24 Feb 2016
by randyobrien50
in Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abominable iniquity, big bang, ceased being wise, Christ is Lord indeed, Christian principles, corrupt, covetousness, deceitful, defeat the enemy, despises not evil, earthly sojourn, every foe is vanquished, evil, faith, fellowship, forgiveness, friends, give thanks, glory hallelujah, greed, he flatters himself, holy spirit, I am halfway home, I'm so glad to be alive, indisputable truth, infiltrated, Jesus Christ, Jesus returns, Jesus' desires, keep up the fight, lies, logistics, LOVE, Lucifer, lusts, lusts of the flesh, mano a mano, material possessions, mercies, mercy, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, my hands are on the plough, new every morning, none that doeth good, paramount, power, Praise the Lord, pride, promises, seek after God, soldiers of Christ, stand strong, stand up for Jesus, steadfast love of God, the beauty of nature, the breath of life, the fool has said in his heart, the foolish, the four seasons, the heathen, the obits, there is no god, to a glorious future with Jesus, trust, ungrateful children, way of the world, wicked, wisdom, words of his mouth
Psalm 53:1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
So what’s up this glorious Wednesday morning my people? I do hope that the LOVE of God is flowing through all our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, as it ought to, because without it, we’re nothing.
And along with that wonderful blessing I do hope that we have given Him thanks for bringing us safely through another dark and fearful night, into the brilliant light of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
And all God’s people said a loud and grateful; ‘Praise the Lord! Amen.’
Yes friends, above all else we do need to be thankful for God’s mercies that are new every day, for that’s what keeps us going successfully on this our earthly sojourn. Thanks and praise are an essential part of the believer’s life.
So since today is Wednesday, let’s declare our Wednesday Wail with much gusto and sincerity nuh. Remember though that the Lord isn’t just listening to our words, but monitoring our hearts, so though our words might sound sincere, if our hearts aren’t right, He won’t pay any attention to our prayer.
Anyway, wailing now as one: ‘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 that’s how it ought to be my brethren! We are supposed to be thankful for the breath of life we possess; our names are not in the obits this morning. (smile)
We are also to be holding tightly to that plough, looking straight ahead, so that we can plough straight furrows, and glory in the majestic future that Jesus has planned for us. Oh glory to God, for the way He looks after us, His ungrateful children!
And since I don’t have any adventures to share, the past couple of days have been rather mundane and uneventful, let’s get right into our Bit. ‘The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.’
Ah mih people, it is ever so sad that our world is populated and run by the corrupt and sinful! But friends, just from a logistics point of view, how could there be no God eh?
So who set up the universe and all the things that run by themselves in it; the four seasons, day and night, man’s birth, life and death, the fishes in the sea, the birds in the air, the beauty of nature, all those who don’t have no sense but are well taken care of?
One big bang could not have caused all that stuff to be so precise and continuous. Oh, and I heard one preacher say recently, that if the world was formed by the big bang, then it was God who pushed the button to cause it. Now that does make more sense. (smile)
Ah my precious people, regardless of what you call Him, there IS a greater power than mankind out there, too many unexplainable things happen in our lives and on the earth to preclude that. But the heathen and the foolish think it not so.
Hear how Bruh David puts it in Psalm 10 – A prayer for the overthrow of the wicked. ‘The wicked in his pride doth persecute (hotly pursues) the poor: let them be taken in the devices (plots) that they have imagined (devised).
For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous (greedy), whom the Lord abhorreth (renounces the Lord) The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts (all his thoughts are, There is no God).’(Ps.10:2-4)
And unfortunately that is exactly how a majority of our world now thinks, and consequently behaves! Covetousness, greed, lust for power and material possessions, plus other lusts of the flesh are paramount in our societies these days. Those obviously leave no room for God and His things.
And though Bruh Paul tells the Roman church: ‘For all have sinned and come (fallen) short of the glory of God;’ (Rom.3:28) And that’s indisputable truth!
However, through God’s wonderful LOVE, grace and mercy, we have been justified, sanctified, set apart and cleansed from sin through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross at Calvary, where His death atoned for ALL sin.
And all God’s children shouted loudly and gratefully: ‘Thank You Jesus!’
And what truly amazes me, is that most of Western Society and Civilization were founded on Christian principles, and prospered under those principles, so how can we foolishly move away from them eh, and expect to continue prospering?
Lucifer has clearly infiltrated our souls, hearts, bodies and minds with his deceitful promises and ungrounded lies.
Listen to Bruh David in Psalm 36 – The steadfast LOVE of God, where he again describes the ways of the wicked. ‘The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
The words of his mouth are iniquity (wickedness) and deceit: he had left off to be wise (ceased being wise), and to do good. He deviseth mischief (plots wickedness) upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth (despises) not evil.’ (Ps.36:1-4)
Yes friends, that’s the way of today’s world! Wicked men and their evil thoughts and deeds have invaded the halls of power and are controlling our lives under the auspices of Beelzebub instead of those of God.
But friends, please remember that the battle is not over, will not be over until Jesus returns, and we can still defeat the enemy and his evil intentions and deeds by truly hunkering down with Jesus and fighting them mano a mano like true soldiers of Christ!
Now let’s encourage each other to stand strong and keep up the fight for that is what Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!
…stand up, stand up for Jesus…ye soldiers of the cross…till every foe is vanquished…and Christ is Lord indeed…
16 Jul 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a divine necessity, a positive idea in the mind of a believer, abundant life, Adam and Eve, all things are possible, Amen, be not afraid only believe, belief, Botanical Gardens, clutches of sin, confession, decry, demon spirit, disparage, dr robert h schuller, earthly things, Eureka moment, faith, faltering faith, fear not, forbidden fruit, Garden of Eden, glorious deliverer, glory, glory hallelujah, god-given idea, heavenly things, help my unbelief, honesty, Hour of Power Devotional, if you can believe, impossible to fool God, inner turmoil, insincerity, Jairus, jehovah god, Jesus, Jesus' desires, Jesus' glory, Jesus' resurrection, Julie, julie mango, life is too short not to enjoy it, Lordship, LOVE, Lucifer, majesty, memorable words of Jesus, Messiah, Moses, most powerful force, mouth watering flesh, My walk, Nicodemus, Old Testament, only believe, peril of understanding, repentance, road to Emmaus, salvation, significance of Jesus, slow of heart to believe, stupidity, suffering, testify, tittilate the senses, Tobago, true and faithful believer, trust, truthful words of Jesus, understanding, walk of faith, walking in God's will, witness, words of jesus
Mark 5:36b. Be not afraid, only believe.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, the ole fella experienced a Eureka moment yesterday afternoon! Glory Hallelujah! I don’t know if I’ve ever shared this info before, but in the last little while I’ve developed this theory, and yesterday afternoon, while out on my deck eating a Julie (July) mango, the last few threads fell into place.
And the conclusion my people – wait for the drum rolls braising brass and clanging symbols – is that the nonsense about Eve giving Adam an apple to eat in the garden of Eden, that made mankind fall into the dire clutches of sin is just that –nonsense! The forbidden fruit that they disobediently ate was a Julie mango!
Oh mih breddren, the Julie I ate yesterday was pretty nice; so nice that when I was finished you could only see the white of the seed. Now that’s how a Julie should have you going; right down to the seed!
It just puts me in mind of those wonderful Julies we use to steal, or rather get unofficially (smile) from the Botanical Gardens back in Tobago when I was growing up. And this one, though nice, was no match for those. So you can imagine what the ones in the Garden of Eden were like. Mama Mia!
So from now on Friends, when you hear about the forbidden fruit in Paradise, just remember that it was a sweet, succulent, golden yellow Julie mango, with a beautiful aroma wafting from it that just titillated all the senses – sight, smell, touch and taste – and sound too, as you bite into the juicy, mouth watering flesh!
And all God’s people said a loud and joyful ‘Amen!’
Oh Friends, life is too short not to enjoy it. Remember that Jesus said He came that we might have abundant life. And in any case, who is there that has overwhelming facts to prove my theory wrong eh? Nobody!
And though Lucifer might not be too bright in trying to overthrow Almighty God, he was smart enough not to try and entice Eve with a simple apple, when there was that exotic Julie mango available; looking so good, and smelling so nice.
So now that we’ve had our daily fun, let’s turn to our walk of faith with Jehovah God. And today I want to share this inspiring poem from Dr. Robert H. Schuller’s Hour of Power Devotional. It’s simply titled, ‘My Walk.’
‘O God, I’m inspired. For you have just impressed this truth into my mind: The most powerful force in the world is a positive idea in the mind of a believer who is walking in your will! I now reach forth my life and say, “God, put my life into the centre of your will.” Amen.’
Yes my people, there’s nothing more powerful than a God-given idea in the mind of a true and faithful believer! That’s why we have to look to God for direction in our lives, and why Jesus encouraged Jairus, the synagogue leader, and consequently us in our Bit: ‘Be not afraid, only believe.’
Yes my brethren, it all begins with belief, strong belief, aka faith! And today we’ll look at some other passages of scripture where Jesus enjoined the people of His day, and now of our day, to believe, to have faith.
Let’s start with the demon spirit in the child that the disciples could not drive out. What did Jesus say to the father who came seeking His compassion and His help? ‘Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.’ (Mark 9:23) Strong, but very truthful words, my people!
‘And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.’ (Mark 9:24)
And the scholars have an interesting footnote to that last verse. ‘9:24. He had a certain faith; but it was confession of his undeniable inner turmoil and doubt that marked his faltering faith as truly authentic, if imperfect, trust. Before God honesty is a wise course.’
And isn’t that the obvious truth! Yet so many of us go to God with a less than honest approach. He sees all, and knows all, so why try to fool Him eh, when it’s simply IMPOSSIBLE to do that? It just shows up our stupidity, insincerity and lack of true faith and understanding.
Now in Luke’s gospel, re the instance of our Bit, where the people of Jairus’ household came and told him that his daughter was dead and so to stop bothering Jesus, it’s told like this. ‘But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.’ (Luke 8:50)
And then we come to the passage of scripture, where shortly after Jesus’ resurrection, He’s walking along the road to Emmaus with two believers who obviously don’t recognize Him, and they are recounting the confusion and disbelief back in the disciples camp in Jerusalem, as to whether Jesus was really risen or not.
‘Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.’ (Luke 24:25-27)
Now here is what the scholars have to say about those verses. ’24:26. Ought (Gr. dei) bespeaks a divine necessity; what the prophets had foretold (see Is:53, Ps.16; 22) must and did come to pass. The disciples had been ready to see in Jesus a glorious deliverer, but Jesus’ rebuke (vs.25) relates to their unwillingness to take seriously the many Old Testament texts that speak not only of the Messiah’s glory, but also of His suffering.’
’24:7. The entire Old Testament is indispensable for a grounded grasp of the identity and significance of Jesus.’
And right there Friends, is where a whole lot of believers fall down; wrongly thinking that the Old Testament is just that; old and out of date! But without understanding the Old Testament, we can NEVER fully understand the New, because they are both so closely intertwined.
The New is basically the Old brought to life, to fulfillment through Jesus. It’s like the saying; you can’t know where you’re going, if you don’t know where you came from. So Friends, please don’t decry, don’t disparage and cry down the Old Testament, because you do so at your own peril of understanding.
And we’ll close with these memorable words of Jesus to Nicodemus, the Jewish ruler who came by night to Jesus, looking for answers. ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that (what) we do know, and testify that (what) we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?’ (John 3:11-12)
And unfortunately Friends, even to this day, we refuse to believe the truthful words of Jesus! How sad my people.
But fortunately, a few of us do believe, and that few will soldier on in faith, until we bring all the earth to repentance and salvation, as Jesus desires; to the recognition of His glory and majesty and Lordship! That’s our sincere belief and wish for all believers today! Much LOVE!
…fear not…only believe…only believe…only believe…
14 May 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a tree planted by the waters, achievement of excellence, advice, avoid the tempter's snare, blessed are the righteous, brings forth fruit in season, cancer survivor, chaff, complaining about the heat, congregation of the righteous, consent thou not, counsel of the ungdly, Cousin Sol, damned, danger of associating with evil people, Dave Dravecky, delights in the law of God, destruction, don't confuse life with God, don't follow evil men, don't walk the path of the wicked, doomed, eternal life, eternal separation from God, evil men, follow the straight and narrow path, from every evil way, God is good, good and bad times, How I love thy law, Jesus' desires, judgement, leaf doesn't wither, leave the evil way behind, life is not fair, LOVE, lusts, make haste to shed blood, materialism, meditates, pay a hefty price, ponders, prosper, Proverbs, Psalm 1, psalm 119, reject the invitation of criminals, restrained my feet, rise to the occasion, salvation, scornful, separated from Christ, shines brighter and brighter, sincerity, sinners, sinners entice thee, sits in the seat of the scornful, stands in the way of sinners, stumble, summer-like weather, Thank You Lord, that I might keep thy words, the bread of wickedness, the evil path of sinful man, the Good Book, the individual's responsibility, the law of God, the Lord's Word, the middle of the week, the path of the just, the things of God, the way of the righteous, the way of the ungodly shall perish, the way of the wicked is as darkness, the wine of violence, the world worships evil, their feet run to evil, truth, tuned in to our heavenly Father, undisciplined, ungodly, we praise and bless your holy name, wealth without work, Wednesday, wisdom, words to live by
Proverbs 4:14. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
Oh Friends, can you believe it’s already Wednesday, the middle of the week! Wow! The days surely are passing rather quickly, and we are having some wonderful summer-like weather!
We’ll soon forget about the lengthy, cold winter and start complaining about the heat. Hn! I guess that’s just man’s nature – not happy unless he’s complaining about something.
Anyway, I have an interesting quote to share today… Oh chuh! They are always interesting! (smile) This one comes from the ex-baseball star, Dave Dravecky, a cancer survivor. In his book, ‘Comeback,’ he writes these memorable words. ‘Life is not fair, but let’s not confuse life with God.’
And isn’t that the awesome truth my people! Our God is good! He doesn’t create our problems, though He might allow them. He fixes them! And if we sincerely adhere to His directives, during both the good and bad times, we will turn out to be wonderful witnesses that life is not fair, but God is Good, in fact, extremely wonderful!
And that’s why Cousin Sol, in today’s Bit, solemnly warns us: ‘Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.’
Oh Friends and fellow believers, we can be given no better advice than that! For if we follow the paths of evil men, we’ll surely be damned, doomed, and eventually separated from Christ, from His wonderful gifts of salvation and eternal life! And that’s not a very nice path to envision at all, at all.
And Cousin Sol was so assured of his reasoning, that he continues: ‘Avoid it, pass not by it (do not travel on it), turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not, except (unless) they have done mischief (evil); and their sleep is taken away (robbed), unless they cause some to fall.
For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is as the shining (bright) light, that shineth more and more (grows ever brighter) unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.’ (Prov.4:15-19)
Words to live by my brethren! Words that hearken back to our quote: all those evil happenings are life, or a part of it, but our great and wonderful God is on a completely different level. He shows up in verse 18, as the shining light that ever brightens our day!
And all of God’s people declared in a loud and grateful voice: ‘Thank You Lord! We praise and bless Your Holy Name!’
Yes Friends, we have so much to thank God for, that even if we live till eternity, we won’t have enough time to do it. (smile) Now let’s check out some other scriptures that also warn us about following the evil path of sinful man.
And we’ll begin with an interesting verse from the longest chapter in the Good Book, Psalm 119. The psalmist in the section MEM, How I LOVE thy law, proudly declares: ‘I have refrained (restrained) my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.’ (Ps.119:101)
What a beautiful sentiment my people! Are we doing that too – refraining, restraining from evil so that we might keep the Lord’s Word? I surely hope so, because that is one of the things which keeps us strongly tuned in to our heavenly Father.
Meanwhile, Cousin Sol, right in the opening chapter of Proverbs, warns his offspring: ‘My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not… My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain (keep) thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.’ (Prov.1:10,15-16)
Ah mih breddren, those are words which we should be constantly teaching our children. But unfortunately, too many of us are not doing so, and that’s why our children are so undisciplined, ungodly and tending more to the lusts and materialism of the world, than to the things of God, for which we’ll all eventually pay a hefty price if it continues.
Now here’s some info from the scholars: ‘1:10. Occasionally the expression my son occurs within a discourse. The wise son rejects the invitation of criminals who promise wealth without work (v.13). The verse stresses the individual’s responsibility to avoid the tempter’s snare. (cf. James 1:14-15).’
But you can’t know of the evil unless you’re first taught it, so it’s still our responsibility to teach our children the dreadful dangers of associating with evil and wicked people.
And we’ll close with words from that beautiful piece of writing, Psalm 1, titled, Blessed are the righteous. ‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly (wicked), nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate (ponder) day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers (channels) of water, that bringeth forth fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.’ (Ps.1:1-6)
Oh mih people, mih people, it couldn’t be put any simpler or clearer than that! So today, let’s rise to the occasion nuh; let’s come up higher, let’s attend to the achievement of excellence, of wisdom, as Jesus desires of His followers!
Let’s leave the evil way behind, and wisely follow the straight and narrow path that leads to salvation and eternal life. It’s the only path that it makes sense to follow in this evil and ungodly world. So let’s follow it nuh, with all sincerity and truth! Much LOVE!
…the world worships evil…which only earns destruction and eternal separation from God…not very good results by any standard whatsoever…
08 May 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bounce of pride and joy, afraid, agape, alive and kicking, anger, anointed Jesus, bitterness, bounden duty, charity, Christians, compassion, Controller, Creator, depressed, do good to all mankind, doing good, done on a regular basis, down in the dumps, e-mail, earthly pilgrimage, egotism, empathy, empowered by the Holy Spirit, encouraging, encouraging words, envy, evil world, exude warmth, faith, fat, friends, gladness, God anointed Jesus with the Holy spirit, God was with him, greed, hate, heavenly Father, holding a door open, hope, hypocritical, I am with you always, insignificant things, into all truth and righteousness, jealousy, Jesus christ of Nazareth, Jesus went about doing good, Jesus' desires, Jesus- the sole director of our lives, joy, lazy, lead and guide, Lexicon of Love, living a decent life, loney, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, loving kindness, make Jesus proud, mercy, negative endeavours, one one cocoa fulls basket, opportunities, opportunities for good deeds, oppressed of the devil, Pharisees, pnoe call, power of the Spirit of Jesus, praise, praise our wonderful God, praying, pride, proselytize the whole world, provider, raison d'etre, rear ends, refuse to embrace them, relevant bit of scripture, resentment, righteousness., rocket science, saying good morning, set our minds to the task, shame-faced, sick, sinful, sinful fools, smiling with a stranger, special joy, sphere of influence, spring to our step, stare us in stright in the face, text, thanks, the golden rule, the Great Commission, the greatest of these is love, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, this is the day the Lord has made, Thursday, treat others the way you want to be treated, truth, understanding, uplifting movement in our lives, we will rejoice and be glad in it, wisdom, worldwide change
Acts 10:38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, it’s Thursday, it’s Thursday, the day before Friday, the day before the weekend! And we are definitely alive and kicking! So let’s praise our wonderful God and enjoy it nuh!
And all God’s children loudly and boldly proclaimed: ‘This is the day the Lord, our magnificent and magnanimous God has made! We WILL, we SHALL, we ARE going to be exceedingly glad and enjoy it!’
Wow mih breddren, Wow! What a way to begin our day – with joy, gladness, thanks and praise to our heavenly Father, our Creator, Controller and Provider!
And all God’s people declared a loud: ‘So let it be! Amen!’
Yes Friends, the ole fella seems to be in fine form this morning. The Holy Spirit is just moving and grooving in him. Hn, hn, hn! But seriously though, I do hope that He’s also having a bright and uplifting movement in all your lives, because that’s what He was designed to do; to lead and guide us into all truth and righteousness.
And when we’re walking in truth and righteousness, there’s a special spring to our step, a bounce of pride and joy that is very discernible by onlookers.
And that’s what we’re being called on today and everyday to possess and display – that special joy that comes only from having Jesus as the sole director of our lives, where we just exude warmth, compassion, LOVING-kindness, empathy, wisdom, understanding, and above all, charity, in the form of agape LOVE!
Aye mih people, what a force for worldwide change we’d become, if we truly lived out the edicts of Jesus! As our Bit so graciously says of Him, when Peter preached to the Gentiles: ‘How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.’
Oh what an uplifting, encouraging and ever so relevant Bit of Scripture my people! Why you ask? Because it’s the same thing that God has done to each and every one of us!
Our heavenly Father has anointed each and every believer with the power of the Spirit of Jesus, so that we can go along our earthly journey doing exactly what Jesus did; heal, show compassion and mercy, encourage, uplift – in other words, just do good as is necessary.
And yuh know Friends, that’s not such a difficult task as we sometimes make it out to be. We just truly have to set our minds to do it. We have already been empowered by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us; it’s just left for us to get up off of our fat, lazy, shame-faced, afraid, hypocritical rear ends and do the job that we’ve been called to do as Christians!
All we have to do is set out every day, as Jesus did, and oodles of opportunities to do good, to uplift, exhort and encourage others will come our way. We don’t even have to go looking for them, they will find us. The problem is that we have to have the discernment…
Chuh! Discernment isn’t even necessary, because opportunities for good deeds stare us straight in the face each and every day, we just refuse to embrace them.
Everyday we hear about someone being sick, depressed, lonely, or just down in the dumps for no good reason, and all it takes from us is a phone call, or an e-mail, or text, a visit, or whatever method of communication you choose, to let them know that you’re thinking of and praying for them.
Is that so hard to do mih breddren? Absolutely not! But for some unknown reason(s), many of us supposed Christians believe that doing good is big business, and requires plenty effort. That’s just not true!
Oh my people, it’s the little things that truly matter. As the Jamaicans say: one one cocoa does full basket. And that’s the awesome truth! It’s the little things, done on a regular basis that truly matter and eventually make a big difference.
We’re talking about, small, seemingly insignificant things like smiling with a stranger, saying a bright and pleasant good morning to our neighbours, co-workers and even strangers we pass on the street, holding a door open for someone.
Oh Friends, all those things might be small, but they are extremely important in Jesus’ Lexicon of LOVE!
Why? Because that’s exactly what He did during His sojourn here on earth!
If you read the Good Book, you’ll see He stopped and helped people all the time. Ofttimes He even went out of His way to do so. He offered encouraging words to all He met. The only people He spoke roughly to and embarrassed were the Pharisees and the Jewish elite for their hypocritical behaviour.
Oh my brethren, doing good is not rocket science! It’s simply living a decent life, treating others the way we would like to be treated. Yuh know, if more of us would simply adopt that golden rule and consistently live by it… oh what a truly wonderful world planet earth would be!
But no, like sinful fools, we’re foolishly adopting the hate, greed, resentment, anger, bitterness, egotism, pride, envy, jealousy, and the whole host of negative endeavours that the evil world champions! How wrong, how sad, and how ungodly my people! We’ll never get Jesus’ LOVE Revolution going with that kind of attitude.
So please my fellow believers, today, let’s take a good look at ourselves, consider what we need to do in our earthly pilgrimage to sincerely carry out Jesus’ desires, to do good to ALL of mankind. Remember, He wants, and it’s our bounden duty to proselytize the entire world! So we can’t pick and choose, just minister to whomever he brings into our sphere of influence.
That’s the only way we can ever accomplish the Great Commission: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt.28:19-20)
Let’s do it nuh Friends, let’s make Jesus proud! That should be our whole raison d’etre; our whole reason for living! Much LOVE!
…and now abideth faith, hope, LOVE, these three…but the greatest of these is LOVE…! (1 Cor.13:13)…and for good reason too…
19 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a part of the world, actions, almighty god, Amen, ask for, behold the sun, best interest, blessings, calamitous days, cautionary note, comparison, condemned, consciousness, constancy in prayer, constancy of weather, corrupt, cursed, day of judgement, days of darkness, deceitful world, decision, desired reults, divine guidance, doing godly stuff, embracing ungodly activities, encouraged, enemy, engulfed, enjoyment of life, enlist, enthused, evening, every work, evil, evil stuff, evil world, eyes, faithful, feeding connection, friends, futile life, futility, give account, gladness, good, good fruit, heavenly Father, hold out our hands, hopeful, Hour of Power, idle word, immortal words, insights, Jesus Christ, Jesus' desires, joy of the lord, joyful fellowship, joys, judged, judgement, judgement day, justified, lead us away, lifeblood, light, light is sweet, live for Jesus, living truth, LOVE, machinations, mistakes, moment of prayer, morning, mysterious ways, new day, new week, omnipotent god, pleasant thing, possibilities, prayer, prosper, puzzling, receive, rejoice, righteous, robert h schuller, sap our strength, secret thing, share, sink deeply, solve problems, sow seed, sown, stand the test, strong sensation, succeed, sunlight, sure of success, testing flames, the help of God, things of God, thwart, treasure of the heart, true believers, trust God, umbilical cord, upright in heart, vanity, wicked designs, wisdom, word of warning, workings, wrested
Ecclesiastes 12:14. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Oh Friends, wonder of wonders! It’s supposed to go up to 4 degrees above freezing with sunshine in my area today! Bubba! From minus temps during the last few days to plus temps today, then back to minus tonight. That’s going to cause much icing up, then freezing rain and possibly snow on the weekend.
What a mish mash of weather conditions! There’s just no constancy to it these days. But my people, there is constancy in prayer; the lifeblood of the faithful, of the true believers in Jesus Christ!
And here is a prayer I’ve been trying to include since the day we spoke of prayer being the umbilical cord, our feeding connection to Almighty God. It comes from Dr. Robert H. Schuller’s Hour of Power Devotional, and says.
‘Father, I have a strong sensation that you brought me to this moment of prayer because you plan to share with me insights to solve my problems. So I will go out and face the sunlight of a new day and a new week crammed with undiscovered possibilities. I am encouraged! I am enthused! I am more hopeful than I have been in a long time! Amen.’
Yes Friends, I do hope that encouraged us some this morning, because in this cursed and evil world, we desperately need to build hope, encouragement and enthusiasm, if we’re going to live sincerely for Jesus. The world tries to sap our strength, energy and enthusiasm and lead us away from the things of God.
But we need to enlist the help of our God through prayer to thwart the evil stuff that comes against us. And right now, too many of us are still being a part of the world, involved in, and embracing its ungodly activities, instead of just being in it, doing godly stuff, as Jesus desires. And that is definitely not in our best interest. Why?
Because as our Bit so plainly states: ‘For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’
Yes my brethren, all our work will be judged by the Almighty at some stage, and it won’t go down well with the judge if our works were evil, were too tied up with the ungodly machinations of this ungodly world. So what are we to do then?
The Preacher wisely declares: ‘In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper (which will succeed), either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.’ (Eccl.11:6-7)
Yes Friends, since we don’t understand the mysterious ways and workings of our omnipotent God, and are never totally sure of success, we need to get involved in the good and godly things that life has to offer, and trust God to produce the desired results.
However, the preacher includes a word of warning here. ‘But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity (futility).’ (Eccl.11:8)
And isn’t that the living truth! Now here some notes from the scholars. ‘The comparison with light (v.7) speaks of the enjoyment of life (cf. Ps. 97:11).’
Ah mih people, I’m going to spoil us here by quoting that referenced scripture, since I know that very few of us will take the time to look it up. (smile) “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” (Ps.97:11)
Now getting back to the scholars’ notes. ‘Verse 8 adds a cautionary note to enjoyment that may be summarized in two ideas: (1) There will be many days of darkness, calamitous days. (2) All that cometh is vanity: That is, joys will not come easily, they must be wrested from a puzzling and futile life.’
And don’t we all know that my fellow believers! Real joy in this unstable and deceitful world is hard to come by, unless we are tied by that umbilical cord of prayer to our heavenly Father, and ask for and receive His divine guidance and blessings.
That’s why the Good Book so staunchly advises us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. (Neh.8:10) For only when we have a joyful fellowship with the Creator and Controller of the universe, can we really be strong and thus resist the wicked designs of the enemy.
Oh Friends, I wish I could impart the true importance of all that we do on this pilgrimage down here on earth, because it’s going to make a substantial difference in our after-lives. And if you don’t believe me, listen to Jesus, as He talks about good and corrupt fruit.
‘A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ (Matt.12:35-37)
Now those aren’t my words Friends, but the Master’s, the Son of God, our Lord and Saviour, so it is certainly reasonable to expect that He knows what He’s speaking about.
Oh my people, we can’t do much about what’s already passed, but we surely can do something about the days to come. Therefore my fellow believers, from today, RIGHT NOW, let’s try to get those immortal words of Jesus to sink deeply into our consciousness nuh, so that we can more closely watch our words and actions, thereby cutting down the mistakes we make, and consequently the judgement we’ll face, come that judgement day.
That’s wisdom at it’s highest and very best my brethren! Much LOVE!
…on that fateful day…our words and actions…will either stand the test…or they will be engulfed by the testing flames…the decision is ours to make…NOW…
20 Feb 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: afraid, anxious, assurance of God's presence, awaken, blessings of obedience, busy, christianity, confidence, eternal, friends and neighbours, future, gospel truth, inwardly digest, Jesus' desires, mark, material prosperity, past, peace, prophet, psalm 3, read, secret smile, seer, sleep, The Lord sustains, The Lord's a shield, the Lord's guidance, today, tomorrow, trust, ungodly world, victory, walk safely, wisdom
Psalm 3:5. I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.
Oh Friends and neighbours, yesterday has flitted away to time eternally past, and tomorrow has not yet come in from the cold, or if you prefer, from the eternal future. But glory of glories, today’s here! So please let’s use it wisely nuh. It’s all we have, so let’s not waste it, for it will never come again. Yes, I know that when tomorrow comes we’ll call it today, but no two days are ever the same, regardless of what you call them. The opportunities and problems of today are all we’re sure of. Some may be better tomorrow, or they may be worse, but we can only work with what we have at hand. Consequently, I’m asking us to work positively, efficiently and in an excellent manner with what we have today, as Jesus desires of His followers. That’s why He encouraged us to: ‘Take therefore no thought for the morrow (do not worry about tomorrow): for the morrow shall take thought (worry) for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble) thereof.’ (Matt.6:34). Now that doesn’t mean we should not make general plans and such for tomorrow, but it’s best to concentrate on the problems and opportunities of today. That brings us to the question; when you got up this morning, did you wonder how you achieved it? I’m sure many of us didn’t because we were too busy and anxious getting ready to face the day in the evil, ungodly world in which we live. But Friends, I’ll let you in on a li’l secret; (smile) let you know why and how you got up this morning. Our Bit says it all: ‘I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.’ And that’s the gospel truth people! The only reason you were able to lie down and sleep, then get up, most likely refreshed in body, soul and mind, is because the great God who created the universe and all therein made it happen. He granted you sleep, and sustained you through it all. It’s one of the blessings of obedience He promised the Israelites long ago, and by extension all who serve and worship Him thereafter. ‘If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do (perform) them; Then I will give…’ and He goes on to specify material prosperity, victory over enemies, the assurance of His presence, and personal freedom. (Lev.26:3-13) But the particular verse we’re interested in is verse 6, the first half: ‘And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid:’ No wonder our world is topsy turvy and confused, with a large portion of the population so anxious, worried and stressed out, needing man-made drugs and psychoanalysis to cope with everyday life and help them to sleep. Yes Friends, we don’t need a seer or prophet to tell us that we’re one of the most sinful generations ever, that’s why our society is going downhill so quickly. In any case, just like the Israelites of old, when the seer or prophet warns us of our iniquities and their consequences, we don’t pay them any attention, but rather try to hurt, humiliate, ruin and even run them out of town. Oh my brethren, without a doubt, the obedient nation or person will flourish under the Lord’s watchful and LOVING guidance! Hear how Zophar, Job’s buddy describes it, if Job gives us his sinful ways and walks in righteousness. ‘And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit with thee (court thy favour).’ (Job 11:18-19) And please note the superscript to Psalm 3 from which our Bit comes; A prayer of confidence in God, written by Bruh David when he fled from Absalom his son, who was trying to usurp his throne. In verse 3 He confidently acknowledges: ‘But thou, O Lord, art a shield for (around) me; my glory, and the lifter up of (the one who lifts up) mine head.’ One can’t get any more confident than that my fellow believers.He also penned Psalm 4; An evening prayer of trust in God, where he boldly declares: ‘Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn (grain) and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.’ (Ps.4:7-8) Oh Friends, it’s only through the Lord’s goodness and mercy that we rise up everyday and walk safely! And we’ll end with some further words of wisdom from Cousin Sol, exhorting us to obedience. ‘Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear (terror), neither of the desolation of (trouble from) the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken (caught).’ (Prov.3:23-26) Never have truer words been spoken my brethren! So please let’s take them to heart today; read, mark and inwardly digest them, then try and bring our attitudes and behaviour into line with God’s Word, that we may rest in peace and awaken to walk safely, under His great protective umbrella of LOVE, peace, mercy and forgiveness. That Friends and fellow believers, is the wisdom of the wise. Much LOVE!…Oh Lord…when I lay me down to sleep…my soul I pray you’ll keep…and when I awaken to a brand new day…my feet, I pray you’ll guide in safety and peace…
SCRIP-BITS 