13 Sep 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a merciful forgiving gracious God, a more fruitful way to live is alongside others, a threefold cord is not quickly broken, bereave my soul of good, crosswalk.com website, divine help, faithfully promised to hear our prayers, for whom do I labour, forgive us and heal our land, good relationship with God and man, he hath not another to help him up, how can one be warm alone, humble servants, I saw vanity under the sun, if two lie together they have heat, it is a sore travail, it's all about unity, Jehovah Rapha, life's difficult pathway, LOVE, mass confusion, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, no man is an island, seriously disobeyed your word, sincere repentance, sincerely seek your face, strong faith in Christ, Tamara Chamberlain, the God who heals, the one will lift up his fellow, the truth is the truth, they have a good reward for their labour, turn from our evil ways, two are better than one, two heads are better than one, unity between man and man and God, walk in unity, we have all sinned, wise guidance and direction, woe to his that is alone when he falleth
Ecclesiastes 4:9. Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
Come down Monday, come on down! Let us walk in unity along life’s convoluted and ofttimes difficult pathway. For only together can we be victorious. Alone we will most surely be defeated. That’s why the wise author of Ecclesiastes, who simply refers to himself as the Preacher, but whom most scholars believe is Cousin Sol, tells us about two being better than one, and three, an even stronger cord.
Listen to these words of everlasting wisdom. ‘Then I returned, and I saw vanity (futility) under the sun. There is one alone, and there is not a second (a companion); yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he. For whom do I labour, and bereave (deprive) my soul of good? This is also vanity (futility), yea, it is a sore travail (grievous toil).’ (Eccl. 4:7-8) And is that ever the gospel truth! It is a useless, futile task when you are labouring by yourself for only yourself!
However, the Preacher wisely continues: ‘Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow (companion): but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.’ (Eccl. 4:9-10) Now that’s not rocket science friends, but mere common sense; two people working and walking in harmony and unity are always better than one, because each can help the other when they fall, either literally or figuratively.
But when you’re on your lonesome, it’s often impossible to get up if you fall. Just goes to show that we all need help to live this simple, yet complicated life. As the wisdom of the world says; no man is an island, he can’t do it all himself. But the preacher is not done yet. (smile) He maintains his claim of togetherness being oh so important: ‘Again if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?’ (Eccl. 4:11) Now that’s a very good question. And if anyone can answer it, please let me know. (smile)
Meanwhile, the Preacher is just warming up to his argument: ‘And if one prevail against him (though one may be overpowered by another), two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.’ (Eccl. 4:12). Mama Mia! What incredible words of wisdom! So life is not completely useless, futile or meaningless after all! That is, if you are in worthwhile company.
As the scholars explain: ‘4:7-12. The toil of the miser is futile, especially when he toils only for himself. On the other hand, two are better than one because they have a good return (vs. 9); they can help each other (vs. 10); they can provide mutual warmth (vs. 11); and they double their strength (or triple it, as in the case of three friends (vs. 12).’
Now, here are some interesting insights on the subject from commentator Tamara Chamberlain, found on the crosswalk.com website. She says: ‘One of the unique things about Ecclesiastes is that its wisdom is beneficial regardless of your belief in God. The wisdom shown in these four verses can be agreed with, even if you don’t consider yourself a follower of Jesus. There are many other non-Christian proverbs that support the wisdom stated in these verses. Proverbs like, “two heads are better than one” or “no man is an island.”
The writer of Ecclesiastes penned these truths thousands of years before the similar proverbs we commonly know today. It truly is amazing to see the way the truths revealed in Scripture are not only true because we find them in the Bible, but because the truth is the truth… The principle of two being better than one can be applied to any partnership or aspect of life. To be alone isn’t necessarily seen as negative, but when you add another person to your life the situation is usually better. One of the keywords in these verses is “better.” The writer is stating that a better way, a more fruitful way to live life is alongside other people…
The statement of two being better than one is true in many different life circumstances all across time… From the very beginning, God created us to be in relationship with others. Not only are we to live in relationship with other people but with God as well. The image is explained in Ecclesiastes 4:12) “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” The three-strand cord is understood to be unity between yourself, God, and another person.’
Yes friends, it’s all about unity…with God and with each other! And that’s what our world, our church and our lives are sadly lacking in these turbulent and ever so dangerous times. And the only way to fix it is by sincerely attempting to grow that unity between you, me, and God again. And we can begin to close that needless and foolish rift, right now, by coming together and raising up our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to Almighty God, and acknowledging His sovereignty over the universe.
So as one sincere 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 answers to our prayers will be determined by the way we keep the promises we make to Almighty God! Much LOVE!
…it’s only in good relationship with God and man…can our earthly purpose be truly fulfilled…
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
23 Aug 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a joy that transcends our circumstances, a merciful forgiving gracious God, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, be a good witness for Christ, calm in the midst of the storm, come up higher, do better for Jesus, entails sacrifices, evil machinations, forgetting oneself to do His will, God has no pleasure in fools, heirs of God, human nature tends to evil and ungodliness, humble servants, Jehovah Rapha, joint-heirs with Christ, keep your promises to God, leads to destruction, living in a Christ-like manner, LOVE, make a living, mass confusion, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, no conflicts of interest, our major weapon, show them your awesome grace and mercy, show this evil world, spinning our tops in mud, spiritual warfare, the beauty of living and working for Christ, the God who heals, the Spirit itself beareth witness, the Spirit of adoption, the spirit of bondage, the straight and narrow path, the tools of Christ, the wide and winding road, they are the sons of God, we cry Abba Father, we have not received
Romans 8:14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Come on mih bredrin, it’s Monday, time to get out into the world and make a living! (smile) Oh, and please don’t forget, that simultaneously, meaning at the same time, we need to be a good witness for Christ and exemplify the lifestyle He desires us to live. And no, there are no conflicts of interest between the two; that’s between making a living and being a good example of a Christian lifestyle. They both can co-exist, otherwise Jesus would not have asked us to do it.
And yes, they don’t, or won’t always co-exist comfortably, but we have the tools of Christ to make them run together as smoothly as possible. (smile) That’s the beauty of living and working for Jesus; we can do things that the unbelievers can’t do! Remember, we have that most encouraging and authoritative scripture, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Phil. 4:13)
Yes friends, that means that whatever Christ needs us to do on His behalf, or in His name, He can, and will enable us to do it! That’s why we can be in the world and not be a part of it; sanctified, or set apart for Christ’s sole purpose. Not fazed or frazzled by all the evil machinations and spiritual warfare that’s going on around us. And we can do that because once we accept Christ as Lord and Saviour, we become the adopted children of God, co-heirs to the kingdom of heaven with Christ, who then also becomes our big brother. Glory be mih people!
And hear this great affirming scripture nuh: ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.’ (Rom. 8:14-17)
Oh my people, what a wonderful life we come into when we come to Christ in all sincerity and truth. We get Almighty God as our God and Father; Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, our Advocate, our High Priest and Big Brother, plus the Holy Spirit that dwells within us to lead, guide and comfort us, also becomes our close family! Wow! Nothing can be better than that my fellow saints! So please tell me why so many people are turning away from Jesus eh, if they have all of that to look forward to?
I don’t know for sure nuh, but I can venture a few reasons. First off, our natural human nature tends to evil and ungodliness, and the pull of the evil and ungodly world these days is very strong. Plus the fact that Jesus desires us to travel on the straight and narrow path which entails sacrifices and forgetting oneself to do His will. ‘Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me (be my disciple), let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.’ (Matt. 16:24)
On the other hand though, the ungodly world offers a do as you like, wide and winding path filled with all kinds of worldly pleasures, but which unfortunately ends in destruction. And let’s not forget this last, but very important reason: we, as followers of and believers in Jesus don’t set a very good example for others to follow. Too many of us supposed Christians behave just like the world, and ofttimes, even worse than the world!
We don’t show ourselves as the salt of the earth or the light of the world, as Jesus desires us to be. So what incentive does the unbeliever have to come to Jesus eh, if we behave in an unchristian manner? None whatsoever. And to tell the truth friends, our major weapon against the enemy is the example that we set, by living in a Christ-like manner. We can spout all the scripture we want, and don’t live it, then folks won’t turn to Christ. Remember actions speak louder than words.
Consequently, it’s only when they see us gentle, LOVING, giving and kind, calm in the midst of storm and filled with a joy that transcends our circumstances, will they know that we have something ever so valuable that they don’t have and want to come to know Jesus. And until we show that Christ-like behaviour on a much wider scale, we’re just spinning our tops in mud!
So what’s it to be eh friends? Are we going to come up higher, sincerely try and do better for Jesus? I certainly hope so. And there’s no better time to begin than right now. That means immediately taking our problems to the Lord in prayer, what we call our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
As one strong 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!’
Remember though my fellow saints, that it all means nothing, unless we keep our promises. Much LOVE!
…don’t make a promise to God and not keep it…for He has no pleasure in fools…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
16 Aug 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a merciful forgiving gracious God, divine help, Dr. Charles Stanley, God cannot lie, God is not man that he should lie, God is truth, grab the baton, hath he spoken and shall he not make it good, humble servants, I am the Lord I change not, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, Jehovah Rapha, keeping our promises, leave all the consequences to Him, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, neither the son of man that he should repent, obey God, right motives of our hearts, show this evil world, sincere repentance, stubborn and unrepentant heart, take the bull by the horns, the God who heals, the Immutability of God, them's the breaks, thoughts of peace and not of evil, thy hardness and impenitent heart, to give you an expected end, turn from our evil ways, wise guidance and direction, ye sons of Jacob
Numbers 23:19a. God is not man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent:
These weeks passing too quickly for me yes friends! We are already into the middle of August, and we just finish celebrating the 1st of August long holiday weekend. (smile) That means fall, or autumn is just around the corner. But them’s the breaks, time waits on no one, and we must therefore conclude that this Monday in the middle of August is another excellent opportunity for us to take the bull by the horns, grab the baton and run with it, put into motion, the amazing plan that our wonderful God has designed for us from time everlasting!
And yes, we have used a lot of clichés back there, but yuh know what, things become clichés because they are either the truth, or help us to understand the truth better. And the greatest truth in this universe is the Word of God found in His holy book, the Bible, our blueprint, our guide, our map for earthly living! So when we read in it, things like: ‘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)
We know, we are totally assured that we are hearing the honest to goodness truth., because it comes from the Word of our God. Our Creator has good plans for each one of us, plans He created us to fulfill. And you are even further empowered to believe His Word, when it says: ‘God is not man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?’ (Num. 23:19)
What a confidence builder that verse is my brethren! Our God has no need to lie, because He is omnipotent, possesses the power and the ability to do whatever He says He is going to do! As Jesus said to His disciples, talking about a camel passing through the eye of a needle: ‘With men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.’ (Matt. 19:26) And we need to remember that most salient fact my people. Nothing is too big or too small for our God to do! He can do anything and everything! Therefore, there’s no situation He cannot put us into or take us out of.
But I want to go back to that verse from Numbers about God not lying, because the scholars offer an interesting explanation of it. ‘23:19. The immutability (unchangeability) of God is stated. The word repent is parallel to lie and is coloured in tone by this very association. Here His repenting is related to falsehood. The concept of the truth of Yahweh is related to immutability (His unchanging nature). Since God is truth, He does not lie; in fact, He cannot lie: He is unchanging. God is utterly different from man. Something that comes far too easily for many men is impossible for Almighty God. He cannot lie (cf. Is. 31:2; 51:6,8; Jer. 4:28; Mal. 3:6).’
Oh friends, those are some good verses for you to look up, I just did, and they are all interesting, revolving around the Lord’s unchanging nature and the keeping of His word. But I will only spoon feed us the last one from Malachi, (smile) which we all ought to know anyway. ‘For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.’ (Mal. 3:6) And we better had be thankful for that yes my people, because just like the Lord’s mercy and LOVE are overwhelming, so is His wrath, and you definitely don’t want to feel it.
And His wrath is not just vengeful anger, but as Romans 2:5-6 says: ‘But after thy hardness (stubborn) and impenitent (unrepentant) heart treasurest up (stores up) unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God (when His righteous judgement will be revealed); Who will render to every man according to his deeds.’ (Rom. 2:5-6)
So wrath is basically God’s justice for disobedience and thus rounds out His basic attributes of Mercy, LOVE and Justice, or as one commentator asserts: ‘A God who didn’t have wrath towards sin would not be a God of LOVE, because how could a God of LOVE allow sin to go unpunished?’ Good question that my people. And believe me, it will not! However, our ever-LOVING God, has also ‘provided a way of redemption; faith in the atoning blood of his Son.’
Anyway, it’s the start of our work week and many of us have fears, anxieties and concerns, re the state of our lives and our world, weighing heavily on our souls and spirits, so let’s take this opportunity to carry them to the throne of grace in prayer nuh. As one strong, confident but humble voice, let’s declare 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!’
And as always, the answer to our prayers depends on keeping our promises and the right motives of our hearts. Much LOVE!
…obey God…and leave all the consequences to Him… (Dr. Charles Stanley)
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
02 Aug 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: answer our prayers, as for me and my house, divin help, fear the Lord, forgive us, forsake the Lord to serve other God, God forbid, heal our land, humble servants, I will behave myself wisely, incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel, Jehovah Rapha, LOVE, Monday merry go round, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, prisoners of hope, put away the strange God which are among you, serve Him in sincerity and truth, set no wicked thing before mine eyes, sincere repentance, the God who heals, the other side of the flood, time to put up or shut up, unfamiliar weather patterns, we will serve the Lord
Joshua 24:15d. but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Well, the Monday merry go round is up and running again. But fortunately, for many of us, it’s not a day of work, but one of leisure, as we are celebrating the Civic Holiday of the first Monday in August. And come to think of it, are we really talking about August? You know what that means?
That summer will soon be over, if you can call the cool and inclement weather we have had so far summer. Yes, for right after Labour Day in early September, the real cool weather begins in earnest. Let’s hope though, that the strange, unfamiliar weather patterns which prevented us from having a hot June or July, will turn around and give us a hot September. That’s why we are called prisoners of hope. (smile)
And I was just guided to an interesting bit of scripture which is ever so appropriate for our current times of upheaval and despair. It’s taken from Joshua’s farewell address to the children of Israel. He says to them: ‘Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood (the Euphrates river), and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.’ (Josh. 24:14)
The only difference between then and now friends, is that our immediate forefathers served the One and Only True Living God Jehovah, much more than we are doing. We are the ones who are serving the numerous false gods of lusts, carnality, greed, pride, selfishness, hate and all the other negative things with which our lives are filled. And from the turbulent, unsettled state of our world, it’s very plain to see that those false gods are not helping but dragging us further down, every day, into the mire of hellfire and damnation.
So what’s it to be eh my brethren? As Joshua continued: ‘And if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers serve that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ (Josh. 24:15)
Yes friends, we all have a decision to make in these last days about whom we will serve. And we need to make it quickly too, either before we die, or before Jesus returns, for after either situation occurs, all bets are off. Our answer should be like the people to Joshua: ‘God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods.’ (Josh. 24:16)
I have already made the decision that my house and I will serve the Lord God Jehovah. And every day, I ask the Lord to not let it turn out to be a lie, by doing whatever it takes to keep my family and I in His wonderful fold. And I know that many of you have already decided to uncompromisingly serve the Lord God Jehovah. But unfortunately, it is a fact that too many people are still not convinced that serving the Lord is the right way to go and keep believing and wallowing in the lies and deceits of the evil enemy.
Oh my people, we need to have them do like Joshua directed the people back then. ‘Now therefore put away the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.’ (Josh. 24:23) And the only way for us to convince them to do that, is by living a life that exemplifies the holiness, grace, and mercy of God.
As Bruh David said in Psalm 101 – A commitment to holy living. ‘I will sing of the mercy (LOVING-kindness) and judgement (justice): unto thee, O Lord, will I sing (I will sing praises). I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect (blameless) heart.
I will set no wicked (worthless) thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave (cling) to me. A froward (perverse) heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person (wickedness). Whoso privily (secretly) slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off (destroy). Him that hath a high look and a proud heart will I not suffer (endure).’ (Ps. 101:1-5)
Now my faithful brethren, those are some of the things we ought to set our minds on attaining. We won’t ever be perfect, but we can all be better than we currently are. So, let’s begin by going to the Lord in prayer, the most powerful tool in our arsenal, and asking for His divine help to bring our lives and those of the people around us under the covering of His safe and secure umbrella. As one strong, confident, but humble voice, let’s declare 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!’
And lest we forget, our prayers will only be answered positively if the Lord finds sincere repentance in our hearts and sees us changing our evil ways. Much LOVE!
…it’s time for us to put up…or shut up…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
26 Jul 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: able bodied people, attitude of shame, awesome grace and mercy, be ye not weary in well doing, but are busybodies, count his not as an enemy, depraved, heal our land, hear our prayer, humble ourselves and pray, humble servants, if any would not work, immoral, Jehovah Rapha, lax and godless times, living off their host, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, more checks and balances, neither should he eat, no shame in a society, parasites, praise Your Holy Name, shame the brother into obedience, some which walk among you disorderly, taking advantage of the welfare system, the God who heals, they work and eat their own bread, turn from our evil ways, weekly nemesis -Monday, when we were with you, with quietness, work ethic, working not at all
2 Thessalonians 3:10. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
Yes people, once again it’s our weekly nemesis – Monday! Time for the partying to end and serious money-making work to restart. Oh, I know that Monday is a pain in the royal butt, but that’s the way our society is structured. If you don’t work, how are you going to live eh?
And Bruh Paul’s instructions to the Thessalonians is an appropriate scripture for us to contemplate this Monday morning in the height of this pandemic summer 2021. He says: ‘For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.’ (2 Thess. 3:10)
Now that sounds like a rather profound and harsh judgement. But there was good reason for Bruh Paul’s statement. And he lists his reasons in the next verse. ‘For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.’ (2 Thess. 3:11)
And do we ever have a lot of those in our current society. And were we ever to do as Bruh Paul commanded, what a hue and cry there’d be in the land. But a lot of able-bodied people are taking advantage of the welfare system, often living better than those who are working.
And yes, the pandemic has brought about a scarcity of jobs, but I’m talking about those families who for generations have lived off welfare. They are like parasites, simply living off their host and not contributing anything to its betterment. But as they say, that’s life! The truth is that whatever helping programme we institute; somebody will always find a way to use it to their advantage.
So does that mean we should not provide for the genuinely sick and disabled? Absolutely not! Perhaps we need to police the system…sorry, police is the wrong word, considering all the anti-police sentiment that’s currently in vogue. Perhaps we need to have more checks and balances in the system, so that not as many unqualified people can take advantage of it.
And Bruh Paul’s solution to the overall problem was: ‘Now them that are such (lazy busybodies) (smile) we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work and eat their own bread.’ (2 Thess. 3:12) Now that’s much easier said than done.
And the scholars explain: ‘3:10-12. Paul expounds his simple and straightforward work ethic. If a person will not work, he should not eat! The Thessalonians diversion encouraged their meddlesome ways, demonstrating that “idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.” Now isn’t that the awesome truth!
Nonetheless, Bruh Paul presses on. ‘But ye brethren be not weary in well doing.’ (2 Thess. 3:13) Yes friends, under all circumstances though, the church and its constituents should continue to do good. ‘And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish (warn) him as a brother.’ (2 Thess. 3:14-15)
And the scholars tell us. ‘3:14-15. This instruction falls short of excommunication (kicking out of the church). Paul intends his readers to shame the brother, who is not an enemy, into obedience.’ Now that might have worked well back then, but I doubt it would have much efficacy today, where shame is not such a big part of life. In fact, the word, or attitude of shame, is almost non-existent today. The number of shameful things we do in these lax and godless times without feeling ashamed is extraordinary.
But friends, be sure of this one thing, eventually all our chickens will come home to roost, and when they do, the consequences will be enormous. So please, let’s err on the side of caution nuh. Let’s work as sincerely, diligently and efficiently as we can, and keep on doing good, because that’s what Jesus desires of us.
Now, there’s no doubting that our society, our world, is in utter turmoil, and it is beyond our capabilities to fix it. So, in sincere prayer, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, let’s go to the One who can remedy the situation, and ask for 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!’
And don’t forget that God’s answer hinges on our sincerity to turn from our evil ways. Much LOVE!
…when there’s little or no shame in a society…it becomes immoral and depraved…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
12 Jul 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a merciful forgiving gracious God, abide in me and I in you, according to the riches of his glory, Christ as the catalyst and moving agent, Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, divine help, except it abide in the vine, forgive us and heal our land, give us wise guidance, humble servants, Jehovah Rapha, LOVE, mass confusion, more than we can ask or imagine, promised to hear and answer our prayers, right motives of our hearts, rooted and grounded in love, seek your face, sincere repentance, stay strong in Christ, the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, the Christian can conquer sin, the God who heals, the successful Christian life, the union with Christ, the uniqueness of the Christian experience, to do exceedingly abundantly, unto him that is able to do, we can do anything through Jesus, without me ye can do nothing
John 15:5b. …for without me ye can do nothing.
Don’t look now friends, but it’s that big day, Monday, the first day of the new work week! (smile) And since some of those pandemic restrictions have been lifted, I guess more of us will be going back out to work today – some joyfully, others sadly, as their extended holiday is over. But let’s remember that whatever the circumstances, we can handle them successfully if we have the Holy Spirt of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ dwelling within us. That’s one of the many differences and improvements between believers and the infidel; with Jesus, we can do any and everything, through Him who strengthens us. Give Him thanks and praise my people!
And how do we get and stay strong in Christ? Listen to His immortal words on the subject, to the disciples. ‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.’ (John 15:4) How sweet is that eh mih bredrin! That’s how we get and stay strong in Christ. And if you didn’t get it the first time, He goes on to further explain. ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:5)
Wow! How direct and to the point is Jesus eh! Unless we stick with Him, we cannot do anything! And that’s the gospel truth my people! It’s only with Christ as the catalyst and moving agent in our life that we are able to do anything truly worthwhile down here on planet earth.
And the scholars give us some useful info on that verse, re the Union with Christ.‘15:5. The uniqueness of the Christian experience results from the union of Christ and the believer. This is expressed in Scripture as Christ being in the believer and the believer in Christ. Ten times Paul uses the Greek preposition sun (“together”) to describe this relationship. Believers were crucified (Gal. 2:20), dead (Col. 2:20), buried (Rom. 6:4), quickened or made alive (Eph. 2:1-5; Col. 2:13), raised (Col. 3:1; Eph. 2:6), seated (Eph. 2:6), and glorified (Rom. 8:17) together with Christ.
Illustration: Jesus used the image of the vine and its branches to describe His union with the believer. Application: On the basis of this union, the apostle Paul showed how the successful Christian life can be opened with four key words in Romans 6: know (vs. 6), reckon (vs. 11), yield (vs. 13), and obey (vs. 17). The Christian can conquer sin because Christ lives in him (Gal. 2:20). (First Ref. John 7:37-38; Primary Ref. John 15:1-5; cf. 1 John 5:13).’
Well, there you have it friends, our Bible Study for today! (smile) Lots of Scriptures for us to look up. And please do look them up, for it will be to our benefit, as they will only enhance our knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. It’s all about inner growth or spiritual maturity my people. And that takes us to Bruh Paul’s prayer for just that in his missive to the church at Ephesus.
‘That He (Christ) would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye , being rooted and grounded in LOVE, May be able to comprehend (understand) with all saints what is the breadth (width), and length, and depth and height; And to know the LOVE of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.’ (Eph. 3:16-19)
Oh Mama, Mama! What a powerful prayer! And the scholars explain it all thus: ‘3:16-19. In these verses Paul makes three prayer requests for the addressees: (1) That they would be strengthened with might by His Spirit (vs. 16), that is, that they be divinely enabled to successfully live the Christian life. (2) That the readers be able to comprehend…the LOVE of Christ, that is to better understand the enormous LOVE Christ has for them. And (3) that they might be filled with all the fullness of God, that is, that the life, character, and virtues of God Himself may be fully developed in them.’
Now that does sound like a big programme for believers to undertake, but Bruh Paul knew what he was doing. Listen to how he ends that passage nuh. ‘Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.’ (Eph. 3:20-21) Yes friends, Bruh Paul was not making those prayer requests for too much, because he was asking the One who could do ever so much more than we can ask or think; that’s Almighty God.
So please don’t think that you can’t do anything because it’s too big for you. It might seem so, but it is definitely not too big for our God; the One who created us and still LOVES us dearly, despite all our faults and failures. That means we can go to Him right now with our problems and ask for His awesome help. So as one strong, confident, but humble 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!’
But let me warn us, that we won’t get our desires unless we sincerely turn away from our evil ways and seek God with right motives in our hearts! Much LOVE!
…we can never sell God short…for He is bigger than anything we can ask or imagine…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
28 Jun 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: after this manner, be not proud for the Lord hath spoken, be unto me a people, caught up in the darkness of night, disobedience, God detests pride, heal our land, hear ye and give ear, humble ourselves and pray, humble servants, Jehovah Rapha, make hay while the sun shines, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seriously disobeyed your word, show them your awesome grace and mercy, sincerely seek your face, strong faith in Christ, the God who heals, the great pride of Jerusalem, the shadow of death, they would not hear, this evil people who refuse to hear my words, time waits on no one, turn from our evil ways, ungodliness, walk in the imagination of their heart, we have all sinned, will I mar the pride of Judah, wise guidance and direction
Jeremiah 13:15. Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.
So our favourite day, Monday, has rolled around once again. Some people seem to think that the days are passing very slowly, but friends, I beg to differ. In my opinion, they are passing rather quickly, and consequently I’m not doing as much as I want to – although I did improve some last week. (smile) Look, the year didn’t too long begin, and we are already at the end of June, despite the pandemic and all the other controversy that’s been recently plaguing our world. And before we even turn around, it’s going to be Christmas and New Year’s again! (smile)
But as they say, time waits on no one. So, if you don’t want to get up and do your thing, make hay while the sun shines, then too bad for you. And I think that is a message the Lord is sending to us in these last days. It is a message which He sent to the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the days of the prophet Jeremiah.
‘Thus saith the Lord, After this manner will I mar (ruin) the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination (stubbornness) of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle (sash) which is good for nothing.
For as the girdle (sash) cleaveth to loins (clings to the waist) of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto (cling to) me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name (renown), and for praise, and for a glory, but they would not hear.’ (Jer. 13:9-11)
Yes friends, back then, though the Lord had told Judah and Jerusalem to cling to Him, to be His people, so that He could raise them up with glory and renown, they blatantly ignored Him and did their own thing, being totally disobedient and ungodly, thus the Lord’s warning that if they didn’t humble themselves and turn back to Him, He would cut them down to size. Remember pride is one of the things that our God detests, since it means we have little or no need for Him.
As Jeremiah declares later on in the chapter: ‘Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for the light, he turn it into shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock is carried away captive.’ (Jer. 13:15-17) Now that’s a strong warning my brethren!
And the scholars explain those verses thus: ‘13:15-17. A third illustration ( the first was the marred girdle, and the second filled bottles of wine that were smashed together), concerns a weary traveller in danger of being overtaken by the falling darkness of night. Such was Judah. It must renounce all pride and give God His rightful glory before the final darkness of national catastrophe engulfs it.’ And if you remember rightly, Judah didn’t comply with the warning and were eventually transported away as captives to Babylon.
Now I beg to put forward the argument that we have also become very prideful, disobedient and ungodly during the last few generations, to the point where we have very little respect for Almighty God and are doing our best to eradicate him from our society. And what’s happened to us during the last fifteen months eh? Doesn’t it seem like what we’ve been going through during that period closely resembles that example of a weary traveller being caught up in the darkness of night? It certainly does.
Just look at all the ‘sufferation’ we’ve endured, and are still enduring. And we didn’t merely have the shadow of death, but the real thing that took away millions of lives! Then look at our lack of knowledge re the Covid -19 virus and all its variants that’s still plaguing us. Look at the controversy about the value of the vaccine and all the other disinformation that’s flourished on the subject. And fifteen months later we’re really not much further ahead, because of some people’s refusal to comply with the few variables we believe can stop the flow of the virus.
And in all of this, has our society ever turned to the Creator of the universe and tried to invoke His help? A comparative handful of believers. But the majority of the world has ignored God and continued being dependent on the efforts of mortal and frail mankind. Now, I don’t know if this is the Lord’s way of punishing us for our disgusting pride, disobedience and ungodliness, but I do know that wisdom dictates that we turn to Him in times of trouble, especially if we can’t seem to correct the situation on our own.
So please friends, let’s do that right now nuh. Let’s turn to our Creator, lift up our voices in sincere prayer, asking for His divine help in this our time of very critical need. Therefore, 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!’
But then again friends, our prayer will only be positively answered if we keep our promise and sincerely turn from our evil ways. So it’s all in our hands now. Much LOVE!
…when is the created ever going to learn…that it cannot diminish or defeat the Creator…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
24 May 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a city set on a hill cannot be hid, Christian influence, glorify your father in heaven, good for nothing, humble servants, if the salt has lost it s flavour, in thy book all my members were written, Jehovah Rapha, leading by example, let Jesus' vibes flow from your spirit, Let your light so shine before men, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, negative situations, pray, sincere repentance, sincerely seek your face, strong faith in Christ, the essential mission of the Christian, the God who heals, they may see your good works, thine eyes did see my substance, to be cast out, to be trodden underfoot of men, when as yet there was none of them, Ye are the light of the world, ye are the salt of the earth, yet being unperfect
Matthew 5:13a, 14a. Ye are the salt of the earth: Ye are the light of the world.
Let’s get to it people! Let’s get to Monday nuh! There’s a lot of work to be done, even though it’s a holiday in these parts. Why do you think we are alive today eh? Because the Lord has important work for us to do, towards furthering His kingdom. Stuff that He’s planned from the beginning of time. As Bruh David so prophetically declares in Psalm 139: ‘Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect (unformed); and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.’ (Ps. 139:16)
That means exactly what it says, the Lord planned our lives before He even made one of our bones! And this is our time, the moment in history that He earmarked for us to be alive and producing on His behalf! So let’s get with it nuh. And, by the way, there’s nothing that says you can’t enjoy yourself and do Jesus’ work at the same time eh. (smile) So even if you’re in a party, hopefully a small one, you can still let Jesus and His wonderful vibes flow from your spirit.
In fact, He deeply desires others to see Him shining forth in our normal behaviour, where the fruit of the Spirit – LOVE, joy peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control, are prominent in the way we always carry ourselves! And yes, I know that’s not always easy to do, but if we set our minds to it, and request Christ’s help, we can certainly accomplish it a fair amount of the time.
The truth is, if people don’t see Christ shining forth in us, then they won’t be inclined to believe what we say about Him, or want to invite Him into their lives. That’s why Jesus desires us to be like salt and light. As He says:‘Ye are the salt of the earth:but if the salt have lost his savour (flavour), wherewith (by what) shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot of men.’ (Matt. 5:13)
Yeh friends, we all know the many uses of salt, and that we could not survive without it. Back in Jesus time though, it was even more useful and more important. And that’s how He would like His followers to be; useful and important…not self-important, but important to our communities, leading by example. The same thing goes for light. Jesus says: ‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.’ (Matt. 5:14)
And that’s the gospel truth; the light of a city set on a hill can be seen for miles around. It’s like a beacon in the dark night, drawing others to it for safety. And that’s how we ought to be; sentinels, beacons, lighthouses shining in the darkness of this evil world to show others the light that’s Jesus and draw them to Him for their eternal protection. And Jesus puts it into perfect perspective when He declares: ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt. 5:16)
It couldn’t be said any better than that my brethren! Trust Jesus to know how to clothe it with just enough dig to get our dander up, but not be too self-conscious and ashamed. Oh my people, in those two simple statements – the salt of the earth, and the light of the world – Jesus sums up the basic character of the believer’s life.
As the scholars explain: ‘5:14-16. Ye are the light of the world describes the essential mission of the Christian to the world. He is the condition (salt) to meet the world’s needs and he has a mission (light) to the world. His light is to shine forth into the darkness of human depravity. He is to set his light upon a candlestick, not hide it under a bushel, or basket. Darkness is the absence of light; and darkness alone cannot dispel the light, but the smallest light can dispel the greatest darkness.’
Words of indisputable truth my fellow believers. And from that, we can logically draw the conclusion that our world is so clothed in darkness because Christ’s followers are not putting forth enough light to quell the darkness. What a crying shame my friends! But starting today, I know we are going to make significant changes; we’re going to flavour up our salt and turn up the light in our lamps, so that the world can see Jesus through us. Now it won’t be easy, but since we know that God will help us do whatever needs doing for His glory, let’s go to Him now in prayer, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, sincerely asking for His assistance.
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 we all know the necessary drill; show sincere repentance if we want our prayers answered in a positive manner. Much LOVE!
…for our world to improve…Christian influence…must become much more prominent than it is currently…
Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8
10 May 2021
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a believer in Christ, a future and a hope, a name anove every other name, a trite but true observation, baptizing them, be not overcome of evil, examples work more forcibly than precepts, forgive us and heal our land, forgiving and gracious God, good news of the gospel, hear and answer our prayers, Henry Fielding, humble servants, I am always with you, in the name of the Father, Jehovah Rapha, Joseph Andrews, LOVE, make disciples of all nations, mass confusion, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, monkey see monkey do, new mercies and compassions, overcome evil with good, salvation, sincerely seek your face, teach all nations, the christian motto, the God who heals, the Great Commission, thoughts of peace, to give you an expected end, wise guidance and direction
Matthew 28:19a. Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations,
Awright friends, it’s Monday, so let’s be up and at ‘em nuh! It’s a new day, with new mercies and compassions; a new work week for those still with jobs to go to. And even if you don’t have a paying job in the world, and you are a believer in Christ, you still have something important to do each day in His name.
What’s that you ask? As always, Jesus spelled it out loud and clear for us before He ascended back up to heaven. ‘All power (authority) is given unto 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)
That’s what we call ‘The Great Commission!’ Yes, my fellow believers, after His resurrection, Jesus was given total power over both heaven and earth. As the Good Book tells it: ‘Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of (those) things in heaven, and (those) things in earth, and (those) things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil. 2:9-11)
So you see Jesus wasn’t lying when He told the disciples He had all authority in heaven and earth. It was therefore in His power to command them to go and spread His gospel, the good news of salvation which He had imparted to them, all over the world, to the very ends of the earth. That way, all the earth would know of the mercy, forgiveness and eternal life available through belief in Him.
And I like how the scholars characterize the Great Commission. They say: ‘Christianity is not represented here as the mere reverential devotion of disappointed men who honour their martyred leader. Here is a far different scene. The triumphant, living Lord sends forth His ambassadors to proclaim His gospel throughout the world. The Great Commission is not just and order but a pronouncement of victory by the risen Saviour through His disciples.’
Wow! Yuh hear that mih people? The Great Commission is a pronouncement of victory by the risen, Living Lord!! Glory be! The only problem is that we His disciples, His ambassadors, His agents, His representatives, or whatever we choose to call ourselves, need to go out every day and proclaim that victory to whomever we meet! That’s the ONLY way they will know about it!
And that’s why I said at the beginning, even if you don’t have a worldly job to go to today, as believers in Jesus, you always have something important to do; that’s spread the good news of His victory over Satan, over hell, death and the grave, and His wonderful promise of salvation and eternal life to all who sincerely accept Him as Lord and Saviour!
So please, let’s not think that our lives are being wasted if we don’t have physical jobs, we always have a spiritual job to perform for Jesus. To be living examples of His goodness and mercy, so that others can see the wonderful relationship we enjoy with Him, and also come to desire that wonderful relationship. We can’t always preach people into accepting Jesus, but we can always lead them to Him by the life we live. And that’s all He’s asking of us.
As the opening lines of the old classic book ‘Joseph Andrews’ by Henry Fielding, published in 1742 state. “It is a trite but true observation that examples work more forcibly on the mind than precepts.” That’s indisputable truth. Or as the old people would say, ‘Monkey see, monkey do.’ We just seem to live more by what we see than what we hear. That’s why many of us got licks as children, because we didn’t follow our parents’ advice: ‘Do as I say, and not as I do.’ And it’s only human nature to want to do what others do, especially if they tell us not to do it. (smile)
So please my brethren, let’s remember that our heavenly Father has a purpose and a plan for all of our lives, which include remaking us into the image of Christ, and also spreading His gospel around the world. That’s why He said through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘For I know the thoughts that I think towards 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 that future and hope are all wrapped up in Christ and His good news of salvation.
Now, what would Monday be like if we didn’t offer up our Monday Morning Battle Hymn eh, especially in these very trying and troubled times? (smile) So, as one strong and sincere 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 all up to us to show God that we really mean what we just prayed. Much LOVE!
…the Christian motto…be not overcome of evil…but overcome evil with good… (Rom. 12:21)
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