14 May 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abandon myself to your prace, anxious, assurances, be of good cheer, believe also in me, compassionate heart, curse, divine protection, doubtful, encouragement, get the ball rolling, good health, hesitant, I go to prepare a place for you, i have overcome the world, I will come again, In my Father's house, in the name of Jesus, in the world, Jesus' Second Coming, let not your heart be troubled, like a silent river, LOVE, many mansions, my only anchor, negative word, neither let it be afraid, not as the world giveth, O God of peace, pandemic, peace, Peace i leave with you, peace that passeth all understanding, promotion, prosper, receive you unto myself, saints in Christ, saving faith, show us the Father, success, the foundation of the church, the warmth of your presence, Thursday Blessings, whatever the situation, when Jesus is in our hearts, with the Lord's help, worry and fear take over, ye believe in God, ye shall have tribulation, you knw the solution
John 14:1. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Ah mih people, it’s a somewhat rough Thursday morning, possibly because of my extra late late night. (smile) But we hanging in there, we not giving up, we getting it together, with the Lord’s help of course, and the strong, sweet caffeine. So we right on the ball! And to get this ball rolling here is something encouraging and challenging that I received yesterday.
Please pray with me: ‘O God of peace, so often You say to me” do not let your heart be troubled,” and yet, without fail, I let worry and fear take over. I let my doubts overrule what I know to be true – that You, my God, will never abandon me, that whatever the situation, You already know the solution. Strengthen my faith today O God that I may abandon myself to your peace; that I may stand on your words of comfort and assurance; and that I may cling to You as my only anchor. Draw me closer to You today Father, that I may feel again the warmth of Your presence, covering me with your peace. Today, O God, I will not let my heart be troubled.’
Oh friends, what an encouraging prayer, with a whole lot of truth in it! One that all of us most likely need to declare right now in these crucial times enveloping our world. Oh yes, we know the scripture: ‘Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.’ But do we seriously adhere to it? Not really. Like so much other scripture we quote but don’t really adhere to, else we wouldn’t have all the doubts and anxieties and uncertainties we have. And I want to share the scholars’ explanation of that verse because it contains such wonderful assurances and encouragement for us believers.
‘14:1. Let not your heart be troubled refers to Peter, Jesus having just told him of his imminent denial of his Lord (13:38). But the larger reference is to all the apostles, through whom Jesus is going to lay the foundation of the church. His comfort also includes instruction about His departure, the sending of the Holy Spirit, the promise of spiritual power, of answered prayer, and of peace, but especially of His return.’
Yes my brethren, belief in Jesus’ Second Coming is ever so important to the believer. Jesus said it thus: ‘In my father’s house are many mansions (dwellings): if it were not so; I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there may ye be also.’ (John 14:2-3) That’s a major promise of Jesus friends; going to prepare a place for us, then coming back to get us to be with Him wherever He is!
Wow! What a marvellous event to look forward to! The point though, is that if we believe Him and look forward to his Second Coming, we can’t be as anxious and doubtful and uncertain as so many of us are. But let’s not be too hard on ourselves, for Thomas didn’t understand when Jesus said: ‘And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.’ (John 14:4) Jesus had to specifically inform him. ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’ (John 14:6)
Philip didn’t understand either, when Jesus said in response to Thomas’ query: ‘If ye had known me, ye should have known my father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.’ (John 14:7) He piped up: ‘Lord show us the Father, and it sufficeth (will satisfy) us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, show us the Father?’ (John 14:8-9)
Yes friends, though the disciples had been with Jesus for a long time, they still had their doubts and uncertainties, as we do, but we have the benefit of all the gospel and scriptures and experiences of millions of Christians down through the years since then, we ought not to be still as doubtful and hesitant and uncertain as so many of us are, especially now in this time of world wide pandemic. Yes, we must ask questions, and we must be concerned, but deep down we ought to have that saving faith, especially when we read scriptures like this. ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27)
Ah mih people, what more can we ask eh? More scripture? Well try this one on for size nuh. (smile) ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)
And if neither of those two scriptures reassure you, then try this from Bruh Paul to the church at Philippi. ‘Be careful (anxious) for nothing: but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep (guard) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 4:6-7)
Oh precious people of God, the best way to quell our anxieties and concerns are to be prayerful about everything, but with thanksgiving and gratitude in our hearts for what the Lord has already done for us and promised to do in the future. Then we’ll be divinely granted that peace which man, the world cannot understand, but which will quieten our fears and worries. Glory be!
Now let’s go home declaring (ayeahh!!!) our Thursday Blessings, which have been so generously bestowed on us to share with our fellow man. All together now, in strong voice, with sincere hearts. ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Awright fellow saints in Christ! Let’s put those blessings into action right now nuh, however we can, remembering of course, the unfavourable conditions under which we’re now living. Much LOVE!
…peace…like a silent river…floweth…when Jesus is truly in our hearts…
06 May 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adversity, be of good cheer, bowing down, christ jesus, Christian persecution, coming back strong through faith, crown of righteousness, determines whether, for the prize, giving up, halfway home, i have overcome the world, I press toward the mark, in the world, John Maxwell, knowing Christ and his resurrection, learning from our problems, life-changing encounter, move forward in faith, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, not turning back, pandemic, peace, personal satisfaction, positive attitude, set a good tone, stoning of Stephen, the believer's earthly goal, the breath of life, the high calling of God, the Lord accosted him, the road to Damascus, the way you deal, thou good and faithful servant, to a glorious future with Jesus, trials, tribulations, Wednesday Wail, welcome home, with the worst, you get the best
Philippians 3:14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
So it’s a fine looking Wednesday…what are we up to today eh friends and fellow saints in Christ? I do hope we said something sensible and worthwhile to the Almighty when we arose this morning, so we could set a good tone for our day and get His perspective on it all. And sadly this morning, I must admit that I find myself in the writer’s worst position; having a lot to say, but yet having nothing worthwhile saying. (smile) But then, as I was just sifting the numerous pieces of paper on my desk with oodles of things to say, I came across this saying attributed to John Maxwell, the famous American author, speaker and pastor.
He reputedly said that ‘The way you deal with the worst determines whether you get the best.’ Now that might sound a bit confusing and sort of backwards, but when you look at it carefully, it does make some sense. All it’s really saying is the way we deal with the worst things in our lives, the adversity and trials and tribulations through which we all will and must go through, will basically determine the outcome. And that’s quite true; the way we handle our failures and disappointments, the rough times, like now in this current pandemic.
There’s a mighty difference in results between bowing down and giving up, or learning from our problems and coming back strong through our faith and the faithful promises of our great God. It’s all about our attitude towards our problems my people. And when we have this marvellous promise and guidance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we ought not to give up, but have our backbones and bellies strengthened and ready for another run at life. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)
Mama Mia! What a wonderful scripture of encouragement. Yes, I know it’s easier said than done, but the good things about those encouraging scriptures is that the more often we practice them and put them into action, the easier the next difficulty becomes. It’s like they say; practice makes perfect! And I think we have a perfect example of this in the life of Bruh Paul. He was amongst the best educated and wealthy and powerful young men in Israel, with an astonishing zeal to persecute Christians.
But after his life-changing encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, (Acts 9) he became rather obedient to Christ, counting all those other worldly supposedly important things ‘dung, that I may win Christ.’ (Phil. 3:8) And in the verse before that He states: ‘But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.’ (Phil. 3:7) So you see in one of Bruh Paul’s worst times in his early days, being knocked off his horse or mule or donkey, (smile) made blind and simply told by Jesus, to go to Damascus and he’d be told what to do, (Acts 9:6) he could have kicked up a fuss, and not obeyed, and his life would never have amounted to what it finally amounted to.
Remember, this was the man who instigated and encouraged a lot of Christian persecution and abuse, including the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:54-60), and furthermore, he was on his way to Damascus to persecute believers, when the Lord accosted him, who then became the great apostle spreading the gospel of Christ to us, the Gentile world. And look at all the ‘suffereration’ and persecution he went through on Christ’s behalf, to preach the gospel. He did not let them bother him, but rather took them in stride, being assured that the Lord would look after him.
From one who had not faith at all, to one who had probably more faith than most, is certainly a mighty leap, but it did not come easy, and it was only made possible by the tough times he went through, and how he handled them. His stated goal was : “That I may know him (Christ), and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made comfortable unto his death.’ (Phil. 3:10) And he sincerely pursued that goal all his apostolic life. And I think that all believers should set before them, these words written to the church at Philippi, as our basic goal.
‘Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: (knowing Christ and His resurrection): but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 3:13-14) Yes friends, as believers we are all need to move forward in the faith, and we cannot allow the baggage of the past to keep us back. We all have a high calling in Christ, and need to keep pressing forward towards our mark.
And the scholars offer these explanations. ‘3:14. The mark is the objective of verses 10 and 11 (i.e., knowing Christ). The prize is the personal satisfaction of having attained it, as well as the divine commendation and reward to be granted in heaven for having reached this goal on earth. The high calling of God is the divine summons extended to the believer for salvation.’ Ah mih people, a lot of what happens to us in this life is determined by how we respond to life. And as true believers, we’re required to respond to it with a faithful and positive attitude.
Just look at all the tough times people like Bruh Joseph, Bruh David, Moses, Job and Abraham went through, a lot of it unfair and unjust, but they all stood strong in the Lord and kept a good attitude, knowing that the Lord would eventually see them through. That’s the strong faith and trust in Almighty God that we need to show in these tremulous end times if we want to be real ambassadors for Christ! Now let’s go home declaring (yeahhh!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the world know of our sincere faith and trust in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
As one strong voice: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And will it ever be glorious when the Lord welcomes us home with these marvellous words; ‘Welcome home thou good and faithful servant!’ Much LOVE!
…receiving heaven’s crown of righteousness…should be the believer’s earthly goal…
P.S. It’s a good thing I kept a good attitude when I didn’t know what to write. (smile) Much LOVE!
13 Jan 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a prayer away, abolished, aura of love, be of good cheer, be prepared, breaking down, Christians, contrariness, desires for Jesus, drive yuh crazy, enmity, enthusiasm, Gentiles, humble servants, i have overcome the world, I have spoken to you, imposters, in me you might have peace, in the world, Jeremiah, Jews, mocked, Monday Morniing Battle Hymn, more than conquerors, never giving up, peace, powers, principalities, rejuvenation of spirit, renewed vitality, resolutions, separate us from the love of God, sinful world, spiritual armour, the Lord be praised, the wall of partition, the weather scene, these things, times of trouble, ungodly world, useful purpose, waery with forbearing, ye shall have tribulation
John 16:33. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Now this weather scene is getting to be a bit much yes! Can you believe that after a wet, rainy and icy Sunday morning that by ten a.m. the sun had come out and it became clear and dry, though somewhat chilly, and stayed so for the remainder of the day? Wonder what kind of weather we will experience today eh? But I’m not bothering mihself over it nuh, because with it’s contrariness, if you take it on, it will just drive yuh crazy! You just have to be prepared for whatever comes and say, the Lord be praised! (smile)
And can you also believe that we’re already into half of January? Time sure isn’t wasting time… like some of us! (smile) Wonder how many sure-fire resolutions have been broken already? No doubt many. But it’s Monday, and that tired, sickly, lazy and unenergized feeling is afflicting some of us, like it will always do, so let’s take our problems to the Lord in prayer as we ought to. Let’s humbly, but confidently declare our Monday Morning Battle Hymn and receive His awesome help to cure our ailments.
Altogether now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour.
We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
And as always, the positive heavenly reply is not long in coming. We soon feel our spirits lifting, our energy pumping up, and our desires for Jesus, His Word and His work burning like a righteous fire in our being! (smile) Like poor Jeremiah who was tired of declaring the Lord’s word because he was being mocked continually, and thus decided to give up speaking it. However he found that he could not. Why? ‘But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing (of holding back) and I could not stay (endure it). (Jer. 20:9)
Ah friends, many of us sometimes feel like Jeremiah; getting a lot of negative reactions when we try to speak God’s word, but we cannot give up, we have to endure, whatever it takes. It’s that spirit of NEVER GIVING UP, regardless of our circumstances, or who comes against us, that divides Christians from the rest of the human race. Once you become a believer in Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit fills you with His awesome strength and courage so that you can keep keeping on with Christ as your Guide and Leader.
He didn’t have it easy on this earth, and neither will we. But as He faithfully promised: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ And He certainly has friends, by dying on the cross to save our sinful souls, and then coming to life once again, thus defeating, hell, death and the grave for all time! And we’ll just quote a few scriptures to highlight the truth of what Jesus said in our Bit.
As pertaining to His peace, hear Bruh Paul to the church at Ephesus regarding the unity of ALL believers. ‘For He (Christ himself) is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition (division) between us. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances: for to make (create) in himself of twain (the two) one new man, so making peace.’ (Eph. 2:14-15)
Yes precious people, Christ broke down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles, namely the Mosaic Law which was made to protect the Jews from pagan influences, but which they improperly used to make themselves feel superior to the Gentiles. But Jesus got rid of all of that by making us, Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles, One new man, a unified Church.
And as per having tribulation in this evil world, hear Bruh Paul to Timothy, re the coming days of apostasy (backsliding). ‘Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers (imposters) shall wax (grow) worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.’ (2 Tim. 3:12-13) And we certainly are seeing it all in these strife-filled end times.
And per overcoming the world, listen to these encouraging words of Bruh Paul to the church at Rome. ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the LOVE of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Rom. 8:37-39)
So friends, we have it all in Jesus, God Himself, all that we need to successfully navigate this fallen and sinful world. So there is absolutely no need to worry when things seem rough. Just call on Him and He will faithfully see you through. Much LOVE!
…in times of trouble…Jesus is only a prayer away…
14 Dec 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a modicum of success, a state of flux, afflictions, all that will live godly, always seems impossible, ankedness, Anselm, aspires to inspire, be of good cheer, distress, faith, famine, for a better tomorrow, forgivenss, grace, gravy train, hang in there, hope, i have overcome the world, I have spoken unto you, ice pellets, impossible task, in me, in the world, keep a good attitude, looking on the bright side, mercy, optimism, optimistic attitude, persecution, pessimism, pessimist, salvation, sufferation, sword, the living truth, the Lord delivered me, the weather, these things, until it's done, unto death, we are more than conquerors, wet and woolly, ye might have peace, ye shall have tribulation
John 16:33. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Well it looks like it’s going to be a wet and woolly Saturday in my part of paradise, with the distinct possibility of ice pellets later on! (smile) But the sad fact of the matter is that all over the world, the weather is in a state of flux; fluctuating like we’ve never seen or experienced it before. We’re either not getting what we’re supposed to get at this time of the year, or too much or too little of it, and that’s creating a lot of havoc in our lives. Now the reason for this state of affairs, or who’s fault it is, that’s another story, (smile) which we won’t get into this morning.
Instead, we’ll check out the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And speaking of Anselm, miraculously, just this morning I received an e-mail from one of our Scrip-Bit friends saying that her curiosity had been piqued by Anselm and his quotes. Consequently, she wanted to know if he was a real person and where he gets his quotes from. My answer was yes, he is a real person, but I don’t know where he gets his quotes from. And for those of you whose curiosity has also been piqued by our friend Anselm’s identity and otherwise, please remember the ole people’s saying that curiosity killed the cat, so be careful it doesn’t kill you too. (smile)
Ah friends, it’s good to have a li’l fun sometimes, life is too short to be serious all the time. And here is Anselm’s first quote: ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done.’ And isn’t that the living truth! So many things we need or try to do seem so hard that they teeter towards the impossible side of the ledger. But having completed the seemingly impossible task, it then seems as though it was a piece of cake, and we wonder why we thought it was impossible in the first place. But that’s just the way life is friends; tasks always seem more difficult than they really are, before we tackle them. And since we know that nothing is impossible with Jesus as the Master of our lives, let’s think in terms of possibilities rather than impossibilities nuh, our lives will improve ever so much.
And the next quote tells us that, ‘An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.’ Now that’s surely an interesting way to put it. And the optimistic attitude is obviously the better way, since it makes us look forward to better times in the coming year than we’ve had in the one just past. Chuh! Can you imagine if I had not been optimistic in the past three years when I was so sick, even unto death, as some people thought, but definitely not me, (smile) I certainly would not be around today!
That does say something for optimism, for looking on the bright side, even when there seems to be no reason whatsoever for doing so. That leads us to this next interesting quote: ‘Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.’ More optimism, more faith and hope and belief in the good and faithful promises of Jesus my people! That’s the only way to live this life with a modicum of success; optimistic, and strong and steadfast in our Christian faith; the only faith that has all the magnificent benefits like mercy and grace, salvation and forgiveness, and that’s only a few, where we don’t get what we deserve, but the good things we don’t deserve.
Ah my people, I can’t begin to tell us how good and great and merciful and gracious is the God that we serve nuh! The Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Creator and omnipotent ruler of this magnificent universe! So here ‘s the last quote. (smile) And we keep the best for last. ‘I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.’ And do I ever, for as far as I’m concerned my best days are still ahead of me! Glory be my brethren! And so should ALL believers think and believe, because with Jesus running our lives we’re on the gravy train. (smile)
Remember He said, ‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:10) That means He doesn’t desire us to be living struggling lives all the time, but enjoying the kingdom of heaven down here on earth too. And the talk about the gravy train was a bit facetious, because life will not always be wine, song and laughter, but as Jesus also warned us: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’
What a marvellous and encouraging verse of scripture that is friends, from our Lord and Saviour Himself! But until we truly believe and live them, our lives will not improve. And in strong support of Christ’s words, here are a couple of scriptures from Bruh Paul. The first one, written to Timothy, after outlining his own suffering, he confirms our earthly ‘sufferation’ ‘Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra: what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly for Christ shall suffer persecution.’ (2 Tim. 3:11-12)
So though trials and persecutions may – no, will come, if we hang in there, the Lord will eventually deliver us from them all. And as Bruh Paul defiantly proclaimed to the church at Rome: ‘Who shall separate us from the LOVE of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?… Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom. 8:35 & 37) Glory Hallelujah my brethren! What words of positive and encouraging faith!
That means, as true believers, there is a lot of good stuff for us to look forward to, including heaven and eternity with Jesus eventually. There’s nothing better than that available friends, so please, let’s keep a good attitude and believe that even better times than these are in our future. Much LOVE!
…what’s the point of faith eh…if it doesn’t give one true hope…
06 Nov 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future with Jesus, an unholy stink, arise, bear witness, became flesh, begotten f the Father, born not of blood, calves of the stall, can't help rejoicing, children of God, darkness, Daylight Savings Time, eyes fixed straight ahead, fat like stall fed calves, fear my name, figurative description of Christ, foraging for food, forerunner of the Messiah, grow fat, halfway home, have seen a great light, healing in his wings, in the world, Jehovah's plan, John the Baptist, light, like stall fed calves, LOVE, messianic deliverance, more than we can ask or imagine, not looking back, sleep patterns, thank God, the beauty of the situation, the breath of life, the darkness of sin, the light of God's love, the Messiah, the Sun of righteousness, the will of man, the will of the flesh, the Word, the world knew him not, walked in darkness, Wednesday Wail, ye shall go forth
Malachi 4:2. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall (grow fat like stall fed calves).
It’s sunshine…It’s sunshine…! Yes friends and Scrip-Bit family, the sun’s shining high and bright in a clear blue sky at 8 o’clock this Wednesday morning! Glory be! And I guess it’s already so high because of the Daylight Saving’s Time change we had over the weekend, where the clocks were rolled back one hour. I don’t know why they don’t stop the foolishness nuh, because nobody likes it. There are always complaints, especially about screwed up sleep patterns, and you have to readjust all your time situations. And I really don’t know who it benefits either nuh.
Now we’re five hours behind Europe, when last week we were four; possibly the same time as Trinidad and Tobago now, but and hour or something behind Jamaica… It just screws up everything, even between the provinces of Canada! What’s wrong with staying with ONE time eh? Not many other countries engage in the nonsense. But unless we make an unholy stink about it, the powers that be won’t see fit to change it.
However, the beauty of the situation is that whatever time line we use, or whatever the weather might be, we still have the awesome presence of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour constantly dwelling within us through the auspices of the Holy Ghost! And all God’s children declared a loud and grateful ‘Wow!’
Yeh friends, when we consider how marvellous that situation is, the only word that can sometimes come to mind is ‘Wow!’ That’s because its ‘marvellousness’ transcends the capacity of our mortal minds. (smile) But it all ties in miraculously with Jehovah’s plan for His people; re His Messiah, His Saviour coming to save them from eternal damnation. Hear how the prophet Malachi puts it: ‘But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall (grow fat like stall fed calves).’ Oh my people, no uncertain foraging for food for the Lord’s people because ‘the Sun of righteousness,’ the figurative description of Jesus Christ, our Messiah shall come and heal and feed and comfort us. Glory Hallelujah!
And that promise wasn’t new to the Israelites at that time, because Isaiah had already promised long before: ‘The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.’ (Is. 9:2) And that prophecy was built upon by John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, when he declared at John’s birth: ‘And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission (forgiveness) of their sins. Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the day-spring (Dawn, Messiah) from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.’ (Luke 2:76-79).
And the scholars explain that passage thus: ‘1:78. Dayspring means “dawn” and figuratively refers to the coming of the Messiah. The clause should be translated, “Dawn from heaven will visit us.” That is, the Messiah from heaven will come to help us. God’s messianic deliverance is often expressed as the bursting forth of a great light.’ And so it should be because it brought out us of the darkness of sin into the light of God’s LOVE! And what I admire about God’s Word is that He left no empty spaces in it, meaning that each prophecy was rolled right into another one that led the story forth.
For just as Zechariah prophesied that his son, John the Baptist would be a forerunner of the Messiah, the Good Book tells us: ‘In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ (Matt. 3:1-3) So even Isaiah had prophesied about John’s role in the coming of Jesus. (Is .40:3)
And it was all corroborated in John the disciple’s gospel: ‘There was a man sent from God, whose name was John (the Baptist). The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power (the right) to become the sons (children) of God, even to them that believe on his name. which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made (became) flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.’ (John 1:6-14)
Oh my people, what a life-saving and light emitting event the coming of Jesus was! It made God’s salvation universally available to all who believed in His Son, Jesus Christ. Gave them the authority to become children of God! Glory Hallelujah! The sad part though is that people in general, and in particular, His own people, the Jews, rejected him. But mih bredden, yuh see the Lord’s faithfulness. After promising the Messiah, the Saviour of His people, down through the ages, He finally fulfilled it by the coming of Jesus! Please let us never deny His everlasting faithfulness, or that of the Good Book, His Holy Word. It will just happen in His own time.
And for all of us who have accepted the Light of the World as our own, let’s go home telling all and sundry our wonderful position in His marvellous union. As one now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ And as always, we can’t help rejoicing when we consider how truly great and glorious that future will be…more than we can ask or ever imagine! Much LOVE!
…the light shines in the darkness…and the darkness repels it not…
28 Aug 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: A prayer of success, abound, areas of growth, be in you, beloved children of God, brotherly kindness, charity, Christ our Lord, Christian living, David Rudder, diligence, divine power, dr robert h schuller, endurance, escaped the corruption, everlasting kingdom, eyes fixed, failure, faith, glory, God-likeness, godliness, grace, growing in grace, halfway home, hands fixed securely, hanging tight with Jesus, hope, Hour of Power Devotional, if these things, in the knowledge of, in the world, Jesus Christ, knowledge, knowledge of God, lifelong cycle, LOVE, magnanimous god, moral excellence, on the plough, partakers of, patience, peace, perseverance, precious promises, pressure, rough row to hoe, salvation, sanctifies success, self-control, spiritual truth, stimulates success, straight ahead, sunny days, sustains success, temperance, the awesome power, the breath of life, the divine nature, the Holy Spirit, the ring of success, they make you, through lust, to a glorious future with Christ, unfruitful, virtue, walk of faith, Wednesday Wail, what I am. what I do, wisdom, without your power, ye shall neither be barren
2 Peter 1:8. For if these things be in you (are yours), and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sunny days are here again…Glory Hallelujah! Yeh, let’s hope that today is nothing like yesterday, with rain straight through until late afternoon. Got caught in it going to an appointment some distance from home, and would you believe it was terrible; traffic just crawling, with road construction like everywhere, and the rain itself one minute petering out to a light drizzle, then next picking back up steam again. Good thing that it had stopped by the time I was on my way back home.
And we can’t have no rain today because this evening David Rudder (the Crown Prince of kaiso) is down in the Bandshell in the Ex. And that’s a totally open space. So please pray that David gets a good chance to share his beautiful kaiso (calypso) offerings later. (smile)
Now here’s another prayer, this one from Gramps Schuller (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) from his Hour of Power Devotional. He calls it: ‘A Prayer for Success.’ Please pray with me: ‘As I become a success with your help, Lord, let me never forget that what I am is more than what I do. Faith stimulates success. Hope sustains success. LOVE sanctifies success. So I cannot and I dare not succeed without your power, peace, and pressure in my life, Jesus Christ. Amen!’
Oh friends, all of that is so true! In the first place we must realize that what we do is not the most important thing in our lives, but who we are; beloved children of God! And that alone gives us a great chance for success. But as Gramps Schuller says, we need these three untouchables and ‘unmeasurables’; faith, hope and LOVE, to even enter the ring of success, much less to achieve it.
And Peter expounds on the subject nicely, and quite at length in his second epistle. Listen to Him as he greets his readers and reminds them of God’s provision for Christian living, past, present and future. ‘Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through (in) the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.
According to his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.’ (2 Pet. 1:2-4)
Oh my fellow believers, we see that our most magnanimous God has already given us all the power and grace and promises that we need to succeed in this life, but we have to now raise them up from our souls through the awesome power of the Holy Spirit.
And Peter then continues, re growing in grace. ‘And beside this, (for this very reason), giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance (self-control); and to temperance patience (perseverance); and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity (LOVE).’ (2 Pet.1:5-7)
Ah mih people, that seems like a real rough row to hoe, but hoe it we must, if we want to succeed in this Christian walk of faith and LOVE! And the scholars offer this explanation: ‘1:5-7. In this section Peter urges his readers to grow to spiritual maturity. Add to your faith indicates the areas of growth that follow after salvation. Virtue is moral excellence. Knowledge is spiritual truth. Temperance is self-control. Patience is endurance. Godliness is God-likeness.
Brotherly kindness (Gr. philadelphian) is brotherly LOVE. Charity (Gr. agapen) is volitional LOVE (making a choice or decision to LOVE). This process is a lifelong cycle of spiritual growth for all believers.’ And so indeed it is my fellow saints in Christ! And Peter reason thus for his advice: ‘For if these things be in you (are yours), and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.’
Glory be mih breddren! For there’s nothing better in this life than to have a good knowledge about Christ and produce good fruit in His image! And Peter further explains: ‘But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off (is shortsighted), and hath forgotten that he was purged (cleansed) from his old sins.
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (stumble): For so an entrance shall be ministered (supplied) unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ (2 Pet.1:9-11) What a wonderful life is being set up in heaven for those of us who place Christ above all else and do our best to honour and obey Him!
Hear how the scholars explain those last verses. ‘1:10-11. Ye shall never fall: The author is not referring to falling from salvation but to failure in Christian living. The everlasting kingdom refers to the eternal realm of God where Jesus is the undisputed Ruler. It is synonymous with heaven. Thus one who acquires the virtues of verses 5-7 will have a rich inheritance in heaven.’
Mama Mia! It couldn’t get any better than that my people! Therefore let’s go home now joyfully declaring (yeah!) our Wednesday Wail which let’s the whole world know of our serious position in Christ, since heaven is our ultimate home. All together now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday!
I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And if you sincerely believe, then you’ll know that that future will indeed be glorious; so glorious that we cannot even imagine it! Wow! So let’s keep on hanging tight with Jesus nuh friends, for that is wisdom of the highest order! Much LOVE!
…success in anything…means learning and adhering to these three keys…hope…faith…and LOVE…
20 Aug 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bed of pain, an open door, be of good cheer, beloved of God, bounden duty, build our faith, bury the hatchet, Christ's gospel, Christianity 101, complacent lives, complain, faith, friend of Jesus, from softness, fruitful difficulty, help us grow, hurry, i have overcome the world, I have spoken to you, in disappointment, in god's eyes, in me, in peace and freedom, in the world, lazy, life will be rough, life's priceless times, live godly in Christ, look up, many are the afflictions, more than conquerors, more than unbelievers, never a sweet easy walk, not what I do, not what I have, of the righteous, produce calluses, refusing to renounce christ's name, rejoice, save my spirit, settle down, shake His head, share His love, shout for joy, slammed in my face, spoiled, standing strong, suffer persecution, suffering persecution, the path of righteousness, these things, times of adversity, to face difficulties, too blind to see, Tuesday Mantra, victory, wine women and song, wonderful news, worry, worship Christ, ye might have peace, ye shall have tribulation, you already have the victory
John 16:33. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
And then it was Tuesday – the day after the ever-difficult day of Monday! (smile) Hope that all is well this morning and that we have less difficulty going out today than we did yesterday. But the problem is that difficulties have a way of helping us to grow, for when we just enjoy the good life we don’t grow in Christ at all.
And this morning I have a li’l something from Gramps Schuller (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) from his Hour of Power Devotional that reminds us of the sublime purpose of difficulties in our lives. He calls it ‘To Face Difficulties.’
Please pray with me. ‘Truly, Father, all things work together for good to those who LOVE You. Thank you for the difficulties that produce divine dividends. I know that pain is only a phase of the growing process: that seed buried alive under suffocating ground in a windowless grave agonizes before it ruptures into new life. I know that I build hard muscles in my heart, mind, and body only when I lift heavy loads.
I thank you for tough times that produce calluses that could save my spirit from softness that could be weakness. There have been times, O Lord, when only through great difficulty have I learned the valuable lessons. I was too blind to see, too arrogant to believe, or too stubborn to accept any other way than by a bed of pain.
I praise you for the times an open door slammed in my face and forced me out of an old rut that I never would have had the courage to leave, and led me down the road to a beautiful new life. I thank you for heartbreak which caused me to bury the hatchet and speak to someone with whom I had for far too long been out of touch. Thank you, Father, for life’s priceless times of fruitful difficulty. Amen!’
And yes friends, only when we can thank the Lord for those difficult times that build our faith and strength and trust in Him can we truthfully say that we’re growing in Christ! That’s Christianity 101!
That leads me to think of all those believers out in the eastern parts of the world who are currently and constantly suffering persecution for simply believing in Christ, and are steadfastly refusing to renounce His precious name, standing strong through their difficulties, and thus growing in their faith.
And that’s as opposed to us out here in the free western world where we can worship Christ in peace and freedom, we bitch and complain about every li’l problem and difficulty that crops up in our spoiled, lazy and complacent lives. Chuh! I’m tired hearing supposed Christians complain! And it’s even possible that we complain more than the unbelievers too. We live better than 90 percent of the world, but we also complain more than them. Life is just too nice and easy with us.
And many believers feel that because they believe in Christ life should be just one, long, sweet, easy walk down the path of righteousness. But friends I have some unfortunate news for us; the path of righteousness has NEVER, and will NEVER be a sweet, easy walk! Just check out what Jesus had to go through nuh. And though we won’t go through as rough a time as He did, it certainly won’t be all wine, women and song!
Because it’s only when we face rough and tough times that we can grow, through having to actually exercise our faith and trust in Christ Jesus, our supposed Lord and Saviour! The same way we build physical muscles by lifting heavy weights, the same way we need to face difficulties to build our Christian faith! But unfortunately, too many of us are so weak and wimpy that it makes Jesus shake His head in disappointment.
Please remember Jesus’ serious words to the disciples: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’
Yeh friends, in Jesus’ own inimitable style, He tells us the bad news along with the good, in one verse of scripture. Life will be rough, but settle down, look up, and be at peace, because I have already given you the victory. But so many of us are so spineless that we whimper and cry at the first sign of difficulty.
But hear how Bruh Paul told it to Timothy: ‘Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.’ (2 Tim.3:12) And Bruh Paul was an excellent example of those words. We wouldn’t have the wonderful news of Christ’s gospel today if he had simply refused to go through the numerous difficulties he faced in spreading it.
And long before Bruh Paul, Bruh David said it thus: ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.’ (Ps.34:19-20) And Bruh David also knew what it was to face stormy times, but such was his trust and faith in the God of his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he never wavered from it, even when his life was on the line.
So my fellow believers, it’s of the utmost importance that we stand strong and steadfast when difficulties come along, because we know that the Lord will never leave nor forsake us in the midst of them, but better still, He will help us to go through the fire and the flood and come out even stronger and more faithful than when we entered the time of storm! Now that’s a convoluted sentence of which Bruh Paul would be proud! (smile)
But hear his famous words on the subject to the church at Rome. ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom.8:37) And indeed we are! Glory be mih breddren! Rejoice and shout for joy because our Jesus has given us the victory! Now let’s go home declaring (yo!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting the whole wide world know who and whose we are.
In strong voice, with sincere hearts: ‘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!’
Now mih people, let’s do our bounden duty by going out and cheerfully sharing the awesome LOVE and friendship of Jesus with others nuh, as he so desperately desires of us! Much LOVE!
…true believers in Christ…will show their joy and cheerfulness…during times of adversity…because of their overwhelming faith in Him…
31 Jul 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: all that's written therein, all these things, anything's possible, attuned to psitivity, be not dismayed, be strong, behaving like the heathen, believers working together, Christ's Church, Christians, day and night, disunity, division, don't walk a good walk, draw to themselves, evil cabal, fixed straight ahead, give lip-service, glad to be alive, God's Law, goeth with thee, halfway home, hands on the plough, have good success, have I not commanded you, his righteousness, in the world, Jesus, Joshua, live by God's Word, living by the Good Book, living faithfully, looking forward, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, magenitizes their condition, make thy way prosperous, mayest observe to do, my eyes, negativity, not looking back, not of the world, of a good courage, optimistic, out of thy mouth, playbook of christ, positive, Satan, seek ye first, self-reliant, shall be added to you, shall not depart, talk a good talk, the assurance of success, the breath of life, the creative powers of the universe, the kingdom of God, the last word, the Lord thy God, this book of the law, thous shalt meditate therein, to a glorious future with Christ, turn the world upside down, Wednesday Wail, wheresoever you go, with christ
Joshua 1:8. This book of the law shall not depart out of 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.
Aye friends, today looks like it’s an ‘achy, breaky day!’ Yeh the ole back’s aching some, but I believe that’s just because I spent too much time in the bed last night. I went to bed fairly early, by my standards, (smile) that’s why I’m up so early. But just like the weather that seems somewhat gray and cloudy, with no sunshine yet, but will eventually morph into a beautiful day, my old bod will eventually get itself together and become the wonderful human creation that the Lord created it to be!
Wow! What faith and belief! (smile) But what else can I declare eh and be truthful to what I preach? It’s like the man said, doctor, heal thyself! I keep talking about positivity and faith, so I have to show it, if I want anybody to believe me. Anyway, here is one of the first quotations that I ever posted on my office wall, many, many moons ago, and now hardly ever notice it. What else is new eh? (smile)
But as I was coming down the stairs just now to begin writing, the Holy Spirit just dropped it into my mind to share today. Obviously I don’t know where I got it from, or who reputedly wrote it, I just know that it’s the awesome truth. ‘A man, or woman, who is self-reliant, positive, optimistic, and undertakes his or her work with the assurance of success, magnetizes their condition. They draw to themselves the creative powers of the universe!’
You can’t dispute that friends, simply because it’s true! Anytime you begin a project, you must believe that it will be successful, or most likely it won’t be. That’s not to say that when you believe its success that it will automatically happen. It’s just that God aligned the creative powers of the universe to be more attuned to positivity than negativity. So the first step to success always depends on your thinking positive, successful thoughts. And if you don’t believe me, try it. (smile)
But when we talking about success my brethren, there is only ONE WAY to be truly assured of it! And that’s the age-old words of the Lord to his servant Joshua, when He assigned him to lead the Israelites after the death of Moses. ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of 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.’
Oh my people, the Lord didn’t mince words, He spoke it out loud and clear: to have true success you must live by His Word! And that hasn’t changed one iota since then. Jesus even came and strengthened it, when He admonished: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.’ (Matt.6:33)
So you see friends, true success comes not from struggling and fighting and being overworked, like the world thinks, but from simply living faithfully to God’s law. And I guess that’s why a lot of supposed Christians are not very successful, because we only give lip-service to God’s law and instead allow the bright, fancy baubles and worthless things of the world to distract us, even though we know better.
Remember Jesus desired us to be in the world, but not a part of it. We can live comfortably in it, with His assistance, but we don’t have to do all that the world says or does! That’s the only way we will ever bring about any successful and sustainable change in this evil and ungodly world. But unfortunately too many of us believers are behaving exactly like the world wants us to.
And sadly, oftimes, if you check out a crowd of people that supposedly contains Christians, you’d be very challenged to tell them from the unbelievers, because too many of them will be behaving like the heathen! And that’s just the reality of the situation; we talk a good talk, but don’t walk a good walk! That’s why the world is in such a terrible state.
Can you imagine what a wonderful world we’d have if even a minority of believers would start truly behaving like believers? We’d turn the world upside down! We’d have Jesus’ LOVE Revolution running things, rather than Satan’s evil cabal that’s now in control.
But friends, that all depends on believers working together and living by the Good Book. And unfortunately neither of those things seems to be happening at this time. There’s more division and disunity in Christ’s church than ever before, and the evil of the world is in the ascendance right now, and doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
But let’s not give up hope my people! We can still make a big difference if we truly want to…and with Jesus as our guide and leader, remember, anything is possible. But we have to want to do it, and get together to do it, else it won’t happen! And that brings us right back to the Lord’s words to Joshua: ‘Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’ (Josh.1:9)
Oh friends, I just LOVE that verse, because it reminds me of God’s faithful promises, and thus builds my faith, makes me feel strong and able to do whatever He calls me to do! So today, let’s all draw strength and faith from it nuh, and promise ourselves to live a better Christian life than we’re now living. And there’s no doubt that all of us can come up higher in Christ’s playbook. So having said all of that, let’s go home now declaring (right ho!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know our wonderful position in Christ.
All together now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And will it ever be glorious…just like Jesus promised! Much LOVE!
…the Lord God Jehovah created the world…through His Word…and He…will also have the Last Word…
11 Jul 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: ., a compassionate heart, a free for all, a name that's higher than any other, a pang of remorse, a reflection of, abundance, as a man, as the father hath loved me, be obedient to god's will, became obedient, behaviour patterns, being found in fashion, bring disrepute to Christ, bunkum, Christians, clear direction, courage, creativity, curse, degenerate state, doing the Father's will, even as I have kept, every tongue confess, first person singular, geneously share, goats not sheep, greater love hath no man, greetings, he humbled himself, he lay down his life for his friends, hold our heads and bawl, if ye keep my commandments, in the world, irreparable harm, kept my father's commandments, LOVE, LOVE one another, negative word, not a part of it, on his left hand, our current society, regulations, rules, sacrificial death, salt and light, salutations, self-control, self-discipline, selfishly hoard, so have I loved you, talent, tear his fellow human, than that, that Jesus is Lord, the death of the cross, Thursday's Blessings, to shreds, to the glory of God, to whom all knees must bow, unto death, walk their talk, ye shall abide in my love
John 15:10. If ye keep my commandments; ye shall abide in my LOVE; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his LOVE.
Greeting and salutations this summer Thursday morning from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to all who truly believe in Him and sincerely strive to be obedient to His holy will! Oh friends, it is necessary to believe in Jesus if you desire to be saved, but that’s just the easy part of it. To truly be a worthwhile part of His kingdom, we also need to obey His rules and regulations.
I know some of you are going to say that is bunkum, because Christ died to get us away from the rules and regulations of religion. But just think for a moment, how can any organization survive and thrive unless there are some basic rules and regulations for those involved to follow?
It won’t. It will just turn into a free for all with everybody wanting to and doing their own thing, which is the current reflection of our society, as well as Christ’s church; strife-filled, greedy, selfish, power hungry, filled with cliques that are resentful to each other, immoral, without true LOVE and forgiveness, etc. etc.
You know that even in the kingdom of the wild animals there are basic rules, or more like basic behaviour patterns that they all uphold, because they know that if they don’t, their species are liable to suffer irreparable harm. But not the great creation, mankind, who behaves even wilder than the wildest wild animal, and will tear his fellow human being to shreds without even a pang of remorse.
That’s the kind of world we’re living in now my people! A dog eat dog kind of society; where the first person singular is the most important, and the remainder can simply go suffer as best they can! But that’s not how Jesus expects His followers to live and behave.
Listen to Him as He spells it out for the disciples. ‘As the Father hath LOVED me, so have I LOVED you: continue ye (abide) in my LOVE. If ye keep my commandments; ye shall abide in my LOVE; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his LOVE.’ (John 15:9-10) Yuh see friends, even Jesus had rules from His Father to follow… and He followed them.
As Bruh Paul puts it to the Philippians: ‘And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Phil.2:8) Yeh mih people, yuh think Jesus really wanted to die such a horrible sacrificial death as He did? No way! But because the Father asked, and He respected and LOVED the Father, He did it.
That’s why the Father exalted Him thus, with the name that’s higher than every other name in the universe, and to whom all knees should bow and every tongue confess that He’s Lord, to the glory of the Father. (Phil.2:9-11) And my fellow believers, though Jesus’ sacrificial death was very important, in and of itself, what’s truly heart stopping, is His level of obedience to the Father’s wishes.
He never did anything down here on earth without first consulting the Father, and throughout His entire earthly life always noted that He was doing the Father’s will not His own. In like fashion, we, Christ’s supposed followers in this age, His church in these trying and troubled times, ought to be very concerned about doing His bidding.
Not fighting amongst each other, being hypocritical and compromising, and causing His body to get a bad reputation from the unbeliever, with people turning away from Him in droves. But that’s exactly what we’re doing these days. Yuh think if the majority of supposed Christians would behave like real Christians, walk their talk; our world would be in such a miserable, degraded and degenerate state?
Of course not! But instead of being the salt and light that Jesus expects us to be, we are behaving just like the evil world; not merely being in it, as He desires, but woefully being a part of it! That’s not good enough my brethren, because all it does is bring disrepute to Christ and all that He stands for. I don’t know how we can stand up and call ourselves Christians when we don’t abide by His commandments.
Listen to Him to the disciples again. ‘This is my commandment, That ye LOVE one another, as I have LOVED you. Greater LOVE hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.’ (John 15:12-14)
Oh my fellow saints in Christ, it couldn’t be put any plainer than that! All Jesus requires of us is that we LOVE each other, and that simply means treat others kindly and with respect, and to do as He desires. And if we do, then He considers us His friend. The sad fact of the matter though is that right now too many of us are not His friends, because we’re not doing as He commands.
But remember friends, we each will have to stand before Him on the judgement day and give account of our earthly lives, and when He tells us to stand on His left hand, not His right because we’re goats and not sheep, (Matt.25:31-46 – Please take a moment and read it), many of us will hold our heads and bawl, but then it will be too late. So please, let’s do as He commands now nuh, while we still have the ability to improve our standing in His organization. That’s wisdom of the highest order!
And now, having preached fire and brimstone (smile) let’s go home declaring (yeh!) our Thursday Blessings, the Lord’s goodness and mercy so undeservedly showered down on us to help us do His earthly work. In full voice and sincere belief: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Oh my people, what a wonderful God we serve and worship! No other deity would ever give us all those blessings, even if we deserved them. But remember, they are not for us to selfishly hoard, but to go out and generously share them with others as He generously shared them with us. Much LOVE!
…on the judgement day…to be counted as sheep and not goats…one must obey Christ’s commands…TODAY…
P.S. Sorry that the Bit’s a tad late, but I went to bed in the early hours of the morning, and thus got up in the late ones. (smile) Much LOVE!
12 Jun 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a deficiency in faith, a glorious future with Christ, belief, believe that ye receive them, cancer cells, come to himself, face the unpalatable situation, for gladness, glory hallelujah, hath delivered me, Herod, I know of a surety, I me myself, in the world, it is his angel, James, keep praying, looking forward to, medical people aggressive, miraculous way, mother of John Mark, not looking back, O ye of little faith, of the church unto God, of the world, outside the Lord's will, Peter, Peter kept in prison, prayer was made, radiation treatment, renovations, simple minds, stand strong, the angel of the Lord, the breath of life, the church community, the expectation of the Jews, the hand of Herod, the house of Mary, thou art mad, ungodly times, Wednesday Wail, when ye pray, with God's help, without ceasing
Acts 12:5. Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
Oh friends, 11 of them down, ONLY 22 more to go! Wow! And I’m not talking about friends passing on, (smile) I’m talking about visits to the hospital for them to zap some cancer cells they claim are existing and thriving where my prostate once lay. You could have knocked me over with a feather when the doctor told me I needed 33 sessions!
And no, it’s not a difficult situation, because the radiation only takes about 15 minutes per session, but is it ever inconvenient; five days a week, Monday to Friday, with a full bladder and empty bowels. That is where the difficulty comes in. And the cut-tail part for me is that the heart people don’t want me to have too much fluid in my body, so they give me stuff to get it out, but these radiation people want me to full up my poor soul and body with water.
I’ve already begun drinking water for today’s session. (smile) So for one part of the day I’m piling in the water, then the next part I’m letting it back out. Brother, can it ever be a pain…in the you know where! (smile) It even interferes with my sleep! But if they say it’s all for my good, then I can’t really complain. And I was able to get the treatments transferred to a cancer hospital close to me, because no way was I going into the big city five days a week for almost 7 weeks.
And now you’re up to date on all the renovations the Lord’s putting me through… And to be truthful, I wasn’t really expecting this one nuh. I thought we were all done with renovations. It’s going on two and half years of steady renovations now. And the medical people were so aggressive! I was willing to put it off for a while, but they wanted it done now! Ah Lord eh! Sometimes I think they just take pleasure in zapping people. (smile) And are there ever a lot of people coming to get zapped!
But let’s hope it’s all because the Lord intends for me to live a much longer life than I would have without those renovations …otherwise it doesn’t make sense. (smile) So what else is new eh? Not much nuh… Oh you know that Alyssa has come home from the hospital and is recuperating slowly but surely. She still needs our prayers though to help her stand strong and face the unpalatable situation. So please keep praying for her.
And for your info, she’s a lay-reader in her church, and right now we’re pretty short on lay-readers, so we need her back as quickly as possible to help do the Lord’s work on a Sunday. (smile) And today I’m being led to highlight the importance of prayer for our fellow believers by individuals, as well as the church community as a whole.
And this was shown so clearly and powerfully in the early church after Herod killed James and imprisoned Peter. The Good Book states it thus: ‘Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.’
Oh friends, that is something we don’t do nearly as much as we ought to, especially in these very evil and ungodly times. That’s a big part of what the church is supposed to be about. But unfortunately in this ‘I, me and myself ‘ society, we don’t have much time for others, even fellow saints in Christ. That’s because we supposed saints are behaving too much like the world, being of it, and not merely in it, like Jesus commanded.
And we all know what happened when the church prayed for Peter, at least I hope so (smile). The angel of the Lord came and helped him escape from prison. (Acts 12:6-10) Poor Peter never even knew what was really happening, it happened so quickly and so miraculously. Please read it if you don’t know it.
And I like how the Good Book says: ‘And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety (for certain), that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.’ (Acts 12:11) Yes my people, our great God still does those things on behalf of His people.
But what happened after Peter was left on the sidewalk outside the prison by the angel, is cause for some concern. He ended up at ‘the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken (answer) named Rhoda.
And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad (out of your mind). But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.’ (Acts 12:12-16)
No wonder Jesus continually derided His people with the words, ‘O ye of little faith!’ Just imagine nuh, that group of believers were praying intently and fervently for Peter’s safety, but when the Lord answered their prayers, they found it difficult to believe. As the scholars so aptly put it. ‘12:12-16. Though the prayer of the church was fervent due to Peter’s situation (v.5), there was a deficiency in faith (vs.15-16) Evidently they did not believe God would answer in this miraculous way, or so soon.’
And unfortunately that deficiency in faith still exists even today when we have so much more reason to be strong in faith than the early church had. It all depends on ‘belief’ friends. Listen to Jesus tell it like it is nuh. ‘Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.’ (Mark 11:24)
What’s the point of praying if you don’t think you’ll receive what you pray for eh? You won’t get all you pray for, especially if it’s outside the Lord’s will, but you won’t get it either if you don’t have strong belief. That’s what faith is all about my people. So let’s try and get a li’l stronger in the belief and faith department nuh my people. With God’s help obviously, since we can’t do it on our own.
And having sifted and settled all of that in our souls and spirits (smile) let’s go home declaring (right ho!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the world know of our safe and steadfast position in Christ Jesus. All together now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday!
I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
And believe you me my faithful brethren, that future will be so awesome and magnificent, that our small, simple minds can’t even contemplate it! Much LOVE!
…it’s a smiley kind of day…and why not…the sun’s shining brightly…and the Good Lord is in His heaven running things…Glory be…
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