOVE, but lots of hate and strife, while the economic situation is terrible and the standard of living is continually falling. But yet we refuse to return to the godly ways of our forefathers.
 
Oh my brethren, in the ways of God there’s peace and prosperity, and rest for your souls. Listen to Jesus’ great invitation: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek (gentle) and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt.11:28-30)  
 
Oh my people, how could we ever turn down such a wonderful invitation eh?  It’s the epitome of foolishness! But unfortunately, there is a very large number of fools in this evil, ungodly world who refuse to walk with God and accept Jesus’ most awesome invitation. I’m sorry for them, but they’ve made their choice.
 
This brings us to a scripture in Luke 16, where Jesus is telling the parable of the rich man and the poor beggar Lazarus covered with sores that the dogs licked as he sat at the rich man’s gate, eating the crumbs from the rich man’s table, where a sumptuous meal was laid out every day.
 
But as the Lord would have it, the rich man died and went to sojourn with Lucifer in Hades, while Lazarus was transported to heaven where he enjoyed Abraham’s company in a messianic feast. We all know the story, where the rich man in severe torment, lifts up his eyes to heaven, sees Lazarus hanging with Abraham.
 
‘And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
 
And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
 
Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.’ (Luke 16:24-31)
 
Ah mih people, yuh see how life turns around on the other side, and how those in the nether parts of the world are suffering severe torment? That alone should be enough to make us serious believers. But sadly it doesn’t. As Abraham says, if we won’t listen to Moses and the prophets and Jesus, as I’ll show you in a moment, why would we listen to one coming from the dead eh?
 
In fact Jesus came from the dead and told us both before and after His resurrection, yet we didn’t believe and refused to walk in the godly paths. Now hear Jesus while talking about His relationship with the Father. ‘Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And (but) ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.’ (John 5:39-40)
 
Ah mih people, two thousand years later, mankind is still stupidly refusing to come to Jesus so that they might have life! But we believers are still expected to work at bringing the heathen to our wonderful Lord and Saviour, so let’s not get weary and tired, though the task seems difficult:
 
‘And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ.’ (Col.3:23-24) 
 
That’s wisdom of the highest order my brethren! So please let’s practice it nuh. Much LOVE!
 
…there is a way which seemeth right unto a man…but the end thereof are the ways of death… (Prov.14:12)