The Testing of a Believer’s Faith

22 Jun 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Job 23:10.       But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

And on this lazy-day Saturday, the second official day of summer, the weather is sunny and fairly cool, compared with earlier this week, when summer came in like a mighty lion with temperatures in the constant thirties. Let’s hope that it will stay in the mid-twenties for a while now. The heat’s nice, much preferable to the cold, but we do need a modicum of circumspection, for too much of anything is no good. (smile) 

Now, let’s get serious and offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Morning Prayer in all sincerity. 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 because the motives of our hearts were right, we can now feel the Lord’s presence, His LOVE and peace truly hovering around us in even more abundance than before. And I like this prayer because it’s one of those that touch the cockles of God’s heart. You’re sincerely asking for more of Him, and He will never refuse such a prayer, since it’s His greatest desire for His human creation to sincerely seek Him with all their hearts, minds, souls and bodies. 

So, as we promised yesterday, if the Lord spared life today, we would continue looking at some scriptures that speak to the testing of our faith. And all God’s children said a grateful: ‘Thank You Lord for allowing us to see another day on your great earth!’ 

Let’s begin then with this interesting scripture from Isaiah re God’s deferred anger. ‘For my name’s sake, will I defer (delay) my anger, and for my praise will I refrain (restrain) for thee, that I cut thee not off (destroy you). Behold, I have refined thee, but not with (as) silver; I have chosen (tested) thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted (profaned)? and I will not give my glory unto another.’ (Is. 48:9-11) 

Yes friends, for the Lord’s own sake, that we do not profane His holy name, He refines us in the fires of affliction. And those fires are never very nice, but they do serve to refine us, grow us in spiritual maturity, and keep us on the right path. Now, hear these awesome words of the psalmist. 

‘O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: Which holdeth our soul in life (among the living), and suffereth not our feet to be moved (slip). For thou, O God, hast proved (tested) us: thou hast tried (refined) us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy (an abundant) place.’ (Ps. 66:8-12) 

Yuh see that mih bredrin, though the Lord tries and afflicts us, it’s always for our own good, for our benefit. He brings us out of the afflictions in a better place than when we went in. Then there’s this interesting scripture from Bruh Paul in 1 Corinthians. ‘According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 

Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble (straw); Every man’s work shall be made manifest (become evident); for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try (test) every man’s work of what sort it is. If a man’s work abide (endures) which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved: yet so as by (through) fire.’ (1 Cor. 3:10-15) 

Oh my people, come the judgement day, even our works will be tested to see how they held up to Christ’s service. And if they don’t survive the fire, because they are built on hay, wood or straw, then we will lose rewards, but not our salvation. For as the scholars explain: ‘The stress in this entire passage is not on a person’s relationship to Christ, but on service to Christ.’ 

Meanwhile, Job in his great trial said it thus: ‘Behold, I go forward, but he (God) is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him. On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself (turns) on the right hand, that I cannot see him: But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.’ (Job 23:8-10) 

Job’s friends thought that his sins caused his downfall, that he was filled with rubbish, but he maintained that God knew when He tested him, pure gold would come out of the fires of his affliction. Can we be that sure of our situations? Who knows? But we’ve got to do our best to pass through the fires refined as pure gold. 

Now here’s this last scripture, another famous one, this from Peter, where, writing about the incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven for us, says: ‘Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness (distressed) through manifold temptations: That the trial (genuineness) of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried (tested) with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing (revelation) of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye LOVE; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.’ (1 Pet. 1:6-9) 

And the scholars offer these explanations on those verses: ‘The problem of salvation looks to the present. Earthly trials constitute  a problem of our salvation, but they are only for a season, or temporary. Manifold temptations means diversified trials. True faith cannot be destroyed though God is in the process of refining faith through our trials.’ 

Oh my fellow saints, living for Christ seems like a tough life, and it sometimes truly is, but let’s remember that the rewards of putting Christ first are well worth the trials and testings we go through in this evil and ungodly world. The long and short of the story is we know our salvation is assured through God’s gift of grace, and if we live the way Christ desires, great will be our rewards in heaven! Much LOVE!

…building on the solid foundation of Christ…is the wise earthly way to go…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   22 February 2022 Psalm 119:133.

22 Feb 2022 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psalm 119:133.     Order (direct) my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

Oh my people, on this damp and cloudy Tuesday morning in late February, the 22/2/22, a momentous date they say will not return for another thousand years, I’ve been inspired to begin the Bit with a li’l ditty. (smile) So please sing along with me. ‘I’ve got a good thing going in the Lord today! Oh yes, I’ve got a good thing going in the Lord today. I’ve got a good thing going in the Lord today… And I’m so excited and blessed to share it with you!’ 

Glory Hallelujah my brethren! There’s no better way to begin a new day of life and LOVE than with some joy in the Lord of our salvation! What’s the purpose of having salvation if we don’t enjoy it eh? But sadly, that’s what happens to a lot of us, we allow the vicissitudes of life to rob us of the abundant joy of the salvation that Jesus Christ died for us to have. That’s not wise. It’s just wasting Jesus’ marvellous sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. 

And yes, I know life can be very difficult at times, but being joyless doesn’t change our circumstances. However, being joyful changes us, and allows us to handle the tough situations that we all encounter in this earthly life. Please remember, as the Good Book tells us in Nehemiah: ‘for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ (Neh. 8:10) That means when we lose our joy, we lose our strength in God, and if we don’t have God’s strength, then we don’t have anything worthwhile at all. 

So it’s ever so important that we retain that joy we find in the Lord our God, if we intend to live successful lives in His glorious name. And to help us keep that joy full and running over, today I want to share some exciting words from the scriptures that help us to do just that. It comes from that awesome Psalm 119 – the section titled ‘PE’ for the 17th letter of the Jewish alphabet (Pey). And it is subtitled: ‘The entrance of thy words giveth light.’ 

Oh, how true that is my fellow saints in Christ! The entering of God’s word into our hearts, bodies and souls, does bring spiritual light to them. So, let’s ask the Lord to allow His amazing words to bring light to the darkness of our souls today, as we read His inspiring word together. ‘Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light: it giveth understanding unto the simple. I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments. 

Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that LOVE thy name. Order (direct) my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Deliver (redeem) me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they (men) keep not thy law.’ (Ps. 119:129-136) 

What beautiful words and sentiments my fellow believers! Wish that we could truly mean them and thus have them be a significant part of our lives. But we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. However, our great and wonderful God, who is ever so rich in mercy and forgiveness always answers our prayers if we are sincere and they fall in line with His will. So, if we are serious about His word that we’ve just read, He will enable us to do the things we’ve asked. 

And I like that verse we’ve chosen for our Bit, because it seems to cover everything. If the Lord directs our steps and iniquity doesn’t have dominion over us, then everything else will come into successful play. Hopefully, then we’ll be able to say like Job did: ‘But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held (held fast to) his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed (treasured) the words of his mouth more than my necessary food (appointed portion).’ (Job 23:10-12) 

Oh friends, when we can sincerely declare sentiments like those, then are we truly living for God. And it would certainly be great when we are tried, we come forth as gold, as pure gold. Yes, and per that verse, the scholars tell us that ‘Job’s friends maintained that Job was full of dross, but Job is confident that no dross, or sin, would be revealed in the fire of refinement.’ And that fire of refinement is basically what Bruh Paul talked about to the church at Corinth in his first missive. 

‘For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble (straw); Every man’s work shall be made manifest (become evident): for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try (test) every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide (endures) which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.’ (1 Cor. 3:11-15) 

And my people, the long and short of all that is whatever work we claim to do for Christ will eventually be tested and if it comes through the test, then we will be rewarded for it. But if our works are burned up in the fire, we will not lose our salvation, just the rewards we were hoping to get. As the scholars explain: ‘The stress in this entire passage is not on a person’s relationship to Christ, but on service to Christ.’ 

Now for those of us who are serious about living for Christ, let’s go home joyfully declaring (yeahhh!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole world know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong, confident and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’ 

And having said all of that, let’s go out now and action it by sharing the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to LOVE and serve Him as we do! Much LOVE!

…the best way to build on the foundation of Christ…is with gold, silver and precious stones…stuff that will endure the refiner’s fire… 

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 June 2020 Philippians 1:6.

13 Jun 2020 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Philippians 1:6.    ​Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.
 

One more time to the breach, dear friends, one more time! Yes my faithful brethren we’ve been given another day on God’s great earth to make some sort of difference, no mater how small or insignificant it might be. Please don’t only seek to do the big things which you believe will bring lots of glory, because ofttimes many small things put together bring more glory, may be more valuable than one big thing. 

And that’s the word for today; don’t disparage or underestimate small doings, for as my Jamaican people wisely say; one one cocoa full basket. (smile) And that’s the living truth! So today, let’s focus on the many small things we can do rather than search out the big thing that our lustful souls selfishly desire. Now, they tell me it’s Saturday, (smile) so that means we have to look at the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. 

And the first one hits the proverbial nail right on the head: ‘Don’t wait for opportunity, create it.’ That’s gospel friends! We can’t always wait for opportunity to come along before we get up and get going, for sometimes opportunity never comes. It’s often left up to us to create our own opportunity. Just look at many of the great inventors, they had an idea or ideas and didn’t wait for opportunity to present itself on a silver platter, but went ahead and created the opportunity they needed. I guess in these times of fancy words and phrases they might call it something like ‘self-motivation.’ 

And all we believers in Christ need to have lots of self-motivation seeing that we have lots of demanding work to do in His name. That leads to this next quote: ‘It’s going to be hard, but hard does not mean impossible.’ Yeh mih people, very few worthwhile endeavours in this life come easily, so if you want to do anything worthwhile, especially for Jesus, you have to learn to bite the bullet and just keep going regardless of the problems and hardships you face. Remember Jesus’ words to the disciples re a rich man entering heaven? ‘With men this is impossible; but with God ALL things are possible.’ (Matt. 19:26) 

So if you’re working for Jesus, you don’t have to worry about impossibilities, because there are NONE! And that brings up this quote: ‘Sometimes we’re tested not to show our weaknesses, but to discover our strengths.’ Now isn’t that the living truth…especially if you’re in Jesus’ employ! (smile) Yes friends, our Lord tries us continually to see what we’re made of, how strong our faith is, to see if what’s in our hearts really lines up what we claim through our mouths. The Good Book mentions testing many times. 

Let’s check out a few. Look at King Hezekiah, who seems to have sincerely trusted the Almighty. The Good Book recounts: ‘Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try (test) him, that he might know all that was in his heart.’ (2 Chr. 32:31) And if you want to know more about that story please check it out in 2 Kings 20:12-19. 

And remember this promise in Zechariah, re the cleansing of Jerusalem? ‘And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try (test) them as gold is tried (tested): they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.’ (Zech. 13:9) 

But this is what we believers ought to be saying in our time of testing: ‘But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.’ (Job 23:10) Mama Mia! What words of awesome faith from Job even though he was going through hell here on earth! How many of us can make such a definitive statement eh? Not too many of us. But it’s what we ought to aspire to, if we truly want to be strong, faithful Christians. 

And this next quote gives us some wise direction. ‘The key to success is to focus on goals, not obstacles.’ That’s for certain sure! We need to keep our minds focused on the goals we’re working towards, rather than the obstacles we encounter while working towards them. The obstacles will try to take away our focus, but we must not let them. We can’t ignore them, for sometimes they do present more and even better opportunities, but our minds ought to be stayed on our goals, assuming they are worthwhile ones. 

And this last quote says it all. ‘I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.’ It’s obviously comes from some sports figure. But he makes the very salient point all of us need to write deep in our hearts, failure is not failure until we stop trying. And in God’s economy there is no giving up, which means there’s no failure. 

We’re not going to win every round, but we MUST get back up each time we fall and continue keeping on. That’s the nature of the truly successful person in any walk of life! Get back up on your horse and ride again; that ought to be the believer’s motto. And we have this awesome promise of God to help us do all that we need to do. ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ 

Yes, my fellow saints in Christ, we can rest assured that whatever good work the Lord begins in us, He will keep on doing it, and complete it when Christ returns. So let’s hang in there and do the right things nuh. We all know what they are, but allow our sinful fleshly desires to thwart our righteous ones. Much LOVE!

…you can’t fail…if you never stop trying…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 June 2016 Romans 8:28

18 Jun 2016 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Romans 8:28.   And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are called according to his purpose.

Well a blessed day to all you my Scrip-Bit family and friends! And I know that some of us will be quick to say what’s so blessed about it eh? Just look at my circumstances, look at how I’m suffering and struggling. I certainly wouldn’t call that blessed. 

I understand that friends, but it’s all in our attitude toward those circumstances and struggles. Too many Christians expect to just have a nice smooth ride through life without any problems simply because they are followers of Christ. But it doesn’t work like that. Unfortunately, the greater our calling from God, ofttimes the greater the struggle in our lives. 

Look at all the great prophets, Bruh Joseph, Moses, Bruh David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Bruh Paul, and finally Jesus Christ Himself; they all went through many trials and much tribulation to accomplish their earthly goals. Jesus even warned us: ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33b) 

And furthermore, the Lord uses these trials and struggles to test us, to build and grow our faith; to see if we truly believe and are willing to rely on Him and His promises. As Job, another righteous man who suffered great tribulation declared during his time of trial. ‘But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.’ (Job 23:10) 

And the scholars have an interesting take on that verse. ’23:10. I shall come forth as gold: His friends maintained that Job was full of dross, but Job is confident that no dross, or sin, would be revealed in the fires of refinement.’ 

Yes friends, the Lord puts us through our paces like we put metals through fire to purify them. And believe me, when you go through some of those refining fires, you will come out as bright and beautiful and strong and faithful as gold! 

And we don’t even have to go to the Good Book to learn about struggles; listen to these quotes from our friend Anselm, who always aspires to inspire us. He says first: ‘Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.’ And the corollary to that is; ‘Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.’ 

Gospel truth all of that my fellow believers! That’s why so many of this young generation are so soft and sappy and whiny, because they have had most everything given to them by us doting parents. They never had to struggle or work hard for something, so therefore there is no real appreciation of anything they have or get. 

In their minds the world owes them a living. And that’s a big disservice we’ve done to them. No wonder most of them have no belly or backbone, and are quick to throw in the towel as soon as hard times show up. 

Oh my people, everybody goes through struggles and hard times, whether you’re rich, poor, black, white, Muslim, Jew, or whatever, but where we believers win out over the others is that we have the rich and faithful promises of our God to depend on. 

We know for instance that as Bruh Paul told the Corinthians in his first letter: ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ (1 Cor.10:13)  

Yes my struggling and suffering fellow believers, our God promises never to give or allow us to bear more than we can handle and will either make a way out for us, or give us the wherewithal to endure it. He doesn’t always make us escape it, but more often than not He brings us safely through it. Another way to boost our faith and make us spiritually strong, more Christ-like, which is the basic goal for all believers. 

That brings us to our Bit, another crucial promise from our ever-faithful God. In the momentous words of Bruh Paul: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are called according to his purpose.’ 

Oh my brethren, what a wonderful promise! Only we Christians are assured that our omnipotent, ever-LOVING God will work out everything in our favour eventually, according to His timetable! It’s all a matter of faith, of belief, of patience and perseverance my people! 

And this is what the scholars have to say about that verse. ‘8:28. To them that LOVE God is the human perspective. God is working all things together for good, but those who LOVE God are best able to appreciate that fact because they LOVE Him no matter what (cf. Job 13:15) To them who are called is the divine perspective. Scripture often refers to believers as “the called” or “the elect.”  

And for those of us who want to know what Job 13:15 says but are too lazy to look it up, let me spoon feed you. (smile) Job defends his integrity before his condescending and self-righteous friends by declaring of God: ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine (defend my) own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation: for a hypocrite shall not come before him.’ (Job 13:15-16) Just thought I’d throw in verse 16 for good measure. (smile) 

And the scholars say of ’13:15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him expresses the unquenchable faith of one who lives by faith, not by sight. Even when it appears that God Himself has turned against Job, he will still trust in God.’ 

Oh friends, oh friends, in these godless, deceitful and evil times, that is the kind of faith we believers need to have, an unquenchable kind, if we’re going to see it through to a victorious end!  

And we’ll conclude with these fateful words of Jesus: ‘And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.’ (Matt.10:22) Much LOVE!

…Christians have to understand that struggles are a part of human life…but we have the certain promise of victory in the end…to see us through life’s storms in the middle…