08 Aug 2025
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a new flock of believers, all of a sudden, brought sin into the world, brought you a daisy bouquet, by the example your faithful believers set, can wake up and smell the coffee, Christ died for the ungodly, Christ died for us, crying out for God's help, defeat the enemy, defeat the simmering unrest in our land, divine help, eternal destiny, faith, for no discernible reason, Friday chant, God commendeth his own love toward us, God created us to have constant communion with Him, God is longing for our affection, God wanted a people to love, herein is love, holy spirit, hugged me, I long to hug you more often, I love you, I was puzzled, improve our witness for Christ, in due time, Jesus Christ, Jesus offered His sinless blood, LOVE, mercy, not living up to our part of the bargain, not that we loved God but that he loved us, omnipotent help, One year Book of Bible Promise, pay the Piper, positive evidence of God's love, practiced my lessons, problems escalating, put a damper on the enthusiasm, reconciliation, return backsliders to your fold, Ruth Harms Calkin, salvation, sinful ingrates, stand strong and steadfast for Christ, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the error of their ways, the materialism the cares of this world, the propitiation of our sins, the sinful world, the throne of grace, the very reason for our existence, today you picked me up, too busy hugging yourself, trusting faith, truth, underperforming believers, unexpected storms, unwise actions, we love him because he first loved us, when the time was right, when we were without strength, while we were yet sinners, Who Me, wise guidance
1 John 4:19. We LOVE Him, because he first LOVED us.
And did the ‘TGIF’s! Thank God it’s Friday!’ ever go up this morning, but in a rather tired and halfhearted manner, as last weekend’s celebrations and this week’s work put a damper on the usual enthusiasm for the weekend. The great hope and expectation for this one is not to party, but to rest. (smile) Yes friends, if you want to call the tune, then you have to be able to pay the piper. And if you can’t, then you’ll simply have to suffer the consequences. Sermon done! (smile)
And today we’re going to check out a rather interesting poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, simply titled ‘Who, Me?’ Yes, You! (smile) I don’t know if I’ve shared this poem before, but we know that they are all worth sharing over and over.
So please read with me: ‘Lord All of a sudden today you picked me up And hugged me And hugged me For no discernible reason. I was puzzled. After all – I hadn’t picked up my toys Or practiced my lessons Or brought You a daisy bouquet – Hesitantly, I asked why. You smiled and said I LOVE you, that’s all. Then You added: I long to hug you more often. Why don’t You, Lord? You are too busy. Too busy, Lord? Too busy hugging yourself.’
Ah my fellow believers, can that admonishment apply to us? Are we too busy hugging ourselves, too taken up with our own cares and worries to pay any attention to our wonderful and ever-LOVING God? Somehow, I think that many of us are guilty of just such unwise actions. The cares and the materialism of this crazy world occupy too much of our time. We all feel so busy. But busy doing what?
Most of the time it’s not any earth moving circumstance, but simply something we feel we ought to do. On the other hand, how often do we feel like we should be hugging our great God eh? Certainly not enough! Meanwhile, He’s there starving, longing for our affection. Remember He created us so that we could have good and constant communion with Him. But unfortunately, we’re not living up to our part of the bargain.
And the Bible verse for the poem is a simple but very telling one: The Book uses this translation: ‘We LOVE because He first LOVED us.’ But we like our good ole King James version which says: ‘We LOVE Him, because he first LOVED us.’ (1 John 4:19) Now that is such a very poignant and important statement; one that we should know and keep uppermost in our hearts, souls, bodies and minds at all times!
Why? Because it’s the very reason for our existence, our salvation and our eternal destiny! Remember we said that God created us because he wanted a people to LOVE and have constant communication with. And then, when we disobeyed His commands and thus brought sin into the world, He was heartbroken and therefore sought a way to return us to His flock. And that way was to Have His Son, Jesus Christ come to earth and selflessly offer His sinless blood as propitiation for our sins.
Why do you think the Lord did that eh? Why did He go to such great lengths to obtain a just and righteous reconciliation eh? Because He LOVED us! Else why would He break His own heart by sacrificing His only Son for a bunch of sinful ingrates eh? There’s only one logical answer; overwhelming LOVE for His sinful creation! And John explains that earlier on in the epistle, when he writes: ‘Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ (1 John 4:10)
Oh my fellow believers, that’s the greatest showing of LOVE there’s ever been, and will ever be! And I don’t understand why we don’t appreciate it so much more than we do. But that’s why the Lord gave us free will, so we could make our own choices, even though they may turn out to be the wrong ones. And how can we not appreciate and reverence these amazing words of Bruh Paul to the church at Rome eh?
‘For when we were yet without strength, in due time (at the right time) Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure (perhaps) for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth (demonstrated) his LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:6-8)
Oh my people, what else will it take for us to recognize and truly appreciate God’s great, undying LOVE for us eh? All through the Bible it’s said, written and actioned! So why do we still refuse to believe it and live like it mattered? Only each disbelieving individual and our all- knowing God know. Nuff said. Now it’s time to go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, seeking divine help for our numerous problems.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Unfortunately though friends, it’s not only the sinful world that needs to wake up and smell the coffee, but also we underperforming supposed believers. And until we improve our witness for Christ, we won’t see much, if any divine help! Much LOVE!
…with all the positive evidence available…if you can’t believe God’s great LOVE for mankind…how can you believe anything else…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
23 Nov 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a LOVING Father, a pleasure to know God intimately, and now abideth faith hope love, assurance of God's love, Bible, born of God, Christ died for us, christianity, damnation, deepen my breath, dissenters, eternal separation, faith, give men for thee, God commendeth his own love toward us, God is LOVE, God so loved the world, have everlasting life, he gave his only begotten son, he that loveth not knoweth not God, heal broken bones, heaven, hell, hellfire, herein is love, holy spirit, increase my awareness of you, infinite patience, intimacy with god, Jesus Christ, know you all the more, lazing around, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, lead you to the abundant life, LOVE, LOVE is of God, loved thee with an everlasting love, mercy, no force more powerful than God's love, not reciprocated the Lord's love, not that we loved God but that he loved us, people for thy life, precious in my sight, quiet my soul, relax my muscles, salvation, set free those held captive by sin, sleeping in, slow my thoughts, stop the roaring seas, thank you for this tenderness, the depth of God's love, the faith journey starts, the greatest of these is love, the Holy One of Israel, the Lord's love song, the propitiation for our sins, truth, unceasing neareness, walk in faith, while we were yet sinners, whosoever beleives in him should not persih, wisdom
1 John 4:8. He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE.
And now we’ve come to Saturday; our lazy-day Saturday, where most of us can do as we please, with little or no restrictions on time or effort. (smile) And it’s another damp and cloudy day, so that makes it even better for sleeping in and lazing around. I can’t complain either, because I did manage to get in a li’l lazy time despite the aches and pains crying out to get up and get some movement going in the ole body. But what else is new eh? (smile)
Anyway, let’s get to our most important matter right now, our Lazy-Day Saturday prayer. Please pray with me: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’
And what a pleasure it is to know our Creator and Provider more intimately! There’s nothing like it in this world! Why? Because God created us for the express purpose of having intimacy with Him; a creation for Him to LOVE, and who would LOVE Him in return. And we see God’s LOVE highlighted all the way through His Word, with explicit scriptures like this: ‘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.’ (John 3:16)
Then there’s this: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrates) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) Yes, instead of waiting for us to change, God’s LOVE was so great towards us that He just couldn’t wait any longer for us to turn ourselves around. And what about this scripture from the prophet Jeremiah? ‘The Lord hath appeared of old (from afar) unto me, saying, Yea, I have LOVED thee with an everlasting LOVE: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.’ (Jer. 31:3) And as the scholars explain: ‘God’s LOVE for His people is accompanied by infinite patience.’
Yes, my fellow believers, God’s LOVE for His most important creation is unconditional, unending and unmistakable! And what about these most endearing words from the prophet Isaiah? ‘For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee (in thy place). Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable (honoured), and I have LOVED thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.’ (Is. 43:3-4)
That’s how much the Lord LOVED the people of Israel, and consequently all those who believe, trust and have faith in His Son Jesus Christ. Oh friends, the Bible is in fact the Lord’s LOVE song to us! All through it we see His LOVE rearing up on behalf of His people, especially in tough times. And John got it ever so right in his epistle. Just listen to this treatise on God’s LOVE nuh!
‘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)
Oh my people, it could not be put any clearer or more straightforward than that! Unfortunately though, we have not reciprocated the Lord’s LOVE like we ought to. Instead, we’ve turned away from Him to other gods and man-made idols. Made Him so unimportant in our lives, that we’re even trying to eradicate Him from our society. But we know that will NEVER happen, for our God is the ONLY omnipotent, omniscient and omni-present Being in existence, and we cannot even make one move unless He allows it. And He will definitely not allow anyone else to take over the universe He so LOVINGLY created.
And because of His great LOVE for us and our stubborn, foolish and hardhearted, behaviour towards Him, He’s created a sanctuary for those who are wise and desire to have sincere communion with Him. It’s a place called heaven, where those who put their trust in His Son Jesus Christ will spend eternity enjoying the good and abundant life. However, for those who do not desire sincere communication with God, there’s another place called HELL, where those dissenters will spend eternity separated from Him. And if we’re wise, we’ll choose the first option, because the second is going to be pure hellfire and damnation!
Oh friends, God LOVES us because He simply LOVES us. As John says, God is LOVE, and thus can do nothing else but LOVE! And we’ll close today with this excerpt from an article on the subject of God’s LOVE found on the bible studytools.com website, which I believe very nicely explains it.
It says: ‘God absolutely LOVES you. It’s hard to get our minds around, but it is true. This is where the faith journey starts: understanding that God LOVES you. If you do not have an assurance of God’s LOVE, your faith journey will not last long. Fortunately, reading the Bible can help to strengthen your faith in God’s LOVE. There is no force more powerful than the LOVE our heavenly Father has for us, His children. His LOVE can move mountains, stop the roaring seas, heal broken bones and wounded hearts, transform lives, and set free those held captive by sin and shame. So great is his LOVE for you and me that he sent his only Son to die that we might live through him.
God is not an angry taskmaster who shows affection only when you succeed. He is a LOVING Father who will always LOVE you no matter what. Take time to receive the depth of his LOVE for you today. Allow his LOVE to heal you, transform you, free you, and lead you to the abundant life he has always longed to give. Read, meditate, and pray over these Bible verses about God’s LOVE as you walk in faith today.’
Oh my fellow saints, I certainly could not put it any better than that! So please, let’s do what it says nuh, get deep into God’s Word and understand just how much He really LOVES us! That’s wisdom to the nth degree! Much LOVE!
…and now abideth faith, hope and LOVE…but the greatest of these is…LOVE… (1 Cor, 13:13)
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
05 Oct 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a new commandment I give unto you, as I have loved you, Christ's Church, deepen my breath, eternal life, every one that loveth is born of God, found wanting, getting on in age, God is LOVE, herein is love, I praise you for your unceasing nearness, I praise you Lord, I want to be with you now, intimacy with god, it's all about love, Jesus Christ, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, lip service, LOVE, many religions but only one devil, quiet my soul, relax my muscles, salvation, slow my thoughts, stony hearts, thank you for this tenderness, that ye love one another, the Christian rel, the last days, the message ye heard from the beginning, the propitiation for our sins, their heart is far from me, they draw nigh unto me with their mouth, wisdom, ye also love one another
John 13:34. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another.
Oh friends, it’s another beautiful sunshiny summer-like day in my neck of the woods. And I’ve been taking full advantage of the lazy-day Saturday laziness. (smile) I’ve just come back from out on my front porch enjoying the heat of the sun pulsing through my aging bones. You know, you never truly appreciate the heat of the sun until you’re getting on in age, and your bones keep needing more heat to keep them warm. Hope you understand the parable in that. (smile) And since we’re thankful for the breath of life that’s still flowing through us, through the new mercies and compassions of our great God, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer in all sincerity and truth.
As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’
And there’s no feeling our God enjoys more than when His children come to Him sincerely seeking His presence, seeking more intimacy with Him. And why is that you ask? Oh, it’s a simple but ever so beautiful answer. It’s because one of His major reasons for creating us was to have close intimacy with Him. That’s why He’s always so pleased and cannot refuse any sincere request to draw closer to Him. So, on this lazy-day Saturday let’s bask in the sunshine of God’s awesome presence, as He pours out His amazing LOVE and compassion on us.
And although I don’t want to spoil the quiet, peaceful moments in God’s presence, we do have to face the reality of our earthly situation. For the last few days we’ve been considering the state of our world as concerning the signs of the last days of the church age, and we’ve been sadly found wanting. Now to top it all off, here’s a most depressing and discouraging statement I received via e-mail today. It says: ‘4,200 religions in the world and 1 devil, yet they are still not winning.’
Now, if the amazing number of religions is anywhere close to true, and we’re still not winning the war against the 1 devil, then things are really bad with us. What I do know is that there are many denominations within the Christian religion, but they are so divided and alienated on a lot of petty circumstances and doctrines, that the enemy has little or no problem in making our work for Jesus of no account. That’s why Jesus said to the disciples, and consequently to all believers: ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another.’ (John 13:34)
And it couldn’t get any plainer or clearer than that. If we truly want to work for Jesus then true togetherness is required, otherwise we’d just be working at odds with each other and making no headway whatsoever. Yes my fellow believers, the first thing Christ’s church needs before it can make any real inroads on the enemy, is togetherness! For without it, the enemy simply divides and conquers us. In fact he doesn’t even have to do any division, because we do it ourselves. He just sits and waits for us to spoil each other’s testimony and witness.
That’s why Jesus also told the disciples and all future believers: ‘By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:35) And that is certainly something the many denominations of Christ’s church don’t have for each other. There is so much petty bickering among the denominations, and even within the denominations that we spend more time fighting amongst ourselves than doing Christ’s work. No wonder the devil is winning!
And the sad part is that Jesus kept pounding into our heads the great necessity for LOVE amongst the brethren. He said it twice more to them in John 15. ‘This is my commandment, That ye LOVE one another, as I have LOVED you.’ (John 15:12) Then again a few verses later. ‘These things I command you, that ye LOVE one another.’ (John 15:17)
Oh my fellow saints, why would Jesus say the same thing so often if it wasn’t very important eh? And it’s not like we don’t know the importance of LOVE and working together to make a dream or a purpose come true. But for some reason or other, we can’t seem to put it all together to do the work Jesus commissioned us to do. And John even reminds us of it in his first epistle, where he writes: ‘For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should LOVE one other.’ (1 John 3:11)
Then John takes it a step further in his treatise on LOVE. He exhorts: ‘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.’ (1 John 4:7-8) Ah friends, John hits the nail right on the head there. So many of us talk glibly about LOVE, but it’s only lip service, for we don’t practice it, that means we don’t truly know God, for God is LOVE. And if we truly knew God, we’d be practicing LOVE like He demands of us.
It’s as Jesus said of the religious leaders in His time. ‘This people draweth nigh (near) unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.’ (Matt. 15:8) That’s the very same thing that exists on a rather large scale today, that’s why Christ’s church is not more effective in spreading His gospel and thus bringing more people to Him seeking salvation and eternal life.
And we’ll end with one more quote on the subject from John’s first epistle. He quite clearly explains: ‘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 4:10-11)
And if all this talk on LOVING God and each other, doesn’t make a dent in our hard , stony hearts and bring some improvement to our behaviour, then I truly don’t know what else to say! Much LOVE!
…with our great God…it’s all about LOVE…everything begins and ends with LOVE…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
05 Sep 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a positive outlook on life, abundance, Bible, by grace ye are saved, Christ died for us, christianity, come unto the knowledge of truth, courage, created in christ Jesus unto good works, creativity, curse, dead in sins, do foolish things, eternally separated from God, faith, foible, frail, god, God commendeth his love for us, God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, he will rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest (quiet you) in his love, he will save, herein is love, in his kindness towards us through Christ, in the ages to come, Jesus Christ, Jesus' Second Coming, joy over thee with singing, lack of love, lest any man should boast, LOVE, loved thee with everlasting love, make mistakes, manifested the love of God, mercy, negative word, not of works, prosper and succeed, quickened us together with Christ, receive clear direction for my life, reconciliation, salvation, save our bacon, shew the exceeding riches of his grace, should not perish but have everlasting life, sit together in heavenly places, success, talent, the calamitous state of our world, the cross of Calvary, the end of the church age, the fiery end of the world, the gift of God, the greatest of these is love, the Lord God in the midst of thee is mighty, the Lord hath appeared. of old, the Lord is longsuffering to us-ward, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, the propitiation for our sins, to know God on a personal level, we are his workmanship, we ought also to love one another, while we were yet sinners, who will have all men to be saved, whosoever believeth in him, with loving-kindness have I drawn thee
Jeremiah 31:3. The Lord hath appeared of old (from afar) unto me, saying, Yea, I have LOVED thee with an everlasting LOVE: therefore with LOVING-kindness have I drawn thee.
Ah friends, that’s what happens when you have a late morning and a tired body; you get up late and thus all your well-planned and thought out activities also end being late. (smile) But that’s life! We’re human, very frail and foible, thus we makes mistakes and do foolish things. The wonderful thing though is that our Lord and Creator still adores, admires us and LOVES us no end! And even sent His One Son Jesus to die on the cross at Calvary so that we wouldn’t be lost to Him for all eternity!
Wow! What a wonderful God we serve my people! And just to remind and reassure us of that great LOVE of the Father, let’s look at a few Bible verses that show it in spades. Beginning with one of my favourites: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrates) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8)
Isn’t that marvellous my people! A God who shows His LOVE for His underserving and sinful creation by taking the lead in reconciliation. No other supposed God would ever do that! But our God, the One True God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is so confident and assured of Himself that He can do things like that.
Then there’s this other famous verse on the topic of God’s LOVE for mankind, spoken by none other than Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ while here on earth. ‘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.’ (John 3:16)
Yes friends, if the Lord had not stepped in to save our bacon, we would all have been automatically consigned to hellfire and damnation because of our sinful and ungodly behaviour. But God’s LOVE for His awesome creation was so great, that although we certainly deserved eternal separation from Him, in all good conscience, He could not allow it to happen. As Bruh Paul says of God, to his protégé Timothy. ‘Who will (desires to) have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.’ (1 Tim. 2:4)
Meanwhile Peter puts it thus in his second epistle. ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise (re the end of the church age with Jesus’ second coming, and the eventual fiery destruction of the world), as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ (2 Pet. 3:9)
Yes my fellow believers, those words clearly signify that God desires salvation for all who will trust in Him and His Son Jesus Christ. And the scholars say that ‘Salvation here is equated with repentance.’ So we see again the high value that the Lord places on us being reconciled to Him and not being eternally separated, which is really the worst thing that can ever happen to a human soul.
Even way back in the Old Testament God was forecasting salvation and healing for His people. Listen to this scripture from the prophet Zephaniah. ‘For the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest (quiet you) in his LOVE, he will joy over thee with singing.’ (Zeph. 3:17) And what about this verse as Jeremiah reassures Israel of God’s everlasting LOVE. ‘The Lord hath appeared of old (from afar) unto me, saying, Yea, I have LOVED thee with an everlasting LOVE: therefore with LOVING-kindness have I drawn thee.’ (Jer. 31:3)
And this commentary very nicely explains that verse. ‘His LOVE for us will continue for all eternity. It never decreases or subsides. At all times, in all conditions, regardless of who we are or what we have done, God LOVES us. Moreover, the Lord is constantly drawing us to Himself that we might know Him on a personal level and experience the fullness of His LOVE for us.’ Mama Mia! How marvellous is that eh! God LOVING us so much that He’s constantly drawing us to Him on a personal level so that we can experience all that He truly is.
That brings us to this other magnificent scripture on God’s LOVE, this from the apostle John’s first epistle. ‘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 4:9-11)
And right there is the crux of our problem my fellow believers! God LOVES us and has shown it in numerous ways, but we are so hardhearted, cold and selfish, that we refuse to LOVE each other as God desires! And that’s why our world is in such a disastrous and calamitous state…the sad and sorry lack of LOVE!
Now here is the crowning glory of God’s LOVE as told by Bruh Paul to the Ephesians. ‘But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great LOVE, wherewith he LOVED us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us (made us alive) together with Christ, (by grace ye are (have been) saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace ye are (have been) saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship (creation), created in Christ Jesus unto (for) good works, which God hath before ordained (prepared) that we should walk in them.’ (Eph. 2:4-10)
That says it all my fellow saints! All that we are from creation to the judgment day comes from the great LOVE of God towards His favourite creation. How can we not return that LOVE eh? Because we’re too full of ourselves and the nonsense that Satan and the world is filling up our heads with. And to further show God’s great LOVE for us, let’s go home now declaring (chuh man!!!) our Thursday Blessings, which He’s so generously bestowed on us to do his earthly work.
As one strong and sincere voice: ‘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 made that declaration, it’s now our bounden duty to go out and use those blessings just as generously for the benefit of others! Much LOVE!
…and now abideth faith, hope, LOVE…but the greatest of these is…LOVE…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
17 Aug 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fool's wisdom, a genuine desire for the well being of another, Bible, christianity, closer to God, deepen my breath, drift away from God, every one that loveth is born of God, faith, fellowship, god, God sent His only begotten Son, great is thy faithfulness, greedy, hang all the law and the prophets, he that loveth not knoweth not God, herein is love, his compassions fail not, hold your head and bawl, hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord, howl like a hyena, I may know you all the more, if God so loved us, increase my awareness of you today, it is good that a man, It is of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lazy, Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, let us love one another, LOVE, love is God's greatest attribute, LOVE is of God, love is the greatest emotion, Love thy neighbour as thyself, mercy, negative news, not that we loved God but that he loved us, on these two commandments, power hungry, quiet my soul, reciprocated love, relax my muscles, run to God, s wisdom, sacrifice, sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins, slow my thoughts, strife-filled, Thank you Jesus, that we might live through Jesus, the Lord is good unto them that wait for him, the Lord is my portion saith my soul, the love of god manifested toward us, the sinsful pleasures of Satan, therefore will I hope in him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God, to the soul that seeketh him, True LOVE, truth, we ought also to love one another, wisdom, with all thy heart soul and mind, you're the Best
1 John 4:7a. Beloved, let us LOVE one another: for LOVE is of God;
And what a perfect lazy-day Saturday this is turning out to be; wet and cloudy, though somewhat humid, an excellent chance to just laze around and do nothing but laze around. (smile) I was able to enjoy some of it by staying in bed a li’l longer, only because I went to bed at a fairly late hour of the morning, so the ole bones didn’t have a chance to get creaky and cranky.
What a life! But it’s a good life, despite the many problems that do crop up, because we have our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to help us deal with them. And all God’s people said a loud and grateful: ‘Thank You Jesus! You’re the BEST! We LOVE You and praise your Holy Name!’ And that’s exactly how it ought to be! Therefore, in conjunction with that statement, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer, in a sincere and heartfelt manner.
As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’
Yes friends, that’s a prayer the Lord cannot refuse, simply because He LOVES it when we desire close communion with Him. It’s the reciprocated LOVE that He desires of us, of which we spoke yesterday. And it’s one of the major reasons He created us; to want to know Him as deeply as possible, and have His awesome presence constantly present in an overwhelming manner in our hearts, souls, bodies and minds. That’s why right now we’re feeling an increase of His godly presence moving in our receptive spirits. And thus, we ought to continue looking at scriptures that show the LOVE of Jesus, as well as LOVE for Him. (smile)
And I like this commentary that asks ‘What is true LOVE in Jesus?’ Then gives this reply: ‘True LOVE is a genuine desire for the well-being of another. It is holy, sacrificial, and other-oriented. A LOVE that we can only know through the One who is LOVE Himself. God commands His people to LOVE Him with all their heart, soul, and strength.’
So when the pretentious lawyer asked Jesus what was the great commandment, He obviously replied thus: ‘Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matt. 22:36-40)
Yuh see people, God’s plan is all about LOVE; LOVE for Him, for ourselves and each other! That’s all He asks of us. That’s because LOVE is the greatest emotion there is, and God’s greatest attribute is LOVE! As John so wisely and rightly declares in 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!’ (1 John 4:7-8) And you simply cannot get away from the indisputable truth of that statement: God is LOVE; and LOVE is of God!!!
Then John continues: ‘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 4:9-11)
Now that’s perfect logic my brethren! God showed His amazing LOVE for us by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross at Calvary to pay for our sins. You simply cannot get any deeper or greater LOVE than that! So why is it so difficult for us to reciprocate that LOVE to God, and to also show it to our fellow humans eh?
It should not be that difficult if we take into account the great sacrifice that both the Father and Jesus made on our behalf. But being the whole set of negative adjectives we’ve become; lazy, greedy, sinful, entitled, ungodly, strife-filled, power-hungry, etc. etc. it’s no wonder we find it difficult to give LOVE to God, ourselves, and other humans. The sinful pleasures of Satan have become more important than the everlasting goodness of God.
And then we wonder why our world is in such a terrible state. The answer is very simple: there’s no real LOVE in our hearts, so how can there be any in our world? And it’s interesting, but also heart-rending, that we all watch the great amount of negative news with which we are bombarded every day, and we decry it, but do we do anything about it, even in our little sphere of the world, of our family, of our neighbourhood?
No! Because that would take too much energy and sacrifice on our part, and disrupt our comfortable, cozy, amenity-filled lives. But friends, the first thing to know about LOVE is that it calls for sacrifice! You cannot truly show LOVE until and unless you’re willing to sacrifice something for someone, which includes, God, yourself and your neighbours.
And please don’t think that you’re LOVING yourself when you buy up on credit all the bright and fancy baubles and bangles that the world offers, but which you cannot really afford. No, because when the time comes to pay for them, then you’ll hold your head and bawl, howl like a hyena, especially if they come and repossess the stuff. You LOVE yourself by taking your time, doing and buying what you can afford.
And these words on the amazing LOVE of God by the prophet Jeremiah in his Lamentations, are most excellent words for us to go home to. Please read with me: ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 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. 3:22-26)
Please my fellow saints, let’s spend a few moments on this lazy-day Saturday pondering those words of awesome truth, so that they can bring us where we ought to be; closer to God! Much LOVE!
…it’s a fool’s wisdom…to drift away from God…rather than run to Him…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
22 May 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a new commandment I give unto you, all men shall know ye are my disciples, Bible, Christ died for us, christianity, darkenss, despair, dress in several layers of clothing, endure to the end, eyes fixed straight ahead, faith, for all creation, God commendeth his love for us, God is love - Love is God, God's love is boundless, halfway home, hands on the plough, herein is love, hope, if God so loved us, if ye have love one to another, in dying born to eternal life, in pardoning we are pardoned, In Touch Devotional, it is in giving we receive, Jesus, Jesus Christ, let me sow love, let yoru love flow through me, light, LOVE, love is all the world needs, LOVE is of God, love one another as I have loved you, make me a vessel, make me an instruemt of thy peace, not looking back, prayer, remove the boundaries beween myself and others, seek to console, sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins, summer time, thank God, the breath of life is still flowing through me, the Prayer of St. Francis, to a glorious future with Jesus, to love, to understand, walking dogs rather than children, we ought also to love one another, Wednesday Wail, where there is hatred, where there is sadness - joy, while we were yet sinners, whre there i injury -pardon, wisdom, without beginning
I John 4:11. Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.
Summer time, summer time, glorious summer time! That wonderful time of year when we don’t have to dress up in several layers of clothing just go and put out the garbage! And even better, I can now sit on my porch in shorts and T-shirt and watch the many people going for walks, catching up on the exercise they missed during the winter. The only sad part of that is that more of those people are walking dogs rather than children. But if dogs are the new children, then who am I to say otherwise.(smile) But yuh better believe in this day and age, dogs are much more expensive to raise and keep than children.
Anyway, it’s too beautiful a day to harbour any ill feelings, so let’s get down to brass tacks with this prayer from the ‘Let Us Pray’ Section of this month’s In Touch Devotional. Please pray with me. ‘Father, how can your LOVE be boundless, without beginning, and for all creation? It’s beyond my understanding, but the fact remains – You are LOVE. LOVE is You. Make me a vessel, God. Remove the boundaries I’ve put between myself and others, and let Your LOVE flow through me – to my family, friends, and neighbours, to people on the margins and those in power, to strangers and enemies. In Jesus’ name, amen.’
Ah friends, what an interesting prayer! Our minds are too small to comprehend the height, depth, length and width of God’s LOVE for us. But we’re still ever so sure that He LOVES us, His greatest creation, with an unfailing and everlasting LOVE, despite our overwhelming disobedience and sinfulness. That’s why, as Bruh Paul writes to the Romans: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8)
It could not be put any clearer than that my people. Although John in his epistle tries to do so, where he writes: ‘Beloved, let us LOVE one another; for LOVE is of God; and every one that LOVETH is born of 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)
And that’s the plain and simple truth my brethren! If God LOVED us despite our sinfulness and ungodliness, we ought to also LOVE one another. And Jesus also made that very clear to the disciples and to us who decide to follow Him later on: ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’ (John 13:34-35)
What part of that don’t we understand eh my fellow believers? Why then are the numerous denominations which make up Christ’s church so intensely resentful and even hateful to each other eh? No wonder the heathen don’t consider us true disciples of Jesus! If we can’t LOVE those who supposedly preach the same gospel and live in the same kingdom, under the same Sovereign Ruler, how can we LOVE others who live outside of that spiritual realm eh? No way! That means that despite all our talk about Jesus and all the hoopla we create, we’re not really doing very much to forward His kingdom here on earth because of all the ill will between us, His followers.
And that’s why I like it when the prayer above asks: ‘Make me a vessel, God. remove the boundaries I’ve put between myself and others, and let Your LOVE flow through me – to my family, friends, and neighbours, to people on the margins and those in power, to strangers and enemies…’
Yes friends, that’s exactly what we need in today’s ungodly and selfish world. And it reminds me of what we call the Prayer of St. Francis, or the Peace Prayer, which says: ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow LOVE; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be LOVED as to LOVE. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.’
Now my fellow saints, that is what we call a comprehensive prayer; one that includes a little of everything. And it’s what we believers need to be doing consciously and constructively; LOVING, comforting and forgiving others like we are LOVED, comforted and forgiven by our heavenly Father. Anything less than that is disobedience and rebellion, and thus sin. So let’s wake up and smell the stench in our world nuh and set ourselves as followers of Christ to do a much better job than we’ve hitherto done!
Now, for those of us who are serious and sincere about living for Christ, let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Wednesday Wail letting the whole world 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 the promise is that if we endure right to the very end with Jesus, then that future will be even more glorious than we can ask or imagine. So let’s plan to meet there nuh…right at the very end! Much LOVE!
…LOVE is all the world needs to set it right…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
25 Apr 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a positive outlook on life, achieve perfection, advantage of light over darkness, anger flares, blaring car horns, buy into Christ's philosophy, christianity, compassion, courage, creativity, curse, faith, favour, fear hath torment, flawless, fulfill God's purpose in our lives, furious voices, god, God loved us, God's love for us, God's ways are higher than ours, great is thy faithfulness, grieved souls, herein is love, his compassions fail not, In Touch Devotional, It is of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed, Jesus, Jesus brings life and light, Jesus Christ, let my presence bring quietness, LOVE, muscles tense, negative word, new every morning, not that we loved God, offer softness to strangers, peace flowing in my words, perfect love, perfect love casteth out fear, ramp up the love of God, salvation, Satan brings death and darkness, self-discipline, supernatural wisdom, tempers rise, the art of gentleness, the propitiation for our sins, there is no fear in love, Thursday Blessings, we ought also to love one another, wisdom, without blemish, your light warming hearts
1 John 4:18a. There is no fear in LOVE; but perfect LOVE casteth out fear: because fear hath (involves) torment.
Well, unlike yesterday, today, Thursday, our penultimate day of the work week, has opened bright and sunshiny, though somewhat chilly. But that’s okay, for once there is sunshine in the neighbourhood, then many spirits will be uplifted just because of it. That’s the advantage that light has over darkness, specifically, the light that Jesus brings to our lives and our world, over the sinful and ungodly darkness that Satan desires to engulf it in. And to help us see and receive that amazing light of Jesus, let’s turn to God in prayer. It’s this month’s prayer from the In Touch Devotional, Let Us Pray section.
So please pray with me: ‘God, teach me the art of gentleness in a world of blaring car horns, furious voices, and grieved souls. May I offer softness to strangers and to people I know – the same tenderness You’ve shown me. Not harsh, rushed, or callous, You’re filled with compassion and perfect LOVE. When tempers start to rise and muscles begin to tense, when anger flares in people’s eyes, Let my presence bring a quietness – Your light warming hearts, Your peace flowing in my words. In Jesus’ name. Amen’
Oh friends, do we ever need that kind of quiet calming and gentleness that Jesus offers in this harsh, angry and strife-filled world! And the world can only experience it through us, His loyal followers. As the prayer says: ‘Your light warming hearts, Your peace flowing in my words.’ And sadly, that’s the only way the world will ever see light and peace; through us, if we wholeheartedly buy into Christ’s philosophy and seriously and sincerely put it into practice. And all I want to do today is remind us of a few important scriptures that sort of jumped out at me while reading the prayer.
The first one deals with the phrase ‘You’re filled with compassion and perfect LOVE.’ And is our great God ever! And we all know this magnificent, heart-warming and uplifting scripture dealing with God’s wonderful compassion, as Jeremiah so rightly puts it in his Lamentations: ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.’ (Lam.3:22-23) And we’d better say, praise the Lord for those new compassion every day, otherwise we would have long ago been destroyed for our obstinate sinfulness and disobedience.
And as per ‘perfect LOVE’ what’s that you ask? Basically, as this commentary explains: ‘Perfect LOVE is an expression of God’s LOVE for us, and it is only complete (or perfect) when we reflect it back onto Him.’ And the Bible is peppered throughout with the amazing LOVE of God for us. And John in particular deals with what we call perfect LOVE in his epistles. Listen up: ‘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 4:10-11)
And there is no doubting that logic my fellow believers, for without God’s LOVE we’d all be headed straight for hell fire and damnation, with no option whatsoever to receive salvation and eternal life. So we had better be thankful for God’s LOVE and be wise and reciprocate it as best we can. And as the scholars tell us: ‘No human LOVE is the standard for understanding God’s great compassion, but God’s own action on man’s behalf.’ That brings to mind God’s declaration (yesss!!!) in Isaiah that His thoughts and ways are higher than ours, therefore we cannot understand them. (Is. 55:8-9) But we can definitely understand what He tells us to do.
Then John later continues: ‘Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the LOVE that God hath to us. God is LOVE; and he that dwelleth (abides) in LOVE dwelleth (abides) in God, and God in him. Herein is our LOVE made perfect (LOVE made perfect among us), that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in LOVE; but perfect LOVE casteth out fear: because fear hath (involves) torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in LOVE.’ (1 John 4:15-18)
And I believe it’s important to note this commentary on what it means to be made perfect in LOVE. It says: ‘We normally use “perfect” to mean “flawless, without any blemish” (“He got a perfect score on his exam”). But ‘teleios,’ (Greek word translated perfect) primarily means to fulfill one’s purpose. So being “perfected in LOVE” means “having God’s LOVE fulfill its purpose in us.” Remember that though we can try with God’s help to achieve perfection, none of us can be truly perfect in this world, except in the sense that we truly fulfill God’s purpose in our lives.
Ah my fellow saints, there seems to be much more I want to say, (smile) but time and space are not cooperating, so if God spares life, we’ll continue on this topic tomorrow. Now, let’s declare out loud, and thus activate our Thursday Blessings, those undeserved blessings bestowed on us by God to do His earthly work. As one voice: ‘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 set those blessings in motion, we are now required to go out and share them with others, just as generously as the Lord shared them with us, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him, like we do! Much LOVE!
…until Christians ramp up the LOVE of God in our world…evil will continue to have the upper hand…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
16 Feb 2023
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, and now abideth faith hope love, ask for selfish carnal stuff, but that he loved us, curse, divine protection, don't have time for God, God commendeth his own love toward us, God created us for fellowship, God so loved the world, greater love hath no man than this, he gave his only begotten son, herein is love, hugged me, hugged me for no discernible reason, I long to hug you more often, I love you, LOVE, negative word, not that we loved God, One Year Book of Bible promises, promotion, Ruth Harms Calkin, self-control, sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins, sinless man sacrifice his sinless self, success, that a man lay down his life for his friends, the greatest of these three is love, the ultimate solution, those who believed in him, Thursday Blessings, while we were yet sinners christ died for us, Who. Me?, would not perish but have everlasting life
1 John 4:10. Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
And then it was Thursday…and I won’t even bother to tell you the several changes that have already occurred in the weather information on my computer in the couple minutes that I’ve been on it. (smile) Just suffice it to say that it now says ‘2C Cloudy,’ which seems reasonable when one looks outside. Now here’s a li’l something from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin that I found interesting, amusing and ever so appropriate for so many of us supposed believers. It’s titled ‘Who. Me?’
Please read with me: ‘Lord All of a sudden today You picked me up And hugged me And hugged me for no discernible reason. I was puzzled. After all – I hadn’t picked up my toys Or practised my lessons Or brought you a daisy bouquet – Hesitantly, I sked why. You smiled and said: ‘I LOVE you, that’s all.’ Then You added: ‘I long to hug you more often.’ Why don’t You Lord? ‘You are too busy.’ Too busy, Lord? ‘Too busy hugging yourself.’
Yes my fellow believers, in these ever so busy and turbulent times, we are so often too busy with our own selves and our frail, fickle lives, that we don’t find any or sufficient time for God, which always works to our detriment. And it seems to always amaze us when He moves in our lives without any pushing from us. But that’s simply because He LOVES us! He created us to have fellowship with Him. That’s the number One reason! And when we don’t come to Him for fellowship, for hugging and kissing, it hurts His tender heart, tears Him apart.
Believe me, the Lord does have tender feelings like us. It’s just like when we LOVE fellow humans, spouses, friends and families, and they don’t return that LOVE, we feel hurt and rejected. It’s the same way our God feels when we don’t come to Him with our problems and for simple fellowship and communion. There’s nothing that would please our heavenly Father more than if ALL of His creation came to Him ALL of the time, bringing ALL of their hurts, fears, dreams and aspirations to His understanding and compassionate care.
To Him that would be the ultimate solution, for then He could LOVE and hug and kiss and comfort and care for us the way He truly wants to. But if we only go to Him once in a blue moon, and then ask for selfish, carnal stuff, like James 4:3 says, it breaks his heart, just like when our children turn away from us to outside friends for help in their troubles.
The point is that we don’t seem to realize is how much our God, Father and Provider really and truly LOVES us. The Bible verse for our poem tells it to us in no uncertain terms though. The apostle John writes in it thus in his first epistle. ‘Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ (1 John 4:10)
And there ought to be no doubt about God’s great compassion and caring for us simply in the fact that He sent His ONE and ONLY Son to earth to die to save a bunch of shallow, prideful, stubborn and disobedient finite creations! There was absolutely no other reason for Him to do that, than His great unconditional LOVE for us. Jesus himself made that very clear when He proclaimed: ‘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.’ (John 3:16)
Now if you don’t believe that, then you’re insinuating that Jesus is a liar, which He most definitely is not. I don’t know why it’s so difficult for us to believe that our Creator, our heavenly Father LOVES us dearly, but so easily believe that deceitful, untrustworthy humans LOVE and care for us, when every day we see the lie in it.
And there are so many scriptures which prove that our God LOVES us. One of the most telling being this one from the writings of Bruh Paul to the church at Rome. ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) Now why would He do such an unorthodox and unusual thing if His heart wasn’t strong towards us eh?
And Jesus said it to the disciples too. ‘Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ (John 15:13) Now that is the ultimate act of LOVE; laying down one’s life for another. And that’s exactly what Jesus did for us at the request of His heavenly Father. Now doesn’t that show the ultimate in LOVE? It surely does! Why would a sinless man sacrifice His sinless self on an old rugged cross, bear the sins of the whole world through unbelievable ‘sufferation’ if He didn’t care greatly for them and their eternal souls eh?
The Lord doesn’t even want one of His creations to end up in hell fire with Satan, that’s why He sacrificed His sinless Son, thereby giving us another option beside damnation and eternal separation from Him. And I really can’t understand why so many of us are reluctant, hesitant and downright opposed to accepting the option of eternal life with Jesus by simply believing in Him. It certainly boggles my imagination. And even supposing, now we just supposing, (smile) even if there was no heaven or hell and just death and everything’s over, it is still much preferable to live a good, decent, caring and compassionate life than an evil, hateful one.
Anyhow, the options are there for us to choose, and both the Lord and I strongly recommend that we choose eternal life with Jesus, rather than eternal damnation with the enemy. And for those of us who agree with that, the Lord’s generously bestowed on us numerous Blessings that we call our Thursday Blessings, that enable us to do His earthly work. So, let’s declare (ah Lord eh!!!) and activate them. In loud and sincere voice. ‘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 with those sincere declarations (awright!!!) let’s go out and use those blessings just as generously with others as Jesus shared them with us, in His glorious name! Much LOVE!
…and now abideth faith, hope, LOVE, these three…but the greatest of these is LOVE…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ
20 Mar 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bunch of ungrateful sinners, a motivating factor, a relationship with Jesus, all great changes are preceded by chaos, broke His own heart, but he loved us, chaotic situations, Christian, disruptive nature, do plenty negative stuff, fear, feel it's wonderful heat, first day of spring, God is LOVE, God sent His only begotten Son, God too action, He will allay all our doubts and fears, herein is love, if God so loved us, if you believe strongly in something, in Jesus' love joy and peace, killing people's spirits and joy, look in the mirror, look only to Jesus, love is an action word, making the decision to change your destiny, not Christ-like, not that we loved God, our friend Anselm, positive things do bring great changes, stand in the sun, stand strong and steadfast, stand up and fight for it, stood up for right against wrong, talk plenty, the empowering platform of social media, the overlying shadow, true love involves sacrifice, use your power for positive change, warm the cockles of God's heart, we all get scared, we might live through Him, we ought also to love one another, worldwide sickness strife and confusion, you are a part of the problem
1 John 4:11. Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.
Glory be friends! It’s the first official day of spring in these here parts! But although the sun’s shining brightly and the day seems fine, it’s still got a chill to it. And I won’t be satisfied until I get to stand in the sun and feel its wonderful heat radiating through me like a heavenly fire! (smile) Yeh, I’m tired of the cold like so many others, although I haven’t been out in it as much because of the pandemic, and it hasn’t really been a bad winter. It’s just the overlying shadow of the worldwide sickness and strife and confusion that’s killing people’s spirits and joy.
But please, please, let’s not allow that to happen nuh mih people! It’s not what Jesus wants for us. He wants us to stand strong and steadfast in His LOVE, joy and peace, that’s why He says He came that we might have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) Abundant life is not misery, pain and sadness, but the blessings of Jesus despite the prevailing circumstances. So this Saturday morning, this first day of spring, in this pandemic year of 2021, let’s look ONLY to Jesus nuh! He will allay all our doubts and fears. Sermon done now! (smile)
And since it’s Saturday, we need to take a gander at the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week. Here’s the first one: ‘All great changes are preceded by chaos.’ Now I don’t know about that nuh. Generally speaking, there is some truth to it, but I would hesitate to say that chaos is the harbinger of ‘ALL’ great changes. Yes, chaos, by it’s very disruptive nature does bring change, but serenity and peace, LOVE and joy, a relationship with Jesus that didn’t come through chaos in one’s life, also bring great change. So positive things do bring great changes too. Let’s try and remember that, and don’t think that great change in our lives has to necessarily come from chaotic situations.
And the second quote tells us: ‘We all get scared and want to turn away, but it isn’t always strength that makes you stay. Strength is also making the decision to change your destiny.’ Hang on a minute there friends, I’m trying to figure out what that quote really means. (smile)
Hn! I think I’ve got it now. It seems to be saying to me, that in tough situations, we all get scared and want to run away, when sometimes we really need to stay, and it’s not always strength that makes us stay. I guess it could also be fear that keeps us where we are. On the other hand, it also takes strength for us to get up and get a move on, to change the course of our lives, to go where we believe we’re to go. But then too, I guess that fear could also be a motivating factor in our wanting to change our destiny. Hope that makes sense. (smile)
And I think the last two quotes are basically saying the same thing, so we’ll deal with them together. The first one says: ‘It doesn’t matter how strong your opinions are. If you don’t use your power for positive change, you are indeed part of the problem.’ And the second proclaims: ‘If you believe very strongly in something, stand up and fight for it.’
And I believe they both hit the nail right on the very head! All of us have strong opinions on something(s), but if all we ever do is talk about it or them, and don’t use whatever power we have to bring about positive change in those areas, then we are indeed a part of the problem. One of our societal responsibilities is to get involved in positive change, not just laze around and talk plenty and do nothing positive. Unfortunately though, that is the mantra of these current times: talk plenty and do plenty negative stuff, especially through the very empowering platform of social media!
Oh, the many woes that social media is causing in our society! And the sad part is that because we can do it without being recognized and held accountable, too many of us are spewing hatred and evil, lies and disinformation – whatever that means – into the belly of our society and causing even more confusion, chaos and corruption. Yes my people, if we just sit around and do nothing, let the negative forces have a field day, we are indeed a part of the blooming problem! And sadly, that’s what a lot of us are doing; through fear, natural apathy, laziness, or whatever reason, we’re just sitting around while the hatemongers and evil doers have the run of the table.
And that sorrowful group includes too many of us supposed believers. Yes friends, if we would get up and stand strong, fight for what we claim to believe in, our world would never be in such a stellar mess! And we can pontificate all we want and don’t take serious action, then what we believe and supposedly stand for will be washed right away in the hatred and evil doing that’s currently flooding our planet. I know some of you might think those are harsh, undeserved words, but please, let’s all take a look in the mirror nuh, and then ask ourselves, when last have we really stood up for right against wrong eh?
When last have we taken a stand for something that Jesus told us we ought to take a stand for? Especially in the past year of the pandemic. If we’re honest, too many of us will realize that we haven’t been very Christ-like or Christian this year, but have been inordinately selfish and thinking only of ourselves. But fellow saints, it is in the times of pain and trouble that our Lord and Saviour expects us to step up and do our best work, because we have the parts, the blessings, the peace, LOVE and joy; all the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us that are necessary to make a positive difference in any situation in our failing and groaning world!
Ah mih people, I’m chuckling here, because it seems like the ole fella’s been on a roll. But it does hurt my heart when we talk a whole lot of Christ and Christian talk and don’t do anything positive about it. Please remember that God is LOVE, and that God LOVES us, and we’re supposed to LOVE Him back, and each other too. But what is LOVE eh? LOVE is an action word; it means doing, helping, caring, giving…not merely shooting off at the mouth, like so many of us are currently doing.
And I guess the best scripture on the subject is John’s directive in 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)
It couldn’t get any clearer than that my brethren! The Good Book says that God LOVED us, and He could have just sat down there and allowed us to go to hell like we bloody well deserve! But no! Because of His great LOVE, He took action, broke His own heart and sent His only Son to be a sacrifice for a bunch of ungrateful sinners. Yes friends, true or real LOVE involves sacrifice!
And now, those same blooming sinners find it ever so hard to help each other. Chuh mih bredrin! Don’t you think that that just breaks God’s heart all over again? It surely does! So let’s try and be truly more Christian and Christ-like nuh friends, cause we all have room for improvement. And that would certainly warm the cockles of God’s heart! Much LOVE!
…all talk…and no action…no sacrifice…means NO LOVE…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
03 Aug 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a living example, a new commandment, a no-brainer, Anselm, as I have loved you, be gentle, be humble, be patient, bearing with each other in love, bounden duty, building new lives, by this, colour, convict us, democracy, disciples, for all things, for the light, friend, give thanks, give thanks at all times, giving thanks always, glowing tributes, God so loved us, hatred stirreth up strifes, herein is love, I give unto you, in every thing give thanks, in the name of the Lord Jesus, inequlity, injustice, Jamaican fare, long and short of the story, Love covers all sins, LOVE one another, no reason to give thanks, our love walk, Pan competition, pass it on, protect it, rise in the morning, shall all men know, speak out, stamp out, that ye are my disciples, the Holy Spirit, the joy of living, the little dash between them, this is the will of God, transcendent power, two dates on your tombstone, unto god and the Father, utter stupidity, vibrancy, West Indian Diaspora, what you did between, wrong, your food, your life
John 13:34-35. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.
Oh friends, please forgive me for the lateness of the Bit, but the last two days have been pretty hectic, and I’m no longer a spring chicken…not yet old though. (smile) I’ve been trying to burn the candle at both ends, going to bed late, getting up early to write the Bit, then getting out and about for the whole day. Well it’s finally caught up to me.
Thursday was a cricket match in the neighbouring city of Brampton, and then yesterday, Friday, was a funeral in the eastern city of Ajax, on the other side of Toronto. The turnout was so overwhelming that the big chapel was packed to overflowing and we had to sit in a holding area downstairs and watch the proceedings on close circuit t.v.
The overlong glowing tributes of our friend made him sound like the perfect man. (smile) But I guess that’s how it is when we bid our friends a final adieu. We don’t recall their faults, just their strong points, like the Lord does in His wonderful forgiveness, casting away our wrongs as far as the east is from the west.
After the hour and half ceremony we spent another hour in the cemetery, this time in the hot sun. Then we went south to another part of the city for the repast. That was a wonderful time, with good Jamaican fare; curry goat, rice and peas and jerk chicken. But the best part was the renewal of several friendships, with people whom we haven’t seen in ages.
We were all a part of the young, well-educated West Indian Diaspora who migrated to Canada in the early seventies and changed the face of Toronto, adding vibrancy and colour, both literally and figuratively to a staid, old white town. (smile) People with whom we worked and partied in those long ago, cold, long winter days, but with whom we’d lost touch as the area expanded and we all became immersed in our building our new lives. That’s just the way it is with the big city.
Unfortunately though, the duchess and I had to eat and run, because there were people back in our town waiting for us to come and pick them up to go to the Pan Competition in the heart of Toronto. So we left there around four, got on the toll road and hustled back home, changed, then hit the road again. Luckily though, for some unknown reason, on a Caribana Friday evening, the traffic into T.O. wasn’t bad, and we made it in time for the seven o’clock start of the pan event.
That was good too, and better organized than in earlier years, though I don’t understand why they allowed some bands to play two songs and others only one. But the music was excellent. However, it finished around midnight and the duchess and my friends were tired, so we didn’t stick around to hear the results, which I’m sure, caused much dissent, as it usually does.
But that’s the nature of pan competitions, everybody rooting for their own side, though knowing deep down that they weren’t good enough to win. The long and short of the story though, is that by the time I dropped everybody home, I didn’t get home till after one. And it was close to two before I finally went to bed. So it’s obvious I was late getting up. So that’s my story…and I’m sticking to it. (smile)
Now let’s see if we can get in some quotes from our friend Anselm, who sincerely aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. Hear this first one: ‘There’ll be two dates on your tombstone and all your friends will read ’em but all that’s gonna matter is that little dash between ’em.’ That’s certainly interesting and true, because the day you were born and the day you died, don’t really matter. What matters most is what you did in the time period between those two days. And I guess a good example of that are the glowing tributes my friend Linton had at his last celebration yesterday.
Now listen to this one: ‘Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.’ That should be a no- brainer my people, because it’s exactly what Jesus came to help us do; right wrongs, stamp out inequality and injustice, help the weak and fight the strong. So as a believer those things are expected of us.
Then this quote speaks for itself: ‘When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.’ Ah mih people, I won’t call not giving thanks for all that we have, the good life we’re living, a fault nuh, but utter stupidity! You didn’t give yourself the ability to rise and see a new day, or the breath that’s still flowing through you.
Remember Bruh Paul’s words to the Ephesians: ‘Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Eph.5:20) And to the Thessalonians: ‘In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ (1 Thess.5:18) Yes friends, even though our circumstances may be difficult or unpleasant, it’s our bounden duty to give thanks at ALL times!
And this last quote says it all: ‘Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in LOVE.’ Oh mih people, LOVE is the transcendent power of the universe! John said it thus: ‘Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation (atonement) for our sins. Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we also ought to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:10-11)
And Jesus not only gave us a living example of our quote, but also clearly made it known that He expects the same of His followers. ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye LOVE one another; as I have LOVED you, that ye also LOVE one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one to another.’
Oh friends, it couldn’t get any clearer or plainer than that! And I’ll leave it there; just let those words speak to our hearts, and let the Holy Spirit convict us as it will, in regards to our LOVE Walk! That’s what it’s there for! Much LOVE!
…hatred stirreth up strifes…but LOVE covereth ALL sins… (Prov.10:12)
Previous Older Entries
SCRIP-BITS 