The Importance of Doing Everything to God and not as to Man!

Colossians 3:23.       And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Good ole Monday is here again friends! The day we all LOVE to hate, but cannot get away from, no matter how hard we try. (smile) That’s because Monday is an integral part of our lives; the first day of our work week, when we’re supposed to set the tempo for the remainder of the week. But unfortunately, on most Mondays, we set a grumpy, lazy, and tired tempo because we didn’t rest enough on the weekend, neither were we properly prepared to tackle Monday, as we ought to. 

We need to understand that once we break the work cycle for a couple of days, it’s hard to get restarted unless we plan and actually get ready for it. A couple of generations ago, that was much easier to do since there weren’t as many activities to engage our free time as we now have. And if we don’t actively plan for a return to work, we’ll most likely end up frustrated, and annoyed, especially when we get out to face the early morning rush hour traffic. That’s a good harbinger of road rage, of anger spilling over into violence and foolish, regrettable actions. 

What makes our society even less desirable and competent is the lack of a work ethic among the younger generation, who sadly feel that they are entitled to much more than they are. Back in the day, although we might not like our job, we tried to do it to the best of our ability, because we were getting paid for it and were not allowed to slack off and fool around like we do nowadays. Granted, back then it was somewhat draconian, yes, the supervision and expectation might have been a tad excessive, unlike today where it’s excessively lenient and workers can get away with murder. 

The problem is that we no longer have a sense of responsibility like we once had. Irresponsibility is today’s motto. Just look at how the young generation behaves; no respect, so consideration for others, just selfishly concerned about their own welfare. They have no godly pride in themselves and the work they do. Although that truly stems from the declining responsibility and work ethic of our overall society, meaning the fault of lawless, irresponsible and ungodly leaders and parents. 

Remember the wise words of Cousin Sol? ‘Where there is no vision (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ (Prov, 29:18) And that’s the indisputable truth! Where there is no divine revelation of God’s will, the people will just do as they selfishly and ungodly please. Without the moral will of God running through the very veins of a society, it will soon become lawless and disintegrate, just like our society is currently doing. 

And this commentary explains the verse thus: ‘It highlights the importance of having a clear purpose, direction, and understanding of God’s will for a society or individual. When there is no such vision, people lose their sense of purpose, become unrestrained, and ultimately suffer. The verse also mentions that those who keep God’s law are blessed, highlighting the importance of obedience and adhering to God’s principles.’ 

And we’ve seen the truth in that right down through the ages. Every society that invoked the will of God became prosperous. However, when they got prosperous, they got proud and arrogant and unwisely figured that it was on their own strength. Obviously they then lost that godly vision, so the society began to decay and finally crumbled into oblivion. 

But there’s a basic motto to which we could all adhere that will solve most of our current work and relational problems. It’s this wisdom from Bruh Paul to the Colossians. ‘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. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.’ (Col. 3:23-25) 

Yes my brethren, it’s as simple as that! If we do everything as unto God and not as unto man, we will do a much better job. There’ll be less laziness and shirking or dodging of our responsibilities, more togetherness and God will prosper our society. For remember if you do God’s will, He rewards you, but if you don’t, you’ll feel the sting of His disfavour. 

Meanwhile, Cousin Sol says it this way as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes. ‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.’ (Eccl. 9:10) That’s more indisputable truth friends! In the grave there’s nothing but death, so we need to reserve our place with God while we’re alive, and that means doing our best with His will in mind. So, in these rather rough and uncertain times, lets’ go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking divine aid. 

Altogether:  ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. 

So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

And, from our prayer we can all see what’s necessary to receive that divine aid; humbling ourselves, praying, sincerely seeking God’s face with true repentance in our hearts. So, if we truly want God’s omnipotent help, then let’s seriously begin turning back to Him nuh. That’s godly wisdom at its best! Much LOVE!

…for our world to avoid hellfire and damnation…we must turn back to God…RIGHT NOW…it’s that simple…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   31 August 2022   Proverbs 29:18.

Proverbs 29:18.      Where there is no vision (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast of restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

And on this 31st day of August in the year of our Lord 2022, I want to wish a Happy 60th Independence Day to that fabulous twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the land of my birth! Now, the Jamaicans think they are the biggest and hottest thing since sliced bread, and they are good, I can talk from personal experience because that’s where, as the old people would say, I turned man, some fifty something years ago, but friends, there’s a quality in Trinbagonians that no one else in the world possesses. 

It seems like God put a spirit of mirth in the people of those twin islands in the sun! They have a sense of partying right at the front of their minds that no other nation has, always ready to make or play mas, and an instant camaraderie with anyone who wants to play along. It doesn’t take long to become friendly with a Trinbagonian. But their greatest gift is the expressing of heifer dust! Oh, nobody in this world could express heifer dust (S.T) like a T&T denizen! ( smile) Just go to any event, be it private or public, and once you hear heifer dust spilling out, you can bet your bottom dollar it’s a Trinbagonian! And if you have any Trinbagonian friends, you’d know that was the gospel truth. 

I don’t know why, but that truth stands out for me in one particular situation. Many years ago, I went to a local football (soccer) game in New York City, and was never more amazed when I heard the same sort of B.S. spilling out of the upper stands like you would hear in places like the Queen’s Park Oval or any soccer pitch in T&T. I don’t know why that surprised me, since I know we carry our traits with us wherever we go. I guess because it sounded so refreshing and unusual to hear it in the big city of New York. (smile) 

Anyhow, we all know that it’s been sixty hard years of slogging since independence, but we’ve made many improvements to the land and to the people, and let’s pray that with God’s grace we can do even better in the future. Now, please note I said with God’s grace, so that means we have to sincerely turn back to the God of our forefathers in worship and lifestyle, because we certainly cannot do it without Him on our side! Happy Independence Day T&T! 

That brings us to this word of warning from Cousin Sol in Proverbs. ‘Where there is no vision (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast of restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ (Prov, 29:18) And that’s more gospel truth my people! As the scholars explain. ‘Vision refers to the divine revelation received by the prophet. Morality is based on adherence to God’s revealed will.’ 

You see it in Moses being sent to teach the children of Israel how the Lord wanted them to live, and how quickly they moved away from the law while Moses was up on Mount Zion collecting the Ten Commandments. They found he was taking too long to come back down so they inveigled Aaron: ‘Up, make us gods (a god), which will go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of Egypt, we wot not (know not) what has become of him.’ (Ex. 32:1) And Aaron took all their gold jewelry and made them a molten calf to worship. And you can read how they displayed a complete lack of appreciation for God by worshipping the golden calf in the rest of Exodus 32. 

Then, later on, there’s the significant difference as offered by the Good Book in 1 Samuel, where it states: ‘And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious (rare) in those day; there was no open vision.’ (1 Sam. 3:1) In nations where God’s law isn’t upheld, where there is no moral restraint, the people run amok, do their own thing, apostasy is rampant and encouraged, like we’re seeing in today’s world. 

The scholars tell us, re that verse from Samuel. ‘The severity of Israel’s apostasy (cf. Judges 21:25) caused a dearth of God’s revelatory work. The condition was perpetuating and self-defeating (cf. Prov. 29:18). By God’s grace, the prophetic institution would receive renewed impetus and standardization in the person and work of Samuel. (cf. 3:21; 19: 20) It’s indeed terrible when a nation, a society, a people, don’t know and/or practice God’s word. 

And that reference from Judges brings it all to light. It says: ‘In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ (Judg. 21:25) No wonder the country was in such a sad state. And, unfortunately, that’s the way our world is currently trending; everybody wants to do their own thing, there’s no absolute right or wrong, except what we choose to acknowledge. And we can’t truly say that there’s been no prophetic revelation in the land, because there has been. God made Jesus the revelation of His will and word for all time. 

Listen to the author of Hebrews. ‘God, who at sundry times (in many portions), and in divers manners (many ways) spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds (ages): Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged (cleansed) our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.’ (Heb. 1:1-3) 

Yes friends, the Father has sent the Son to reveal Himself and His word to us. As the scholars explain: ‘The author immediately shows that Jesus Christ, as the agent of God’s revelation, is far superior to the Old Testament prophets. Their message was fragmentary and incomplete. It came bit by bit through visions, dreams, events, and direct communication as men were ready and able to receive it. Christ’s revelation is climactic and complete, because He is the Son and because His is the message for the last days. His incarnation initiated the end time, and it will be fulfilled when He returns to earth to reconcile and restore all things. (cf. Acts 2:16-17; 3:19-21; 1 Pet. 1:20).’ 

So, technically speaking, we don’t need any new revelation about God and His law, because we already have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in His Son Jesus Christ! And then we have preachers teaching us His word, so what else do we need to live right eh? As someone once said; what we need is a good boot in the tail, to make us wake up and take notice of our sad and sorry lives. And believe me, if the current atmosphere of disease, economic distress, climate change, a scourge of natural disasters, and the many other problems we’re currently enduring, don’t make us wake up and turn back to God, then we’ll not only perish spiritually, but eventually, also physically. 

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

And now, a gentle reminder, that if we endure to the end, that future we’re looking forward to, will be even more glorious than we can ask or imagine. So please, let’s allow that to encourage us to stick with Jesus nuh! Much LOVE!

…we did not create ourselves…and thus cannot be a law unto ourselves… 

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

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Today’s Scrip-Bit   1 July 2022 Proverbs 29:18.

Proverbs 29:18.      Where there is no vision (prophetic vision), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Oh mih people, the caffeine is hot, strong and sweet this Friday morning, this sunshiny, cloudy, first day of July 2022! Can you imagine that June is finished already! But that’s okay, because today in this blessed land we’re celebrating and shouting two things: The first is the usual ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!’ And with that comes the added incentive of no work today, because it’s a holiday, as we celebrate the birthday of our beautiful land, and shout ‘Happy Canada Day!’ 

Yes, on July 1. 1867, the separate Provinces came together to form the Confederation of Canada, and since then we’ve been plowing forward regardless. Oh, we’ve had misfortunes, done wrong things and displeased others, but yuh better believe right now we are the best big country in the world, despite our many problems! Yes, like all other countries we have problems, some of our own making, others because of our close association with the richest and one of the most volatile countries in the world right now, the U.S. of A. 

They want to spread their dissent abroad, and we want to play monkey see, monkey do. But hopefully, we will stand upon our own two feet and not allow them to further corrupt our already corrupt land and drive out the little decency we still have. We certainly don’t need any help to do that, because we do a good enough job on our own. That brings to mind the poignant and powerful words of Cousin Sol from Proverbs. ‘Where there is no vision (prophetic vision), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ (Prov. 29:18) 

The scholars tell us that ‘Vision refers to the divine revelation received by the prophet. Morality is based on adherence to God’s revealed will.’ And that’s what sadly lacking in our world today, a prophetic vision from Almighty God, why we have cast off restraint and are doing what we want, which is so much evil, immoral and ungodly stuff. But how can we ever have revelation from God when we are doing our best to remove Him from our society eh? No wonder our world is indeed perishing from lack of God’s word and adherence to His law. 

And we have a perfect example of that back in the days when the prophet Samuel came on the scene in Israel. The Good Book relates it thus. ‘And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious (rare) in those days, there was no open vision.’ (1 Sam. 3:1) And to show how bad it was back then, the last verse of Judges says: ‘In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ (Jud. 21:25) Now any fool can see that’s exactly where we are headed in this modern generation, which is downward to catastrophe and disaster like all the other societies which turned away from the Great I AM! 

But let’s go back and listen as the scholars explain the above verse from Samuel: ‘The severity of Israel’s apostasy, (turning away from God) (cf. Jud. 21:25) caused a dearth of God’s revelatory work. The condition was perpetuating and self-defeating (cf. Prov. 29:18). By God’s grace, the prophetic institution would receive renewed impetus and standardization in the person of Samuel. (cf. 3:21; 19:20)’ You can read those verses on your own, but they are basically telling us about the Lord appearing to Samuel and thus the increasing revelation in the society. 

Now, that calls up the second part of the proverb: ‘but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ Yes friends, when we keep God’s directives we are blessed. And I like how this commentator on the gotquestions.org website puts it. ‘Lest anyone be confused, this is not a call to legalism. Life is not found in our ability to obey a list of dos and don’ts. Within Psalm 19 we see indications of relationship with God. David talks about the fear of the Lord being pure (verse 9), he calls himself God’s servant (verse 13), and he calls God his “LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (verse 14). When Jesus named the greatest commandment, He referred to the command to LOVE God. (Mark 12:28-34) Our obedience to God and our keeping of His Word flow from a relationship in which we are LOVED by God and we LOVE Him in return (1 John 4:7-10).’ 

Oh my brethren, there must indeed be a few dos and don’ts like the Ten Commandments, if a society is to be stable and not continually chaotic, but generally speaking what a society needs, what we need to live a blessed and abundant life is a feeling of LOVE, of care and compassion to Almighty God and to each other! With LOVE being the basic essence of our existence, a society flourishes, shines bright like the noonday sun, gives God all the glory and honour, and is a perfect example to others. 

And we’ll enlist more of the interesting and true words of the commentator from the gotquestions.org website to aid in our offence against the enemy. So please read and take serious note. ‘Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” Jesus has come into the world as the living Word of God (John 1:1, 14). God has also given us the written Word, the Bible. When we fail to read God’s Word and live it out in our lives, we become people “without vision.” 

When we ignore God’s Word, we begin to live without restraint to our own peril. Conversely, when we heed God’s Word, we are blessed. Jesus said, “As the Father has LOVED me, so have I LOVED you. Now remain in my LOVE. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my LOVE, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his LOVE. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:9-11). God has given us His Word, and He calls us to be faithful to it. In keeping God’s Word, we will find joy in Him.’ 

And is all of that ever so true my fellow saints! Now let’s go to our heavenly Father in prayer, through our Friday Chant, seeking grace and mercy, forgiveness and help to improve our individual lives and our society. Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and our many other problems are causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks. 

And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And with those words of prayer flowing from our lips, we now need to keep our promises and show the Lord that we are indeed serious about changing our evil ways and coming back to His safe and blessed refuge. Much LOVE!

…the time to turn to Jesus is NOW…tomorrow may be too late…  

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 5 August 2021 Proverbs 29:18.

Proverbs 29:18.      Where there is no vision, (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Then came Thursday, the pen-ultimate day of the workweek…and the frowns were being lessened, because everyone knew that tomorrow would be the big day of Friday, the end of their work week woes! Now, it’s interesting to note how we shun and bad talk work in our society, when it’s work, both mental and physical, that has provided us with all the good things and amenities that we currently enjoy. 

If a society doesn’t keep working and producing, it dies. That’s the simple but indisputable truth! Look at all the great societies that have passed through this world, all have worked hard and been very productive in the beginning, but once they reached a certain level of wealth, where many could afford to sit on their laurels and do nothing, they eventually died, for lack of inspiration and innovation. 

And looking back through the pages of history, you would also note that those societies that had God as their main inspiration prospered immensely, but as soon as they got too big, prideful and full of their own importance and relegated God to the background, they also died an undistinguished death. I think those facts prove that the two most important things in a society, if it is to flourish, are God and the desire to work diligently and excellently. 

Now we don’t have to overdo any of them, because overdoing stuff is just as bad as underdoing. And remember, God instructed us to have at least one day off in each week to rest, just like He rested after creating the universe. However, without that God-given desire to face challenges and come up over them, no society will ever last for long. That’s why Cousin Sol told us that: ‘Where there is no vision, (prophetic vision or revelation), the people perish (cast off restraint): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.’ (Prov. 29:18) 

Basically, what that means is that a society without God, or a God-given morality or revelation, will become totally immoral and run into all kinds of trouble. It’s the prophetic revelation of God, through His Word and the prophets who declare it that keeps a society on an even keel, that leads to prosperity and divine blessing. And that’s why our society today is so directionless; God is lacking. People are not involved or challenged enough in its betterment. 

Look at our attitudes at work and towards work, the main way most of us gain a living. We’re apathetic, just going through the motions, putting in time till pay day… that’s if and when we show up for work. Sick time is currently one of the biggest detractors from productivity. But does anybody care? Not really, because it’s just a job, a botheration, to many of us. And we have a very good example of that kind of attitude and behaviour way back when, in the time of Samuel. 

The Good Book tells us about how the Lord called Samuel to minister to his people. ‘And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious (rare) in those days; there was no open vision.’ (1 Sam. 3:1) Yuh see that friends? When Samuel came along the word of the Lord was rare in Israel; there was no prophetic revelation, God was not uppermost in their thoughts and hearts, so the people suffered, ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, like we are now doing. 

And the scholars offer this explanation of that time. ‘3:1. The severity if Israel’s apostasy (turning away from God) (cf. Judg. 21:25) caused a dearth (a scarcity or lack) of God’s revelatory work. The condition was perpetuating and self-defeating (cf. Prov. 29:18). By God’s grace, the prophetic institution would receive renewed impetus and standardization in the person and work of Samuel (cf. 3:21; 19:20).’ And that’s exactly what we are seeing today; a lack of God’s revealing word, but to make matters even worse, we are not following what little is being revealed to us. 

And when you check out that above reference to Judges, this is what you get. ‘In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.’ (Jud. 21:25) And that’s what we’re also facing right now friends. Everybody is doing more or less as they please. There’s no such thing as a basic truth again, for everyone’s making up their own truth. Hn! And the disastrous spread of a negative social media isn’t helping the problem any. For as the scholars mention, such a condition is both ‘perpetuating and self-defeating.’ It feeds off its negative self. So, left alone, it can never improve, but can certainly get worse. 

We need to wake up and realize that the inordinate or large amounts of strife, enmity, anger, sickness, poverty, economic failure, greed, jealousy and natural disasters that are presently consuming our world is a direct result of an ungodly attitude towards each other, and lack of sincere reverence towards God. And unfortunately, it can only be overcome through the restoration of a godly vision; the reinstatement of Jehovah God and His awesome Word as our number one priority. 

Fellow saints of Christ, we desperately need to boost our level of faith and evangelizing, so that we make a difference in our communities and consequently our world. The world desperately needs what we have; that’s Christianity, or rather Christ in us. We need to show how Christ changes lives, improves them and sets them on the right path to salvation and eternal life. And we have been given numerous tools by our heavenly Father to accomplish that task, so please let’s put them to use nuh. 

We’re talking about our Thursday Blessings, which we now need to declare if we want them to take effect, for a blessing is not a blessing until it’s declared. So altogether now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! 

I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And having said that, it’s our duty to now go out and share or use those blessings just as generously with others, as the Lord shared them with us. Much LOVE!

…without God in his life…mankind is doomed to eternal damnation…                                                                                                             

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