If God be for me who can be against me

Today’s Scrip-Bit 16 April 2024 Psalm 118:24.

16 Apr 2024 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a Christ-like attitude, a new theatre of strife, as for me and my house, be grateful, be the salt of the earth, Bible, bring about positive change, called me to his eternal glory in Christ, Christian, christianity, Christians are action oriented, elect God-fearing leaders, god, hearts and souls, hurry, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, If God be for me who can be against me, Jesus, Jesus Christ, LOVE, LOVE is of God, make me strong firm and steadfast, one one cocoa full basket, share His love with my neighbours, sincere action figures, something good is going to happen to me, something good is going to happen to me today, step up to the plate, suffered a little while, the beloved of God, the dustbin of history, the foolishness of man, the fullness of life in Christ, the God of all grace, the light of the world, this is the day the Lord has made, this too shall pass, trust my friend Jesus, Tuesday Mantra, turn up their noses, we will rejoice and be glad in it, we will serve the Lord, will Himself restore me, wisdom, worry

Psalm 118:24. This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Then it was Tuesday, and another uncomfortable, disturbing Monday has been flung into the dustbin of History! There’s also no doubt that spring has seriously sprung now! Yes! We had some good showers in the mornings over the weekend, but by afternoon the sun had come out strong and vibrant, actually spreading some warmth, and yesterday was a particularly beautiful spring day, despite it being Monday. (smile) Today is supposed to be another of those beautiful days with temps in the high teens.

So let’s be grateful and thank our great God for all the blessings He’s bestowing on us, by gratefully declaring (yesss!!!): ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps. 118:24) And while we’re at it, why don’t we declare a few more very useful acclamations, like: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ (Phil. 4:13) And what about this most useful one: ‘If God be for me, who can be against me? NOBODY!’ (Rom. 8:31)

Then there’s this non scriptural acclamation, but every bit as true: ‘Friends show their LOVE in times of trouble, not in happiness.’ (Euripides) And that’s the gospel truth! Oh how much better our world would be if supposed friends would show up in times of trouble and help, instead of running away like scared chickens! Next up is this wonderful acclamation first proclaimed by Joshua. ‘As for me and my house, we WILL follow the Lord; that’s for sure!’ (Josh. 24:15)

Now what about this gem: ‘And the God of all grace, who has called me to his eternal glory in Christ after I have suffered a little while, will Himself restore me and make me strong, firm and steadfast. Glory to God!’ (1 Pet. 5:10) Now that one is a bit long and somewhat tough to master both in memory and deed, but if we can ever get it right in our hearts and souls, our lives will be much better attuned to the vagaries and eccentricities of this world, because we’ll know without a doubt, that whatever comes against us is only for a time, and that our great God, will, in His time, restore us to the fullness of life in Christ Jesus.

Unfortunately though, a lot of people turn up their noses at acclamations, but that’s just the foolishness of man, because when we acclaim the scriptures or anything that is good and true, we reinforce the goodness and strength of God within ourselves, so when tragedy or trouble strike, we have enough confidence in our system to allow us to handle it with a good, Christ-like attitude. Finally, there’s this acclamation that sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) likes to say: ‘Something good is going to happen TO me today! Something good is going to happen THROUGH me today!’

And that’s exactly how it ought to be my brethren! Good things happen to us, and good things happen through us, for that’s the will of God. He delights in working through His wonderful followers. That’s why Jesus kept telling us to LOVE each other, for LOVE is of God. And if we’re showing true, brotherly LOVE to one another, then we’re behaving like God, and that’s what it’s all about…behaving like Christ as much as possible. And with our world in a sad and sorry state of strife, war, greed, hunger, poverty, sickness and natural disasters, we desperately need Christians to step up to the plate and be the salt of the earth and light of the world that Jesus expects us to be.

Oh my fellow believers, no one else is going to change our disastrous world if we don’t. Please, let’s understand that. Change, or rather positive and productive change will only come if we supposed Christians get up off of our lazy, comfortable, entitled fannies and do the work necessary to bring about positive change. We’ve got to stop the plentiful talking for which we’re so famous, and instead become serious and sincere action figures, who are getting things done, like Christ desires!

It’s sad to see our world degenerating, deteriorating more and more with each passing day. For every day we hear about a new theatre of strife, and none of the old ones are closed, as well as starvation and sickness somewhere else in our world of plenty. What’s wrong with us eh? And the sad part is that many of our leaders who are promulgating the negative stuff claim to be believers in Christ Jesus, to be Christians. But how can we reconcile their warlike and evil actions with a supposed Christian nature eh? No way!

The trouble also stems from the fact that too many of us believers claim we can’t do anything about the worldwide situation, and that might be true to a certain extent, but what about electing true God-fearing leaders eh? And what about the negative situations right in our own neighbourhoods? Now don’t tell me that there aren’t any, because there are oodles of fixable problems in each and every neighbourhood, which Christians could be helping to alleviate, if we so desire, and thus making our little part of the world better. But, with our sad attitude of indifference, we all sit and wait for someone else to fix the problems.

However, what did some wise someone once say. If we want peace, let it begin with me. Yes friends, anything we truly desire has to begin with us! We each have to develop the habits of movers and shakers in our own areas, if we ever expect to see positive change. And we don’t have to start with big changes, small ones will do. For as my Jamaican people tell us: one one cocoa full basket. And it certainly does. Each small change we make builds up in number, till we have a full basket of them.

So please my fellow saints, let’s get up and get a move on nuh, let’s start taking back our beautiful world from the evil doers, who are just bent on destroying it, and sending both it and us down to Hades with the evil one. And that’s not an acceptable option. But it’s only if we wake up and start smelling the roses, will it ever change. End of Sermon. (smile) Now let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock stock and barrel.

As one 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 my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’

And having made that proclamation, we are now bound to go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with those we meet, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…whether it’s in peace or war…actions always speak louder than words…and Christians are action oriented people…

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ

Today’s Scrip-Bit 22 September 2023 Genesis 43:1.

22 Sep 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: amend our evil ways, another glorious day, as for me and my house, autumnal change of colours, between a rock and a hard place, bring down my gray hairs, considered spies, damned if you, damned if you don't, desperately crying out for help, dysfunctional family, evil can only be contereacted by good, Friday chant, go again, go boldly to the throne of grace, God will supply all my needs, hold his head and bawl, If God be for me who can be against me, intriguing saga of Bruh Joseph, introduce a new flock of believers, LOVE, my neck of the woods, omnipotent help, Praise the Lord, return backsliders to your fold, rot in jail, sincerely seek God's face, stand strong and steadfast, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the famine was sore in the land, through His riches in glory, trusting faith, unless your brother be with you, unseasonal weather, waxing philosophical, we will serve the Lord, with sorrow to the grave, ye shall not see my face

Genesis 43:1. ‘And the famine was sore (severe) in the land.

And it’s another glorious day in my neck of the woods! How can I not give thanks and praise to our heavenly Father for allowing me to see such wonderful weather in the last week of September eh? Usually, by now, the chilly winds would be blowing and the trees far into their autumnal change of colours and ridding themselves of the leaves, so that they can hunker down for the winter without too much baggage. (smile) But only a few have yet begun that process, and most of the leaves are still green and lively.

So, when we declare (yesss!!!) ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ we must not only consider that the work week is over and the week end is here, but also include a thought for the good, somewhat unseasonal weather we’re currently enjoying, with temps even reaching the low twenties. And all God’s people in the northern climes, said a loud and grateful: ‘Praise the Lord!’

Now, before we get to Bruh Joseph’s story, let’s acclaim a few acclamations to boost our spirits. This first one is a beauty: ‘God will supply ALL of my needs through his riches in glory through Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour.’ (Phil. 4:19) And that we need to sincerely believe deep down in our hearts, or we’ll just fall apart when the first needs show up.

Then there’s this: ‘If God be for me, who can be against me eh? Absolutely NOBODY!’ (Rom. 8:31) That too we need to deeply believe, if we expect to make it through this greedy and evil world. And finally: ‘As for me and my house, we WILL follow the Lord, that’s for certain sure!’ (Josh. 24:15) That puts the lid on the pot, so that the ingredients don’t burn off in the blazing fire of evil in which we’re currently embroiled. Brother! The ole fella sure is waxing philosophical this Friday morning! (smile)

And, finally, let’s see what’s happening in the intriguing saga of Bruh Joseph. We left the story yesterday where the nine brothers return home without Simeon, whom Bruh Joseph kept in jail in Egypt. They gave the bad news to their father, who obviously wasn’t happy with the situation. Then when they opened their bags, all their money was still in them. That meant they had not paid for the food they’d brought home, and they all became scared. They told Jacob about Bruh Joseph’s desire for his younger brother Benjamin to be brought to him in Egypt or they would be considered spies, Simeon would rot in jail, and they would not get any more food. Glory be!

When Jacob heard that, he could only hold his head and bawl! He’s already lost Joseph and Simeon, now they wanted to take away his youngest Benjamin too! No way Jose! He immediately put the kibosh on that idea. ‘And he said, My son shall not go down with you…if mischief (calamity) befall him by the way in which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.’ (Gen. 42:38) No doubt the loss of a third son would surely have sent him home to his maker.

But friends, life happens, and very often we are not able to do what we want to do. Thus it was with Jacob. For the Bible tells us: ‘And the famine was sore (severe) in the land. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn (grain) which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.’ (Gen. 43:1-2) Yes my brethren those worms in our stomachs do make a terrible noise and cause a hurtful pain when they cry out for nourishment!

But it’s not always easy to assuage their hunger and thirst, like in this case, as the Bible continues. ‘And Judah spake unto him (Jacob), saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us (warn us), saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.’ (Gen. 43:3-4)

Oh my fellow saints, life certainly does provide some unwanted conundrums, puts us in some positions between a rock and hard place where we suffer in whatever decision we make. It’s like the quote assigned to the U.S President Roosvelt’s wife, Eleanor: ‘You’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t.’ And that’s exactly the situation in which the patriarch Jacob (Israel) found himself. Send his youngest son Benjamin down to Egypt with his brothers, and fear losing him like the other two sons. Or don’t send him, and simply stay at home and starve.

What wonderful options, none of which we’d wish on our worst enemy. But life has to go on, and decisions must be made. ‘And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill (wickedly) with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? And they said, the man asked us straitly of our state (pointedly about ourselves), and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? Have ye another brother: and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly (possibly ) know that he would say bring your brother down?’ (Gen. 43:6-7)

And who says our God isn’t a great dramatist eh? All the aspects for great drama can be found in the story of Bruh Joseph; from a dysfunctional family with a sleazy, cheating patriarch, with devious mothers, to devious, unprincipled, hating brothers, who apparently inherited some of their father’s trickery. And when you add life’s unforeseen circumstances to that already volatile mix, it just addles the pot further, and makes it boil and sputter, like a witch’s brew, until it boils right over!

Ah mih bredrin, many of us are familiar with such goings on, and there’s not much we can do to stop them from happening, we just have to band our belly and do something, then suffer the consequences of which ever decision we make, while sincerely believing that with the help of Almighty God, it will all work out well in the end. And that’s only accomplished by going boldly, but humbly to the throne of grace and seeking divine help for our many earthly problems. So, let’s do that right now nuh, through our Friday Chant.

Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly.

And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’

And if we truly want to see divine help here on earth, then we need to amend our evil ways and sincerely seek God’s face. It’s the only solution to our problem! Much LOVE!

…the world’s evil…can only be counteracted by…the goodness of God…

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ

Today’s Scrip-Bit 10 January 2023 Proverbs 25:11.

10 Jan 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a word fitly spoken, activate our dormant brain cells, bounden duty, Encyclopedias, every idle word that men speak, God will supply all of my needs, have good success, hurry, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, if God be for me, If God be for me who can be against me, in god's eyes, like apples of gold in pictures of sliver, LOVE, make thy way prosperous, S.A.D., Seasonal Affective disorder, set a watch O Lord before my mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, share His love with the world, something good is going to happen through me, something good is going to happen to me, the beloved of God, they shall give account of on judgment day, this book of the law, this is the day the Lord has made, thou shalt meditate therein day and night, trust my friend Jesus, Tuesday Mantra, we will rejoice and be glad in it, worry

Proverbs 25:11. A word fitly spoken (spoken at the right time) is like apples of gold in pictures (settings) of silver.

And all I can say is: ‘Brother! Another cloudy day!’ Ah my my, where is the sun eh? And not for heat, but just a li’l light. Thankfully though, we’re not getting any unwanted precipitation like California, which is receiving all kinds of rain and stormy weather. But it would be nice to get a glimpse of the sun, and see it’s light shining through like Jesus, every so often. (smile) That’s why this S.A.D, or Seasonal Affective Disorder thing is so prevalent in winter and fall. When there’s no actual light in our lives, the body just goes into a state of natural downturn, a state of natural depression, where our moods can vary ever so dangerously.

But what a good thing that we believers have the light of Jesus shining within us, and all the uplifting scriptures of our faith to boost us, else we’d surely be in deep trouble in these S.A.D times. (smile) However, the problem is if we don’t know the scriptures, we obviously can’t use them. That’s why it’s ever so important to read and study the books of the Good Library so that we can have reassuring scriptures to fall back on. Why do you think that the Lord was so specific with Joshua after He made him leader of the Israelites on the death of Moses eh?

He commanded: ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (shall be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success.’ (Josh. 1:8)

Wow! That’s from the Lord God Almighty Himself! As the old people would say, ‘straight from the horse’s mouth!’ And thus it should not be disobeyed, but rather taken to heart and sincerely followed. But nowadays, with our know-it-all attitude, because of the inroads we’ve made into science and technology, we choose to totally disregard the wisdom of our Creator. Remember friends, the Good Library was written to help us to find our way on this crazy and dysfunctional earth. It’s the Encyclopedia of Life and Living!

Remember the days when Encyclopedias reigned supreme, when they were the last word in everything, where we went to find anything we didn’t know about? And selling Encyclopedias was the first job that many of us had on first coming to Canada, because it was possible the easiest one to get back then. I remember a few cold nights out on the road, knocking on doors and getting rude remarks. After one particularly cold night somewhere out in the Ajax area, it was just a small town then, I just said forget it and did not even go back to collect the few dollars they owed me.

Many of today’s young people don’t even know the word Encyclopedia, and if they do, what it really means, or stands for, because we now go to Google for all our enquiries. And yes, it is much quicker, but there’s nothing like holding an Encyclopedia, that’s one volume, (smile) in one’s hand and thumbing through its numerous pages to find some unknown or unremembered fact. It certainly activated our brains more and we found more knowledge that way, than simply dialing it up on Google, which does nothing to activate our dormant brain cells.

Now, where were we, before we got into this talk on the dinosaur that’s Encyclopedias? (smile) Oh yes, we were talking about God’s instructions to Joshua to constantly meditate on His word, if he wanted to be prosperous and find success. And nothing has changed since then my people! The same advice still applies: to have true, or God-given prosperity and success, one must know the scriptures and faithfully follow or live by them! It’s the only way! And do we ever need them in turbulent times like our world is now undergoing, and the cloudy days that we’re experiencing, as well as all the other natural and man-made disasters that are happening all around the globe.

And we’re talking about enlightening and reassuring scriptures like these: ‘This is the day the Lord has made; we WILL rejoice and be glad in it!’ (Ps. 118:24) ‘God will supply ALL of my needs through His riches in glory through Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour!’ (Phil. 4:19) ‘I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!’ (Phil. 4:13) ‘As for me and my house, we WILL follow the Lord; that’s for sure!’ (Josh. 24:15) ‘If God be for me, who can be against me eh? NOBODY! (Rom. 8:31)

‘And the God of all grace, who has called me to His eternal glory in Christ after I have suffered a little while, will Himself restore me and make me strong, firm and steadfast. Glory to God! (1 Pet. 5:10) ‘I am an overcomer through Christ.’ That’s just a shortened form of John’s words in his first epistle. ‘For whosoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?’ (1 John 5:4-5)

Then there are these other vibrant and reassuring scriptures: ‘I am above and not beneath. The head and not the tail.’ (Deut. 28:13) ‘I am more than a conqueror, through Christ who LOVES me! (Rom. 8:37) ‘Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.’ (Ps. 141:3) Now that last one is something we should ALL be praying EVERY DAY, because talk is so cheap, rampant and virulent, or bitter and hostile right now that it’s possibly the major contributor to our sad, ongoing demise.

Remember what Cousin Sol said about words in Proverbs. ‘A word fitly spoken (spoken at the right time) is like apples of gold in pictures (settings) of silver.’ (Prov. 25:11) Meaning that a good word spoken at the right time is invaluable to the listener! Remember too, that our words have God-given power, and they can be used for either good or evil, so we should be very careful what we say and when, because Jesus warned: ‘But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement.’ (Matt. 12:36) Now that should make us all sit up and think and take care of the words we speak from henceforth!

And then there’s this last but ever so important saying from Sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) that we should ALL also be declaring (yes!!!) every day! ‘Something good is going TO happen to me today! Something good is going to happen THROUGH me today!’ And that’s just a handful of the many useful scriptures that we can employ EVERY DAY to lift up our spirits and reassure us of the goodness of our most LOVING God, Jehovah! You can also peruse and meditate on the scriptures and find many more to use in your own situations.

Now, for those of us who are trying to sincerely live for Jesus, let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one strong 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 my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’

And having said that, it’s now our bounden duty to go out and share that amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with all we meet, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…it’s impossible to live a successful life…without reading and following God’s instructions…

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 22 September 2023 Genesis 43:1.

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