25 Apr 2022
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a brand new start every day, a future and a hope, a mans' heart deviseth his way, a merciful forgiving and gracious God, alive and kicking, all things work together for good, disobeyed your word, God's timing is perfect, gospel truth, heal our land, hear our prayer, hope and wait quietly for the Lord's salvation, humble servants, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, is as a thousand years, it is good that a man, Jehovah Rapha, LOVE, manna, mass confusion in our world, mercies and compassions, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, my times are in your hands, obey God and leave all the consequences to him, one day with the Lord, Praise the Lord, strong faith in Christ, the God who heals, the Lord directeth his steps, the Lord is my portion saith my soul, the Lord is sovereign, therefore will I hope in him, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to every thing there is a season, to give you an expected end, to them who are called according to his purpose, to them who love God
Ecclesiastes 3:1. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
And on this last Monday of April 2022, the second one after Christ’s triumphant resurrection at Easter, although the sun is shining under a slight cloud cover, we are not in any doubt of our past, present or future. And why is that you ask? Well, obviously because we are alive and kicking through the awesome mercies and compassions of our great God, which are new every day! And all God’s children gave out a loud, proud and grateful ‘Glory Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Praise His Holy Name!’
And yes, we ought to be everlastingly grateful that He’s not consumed us in our iniquity, but even more so that He gives us a brand new start every day! Wow! Yes mih bredrin, our great God doesn’t believe in stale, left over stuff, so He gives us a new burst of His spiritual energy every single day of our lives, just enough to get us successfully through that particular day. And some of us might be greedy and want more than a day’s worth, but He knows just how much is sufficient for us.
Remember Jesus’ words in the prayer He taught the disciples? ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ Yes, all we need is one day of God’s provision at a time, like He did with the manna He gave to the Hebrews in the wilderness. If they picked up more than a day’s worth, it was spoiled by the next day. (Ex. 16) And we must learn to be satisfied with what God gives us every day, don’t try to go running ahead of Him, because then we only screw up all His well laid plans for us. And sadly, our impatience, and our ability to wait on God and His impeccable timing is exactly why so many of us are getting nowhere fast.
One commentator puts it simply and succinctly: ‘For us, God’s timing often feels like a long, desperate delay. God’s perfect timing does two things: It grows our faith as we are forced to wait and trust in God and it makes certain that He, and He alone, gets the glory and praise for pulling us through.’ That’s gospel truth my people! And Bruh David said it in Psalm 31: “My times are in Your hands …” (Ps. 31:15) More gospel truth!
And there are so many scriptures in the Good Book that teach us about waiting on God’s perfect timing. So, this Monday morning, let’s remind ourselves of a few of them nuh. It can’t possibly do us any harm, and it will certainly do us much good. (smile) And we begin with this marvellous and true statement from Cousin Sol writing as the preacher in Ecclesiastes, where He wisely declares: ‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.’ (Eccl. 3:1) And that’s no lie, for God has planned His universe with perfect perfection (smile) and nothing happens outside of His plan.
And we ought to remember that, for as Cousin Sol writes in Proverbs 16: ‘A man’s heart deviseth (plans) his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.’ (Prov. 16:9) And the Lord is indeed sovereign over man’s planning and scheming, as so many of us have found out to our detriment.
But these marvellous words from the prophet Jeremiah on God’s behalf, ought to boost our faith and trust in God, although they don’t seem to do so, otherwise we wouldn’t be as impatient and disobedient as we are. ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you an expected end (a future and a hope).’ (Jer. 29:11) Now, if God gives such a great promise, why would He do anything contrary to it eh? No reason whatsoever!
And if He does allow us to go through hardship it’s only to test our faith and to grow us. And for that, He’s given us this magnificent and everlasting promise. ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) So as children of God, we ought to know and believe that He will indeed work out everything for our good eventually and wait patiently for His awesome timing. But our current behaviour doesn’t reflect that promise enough.
And these words of Peter remind us that our God works on an entirely different timeline than us. ‘But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.’ (2 Pet. 3:8) Now that should make us put on our thinking caps. (smile) And furthermore, as Peter continues: ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ (2 Pet. 3:9)
That explains why we’re not consumed but receive new mercies and compassions every day. If the Lord wasn’t long-suffering, that’s patient, we would have been destroyed long ago. So please let’s give much thanks that patience is one of His many virtues. And I think that these words from Jeremiah in his Lamentations is a wonderful scripture to close on. ‘The Lord is my portion, saith my soul: therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.’ (Lam. 3:24-26)
Now friends, there’s absolutely no way we can doubt those scriptures because they are the indisputable truth of God’s word. So please, let’s get ourselves together nuh, for our sakes and those of our children, and begin truly believing in what we read and waiting patiently on God’s timing, because He always has what’s best for us. There’s absolutely no doubt about that! And in keeping with all that we’ve said today, let’s go to our wonderful God in prayer, right now nuh, letting Him know our wants and desires through our Monday Morning battle Hymn.
As one strong and confident but humble voice. ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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!’
Now it’s time to show our sincerity by living the way we promised…provided we want to receive a positive answer from God. Much LOVE!
…living this earthly life is very simple…simply obey God…and leave all the consequences to him… (Uncle Charles – Dr. Charles Stanley)
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
11 Apr 2022
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a barrage of angry voices, a day of rest, awesome grace and mercy, disrupt the best laid plans of mice and men, earthly behaviour conform to heavenly standards, give me understanding, God's revelation, hear our prayer, I have longed after thy precepts, I shall keep it unto the end, in the path of thy commandments, Incline mine heart unto thy testimonies, Jehovah Rapha, life happens, LOVE, make me to go, mass confusion in our world, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, not to covetousness, observe it with my whole heart, quicken me in thy righteousness, sincere repentance in our hearts, stablish thy word unto thy servant, strong faith in Christ, teach me O Lord, the God who heals, the Guide Book of Life, the Lord's renewal of our spirit, the throne of grace, the way of thy statutes, thy judgements are good, to do God's bidding, turn away my reproach which I fear
Psalm 119:33. Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
Monday, oh Monday! How good it is to see you again! We’ve missed you…’ ‘Talk for yourself please!’ a barrage of angry voices responds. That tells me that others are not as fond of Monday as I am. (smile) But as I said some time ago, Monday ought to be our strongest day because on Sunday we receive the Lord’s renewal of our spirit through praise and worship with other believers, and the fire and passion stirred up through that divine activity should propel us forward with undaunting strength and power to do God’s bidding.
That’s an important part of why we worship on Sundays folks; for just like our mechanical engines need occasional cleaning and refuelling, so do our spiritual engines need replenishing, and the Lord has chosen His Day, that’s Sunday, for that divine purpose. But because we so often misuse Sunday, which is technically a day of rest, we are seldom at our best on Monday. So, it seems like we need to retool the way we use our Sundays, and instead of partying heartily till the late hours, make sure we get enough rest in the evenings so that we can be fresh and fruitful come Monday.
And do we ever need to be faithful and fruitful in these sad, evil and turbulent times my fellow saints in Christ! And yes, most of us want to do just that, but the strong pull of this world usually leads us astray. So here are some words from the Guide Book of Life, that I believe will help us to change our ways in that respect…and possibly many other respects too. (smile) We’re talking about the section of Psalm 119 that’s subtitled ‘Give me understanding.’
Please pray with me. ‘Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do I delight. Incline mine heart unto (cause me to long for) thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity (from looking at worthless things); and quicken (revive) thou me in thy way.’ Stablish (establish) thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear (to fearing thee). Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgements are good. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken (revive) me in thy righteousness.’ (Ps. 119:33-40)
Yes friends, those are indeed powerful verses of scripture, which, if we sincerely heed them will give us the wisdom and understanding to bring our lives into full union with God, enabling us to live the best life possible here on this fallen earth. Now let’s see if we can further understand what we’ve just read by elucidating on the meaning of some of the terms used there. (smile) And the first verse speaks about ‘statutes.’ So what are they? The scholars tell us that ‘statutes’ (huqim) is related to a verb meaning “to engrave” and thus implies permanent and unchangeable regulations.’
Meanwhile, the second verse says, ‘I shall keep thy law.’ Now what’s that about? According to the scholars, the major topic of Psalm 119 is the ‘Word of God. The multifaceted character of God’s Word is revealed by at least eight key synonyms for it in the psalm. And Law (torah) is the most frequent one. It comes from a verb meaning “to teach,” and thus came to be applied to a wide range of revelation, from an individual directive to the entire Pentateuch. (That’s the five Books of Moses, the first five in the Bible). It emphasizes that God has taught us in His Word, what He requires of us.’ So ‘Law’ basically means all of God’s revelation, all that He’s inspired in His Holy Word.
Then the next verse talks about the ‘path of thy commandments.’ And per the scholars, ‘Commandments (mitswot) is a word assuming the authority of the commander and the inherent necessity of obeying the content of the charge.’ Nothing difficult to understand about that now! (smile) Then we talk about ‘incline mine heart unto thy testimonies…’ What is that eh? ‘Testimonies (edot) emphasizes the content of the Word as that which God has testified of Himself and His will.’ Just like we testify of God, so does God testify of Himself in His Word.
That brings us to ‘stablish thy word.’ ‘Word (dabar) here is an all-embracing term for God’s revelation in any form.’ Then we have ‘for thy judgements are good.’ ‘Judgements (mispatim) or ordinances refer to decisions God has made as judge in order to make earthly behaviour conform to His heavenly standard.’ And the final term is ‘I have longed after thy precepts.’ ‘Precepts (piqudim) refer to instructions from a superior regarding the duties of those under him, in this case from God to man.’
So friends, we see that it’s all intertwined, but in the final analysis it’s all about God’s Word and how we ought to study it, so that we can learn it and then keep it, make it an active part of our lives, in order that we can have all that the Lord desires for us, and all that Christ died for us to possess; that is abundant life, in and with Him! And since everything begins and ends with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let’s go to the throne of grace with our petitions right now nuh, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
Therefore, in contrite but confident voice. ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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!’
The next move is to now show our sincerity by putting our words into actions! Much LOVE!
…one can only understand and appreciate God’s Word…when one reads, studies, and keeps it to the end…
P.S. My sincere apologies for the unusual lateness of the Bit. Let’s just say that life happened. We all know how it can disrupt the best laid plans of mice and men. (smile) Much LOVE!
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
07 Mar 2022
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: aimless, be conformed to the image of Christ, be not conformed to this world, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, corrupt according to deceitful lusts, created in righteousness and true holiness, divine perspective, drifting...always drifting, envying and strife and divisions, forgive us, God wants total commitment, Grow Up, grow up into Christ, heal our land, hear our prayer, humble servants, I have fed you with milk, Jehovah Rapha, Jesus is our strong fortress, LOVE, mass confusion in our world, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, no set purpose, not with solid food, one day soaring, only spiritual puttering, put on the new man, Ruth Harms Calkin, sincere repentance in our hearts, sincerely seek your face, submit totally to God's will, the battle for control, the God who heals, the One Year Book of Bible Promises, undisciplined, unsteady, wading in self-pity, wise guidance and direction, ye are yet carnal
Romans 12:2. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Oh boy, is Mother Nature confused! The weather people are promising rain and snow for this first Monday in Lent. We already have the rain, only waiting for the snow to come. Yesterday we had bright sunshine and temps of up to 15 degrees Celsius, although a strong wind lent its cold self to the proceedings all day long. That’s what the cold winds do in March. So it wasn’t as warm as you might think by just hearing the temperature.
Now today it’s a completely different story. It’s about 1 degree Celsius, and for the snow to come, it must get slightly colder. So why the drastic changes from day to day eh? It must come from our interfering with the delicate balance the Lord set in Mother Nature when He created the universe. And I guess in His awesome wisdom, knowing that everything we put our hands to, we will destroy or pervert, He gave us His only Son Jesus Christ as a strong tower to hold on to when we screw up. (smile)
And that’s not really a joke nuh, because without Jesus for us to lean and rely on, what would we do, how would we survive in this frightful world that now surrounds us? And unfortunately, even with Jesus as our strong fortress, too many of us are still struggling to survive. Why is that eh? I believe it’s because we are not mature enough in Christ, and not trying as hard as we ought to acquire the maturity needed to stand strong in this evil and ungodly world. Now this poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin admirably explains our situation. And it’s most appropriately titled, ‘GROW UP!’
So, let’s read together. ‘Picture it with me: a piece of gnarled bark tossed to and fro over the crashing breakers. First one direction, then another, back and forth, over and under. Aimless. No set purpose. Drifting…always drifting. What an accurate picture of an immature Christian. Nothing but spiritual puttering. Up and down, in and out. One study group for a few weeks, then another. One church for a while, then another. Undisciplined, unsteady, one day soaring, the next day wading in self-pity. No consistency.
The apostle Paul tells us to grow up! Not grow older, but grow up into Christ. What we are today is more important to God than what we were yesterday. Our life journey with Jesus is now – this very day, this very hour. Why yearn for change if we’ve made no effort to follow the direction God has already given us? To grow spiritually we must be single-minded. Our one goal? To be conformed to the image of Christ. He longs for our willingness to let Him root us, cultivate us, water us. Above all, God wants our total commitment. He will take anything we give Him…except second place.’
And that’s the awesome truth my people! Our God is interested in all aspects of our lives and wants us to come to Him with all our concerns, but under no circumstance will He accept second place, or any other also ran position! It’s either first place, or nothing at all! And that’s the sad mistake many of us are making. We are trying to compartmentalize our lives, with Jesus in some and not in others. But that will never work, because Jesus can’t grow us up in His image unless He has full control of our lives.
And the scripture verse used for today’s poem is one we all know and spout, but don’t take as seriously as we ought to and thus remain immature Christians. On this matter, Bruh Paul admonished the church at Rome thus: ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ (Rom. 12:2)
Yes my brethren, that’s what we need to do. Transform ourselves by renewing our minds in the image of God instead of the world. And we cannot transform ourselves into anything unless our minds are transformed because that’s where the whole battle for control takes place, and whatever is uppermost in our minds will also be uppermost in our lives. That means to live for Christ, Christ must be uppermost in our minds. However, right now, too many of us are still concerned too much, and rooting too hard for the things of the world and have Jesus In an insignificant position.
And if Bruh Paul was to talk to us today, he would use the ever-appropriate words from his first epistle to the church at Corinth, where he lambasted them thus. ‘I have fed you with milk, and not with meat (solid food): for hitherto (until now) ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions (dissensions), are ye not carnal (fleshly), and walk as men. For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?’ (1 Cor. 3:2-4)
Yes my fellow believers, it’s embarrassing that at this stage of our Christian development, there is still so much dissension and dislike in our ranks. Like babies, we are still drinking milk instead of eating solid food, being one in the body of Christ, His church. And it’s the same contention that both the author of Hebrews (Heb. 5:12) and Peter (1 Pet. 2:2) wrote about. It’s obvious that we have not taken any of those warnings as seriously as we should and foregone the things of the world by concentrating on the things of Christ.
Some of us believe that we can live with one foot in the world and one foot in Christ’s kingdom. But that’s a fallacy my people, and the sooner we realize it, the better off we will be. For as Jesus said, you can’t serve two masters at the same time. You can’t serve God and mammon or money both together. (Matt. 6:24) So it’s time we wake up and choose one or the other, preferably Jehovah God. And when we do that, let’s make sure and follow this other directive of Bruh Paul, this one to the church at Ephesus.
‘That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be 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.’ (Eph. 4:22-24) That’s the only way to go my fellow saints! So, let’s begin doing that right now nuh, by going to the Lord in sincere prayer, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, asking for His divine perspective and help.
As one confident but humble voice: ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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 now, lest we forget, to receive positive answers to our prayers, we need to have sincere hearts and right motives therein. Much LOVE!
…we will never grow as Christians…until we submit or surrender totally…to God’s will for our lives…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
24 Jan 2022
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a weekend of great indulgence, all is not lost, all things that I have commanded you, and lo I am with you always, anxiety filled day, cannot be my disciple, cloven tongues, come after me, filled with the Holy Ghost, give you another Comofrter, hear our prayer, humble servants, I will not leave you comfortless, I will pray the Father, if ye love me keep my commandments, indulgences of the carnal kind, Jehovah Rapha, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, not with Jesus in the mix, sincere repentance, teach all nations, teaching them to observe, the Great Commission, the kingdom of God, the Lord doesn't suffer promise breakers gladlyr, the one everybody loves to hate, tough love, trusted Jesus implicitly, whosoever doth not bear his cross, winning souls for Jesus, worth his salt
John 14:15. If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments.
Ah friends, my most humble apologies for the Bit being so late today. I began it earlier on, but just wasn’t in proper functioning mode, so I left it until I felt capable of doing it justice. But here’s what I had written so far: (smile) Monday, oh Monday…how shall we describe thee eh? As the scariest or most anxiety-filled day of the week…the one everybody LOVES to hate, and doesn’t like to appear on their horizon, because it means work, travel, labour, etc. etc.…? That’s getting up off our fat, lazy, entitled fannies after a weekend of great indulgence, indulgences of the mostly carnal kind. (smile)
Yes, my people, Monday is the day that brings out the worst in us, when we need to be at our best, at our best in winning souls for Jesus! It gives us no break, no leeway, just a constant flashing of the figurative whip, ever so subtly, yeah, very subtly inviting us to get up and get a move on! Oh Monday… you are such a hard taskmaster! But any leader who’s worth his salt, must have some of the hard taskmaster resilience in them. And we find that in both Satan and Jesus, though the flashing whip of Jesus is coated with genuine caring, LOVE, mercy and compassion, while the devil is just full of evil, selfishness and greed.
And we see the tough LOVE in Jesus, when He says: ‘If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren (brothers), and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.’ (Luke 14:26-27) Yes friends, those are indeed hard words, but we know that Jesus did not mean we ought to truly hate our friends and families, but that His ministry, His will ought to be first and foremost in our minds, bodies, hearts and souls.
That’s just it! If our main intent is not to further the kingdom of God and His righteousness, despite the many problems we might face, then we are lacking in true discipleship. Jesus also declared to the disciples: ‘Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.’ (John 15:15) And, ‘If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments.’ (John 14:15) Now that’s the hallmark of any follower of any leader; to do what they command them to do, otherwise you are not a true follower. Which means that a lot of us supposed true believers are not really true believers, since we don’t do what Jesus says, we don’t keep His commandments.
But then, in typical Jesus fashion, after admonishing us to give up our will for His, to live our lives by His dictates, He turns around and promises: ‘And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless (as orphans): I will come to you.’ (John 14:16-18)
Ah mih bredrin, what a wonderful Lord and Saviour is our Jesus! He lays down strong rules, but enhances them with mighty promises. And we all know He kept that promise of the coming of the indwelling Holy Ghost on that long ago Pentecost day, when the believers were in the upper room… ‘And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven (divided) tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.’ (Acts 2:2-4)
Jesus does keep His promises friends, although some of them might seem farfetched to our puny and finite minds. Yes, since that momentous day, upon receiving Christ as Lord and Saviour, every believer has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit to lead and guide them in their earthly walk with Christ. And let’s not forget what we call our Great Commission backed by a great promise, when Jesus instructed the disciples, and consequently ALL future followers:
‘All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:18-20)
Now that’s a tough commission to enforce, but the disciples took Jesus seriously because they trusted Him implicitly, and did it, obviously with His help, through the Holy Spirit. The problem right now though is that the current crop of believers is not pushing forward as powerfully and steadfastly as we ought to, that’s why Christ’s church is suffering and in much disarray. We’re not sufficiently keeping Christ’s commandments, not LOVING Him enough, not being His true friend, and thus we’re falling behind in our discipleship.
But all is not lost, it’s never lost when Jesus is in the mix! That means we can still make a substantial difference if we hunker down and do like we ought to. And since prayer, with thanksgiving is vital to our successful discipleship, let’s turn to our great and wonderful God right now in prayer, with thanksgiving, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, asking for divine strength and guidance.
Altogether now: ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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!’
Now, please remember that we’ve just promised to pray and seek the Lord’s face, so we had better keep that promise if we want to receive positive answers to our prayers, because the Lord doesn’t suffer promise breakers gladly. Much LOVE!
…only by keeping God’s commandments…can we ever hope to prosper and succeed…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
13 Dec 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: according to his riches in glory, agape love, and lo I am with you always, be of good cheer, by the putting on of my hands, For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, for my name's sake, give us wise guidance, God will supply all of my needs, great is your reward in heaven, hear our prayer, humble servants, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, i have overcome the world, I put thee in remembrace, in the world ye shall have tribulation, Jehovah Rapha, keep the flame alive, let not your heart be troubled, let the weak say I am strong, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, my peace I give unto you, neither let it be afraid, of power love and a sound mind, Peace i leave with you, rejoice and be exceeding glad, sincere repentance, so persecuted they the prophets, stir up the gift of God, strong faith in Christ, the ability to accomplish God's will, the God who heals, the grace of God, the light of the world, turn from our evil ways, when men shall revile you
2 Timothy 1:6. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting (laying) on of my hands.
The big day of Monday is up friends, let’s get out there and handle it with the grace and strength that we derive from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It’s what He expects of us, and what we should expect of ourselves as His disciples. And most likely it’s not going to be easy to achieve our purpose, but that’s what Jesus brings to the table; the ability for us to do what He desires of us. Remember what He told the disciples when He bade them to go out all over the world and make other disciples in His name? ‘…and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:20b)
That’s why we also have scriptures like ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ (Phil. 4:13) And ‘My God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus.’ (Phil, 4:19) They remind us that Christ is always with us through His Holy Spirit, both in the good and bad, hard and easy times, but we have to know the Word, then activate in our lives when the moment arrives.
And then we come to the main topic for today, exhortation for endurance, like Bruh Paul made to Timothy, when he told him. ‘Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting (laying) on of my hands.’ (2 Tim. 1:6) Bruh Paul was there urging Timothy to ‘stir up,’ keep alive the flame that God gifted him, that’s the grace of God. And likewise, we are also required to keep the flame of our gift of grace from God burning brightly. Remember we are the light of the world.
And we have all the tools to do it, because as Bruh Paul continues: ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.’ (2 Tim. 1:7) Yes friends, we have it all; all that we need to retake the world from the evil forces that are now controlling it. The power, meaning the ability to accomplish whatever God wills, the LOVE, that’s the agape or brotherly affection and compassion for each other, and the sound or disciplined mind to keep it all on track.
Then Bruh Paul said it like this to the church at Rome. ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.’ (Rom. 8:14-15) Oh my faithful brethren, if we have become the adopted children of Almighty God, then we cannot be in bondage to fear, because the mighty power and Spirit of God dwells and works in us to dispel fear.
That points us to this reassuring scripture passage from Jesus, where He tells the disciples: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) And we all know that is not very easy to do in the carnal and ungodly world in which we currently live, but if we use all the tools that Christ has given us, we will be able to endure and even burn brightly while we are enduring. (smile) We must use God’s word to do His will and His work.
Listen to another encouraging bit of scripture from Jesus nuh. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) Nobody knew better than Jesus that we would have trials and tribulation, persecution and resistance. He mentioned it in the Sermon on the Mount when talking of the Beatitudes. ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’ (Matt. 5:11-12)
Yes, it can be rough being a follower of Jesus, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. They persecuted Him, and they are likely to persecute those who follow Him. And He repeated it again later on specifically to the twelve disciples, after He had chosen them. ‘And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.’ (Matt. 10:22)
Oh my fellow saints, following Jesus is an exercise in faith and endurance, or what the old folks called ‘belly and backbone.’ If you don’t have either of them, life in His camp will be extremely difficult. But the good thing is that they can be learned, and Jesus gives us all the tools we need to do it when we accept Him as Lord and Saviour. But we must get down to brass tacks and play our part. Following Jesus is not for whiners. As He says, to be His disciple, we have to sacrifice our will for His, then take up our cross and follow Him. It’s not easy, but it’s very possible, and most adventurous.
And He never turns us down when we have problems and come to Him in sincere prayer seeking comfort and consolation. And do we ever need those things right now in this divided and troubled world. So, let’s go to our God and Saviour for divine favour and succour through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
Altogether now: ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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 it would help, if we were sincere in our pleas and promises. Much LOVE!
…let the weak say…I am strong…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
29 Nov 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a stumbling block, better not to vow than vow and not pay, call upon me in the day of trouble, delay not to pay it, divine help, Dr. Charles Stanley, ease the pain, every beast of the forest is mine, for thy sacrifices and burnt offerings, forgive us and heal our land, give us wise guidance, God is a good god, God puts great store by promises, He takes no pleasure in fools, hear our prayer, I will deliver thee, I will not reprove thee, if I were hunry I would not tell thee, Jehovah Rapha, leave all the consequences to Him, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, much deserved thanks and praise, obedience, obey God, offer unto God thanksgiving, our Lord and Saviour Redeemer and Friend, our time of desperate need, pay thy vows unto the Most High, promises are made to be kept, sinned and disobeyed your Word, strong faith in Christ, suffering from negative situations, take the bull by the horns, the best way to begin the work week, the God who heals, the power to solve our many problems, the psalmist Asaph, the world is mine and the fullness thereof, thou shalt glorify me, vowed a vow unto God, we have Jesus to boost our spirits
Psalm 50:14. Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High:
Well, mih bredrin, fighting the traffic with its numerous bad drivers, in the early morning darkness, on these wet and slushy roads is definitely not the best way to begin the work week! We all desire a bright, dry, sunshiny day to help us get back into work mode. But unfortunately, we’re stuck with what we have, and just have to make the best of it.
At least let’s give thanks that it’s not several inches of snow or tons of rain like what has been dumped on several other communities over the weekend. And best of all, we have Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, Redeemer and Friend to boost our spirits, lift our joy and get us to wherever we must go safely and on time! Wow! Give Him some much deserved thanks and praise my fellow believers!
That recalls the words of the psalmist Asaph as he talks about God being the judge in Psalm 50. As pertaining to not desiring blood sacrifices, God says: ‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God. I will not reprove (rebuke) thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. I will take no bullock (bull) out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds:
For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls (birds) of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.’ (Ps. 50:7-15)
That says it all right there my people! The Lord doesn’t want animal or blood sacrifices, but the sacrifices of our hearts and mouths, through praise and thanksgiving and the keeping of our promises. Remember what Cousin Sol says in Ecclesiastes about promises? ‘When thou hast vowed a vow unto God, defer (delay) not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than thou shouldest vow and not pay.’ (Eccl. 5:4-5)
Words of eternal wisdom my brethren. Promises are made to be kept, especially to our God. But we have a bad habit of making promises willy nilly when we desperately want something, then not keeping them. However, God puts great store by promises, both by His and those made to Him by others. And if we don’t keep ours, He won’t keep His either, because many of them are conditional on our behaviour. Meaning, if we do such and such, then God will do so and so.
And that’s one the reasons why many of our prayers go unanswered. We talk a big talk to God, but don’t walk the talk. So what else do we expect but unanswered prayer eh? And don’t forget about that thing called obedience; a small and piddling irritant in our eyes, but a most important element in God’s. That’s another stumbling block on which our prayers and lives falter.
Listen to what Samuel told Saul, Israel’s first king when he failed to obey God’s command to totally destroy the Amalekites, but instead he spared their king Agag and the best of their animals. ‘And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.’ (1 Sam. 15:22)
Yes friends, that one disobedience caused Saul to lose his throne! And who knows how much we have lost through the glaring and rampant disobedience that is currently being carried out in our sinful and ungodly world, where the heathen wants to get rid of God, and too many supposed believers don’t have the parts to stand up strong and truly fight the battle on God’s behalf?
But thankfully, our God is a good God, a forgiving and merciful God, who will forgive and administer His grace and mercy to those who are sincerely repentant. As the psalmist so rightly reminds us above. ‘Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.’
And if you don’t believe that this is a time of serious trouble in our world, then something is seriously wrong with your mental apparatus. So please, let’s take the bull by the horns, believe God’s word and go to Him right now in prayer, with sincere repentance and thanksgiving flowing from our hearts, so that He can help us in this our time of desperate need. As one voice, let’s offer up our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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!’
Now please remember that God’s promise is conditional on us changing our evil ways. Much LOVE!
…the wisest way to live this life…obey God…and leave all the consequences to Him… (Uncle Charles – Dr. Charles Stanley).
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
15 Nov 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a future and a hope, a strategy to help us cope, a strong fighting spirit, artificial intelligence, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee, blessing and cursing, cast into the lake of fire, eternally separated from God, for God so loved the world, forgive us and heal our land, free will is good if used wisely, he gave his only begotten son, hear our prayer, humble servants, I have set before you life and death, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, if you don't use it you'll lose it, Jehovah Rapha, living for Jesus, lose the use of our faculties, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, no good thing will he withhold, O Lord of hosts, robots, seeking nothing but victory for christ, self-driven vehicles, seriously disobeyed your word, short attention span, show them your awesome grace and mercy, sincere repentance in our hearts, thank you for life and strong faith in Christ, that both thou and thy seed shall live, the Covid 19 pandemic, the God who heals, The Lord God is a sun and shield, the Lord will give grace and glory, them that walk uprightly, therefore choose life, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end, we have all sinned, who ever believes in Jesus will not perish
Psalm 84:12. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Now, since each day unerringly follows the other, like the moon automatically follows the sun, today had to be Monday because yesterday was Sunday, when we gathered in worship and the Lord refreshed and strengthened us to begin the new workweek with a strong fighting spirit, seeking nothing but victory for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and His righteous kingdom!
And yes, I know that’s a long, convoluted sentence, but sometimes those sentences are good, because they get us to stop and think about what they really mean, especially in this age of the short attention span, where we don’t have to use our brains to figure out anything, since it’s laid out right on a silver platter, short and sweet for us. But please remember that old saying, ‘if you don’t use it, you will lose it.’ And that’s the gospel truth my people. If we don’t use our God-given gifts, they will atrophy and eventually become useless.
And sadly, that’s where our world is headed right now, what with things like robots, artificial intelligence and self-driven vehicles becoming more a part of our everyday life. Soon we won’t have to do anything for ourselves and consequently we’ll lose the use of most of our faculties. In fact, a lot of us have already begun losing the use of many of our faculties with the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic where we were isolated for a long period of time. That only lead to a higher than normal amount of fear, anxiety, depression, mental illness and domestic abuse.
But since the pandemic doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon, we desperately need to have a strategy in place to help us cope with all the negative stuff that’s currently circulating in our world. Now my brethren, the only avenue I see open and able to deal with our situation is living for Jesus! That’s the long and short of the story! Jesus is the ONLY One who can help us to successfully handle all the negativity that’s coming against us at this present time.
And what grounds do I have for saying so. Listen to these encouraging and uplifting words of the psalmist. He positively proclaims: ‘For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.’ (Ps. 84:11-12)
Wow friends! What a marvellous declaration! That’s why we believe, or rather we know that those who worship the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be able to withstand anything that comes against them. The Lord God Himself has promised it. As Jeremiah declared: ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity) to give you an expected end (a future and a hope).’ (Jer. 29:11) And we all know that Jehovah God keeps ALL of His promises! He’s not reneged on a single one down through the ages.
However, to command His marvellous benefits, we need to walk uprightly and obediently before Him. And with the free will He’s given us, it’s our choice, our decision to make. Please note though, these most important words of Moses to the Israelites. ‘I call heaven and earth to record (witness) this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.’ (Deut. 30:19) And that charge still stands today my people!
We still have the free will, the opportunity to choose life or death, blessing or cursing. Unfortunately though, many of us seem to be choosing death and cursing over life and blessing by refusing to follow the Lord, to walk uprightly and obediently before Him. That’s a totally unwise decision friends, one that we will pay for in the long run when we are eternally separated from God, and cast into the lake of fire with Satan, the prince of darkness and disobedience.
Remember, what Bruh Paul said about disobedience: ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is sternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Rom. 6:23) And just like the Lord keeps the good promises, He also keeps the tough ones. So, there will be no getting away in the end if you don’t walk uprightly and follow His Son Jesus.
And that’s the very reason He sent Jesus to die on the cross. Hear Jesus tell it nuh. ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:16-17) And that’s it in a nutshell. If you don’t believe in Christ, you will perish, as simple as that.
And friends, from personal experience, I can tell you that though living for Jesus might seem difficult in this evil and ungodly world, the reality is that He gives you the wherewithal to handle whatever comes against you. He won’t always make life easy, but He will enable you to handle life. No other supposed deity can sincerely and successfully promise that. So I plead with you, please rethink your options, and if you haven’t already chosen Jesus, please do so asap, in fact right now, because tomorrow, or even later, could be too late.
So, let’s go to the Lord in prayer, through what we call our Monday Morning Battle Hymn and sincerely open up our hearts and souls to Him, pleading for His help. Altogether now: ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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!’
Now, if we want the Lord to keep His promises, it behooves us to keep ours. Much LOVE!
…free will is good…but only if used wisely…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
27 Sep 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a broken and contrite heart, a broken spirit, a figment of our imagination, a fool's wisdom, agree to disagree, by thy words thou shalt be condemned, by thy words thou shalt be justified, come together, devolve into anarchy, directions for earthly living, endemic strife, every idle word that men speak, fear God and keep his commandments, fomenting disagreement, forgive us and heal our land, God shall bring every work into judgement, God's Word, guidance and direction, hear our prayer, humble servants, in the day of judgement, it's talk that won the war, Jehovah Rapha, learn to live in unity, leave all the consequences to Him, LOVE, mass confusion, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, obey God, repentance in our hearts, right motives, seriously disobeyed your word, sincerely seek your face, submission to God and His revelation, the BIBLE, the God who heals, the killing machine, the sacrifices of God, they shall give account for, this is the whole duty of man, thou desirest not sacrifice, to do justly and to love mercy, to walk humbly with thy God, turn from our evil ways, weapons of mass destruction, what does the Lord require of thee, whether it be evil, whether it be good, with every secret thing
Ecclesiastes 12:13. Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Oh my brethren, let’s come together on this last Monday in September 2021 nuh! It’s the only hope we have of going forward in a relatively calm world. The anger scouring our world right now is tremendous and can lead to no good. There are too many divisive actions and responses to the many serious problems we face. Unless we at least agree to disagree and stop fighting each other on the important matters our world currently faces, the situation will just devolve into anarchy and full-scale violence.
The pandemic, the vaccines, climate control, worldwide poverty and endemic strife will never be settled through violence and bloodshed, which is where we are heading right now. As my Uncle Foster used to tell me: ‘It’s talk that won the war nephew.’ And he was quite right, for it’s in the peace talks after the war that everything’s really decided. So why can’t we have the peace talks before the war eh? Haven’t we been self-destructive enough over the last century, where we have killed more people than in all the wars of several centuries before?
The killing doesn’t prove anything, it just keeps the status quo going, where every few years we turn to killing each other again in a vain attempt to solve age old differences. And the next worldwide slaughter will most likely be the last one since we’ve improved our destructive methods like nothing else. The killing machine is our proudest and most significant area of expertise! Whatever’s happened to the peace and LOVE that so many of us romanticize in our societies eh? Is it really only a figment of our imagination? It certainly seems so, because right now those two attributes are totally lacking from the world scene.
We certainly have not spent half as much time on promoting peace and LOVE as we have on fomenting disagreement and building weapons of mass destruction, which has inevitably led to the vitriolic anger and hatred we’re currently spewing against our friends, families and neighbours. Whatever happened to the tenets of the Good Book eh, the Bible, God’s Word, His directions for living this earthly life? Obviously it’s no longer looked upon favourably. Instead, we are trying to remove it and God completely from our society, which is a fool’s wisdom and will never happen.
How many centuries have mankind tried to rid themselves of it eh, but it only becomes stronger and takes greater hold, especially since Jesus came to earth and showed us the true image of our heavenly Father and how much He cares for us, that He’d even allow His Son to die for us, while we were yet sinners. Yes friends, the Bible is God’s word to us, still fresh through all the ages, and if we’d but read it, we would find God’s wisdom on its pages. The amazing wisdom He desires His favourite creation to live by. Oh my people, what will it take for us to truly realize that there’s ONLY One Power and One Presence in this great universe eh: that of Almighty God, the Good Omnipotent!
And until we get it through our thick skulls that He created this universe and all therein, and will not allow it to be taken away from Him, so we had better learn to live in unity with each other and with Him, the sooner there will be some real semblance of peace and LOVE in our angry, hating, divisive world!
What then is the solution to our problems you ask? I believe the writer of Ecclesiastes tells us as simply and clearly as possible. He wisely declares: ‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’ (Eccl. 12:13-14) That’s the gospel truth friends!
Now hear this explanation from the scholars: ‘12:12-14. God has not answered every problem of life, but He has commanded man to live joyfully, responsibly, and wisely. Finally, the controlling factor of all life should be the fear (reverence) of God, that is, submission to God and His revelation (cf. Prov. 1:7). The certainty of divine judgement demands it.’
And that is not new news my fellow saints, it’s old stuff. Moses told the Israelites that in (Deut. 6:2, 10:12) and the prophet Micah reiterated it to them later on: ‘He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to LOVE mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?’ (Mic. 6:8) Meanwhile Bruh David says it thus in Psalm 51 – A prayer for cleansing. ‘For thou desirest not sacrifice; else I would give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.’ (Ps. 51:16-17)
Yes, my fellow believers, that is what the Lord desires of His greatest creation; to come to Him humbly and in reverence, admitting His awesome sovereignty. And if you didn’t believe the prophets, then listen to Jesus, the Son of God. ‘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, if Jesus says there will be a day of judgement, then there will be one. And all our words and actions will come before Him, and we will receive our just deserts, be it rewards in heaven or eternal damnation and separation from Almighty God. Let’s understand and believe that there is a price to pay for all that we do that does not line up with God’s will.
Disunity is our biggest problem right now. Why can’t we see that eh? We desperately need to come together and get back to worshipping and reverencing Almighty God. And there’s no better time to start than right now. So let’s go to Him in prayer with our problems nuh, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
As one voice: ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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 as always, the Lord will search our hearts for the right motives and see how we keep our promises before answering our prayers. Much LOVE!
…the duty of man…to obey God…and leave all the consequences to Him…. (Uncle Charles – Dr. Charles Stanley)
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
06 Sep 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: alleviate our problems, awesome grace and mercy, cast into the lake of fire, earth's treasures are temporary, eat your flesh as it were fire, eternal separation from God, Everything is grace, fall on deaf ears, for where your treasure is, forgive us and heal our land, from everlasting to everlasting, go to ye rich men, God's unmerited favour, grace and peace be multiplied unto you, heaped treasure together for the last days, hear our prayer, heaven's treasures are eternal, Jehovah Rapha, Jesus Christ - the only way to the Father, keep our promises, lay not up for yourselves, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, LOVE, mass confusion, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, on the cross of Calvary, rewards for faithful service, sacrificed His sinless life, Saint Therese of Lisieux, Satan, shall be a witness against you, sincere belief in the Son of God, sincere repentance, the breath of life, the fiery halls of hell, the God who heals, the rust of them, the Sermon on the Mount, the vicissitudes of life, there will your heart be also, thieves break through and steal, through the knowledge of God, to pay our sin debt in full, treasures upon earth, turn from our evil ways, two precious commodities, weep and howl, where moth and rust doth corrupt, wise guidance and direction, your garments are moth-eaten, your gold and silver is cankered, your miseries that will come upon you, your riches are corrupted
Matthew 6:21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Oh my fellow saints in Christ, on this Labour Day Monday, may ‘Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord (and Saviour).’ (2 Pet. 1:2) Yes friends, we do need a lot of grace and peace in these trying times, times when everyone seems to be angry, displeased and dissatisfied over some thing or the other. And the only way to get those two precious commodities is through sincere belief in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who sacrificed His sinless life on the cross of Calvary to pay our sin debt in full!
All praise and glory be to that wonderful Saviour of ours! He’s promised that despite our circumstances, if we believe in Him, the Father will grant us His divine grace, and thus peace, through all the vicissitudes of life. And let’s remember that it’s by God’s divine grace that we are saved, through faith; and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.’ (Eph. 2:8-9) Or as Saint Therese of Lisieux so wisely put it a while back: ‘Everything is grace!’
And it certainly is friends, for all that we are and do, all that we have and will ever have, from the breath of life flowing through our bodies, to the eternal life we receive through believing in Christ, is based on the divine grace of our heavenly Father. That’s God’s unmerited favour, that nothing we can ever do will be good enough to deserve it. And all God’s people gave a loud and grateful shout of ‘Thank You Lord for Your awesome gift of grace!’
Sadly though, too many of the earth’s inhabitants don’t know of Jehovah God and His wonderful goodness to the children of men. And even worse yet, too many of those who do know of Him, refuse to accept that divine grace He offers, through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. Now that’s to their detriment, for it will only lead to eternal separation from God, which is the worst thing that can ever happen to a human soul.
Oh my people, how many times do I have to reiterate that eh, before you all believe me? Eternal separation from God means not being in heaven with Him till eternity, but with Satan, the Devil, Beelzebub, or whatever name you choose to call him, facing damnation in the fiery halls of hell, and eventually being cast into the lake of fire with all the other unbelievers. Now tell me, are the sinful pleasures of this world truly worth such a terrible end? I don’t think so friends. And if you stop for a moment and really consider the situation, you will also realize that the pleasures of this world are not worth such a disastrous end, and can never be better than those found in heaven.
That’s why in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus adamantly warned: ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt (ruin), and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’ (Matt. 6:19-21)
And we all know that’s the gospel truth friends, for wherever we store whatever we treasure, we will always be thinking of and contemplating on it. So, it’s much better if we store up treasure in heaven, that is, rewards for faithful service, where moth and rust nor any negative thing can destroy them, than store up earthly stuff, that’s useful today and old and rusty or stolen tomorrow. Yes my brethren, earthly things don’t last. Just look at any junkyard nuh. Everything in there was once brand new, shiny and useful, but like the shine on all earthly things it soon wore off and they became old and rusty, of no further use to anyone.
And to further illuminate us, please listen to the warning James gave to the rich, those who stored up earthly treasures. ‘Go to ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted (have rotted), and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered (corroded); and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.’ (James 5:1-3)
Sadly my brethren, that same earthly treasure that the rich have laid up for their retirement, is what the Lord will use against them in the last days, for a lot of it was treacherously and deceitfully gained; robbing the poor and not paying the labourer a fair wage. That’s the basic story friends; don’t store up too much useless earthly stuff, which you will die and leave here anyway. But try and store up as many rewards for faithful service as you can in heaven, where you will eventually go and enjoy them – providing you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, because He is the ONLY Way to the Father in heaven!
Now, let’s talk to the Father, pour out our troubles and problems to Him, the ONLY One who can help us to put a lasting fix on them. So as one strong voice, let’s invoke our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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!’
Now let’s remember that all our prayers will fall on deaf ears, if we don’t keep the promises we just made. Much LOVE!
…earth’s treasures are temporary…short lived…but heaven’s treasures are eternal…run from everlasting to everlasting…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
30 Aug 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: an immense shower of love, and now abideth faith hope love, beareth all things, believeth all things, But God commendeth his love toward us, Christ died for us, doth not behave itself unseemly, endureth all things, envieth not, forgive us and heal our land, hatred stirreth up strifes, hear our prayer, hopeth all things, humble servants, Jehovah Rapha, learn to enjoy, let us love one another, LOVE, Love - the great mover and shaker, love covereth all sins, LOVE is of God, Love never fails, love suffereth long, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, negative producing emotions, sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins, sincere repentance, steal the joy and peace of Jesus, the God who heals, the greatest of these is love, the penultimate day, turn from our evil ways, while we were yet sinners, wise guidance and direction
Proverbs 10:12. Hatred stirreth up strifes: but LOVE covereth all sins.
Here comes Monday, here comes Monday, ringing in the penultimate day of August! And with the end of August, our summer weather will soon fizzle out to nothing. But be it hot, cold, or in between, I believe the important thing is for us to learn to enjoy whatever kind of weather we may experience, once it means that we are still alive, and still enjoying the wonderful life that Jesus died for us to have!
And please note that I said, ‘learn to enjoy,’ for that kind of thing does not come naturally. We have to make a conscious decision to not let it steal the joy and peace we find in Jesus, who is our strength, and enables us to overcome every circumstance that comes against us. And with the sad and angry state of the world, I believe today is a rather appropriate time to consider these wise words of Cousin Sol: ‘Hatred stirreth up strifes: but LOVE covereth all sins.’ (Prov. 10:12)
Oh my people, I doubt that there’s ever been a time in our world when we have needed LOVE more desperately than right now! The anger, greed, jealousy, resentment, hatred and all the other negative producing emotions are currently at an all-time high. And only an immense shower of LOVE will, or can stop it from further destroying our world. That’s because LOVE is the greatest attribute of our great God Jehovah; the attribute that caused Him to send His Son Jesus to earth to die for our sins.
As the Good Book so truthfully recounts: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) And it is ONLY LOVE that will keep us from doing further damage to our world and to each other. Why is that you ask? Because LOVE is the perfect antidote for all negative emotions and reactions! So let’s see what the scriptures have to tell us about that marvellous thing called LOVE nuh.
Bruh Paul puts it this way to the church at Corinth in what we refer to as the LOVE Chapter: ‘Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind…envieth not…vaunteth not (does not brag on) itself…is not puffed up (arrogant), Doth not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (keeps no counts of evil); Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things…never faileth.’ (1 Cor. 13:4-8)
Oh my, my…LOVE is certainly the great mover and shaker! That’s why Peter could confidently declare to the church: ‘And above all things have fervent charity (LOVE) among yourselves: for charity (LOVE) shall cover a multitude of sins.’ (1 Pet. 4:8) And that’s the gospel truth friends; if we have sincere LOVE for each other, it will clean up so many of our wrongful thoughts and actions.
And we can never talk about LOVE in the scriptures and leave out these immortal words of John from his first epistle. ‘Beloved, let us LOVE one another; for LOVE is of God; and every one that LOVETH is born of God, and knoweth God. He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE. In this was manifested the LOVE of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:7-11)
Matter fix friends! Story done! (smile) So all that’s left for us to do now is to inculcate that godly attribute of LOVE into our daily lives, so that we can lessen the hatred and strife that’s engulfing our world. And yes, I know that’s sometimes difficult to do, but again, if we truly have Jesus in our hearts, and we seriously desire to live for Him, then, as we said earlier on, we can do whatever we need to do, through His awesome strength and power. And we can begin right now by going to Him in prayer and laying all of our problems before Him, asking for His divine help.
So as one strong voice, let’s offer up our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to heaven nuh. ‘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. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that 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. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land 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!’
Now friends, please remember that the Lord’s answer will pivot entirely on our keeping those promises we’ve just made. Much LOVE!
…and now abideth faith, hope, LOVE…these three…but the greatest of these is…LOVE… (1 Cor. 13:13)
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
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