Jesus – The Best Example to follow in living this Earthly Life

30 Sep 2024 Leave a comment

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

Philippians 2:5.       Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (keep thinking this):

And then it was Monday, the last day of September 2024. We are also now officially into the fall or autumn season, where the leaves on the trees start changing colours in preparation for falling, so that trees can hibernate during the upcoming winter. And the system of the changing seasons is so ingeniously set up that only a great God like ours could have accomplished such a marvellous feat. 

The seasons occur like clockwork; spring, summer, autumn, winter. You can be sure that they will happen one after the other, although with this climate change business, another instance of man’s disruption of God’s flawless system, there will be unpredictable variations in each season. And quite rightly, we the disrupters will have to bear whatever consequences results from it, like abnormal hot spells, rainfall and drought, causing serious floods, famine and wildfires. 

Blessedly, in my area, the rains have caused some flooding, but we’ve generally had glorious summer weather right up to now, with the leaves remaining green and full of life. But that won’t last for much longer, and we’ll soon see all the beautiful colours of autumn, rightly considered the most colourful season, when God just went crazy with His paint brush and produced a kaleidoscope of amazing colours to awaken and titivate our senses. And the Lord knew what He was doing; preparing us with a bright, colourful season for the upcoming dead, dreary one called winter. 

But in His awesome wisdom, He also gave us Jesus; our Lord and Saviour, our Redeemer and Mighty Conqueror! Wow! What a bright and shining light, our Day Star, is our Jesus! That’s why the author of Hebrews can cite, or refer to Him as a glorious example for us to follow, describing Him thus: 

‘Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher (originator and perfector) of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction (hostility) of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint (become discouraged) in your minds (souls).’ (Heb. 12:2-3) 

Ah friends, Jesus endured so much hostility, rejection, abuse, persecution and punishment for our sakes, that we can never repay any of it. But that was never the idea. It all stemmed from the LOVE of the Father for us, and the LOVE of Jesus for the Father, the desire to do His will. As He says in the night of agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, before His crucifixion, when He prayed the Father to remove the cup of wrath from Him: ‘O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except (unless) I drink it, thy will be done.’ (Matt. 26:42) 

That’s the obedient kind of Son He was. That’s why Bruh Paul could pen these tough words to the Philippians and to us, to follow Jesus’ example. ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (keep thinking this): Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men (emptied himself of his privileges): And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil. 2:5-8) 

Now that’s what you call obedience and perseverance! And He never complained either! Oh how I wish that many more of us supposed believers could come up even a little higher on that score! For then our suffering world would be greatly improved. But it seems like our pleas are falling on deaf ears because not many of us are willing to sacrifice even a little for the greater good of all, and that’s the only way we will ever raise the level of our maturity. 

That’s what Jesus did for us: He selflessly sacrificed His sinless life for our abominable sins! The Father laid all of our disgusting iniquity on His shoulders, and Jesus humbly went to the cross and paid our sin debt in full. But now we can hardly give Him the time of day, much less be His true and devoted disciples! Hn! But again, as we said earlier, Jesus is the best example for us to follow, for look at how the Father rewarded Him for His obedience, perseverance and biting the bullet in those terrible times. 

Bruh Paul writes thus to the church at Philippi: ‘Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of (those) things in heaven, and (those) things in earth, and (those) things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil. 2:9-11) 

That’s how generous and rewarding the Father is to those who do His will! That’s why the author of Hebrews also tells us: ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him (God): for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Heb.11:6) 

Yes my fellow saints, only when we believe that God is who He says He is and rewards those who diligently seek Him, will we ever be on the road to true salvation. In the meanwhile, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, pleading for help to get on, and stay on, that straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life with Jesus. 

Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

But let’s not forget the words of our prayer; no divine aid will be forthcoming until and unless we humble ourselves, pray, sincerely seek God, and turn from our evil ways! Much LOVE!

…we will never be fully like Jesus…but He’s the best example to aspire to…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit 14 August 2020 Hebrews 11:6.

14 Aug 2020 Leave a comment

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

Hebrews 11:6.     ​But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
 

A good Friday morning to you my brethren! Hope the LOVE of God, His tender mercies, compassions and forgiveness have all been bestowed on you this wonderful day, and that you are already in the process of disseminating them to the hordes of those who are not so blessed. Yes my people, that’s our raison d’etre, our reason for being; to spread God’s goodness to those who don’t know Him…and even to those who know Him, but have not wholeheartedly surrendered their lives and placed their eternal trust in Him. 

We need to remember the words of the Good Book: ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Heb.11:6) Note the important words there; ‘must believe,’ and diligently seek.’ That means we need to give our whole heart, body and soul to God if we truly want to have good and serious communion with Him, not just a part of us, whenever our whim and fancy chooses. And that brings today’s sermon to an end! (smile) 

Now let’s hear what the ordinary workingman has to say for himself. And he cries out in a much louder voice than he has for the last several months: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday oui! Mama Yo, the weekend is here, and it don’t look like we done any setta foolishness with this stage three opening of the Covid-l9 lockdown! All praise to God yes! At least we seem to be taking the virus situation a li’l more seriously than them foolish people down in the U.S. Brother! Is what wrong with them though? They don’t have no common sense? If yuh see the thing causing so much deaths and so many problems, yuh not going to pay it serious attention? Steups! 

But I guess they believing the foolish leaders and them who saying that the virus is a hoax, and even if it isn’t, that it going to go away by itself. But even chupid me know that no virus doh go away just so by itself! Ah Lord eh! What is wrong with we in this supposed modern world with so much supposed learning and wisdom eh? 

The problem might be we have too much learning and wisdom, because it seems like the more we learn, the more chupid we get. But what I know eh? I’m just a poor working-class man, slaving for massa, trying mih best to provide for mih family and have a li’l good time mihself. I can’t afford to get tied up in them high class matters nuh. I just going to go about mih own business and keep on thanking God for Fridays and the weekends yes!’ 

Ah friends, the ordinary working man does have that innate sense of wisdom, common sense, with which God blessed all His creation. The problem is that too few, not enough of us choose to use it. We bow to the foolishness of the world, instead of the common sense of God. and once we turn away from God, we get in trouble! 

And I can’t help making the comparison with the Israelites of old. Remember how many times they turned away from the God of their forefathers and ended up in so much hot water they didn’t know their A from their E? And what did they do when the fire got too hot for them to handle eh? They turned back to the God of their fathers in sincere repentance, and He took them back and forgave them like the wonderful, forgiving Father that He is. 

So why we can’t take a page from their book eh? We’ve been trying to force God out of our society, and it obviously not working, (smile) so why not try the opposite approach eh, invite Him wholeheartedly back in, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic and the strife and racial protests and all the other stuff we can’t handle, killing we? Now that to me sounds like common sense; if one way doh work, try the other. So come with me nuh, leh we go to the Lord in prayer and ask for His help…we doh have nothing to lose, and so much to gain. 

In humble, but confident voice, let us chant our Friday Chant then nuh. All together now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. It’s been pretty rough…some of it from work, as many of us are now back to work in varied ways, but most of our anxiety still comes from all the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus still causing. We not accustomed to that Lord, and it really telling on us. And now, on top of all that, we have racial riots and protests to put up with. 

Oh Lord, yuh know we can’t handle it on our own and desperately need Your help. Yes, heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the sure and wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, so that we can avoid any more serious setbacks. 

And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to also bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. It’s also a good opportunity to introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion because of the way we, your faithful believers, handle the situation. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And as always, the corollary to what we say, is to go out and put it into action. So let’s go out now and behave like the faithful believers we claim to be nuh! Much LOVE!

…if we truly behave like true believers…then the rest of the world will follow… 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 February 2020 Job 13:15.

26 Feb 2020 Leave a comment

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

Job 13:15.    ​Though he slay me, yet will I trust him: but I will maintain (defend) mine own ways before him.
 
Hi yah Wednesday! How yuh doing eh? Hope yuh doing good. But yuh know what? Even if you not doing good, we going to do good, because we believe in Jehovah God, the most mighty and excellent One, and He has promised to provide all our needs according to His riches in glory through His most wonderful Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior! Glory be! 

That same Son who died on the cross at Calvary so our sins could be forgiven and cast away as far as the east is from the west and we could once again come to the Father in good relationship like our forefathers Adam and Eve did! Wow! What good news…the best news ever! And thus, with all of that in mind, we can therefore say, ‘This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ 

And furthermore, because of all that has gone before, I can confidently proclaim that as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord God Jehovah all of our days! Now that’s telling the foolish enemy Satan! Yes, despite all of his best shots we not going to renege on our promises to our heavenly Father, just like we know He’s not going to renege on His to us. 

That’s what yuh call faithfulness friends! And faithfulness can only be built on trust. And trust can only be built when people and God spend serious time in each other’s company. And there are no words in the Good Book that portray a more magnificent sense of trust, of acceptance, than those of Job, rightfully called the father of patience. 

In all his sorrow and suffering and rejection by his friends and family and knowing that he had not committed any heinous sin that could have brought all that tribulation upon him, he still made this awesome promise: ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust him: but I will maintain (defend) mine own ways before him.’ 

Oh friends, how many of us under the same situation would have been able to make such a confident statement eh? Not many. Just look at the comparatively small challenges we go through nowadays and yet so many of us are quick to get angry with God and renounce Him. But to be true believers, a faith and trust resembling Job’s is what we need to have. 

As the scholars explain: ‘13:15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him expresses the unquenchable faith of one who lives by faith, not by sight. Even when it appears that God Himself has turned against Job, he will still trust in God.’ Yes my people, I know that kind of unquenchable faith is not easy to come by and only through serious trials and tribulations will we ever come to it, but it is the height of faith to which we ought to aspire. 

And it is only through strong and expectant hope and faith that we will be able to handle the many trials and tribulations of this evil and ungodly world. And if we look at the chapter in the Good Book, Hebrews 11, called the ‘Heroes of Faith,’ we’ll see that all of those heroes lived by faith rather than by sight, they conquered their fears and their worlds through certain trust in the Lord their God. 

The chapter mentions heroes like, Noah, Enoch, Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the harlot Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, not to mention Bruh Joseph, Bruh David and Bruh Paul who all stood strong and did God’s bidding through enormous faith. Yes, I know Bruh Paul wasn’t mentioned there, that’s possibly because he wrote the Book of Hebrews. (smile) But no one had as much faith and zeal for the Lord after the Lord made him see the error of his ways on his journey to Damascus. 

And please remember this oh so important verse of scripture my faithful brethren: ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him (God); for he that cometh to God must believe that he is (He exists, is alive and kicking), and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently see him.’ (Heb.11:6) And under the prevailing tenets of our faith, that is just basic logic and common sense, but it still needs to be taught. (smile) 

And that’s why Cousin Sol wrote these wise, outstanding and immortal words to which we ought to pay great heed if we want to live successful lives. ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (make straight or smooth thy way). 

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones. Honour the Lord with thy substance (possessions), and with the first fruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses (vats) shall burst out with new wine.’ (Prov. 3:5-10) 

Oh my people, my people, that is Christianity 101 right there! Technically speaking, that is all we need to know and do to live a successful Christian life, since it possesses all the elements of our wonderful faith. So please, let’s take a serious look at our lives today nuh, and see if we’re truly living the faith we claim to believe in as per those directives above. And since we can all do better, (smile) let’s ask the Lord for help to do so. 

But in the meanwhile, let’s go home declaring (yeah!) our Wednesday Wail, letting all and sundry know of our enviable position in Christ Jesus. All together in strong voice with sincere hearts. ‘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!’ 

Yes my brethren! Let’s keep looking forward to that wonderful future nuh, with strong hope, faith and trust, because it will be even more wonderful than we can ask or imagine! Much LOVE!

…the stronger our faith…the greater our success…

Today’s Scrip-Bit 21 January 2020 Hebrews 11:6.

21 Jan 2020 Leave a comment

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

Hebrews 11:6.    ​But without faith it is impossible to please him (God): for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
 

So we made it through Monday quite nicely, why can’t we do the same today, Tuesday eh? Especially when we have the Creator and Controller of this great universe riding a continual and steady shotgun beside us? No reason whatsoever my faithful brethren since He’s promised to give us all that we need and never leave or forsake us! Brother! Those promises are surely worth more than their weight in gold! 

And yes, in this busy, evil, trouble-filled world, it’s sometimes hard to keep our wits about us and our heads above water, but if we truly believe in the Lord God Almighty and His awesome Son Jesus Christ and the amazing working of the Holy Spirit, then we can do whatever we need to do in their names and strength to fulfill the mandate they’ve given us; that is to spread the gospel all over the world and be obedient to their commands; living a life of LOVE and good fellowship. 

Now here’s a word from Gramps Schuller (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) on the matter from His Hour of Power Devotional, something he calls ‘the Possibility Thinker’s Creed.’ Please pray with me: ‘When faced with a mountain, I will not quit! I will keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath, or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine – with God’s help!’ 

Mamma Mia! That’s what you call tenacity and stick-to-itiveness! (smile) And that’s exactly what is expected of the true believer, the true Christian soul – no giving up, because the words ‘give up’ don’t exist in Jesus’ vocabulary. And how could it eh friends, when He claims to be able to do ALL things, impossible or otherwise, and support us in doing the same? 

And giving up also makes this verse of scripture which we like to quote of no consequence: ‘I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.’ (Phil. 4:13) If that is a true statement then with Jesus’ help, we can keep on keeping on as long as it takes, and as difficult as the task is. 

Yuh see what Gramps Schuller says he’ll do when a mountain gets in his way: He will keep on striving, looking at all the alternatives; climb over it, find a pass through it, tunnel underneath it. And if all of that fails, then he’ll just stay right there and turn the mountain into a gold mine. And that’s how we believers ought to behave; do everything in our power, with God’s help, to succeed, but if none of our efforts are successful, then it means that the Lord wants us to stay right where we are and grow and do His will right there! 

And yuh know what my people, our unsuccessful efforts usually stem from a few basic things. First off, an insufficient amount of mountain moving faith. And one of Jesus’ most critical remarks was: ‘O ye of little faith.’ (Matt.6:30, 8:26, 14:31) Hear His rebuke to the disciples when they could not heal a demon possessed boy and asked Him why. 

‘And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove (move); and nothing shall be impossible to you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.’ (Matt.17:20-21) Yes my people, a believer with even a little faith can do a lot of things, especially if his actions are accompanied by sincere prayer and fasting. And I think that’s a catch 22 situation; the li’l faith is built up, made stronger by the prayer and fasting. (smile) 

And the next place we go wrong in living our lives is by ignoring Jesus’ serious command: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ Jesus, as throughout all of the Sermon on the Mount keeps emphasizing the importance of the spiritual living over that of the material. Yes friends, once we have pledged our lives, our allegiance to Christ, we then need to live primarily in the Spirit, and not the flesh, meaning the material things of this world ought not to be our first LOVE. 

‘The believer is to seek first the righteousness that is characteristic of God’s kingdom and then all these things (material things) shall be added to him. When our priority is spiritual, God will take care of the material, for where God guides, He provides.’ It all comes right back to faith my people: if you believe in God, then you must believe that He can and will do whatever He says. 

That’s why Hebrews tells us: ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him (God): for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ So basically friends, to be a true believer, we must believe that God exists, then have true faith in Him, and then live the way He wants us to live, not the way we want to live. 

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

Now let’s go out and share that amazing LOVE and friendship, as Jesus so greatly desires of us nuh! Much LOVE!

…Christianity 101…believe that there is a God…have sincere faith in Him…be truly obedient to His will…