03 Sep 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: . the fountain of wisdom, be friendly, broken bones, children of the Most High God, Christian, considering thyself, crisis, divine invitation, dream, everything flows from One, forbearing one another, gentleness, glory hallelujah, God is faithful, God's children, gossip, heavenly blessings, hitching your wagon to a star, Hour of Power Devotional, if a man be overtaken in a fault, in the spirit of meekness, laugh, lest thou be tempted, long-suffering, LOVE, lowliness, meekness, mending, moral condition, moral ineptitude, one baptism, One Body, one church, one faith, one Father, one God, one hope, ONE Lord, one spirit, Oneness, our brother's keeper, our part to play, overstepping of divine boundaries, play, Praise the Lord, prisoner of the Lord, read, restore such a one, restore the erring brother, salvation, spirit of meekness, the bond of peace, the fruit of the spirit, the highest joy of life, the last days of summer, the music of the soul, the price of success, the road to happiness, the secret of youth, the source of power, the unfurling of the universe, think, unity of the Spirit, walk by the Spirit, walk worthy of your calling, wilful sin, work, ye which are spiritual, you can lead a horse to water, you can't make it drink
Galatians 6:1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken (caught) in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Well a beautiful Thursday morning to you my Friends and neighbours in these last days of summer 2105! And this past week has indeed been true summer days; hot and hazy. So much so that the parched ground is crying out for drink, for rain, for heavenly blessings to keep everything from drying up and being scorched to a dull and dead brown.
Ah mih breddren, it surely seems that these days when it’s not one thing, it’s another. Life doesn’t seem to flow along smoothly anymore, and our world just seems to lurch from one crisis to another.
Blessedly though, as children of the Most High God, we don’t have to be overly concerned about anything, because He has promised to look after us in whatever situation we may find ourselves. And we know that our God is a most faithful Deity.
However, we do have our part to play in the unfurling of the universe, and here are some worthwhile ideas from an anonymous Irishman from the Hour of Power Devotional, which I believe I might have shared long ago, but which today are definitely worth sharing again.
Listen closely. ‘Take time for work, it is the price of success. Take time to think, it is the source of power. Take time to play, it is the secret of youth. Take time to read, it is the fountain of wisdom. Take time to be friendly, it is the road to happiness. Take time to dream, it’s hitching your wagon to a star. Take time to LOVE, it is the highest joy of life. Take time to laugh, it is the music of the soul’
Oh Friends, what wonderful advice! And if we would only take it and adapt it to our own lives, we would be so much happier and useful in these trying times. The sad fact though, is that most of us know all those things, but we just don’t put them into action and practice them, therefore our lives are not as worthwhile as they ought to be.
But as they say, ‘you can only lead a horse to water, you can’t make it drink.’ So despite all the wise and wonderful advice we might get, if we don’t accept it and use it, then technically speaking it’s useless.
That brings us to today’s Bit; an eloquent, though quite important aspect of our Christian beliefs. ‘Brethren, if a man be overtaken (caught) in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.’
Ah mih people, that is indeed a big responsibility, but one we need to seriously address nonetheless. And the scholars give us some interesting explanations.
‘6:1. In a fault (or, “by some transgression”). The sin in view is a deliberate overstepping of divine boundaries. Ye which are spiritual refers to those who walk by the Spirit (5:16), in whose life the fruit of the Spirit is found (5:22-23). The man who is overtaken by willful sin is also a Christian, but he has not been walking by the Spirit. The spiritual brethren are to restore the erring brother.
This word is used of mending fishing nets (Matt.4:21) and of people mending their ways (2 Cor.13:11). Restore means therefore to bring back a person to his former moral condition. The word was also used in secular Greek for setting broken bones, which has to be done gently. So the church is to restore the lapsed in the spirit of meekness (i.e. gentleness).
The grievous and sensitive wounds caused by sin must be handled delicately. Considering thyself: Those restoring the fallen must individually keep constant watch over their own lives. The spiritual man can be morally dragged down as he deals with the sin of his carnal counterpart.’
Yes Friends, to a certain extent we are our Christian brother’s keeper. We all ought to walk in the Spirit, but when we do fall, we must be assisted back to faith by our Christian brethren. But note though, in gentleness, not the harsh and brutal way that we tend to do it; severely criticizing the fallen brother or sister and spreading all sorts of gossip about them.
Most importantly though my people, when we are trying to help another, we must pay very careful attention to our own circumstances lest we get dragged down by the same moral ineptitude of those we are trying to help. And I know that many of us will claim that that can’t happen to us. But you would be surprised at how easily it can happen.
And we’ll end with some more pertinent words from Bruh Paul, this time to the Ephesians, re the unity of the Spirit. ‘I therefore, the prisoner of (in) the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation (calling) wherewith ye are called. With all lowliness and meekness (gentleness), with long-suffering, forbearing (bearing with) one another in LOVE;
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.’ (Eph.4:1-6).
Yes Friends, there is only ONE of several things, and though we are individuals, we are all a part of that ONE, and we need to keep that ONE as tight knit, faithful and fruitful as we can. This therefore behooves us to walk in a manner fitting the divine invitation, (calling) which brought us to salvation.
And all of God’s children said, ‘Praise the Lord! Glory Hallelujah!’
So please, let’s go out today and do whatever it takes to keep that ONENESS in Almighty God. Much LOVE!
…everything flows from ONE…ONE God…ONE Saviour…ONE Holy Spirit…and ONE Body…the Church…
22 Jul 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a blessed day, a fool's voice, a pleasant word, admonishment, amazing god, anger, backbiting, be not rash with thy mouth, be ye angry and sin not, blessings, bring to its knees, by thy words thou shalt be condemned, by thy words thou shalt be justified, Christ's body, Christians, comfort, Cousin Sol, depart from evil and do good, disjointed, distrustful, disunited, don't give up on God, Ecclesiastes, encouragement, envious, every idle word that men speak, friends, glory hallelujah, glory to God, gnawing at our souls, God is amazing, God is awesome, God will never leave nor forsake us, God's faithfulness, gossip, guidance, heavenly wisdom, I'm not focusing on the past, I'm not looking back, I'm not turning back, it's so wonderful to be alive, jealous, Jesus, Jesus is advocating for us, keep thy tongue from evil, kindnesses, let every man be swift to hear, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, let thy words be few, LOVE, malady, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, my hands are on the plough, negative seeds, negative stuff, neither give place to the devil, out of the woodwork, peaceful mode, positive seeds, potential to be a winner, Praise the Lord, putting away lying, ramifications, rensentment, responsibility to live good with each other, seek peace and pursue it, slow to speak, slow to wrath, smiles, speak every man truth, stepping into a breach, the breath of life, the day of judgement, The Father is on His throne, the goodness of God's heart, the Lord's loving-kindness, the multitude of words, the straight and narrow, the wisdom of a fool, they shall give account for, thy lips from speaking guile, to a glorious future with Jesus, warnings, Wednesday Wail, what a delight to live for Jesus, wherefore my beloved brethren
James 1:19. Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
Oh Friends, it’s a beautiful Wednesday morning, a little on the cool side, but nonetheless the sun’s shining brightly, Mother nature is about her business, and Jesus is advocating for us to the Father who sits on His throne. Wow! What a delight to live for and with Jesus!
And let me tell you my people, our God is really and truly an amazing God yes! Hn! A most awesome and amazing God is He! And although I’ve experienced it several times before, I still can’t believe how He springs some unexpected things out of the woodwork.
And I say that because yesterday was a blessed day in my life. And I’m not talking about big stuff, just small things like kindnesses, smiles, a little encouragement, a pleasant word, things that by themselves might not mean much, but when taken all together they do add up. My spirit yesterday was in a peaceful mode all day long. Praise the Lord!
But one thing was of sufficient importance for me to put my index finger to my brow and murmur a thoughtful and grateful ‘Hnnn!’ I got a surprising phone call, which I almost never answered, but which presented me with an opportunity I could not have imagined or come up with on my own.
But through the Lord’s LOVING-kindness an interesting door has opened. I don’t know how it will all pan out, but the potential is certainly there for it to be a winner. Glory to God!
Ah Friends, I keep on reminding us of God’s faithfulness. Once you try to be obedient and sincerely follow His will, He will bless you by stepping into a breach when you need help, as well as bless us in some unexpected way, simply out of the goodness of His heart.
So please don’t give up on Him, even when things get real bad. In fact that’s the time when you most need to turn to Him for comfort and guidance. Believe me, the Lord will never leave nor forsake you. I can testify to that.
And since today is Wednesday, let’s wail our Wednesday wail nuh, with plenty gusto and sincerity. As one wailer now: (smile) ‘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!’
Ah Friends, it’s so wonderful to be alive, despite any negative things that’s happening in our lives. There’s nothinng to beat the breath of God that’s giving us life here on planet earth!
But along with that blessing comes the responsibility for us to live good with each other, as outlined by our Bit. ‘Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.’
Now that’s certainly something we very badly need to work on because it’s not happening as it ought to among believers. We are too disunited, disjointed, distrustful, jealous and envious of each other, filled with too many petty resentments and anger that goes to bed with us and wakes up gnawing at our souls the next day.
Please remember Bruh Paul’s admonishment to the Ephesians. ‘Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.’ (Eph.4:25-27)
Yes my brethren, by the time we go to bed our anger must have subsided, for when we go to bed with it, we just give Lucifer the chance to plant negative seeds during our sleep, instead of God planting positive ones. That means we wake up still angry and negative, thus doing oftimes non-repairable damage to ourselves. That my Friends, is the wisdom of a fool.
Now listen to how Cousin Sol puts it in Ecclesiastes. ‘Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon the earth: therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business (effort or activity); and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.’ (Eccl.5:2-3)
Oh my people, what wonderful and wise advice! Oh if we would only take it and put it into action! Life here on earth would so much better.
And we all know Bruh David’s warning from Psalm 34 – The Lord hears the righteous. ‘What man is he that desireth life, and LOVETH many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile (deceit). Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.’ (Ps.34:12-15)
Ah Friends, how much more admonishment and warnings do we need to cut down the foolish and idle and destructive things like gossip, backbiting, resentment and anger eh? It is a malady that’s slowly eating away at Christ’s body, the church, and society in general, and is slowly bringing the world to its proverbial knees.
And believe me Friends, once we get there, it will be nigh impossible to get back up on our feet again. So please, I implore us, let’s get serious about our words nuh, both the quality and quantity, for remember our words are powerful and can have either negative or positive ramifications.
And we’ll close with one more warning, this from Jesus. ‘But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ (Matt.12:36-37)
Now Friends, if Jesus said that we’d be judged by our words, then it must be true, since he cannot lie. So it’s up to each of us now to clean up our act and get on the straight and narrow. Please don’t put it off, because the longer we wait to straighten out the problem, the more condemnation we’ll be likely to create. Please let heavenly wisdom reign. Much LOVE!
…Christians are known for much talk…it might be better if we were known for less…
02 Jul 2015
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: and my redeemer., and the meditation of my heart, attentive, be acceptable in thy sight, by thy words thou shalt be condemned, by thy words thou shalt be justified, Canada Day celebrations, confusion, consequences, courteous, daily grind and common task, faithfulness, friends, good listeners, gossip, Holy One of Israel, honouring Almighty God, icy silences, idle word, kind, let the words of my mouth, listening love, misunderstanding, monologues, negative reactions, O Lord, O Lord my strength, objective, patient, principles of listening love, righteousness., sarcastic retorts, shoot loosely from our lips, silence is golden, slow to speak, surface talk, swift to hear, talkative society, undivided attention, unselfish, virtual reality
Psalm 19:14. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength (my rock), and my redeemer.
Well Friends the Canada Day celebrations are over now. Time to get back to the common task and daily grind. And it’s a glorious Thursday morning to do so; though it’s still a tad cool, both the sun and the Son are shining brightly across God’s wonderful universe!
As you can no doubt surmise from the lateness of the Bit, my celebrations lasted way into the early hours of the morning. (smile) Well it wasn’t really celebrations, just me doing my usual night time thing, I just happened to begin a tad later than normal.
Anyway, today I have for us a rather interesting and important poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. This one’s simply titled ‘LISTENING LOVE.’
‘Listening LOVE is one of the greatest gifts we can give our mates, our families, and our friends. Too often we settle for surface talk or icy silences, for monologues or cutoffs, for defenses. What a difference when we follow the principles of listening LOVE!
Listening LOVE is courteous. It says… I will strive not to interrupt or outguess you. I will not finish your sentences or break into your thoughts.
Listening LOVE is attentive. It says… I will give you my undivided attention. I will not turn you off or leave you isolated. Listening LOVE is patient. It says… I will not rush you or insist on a right now conclusion. Listening LOVE is kind. It says… I will not shame you with sarcastic retorts. I will not belittle you.
Listening LOVE is objective. It says… I will try to be informative rather than opinionated. I will not attempt to think for you.
Listening LOVE is unselfish. It says… I will guard against over confidence and trite “spiritual” answers.
Listening LOVE is powerful. It says… I will pray for insight, for wisdom, and for gentle reactions.’
Yes Friends, those are the things that ought to go into all our conversations, how they ought all to be conducted! Not in the negative manner that so many of them are in these tremulous times.
It basically describes the attributes of LOVE, as found in the LOVE Chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, where LOVE is described as being, kind, charitable, not envious, long suffering, not boastful or arrogant, doesn’t behave rudely, selfishly or keeps records of evil. (1 Cor.13:4-8)
Well all these things ought to also govern our conversations my people, for it’s mostly with words that we communicate with each other. Thus the scripture promise for that poem, which is also our Bit, is the popular ending of Bruh David’s Psalm 19 – The creation and covenants of God.
‘Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength (my rock), and my redeemer.’
Yeh mih breddren, all of us know that scripture verse, but do we really practice it? No! Certainly not as much as we ought to, especially in this rather talkative society, where we talk a lot, but say very little, and are too taken up with the concerns of others through the social media, than with our own miserable and mish-mash lives.
Ah Friends, when are we going to learn that generally speaking, the less we say, the better off we will be eh, especially in terms of gossip and stuff we don’t really know the truth about. Unfortunately though, in this age of virtual reality, everyone has an opinion on everything and also chooses to voice it.
But we ought not to utter any words at all, until we have considered their worthiness in honouring Almighty God. That’s why so many of us get ourselves in so much trouble; we just shoot loosely from our lips without giving any real thought to the possible reactions and consequences of our words.
And sometimes too, it’s not so much the words that we use, but the tone of voice, the manner in which we utter them which causes negative reactions. I am sure if we all thought a tad more before we spoke, then there’d be a whole lot less arguments, contentious conversations and negative reactions. End of sermon. (smile)
Now let’s look at a couple of scriptures that support our concerns. This first one comes from Psalm 51; Bruh David’s prayer for cleansing after his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan called him out on it. He sorrowfully cries out: ‘O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.’ (Ps.51:15)
Yes Friends, we would be so much better off if we’d ask the Lord to guide us in every word that we utter. Then there’d be far less confusion and misunderstanding in our lives, and consequently our world.
And the psalmist in Psalm 71 – a prayer for help in old age – puts it like this. ‘I will also praise thee with the psaltery (lute or lyre), even thy truth (faithfulness), O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul which thou hast redeemed.
My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.’ (Ps.71:22-24)
Oh mih people, would that we’d take that sound advice and let our tongues speak righteousness all day long!
And James says it this way. ‘Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not (does not produce) the righteousness of God.’ (James 1:19-20)
Oh my beloved brethren, never were truer words spoken! Especially when we put it into context with these all-important words of Jesus, when He spoke about good and corrupt fruit.
‘But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ (Matt.12:36-37)
It couldn’t be put any clearer and simpler than that Friends! So please, let’s ponder all the important stuff that we’ve read this morning and take all the wonderful advice we’ve been given to heart and try our best, with God’s help of course, to become good listeners and slow talkers, so that we don’t have too much negative speech to answer for, come the judgement day. That is the zenith of wisdom! Much LOVE!
…one must always think before one talks…because oftimes the old adage… that silence is golden… is ever so true…
07 Oct 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a man sharpens the countenance of his friend, a man with many friends comes to ruin, a perverse man sows strife, adversity, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, anxiety, beating him down emotionally, bless them that curse you, blessings, call on god for help, Calvary, come unto me, encouragement, fear, forgiveness, friend, friends, friendships, God makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, God sends rain on the just and the unjust, God's wrath was kindled, gospel truth, gossip, gossip destroys friendships, greater love hath no man, grief, Healer, Helper, how good is our God, I am meek (gentle) in heart, I will give you rest, iron sharpens iron, Jesus is our be all and end all, Job, keep our focus on god, LOVE, Love your enemies, make a positive difference, mercies, my burden is light, my yoke is easy, offer burnt offerings, one more day, praise God, pray for them which use you, prayed for his friends, praying for others, redeem, repent, servants, serve God dilgently, sins, sons of the Father, sorrow, stand strong in Christ, strife, take my yoke upon you, that a man lay down his life for his friends, the Good Book, the great invitation, the poor is hated by his neightbour, the rich have many friends, wealth makes many friends, words of comfort, worry, you shall find rest unto your souls
John 15:13. Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
One more day Friends, one more day! Wow! We’ve been granted life anew for another day, so let’s use it wisely please. Let’s use it like the present God desires it to be, with all the new mercies, blessings, forgiveness and LOVE that He’s showering down on us.
Let’s keep our focus on God: praise and serve Him diligently and sincerely, and do the works He desires of us. He has given us all we need to accomplish the tasks on our task sheets, so there should be no serious problems involved.
But if perchance, one does crop up, we have the freedom, or rather we’re expected to call on Him for assistance, which He’ll never refuse, once we’re sincere. For as Jesus says in His 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)
So my fellow believers, with those words of comfort and encouragement bubbling in our souls, let’s not allow anything or anyone to cause us anxiety, fear or worry today. Let’s stand strong in the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour, and try our very best to make a positive difference in this crazy, troubled world in which we now live.
That’s what Jesus desires of us! And remember that He is indeed our be all and end all! He is our Healer, our Helper, our Redeemer and our Friend! What more can we ask eh? Nothing really.
So let’s look at our Bit: ‘Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’
And it’s worth repeating and remembering that after He spoke those purposeful words, He went out and died for us at Calvary… as Friends, not servants.
And we’ll continue looking at the interplay of ‘friends and friendships’ as found in the Good Book. Then there was Job and his supposed friends. They ostensibly came to comfort him in his sorrow and grief, but unfortunately ended up beating him down emotionally, claiming that his hidden sins had caused his disastrous experience.
And God’s wrath was kindled against them, because they had not spoken rightly of Him as His servant Job had done, and He commanded them to repent and offer burnt offerings. (Job 42:7-9)
But hear this: ‘And the Lord turned (restored) the captivity (losses) of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.’ (Job 42:10)
Yes my people, the Lord turned Job’s adversity around when he prayed for his friends, and also worked some serious miracles on his behalf, blessing him with twice as much as he had lost. Oh how good our God is to us!
That brings us to this rather important point; the importance of praying for others, even when they’ve done us wrong. I know that’s sometimes pretty hard to do, but it’s required of believers.
Jesus said it loud and clear: ‘But I say unto you, LOVE your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully (spitefully) use you, and persecute you; That ye may be children (sons) of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.’ (Matt.5:44-45)
So if you ought to pray for your enemies, it’s logical to assume that you ought to pray for your friends and fellow believers too. (smile)
Now let’s look at some wisdom of Cousin Sol, re ‘friends and friendships’ as divined in Proverbs. He declares first of all that: ‘The poor is hated even of (by) his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends (the LOVERS of the rich are many).’ (Prov.14:20)
And isn’t that the gospel truth! The scholars explain it thus: ’14:20-21. Social standing is improved with riches, but the good neighbour will have concern for all, regardless of their status.’ That’s how it ought to be, but sadly in this topsy-turvy world of ours, we still look down on the poor and up at the rich.
And here’s a fitting companion to that Proverb. ‘Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour (friend).’ (Prov.19:4)
And we see that everyday. Many of us have also experienced it. When times are good and we are rolling in plenty, we have plenty supposed friends around us, but as soon as the good times stop flowing, they all disappear.
Now listen to these Proverbs. ‘A froward (perverse) man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief (the best of) friends.’ (Prov.16:28) Or as the scholars say: ’16:28. Gossip destroys friendships.’ That we all know and have experienced too.
Here is a companion to that one. ‘He that covereth a transgression seeketh LOVE; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very (the best of) friends.’ (Prov.17:9) More reflections on gossip.
Then we have this bit of wisdom. ‘A man that hath friends must show himself friendly (may come to ruin): and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.’ (Prov.18:24)
The scholars explain that this way: ’18:24. A man that hath friends must show himself friendly may also be translated, “A man of many friends comes to ruin.” In other words, a man must not spread himself too thin among many superficial relationships. Far better it is to have genuine friends who become like family and LOVE at all times. (17:17).’
And isn’t that the gospel, gospel truth my people! It surely is!
And we’ll close with this priceless gem of wisdom from Cousin Sol. ‘Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.’ (Prov.27:17)
Mama Mia! Wisdom from heaven Friends!
The scholars explain it thus: ’27:17. As the proper tool shapes and sharpens iron for its desired use, so a man sharpens his friend morally and intellectually by their personal friendship.’
Now that’s the kind of friends we need to have and need to be! Friends, who encourage, comfort, exhort, educate and uplift each other in as many walks of life as possible.
So let’s go out today and be that kind of friend nuh mih people. It could only make our world a better place for our children and us. Much LOVE!
…the fewer the friends…the less possibility of strife and troublesome friendships…
23 Jul 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 3 Canal, be assured, boss, busyness, can't wait for God's timing, come to fruition, communing with God, compassion, Creator, desires of my heart, don't worry, doubting, enjoy the summer, envy, expectant faith, fall down, feed my sheep, fellow believers, follow thou me, forgiveness, from the heart, frustrated, God keeps all His promises, God will never lead us astray, God's mysterious moving, God's plan unfurls, God's timetable, God's will, God's word shall not return void, God's word shall prosper, godly wisdom, gossip, Guide, John, just one of those days, laziness, lethargy, lightning flashing, LOVE, loving kindness, mercy, mind your own business, miracles, miserable, not worrying, now for now, our plans fail or falter, peace in my soul, personal experience, Peter, power of jealousy, Praise the Lord, promised, provider, rain, rebuke, repudiated, resentment, resist temptation, rest on your fanny, smile, song ot the summer siren, strong tower, struggling with your faith, sweet song of the rain, tarry, testify, the Good Book, the world's folly, thunder rolling, trusting the Lord, uneducated, waiting with hungry hope, watermelon, weather, what is that to thee, wisdom, worrying makes matters worse, yuh too darm farse
John 21:22. ‘Jesus saith unto him, If I will (desire) that he tarry (remain) till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.’
‘Just one of those days, just one of those days…’
Yes Friends, it was just one of those days, or rather nights, when impulsively, and some may say foolishly, I was lured by the sweet song of the summer siren on to my front porch late last night, until after 1 a.m. And what was I doing out there at that late hour?
Why, simply enjoying the cool, fresh morning air, eating watermelon and playing games on the Duchess’ I-pad, watching the lightning flash around me, listening to the thunder roll ominously, communing with my wonderful God, until the rain finally began falling. Mama Mia! And I might have been out there even later if the rain hadn’t begun blowing in on me. (smile)
And when I did get to bed, this time lulled by the sweet song of the falling rain, I obviously didn’t have the parts to resist the temptation to sleep in until after six o’clock this morning. And that’s my story…and I’m sticking to it! (smile)
Yeh mih people, I’ve promised myself to enjoy this summer, come hell or high water, for who knows how many more I’ll see eh? And as far as I’m concerned the weather’s been most excellent; not too hot, with a cool breeze blowing most of the time, thus making the need for air conditioning unnecessary.
Although I’m not doing anything terribly exciting, simply enjoying the days as they pass by, with a deep peace in my soul, doing what I can and not worrying about what doesn’t get done, waiting with hungry hope and expectant faith, trusting the Lord to work everything out in His own time and in His own way.
And my fellow believers that is exactly where a lot of us fall down; we’re eager to do stuff, but we can’t wait for God’s timing. Unfortunately we fall for the world’s now for now folly, its need for constant busyness, and therefore rush to do whatever it is, outside of God’s timetable. Obviously our plans fail or falter, and then we get frustrated and miserable.
Trust me Friends, for I certainly know of wherewith I speak from loads of personal experience. (smile) There are all sorts of things that I’ve wanted to do, and thinking it was God’s will, set out to do them, only to realize that it wasn’t yet on His schedule. Now there are some that I’m still hoping to do, but am playing it, or trying to play it cool right now, expectantly watching and eagerly waiting to see how God’s plan for my life unfurls.
Oh Friends, there are too many good things He’s put in my heart, that never to allow them to come to fruition would be a total repudiation of His Word, re to give me the desires of my heart. And I know that our wonderful God will NEVER allow His word to be repudiated.
As He says in Isaiah: ‘So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void (without fruit), but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.’ (Is.55:11)
And all God’s children sang out with a loud, lusty and joyful, ‘Praise the Lord for His LOVING-kindness to the children of men!’
So my brethren, if today you find yourself in a similar spot, just rearing to go on some project that God’s placed in your heart, please be careful, talk to Him and make sure that it’s His time for it, because if it isn’t, you’ll only end up disappointed, and even begin doubting or struggling with your faith.
Now that doesn’t mean you have to go to the other extreme and rest on your fanny, conveniently using the excuse that it’s not God’s time. (smile) Don’t worry, I struggle with that too. Everyday I ask Him whether what I sometimes consider laziness or lethargy in not doing certain things is His will?
For whenever I plan to do some things which to me need doing, other things just seem to crop up and overshadow them, and I’m left wondering whether it was my fault, or simply God’s mysterious moving.
The important thing though my people, is not to worry. Be obviously concerned, and keep talking to God about whatever is happening, but never, never worry, for worrying won’t help, but often makes matters worse.
Ah mih breddren, regardless of what some may say, please be assured that our God is a great and wonderful God; most excellent in compassion, mercy, forgiveness and LOVE! He’ll never lead us astray, and above all, He keeps His promises!
So whatever He’s sincerely promised, He WILL deliver, He WILL fulfill, but we need to work in consort with Him, not He with us, for remember, He is the Boss, our Creator, Provider, Guide and Strong Tower.
And now that I’ve written all of that from the heart, guided by the Holy Spirit, let me go and find a Bit that will fit it. (smile) Soon come.
Oh Friends, I’m back in less than five minutes, with a Bit that fits. Now listen up closely. ‘Jesus saith unto him, If I will (desire) that he tarry (remain) till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.’
In other words, mind your own business. Don’t look too closely at what I’m doing in the lives of others, simply concentrate on what I’m trying to do through you.
That was just one of the many times that Jesus rebuked Peter. It occurred after He’d asked Peter three times, if he LOVED Him, got an affirmative reply each time, then each time told Peter to feed his sheep. (John 21:15-19)
The Good Book then informs us: ‘Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus LOVED, (John) following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do (what about this man)? Jesus saith unto him, If I will (desire) that he tarry (remain) till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.’ (John 21:20-22)
But as is often the case, though we hear the same words, we often interpret them differently, for the Good Book continues: ‘Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will (desire) that he tarry (remain) till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. (John 21:23-24)
Yuh see Friends, the amazing power of jealousy and envy and gossip? Apparently John was one of the few, if not the only one not to consider Jesus’ statement as meaning that He wouldn’t die.
And we’ll end with an interesting explanation from the scholars. ’21:20-23. Perhaps John added this account to counteract a commonly believed notion that Jesus had predicted that John would not die. He did outlive all of the other disciples. In fact, all of the others were probably dead by the time John wrote this beloved gospel in about A.D. 85’
Ah my fellow believers, it’s obvious to us today that Jesus never meant that John should never die, but in the simple, uneducated minds of those early disciples, especially after seeing all the miracles Jesus performed, that was certainly a possibility.
All Jesus was saying to Peter, and to us, is what 3 Canal so wisely and to the point say in their song: ‘Mind yuh business, mind yuh own business, seek your own interest, stop minding (other) people’s business… And if you ent have no business, well yuh better find a business, seek yuh own interest and stop minding people’s business, mind yuh own business…. Yuh too darm farse…’
Ah Friends, Jesus could not have put it any better. (smile) And if we’d only follow that wise formula, all our lives would be so much better; less frustrating, and not fraught with the envy, jealousy and resentment that now cloud them.
Those words, my people, slang-like though they may be, are indeed full of godly wisdom. Let’s follow them nuh… provided we want to live better lives. Much LOVE!
…the Lord has different plans for different lives…it’s not our job or purpose to question them…just to follow His plan for OUR LIFE…
03 May 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: bless the Lord for His goodness, bless the Lord oh my soul, boomerangs back on us, calm, cut off from their mouths, downward spiral, egotistical, Egypt, Elementary my dear Watson, eternal life, everybody's doing their own thing, evil, faith, following Jesus, forgiveness, Francis Hutcheson, fraud, friends, God's people, godliness, gossip, grateful shout of joy, greed, hate, heaven, I shall be your God, imagination, instruction, Israelites, jealousy, Judah's rebellion, lies, Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, LOVE, loving, magnanimous god, mercy, messengers, negative things, no respect to God or man, obey my voice, omnipotent god, peaceful, perils of disobedience, prophets, punishment, pursuing the best ends by the best means, salvation, slavery, stiffened their necks, strife, stubbornness, the ends justify the means, the land shall be desolate, the pursuit of heaven through Jesus, the straight and narrow path, the voice of gladness, the voice of mirth, true wisdom, truth is perished, unconditional LOVE, ungodly, voice of the bride, voice of the bridegroom, walk in the ways I have commanded you, warn, warning, went backward not forward, wisdom, you don't listen to god, you have done worse than your fathers, you shall be my people, you walk after the stubbornness of your evil heart
Jeremiah 16:12. And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination (stubbornness ) of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me.
Oh Friends, another wonderful day is in the offing…!
And all God’s people responded with a grateful shout of joy: ‘Bless the Lord oh my soul! Bless Him for His goodness and His mercy, His forgiveness, and above all for His unconditional LOVE, which enables the world to go around!’
Yes my brethren, it’s essentially the LOVE of our magnanimous and omnipotent God that keeps our world turning and our lives on a fairly reasonable keel. And today I have a rather interesting quote to share from Rev. Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746), a Scottish / Irish philosopher.
Francis is reputed to have said that: ‘Wisdom denotes the pursuing of the best ends by the best means.’
Now I find that to be gospel truth Friends! Why? Because it all indicates a high standard of whatever we’re doing. We should always use the best means to pursue the best ends. None of that foolishness that the ends justify the means, because that is exactly what is leading our world on the downward spiral on which it is currently moving.
Too many of us think that it’s okay to do anything to get what we want, and unfortunately are putting it into practice. But that’s a fool’s wisdom, my people. For whatever we do, usually boomerangs back on us at some time or other.
And that quote struck me as being oh so appropriate to our faith! Now it says that we ought to pursue the best end. And what’s the best end? Why, HEAVEN of course!
And we should pursue it by the best means. That’s obviously our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
Therefore, Wisdom is the pursuit of HEAVEN through Jesus Christ! ‘Elementary, my dear Watson!’ as Sherlock Holmes would tell his sidekick.
And that’s why I can’t understand, can’t fathom or believe the shoddy, evil, egotistical and ungodly way we’re currently living our lives. Our Bit summarizes it so well. ‘And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination (stubbornness) of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me.’
Now how could there ever be wisdom in that style of life eh Friends? It’s impossible to be peaceful and calm and LOVING, when exploding all around us are mostly negative things like strife, hate, greed, jealousy, fraud, gossip and lies. This surely doesn’t sound like wisdom or godliness to me.
Now listen to the scriptures on how we are supposed to live, but instead are doing like the Israelites of old. And here Jeremiah is talking about the punishment for Judah’s rebellion. ‘But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.’ (Jer.7:23)
Oh mih people, mih people, that’s all so plain and straightforward! And after the Lord had brought them out slavery in Egypt, you’d think that they’d be ever so eager to follow His dictates. Hn!
‘But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination (stubbornness) of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.’ (Jer.7:24)
Ah mih breddren, that must ring a loud bell in our souls! For that’s the exact way that we are behaving today: everybody’s doing their own thing with little or no respect to God or our fellow man. No society can function properly like that for any length of time.
Now hear the Lord again: ‘Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened (stiffened) their neck: they did worse than their fathers.’ (Jer.7:25-26)
That truly sounds like our world today my brethren! The Lord has been sending, and is still sending His messengers to warn us about the perils of our disobedience, but to little or no avail.
And our God continues: ‘Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction (instruction): truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.’ (Jer.7:28)
And that Friends, is also the state of our world!
Now let’s go home with possibly the most important of our scripture verses today, namely: ‘Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.’ (Jer.7:34)
And we’re already seeing that in our streets and alleys my people. And we all know that the Israelites were taken into captivity again. Our God doesn’t joke Friends. Yes, He is patient and longsuffering, but at some time even His patience will wear out in the face of such gross disobedience as we are showing.
So what’s it to be eh my fellow believers? Shall there be the voice of mirth and gladness in our land, or shall it be desolate? That’s the trillion dollar question we must each ask ourselves, then do whatever we think is wise and right.
Remember though, we WILL pay for our misdeeds at some point, if we don’t hearken to the Word of our God. Much LOVE!
…true wisdom…is following Jesus…on the straight and narrow path…that leads to salvation and eternal life…with Him in heaven…
05 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: all eyes look to the Lord, believers in Jesus, benefactors of God's loving-kindness, between friends, big business, blaspheme, bless, blessing, blow things out of proportion, bowed down, complain, curse, dominion, entertainment and talk shows, everlasting kingdom, glorious majesty, glory of God's kingdom, God's creativity, God's mighty acts, God's works, good morning, gossip, hearsay, lack of appreciation, LOVE, negativity, negativity of gossip, praise, Praise the Lord, praising, psalm of priase, respect for God, rumours, scandal sheets, Scrip-Bits, sons of men, spring has sprung, tabloids, the heavens declare the glory of god, the Lord gives them their food in due season, the Lord is righteous, the Lord upholds all that fall, ungodly world, whine, wisdom, works
Psalm 145:10. All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee.
Well a pleasant Good Morning to all you beautiful people out there in Scrip-Bit Land! And it’s not a too bad morning in my neck of the woods; somewhat damp, because we’ve finally had some preferred precipitation – rain, not snow – and the temps promise to be truly spring-like.
And all God’s people in the northern climes gave a joyous shout of ‘Praise the Lord! At long last this horrible winter seems to be over!’
Yes Friends, it seems like spring has finally sprung, and we’ve been promised temps in the 5-10 range for the next few days. Hopefully the weather people will keep their promise.
Anyway, in our preamble today, I want to mention a useful example of the negativity of gossip. And I don’t need to remind us that gossip is extremely big business in today’s wicked, ungodly world. Many people make their living off of gossip; notably the supposed entertainment and talk shows, as well as the tabloids.
The sad part is that they wouldn’t exist if we didn’t encourage the process by avidly watching and listening to them and buying the scandal sheets. Our lives seem to be so lacking that we have to have a daily fix of what the supposed celebrities are doing. And the fact of the matter is that their lives aren’t half as glamorous as they are made out to be.
However, the example for the day, deals more with office or small group gossip, not that the big ones are really any different. And the example comes from the comic strip ‘Between Friends.’
One co-worker passes by another in the corridor, her cell-phone is to her ear and she appears to be sniffling. The lady who notices that tells a male co-worker. ‘Judy just left the office – she looked upset.’
The male co-worker tells another female co-worker. ‘Judy just left the office – she was bawling.’
That female co-worker then tells a male co-worker. ‘Judy just left the office in hysterics.’
And that male co-worker finally gets back to the original co-worker with the news. ‘They had to call security to remove Judy from the office. She was out of control.’
Ah Friends, you see how gossip can escalate and blow things out of proportion! This time Judy might just have been having a case of allergies or something quite simple, but by the time the news passes through three people, she was out of control and had to be removed by security.
And unfortunately that kind of thing happens everyday in many avenues of life, and has the power to cause unknown problems. Please, let’s try and stop the idle gossip that too many of us engage in on a normal basis nuh. It’s true that the tongue is a fire and hard to control, (James 3:3-12) but we need to do it, else it can, and will get us in serious trouble.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we should be more in tune with our Bit: ‘All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee.’
Yes my people, like God’s works, we should be more interested in praising and blessing Him, rather than being involved in the unfounded rumours and hearsay so prevalent today.
We should be doing as Bruh David declares in this psalm of praise: ‘ They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.
The eyes of all wait upon thee (look expectantly to you); and thou givest them their meat (food) in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy (gracious) in all his works.’ (Ps. 145:11-17)
Now my brethren, that’s more like how we should be talking. All of God’s other creations show respect for God, even the lowliest of them all. They don’t have a finite mind to know Him, but they instinctively know where their largesse comes from and appreciate it. But not so man, who is supposed to be the showcase of God’s creativity.
Instead we curse and blaspheme His holy name, whine and complain that He’s not doing this or that for us. That shouldn’t be so my people, for we are the greatest benefactors of God’s LOVING-kindness.
And in the immortal words of Bruh David from Psalm 19; the creation and covenants of God: ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament (expanse of heaven) showeth his handiwork (the work of his hands). Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth (reveals) knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
Their line (measuring line) is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle (tent) for the sun. Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth (rising) is from the end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.’ (Ps.19:1-6)
Yuh see mih people how God’s work in the heavens and elsewhere in nature glorifies Him! That’s how we, His greatest creation should also glorify Him! We talk a whole lot, but our actions don’t reflect our talk, meanwhile the actions of the lesser creations do reflect the greatness of God to a magnitude we can’t even begin to comprehend.
Therefore Friends, it’s imperative that we do a much better job when it comes to praising and glorifying and magnifying our Creator. We shower much praise on men when they do stuff we think is great and worthwhile even when it’s not, so why can’t we give the Creator of the universe and all therein the same, even more deserved recognition eh? That only shows our lack of true appreciation for all His goodness and mercy towards us.
Please my fellow believers, let’s concentrate on building up our wonderful God nuh, instead of trying to tear Him down, as a lot of us are doing. That’s certainly wisdom of the highest order! Much LOVE!
…how can we call ourselves true believers in the Creator…when we don’t truly appreciate or magnify His creations…
14 Jun 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: absolute wisdom, anger, bitterness, busybodies, christianity, detriment of friendships, envy, errant believer, error of our ways, fellowship, forgiveness, Friday chant, generous help, glorious kingdom, glory hallelujah, gospel truth, gossip, hate stirs up strife, heed God's call, hurricane season, imminent danger, itinerant musicians, jealousy, kind to each other, live in the Spirit, Love covers all sins, Love doesn't envy, Love doesnt boast, Love is kind, Love isn't arrogant, Love suffers long, multitude of sins, negative emotions, praise his holy name, qualities of Love, ramp up our faith, refreshed in soul, relaxation, rest, rising floodwaters, sacrificial blood, seek Love, sinful behaviour, sufficent fun, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the pit of corruption, the weekend, trangressions, trust in Almighty God, truth, walk in the Spirit, walk with Christ, wisdom, wrath
1 Corinthians 13:4: Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (LOVE) envieth not; charity (LOVE) vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
Oh Friends it’s Friday! And some workers gathered around a group of itinerant musicians, raucously applaud: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! The weekend’s here, and work soon done. Ah say, thank God is Friday yes!’
Yes my people, Friday is an important day in our week; for some it’s the start of their Sabbath, for others it’s the start of their weekend and two days off of work, and most importantly it was the day on which Christ was crucified, the day He sacrificed His sinless life for our sinful ones.
And all God’s people said, ‘Glory Hallelujah! What a wonderful Lord and Saviour we have. Praise His Holy Name! Amen!’
Anyway Friends, since it’s Friday, let’s chant our Friday Chant to get us into the right frame of mind to face the weekend in a positive, Christ-like manner.
‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Now that ought to give us the right perspective to handle the weekend. However, before we look at our Bit, let’s spend a moment in prayer for the unfortunate residents of the Fort McMurray area in the Western Province of Alberta, who are now facing imminent danger and the loss of their homes and belongings to rising floodwaters.
Oh Friends, so far it seems like this is the year of the flood and tornados, and the hurricane season hasn’t even gotten in to full swing yet. But we simply can’t afford to let disasters get us down.
In fact, as disasters strike, we need to lift, to ramp up our faith and trust in Almighty God, who’s promised to look after all those He’s called and have sincerely heeded that call. (Rom.8:28)
And when we consider our Bit, we see how extremely important it is, because, ‘Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (LOVE) envieth not; charity (LOVE) vaunteth not (does not brag on) itself, is not puffed up (arrogant).’
Yes my people, that’s truth of the absolutely undeniable kind!
Now yesterday, we saw in the passages before our Bit (vs.1-3) that regardless of our other attributes, that we’re useless, nothing, unless we have LOVE. And then the Good Book explains the basic God-like qualities of LOVE. (vs.4-8)
Today, we’ll take a gander at some scriptures that deal with the qualities that our Bit talks about; the long suffering of LOVE, its kindness, its lack of envy, its humility and lack of boasting, as well as its non-arrogant nature.
And what better place to begin than in the wisdom of Cousin Sol’s words, as he contrasts the attributes of the wise and those of the foolish. He states in matter-of-fact language, that ‘Hatred stirreth up strifes: but LOVE covereth all sins.’ (Prov.10:12)
And isn’t that gospel truth Friends! Our negative emotions wreak havoc in all aspects of our lives, but that wonderful attribute of LOVE, covers, brings God’s caring and harmonious nature to the front, leaving all negative issues in its wake.
As Hezekiah so wisely states in His glorifying prayer after his healing: ‘Behold, for (my own) peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in LOVE to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.’ (Is.38:17)
Oh my brethren, the wonderful works of the amazing God we serve never ceases to amaze me! In His great LOVE for us, He throws our sins behind Him and forgets them, even more so since Jesus paid for them with His sacrificial blood.
Meanwhile, in Ephesians, Bruh Paul lectures us on the kindness aspect of LOVE: ‘Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.’ (Eph.4:31-32)
Oh Friends, we can never find a higher level of God-like behaviour than forgiveness, especially when it’s based on the fact that God has forgiven us such a multitude of abominable sins! And that can only happen through a sincere LOVE for Christ!
Then in Galatians, re walking in the Spirit, Bruh Paul touches on the question of envy and jealousy. ‘If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory (conceited), provoking one another, envying one another.’ (Gal.5:25-26)
Ah mih fellow believers! I had to let out a long, loud sigh there because, unfortunately too many of us Christians aren’t truly walking in the Spirit, for envy, deceit and selfishness have become hallmarks of our modern society. And though we’re supposed to be in the world, but not a part of it, sadly, we allow the negativity of the world to greatly invade and influence our spirits, and thus our walk with Christ.
Now listen to James, re saving an errant believer. ‘Brethren, if any of you do err (wander) from the truth, and one convert him (turns him back); Let him know, that he which converteth (turns) the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide (cover) a multitude of sins.’ (James 5:19-29)
Again my people, it’s that attitude of kindness and caring, of not being judgemental, the lack of pride and arrogance in our fellow believers, that helps to turn us around when we’re faltering, and allows God to not only correct our sinful behaviour, but also blot out our sins.
And we’ll end with a last word of absolute wisdom from Cousin Sol. ‘He that covereth a transgression, seeketh LOVE; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very (the best of ) friends.’ (Prov.17:9)
And isn’t that the everlasting truth of man’s behaviour! Unfortunately, many of us have personally experienced it through unreliable gossip and the running mouths of the busybodies who take pleasure in spreading it, to the very real detriment of friendships.
Well that’s it for today my people. I certainly hope that these few words (smile) -as if I ever write few words eh – I do hope though that they provoke serious thoughts in our souls, which then lead to serious Christ-like actions in our lives. I sincerely pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Much LOVE my brethren!
…a true walk with Christ entails many things…but none more important than LOVE…
P.S. Sorry that this is somewhat late Friends, but my allergies acted up earlier on and I took some medication to calm them down, but apparently they calmed me down too much. (smile)
And though I wrote a rough draft without any problems, I’ve been in a semi-fog while transcribing it to the computer, making a set of foolish mistakes, which obviously annoyed me. But the Lord in His LOVING-kindness gave me the wherewithal to complete it without losing my mind. Much LOVE!
17 Jul 2012
by randyobrien50
in Inspirational Living
Tags: blasphemy, deceive not, don't think evil, false witness, gospel music, gossip, Hallelujah, lies, lightning strikes, renew your mind, slander, speak truth, Thank God for Jesus, what comes out defiles
Proverbs 24:28. Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.
Oh Friends, the hot times they continue! It’s supposed to be up to something like 35 today in my area, but with showers though. Hn! Showers eh! I’ll believe them when I see them. And talking about showers, yesterday I left out the length of time that the few scattered showers fell in my area. It was less than ten minutes. However, it seems that the City of Toronto itself, as well as its eastern environs had oodles of rain in a very short time period. So much that it caused power outages and flooding in several areas, and some people even got injured by lightning strikes. Let’s pray that they are okay. So while I was belly-aching about the little rain in my area on the western side of Toronto, those folks in the centre and on the other side were complaining about too much all at once. Anyway, here’s something, or rather someone, whom we can all be thankful for. It’s from the chorus of a Caribbean Gospel song I heard on Wack 90.1 FM yesterday morning, during their Gospel Time, between 4 and 6 a.m. Monday to Friday. If you LOVE West Indian Gospel, and to me it’s the BEST – so what if I’m biased about many things West Indian eh – (smile) then tune into Wack 90.1 on your computers in the early morning hours. I guarantee that you will get a wonderful treat of beautiful West Indian Gospel. And the chorus of the song I’m talking about says: ‘Thank God for Jesus! Thank God for Jesus! Thank God for Jesus – Everyday! Thank God for Jesus! He is my Saviour! He is the Truth! He is the Light! He is the Way!’ And all God’s people raised a loud shout of ‘Hallelujah! Amen!’ to heaven. Those are truly words of wisdom and truth mih breddren! And it segues in quite nicely to our Bit: ‘Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.’ Yes Friends, as followers of Jesus, the truth should be on our lips, emanate from our mouths at all times. And not only should it come out of our mouths, but also from our hearts. In fact, if there isn’t truth in our hearts, then how will it come from our lips eh? Remember Jesus’ words to the multitude re things that defile: ‘Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.’ (Matt.15:10-11) So my brethren, let’s work faithfully and diligently at getting truth rather than lies and evil into our souls and minds nuh, because only if we first put it in, can we later get it to come out. Then we have these fateful words of Bruh Paul to the Ephesians, re the new life in Christ: ‘But ye have not so learned Christ. If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation (conduct) the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts; And be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.’ (Eph.4:21-25) Ah mih people, if we’re truly born again in Christ, then truth should be the only thing that comes out of us, because that’s what Christ is all about! Now listen to the Lord thy God, from way back when, speaking through the prophet Zechariah, re things that must be done when the promised restoration of Jerusalem occurs. ‘For thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I thought (determined) to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath…and I repented not (would not relent): So again have I thought (determined) in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgements of (for) truth and peace in your gates. And let none of you imagine (think) evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and LOVE no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.’ (Zech.8:14-17) Yes Friends, it’s all there, plain and simple in black and white. And by the way, that’s where Bruh Paul got his words to the Ephesians from, re speaking truth to one’s neighbour. So it’s obvious that things like outright lies, false accusations, slander and blasphemy should not be numbered amongst the traits of a true believer. And the Lord knows that it’s difficult to always stay on the straight and narrow path when such a conglomeration of evil and ungodliness surrounds us, where lies, gossip, half-truths and other erroneous messages proliferate, and can easily lead us astray. But as with everything else in our Christian walk my people, we need to make a conscious and diligent effort to remove the ungodly things from our lives, obviously with the help of the Lord. If we come to Him with transparent hearts and lay all our cards before Him, He will enable us to bear our burdens and resist the evil that’s tempting us. Oh Friends that’s the wise and ONLY way we’ll ever be able to resist and/or avoid some of the many problems that will surely invade our earthly lives! So till we meet again tomorrow, God willing, please go in Peace, Harmony and LOVE, to serve and bless our great and wonderful God! Much LOVE!…when problems bring us to our knees…run to the Lord…and with a sincere heart say…Father, help me please…
27 Apr 2012
by randyobrien50
in Inspirational Living
Tags: Christian principles, deceivers, deception, encouragement, false prophets, false teachers, flattery, gossip, great expections, Jesus, thanks, warnings, weekend
Proverbs 20:19. He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
Well Friends, that joyful harbinger of the weekend is here. It’s Friday once again! And all those who have the weekend off, emitted a tired but expectant shout: “Thank God is Friday yes! Ah don’t know if I could handle another day of this depressing, tiring work!’ But Friends, as the song I’m listening in the background is encouraging, let’s rejoice! Yes, rejoice, because Jesus is in our lives and that’s the BEST NEWS in all the world! It’s amusing though, how we die for Friday to come because we get a couple of days off, but intensely dislike Mondays, since we have to go back out to labour for the little pittance that most of us receive. I guess that’s only natural, but as always, to help us handle the situation, let’s chant our Friday Chant with great expectations. As one voice now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ Yeh mih breddren, that should put us in a more controlled and godly frame of mind. So now we can address our Bit without any of you throwing tantrums at my words, (smile) since some of you genuinely believe that some of the stuff you revel in is quite harmless. But our Bit begs to differ: ‘He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle (associate) not with him that flattereth with his lips.’ Oh my people, we know that to be very true, but refuse to believe it because we either engage in it ourselves or encourage others to do so. Yesterday we looked at a couple scriptures that dealt mainly with tale bearing, today we’ll look at some that deal mainly with the second half of our Bit: ‘therefore meddle (associate) not with him that flattereth with his lips.’ Now Friends, that’s excellent advice because some of us are quite prone to flattery; we so desire to hear nice and good things about ourselves that we make the cliché very true; flattery will get you any and everywhere. And there are plenty people out there quite willing to indulge us, so please don’t associate with that type, cause they will only take advantage of our weakness and lead us astray. Hear Bruh Paul’s warning to the Romans on the subject. ‘Now I beseech you, brethren, mark (note) them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good (smooth) words and fair (flattering) speeches deceive the hearts of the simple (innocent).’ (Rom.16:17-18) That’s gospel truth Friends! So please pay careful attention to it. Now listen to this other warning to the Colossians, re false teachings. ‘And this I say, lest any man should beguile (deceive) you with enticing (persuasive) words….As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you (plunder, or take you captive) through philosophy and vain (empty) deceit, after (according to) the tradition of men, after the rudiments (basic principles) of the world, and not after Christ.’ (Col.2:4,6-8) And if you don’t believe it happens, then here is an excellent example of it from Acts, in the days of the council of Jerusalem. ‘And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.’ (Acts.15:1) Now that’s totally false, but men were preaching that kind of falsehood back then, and plenty are still preaching all kinds of untrue stuff today. That’s why it’s so important that we be very careful with whom we associate and the tenor of their beliefs because once they get their hooks into us, they can very easily lead us astray. And here’s the final word from Peter, re false prophets and teachers: ‘But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily (secretly) shall bring in damnable (destructive) heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious (destructive) ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of (blasphemed). And through covetousness shall they with feigned (deceptive) words make merchandise of (exploit) you: whose judgement now of a long time lingereth not (has not been idle), and their damnation (destruction) slumbereth not.’ (2 Pet.2:1-3) And believe me, Friends, obnoxious false teachers and teachings are still with us today, possibly even with greater deception. So I implore us to delve deep into the Good Book ourselves, and get proper instruction from reputable people, so that we can know these false teachers and meddlers who go around intentionally misleading the brethren. I pray that we can all stand on the true Word of God, and not be misled. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Much LOVE!…Lucifer’s deceivers are so good… that it takes a true Jesus believer to spot them… P.S. And as the rocking soca song in the background’s saying: ‘Thank God for Jesus, Thank God for Jesus, EVERYDAY. Thank God for Jesus, He is my Saviour, He is the Truth, He is the the Light, He is the Way…Thank God for Jesus…He is the truth, He is the Light, He is the Way.’ No doubt about that mih people! So let’s give Him the thanks He so rightly deserves! Much LOVE!
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