05 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 2014, all ages, as I walk, blossom, burden, but thou art strong, calamity, come to our senses, command, common cold, conspiracy, covenant, cursed, daily walking close to thee, day one, dear Lord, disrupted, emotional, error of our ways, evil, evil heart, faithful Lord and Saviour, falter, feeble life, feel lousy, fellow believers, fighting a cold, fingers, foolish choices, forefathers, fragile world, friends, god, God's universe, gospel truth, guide me, hellish earth, help, hymn, I am weak, I'll be satisfied, idols, inclined their ear, iniquities, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Judah, Just a closer walk, keep me from all wrong, let it be, lilies of the field, lord of hosts, mechanisms, medicine, mental capacity, my plea, negative consequences, obey, obey God, one and only God, other gods, polluted the atmosphere, positive change, prophet jeremiah, prophetic words, refused to hear, resolution, snares, spelling mistakes, spiritual, strife, stubbornness, stupid, thick heads, time everlasting, too late, troubles, true reflection, turned back, unfaithful, unpredictable, weather patterns, well-being, wisdom, world of toil, worship their own work
Isaiah 2:8. Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s in a lousy state this first Sunday morning in January of 2014. Steups! I’ve been fighting a rather challenging cold for the last few days. Ah Lord eh! All I’ve been doing is resting and taking stuff to try and minimize its effects, but… Chuh! Every morning I get up and expect it to be better, I find like it’s gone back to an earlier stage.
And you know that there’s no sickness in this whole wide world that makes you feel as miserable as the common cold. You know you’re not dying, but you feel so lousy, that you might as well be. (smile) I don’t even think I’m going to church this morning.
However Fridns… What a beautiful spelling of Friends, Fridns! We’re not going to do this nonsense again today are we? I made more spelling mistakes in writing the Bit yesterday than I’ve ever done before. The spelling check didn’t even have to point them out to me, they were so glaring. Like the cold’s affecting my mental capacity, which already isn’t the greatest. (smile)
Anyway, as I was about to say, though I can’t seem to physically get rid of the cold on my terms, must let it run its course, I do have the medicine for my spiritual and emotional well being. And it’s to be found in this old but very beautiful hymn: Just A Closer Walk With Thee. So please sing it with me my brethren.
‘I am weak, but Thou art strong; Jesus, keep me from all wrong; I’ll be satisfied as long, As I walk, let me walk close to thee.’
Now let’s raise the roof with the chorus Friends: ‘Just a closer walk with Thee, Grant it, Jesus, is my plea, Daily walking close to Thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.’
Wow, mih people! That sure hit the right spots in my soul! Hope it did in yours too! But that’s exactly what we need in this New Year, a single-minded resolution that will take care of everything else.
Yes my fellow believers, we can’t ask for, or have a better resolution than walking closer with our faithful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! For when we do that, our lives just blossom like the lilies of the field!
As the second verse of the hymn says: ‘Through this world of toil and snares, If I falter, Lord who cares? Who with me my burden shares? None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.’
And that’s the gospel truth my people! Only our wonderful Lord and Saviour truly cares about our troubles, and furthermore, is willing to help us bear our burdens down here on this hellish earth. Our fellow man might say they do, and sometimes they really do, but none of them can’t help us the way that Jesus Christ can.
That’s why it’s ever so important Friends, to not let our Bit be a true reflection of our society. ‘Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.’
For if that is the true state of our land, then we can’t expect much, if any help from our Lord and Saviour, because that means we’ve broken our covenant with our God; not to worship any gods but Him. And in fact, then we’re not only being unfaithful, but also stupid, because THERE ARE NO OTHER GODS BUT HIM! HE IS THE ONE AND ONLY GOD; ALIVE AND KICKING FROM DAY ONE UNTIL TIME EVERLASTING!
I don’t know what it will take for us to get that through our thick heads nuh Friends. Now hear these prophetic words of the Lord of Hosts, as spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, re the broken covenant.
‘Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; And say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God….
Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked everyone in the imagination (stubbornness) of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did not. And the Lord said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil (calamity) upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto (hear, listen to) them.’ (Jer.11:2-4, 8-11)
Ah mih people, there’s not much to debate there, because all of that also applies to our time. There’s no doubt that we’ve turned our back on God, and that there is a definite conspiracy to take Him out of our lives and societies. So what else do we expect eh?
And the sad and senseless part of it all is that a lot of the calamity that we’re now experiencing, isn’t so much the Lord sending it on us, but it’s more the result of our own foolish choices and stubbornness, e.g. the widespread strife that exists in our rather fragile world, and the scary, unpredictable weather patterns that are now becoming the norm, because we’ve so badly polluted the atmosphere. We’ve recklessly disrupted the finely tuned mechanisms of God’s universe!
Ah mih people, all I can say is, I hope that we soon come to our senses and realize the error of our ways, before it’s too late to make a positive change. So let’s go home, singing the last verse of our hymn.
‘When my feeble life is o’er, Time for me will be no more; Guide me gently, safely o’er, To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore. Just a closer walk with Thee, Grant it, Jesus, is my plea, Daily walking close to Thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.’
Yes my people, please ponder seriously on all that we’ve said, and let’s make 2014 the year that we truly walk closer with Jesus, because it’s the wisdom for all ages! Much LOVE!
…true wisdom declares…obey God…or face the negative consequences…it’s that simple…
04 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 2013, 2014, abundance drive, achieve, act on, Anselm's Quote, ashamed, Atlantic Canada, be prepared, believe, better tomorrow, blessings, blizzards, Britain, busy, calamity, can't serve two masters, change of address, communication with God, compatible, conceive, culture difference, disastrous, doing life God's way, emotional manner, Facebook, friends, frost and ice quakes, garbage, god, God is good, good news, gospel, have faith, ice storm, idolater, indisputable truth, Inspirational message, Israel, Jesus, Judah, life is good, like a lion, Living well, Mammon, material things, Mother Nature, negative consequences, obsolete, other gods, pe persistent, power outages, pride, prophet jeremiah, prosperity, rain, rich and famous, save, self-importance, slums, social media networks, Southern Ontario, spiritual, technological stuff, the things of God, tidal surges, time for God, time of trouble, transgressed, unlimited potential, unwise, upscale community, weather, wind, wisdom, worldly ways, worshipping idols
Isaiah 2:8. Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.
Oh Friends, 2013 went out like a lion in respect of the weather, and 2014 has certainly continued lion-like in its wake. (smile) The clean up is still going on in Southern Ontario from the ice storm, added to that there’s been frigid temps and blowing snow causing whiteouts and accidents. We have also experienced an infrequent reality called a frost or ice quake; loud, breaking noises caused by the thick ice cracking up. They don’t appear to be dangerous though.
Meanwhile Atlantic Canada is still digging out from their blizzards, with power outages, and unfortunately is expecting more bad weather. Across the pond though, it’s rain, tidal surges and wind that are causing problems, especially along the coasts of Britain.
And in a strange difference of culture, apparently the Power Companies will be made to pay for the power outages, unlike in North America, where it’s simply blamed on Mother Nature. Now isn’t that an interesting difference.
But Friends… Chuh! I spelled Friends wrong again! I thought I had broken out of that habit. But apparently not. Got it right that last time though. (smile)
As I was saying I have some good new for us, a place where we can all go to get away from this disgusting weather. This comes from an inspirational message I get everyday from a Friend. It’s called Anselm’s Quote for the Day, Inspiring You for a Better Tomorrow.
And this one was so interesting and appropriate to our situation that I decided to share it with all the Scrip-Bit Family. Some of you might have already heard it, but I think I it’s important and inspirational enough to hear it again.
It says: ‘This is my change of address notice for 2014. I have moved out from 1 Beggars Alley, located at 2 Poverty Lane at the corner of Bleak and Buster Circle. As of today, I have a brand new home. My new address is: Living Well on 3 Abundance Drive, located at the corner of Blessings Street and Prosperity Peak.
No longer will I allow myself to travel on Begging Peter to pay off Paul route, located at a dead end intersection called: I Don’t Have, it connects with Borrowers Junction. I no longer hang out at Failure’s Place, near Excuses Avenue, next to Procrastination Point.
I’ve moved on to an Upscale Community called Higher Heights with unlimited potential and opportunities for me to succeed. Look at me, each day that I’m awake, I am thankful to be a product of my new environment. All my clothes are tailor made. I’m dressed in life’s finest.
Let me introduce you to all of them: Conceive, Believe, Act on, Have Faith, Be Persistent, and Always be Prepared to Achieve. Life is Good because God is good! Care to change your address?’
And all God’s people declared a loud and joyful ‘YES!’
Oh Friends, it would be so wonderful if most of us would certainly change our addresses this year and do move to a better neighbourhood, not necessarily in a physical manner, although that might be good for some, but most certainly in a spiritual and emotional manner, because that is exactly what is wrong with our world today; we don’t take seriously enough the things of God.
And that’s all Anselm is talking about there yes; doing life God’s way! It’s in total sync with our faith and all that it entails. But we are so full of pride and our own self-importance that we prefer to live by the dictates of the evil, ungodly world, immortalized in the words of our Bit. ‘Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.’
Ah mih people, can’t we see, don’t we understand that the stuff we’re making, and allowing to rule our lives is basically garbage, and the merchants are simply sucking us into buying stuff that we truly don’t need and can’t afford?
Just look at the i-phone, the smart-phone, the i-pad, and all the other technological stuff that’s been thrown at us as being so necessary. How long does one last eh? Within a year’s time, most of them are obsolete, and the new stuff on the block isn’t even compatible with the old stuff, but you are encouraged to keep in fashion and style and buy the new version.
All it’s doing is making money for the already rich and famous. You all love Facebook so much, the fellow who started it is now one of the richest men in the world, and getting richer everyday. But what are you getting, just more trouble with greater possibility of your personal stuff been stolen, and the improper stuff we are sending over these social media networks causing serious negative consequences.
Oh my people, all that stuff is keeping us so fictionally busy, that we can’t find time for God. That’s disastrous and very unwise. Listen as the prophet Jeremiah conveyed God’s words to Israel, when they were in the same situation, worshipping idols and other gods, too busy to communicate with the ONE who created them.
‘As the thief is ashamed when he is found (out), so is the house of Israel ashamed, they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, Saying to a stock (tree), Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth (begotten me): for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble (calamity): for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye have all transgressed against me, saith the Lord.’ (Jer.2:26-29).
And that’s all gospel, indisputable truth my brethren! We have not only turned our faces, but more disgustingly, our backs on God. But in times of calamity, even from the mouth of the biggest idolater, the first words to blast forth are ‘Oh God!’ or ‘Help me God!’
Unfortunately Friends, we can’t have it both ways, we either serve and worship God completely, or we stick with the material things and worldly ways that appear to be more important to us. It’s up to each of us, whether we change our address and come up higher, or remain in the slums that we’re currently living in.
I’d strongly advise my people, that we make serious attempts to do the former, because that’s the zenith of wisdom. Much LOVE!
Jesus said it so plainly…no man can serve two masters…ye cannot serve God and mammon… (Matt.6:24)
01 Jan 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 2014, almighty god, awesome, battle, be glad, beat the air, belly and backbone, body of Christ, Book of the Law, Bruh Paul, built on the rock, castaway, commanded, continual conversation, Corinthians, corruptible, created, crown, crown of righteousness, day and night, death, departure, desires, discipline, disqualified, dissension, division, essential, evil, evil world, exercise, expectant faith, expectations, fellow believers, fight, finished the race, foolishly think, fought as strong, friends, give thanks, glorifying God, godliness, good fight, gumption, Happy New Year, hearts, heavenly Father, help of Jesus, house divided, hungry hope, image of, imperishable, incorruptible, intelligent beings, intimate walk with Jesus, Jehovah-Jireh, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus' church, joining together, Joshua, joy, kept the faith, last testament, leader, leading and guiding, living for God, Lord your God, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, Lucifer, meditate, minds, mirror image of Jesus, New Year's resolution, obtain, one true God, peace, perishable, practice makes perfect, preached, prize, promise, race of life, reading God's Word, righteous judge, run, running the race, self-control, simple, simple formula, souls, stood up, straight and narrow path, straightforward, strive, stronger, success, temperate, the essence of Jesus, The Israelites, to prosper, to the left, to the right, training, training programme, turn aside, ungodliness, ungodly delights, walk with jesus, we will rejoice, wiser, Yahweh
Deuteronomy 5:32. Ye shall (carefully) observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Oh my beautiful Friends and fellow believers, I’m wishing you and yours a Happy New Year; a bright and prosperous 2014, filled with hungry hope, expectant faith and overwhelming LOVE for our great God, our pilgrim selves and neighbours, who have all been created in the image of the ONE TRUE DEITY, Almighty God, Yahweh, Jehovah Jireh!
Yes my people, 2014 will be a wonderful year, because we will all live up much better to our New Year’s resolution of having a closer and more intimate walk with Jesus, than we did in 2013. The whole point of the exercise is to get closer and closer, become a better mirror-image of Jesus every year that we’re alive.
And 2014 will be no different, for we’ll continue to build the LOVE Revolution that is destined to engulf this evil world, with our most able leader, Jesus Christ at the helm. Oh my people, with Jesus Christ leading and guiding us we can NEVER GO WRONG!
So today, let’s all promise that in 2014 we’ll buckle down, take our faith and it’s world-wide spread seriously, develop plenty gumption, plenty belly and backbone, and with the help of Jesus raise the level of godliness in this too evil world.
And the only way we can do that Friends, is by joining together, for remember that a house divided against itself will eventually fall, but one that’s working together, that’s built on the rock, as Jesus’ church is, will stand forever! That means as the body of Christ we have to start working together instead of against each other, as Lucifer is intent on having us do.
And unfortunately in 2013 he has succeeded much more than he should have; the church has seen its fair share of dissension and division, evil and ungodliness has definitely increased, while believers have not stood up and fought as strong a battle as we ought to.
But all of that is going to change for the better this watershed year of 2014 – isn’t it my brethren? I just know that it will, because we’re getting wiser and stronger and more intimate with Jesus each and every day!
Wow! What a year 2014 will be Friends!
And that’s where our Bit comes in, for living for and glorifying God, is what its all about: ‘Ye shall (carefully) observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.’
Yes my people, it’s that straight and narrow path that leads to God that we must concentrate on walking this New Year. And to get us going today, let’s joyfully declare: ‘This is the day which the Lord hath made, we WILL rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps.118:24)
Oh Friends, when we start out with joy, peace and LOVE, the essence of Jesus, in our hearts, minds and souls, how can we go wrong eh? NEVER!
That’s why it’s so essential from the moment we awake, till the moment we close our eyes to sleep, that we give thanks, we keep up a continual conversation with our heavenly Father, who is the ONE that enables us to prosper in this crazy world. And a big part of all that is regularly reading His Word.
As He told Joshua when He anointed him leader of the Israelites: ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ (Josh.1:8)
Oh my people, as I keep saying, our God keeps it clear, simple and straightforward! What’s in there not to understand eh? You read His Word, do what it says and you’ll be prosperous and successful!
Wow! What a simple formula for success!
But we, the great and intelligent beings that we are, or rather foolishly think that we are, just won’t buy it. Why? I don’t know. Perhaps it’s too simple; perhaps we think it will keep us back from enjoying some of the evil and ungodly delights of this evil and ungodly world?
But Friends, whatever is keeping us back from taking hold of God’s Word and running the biggest and best race of our lives, please let’s drop it, or them, this year and concentrate strictly on Jesus and His desires for and expectations of us.
Hear Bruh Paul tell it to the Corinthians nuh: ‘ Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery (competes for the prize) is temperate (has self-control) in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible (perishable) crown; but we an incorruptible (imperishable). I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under (discipline) my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (be disqualified). (1 Cor.9:24-27)
Yes my people, that’s our biggest problem, bringing our bodies and minds under subjection, into a godly kind of discipline. But as Bruh Paul says, if we want to win the race, we have to put in the training time. It’s like everything else in our world; practice makes perfect.
And if we want to have a last testament like Bruh Paul, then we have to get to work seriously on our training program RIGHT NOW! ‘For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure (death) is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course (race), I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that LOVE his appearing.’ (2 Tim.4:6-8)
Oh my fellow believers, each and every one of us ought to be able to make that statement when our time to cross over to the other side draws near. But unfortunately we won’t be able to do so, unless we start training properly and seriously for that awesome race of life in Jesus Christ RIGHT NOW!
So I’ll leave us to ponder on all that now, and please, let’s enjoy this first day of 2014, as though it’s the first day of the rest of our lives, for in many ways it just might be. Much LOVE!
…turn not to the right hand…nor to the left…remove thy foot from evil… (Prov.4:27)
21 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: ability, Abraham, admissible evidence, assurance, Athens, authority, balancing act, being fearful, black and white, blatant, boggles the imagination, boldfaced, Bruh Paul, brutality, calamitous state, called to account, Christian, Christmas, confidence, conscience, consitent, corruption, crime, crimes against humanity, culprits, destruction, disobedient, economics, emotional, evil, followers, God-given responsibility, Godhead, good, greed, help, homelessness, hunger, ignorance, incompetence, Jesus, judged, judgement, judgement day, justice, justice of God, letting voices be heard, life, light of the world, loss of jobs, LOVE, marginalization, Mars Hill, mental, mercy, military presence, needy, newspapers, obedient, offspring of God, ordained, parable, pay heed, petty excuses, physcial tiredness, piddling wages, plead, police, politics, poor getting poorer, poverty, prayer, public protests, raised from the dead, relationships, resistance, retribution, rich getting richer, righteousness., rule the roost, rumours of war, salt of the earth, secret thing, selfishness, serious action, Sodom, sorry picture, standards, standing up to wrongdoers, step up to the plate, strife, talents, technological prowess, throw the book, under a bushel, understanding, ungodly, unhappiness, unknown God, walk earhtly paths, wars, wisdom, wrongdoings
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, the ole fella’s tired and unhappy this Saturday morning before Christmas. It’s not physical tiredness nuh, but mental and emotional unhappiness. But it’s all my fault, for I fell behind in my newspaper reading this week, then unwisely tried to catch up on several days reading, all at once. From now on though, I’m going to try my best to stay current, because the news from one day is bearable, but for several…no way Jose!
And what a sorry picture it all painted. We start of with wars and rumours of war, strife in almost every area. Then we have economic and political incompetence and corruption all over the world. And not only that, but the boldfaced and blatant manner in which these crimes against humanity are being carried out, boggles the imagination, especially when very little, if any retribution is being meted out to the culprits.
At least in earlier times we had the good sense to hide our wrong-doings, but not today. Today the greed and selfishness is all out in the open, nobody seems to have a conscience anymore. And in the balancing act that’s life, it only means that the rich are noticeably getting richer, while the poor are not only getting poorer, but also that their numbers are daily increasing at an alarming rate, what with the great loss of jobs and the piddling wages most of the remaining ones now pay.
And since there’s only one pie to be split up amongst several groups, if one group unilaterally increases their portion, then obviously all the others will have theirs curtailed. And consequently, we end up with astronomical rates of marginalization, abject poverty, homelessness, hunger, escalating crime and public protests, more police and military presence and brutality, etc. etc. And who would ever have expected such a calamitous state in a world that is at the height of its technological prowess eh?
Ah mih people, when and where will it all end eh? I guess the Lord alone knows. But we, His people down here on earth also have a serious, God-given responsibility to help, to do our best not to let matters deteriorate any further. And we can only do this by taking serious action; a combination of prayer, letting our voices be heard publicly, standing up to the wrongdoers, and helping those in need.
That’s what Jesus did, and what He fully expects of anyone who calls him or herself a Christian. But there again my fellow believers, we’re not truly living up to the standards that Jesus desires of His followers, and are allowing the ungodly to rule the roost without much resistance. But Friends, please, let’s listen to, and pay serious heed to the words of our Bit. ‘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 actions will be judged. And when the Lord asks us why we didn’t do better with the talents He gave us like the servants in Jesus’ parable, (Matt.18:23-35) what are we going to tell Him eh? Remember too that ignorance will not be admissible evidence. So it’s full time, or rather overdue time that we get our act together and do something concrete for the world, instead of making petty excuses and being fearful, or being selfish and greedy like the world around us.
Remember we’re supposed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, but it seems that in fits of anxiety we’re hiding our lights under a bushel and the salt in us has become seriously diminished and thus useless. But Friends, we need to step up to the plate like so many others have done before us, and we’ll use this example of Bruh Paul in our Bit, as he stood up on Mars hill in Athens, explaining to its citizens about the altar they had erected with the inscription; ‘TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.’ (Acts 17:23)
‘Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead (Divine Nature) is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven (shaped) by art and man’s device (devising). And the times of this ignorance God winked at (overlooked); but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; wherefore he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.’ (Acts 17:29-31)
And we’ll close with some notes from the scholars’ re the Justice of God. ’17:31. The justice of God is the active extension of the holiness of God into matters of decision. It implies that God has the authority and ability to establish the standard for all relationships and that He will be consistent in relating to His obedient and disobedient creatures. The justice of God is both legislative and distributive.
Illustration: When Abraham attempted to prevent the destruction of Sodom, he appealed to God’s justice: he knew that the Judge of all the earth would do right (Gen.18:25). Application: So today, everyone can have confidence that God will deal with him justly, but the believer may additionally plead God’s mercy. (First Ref. Gen.3:14; Primary Ref. Acts 17:31; cf. Mark 10:18)’
There we have it Friends, in black and white! Now we can’t say we didn’t know, and anyway, as we said above, ignorance will not stand as a plausible plea on judgement day. Therefore let’s come together, TODAY, and clean up our acts, so that the just judge, on judgement day, will not have to throw the book at us. Much LOVE my people!
…and may the Lord grant us wisdom and understanding…to walk earthly paths…that will not bring harsh judgement…when He calls us to account…
15 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Abraham, acclamation, all flesh is grass, assembly of saints, awe, big snowfall, black ice, born again, Canada, children's sake, Christian dedication, Christmas Season, claim to fame, climate change, compared to God, congregation of saints, control, Controller, corruptible, Creator, darkness, deity, depths of our souls, disciple, endless praises, endures for ever, Ethan the Ezrahite, extremely special, faithfulness, falls away, fear, fellowship, fervently, flower of grass, foolish, friends, gather in church, glorious majesty, glory of man, gospel, grow, heaven, holy spirit, impatient, imperishable, impetuous, in heaven, in the beginning, incorruptible, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, just desserts, justification, leaps and bounds, life, light of men, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, make known God's faithfulness, motivating force, number one, obeying, on earth, one true God, persihable, Peter, ponder, praise and worship, Praise the Lord, proof, pure heart, purified souls, raise our voices, raise the roofs, reconciled to God, relationship to God, respect, reverence, rightful due, sanctuaries, sincere, sing of God's mercies, sinless life, skids, Sunday, tell others about God, the Word, to all generations, total agreement, traumatized, truth, undying gratitude, universe, veneration, withers, wonderful god, wonders
Psalm 89:1. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
Oh Friends, at last my neck of the woods has received its first big snowfall of the season! Granted, it’s not as big as some of those experienced up north, or in places like Dallas and Philly recently, but it’s certainly big enough to get me going. (smile)
You know we’ve become so spoiled over the last few years with comparatively small quantities of snow in the winter time, that when we do get a fairly large amount, some of us get sort of traumatized. (smile) But we need to remember that this is the North Country, good old Canada, where in these days of climate change, anything is possible.
And though the snow made the roads slippery and icy, people were still driving as though they were clean and dry. I guess there will always be the impetuous, impatient and foolish amongst us.
I drove my wife’s car instead of mine because hers has on snow tires and mine doesn’t, but I don’t know if that was any better, because I feel more comfortable in mine, and on two stretches of relatively clean, clear, straight road, not going very fast, I still had two small skids, possibly meaning that there was black ice on the road, although it looked okay.
And the amazing thing is that there were still oodles of vehicles on the road. One would think because it was Saturday, with not as many people having to go to work, and the snow still falling, the roads would be fairly empty. I was only out there because I had to be.
Anyway, enough of my rambling about the snow, for it’s still out there, it’s still mucho cold, and nothing I say or do will change that. (smile) So let’s turn to something that we have some say in, our Bit; most likely on its last legs today.
‘I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.’
Now that my Friends, is something we have much control over! And isn’t it just great to praise and worship our wonderful God, and tell others about Him? It sure is, especially on a Sunday when many of us gather in church to fellowship and sing His endless praises.
Oh my people, today when we raise our voices in praise and worship, let’s make it something extremely special nuh, let’s raise the roofs on our sanctuaries! Let the feeling of acclamation come truly from the depths of our souls!
Let’s get in agreement with the psalmist, Ethan the Ezrahite, as he proudly proclaims: ‘And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had (held) in reverence of all them that are about him.’ (Ps. 89:5-7)
And in total agreement, all God’s people shouted a loud and grateful: ‘Praise the Lord!’
Yes my Friends, there is NONE mightier or more worthy of praise than the ONE TRUE GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Creator and Controller of this mighty universe!
And there’s absolutely no doubt about that, for as John so wisely puts it: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended (apprehended) it not.’ (John 1:1-5)
Ah mih breddren, what a magnificent description as it refers to Jesus and His relationship to Almighty God! No other supposed deity can lay claim to such fame, to such distinction! So please, my people, please let’s start paying Him the proper respect and reverence He so awesomely deserves nuh.
Not the wishy washy way too many of us currently behave towards our wonderful Lord and Saviour, who gave up His sinless life for us, so that we could be reconciled to the Father. That fact alone deserves undying gratitude and LOVE!
And we’ll end with further proof and justification of His glorious majesty, through the words of His staunch disciple, Peter, as He calls for true and serious Christian dedication.
‘Seeing that ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned (sincere) LOVE of the brethren, see that ye LOVE one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible (perishable) seed, but of incorruptible (imperishable), by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the Word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.’ (1 Pet.1:22-25)
Oh Friends, I can’t put it any better than that, so I won’t even try to clarify it. I’ll just say that it would be such a pleasure, such a motivating force, if more of us could truly rise up and give Jesus His just desserts; put Him first in ALL we do, with the awe and veneration that’s His rightful due.
Then His church and His LOVE Revolution would surely grow by leaps and bounds, and consequently, our world would be a much better place to dwell.
Let’s ponder that today Friends, and for our children’s sake, put it into action, as soon as possible. Much LOVE!
…to all believers…this Christmas season…let’s truly show our LOVE and adoration for Jesus…let’s truly make Him NUMBER ONE…on all the earth…as well as in heaven…
04 Dec 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: admonish, admonishment, adultery, all aspects, anointed, Bathsheba, Beelzebub, bitter fruit, blameless, blaspheme, blot out, broken spirit, Bruh David, burnt offerings, circumstances, cleanse, confess, confidence, confronted by sin, contrite heart, cried out to God, death, deny sin, depressed, despise, deterrent to willful sin, disrepute, distraught, emotions, enemies of the Lord, evil, fasted, fat of rams, forefather, forgive, forgiveness, forgiving Deity, God of truth and justice, God's only Son, gracious, house of the Lord, hurt, in thy sight, iniquity, integral part, Jesus, judge, justified, kinsman, life, listen, long and short of the story, loving kindness, lustful desire, merciful, mercy, mourning, necessary adjustments, obey, pain, pleas for help, practical application, prayer for cleansing, price to pay, promise, Psalm 51, punishment, remember our God, repentance, repented, righteousness., sacrifice, scot free, seed of sin, sin, Sin does not pay, sinful traps and snares, sinned abominably, situations, Solomon, sonner the better, sordid manner, sorrow, thanks and praise, tragic liaison, transgressions, tremendous price, ungodly behaviour, unrighteousness, walk with god, wonderful god, worshipped, wrongdoing
1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Oh mih people, the Bit will most likely be late today since I had a late night, and the body wasn’t too thrilled about getting up in the early hours of the morning. (smile) But all thanks to our great and wonderful God, we’re finally here and motoring on. Please give Him some thanks and praise for that.
And today we’ll continue with Bruh David’s story, how his life changed for the worse because of that lustful desire he couldn’t control; sleeping with Bathsheba, and the sordid manner and great lengths he went to, to have her for his own.
However Friends, one of the most important things to notice in that story is that when confronted by his sin, Bruh David admitted it. ‘And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.’ (2 Sam.12:13)
Yuh see God’s reaction to Bruh David’s admission; life… not death, as he deserved. But he wasn’t going to get away easily. For Nathan continued: ‘Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.’ (2 Sam.12:14)
So mih breddren, though Bruh David was allowed to live and continue to reign as king, he didn’t get away scot free from punishment for his ungodly behaviour. In fact he ended up paying a tremendous price. Now here are the scholars’ take on those verses.
’12:13. David genuinely grieved and repented (cf. Ps.32:5; 51:3-14) However, the seed of sin was immediately to bear bitter fruit, for the child born of the adultery became grievously ill and died (vv.15-18).
12:14. David’s sin had brought the name of God into disrepute. Such knowledge ought to serve as a deterrent to willful sin on the part of believers (cf. 1 Tim.5:14; 6:1).’
Please read those references Friends, for they are quite informative. And we all know how Bruh David fasted and prayed and cast himself upon the earth during the child’s sickness, and refused to be comforted. His people were even afraid to tell him when the child died, figuring that he would become even more depressed and distraught.
But Bruh David sees them whispering and figures out that the child has died, and when they confirm it: ‘Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required (requested), they set bread before him, and he did eat.’ (2 Sam.12:20)
Ah Friends, in all of that sorrow, Bruh David still remembered His God, and the first thing he did after cleaning up himself was to go to His house and worship Him. In our times of sorrow we ought also to remember our God.
And please note too his logic when asked by his staff about his strange behaviour; sort of mourning when the child was alive and coming out of mourning when he died.
‘And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God, will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.’ (2 Sam.12:22-23)
The long and short of the story though my people, is that SIN DOES NOT PAY!
And though we will always receive forgiveness for our repentance, the Lord will usually require, or requite some punishment for our transgressions. And usually the sooner we own up to the wrongdoing, the better. The worse thing we can ever do is deny our transgressions.
That’s the beauty of Bruh David’s walk with God; though he sinned abominably, he came clean when confronted with it, and the Lord was merciful and magnanimous enough to not take away everything from him. In fact He even gave him another child from Bathsheba, Cousin Sol (Solomon), the richest and wisest king ever to sit on Israel’s throne, and in the end Bruh David was a kinsman, forefather of God’s only Son, Jesus.
And we’ll end with some passages from one of Bruh David’s greatest psalms, Psalm 51; A prayer for cleansing, something he wrote after His tragic liaison with Bathsheba.
‘Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy LOVING-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified (be found just) when thou speakest, and be clear (blameless) when thou judgest…. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.’ (Ps.51:1-4, 15-17)
Oh Friends, that’s possibly another reason why the Lord LOVED Bruh David so much and kept blessing him. He never shied away or tried to hide his hurt, his pain, his sin and whatever emotions he was feeling at a particular time. He always cried out to the God of his fathers whether in a good or bad situation with thanks and pleas for help.
And that’s how the Lord wants it with us too, my people. We need to cry out to Him with praise, thanks and pleas for help under any and all circumstances, good, bad and/or indifferent, for the Lord wants to play an integral part in all aspects of our lives.
So let’s remember that, and don’t try to hide or run from Him, but come to Him with confidence with whatever is troubling us, for He has promised to cleanse and forgive us once we confess our wrongdoing. And He is ever-faithful to keep His promises.
But please remember too that there’s usually a price to pay for wrongdoing, for though our God is a great, merciful and forgiving Deity, He is also a God of truth and justice, and disobedience must be paid for if He is to retain His righteousness, as Bruh David notes in the psalm above, (vs.4).
That brings us to the end of this promise Friends. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
Let’s hope we learned from it, especially from the practical application of it in Bruh David’s life, and will make the necessary adjustments to our own lives, so that we don’t fall into the same sinful traps and snares of Beelzebub.
For that will only further complicate our lives, bring God’s Word into disrepute and cause Him to admonish us. And if there’s one thing we can certainly do without is His admonishment. Much LOVE!
…to obey is better than sacrifice…and to hearken (listen)…than the fat of rams… (1 Sam.15:22b)
30 Nov 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 1 John, antidote, bamboozle, blind to sin, blood of jesus, bondage to sin, bow down, burden of sins, cleanse, cleansing light, come short of God's glory, confess our sins, darkness, death, death on the cross, deceit, deceive ourselves, denying God's Word, eternal life, ever-faithful, faith, faithful, fellowship, forgiveness, glorious opportunity, God is light, God's promises, gospel truth, heavenly advocate, inescapable fact, Jesus, just, just desserts, Lamb's book of life, lavish, liar, lie, live by faith not by sight, live free, Lord and Saviour, loving kindness, New Testament, Old Testament, omnipotent, prince of darkness, purify our hearts, reality, rejoicing, remedy, reprieve, salvation, secure hands of Almighty God, sin, sin's presence and power, star gazing, the blood of Jesus, to fight tooth and nail, trust, truth, ultimate defence, undeniable truth, universality of sin, unrighteousness, walk in darkness, walk in the light, wonderful god, worship
1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Oh Friends, I think yesterday I was doing some star gazing when I wrote ‘TGIM” instead of ‘TGIF,’ at the beginning of the Bit. I don’t know how many of you noticed it, but thanks to my first born, I was apprised of the situation soon after I posted it. I guess I was gazing into the future, seeing a time when we believers would routinely be rejoicing on Mondays for the glorious opportunity to go back out to work and fight tooth and nail for Jesus.
Please accept my apologies for being so previous. (smile) But remember we need to live by faith and not by sight, and to call things that are not, as though they are. And I’m still full of hope that that scenario will eventually come to pass, possibly not in my lifetime, except I live a very long life. I’m putting my faith in the next generation, that they will do better than us, otherwise crapaud will surely smoke their pipe. (smile) That just means that things will be real bad with them.
And today we’re going to start looking again at some of God’s promises, and this one in our Bit is a pretty big one; one of the biggest. But before we get to it, let’s get some background. In John’s first letter, he seeks to convince his readers about the reality of salvation and eternal life. And in the section from which our Bit is taken, he’s dealing with sin, its reality and its remedy.
He begins there by saying: ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.’ (1 John 1:8)
To which the scholars write: ‘1:8. Others seem to have been claiming that they had no sin. Jesus had taught that those who owned up to their sin could find forgiveness, while those who were blind to their sin would be left mired in it. (cf. John 9:41)’
Hence John pens our Bit: ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’
And the scholars take on that is: ‘1:9. This is a restatement of verse 7. We ought not to deny our sins (v 8), but rather to confess them before God. This opens the door for His forgiving and cleansing light to purify our hearts. Unrighteousness is another way of saying ‘sin.’
And verse 7 comes from the earlier section where John is talking about God being light, with no darkness, but we’ll go from verse 6, to get the full context. ‘If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness (sin), we lie, and do not (practice) the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.’ (1 John 1:6-7)
To which the scholars explain: ‘1:7. “God is light” (v.5): To walk in this light, which is to live free from bondage to sin (cf. Rom.6:18), is to make true communion between believers possible. Jesus’ violent death on the cross, which is what blood signifies, is the initial antidote for and ultimate defense against sin’s presence and power.’
And that’s gospel truth my people! It’s only the shed blood of Jesus that gives us any reprieve from the burden of our sins!
Thus John continues: ‘If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.’ (1 John 1:10)
Meaning: ‘1:10. To deny one’s sinfulness (v.8) or sins is not just to deceive oneself; it is to make God a liar by denying His Word. Both Old and New Testaments stress the universality of man’s sin (e.g. Job 4:17; Ps. 14:3; Is.53:6; Rom. 3:10-18, 23).’
I’ll leave you all to look up those references, except the last one, which admirably drives home the point. ‘For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.’ (Rom.8:23)
And that my brethren is an inescapable fact! But again, we have such a wonderful God, who instead of giving us our just desserts for our sins; death, in His LOVING-kindness He devised a way-out plan so that He could lavish salvation and eternal life on us instead. Wow!
Now why would I want to bow down and worship any other God eh? No way Jose!
And our God is so thoughtful and kind that He made it very easy for us; just confess that you’re a sinner, believe in His crucified Son Jesus Christ, accept Him as your Lord and Saviour, and salvation and eternal life are yours. Your name’s automatically written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Now that’s such a wonderful promise Friends, that some people can’t handle it. But the saying that if it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is, only applies to the things of man and of the world, not to the promises of our ever-faithful, omnipotent God.
So please let’s not allow the prince of darkness and deceit, the ruler of this sinful world, Lucifer, to bamboozle us into thinking that there’s no hope for us. There IS LOTS OF HOPE when we put our faith and trust in the safe and secure hands of Almighty God, through our Lord, Saviour and heavenly Advocate, Jesus Christ! That’s the undeniable truth my Friends! Much LOVE!
…there’s no better place to be than…standing…standing…standing on the promises of God…
P.S. I hope you all notice how short it is today, (smile) Much LOVE!
28 Nov 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: almighty god, Babylon, be thankful, biblical instruction, Black Friday, border hassles, Canadian merchants, come together, Cousin Sol, Cyber Monday, days of feasting, don't be sorry, drink the sweet, eat the fat, Egypt, electric toothbrush, empathy, enemies, enjoy the good of his labour, Esther, every good thing, exchange rate, expense, Ezra, fatherless, Feast of Purim, feasts, fellow believers, fighting, first fruits, for the life in me, friends, friends and families, gifts to the poor, give thanks, giving thanks, good things from God, gospel truth, greedy, Haman, heartfelt, inspired words, Israelites, Jesus, joy, Law of Moses, learn to share, leggo-beast, less fortunate, LOVE, Mordecai, Nehemiah, orphans, rejoice, sale mentality, selfish, send portions, sorrow, south of the border, special interest, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day, the gift of God, the joy of the Lord is your strength, the Levite, the stranger, to do good, too few have too much, too many have too little, travel time, true followers, widows, wild animal, wisdom, worthwhile
Deuteronomy 26:11. And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite (priest), and the stranger that is among you.
HAPPY U. S. THANKSGIVING DAY!
Well a Happy Thanksgiving Day to all our Friends and families south of the border! Today is the big day in the U.S. Possibly the most celebrated holiday on their calendar, where friends and families come together to give thanks for whatever they have it, be it much or little.
The sad part though is that too many have too little and too few have too much. But whatever we do have Friends, we need to be thankful for it.
As our Bit says, from the instructions of offering of our first fruits to the Lord: ‘And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite (priest), and the stranger that is among you.’ Please note that it includes EVERYBODY; even ‘the stranger that is among you.’
And I just LOVE the scripture from Nehemiah, after Ezra and the priests had read and explained the Law of Moses, which most of the people had never heard before, and they wept after hearing it.
‘Then he (Nehemiah) said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto the Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ (Neh.8:10)
What I LOVE about that scripture are the inspired words; ‘and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared.’ Oh my fellow believers, that is supposed to be a big part of the Thanksgiving Holiday, or for that matter, ALL holidays! We need to learn to share with those who have less than us, because it is a Biblical instruction.
Note this verse, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, and were being told about certain feasts and how to cook the food and where to eat it.
‘And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there.’ (Deut.16:11)
EVERYBODY was supposed to be included! But unfortunately as the years rolled along and we became more selfish and greedy people, we have tended to forget about those the Lord takes special interest in; the poor, the widows and the orphans.
The same message is sent in Esther, after the Jews defeated Haman and their enemies in Babylon, and instituted the Feast of Purim. Mordecai instructed them to keep the feast; ‘As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day (holiday): that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions (presents) one to another, and gifts to the poor.’ (Esth.9:22)
But sadly, these days the poor are generally forgotten. Thanksgiving has become another big commercial day. It’s all about sales and money. As soon as Thanksgiving dinner is over, we now rush over to the stores to eagerly await Black Friday, when stuff is supposedly marked down tremendously.
Yes Friends, some stuff might be marked down, but others might also be marked up, because the merchants know that once you’re in the store for one cheap item, you’re more than likely to buy much more at higher mark-ups.
And the wild animal, leggo beast behaviour on display at these sales is truly disgusting. Many of us don’t even really need the stuff we line up for and rush and push to buy. But just because it’s on sale, we decide we must have it. That’s the kind of mentality the merchants have developed in us. Ah Lord eh!
And talking about the leggo beast behaviour, one woman claims she saw two other women fighting in a store over one object, while the security people stood around looking at them, no doubt in astonishment. Each woman had a hold on one end of the object, pulling and pushing and tugging and shouting angrily at each other.
And do you know what that must have object was? An electric toothbrush. Steups!
And then after Black Friday comes Cyber Monday, another big sales day. Chuh! It’s all about merchandising these days!
Now even the Canadian merchants are getting involved in the nonsense as a way of stopping Canadians form going south to spend their money. Unfortunately, I don’t know how much good that is going to do nuh, because they say that even with the travel time and expense, the exchange rate and the border hassles, it’s still worthwhile to go south and shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Ah Lord eh!
Anyway Friends, enough of my whatever you choose to call it. I just hope that in all our business we remember the true purpose behind the holiday, and do give thanks to Almighty God for all that’s He’s done for us and provided us with.
Let’s also remember to share with the less fortunate, because that’s what Jesus is all about, and if we’re to be His true followers, we need to display the same empathy.
And we’ll end with some wise words from Cousin Sol on the topic. ‘I know that there is no good in them (nothing better for them), but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.’ (Eccl.3:12-13)
And that my brethren is gospel truth! So please let’s act accordingly and thus give Jesus a good Thanksgiving present. It’s heartfelt wisdom. Much LOVE!
…I’m giving thanks…for all I’ve got…I’m giving thanks…whether or not…I’m giving thanks…for the life in me…I’m giving thanks now… (From the song ‘Giving Thanks’ by Beres Hammond)
26 Nov 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: admonition, afraid, allergies, authtoritative statement, bastards, believe in Jesus, bet yuh bottom dollar, chasten, chastening, chastisement, children, chosen people, Christian story, commands, common cold, compilation, complimentary, consequences, contrite, corporal punishment, correction, death, deliverance of Israel, depth of learning, despise, Deuteronomy, discipline, discouraged, disobedience, displeasure, divine dispensation, divine wisdom, ever-faithful promise, exhortation, exodus, face of the earth, faint, fair share, faithful, fear not, fruit of righteousness, god, God's principle, gospel truth, habakkuk, healing, healing powers, heartfelt pleas, Hebrews, holiness, I am with you, illegitimate, Israel, Jesus, joyous, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, machinations, medication, merciful, mercy, miserable, mortal, obliterated, pleasure, Praise the Lord, profit, proven fact, Proverbs, punishment, rebuke, respect, Revelation, reverence, scourge, sons, spare the rod, spoil the child, spoiled brats, subjection, training, trustworthy, unpunished, victory ode, wages of sin, weak, wrath, wrongdoings
Psalm 38:1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s shaking it a tad rough thus cold Tuesday morning. My allergies seem to be acting up. Let’s hope it’s just that and not a full-blown cold. Thankfully, I haven’t had one of those in a long time. However, between the man-made medicine and the enabling powers of our healing God, I’m bringing whatever it might be under control. ‘Praise the Lord!’
But isn’t it strange how a simple thing like the common cold, or allergic sniffling, sneezing and blowing can make a body feel so weak and miserable, while supposedly greater illnesses don’t have us feeling so lousy all over? Anyway, the important thing is that we try to rise above whatever ails us through God’s helpful healing powers and whatever man-made medication He directs us to.
Now let’s turn to our Bit, which through the Lord’s mysterious machinations (smile) has turned into a three day affair, when it was originally planned for only one. But that’s how the Lord operates, because of His higher thoughts and ways. And if that’s how He wants his Word to be exposed, who am I, a puny mortal, to say Him nay eh? I’d eventually be crying out like the psalmist: ‘O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.’
And today, we’ll continue looking at some scriptures that deal with heartfelt pleas, healing and chastening, that we didn’t finish yesterday. First off, for the benefit of all those who didn’t take the time to check it, I’ll quote the Habakkuk verse from the scholar’s reference yesterday.
‘O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.’ (Hab.3:2)
That prayer precedes a victory ode recounting God’s deliverance of Israel during the Exodus from Egypt. But again my people, we’re reminded of the mercy the Lord needs to show us, otherwise we’d just be obliterated from the face of the earth in His anger over our numerous wrongdoings.
However, here is the Lord’s ever-faithful promise to His chosen people Israel, and to all those who subsequently believe in His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus. This is also from the scholar’s reference yesterday.
‘Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure (as is right); yet I will not leave thee wholly unpunished.’ (Jer.46:28)
Ah mih breddren, thankfully we will not be obliterated, but bet yuh bottom dollar, we will receive our fair share of punishment. Now originally I was going to quote Jer.30:11, which basically says the same thing, but I preferred the ‘Fear thou not,’ start of the quoted scripture. (smile)
And please remember Friends, that the Lord, our great, faithful and trustworthy God is ALWAYS with His people! That’s not only gospel truth, but also a proven fact!
And we’ll end with a scripture we all know, but foolishly try to run from. It is the brilliant compilation of words from Proverbs, Revelation and Deuteronomy, plus some of his own, that the author of Hebrews gives us on the subject of chastening.
And having read Hebrews, I truly don’t see how the author could be any other than Bruh Paul, for the depth of learning and huge amount of divine dispensation that it entails, and even more the language used therein, he is the only one in the Christian story that seems to have had them all.
Anyway, let’s check out this most important bit of scripture my fellow believers. Please note that wherever the passage says ‘son’ it can be also read ‘daughter’ if you’re female.
‘And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as children (sons), My son, despise not thou the chastening (discipline) of the Lord, nor faint (be discouraged) when thou art rebuked of Him: For whom the Lord LOVETH He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then ye are bastards (illegitimate), and not sons.
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence (respect): shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us, after their own pleasure (as seemed best to them); but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Now no chastening (discipline) for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised (trained) thereby.’ (Heb.12:5-11)
Oh mih people, that says it all! It’s the authoritative statement on the subject! However, I want to add some important explanations from the scholars. (smile)
’12:6. Whom the Lord LOVETH he chasteneth: God’s principle of disciplining His own people is completely congruous (in accordance with) human practices. This quotation from Proverbs 3:12, stating God’s practice, corresponds to the commands gave to fathers:
“He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that LOVETH him chasteneth him betimes (promptly)” (Prov.13:24; cf. 22:15; 23:13). LOVE and corporal punishment are not incongruous (incompatible); they are two complimentary and necessary aspects of training.’
Sadly though Friends, we as fleshly parents have seriously disregarded that godly admonition, and thus have reaped the consequences, poorly trained, disobedient children.
However, let’s just remember not to get too upset and carry on like spoiled brats whenever the Lord hauls us up on the carpet, because He WILL be merciful, if we are contrite and accepting of our punishment. And that’s definitely divine wisdom! Much LOVE!
…if you have problems with being chastened…hn!…then just remember the other option nuh…for the wages of sin is death…
23 Nov 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: admonition, almighty god, anxious, barren woman, best advice, blessed be the Lord's name, blessings, Daniel, darkness, deep and secret things, dilemma, dreams and visions, faith, fearful, forgiving, friends, God's mercies, going down of the moon, greatly to be praised, greatness of the Lord, help, his glory above the heavens, hope, house of god, humbles himself, in a rut, Israel, Jacob, Jesus, kicking a dead horse, knowledge, lead, light, LOVE, mental juices not flowing, merciful, might, mother of children, mysterious ways, Nebuchadnezzar's dream, needy, omnipotent, poor, portent, praise, praise His name, Praise the Lord, Praise ye the Lord, prayer, princes, promises of Abraham, righteousness., rising of the moon, rough times, seasons, seek something new, Sermon on the Mount, servants of god, servants of the lord, sing Hallelujah, struggles, sufficient, surrender, sustain in times of need, take it to heart, thanks, the kingdom of God, The Lord is good, The Lord's high above all nations, The Lord's name is great, the Lord's never let me down, the rising of the sun, things in heaven and earth, things of God, things of the world, times, to the going down of the sun, trouble, trust, truth, turn to God, understanding, vanity of idols, wisdom, wise, worry
Psalm 113:1. Praise ye the Lord (sing Hallelujah). Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s been in a rut for the past forty five minutes or so, looking for a Bit that he could get his mind around. Brother! I sure have been spoiled these last few days dealing with the promises of father Abraham, since I didn’t have to seek out something new to write on everyday.
Oh, I knew what I wanted to write about, but unfortunately the mental juices just weren’t flowing in that direction. And you know how sometimes we refuse to let an idea go, although it’s just not working for us. What is the saying, something like kicking a dead horse? Well that was my dilemma.
Possibly the Lord didn’t want me to write on that topic today. Who knows eh, with Him and His mysterious ways? However, I always had hope. My faith might not be as great as Abraham’s, but it’s strong enough to sustain me in times of need. Furthermore, the Lord’s never let me down before in all my struggles, so why should He now eh? I always knew that He would eventually lead me to something that pleased Him.
And that’s exactly what we have here from Psalm 113; God’s mercies are many. And indeed they are my people! So let’s get into our Bit, and do just as it says: ‘Praise ye the Lord (sing Hallelujah). Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.’
Yes my brethren, the Lord’s name is indeed great and greatly to be praised! And as the psalmist continues: ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.’ (Ps.113:2-3)
And for those of you who work nights and sleep days and don’t see the sun, we can change that to: ‘from the rising of the moon to the going down of the same.’ (smile) But whatever time you are awake, the Lord’s name ought to be praised my brethren. And why is that you ask? Simple; because He’s great!
‘The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth!’ (Ps.113:4-6)
And Friends, we all know the answer to both those questions is a plain and simple NOBODY!
And we ought also to praise Almighty God because He sincerely cares for the poor and needy. ‘He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill (the ash heap); That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. He maketh (causes) the barren (childless) woman to keep house (dwell in a home), and to be the mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.’ (Ps.113:7-9)
Ah mih people, those are certainly most excellent reasons to praise our omnipotent, forgiving and merciful God! And if you want some more reasons, then listen to Daniel after the Lord revealed the secret of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him.
‘Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings and setteth up (raises up) kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge unto them that know (have) understanding:
He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.’ (Dan.2:20-23)
Oh Friends, how many more reasons do we need for praising our great God eh? He’s mighty and wise; controls the times and the seasons; raises up and removes kings; gives wisdom and knowledge to those who seek and deserve them. He also reveals to mankind, like He did with Daniel, the portent of dreams and visions, of secret things, and knows what the darkness contains, like our plentiful, deep, dark deeds. (smile)
So what more can we ask eh? The Lord God Jehovah is Lord and God over all! Therefore He deserves constant and unending praise, but that’s something, we the Lord’s supposed followers are sadly lacking in at this current time. Oh I know that the world’s in a sorry state, and our lives lack the certainty they had just a few years ago, which makes us somewhat fearful and anxious.
But my fellow believers that’s no reason for us to be more taken up with the things of the world – food, clothes, houses, jobs – than with the things of God, and thus cut down on our prayer and praise. Instead, it’s in the rough times that we most need to turn to God, cozy up to Him, not turn away, because He’s the ONE from whom all our help, all our blessings come.
And please remember Jesus’ admonition from the Sermon on the Mount: ‘(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow (do not worry about tomorrow): for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble) thereof.’ (Matt.6:32-34)
Oh Friends, please, please, let’s take all of that to heart! It’s the best advice we can ever get. And to show our hope, trust, faith and surrender to Almighty God, let’s close with some appropriate praise from Psalm 135; The greatness of the Lord and the vanity of idols.
‘Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord. Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his particular (special) treasure. For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.’ (Ps.135:1-5)
And that, my fellow believers, is divine, gospel, undeniable, indisputable and any other truth there is! (smile) Much LOVE!
…Praise Him, praise Him…Glory Hallelujah…He is LOVE…He is LOVE…
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