31 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Christian faith, christianity, conqueror of death and the grave, crucifixion, cruel cross, don't fear, earthly lusts, Easter Sunday, empty tomb, eternal life, fateful day, first fruits, glory, gratefulness, Hades, Hallelujah, honour, Jesus' resurrection, joy, judgement, kingdom of god, LOVE Revolution, LOVING Creator, praise, sacrifice, salvation, saviour jesus christ, spiritual things, swallow up death, thanks, theology, true fellowship, wipe away tears, wonderful god
Mark 16:6. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
HAPPY EASTER!
Oh Friends, it’s Easter morn! Arise and shout for joy because HE IS RISEN! Yes my people, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has been resurrected through the mighty power of His heavenly Father! He has forever conquered that evil Lucifer and his evil empire of darkness, destruction, death and the grave, thus guaranteeing salvation and perpetuating eternal life for all those who believe on His Holy Name! For as Bruh Paul boldly and truthfully declared to the Corinthians: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? Oh grave (Hades), where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor.15:54b-57) Oh my brethren, Beelzebub’s army has gone down to certain defeat, therefore let the heavens ring out with our joy, as we joyously sing: ‘Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelu… Hallelu… Hallelujah!’ Oh my fellow believers, since that first day of creation, there’s never been a better or more important day in man’s turbulent, rebellious history than this one, Easter Sunday! So let’s all give enormous and sincere thanks and praise to a most wonderful God, a most LOVING Creator, who LOVED His sinful, fallen creation so much, that He made His ONLY Son sacrifice Himself on that cruel cross to save us from the worse fate possible, eternal separation from Him. And all God’s people declared a loud and grateful: ‘All praise, thanks, honour and glory be unto thee Almighty God, who wanted to reconcile us to Yourself so badly, that You broke Your own heart, burdening Your Son Jesus Christ with our disgusting sins, to make us clean and whole again.’ And what’s so amazing about the whole thing Friends, is how seamlessly and truthfully Jesus’ life came together from the prophecy of Isaiah in chapter 53, to His resurrection hundreds of years later as recorded in our Bit, where the women of Jesus’ company came to anoint Him that first Easter morning and found an angel sitting inside an empty tomb, dressed in a long white robe, which obviously scared them half to death: ‘And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted (afraid): Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.’ We all know the Resurrection Story, so I won’t get into it, please read it on your own and refresh your hearts and minds with it. Now listen to Isaiah’s prophecy earlier on in chapter 25, in his song of praise by the redeemed. ‘He will swallow up death in victory (forever); and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.’ (Is.25:8-9) Oh Friends, though that relates particularly to after the Great Tribulation, Christ’s resurrection was the first step on the road to salvation. Thus now is indeed the right time to rejoice in the salvation of our God, because He has done marvellous things for us, things we certainly don’t deserve, and couldn’t earn, even if we felt so inclined. As Bruh Paul assured the believers at Corinth. ‘But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept (have died). For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.’ (1 Cor.15:20-22) Wow! What a blessed day this Easter Sunday really is my people! It’s the strong, sure and certain foundation of our whole Christian faith, for without Jesus’ triumphant resurrection, come that fateful day of judgement, we would all have perished in Hades with the prince of darkness. But Jesus in His most LOVING-kindness and selflessness, through His sacrificial blood and victory over death, gave us the opportunity to move from darkness to light, from death to eternal life. Unfortunately though my brethren, today we’re joyous, celebrating this most important event, and full of Christian gung ho, but come tomorrow, or a few days hence, many of us will revert to walking in the lust of the flesh, craving, seeking and running down earthly things. As someone once said: ‘Oh, how soon we do forget!’ But please remember Friends, that the things of the world are fallible, deceitful and easily destroyed. However, the kingdom of God is infallible and indestructible, and will stand the test of time, long after this earth is no more. That’s why Jesus kept pounding the kingdom of God into our heads, hoping it would eventually percolate into our hearts and souls. ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt.6:33) Oh Friends, it’s so plain and simple: when we seek the spiritual things of God, all the material things of earth that we need, will be given to us by the Father. It seems though that we have to be continually reminded of that fact, since the pull of worldly things keep drawing us back to them like a magnet, like the earth and gravity. However, my beautiful fellow believers and followers of Jesus Christ, please let’s make this Easter Sunday of the year 2013 a most remarkable and memorable one, by faithfully pledging to our God, each other and ourselves to rise up higher, like Jesus, and also to remain faithful and true, showing the proper gratefulness and thanks for His awesome sacrifice and LOVE, by focussing steadfastly on His kingdom and doing the things necessary to further it. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Oh Friends, let’s celebrate our wonderful faith and glorious Saviour, Jesus Christ today in song, dance and true fellowship, and show the world by our deeds of LOVING-kindness in action, that we are indeed the salt of the earth and the light of the world, worthwhile leaders of the ongoing LOVE Revolution. That’s definitely wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!…to know, know, know Him…is certainly…to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…and after all He’s done for us…just to do His bidding…makes it all worthwhile…
30 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 20/20 vision, atonement, blood sacrifice, celebration, easter morning, Easter Sunday, foolish, Garden of Eden, glory, glory hallelujah, good cheer, Good Friday, grace, grateful, gratefulness, gullible, happiness, Holy Saturday, holy spirit, Jesus Christ, joy, joyful, lamb of god, LOVE, moderation, most significant event, Oh Happy Day, outward circumstances, rebellious, rejoice, Revelation, taking away sins, thankful, the Lamb of God, tribulation, true believer
John 1:29. The next day John (the Baptist) seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Oh Friends, it’s Holy Saturday, and Jesus is resting quietly in the tomb of the rich man, after being crucified between the two thieves to fulfill the scripture: ‘And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death…’ (Is.53:9a) He’s storing up His energy, so that bright and early tomorrow morning, Easter Sunday, He can rise up in full force and defeat those wicked and cruel, but oh so inferior enemies; Lucifer, death and the grave. And all of God’s people gave a mighty shout of ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Now Friends, I believe some of you might have taken umbrage (smile) at my wishing us all yesterday a happy Good Friday, wondering what could be so happy about a day of such cruelty and injustice. Granted it was a real sad day for those early Christians who didn’t understand what was happening. But for us, who luckily have the understanding from two thousand years of church history, it is somewhat different. For though we don’t, or didn’t want Jesus to die, please understand that without His death on Good Friday, there would have been no Easter morning for you to celebrate and be happy. When only happy circumstances make us emotionally happy, then we’re thinking like the world. But my brethren, for a true believer it’s not only our worldly circumstances that can make us happy. And the happiness – possibly happiness is the wrong word, since it denotes more of a reaction to outward circumstances. A more appropriate word might be joy, that constant levity in our souls, regardless of our outward circumstances. Even gratefulness or thankfulness might be more appropriate to the situation, for we’re not talking about a jumping up and down type of moment, but a deeper, more controlled emotion, whereby Jesus died to set us free from our ghastly sins. And if that isn’t something to be enormously grateful, thankful and joyful for, then I certainly don’t know what is! Why? Because it’s the most significant event in man’s history after God created us, but then was forced to kick our foolish, gullible and rebellious fore parents out of paradise in the Garden of Eden. And unfortunately, since then, that bequeathed foolish, gullible and rebellious streak in us has been uppermost in our history. And until Jesus came, there was very little opportunity to turn it around, even if we felt so inclined. And our Bit perfectly describes the whole enchilada. ‘The next day John (the Baptist) seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ The reference to the lamb there, brings into play the sacrificial lambs slaughtered for Passover and other Jewish feasts. The scholars add that ‘Some suggest that this may allude to the scapegoat (Lev.16), or to the suffering servant (Is.53:7) We dealt with that yesterday. I guess it could actually refer to all of them, for remember the Lord required blood sacrifices of His chosen people, Israel, as some form of payment, atonement for their sins. But here now, comes Jesus, the Son of God, the sinless one, to pay the rather steep price of sin for the entire world. Now isn’t that a genuine reason to be much more than saddened at His death? Why do you think it’s called Good Friday? Because it’s the day on which the best thing since creation ever happened to man! All his evil deeds have been paid for; from the beginning of time, right through to eternity. It was certainly done in a most cruel manner, but the reason behind it was the greatest token of true LOVE ever expressed! And in our 3 hour service yesterday afternoon, what do you think the youth group sang? ‘Oh Happy Day! When Jesus washed…When Jesus washed… He washed all my sins away.’ Remember also what Jesus told His disciples in the last days: ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33b) So where is that good cheer eh Friends? It’s supposed to be our constant companion, like the Holy Spirit. And remember too that Bruh Paul instructs us to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.’ (Phil.4:4-5) Not only is Jesus’ return imminent, but also His Spirit is always close by, thus we shouldn’t be afraid and anxious abut anything. Anyway Friends, I’m getting away from my original intention, to get into some scriptures that highlight Jesus’ basic purpose here on earth; to atone for the sins of the world. It begins with Isaiah’s prophecy of the suffering servant in chapter 53:11, that we quoted yesterday, which ends: ‘for he shall bear their iniquities.’ Then it advances to our Bit, and the actual act of sin payment, when Jesus declares on the cross: ‘It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.’ (John 19:30) Bruh Paul then takes up the baton and runs with it full speed, first telling the Corinthians: ‘For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.’ (1 Cor.15:3) Then he informs the Galatians: ‘Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world (age), according to the will of God and our Father. To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ (Gal.1:3-5) Next up is Peter, who declares: ‘Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness: By whose stripes ye were healed.’ (1 Pet.2:24) John then announces in his first epistle: ‘My little children, these things I write unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.’ (1 John 2:1-2) And finally, John ends the race on a winning note in Revelation, when he greets the seven churches in Asia. ‘And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten (born) of the dead; and the prince of (ruler over) the kings of the earth. Unto him that LOVED us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.’ (Rev.1:5) And all God’s people gave out a mighty and joyful shout up to heaven: ‘Oh Thank You sweet Jesus! We LOVE and adore You!’ Oh Friends, with all that scripture shoring up the strong foundation of the purpose of Christ’s death, how could we ever argue with it eh? No way Jose! And again I want to remind us in Bruh David’s famous and fateful words, that though ‘weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.’ (Ps.30:5b) And believe me my brethren, tomorrow morning will indeed be a most joyous morning! Just wait and see. Much LOVE!…though reality may cloud our sight with sadness…looking through the eyes of faith…gives us a 20/20 vision of joy…
22 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: anathema, christianity, confess Jesus Christ, confession, dumb idols, faith in Christ, fellowship, Friday chant, frolic, fun, God's glorious kingdom, God's Word, grace of God, human emotion, in the flesh, Jesus Christ, joy, LOVE, pagan worship, perfect harmony, real flesh and blood, relaxation, rest, righteousness., salvation, speaking in tongues, Spirit of God, spiritual gifts, spring, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, traffic jams, week of work, weekend, weekend gig
1 John 4:2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
Oh brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s Friday… And all around the world, joyous shouts rise up to heaven: ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday and labouring finish for another week yes!’ Well not quite mih breddren, because we still have to labour today Friday, but just the idea, the expectation of not having to face the evil, ungodly people we work with, the traffic jams and snowy, icy roads for a couple days raises the human emotion of joy to a higher level. And on that point, I looked outside just now and saw my driveway covered in snow. Hn! I thought this was supposed to be spring. But spring obviously hasn’t sprung as yet, because the banks of the roads are still snow covered, and instead of rain we’re getting flurries of the white stuff. In my area though we still need to be very thankful because we haven’t gotten as much snow as many other places. But back to our weekend gig. Just a reminder that it’s not all for fun and frolic. So let’s chant our Friday Chant that brings the whole situation into its proper perspective. All together now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ Yes my people, it’s all about resting up and fellowshipping so we can go back out next week and continue the battle in Jesus’ Name. Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.’ A most interesting Bit that my people! And we’ll continue from yesterday, where we saw that there are many false prophets and spirits trying to gain control of our lives, but there’s ONLY ONE, that’s truly worthwhile, that of Jesus Christ. And John told us that the easiest and best way to know whether there’s truth in a spirit or doctrine is if Christ is spoken of as being real flesh and blood, during His earthly sojourn. We also saw where Jesus declares that a lot of those claiming to be His followers will be turned away at the end time because they only had outward facades of Christianity, while their hearts were truly tuned into the frequency of Beelzebub. So Friends, a reminder that we have to be very particular of whom and what we let into our lives and our souls. Bruh Paul, in talking to the Corinthians about spiritual gifts, had this to say on the subject. ‘Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb (silent) idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed (anathema): and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.’ (1 Cor.12:2-3) Yes my brethren, if the Spirit of God is truly in us, we can’t speak badly of Jesus, and the only way we can acknowledge Him as Lord and Saviour is through the Holy Spirit. Now here’s some info from the scholars re the ‘Dumb idols: The pagan worship at Corinth involved a pagan exercise of “tongues.” The practice of “ecstatic utterances” was common in the cults and in the worship of various Greek gods and goddesses.’ I guess this could have an impact or caused some confusion between the idol worship and the Christian speaking in tongues, with the possibility of the idolaters using it to influence early Christians. Anyway, turning to Bruh Paul and the Romans. In speaking of righteousness being obtained by faith in Christ, he declares: ‘But what saith it? The word is nigh (near) thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed (put to shame).’ (Rom.10:8-11) And here’s an important note from the scholars on the last two verses. ‘Confession is made unto salvation: One is not saved by his mouth’s confession, but rather, the mouth testifies readily of the grace of God in Christ, which has been received by faith.’ That means salvation is much more than just confessing Jesus with our mouths. Our hearts, faith and the grace of God, all joined in perfect harmony, are necessary to be saved. Now that’s enough info for us to process today Friends, so we’ll end on that note. Tomorrow we’ll pick up the topic again, the Lord in favour, for there’s more scripture to be highlighted on this most important subject of divining the true Spirit of Christ. Till tomorrow then, please walk safely in fellowship with Almighty God and man. And may the Lord bless us and give us His awesome peace which passes all human understanding. Much LOVE!…it’s time for all believers to step up and sincerely…LOVE Our God…LIVE Our Faith…and SPREAD His Word…
07 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: anger, believers, blessings, boasts, discernment, faith, faithful believers, faithful promises, fruits of righteousness, glory of God, good works, goodness, grace, joy, joyous praise, lifeblood, mediocrity, pilgrimage, praise, Praise the Lord, prayer, religion, resentment, salvation, strength, thanksgiving, theology, triumph, ultimate purpose, victorious, wonderful god, worry
Philippians 1:11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
Oh Friends, what is your joy quotient this Thursday morning in March 2013 eh? Is it high, low, or just mediocre? I read an old Joel Osteen devotional earlier on that advised us to be always joyful, and today that advice just reverberated so strongly in me that I had to bring it to our attention. Why? Because I know that many of us, even faithful believers, have less, experience less than an adequate amount of joy on a regular basis. We still fret and worry too much, have too much resentment and anger in our souls, which only allows the wily Lucifer to suck the joy, the very lifeblood out of us. For remember, the joy of the Lord is our strength, (Neh.8:10) and without it, we’re helpless, useless, victims in waiting for all the negative actions and options of the evil one. So here’s a prayer taken from the devotional, which encourages us to up the level of our joy, and to keep it high at all times. Please pray with me: ‘Dear Father, thank You for filling my life with joy. Thank You that I am blessed and cannot be cursed. Thank You that in all things You cause me to triumph. Thank You for your strength within me that comes from that joy. I bless You today and rejoice in your goodness.’ And all God’s people declared a loud and joyous, ‘Praise the Lord! Amen.’ Yes Friends, today, and everyday, let’s prep ourselves early on, to rejoice in the goodness of our wonderful God nuh! What’s the purpose of having such a kind, LOVING and considerate God, whose Word abounds with so many faithful promises, if we just live in sadness and mediocrity, in worry and all the other negative things the world tries to get us involved in? We might as well have no God at all. Oh what a terrible, unthinkable thought! Anyway, with that exclusive joy of God in our hearts, let’s turn to our Bit. Sorry, not yet. First, let’s see what caused Bruh Paul to write our Bit. He’s writing from prison, talking about thanksgiving and prayer. ‘And this I pray, that your LOVE may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgement (discernment); That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.’ (Phil.1:9-10) And the scholars have a good comment on those verses. ‘Things that are excellent means “things that really matter.” This refers to important issues. As the Philippians’ LOVE increases in knowledge and discernment (v.9), they will be able to accurately distinguish the vital and worthwhile things in life from those that are not. Contextually, the readers’ LOVE for Paul vexes them as they are anxious over his imprisonment. He wants them to perceive his imprisonment as being among those “things that really matter” because of the good that God will bring out of it. The purpose for such discrimination is that ye may be sincere (or morally pure) and without offense till the day of Christ.’ Then comes our Bit: ‘Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.’ Please note Friends, we can’t do what our Bit talks about unless we have the joy of God securely planted in our souls. Now listen to the scholars’ comments on our Bit. ‘This verse could be translated, “Filled with the fruit that is righteousness, which comes through Jesus Christ for the purpose of glorifying and praising God.” The believer who is pure and without offense before God (v.10) has divinely developed in him a practical “righteousness” or daily moral life that measures up to God’s standards in character and conduct. The ultimate purpose for this “righteousness” is to glorify God.’ Yes fellow believers, let’s never forget that regardless of what we do or what happens to us, our ultimate purpose on this earth is to glorify the Most High God Jehovah! That’s why we’re filled with the Holy Spirit and the subsequent righteousness granted to us; all because of Jesus’ actions! So now, having made all of that understandable, (smile) let’s introduce some scripture that corroborates our Bit. For that we’ll turn to Ephesians, where Bruh Paul’s telling them of grace and faith. ‘For by grace are ye (you have been) saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any should boast. For we are his workmanship (creation), created in Christ Jesus unto (for) good works, which God hath before ordained (prepared) that we should walk in them.’ (Eph.2:8-10) That ought to put everything in its proper perspective my brethren: We were saved through the unmerited favour of God, so that nobody could boast of their good works. And also spiritually reborn through Jesus, so that we could then do good works. And we’ll close with a comment from the scholars on that subject. ‘The apostle’s thinking is this, since the Christian has been given spiritual life for the purpose of doing good works, there could have been no good works by him prior to conversion that would merit salvation. Good works follow – do not precede – salvation.’ And all God’s people said a loud and glorious ‘Amen!’ Yes Friends, please remember that our earthly pilgrimage is first and foremost about praising and glorifying our most wonderful God! Much LOVE!…to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…for without Him…we are nothing…nothing at all…
27 Feb 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: absolute hope, actions, Bible Study, blessed, Christian beliefs, christianity, confidence, darkest hour, deceitful, earthly pilgrimage, evildoers, exceedingly glad, faith, footstools, God's Word, hearts, heavy load, joy, maturity, mercy, minds, pain, powers of darkness, praise, psalm 21, religion, roadblocks, saviour jesus christ, sliding, slipping, souls, spirituality, surrender, thankfulness, treacherous, true believers, true wisdom, trust, unfortunate experience, uptempo dance, victory, virgin snow, weather forecasters
Psalm 21:6. For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
Oh Friends, it’s now the hour just before the dawn, long celebrated as the darkest hour of the night. But contrary to that statement, my area right now (4.30 a.m) is bright and beautiful, as everything is covered in a dazzling display of virgin snow. Even the leafless trees are shrouded in white, as the strong wind has them doing an uptempo dance to its unrelenting beat. The housetops, roads and cars parked there are also covered with the white stuff. It won’t stay beautiful for much longer though, as mankind begins to traverse his difficult and unruly way through it. As promised by the weather forecasters, it began in the early evening. When I went out for a few minutes around 7.30 p.m. it was merely wet snow. However, by 10 p.m. everything and everywhere was completely covered in white, looking beautiful, but in reality ever so treacherous and deceitful, like so many other beautiful things …and people… in our tumultuous world. And I certainly know who’s not going out there today! (smile) Don’t want to risk another unfortunate experience like the one I suffered in the last big snowfall a few weeks ago. Yes Friends, no more slipping and sliding, damaging my old car, getting stuck in my driveway and the lane. No siree! Oh Brother, I forgot that today is Wednesday; Bible Study day! But we’ll see how the weather and road cleaning shape up by Bible Study time in the evening. Anyway mih people, despite all the roadblocks that are put in our way in this earthly pilgrimage, we still need to live the life that Jesus desires of us. It’s only when we write His Word deep in our hearts, minds and souls, then live it out in our actions, that we can confidently say we are true believers in and followers of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And here I’ll share a li’l poem about that, by Eva Rose York (1858-1935), editor, teacher, organist and composer in western Ontario. It simply says: ‘I will not pass this way again; Then let me now relieve some pain, remove some barrier from the road, or brighten (lighten) someone’s heavy load.’ Oh Friends, it’s so touching in its simplicity, but yet so poignant with its message to Christians, as it encapsulates our Christian beliefs in those few words…show you care and help somebody. It can be a sort of mantra for us my brethren. I believe I’ve shared it before, but it’s says so much about us, that I felt compelled to share it again, especially in these rough times when we believers are less caring and action oriented that we ought to be. That brings us to our Bit, grateful words of Bruh David from Psalm 21, superscripted; Praise for victory. ‘For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad (joyful with gladness) with thy countenance (presence).’ Oh Friends, that state of thankfulness comes with the territory; surrendering one’s life to the Lord, putting your absolute hope, trust and faith in the ONE who created us. It shows maturity and true wisdom; a stage that as true believers we should all be striving for. Hear how Bruh David continues after our Bit: ‘For the king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved (shaken).’ (Ps.21:7) Awesome words of truth, my brethren! Oh how I desperately wish our leaders and those in power could gain such wisdom and the amazing power, grace and mercy that go with dedicating one’s life to walking with Jesus! What a wonderful place our world would be! But unfortunately the powers of darkness and the evildoers who currently rule the roost will not bow out or give up the fight very easily. But that’s why Bruh David is also confident that: ‘Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger; the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.’ (Ps.21:8-9) Yes Friends, when we walk sincerely with God, our enemies are defeated, either exterminated or brought low as our footstools. (Heb.10:13) With that also go these words from Psalm 45; A psalm for the king’s marriage. ‘Thou LOVEST righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above they fellows (companions).’ (Ps.45:7) Ah mih people, our God blesses us intentionally when we keep Him uppermost in all we do, especially if we’re people of privilege and power. And we’ll end with another verse of truth and wisdom from Bruh David, from Psalm 16, where he seeks preservation and blessing. ‘Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy: at thy right hand there pleasures for evermore.’ (Ps.16:11) Yes my fellow believers, all those things are entwined and embedded in our lives when we choose to walk with Almighty God, our wonderful Creator and Caretaker! Today, let’s raise our level of involvement with Him nuh, as true wisdom dictates. Much LOVE!…only when we associate closely with God…will our wrongs be made right…and our enemies be defeated…forever… P.S. This weather is really crazy yes! Would you believe it’s raining now (6 a.m) turning the snow to slush. Let’s hope it washes away everything before the temp falls later and it all turns to ice. Please be careful all of you who have to go out there. And if you don’t have to go, don’t go! (smile) Much LOVE!
15 Feb 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: be joyful always, blessings, curses, death, disobedience, divorce, eternal separation from God, famines, fellowship, fun, further God's kingdom, God's natural blessings, homelessness, iniquities, introspection, Jesus has defeated Lucifer, joy, Lent, magnanimity, mercy, negative stuff, pay a price, poverty, rebellion, refreshed soul, relaxation, removing God from society, rest, serve, sickness, sins, spend time with God, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the Lord is our strength, wages of sin, worship, wretched truth
Jeremiah 5:25. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
Oh Friends, it’s Friday! And suddenly I’m inundated by silence? No ‘TGIF’s! No ‘Thank God is Friday!’ Why is that eh? Is it because it’s the first Friday in Lent that we’ve lost our enthusiasm for the weekend? That shouldn’t be so my Friends. We should be happy and rejoicing every Friday, whether it’s Lent or not. That’s because the rejoicing is for the end of the labouring week. We finally have time to rest and relax, and spend even more time with our heavenly Father, than we do during the work-week. And anytime we get the chance to spend more time with the Father, oh mih people, that’s a serious cause for rejoicing! So let’s not stop being joyful, whatever the circumstances, for remember the joy of the Lord is our strength, (Neh.8:10) and if we allow the ‘thiefing’ Lucifer to steal it from us, then half of our life is lost. Remember Lucifer can’t take it unless we allow him to. In fact he can take nothing whatsoever from us unless we let it go, for he has no power over us, since Jesus has already won the war and defeated death, the grave and hell, Lucifer’s domains. So having all of that in mind, let’s enthusiastically chant our Friday Chant to get us in the right frame of mind for this first weekend in Lent. Like one big choir now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through. Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’ And let’s keep that fire burning all weekend please Friends! Get introspective, but with a good demeanour, not the sour, draggy, despondent, woe is me attitude so many of us believe is called for during Lent. Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.’ Oh my people, my people, those words are even truer today than they were when Jeremiah spoke then about Judah. And why are the good things withholden from us? It says right there in the Good Book: ‘But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone (departed).’ (Jer.5:23) And isn’t that more wretched truth again! In the last generation we have removed God so far from our lives that a great portion of the society has no idea of whom He is or what He stands for. And the sad part is that despite all the turmoil in our lives, we insist on further removing God from the small space He now occupies, instead of running to Him with open arms and repenting of our folly. As the scholars’ say of Judah’s rebellion: ‘Theirs was a stubborn willfulness that could only be termed utter folly (v 21). Accordingly, their lives are marked by deceit. Therefore, they have deprived themselves of God’s natural blessings. (cf.Deut.28:15-68)’ And that chapter of Deuteronomy is where the first 14 verses deal with blessings, and the remaining 54 deal with the curses that will ensue for disobedience. Oh Friends, that should be a telling tale to us today, because foolishly and proudly we have also deprived ourselves of God’s natural blessings through our constant rebellion and disobedience. Listen to the basic blessings of which we have deprived ourselves: ‘Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season; he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’ (Jer.5:24) Please note the many horrible natural and man-made disasters that have been striking our tragic world in unusual numbers over the last few years. Also the widespread famine, poverty, homelessness and sickness that’s uncharacteristically overtaken our world at the very height of its powers. No other generation on the face of the earth has ever been as advanced as ours, yet our world is suffering in the same areas of our prowess, much more than some of the lesser advanced generations ever suffered. We just have to look at the enormous strides we’ve made in agriculture, wealth, construction and medicine, to shake our heads and sadly wonder why in all those areas we’re still suffering immensely, when there’s no real need for it. And why is that, you wonder my brethren? Jeremiah gives us some insight into the problems by telling us how Judah turned from the Lord. ‘They say, if a man put away (divorces) his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall (would) not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lain with (violated). In the ways thou hast sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s (harlot’s) forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.’ (Jer.3:1-3) Ah Friends, that should speak severely to our consciences, because we have behaved, and are still behaving just like Judah did. But please remember the disastrous punishment they received; their cities devastated, and their people taken away captive to other lands. The Lord might not use the same punishment for us, but we WILL be punished if we continue in our rebellion and disobedience! And if you look around, you’ll see a whole lot of unusual negative stuff already happening in our society. So please let’s start paying serious attention to what’s happening around us, for the Lord is no respecter of persons or societies, and if we’re continually disobedient we’ll eventually pay. But the good news though is that with our wonderful and magnanimous God, while there’s life, there’s always hope. And that hope can be found in Jeremiah 3:4. ‘Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth?’ Yes Friends, if we cry unto the Lord in sincere repentance and change our wicked ways, and once again begin worshipping and serving Him in word and deed, then He’s merciful and magnanimous enough to forgive us. It’s our ONLY HOPE my people. And it’s the wisest bit of wisdom we can ever attain in this evil, ungodly world. So let’s get to it nuh! Much LOVE!…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…otherwise he’ll surely suffer the wages of sin…death…eternal separation from Almighty God…
14 Feb 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 1 corinthians 13, Ash Wednesday, christianity, clanging cymbals, Corinth, fasting, joy, Lent, lenten introspection, LOVE is the greatest, LOVE Revolution, motives of our hearts, sounding brass, speaking in tongues, spiritual happiness, spirituality, the LOVE of God, the Way of LOVE, Valentine's day
1 Corinthians 13:1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not LOVE, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling (clanging) cymbal.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY
Oh Friends, what a juxtaposition! Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season, where Christians are expected to pray, meditate and fast, in an attempt at introspection and getting closer to God. Today though, it’s Valentine’s Day; a day of celebration of LOVE, all be it with an emphasis on the romantic kind. But I guess as B.J. Thomas says in his old song; ‘A little bit of LOVE, is better than NO LOVE at all.’ And believe me Friends, there’s nothing that our confused, misled, troubled and misguided world is crying out more for than REAL LOVE! It’s somewhat sad though that this day of LOVE, although not a Christian holy day, has been so badly commercialized, just like some of the Christian holy days; for example, Christmas and Easter. But I suppose in this world where commerce and money trumps everything else, that’s to be expected. And in a sense, it does help the economy, so let’s not lose our joy over it. For you know my people, joy, that spiritual happiness we acquire when Jesus comes into out lives, is supposed to be a constant in a believer’s every waking and sleeping moment. So although this season of Lent invites us to be more serious about God, contemplating all that Jesus suffered and sacrificed for us, it in no way ought to detract from our joy of being a believer, a child of God, blessed with salvation and eternal life. When Jesus was in the wilderness fasting, His demeanour was obviously subdued, but I’m sure He did not lose His joy in His heavenly Father’s LOVE. Most likely it’s that joy which kept Him going. And neither should we lose our joy Friends. Lent and Valentine’s day are not mutually exclusive, especially if we’re pouring out the true LOVE of God from our hearts to our LOVED ones. For as our Bit so rightly proclaims: ‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not LOVE, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling (clanging) cymbal.’ And that’s the gospel truth my brethren! If we don’t have true LOVE, regardless of all the other good things we might possess, we are just loud, useless mouthpieces. And here’s some info from the scholars on that verse. ‘Tongues of men and angels: Such was the association of tongues speaking in pagan worship at Corinth. When a priest or devotee spoke in tongues, it was considered that he spoke the language of the gods.’ Unfortunately today some of us still believe that. So please let’s not make the Lenten Season, a droll, sad, unhappy one. It should be serious but that doesn’t mean unhappy as so many of us tend to believe and behave. And please don’t fast just because the season calls for it, or because everybody’s doing it. The purpose of fasting is to help you empty your body and soul of worldly things, which helps make a better spiritual connection to God. But not all of us are good fasters. I for one am a poor faster. But then again we have to consider how long we’re going to fast for. There’s nothing that says it has to be all day or all night. So if you feel you should fast, just do whatever you’re comfortable with. Fast for as long as you can handle. The Lord will understand. And don’t get all religious and penitent and look miserable and let the whole world know that you’re fasting, like the ole hypocrites and them. But look bright and fresh and continue showing the joy of your spirit and excellence in your work, as Jesus did. And if you can’t fast, I guess you can give up something you cherish for Lent. But there again I find myself in a quandary, for the Lord has also cut me right back to the minimum of activities, so I don’t have anything to really give up. He’s gradually weaned me off horses, making music, and other kinds of writing, except the Bit. I guess then I’ll just have to pray and meditate more, and show more LOVE. (smile) Right now I’m supposed to be doing a 12-hour fast for some blood tests, which to me is a big problem, cause it makes my gas problem even worse than it is. And to add to my misery, the daylight lab hours don’t coincide with my night owl tendencies. Anyway, hopefully I’ll get around to it soon, and not do like I did before, postpone it for over six months. That’s one of the reasons why I never discovered my cancerous prostate sooner, for though I didn’t need to fast for that particular test, it was listed on the requisition to be done at the same time as those that needed fasting. But above all my people, please let’s remember that whatever we do, to do it unto God and not man, because He’s not so much interested in the outward manifestation of our conduct, but more in the secret motives hidden deep in our hearts. Anyway Friends, be it too commercialized or not, today is Valentine’s Day, so, even if we do nothing else, let’s go out and spread LOVE; the LOVE that God has for us, and the LOVE that we have for our friends, families and neighbours. There’s no doubting that LOVE makes the world go round. Wish we could have Valentine’s Day every day. (smile) And why not eh? As far as Jesus is concerned everyday is a LOVE day, therefore all our days should be ones of LOVE. Consequently, let’s work seriously towards that goal nuh people, since our world so badly needs a LOVE Revolution, and only we believers are in a position to get that revolt going. And the exercise for the day is to read the LOVE Chapter – The Way of LOVE – 1 Cor.13, from which our Bit is taken. Ponder all it says, then let’s try to bring our individual lives into concert with it over the Lenten season. What a fitting exercise my brethren, to purge ourselves of all our unloving ways and feelings. (smile) Much LOVE!…and now abideth faith, hope, LOVE…these three…but the greatest of these is LOVE… (1 Cor.13:13)
03 Feb 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a present, accumulation of things, dust to dust, futility, happiness, joy, loving kindness, material possessions, mere mortals, naked, pain and suffering, reggae tunes, ride a donkey, righteousness., speed society, stress, the present, vanity
Ecclesiastes 5:15. As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
A blessed Sunday morning to you my Scrip-Bit Family and Friends! The Lord in His wisdom and LOVING-kindness has seen fit to grant us another day of life on earth. Paradoxically, today is considered both A present and THE present. It’s A present, in the sense of it being a gift from Almighty God, one which we ought to appreciate, value highly, use wisely and enjoy. And it’s also THE present, meaning a moment in time. In fact it’s the only time that we are sure of, because yesterday has already gone, and tomorrow has not yet arrived. That’s why we’re always encouraged to make the most of THE present time, that time we currently have before us. We ought not to waste it by constantly putting things off for tomorrow, things that we can do today or in THE present time, for who knows if tomorrow will ever come? So Friends, let’s get busy and use NOW as best we can nuh, since it’s all we’re guaranteed, for THIS NOW will never come again. And having tried to encourage us to get busy with the things that God has planned for us, let me share two lines from two different songs I heard yesterday that struck me as being very wise. Now don’t ask me the names of the songs or the singers because I wasn’t paying particular attention to them. I just know that they were two rollicking reggae tunes. The first line that jumped out at me was ‘the patient man rides a donkey.’ Now it took a couple seconds for the statement to percolate in the old mind, but then I said, ‘Hnnnn!’ That makes a lot of sense because a donkey travels slowly. And I guess that’s why very few of us use donkeys for travel nowadays, since we want to get everywhere like yesterday. Waiting or taking our time no longer cuts it in our fast-paced, nuclear speed society. But the wisdom my brethren, is that sometimes it’s best for us to just ‘Ride yuh donkey..’ (smile) And the second statement that struck me as being very perceptive was ‘the road to righteousness is sorrow,’ or something like that. I don’t agree with the statement as it’s written there, because though righteousness entails some sorrow, where one’s faith is tried, and hopefully strengthened, it doesn’t mean that to be righteous, one must always be sorrowful or face great sorrow. I’d probably say that the road to righteousness definitely encompasses sorrow, for a righteous life is also one filled with joy and moments of happiness, though we all need some pain and suffering to keep us pliant and humble in God’s eyes, as well as remind us that we are mere mortals made from dust and to which dust we shall all eventually return. That means chasing the material things and pleasures of the world in order to hoard them is basically senseless, since we cannot carry them with us, and generally speaking our families, friends and foes end up fighting and squabbling for those material things when we die. That’s exactly why the Preacher in our Bit warns us of the vanity, the futility of running down earthly things. ‘As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.’ But we’ve been so brainwashed by Lucifer and his evil, worldly minions that though many of us know the truth of the statement, we still kill ourselves to get and/or accumulate the things of the world. Consequently, stress is the biggest killer in our society today, because we’re all so busy running down the almighty dollar for what it can purchase, or the status symbol its accumulation represents. Yuh ever notice though Friends, that when we rode donkeys, stress wasn’t a much used word in the vocabulary? That’s because we were patient, took our time and wasn’t always in a hurry to get somewhere or do something, or trying to multi-task. Steups! As the Preacher, most likely Cousin Sol continues, for back then he was the only one who had the time, money and wisdom to conduct the necessary experiments. ‘And this is also a sore (severe) evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that he hath laboured for the wind?’ (Eccl.5:16) None whatsoever my brethren! But unfortunately that doesn’t seem to matter to mankind today, for we still keep on struggling to be rich and powerful when it can all be taken away in a matter of seconds. And one of the best examples of that is Job, when tragedy strikes him down at the height of his wealth and power. But what is his response? He tears off his clothes, shaves his head falls down ad worships and says: ‘Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.’ (Job 1:21-22) Now Job was obviously devastated, but he understood the principle, while knowing deep down that he had not committed any serious wrongdoing to bring such punishment to pass, as his friends later intimated. Bruh David also understood this, as he warns in Psalm 49 – Trust in God, not in wealth. ‘Be thou not afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.’ (Ps.49:16-17) And we’ll end with some immortal words of Bruh Paul to Timothy on the subject. ‘But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.’ (1 Tim.6:6-7) Yes Friends, our God, in his infinite wisdom planned it that way, so we can see the relative insignificance of material wealth, and the great importance of spiritual things. Please listen to Him. Much LOVE!…but thou, O man of God…flee these things…and follow after…righteousness, godliness, faith, LOVE, patience, meekness… (1 Tim.6:11)
22 Jan 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: corruption, do good unto all, everlasting life, fever, fresh cold, giving thanks, joy, no more negativity, Praise the Lord, reap in joy, sow in tears, sow to the flesh, sow to the Spirit, steadfast faith in Jesus, we can overcome, whatever we sow we shall reap, with trumpets and cymbals
Psalm 126:5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Oh Friends, like the old Jamaican music icon Prince Buster says in his song: ‘I feel so mash up today.’ Unfortunately though, it’s not from excess sexual activities, as he means (smile) but from the ravages of a cold and fever that’s been attacking my ole body for the last two days. And sadly it’s still not done yet. Ah mih breddren, I haven’t had a cold like this, what the ancients would call a real fresh cold, with my nose constantly blocked up but yet running, since I don’t know when. And I haven’t had a fever for even longer than that. Subsequently I’ve forgotten how lousy and miserable they make you feel. The fever was a real eye opener yes! I ached and pained in places I didn’t even know I could ache and pain in. Hn! Sometimes I didn’t even know whether I was coming or going. I’ve seen how it affects the duchess, but as they say, you never know what something is really like until you experience it yourself. Internally, I felt as cold as ice, while externally my body felt like it was on fire. Chuh! And obviously when I enquired of the Lord as to the purpose for this unexpected suffering, I got no answer. But I was lucid enough between my moans and groans to give Him thanks and affirm that though I didn’t understand or like what was happening, I was confident that it would pass – the problem though was how soon – and He would eventually work everything out for my good as He has promised in His Word. But Friends, I must admit that the Lord was merciful in one respect. He didn’t allow the cough to come on too. Otherwise that would have been the end of me, for the few times I chucked, it felt as though my head would split open. And the coughing would only have brought on my asthma. So at least I have that to be thankful for. (smile) Anyway, enough of my problems, some people have plenty worse ones. Let’s turn to our Bit: ‘They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.’ Yes my brethren, that’s the Lord’s promise to those who believe in Him and faithfully walk His path regardless of whatever comes against them. Now let’s continue to look at some scripture that reflects that promise. We’ll begin way back in the days of Ezra, when some of the Jews returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon and began rebuilding the Lord’s sanctuary. ‘And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests (the priests stood) in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang together by course in (responsibly) praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice, and many shouted aloud for joy; So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. (Ezra 3:10-13) Oh my brethren, yuh see how great was the joy of the people, especially the old folks who had known the old temple and never believed they would live to see the foundations of a new one laid. You couldn’t even discern the shouts of joy from that of the weeping. They had sown in tears of faith in their long exile and captivity in Babylon, and eventually the Lord had worked on the hearts of the pagan kings to give them permission and provision to return to their homeland, so they were able to shed tears of joy at the rebuilding of the Lord’s house. Our next scripture comes from Galatians, where Bruh Paul warns the believers: ‘Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (do not lose heart). As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.’ (Gal.6:7-10) Oh Friends, in truth, what we sow, we shall surely reap. But hear the greatest promise of all nuh. It comes from Revelations, where John sees the new heaven and the new earth. ‘And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle (presence) of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and he shall be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.’ (Rev.21:3-4) Oh my people, if we stay faithful and strong, sowing good seed even in our time of misery and disaster, all those tears of sorrow, will be replaced by ones of Joy, when Jesus returns to claim His kingdom. So please, let’s hold on tightly to that most magnificent promise, and stay rooted and purposed in Jesus, whatever comes our way. Remember, the smart money is on Jesus. Much LOVE!…whatever the problem…we can overcome it…through steadfast faith in Jesus…
21 Jan 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: aura of love, bringing in the sheaves, communion with Jesus, holy spirit, humble servants, joy, Monday Morning, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, reap in joy, rejoicing, rejuvenation of spirit, sow in tears, sure conquerors, TGIM, Thank God it's Monday, weary souls
Psalm 126:5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Aw Friends, it’s Monday again… And behold I am suddenly bombarded by hooting and hollering, clapping and joyful shouts of ‘TGIM! Thank God it’s Monday!’ Hn! And see me just standing there nuh, rooted to the ground in shock, my mouth and eyes opened wide in surprise and amazement. Okay, okay, so I have the cold, and it might just be making me a touch light-headed. But doesn’t that reaction to a Monday morning just sound wonderful? God’s children ecstatic to go out on the first day of the work week, couldn’t be anything but wonderful…and miraculous too! That’s what I’m hoping for, working towards and praying on. And one day, with the Good Lord’s help obviously, I’m going to achieve that goal, because I believe, and I have faith. (smile) Oh my people, for the few that are above par this morning, and for the many that are sub-par, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn as if we really mean it nuh. Let’s put our whole being into it. Let’s wake up the heavenly hosts this morning with a real rousing rendition of our battle Hymn. All together now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ Awright mih breddren! All heaven sat up and took notice, riotously applauded and even gave us a Standing O. Wow! Let’s go out now and put all those daring words into action and make Jesus real proud of us. Yes my fellow followers of Christ, though it’s hard on plenty of us this Monday morning, let’s get out there and bring what our Bit says to fulfilment. ‘They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.’ And that’s the gospel truth Friends! As the verse after the Bit rightly declares: ‘He that goeth forth (to and fro) and weepeth, bearing precious seed (for sowing), shall doubtless come again with rejoicing (shouts of joy), bringing his sheaves with him.’ (Ps.126:6) And I’m talking here from hard, personal experience, not hearsay, because right now I’m feeling crappy, what with the constant sneezing, my nose sore and running like a pipe and all the various other aspects of the common cold, but the Lord, in His eternal wisdom raised the level of joy in my spirit, caused me to write our entertaining intro, then led me to an appropriate Bit. There were some other interesting ones, but as soon as I saw that one, I knew that it was destined for today. Chuh! I hate having to stop every so often and gingerly wipe my sore nose! But anyway mih people, let’s ramp up our joy today nuh! As I keep reminding us, Christians should be the happiest and most joyful people on planet earth. What with all the good news and stuff we have to look forward to in communion with Jesus, who wouldn’t be joyful eh? But sadly, we’re still some of the most rude, grouchy, unmannerly, gloomy, miserable, resentful people around, even though we live in one of the most prosperous and free areas of the world. Now let’s look at some scripture that talks about the joy of the believer, the joy inherent in believing. First off is Isaiah, re Israel restored to the glory of Zion. ‘And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.’ (Is.35:10) And Isaiah was so sure of that promise, that he repeats it almost word for word in Chapter 51:11. Please read that for yourself. Meanwhile, Jeremiah, also in talking about the restoration of Israel, proudly proclaims: ‘They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first born. Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles (coastlands) afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for (new) wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a (well) watered garden; and they shall not sorrow anymore at all. Then shall the young virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate (fill) the soul of the priests with fatness (abundance), and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord.’ (Jer.31:9-14) Oh Friends, I didn’t plan to put in all of that, but after reading it, and hearing the wonderful promises, I had no choice. That means we’ll have to leave the rest until tomorrow, God willing. But my people, what more can we ask of our great, LOVING, merciful and forgiving God eh? Nothing really! For He’s kept all of His promises, given us His heart of LOVE, His Holy Spirit, and His sacrificed Son. There’s no more left to give, so let’s appreciate it, and as obedient followers, go out and do the same; give of ourselves, sow good seeds even in our most difficult times, so that eventually we shall reap an abundant harvest of joy. That’s our raison d’être here on earth. So let’s do it without too much complaining. Remember, Jesus never complained about the terrible ordeal He suffered to save our unworthy sinful souls, and neither should we. Much LOVE!…remember that old hymn…bringing in the sheaves…bringing in the sheaves…we shall come rejoicing…bringing in the sheaves…
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