29 Mar 2026
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a big day in Christianity, a very great multitude spread their garments in the way, all the city was moved saying Who is this, all the tribes Hosanna cry, and if any man say ought unto you, and when he was come into Jerusalem, bethpage, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord, bow thy meek head to mortal pain, death waiting in the wings, declaring the end from the beginning, faith, from ancient times the things are not yet done, go into the village opposite you, having salvation, he is just, holy spirit, Hosanna in the highest, Hosanna to the son of David, I will do all my pleasure, in a place where two ways met, in lowly pomp ride on to die, Jesus arrives in full declaration of His kingship, Jesus Christ, Jesus officially offered himself to Israel, Jesus' thousand year reign on earth, Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, joyful, King of Kings, look down with sad and wondeing eyes, loose them and bring them unto me, Lord of Lords, LOVE, loved anointed son, lowly backgrounds, majestic entrance, mercy, my counsel shall stand, O Saviour meek, others cut down branches from trees, over captive death and conquered sin, Palm Sunday, pursue thy road, put their clothes on them, rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion, remember the former things of old, Ride On ride on in majesty, riding on the colt of an ass marked the official entry of Israel's kings, riding upon an ass, salvation, scintillating, shout O daughter of Jerusalem, slated for a sacrificial death, spread them in the road, straightway he will send them, straightway ye shall find an ass and a colt with her, strawed them in the way, sweet sacrifices of praise, take O God Thy power and reign, tears of sadness, tell ye daughter of Sion, ters of joy, that it might be fulfilled, the angle hosts beyond the sky, the assurance of power in Jesus' directive, the assurance of prophecy, the BIBLE, the foal of an ass, the last and fiercest strife is nigh, the long awaited Messiah, the Lord hath need of them, the Mount of Olives, the multitude said, the multitudes cried, the prophecy of Isaiah, there is none like me, they brought the ass and the colt, they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, they set Jesus thereon, this is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee, thy Father on the sapphire throne, thy king cometh unto thee, thy triumpgs now begin, to see the approaching sacrifice, truth, upon a colt, weighed down with sadness, what do ye loosing the colt, which was spoken by the prophet, wisdom, with palms and scattered garments strewed, Zechariah's prophecy re Palm Sunday
Matthew 21:9b. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
Come on down my fellow believers, it’s Sunday, and one of the big days in our faith. You cannot afford to miss this glorious day we call Palm Sunday when our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ made His triumphant kingly entry into the city of Jerusalem! And it all began with a prophecy that was backed up by God’s Spoken and Purposed Will, as was declared by the prophet Isaiah. ‘Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.’ (Is. 46:9-10)
Right there friends, we have the assurance that all of the prophecy in the Bible will eventually come through, because the Lord said so. And He has no cause to lie. (smile) And we’ll prove the accuracy of those statements right now with this prophecy from Zechariah, re Psalm Sunday. The prophet reassures his people. ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy king cometh unto thee: he is just (righteous) and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.’ (Zech, 9:9)
Thus said Zechariah many years before Jesus appeared on earth. And here’s how Matthew describes the reality of the situation on that amazing Sunday morning, some two thousand years ago. ‘And when they (Jesus and the disciples) drew nigh (near) unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethpage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them, Go into the village over against (opposite) you, and straightway ye shall find and ass (donkey) tied, and a colt with her: loose (untie) them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought (anything) unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.’ (Matt. 21:1-3)
Yes friends, we can see the assurance of power in Jesus’ directive. There was no hemming and hawing about them getting the donkey and its colt, just say that the Lord needed them, and they would be sent right away. How many of us have that kind of power and can wield it wisely? Not too many of us. Anyway, Matthew then writes: ‘All of this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek (lowly), and sitting upon an ass (donkey), and a colt the foal of an ass.’ (Matt. 21:4-5)
Now that was the prophecy, let’s see if it plays out the way it was prophesied. Matthew doesn’t give us any insight into what happened when the disciples went to gather the donkey and her colt, he simply writes: ‘And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them.’ (Matt. 21:6) But Mark does. He informs us: ‘And they (the two disciples) went their way, and found the colt tied without (outside) in a place where two ways (streets) met; and they loose (untied) him. And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.’ (Mark 11:4-6)
Then Matthew continues the story. ‘And they brought the ass (donkey), and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him (Jesus) thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way (road); others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed (spread) them in the way (road). And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.’ (Matt. 21:7-11)
Oh my people, what a great day that was in Jerusalem, as the scholars say that Jesus officially offered Himself to Israel as her long awaited Messiah. And Hosanna means ‘Please save.’ Meanwhile they conclude: Riding on the colt of an ass marked the official entry of Israel’s kings. Thus Jesus arrives in the full declaration of His kingship.’ Just like He will again when He comes back to reign on earth for a thousand years. And having heard the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry, let’s offer up sweet sacrifices of praise in an old hymn written especially to celebrate that occasion by Henry Milman in 1820. And it’s most appropriately titled: ‘Ride on, Ride on in Majesty!’
And there’s only one way to sing this song; in a rich, soulful, enthusiastic, scintillating, joyful, mid-tempo version. So, singing: ‘Ride on, ride on in majesty; hark, all the tribes Hosanna cry. O Saviour meek, pursue thy road with palms and scattered garments strewed. Ride on, ride on in majesty; in lowly pomp ride on to die. O Christ, thy triumphs now begin o’er captive death and conquered sin. Ride on, ride on in majesty; the angel hosts beyond the sky look down with sad and wondering eyes to see the approaching sacrifice. Ride on, ride on in majesty; the last and fiercest strife is nigh. Thy Father on the sapphire throne expects thee, LOVED, anointed Son. Ride on, ride on in majesty; in lowly pomp ride on to die. Bow thy meek head to mortal pain; then take, O God, thy power and reign.’
What beautiful sentiments my people, encompassing Jesus’ magnificent entry into Jerusalem, as well as noting that though riding high just then, He was slated soon thereafter for a sacrificial death. And I’ve always been partial to this particular line: ‘Ride on, ride on in majesty; in lowly pomp ride on to die.’ See how it ties the two activities together; riding in majesty today with death waiting in the wings.
And I can just imagine the angels in heaven looking down on Jesus ‘with sad and wondering eyes to see the approaching sacrifice.’ They knew how the whole situation would change dramatically and drastically in a week’s time. But there was nothing anyone could do, for that’s how the Father planned it from the beginning of time. And what better way to put it than: ‘Ride on, ride on in majesty; the last and fiercest strife is nigh. Thy Father on the sapphire throne expects thee, LOVED, anointed Son. Ride on, ride on in majesty; in lowly pomp ride on to die.’
Yes friends, Jesus rode on in lowly pomp and died for us, but the best is yet to come, as the song says: ‘Bow thy meek head to mortal pain; then take, O God, thy power and reign.’ Yes, in due course of time, Christ will have annihilated all His enemies and will eventually, take His throne as King of Kings and Lords of Lords. For, once more, that’s the way the Father planned it, and therefore, that’s how it will turn out! Enjoy today’s majestic entrance, for next week we will be weighed down with sadness at Jesus’ sacrificial death! Much LOVE!
…today’s tears of joy…will be next week’s tears of sadness…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
08 Dec 2024
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a multitude of heavenly host, Adeste Fidelis, Advent, begotten, begotten not created, Bethlehem, Bible, born of a virgin, born this happy morning, candle of hope, Christ the Lord, christianity, Christmas time, confident expectancy, curiosity, eager anticipation, faith, fear not, feed trough, fellowship, for all that they had heard and seen, glorifying and praising God, Glory to god in the highest, God of God, good tidings of great joy, Herpd, holy spirit, humility - the trademark of Jesus, is born a Saviour, Jesus Christ, Jesus is the reason for the season, Jesus sacrificed himself for our salvation, joyful, laid him in a manger, light of light, LOVE, mercy, nothing's impossible for God, now in flesh appearing, O come all ye faithful, O come let us adore Him, of the line of David, on earth, peace good will to men, praising God, registered for a census, salvation, shall be a sign unto you, the Birth of Christ, the blessing of Jesus, the days were accomplished, the glory of the Lord shone around them, the true god, the very essence of humility, the Word of the Father, triumphant, truth, unto you this day, we greet thee, while shepherds watched their flocks, wisdom, word of the Father, wrapped him in swaddling clothes
Luke 2:14. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And the days are running fast ahead. Can you imagine it’s already the 8th of December, a month that began just a few days ago? (smile) It’s also the Second Sunday of Advent, our season of waiting for the birth of Christ, and His eventual Second coming in all His glory. And today we light a second purple candle that signifies our hope in Christ. And as this commentary tells us: ‘Hope has two meanings in the Bible: First, Tikvah, depicts the sense of eager anticipation or waiting. The second, Elpis, is used when explaining a sense of confident expectation based on certainty.’
And are we ever waiting with a sense of eager anticipation, with a sense of confident expectation, based on the certainty that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is coming back, because He promised it, and He never reneges on His promises. So, today, we’ll open our session of fellowship in the Lord’s sanctuary with this popular Christmas Hymn, ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful,’ an adaptation of a Latin hymn ‘Adeste Fidelis,’ written sometime in the eighteenth century by author(s) unknown.
The song deals with the biblical story of the birth of Christ and the shepherds to whom the angels made the first announcement of His miraculous birth, and then their going to Bethlehem to adore their new-born, Saviour. However, in these current tremulous and turbulent times, the hymn signifies and celebrates our coming together in worship to adore the LOVING blessing of Jesus, as He sacrificed Himself for our salvation. So, knowing all that, let’s raise up our sweet sacrifices of praise in a rich, scintillating, heartfelt, up-tempo version of the song.
Singing: ‘O come, all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, Born the King of Angels! (Chorus: O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.) God of God, light of light, Lo, he abhors not the Virgin’s womb; True God, begotten, not created: (Chorus)
O Sing, choirs of angels; sing in exultation O sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above. Give to our Father, Glory in the highest! (Chorus) Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning; Jesus, to Thee be the glory giv’n; Word of the Father, Now in the flesh appearing, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.’
Wonderful friends, wonderful! Heaven certainly knows that we appreciate Jesus’ birth way back then, as He came to provide forgiveness and salvation for us, something that no one else could do! And at that time, because of a decree from Herod that all the world should be taxed or registered for a census, it meant all the men going to their hometowns. Consequently, Joseph and a very pregnant Mary, Jesus’ parents, were forced to travel to Bethlehem because he was of the line of David.
The Bible tells the story thus: ‘And so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished (completed) that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger (feed trough); because there was no room for them at the inn.’ (Luke 2:6-7) Can you imagine that, the Lord allowing His Son to be born in a stable and placed in a feed trough as His cradle? That was the very essence of humility, which came to be Jesus’ trademark.
And the scholars tell us that swaddling clothes were bandage-like strips of cloth wrapped around an infant to ensure that the limbs would grow straight. Not to swaddle a child would be a form of abuse (Ezek. 16:2-4) This wrapping would aid the shepherds in identifying Jesus.
‘The Bible then continues: ‘And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon (stood before) them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore (greatly) afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David (Bethlehem) a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger (feed trough).’ Luke 2:8-12)
Now, that sudden appearance of an angel with such news would have been enough to frighten even the most courageous of men, but to mix it up even further, the Bible continues: ‘And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ (Luke 2:13-14) There again, can you imagine a host of heavenly angels coming down to earth and singing before you? But remember, nothing’s impossible for out great God! But the Lord’s birth and the praise of the angelic host signified that peace and goodwill were being brought to earth for all men to enjoy…if they desired it.
The Bible then says: ‘And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which the Lord hath made known to us.” (Luke 2:15) Obviously their inquisitiveness or curiosity was greater than their fear. ‘And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all that heard it wondered (marvelled) at those things which were told by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.’ (Luke 2:16-20)
Yes friends, from the very beginning the Lord intended His Son to be a lowly born human being, although He was indeed great and mighty in His own right. And yuh see whom He chose to be the first to receive the news; lowly shepherds watching their flocks in the night. That again speaks of the low-level introduction that the Lord desired of Jesus and His birth. And for all the things that He has done for us, appearing in the flesh as a man, we certainly ought to be joyful and triumphant, adoring Him with all of our hearts, souls, bodies and minds!
Yes! For He’s the True God, born of a virgin, begotten, not created, the Word of the Father, God of God, light of light and so many other things, that it would take us all day to name them! (smile) But friends, let’s enjoy this Christmas season, as we remember that Jesus is the reason for it, not the festivities surrounding it! Much LOVE!
… at Christmas time…it is essential that we remember Jesus…and what His birth signified…
Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien
16 May 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: back in business, born of God, calamity, call upon him in truth, can't talk love, deadly sin, delight thyself also in the Lord, do good, dreams and desires, drunk or sober, dwell in the land, exceeding glad, Friend Anselm, fulfill the desire, God is ensconced therein, Granny's warning, greenery of spring, he shall give thee, he shall not be moved, honour, inflame our hearts, joy in thy strength, joyful, knoweth god, lead into temptation, length of days, look expectantly to you, LOVE, love is an action word, LOVE is of God, LOVE one another, Love the Lord thy God, Love thy neighbour as thyself, love yourself enough, majesty, mind yuh business, of them that fear Him, overwhelming factor, pandemic, restrictions, shall be fed, show it in spades, spring, te king trusteth in the Lord, the blessings of goodness, the desires of thine heart, the devil on the prowl, the eyes of all, the Lord put in our hearts, the mercy of the Most High, the number one thing, the request of his lips, thy contenance, tough times, trust in the Lord, Victoria Day weekend, wait upon thee, with all thy heart mind and soul, work harder
Psalm 37:4. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
And at long last it does look and feel like spring! Wow! It’s such a beautiful, sun shiny day out there, clean and bright, with most of the trees now dressed in their greenery of spring, instead of the bare, dead-like branches they’ve had for way too long! And since it’s the beginning of the long Victoria Day weekend, you know that despite the pandemic and restrictions and what not, many of us are going to be gearing up for weekend celebrations. But friends, I implore us to be careful.
In the first place, please remember Granny’s warning: ‘Sonny Boy, drunk or sober, please mind yuh business!’ Haven’t heard that for a long time eh? (smile) And the next thing is to remember that this Covid-19 sickness doesn’t take a holiday; it’s always on the lookout for somebody to infect. It’s like the devil, always on the prowl looking for someone to tempt and lead into deadly sin. So have some fun, more than we’ve probably had in a few months, but please, please, be careful, follow all the golden rules of this pandemic so that we can stay alive and enjoy the good and abundant life that Christ died for us to have!
And since today is Saturday, we’ll mosey along and see what goodies our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. Aw shucks! He sent us only one quote all week! Wonder what’s up with him? I hope he’s not sick, haven’t caught this virus business. And we pray that whatever the reason, the Lord will rectify it, and that he’ll be back in business this coming week. But even the one quote he sent us is an interesting one: ‘LOVE yourself enough to work harder.’
I don’t know about you all nuh, but I could certainly take that as my motto right now in these lazy, dreary, dispassionate days I’m now experiencing. Ah friends, what better motive can we get to work harder and better than a sincere desire to improve ourselves eh? Ofttimes we tend to work harder to please others rather than to please ourselves, but it’s ever so important for us to work towards the dreams and desires the Lord’s placed in our hearts. Otherwise what’s our purpose on planet earth eh? What good are those God-given desires if we don’t fulfill them eh?
Bruh David puts it thus: ‘Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed (feed on His faithfulness). Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.’ (Ps. 37:3-4) Yeh friends, to truly achieve the desires of our hearts, we must first delight ourselves in the Lord our God, for He is the One who makes those desires come true! And as Bruh David said earlier from Psalm 21 – Praise for victory. ‘The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not witholden (withheld) the request of his lips. Selah.
For thou preventest (meeteth) him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him. For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad (joyful) with thy countenance (presence). For the king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved (shaken).’ (Ps. 21:1-7)
Yuh see friends, the Lord planted desires in our hearts when He made us, and consequently only He can grant those desires, make them come true. And we turn once more to Bruh David’s writings (smile). ‘The eyes of all wait upon thee (look expectantly to you); and thou givest them their meat (food) in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy (gracious) in all his works.
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them that LOVE him: but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.’ (Ps. 145:15-21)
Ah precious people, everything in this world boils right down to LOVE: to achieve our desires and do God’s will, there must be true LOVE in our hearts for God, for ourselves and our fellow man. Remember Jesus’ words when asked which was the greatest commandment. ‘Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matt. 22:37-40)
Therefore my fellow believers, in these tremulous and rather turbulent times, it is of the utmost importance that we understand that LOVE must be the NUMBER ONE THING, the overwhelming factor in our lives, if we’re to successfully navigate and circumvent the calamity and exceedingly tough times that lay ahead of us. We can’t simply talk it, we need to show it in spades, for LOVE is an action word!
And we’ll end today with these most fitting words of John from his first epistle. ‘Beloved, let us LOVE one another: for LOVE is of God; and every one that LOVETH is born of God, and knoweth God.’ (1 John 4:7) It can’t be put any plainer and clearer than that friends! Much LOVE!
…true LOVE can only inflame our hearts and souls…if God is truly ensconced therein…
15 Dec 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a covenant to the Jews, a light to the Gentiles, abominable sins, Adeste Fidelis, all things are of God, Bethlehem, can't trust nobody, Christ the Lord, Christmas, citizens of heaven, come and adore Him, compassion, fake news, festive season, giveth breath, good thing we have Jesus, goodness, is fulfilled in your ears, joyful, king of angels, lift up your heads, mercy, mighty in battle, Nazareth, O come all ye faithful, rain, Simeon, sing in exultation, snow, strong and mighty, the king of glory, the Lord, this day, this scripture, triumphant, undeserving children of men, warmth
Luke 4:21. This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears (hearing).
Ah mih people, I don’t know where or how the weather people come up with their info nuh! Remember yesterday I said it was supposed to be rain with some ice pellets later in the day? Well yuh better believe that by the time I came upstairs from writing the Bit, outside was white, and it wasn’t no ice pellets nuh, but heavily falling snow, and by the evening hours it had turned back to rain again. Chuh! Yuh can’t trust nobody nowadays nuh! No wonder the man calls it all ‘fake news.’ (smile)
What a good thing we have Jesus yes my people, else I don’t know what we’d do. He’s the Only One who keeps His promises, the Only One faithful to His word these days. And that’s the very reason we’re in His sanctuary today; to give Him thanks and praise for His faithfulness, for His goodness and mercy towards the undeserving children of men.
And as we get into the festive season of Christmas, where we celebrate His earthly birth, His first coming as a babe in swaddling clothes, in the appearance of a man, through His incarnate Birth, let’s remember that that occasion was one of the most momentous in man’s history, the greatest gift given to mankind after the Lord breathed His breath of life into our mortal souls.
So let’s celebrate those facts now by opening the proceedings with one of our favourite songs for this special season, titled ‘O Come All Ye Faithful.’ Now it’s an adaptation of the Latin hymn ‘Adeste Fidelis’ meaning ‘Come you faithful ones.’ But there’s no agreement as to who wrote the English version.
However as one web site describes it. ‘This popular Christmas Hymn harkens to the biblical story of the birth of Christ. It is considered a reference to the shepherds, after hearing the angels singing, coming to Bethlehem to adore their new-born savior. Today this hymn signifies and celebrates our coming together in worship to adore the LOVING blessing of Jesus, as He sacrificed Himself for our salvation.’ Wow! It couldn’t be said any better!’
So let’s do just that nuh; worship together in song, as we prepare to welcome the birth of our saviour. All together in strong voice, sweet harmony and sincere hearts: ‘O come, all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, Born the King of Angels! (Chorus: O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.) God of God, light of light, Lo, he abhors not the Virgin’s womb; True God, begotten, not created: (Chorus)
O Sing, choirs of angels; sing in exultation, O sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above. Give to our Father, Glory in the highest! (Chorus) Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning; Jesus, to Thee be the glory giv’n; Word of the Father, Now in the flesh appearing, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.’
Beautiful friends, just beautiful! True and praise worthy sentiments sung in sincere and praise worthy fashion! And an interesting thought just occurred to me: Does Jesus remember every year at Christmas, the time He came to earth, and does He celebrate His earthly birthday every year in heaven like we do on earth? And the same questions can be asked for such momentous occasions in His earthly life like Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday? Does He sit alone, somewhere quiet and ruminate on those oh so important occasions?
Or does He even sit with the Father, who apologizes for having to put Him through the ringer, abuse and forsake Him, because there was absolutely no other way to pay for the abominable sins of mankind? And I’m sure Jesus doesn’t hold it against the Father, but understands the bind that the Father had found Himself in, because that’s the understanding kind of person He is. (smile) Oh friends, it’s impossible not to LOVE Jesus when you truly know Him yes; know His warmth and compassion and care for us lost sheep. And I’m chuckling here. Look how all yuh have me gone off on a tangent here eh, instead of sticking to the script!
And what is the script you ask? Well, though we might sing about Jesus, it all has to do with the glory of God. That’s what everything is about. As Bruh David said in his psalm – the King of glory: ‘Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.’ (Ps.24:7-8) Yes friends, that’s the King of glory – the Lord God Almighty! And Isaiah puts it thus when he speaks of the servant (Jesus) coming to glorify the Lord.
‘Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of (to) the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold the former things have come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.’ (Is.42:5-9)
Ah my people, that was God’s promise of His Messiah – a covenant for the Jews, and a light to the Gentiles! And we all know it came to pass in the coming of Jesus. And Luke tells of the prophet Simeon who had been promised life until he saw the Lord’s Christ. When Jesus was presented at the temple, Simeon, through the awesome power of the Holy Spirit knew who he was, took him in his arms and blessed God, and repeated the words of Isaiah: ‘A light to lighten (to bring revelation to) the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.’ (Luke 2:32).
And when Jesus taught in His hometown of Nazareth, He read Isaiah’s prophecy and promise from Chapter 49, verses 6-9, (Luke 4:18-19) basically the same ones in Chapter 42 above, foretelling the Messiah’s coming. Then He told them: ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears (hearing).’ And when we hear it two thousand years later my people, it’s still blessing us! So let’s be thankful and give God all the glory nuh, for that’s how it ought to be. Much LOVE!
…for of him (God)…and through him…and to him…are ALL things…to whom be glory for ever…Amen… (Rom. 11:36)
08 Dec 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a right relationship, batteries need recahrging, beheld his glory, born of a woman, Charles Wesley, Christ is born in Bethlehem, Christmas, dwealt among us, fellowship, full of grace and truth, give thanks, glory to the new born king, God and sinners reconciled, Hark the herald angels sing, heavenly journey, hostility, in bondage, incarnation, invaluable tool, Jesus first coming, joyful, mercy mild, mighty god, miracle birth, obedient unto death, peace on earth, praise, prince of peace, reconciliation, second birth, stall fed calves, Sun of righteousness, Sunday, the angelic hosts proclaim, the cross, the only begotten of the Father, the triumph of the skies, the word was made flesh, under the law, we no more may die, Wonderful Counselor, worship
John 1:14. And the Word was made (became) flesh, and dwelt among us. (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
And since there are only seven days in a week, it is expected that we’d come back to the first one, Sunday, in a mere seven days time. (smile) Yeh, I know it seems to come around too quickly for our liking, but that’s the way our wise and wonderful God made it, so we had better learn to accept it with a good attitude. I think that the Lord, since He created us, also knew that our batteries would only stay charged for that long, so we’d not be of much use to Him unless we were recharged every week. And that’s why He chose Sunday as a day of rest, for us to come and fellowship and worship, and praise and give thanks and be refreshed and recharged so that we can go out in the following week with restored confidence and enthusiasm.
Anyway, enough palaver, (smile) let’s get the show on the road. And today we’re going to open with one of our favourite Christmas hymns: ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing,’ that rousing number from the pen of the master hymnist, Charles Wesley (1707-1788). So what we waiting for eh? Let’s belt it out nuh, with strong harmonious voices and sincere hearts, as we think on Jesus’ First Coming at Christmas time.
‘Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King: peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!” Joyful, all ye nations, rise, join the triumph of the skies; with the angelic hosts proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!” (Refrain: Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King”) Christ, by highest heaven adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord, late in time behold him come, offspring of the Virgin’s womb: veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail the ‘incarnate Deity, pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel.
[Refrain] Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings. Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die, born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth. Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King” Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King”
Ah friends, that was indeed a rousing rendition of that ageless ditty! Now I’m going to strive to show Wesley’s mastery of the scriptures by pointing out some of the timeless and important verses he used to cobble the whole thing together. We’ll take it stanza by stanza. In stanza one he relies on the words of Luke and 2 Corinthians. ‘And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. ‘ (Luke 2:13-14)
‘And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit (that is), that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them (forgiving them): and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.’ (2 Cor.5:18-19) And was that ever a wonderful day when Christ was born and the Lord removed all hostility caused by sin, between Himself and mankind and thus allowed a renewed and right relationship!
And for the second stanza, he uses verses like this one: ‘Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under elements of the world (the rudimentary teachings of the law). But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.’ (Gal. 4:3-5) In God’s time, He sent His Son, born of a woman, under the law, to die for our sins.
And the second verse also reflects this potent scripture in John. ‘And the Word was made (became) flesh, and dwelt among us. (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.’ (John 1:14) Yes Friends, through Christ’s incarnation (miracle birth), the world saw the Father in all His glory, through the Son, who was both human and God at the same time!
And we all know where the beginning of verse three hails from; the mighty prophecy of Isaiah: ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.’ (Is. 9:6) And Malachi is also in there: ‘But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall (grow fat like stall fed calves).’ (Mal. 4:2)
Then these words from Philippians also play a part in Wesley’s thinking. ‘Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made of himself no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil. 2:6-8) And this verse from 1 Peter also seems to have some bearing on the last stanza. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively (living) hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.’ (1 Pet. 1:3)
So my Christian brethren, you see that a good knowledge of God’s word is an invaluable tool in our lives! If Wesley didn’t know the Good Book as well as he did, he’d never be able to write such a marvellous and all-embracing hymn. That’s why we have to strive diligently to learn the Word, for only when it’s safely ensconced in our hearts, souls, bodies and minds, are we able to work wonders on God’s behalf. Much LOVE!
…Christmas is only the beginning…of our heavenly journey…
24 Oct 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adversity, as long as he sought the Lord, as unto the Lord, be afflicted, be lost, be ye strong therefore, Christians, Cleanse your hands, compassionate heart, courage, created the sun, creativity, curse, do it heartily, doubleminded, draw night to God, dwelling in us, God made him to prosper, grace, greed, Hades, he is a rewarder, he sought God, hoard selfishly, humble yourselves before the Lord, if ye forsake him, if ye seek him, in the days of Zechariah, joyful, lack of strife, let not your hands be weak, material wealth, mercy, mourn, negative emotions, negative word, peaceful, pouring down sunshine, prosper, purify your hearts, righteous, self-control, selfishness, shall be rewarded, share generously, submit yourselves to God, the bright light of Jesus, the evil one, the Lord is with you, the mire of sinfulness, the Spirit of God, the strait and narrow path, the visions of God, them that diligently seek him, Thursday Blessings, understanding, whatsoever ye do, wisdom, your work
2 Chronicles 26:5. And he (Uzziah) sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions (fear) of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.
So today looks like another rainy and cloudy day, but I guess that’s what fall weather is all about. But who knows, with the way things are going these days, by lunchtime it could be pouring down sunshine! (smile) Yeh, the weather patterns are so unpredictable these days that I feel sorry for the weather forecasters. But regardless of if the physical sun is shining or not, we need to remember that we have the One who created the sun dwelling inside of us, and therefore there should always be a bright light, the bright light of Jesus, shining in our souls and spirits.
Glory to God for that eternal sunshine! That sunshine that keeps us joyful and fresh, and peaceful and righteous and leads us along the strait and narrow path that Almighty God has ordained for us to follow! Give Him much thanks for His unceasing goodness to us, the disobedient children of men. Without His amazing grace and mercy we’d surely be lost in the mire of sinfulness, headed straight for Hades and its ruler, the evil one. And I’ve just encountered an interesting scripture in the Old Testament that is still oh so relevant to our modern times. It deals with the sixteen year old Uzziah succeeding his father Amaziah as king of Judah. It says: ‘And he (Uzziah) sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions (fear) of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.’
What a wonderful scripture for us meditate on and consider this wet and cloudy morning my people, because it is still a happening fact in our time. When you seek God sincerely and constantly, He causes you to prosper. And prosper doesn’t necessarily mean material wealth, but also peace and joy in your life and your surroundings, and the lack of strife and other negative emotions and situations. But before we move on, here are a couple of notices from the scholars. The first is that Uzziah is called Azariah in 2 Kings 14:21; 15:1-7. And the second is that the Zechariah named above is not the same prophet who wrote the prophecy of Zechariah.
This brings us to another instance where the same basic ideas were floated to a Judean king. Listen to this warning from the prophet Azariah. ‘And the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: And he went out to meet (before) Asa, (the king), and said unto him, hear ye me Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; the Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.’ (2 Chr.15:2) Yeh friends, that warning still applies to us today. And I like what Azariah said after reminding them that Israel had been in a rough state for a long time, without a prophet, disobedient to God, and thus suffering much adversity. However he advised: ‘Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.’ (2 Chr.15:7)
Yeh friends, it still works even to this day! Remember Bruh Paul’s words to the Colossians: ‘And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance (salvation): for ye serve the Lord Christ.’ (Col.3:23-24) It’s like the author of Hebrews said: ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him (God); for he that cometh to God must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Heb.11:6) That’s sort of the reverse side of the coin; you can’t come to God sincerely unless you believe that He will reward your diligent seeking of Him. Oh I just went outside to check on a problem and it’s already sunny out there. Yuh see, just like we said earlier on! (smile) Glory to God!
Now here are James’ words on the subject. ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh (near) to God, and he will draw nigh (near) to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded. Be afflicted (lament), and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness (gloom). Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.’ (James 4:7-10) Oh my people, in these evil times, times of so much selfishness and greed, many of us, even Christians, need to humble ourselves before Almighty God, so that He can lift us up.
Yes, it’s a fact; if we don’t humble ourselves before Him, there will be no lifting up! And once we do that, He will bless us so abundantly, that we won’t know what to do with the blessings. Listen to some of them. We call them our Thursday Blessings. They need to be spoken out loud for them to take effect, so please declare them with me in loud and sincere voices. ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline!
I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
And that’s gospel truth friends! But one important reminder: those blessings are for us to generously share with others, as the Lord has generously shared them with us, not for us to selfishly hoard. Much LOVE!
…you can only find God…if you diligently look for Him…
03 Feb 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a song of praise, be glad and rejoice, Bless His Holy Name, burden, call and answer, Calvary, dissatisfied with God, Edwin Hawkins, enemies, every day, exalting his holy name, fear not, fellowship, fight and pray, forgiveness of sins, found liars, giving God glory, gospel music standard, happy art thou, happy is that people, He taught me how, heaven singing and dancing, hindrance, honour, Jesus died on the cross, joyful, live rejoicing, lived up to every promise, LOVE, majesty, Moses blessed, my sins away, Oh Happy Day, omnipotent god, pagan worship, paid our sin debt, pay obeisance, people saved by the Lord, Phillip Doddridge, privilege, righteousness, selflessness, show our thanks, submit to you, Sunday, the Father singing and swaying, the greatest gift, the Lord will do great things, the shield of thy help, the sword of they excellency, the tribes of Israel, their high places, to watch, tread down, unhappy, when Jesus washed, whose God is the Lord, worldly way of life, worship God
Joel 2:21. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.
Here it is friends, Sunday, the first and best day of the week! Time to rest as well as time to fellowship with other believers in the house of our omnipotent God! Glory be my people! There’s no greater honour and privilege than giving God glory, praising Him and exalting His holy name with other believers!
Some of us look upon it as work, as an unnecessary burden and a hindrance to our worldly way of life, but for your information my brethren that’s the main reason God created us in the first place; to worship Him, to pay Him obeisance in all that we do. So let’s cut out all the rigmarole nuh, and if we’re physically able, let’s get ourselves to church sometime today and praise and worship and adore and exalt our most wonderful God!
Now let’s get the proceedings going with this wonderful song written by the English clergyman Phillip Doddridge in the latter half of the 18th century. It’s a song we all know and LOVE, especially this gospel arrangement by Edwin Hawkins, recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers back in the late 1960’s, eventually becoming an international hit and a gospel music standard.
So friends, let’s lift our voices, our eyes and hands, our hearts and souls to heaven as we worship God with the rather appropriate words and sentiments of ‘Oh Happy Day!’ And don’t forget to make the call and response sweet, for though the words are meaningful they are mostly repetitive, and it’s that back and forth communication that truly livens up the song.
So enough talk, let’s sing: ‘Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) When Jesus washed (When Jesus washed) Oh, when He washed (When Jesus washed) When Jesus washed (When Jesus washed) He washed my sins away (Oh, happy day) Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) (Repeat) He taught me how (He taught me how) To watch and fight and pray Watch and pray And live rejoicing every day Every day
Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) When Jesus washed (When Jesus washed) Oh, when He washed (When Jesus washed) When Jesus washed (When Jesus washed) He washed my sins away (Oh, happy day) Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) He taught me how (He taught me how) To watch and fight and pray Watch and pray And live rejoicing every day (Good God) Every day
Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) Oh, it’s a happy day (Oh, happy day) Oh, Lord (Oh, happy day) Mmm, good God (Oh, happy day) Oh yeah (Oh, happy day) Mmm, oh (Oh, happy day). Oh, happy happy dayyyy…!”
Oh friends, oh friends, that was wonderful! All heaven was singing and dancing with us! It’s one of those songs that you can’t help feeling in your soul and responding favourably to it. And don’t think that the Father wasn’t swaying and singing too nuh, because there’s nothing He likes better than a good song of praise! Bless His holy name!
And there’s no doubting that the day Jesus died on the cross was indeed a happy day for us, because as the song says, He washed all our sins away, paid our sin debt in full! Wow! And if that isn’t cause to be happy, I don’t know what is nuh! Yes my faithful brethren, forgiveness of sins is the greatest gift that we can ever receive! And Jesus in His amazing LOVE and selflessness provided it for us!
Note He sacrificed His sinless life for us, bore our sins on the cross at Calvary so that we could have His righteousness and be reconciled to our heavenly father, from whom we were then estranged through the partition of sin. Therefore we ought to gratefully and gracefully accept His offer and continuously show our thanks by living sincerely for Him and His cause. How could we do otherwise eh, after all He’s done for us?
He died for us, taught us how to watch and fight and pray and live rejoicing everyday…yes friends every day! Now isn’t all of that stuff to be joyful about? It surely is! And we’d certainly be foolish and unwise if we didn’t accept it as such and be joyful about it all! We have absolutely no reason to be unhappy and dissatisfied with the Lord, for He’s lived up to every promise He’s ever made.
Look at what He promised the Israelites in our Bit through the prophet Joel after they had come back to Him in repentance. ‘Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.’ And He most certainly did! The greatest being the unconditional LOVE He bore us and expressing it through Jesus, which gave us the forgiveness of sins, and then salvation through His amazing grace! And I’ll say it again; NOTHING can be greater than that friends!
Hear how Moses blessed the tribes of Israel before his death. ‘Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency (majesty)! And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee (submit to you): and thou shalt tread upon (tread down) their high places (places of pagan worship.’ (Deut.33:29) And that’s exactly what happened to Israel when they were obedient to the Lord.
And we’ll end with Bruh David’s take on the subject from Psalm 144: ‘Happy is that people, that is in such a case (state): yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.’ (Ps.144:15) And if Bruh David was saying that long before Jesus came, can you imagine how much better it got when Jesus came? Oh friends, if I have to read and spell that for you, then you don’t really believe nuh! Much LOVE!
…true believers in Jesus…ought to be constantly rejoicing…and showing it too…simply because of the wonderful gifts He’s given us…
08 Dec 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a beautiful experience, Anselm, change my life, circumstances, comes to steal, contentment, destroy, do good deeds, Dr. Jesus, effective, enjoyed, enlist God's help, feed our faces, friend, godliness, great gain, happy, have life, human doctor, I am come, I can do all things, iron moniker, Ironman's breakfast, joyful, kill, labour, long-lasting change, LOVE, more abundantly, narcissism, negative tendencies, savoured, sorrow, the days of our lives, the enemy, the thief, the Word of god, through Christ, who strengthens me
John 10:10. The thief cometh not, but for (except) to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Well it’s Saturday, that great sleep in day! And believe me, I tried to do so but I just couldn’t, got too many things to do today! Hn! How many I’ll do though is left to the Lord. I’ve got to go to an Ironman’s Breakfast at church for 9.30, which means I have to finish this before then.
The Ironmen is a church group of manly men who get together every so often to do good deeds and feed our faces. The great thing about it is that I doubt anyone who comes regularly is under the age of sixty. Hn! Hn! And some are even over seventy! So I guess the ‘iron’ moniker is appropriate because of the length of time we’ve lived. (smile)
Anyhow, we old Ironmen always have a good time whenever we get together. But since it’s Saturday, I guess we should look at some of the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And here is the first one: ‘Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.’
Now that’s not totally true. You need to want to do it, but you can’t do it in your own strength, otherwise many of us would be living much better lives. That’s because only God, through His Son, our Lord and Saviour can really make any effective and long-lasting changes in our lives. Remember that! To change, we need to enlist God’s help!
And the next three quotes basically allude to the same thing; enjoyment of life. ‘Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you’ll start to see a big difference in your life.’ That’s a perfectly good exercise to perform friends. It helps you to start liking and LOVING yourself, because the second big commandment says: ‘LOVE your neighbour as yourself,’ and if you don’t like or LOVE yourself, then you’ll never do the same for your neighbour.
Now please note this is not an exercise in narcissism; you don’t have to go overboard with it and get so swollen up with pride that you’re even worse than before, LOVING yourself too much! (smile)
Then there’s this one: ‘Lighten up, just enjoy life, smile more, laugh more, and don’t get so worked up about things.’ Gospel truth that my people! Laughter and an easygoing life are the best remedies for the stress and strain that’s so much a part of this too busy life. They say that laughter is the cheapest medicine you can buy, because it’s free. No lie!
But to all of that I’d like to add, also peruse the word of God on a regular basis, and you won’t have to go to any shrink or mind doctor and pay a whole set of money for advice and medication that you can get for free in God’s free Health clinic!
And all God’s people declared a loud and proud and grateful: ‘Praise the Lord, for His goodness and mercy to the undeserving children of men!’ Yes friends, the Good Book, and Dr. Jesus are mostly what you need in this life to combat a lot of your illnesses. He might send you to the human doctor for the diagnosis and medication, but Dr. Jesus is where we should always begin.
And this last quote tells us: ‘Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.’
Ah mih people, too many of us waste our short time here on earth waiting for stuff to happen before we can get happy and enjoy our lives. But that’s a fool’s wisdom! We have to stop allowing circumstances to make us happy. In fact just forget the word ‘happy’ and think more in terms of being joyful, which means that you’re peaceful and contented under whatever circumstances come against you.
But then we need to have Jesus in our lives to do that. In particular we need to admit and take hold of this passage of scripture. ‘The thief cometh not, but for (except) to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’
Oh friends what an important passage of scripture! Jesus came that we might have life; both physically and spiritually, and that we might enjoy them despite the negative tendencies of the enemy, and we need to embrace that with all our hearts, minds, bodies and souls if we intend to live a victorious life down here on earth.
He didn’t only die to pay for our sins, but also that we might enjoy our earthly life, begin enjoying some of the lesser pleasures down here, so that we can truly appreciate the great ones that await us in heaven! But friends, we have to walk and live with the Lord to enjoy that kind of comfort!
Now here are a couple of scriptures that I think might help us in the matter of enjoying our everyday lives. First listen to Moses in Psalm 90: ‘For all our days are passed away in thy wrath; we spend our years as a tale that is told (a sigh). The days of our years (lives) are threescore years and ten (70); and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength (their boast only) labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away… So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom (gain a heart of wisdom). (Ps.90:9-10,12)
Yeh friends, our lives are very short when taken into the totality of time. That’s why we have to be wise and live it in a joyful manner. And finally this gem from Bruh Paul to the Philippians in appreciation for their gift:
‘Not that I speak in respect of want (regard of need): for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased (live humbly), and I know how to abound (live in prosperity): every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ (Phil.4:11-13)
Yeh friends, only when we can attest to those things will be truly able to enjoy our earthly lives! Much LOVE!
…but godliness…with contentment…is great gain… (1 Tim.6:6)
29 Nov 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a lazy day, a rest day, a shadow, anger, appreciative, awesome, be the same, believers, blessed, come from thee, compassionate heart, courage, curse, days on earth, declared over, deeper my love, desire, disobedient children, disrespect, everything we possess is God's, faith, favour, flooding, forgiveness, generosity, generous, give strength, glorious things, glory, goodness, grace, greatness, hard to believe, honour, I owe, ignorance, in thine hand, in your life, into His fold, joyful, knowing you, lose track, LOVE, magnanimous, magnificent, medical appointments, mercy, might, negarive word, obedient to His will, offer so willingly, on his wrong side, One Year Book of Bible promises, overflowing with LOVE, power, praise thy glorious name, prayer, productive stuff, prosper, put into words, riches, Ruth Harms Calkin, share, sincere faith, sojourners, strangers, succeed, surging peace, sweeps my life, take advantage of, thanksgiving, the right time, there are no words, therefore our God, Thursday Blessings, to make great, to your goodness, toward God, traipsing, transforming power, unconditional LOVE, victory, warm the cockles of Jesus' heart, wayward, we thank thee, wisdom, wonder-filled things, words of truth, wrath
1 Chronicles 29:13. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
And so it’s Thursday…Already? Yeh! That’s what happens when you spend the first two days of the week traipsing into the big city for medical appointments; you lose track of both the days and the time and nothing productive gets done at home. Yesterday was a rest day…not a lazy day. (smile) So let’s hope some productive stuff can be accomplished today…and yuh better believe there is a lot to be accomplished! (smile)
And to help us get on the productive side, here is this poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. It’s titled ‘There Are No Words.’ Please pray with me: ‘How can I put into words, my Lord The flooding, transforming power That sweeps my life because of You?
How can I explain to anyone The soaring, surging peace That You alone can give? All the wonder-filled things in my life All the joyful, glorious things I owe to Your goodness, Your grace, Your LOVE. Nothing is ever the same since knowing You. And the longer I know You The deeper my LOVE!’
Oh my people, my people, what awesome words of truth are contained in that short poem! Every line is filled with gospel truth regarding our great God! Oh friends, once you get to know Him, NOTHING will ever be the same in your life! For when you begin to truly experience, His grace, His mercy, His forgiveness, and above all His unconditional LOVE…
Oh Mama Mia! The change in your life will be so awesome and so magnificent that you’ll be left wondering what kind of life you lived before, and why didn’t you get to know the Lord before this? But it just wasn’t the right time! Have no fear, when He’s ready for you, He brings you into His fold in ways you cannot imagine, until they happen.
But please note one thing friends; our God might be magnanimous and magnificent, but He’s no push over! He might have a soft heart for His wayward, disobedient children, but don’t think you can take advantage of His goodness, because if you ever feel His wrath…Hn! It can be just as great as His goodness and mercy and LOVE!
So please try your best not to get on His wrong side, although when you come to know and LOVE Him, that’s sort of difficult to do. Why? Because you’ll be overflowing with such LOVE and desire to be obedient to His will, that mistakes will more likely be of ignorance than of purposeful disrespect.
And to celebrate all that we’ve said, I don’t think there’s a more appropriate passage in scripture to describe it than Bruh David’s words of prayer and thanksgiving, when he was raising funds to build the Lord’s temple. Please read and pray with me: ‘Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our Father, for ever and ever.
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
But who am I, and what is thy people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners (temporary dwellers), as were all our fathers: our days on earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding (no hope for any).
O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.’ (1 Chr.29:10-16)
What beautiful words of prayer and thanksgiving my brethren…and also of truth! Oh friends, until we recognize, and realize, and understand that everything we posses is God’s and comes from Him, we’ll never be able to truly appreciate all that we have, and give Him the kind of thanks and praise He deserves.
That’s the basic difference between Bruh David’s time and ours. They seemed to know where there goodness came from, so they could afford to be generous toward the Lord. But in our time, generosity towards the Lord and His purpose…Hn! It’s like pulling teeth! Because we don’t truly recognize the source of all our goodness and grace and mercy.
Anyway friends, let’s hope that all we’ve said and read today touches our hearts and souls and makes us more appreciative of what our heavenly Father does in our earthly lives when we truly come to know Him. So let’s go home now, shouting out loud and proud, the great blessings He’s showered down on us believers, as found in our Thursday Blessings.
All together now: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment!
I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Now, two things to remember; Blessings aren’t blessings until they are shared and declared over someone! So let’s go out and warm the cockles of Jesus’ heart by doing those two things nuh! Much LOVE!
…truly knowing our great God is so amazing…that sometimes…without sincere faith… it’s hard to believe…
29 Sep 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abundantly, an iron bird, Anselm, Be All, brought progress, Burden bearer, carnal, change, come easy, Comforter, confusing, cozy corner in heaven, cry, discomforts, doing the same thing, drawbacks, eccentric, end all, eternal separation, excitement, exclamatory mood, exotic delights, faithfulness, follow Jesus, gives his life for the sheep, God is faithful, good news, great to be alive, heart and soul, heart problems, heavenly advocate, human animal, humiliation, I am the good shepherd, irrelevance, joyful, laugh, leading mankind astray, Lucifer's evil empire, lustful, medical limitations, medically fit to travel, Messiah, mirrors the truth, offer up, onerous bondage, our everything, our Lord and Saviour, pain, praise his holy name, price, Price of Peace, quieted my heart, quotes, resist change, sacrificially gave up, Saturday, save our sinful souls, sing, sinking into the muck and mire, sinless life, standing stationary, stay the same way, testin, the cross at Calvary, the good shepherd, the name above every other, the price of change, the world hates change, they might have life, to get better, to whom all knees must bow, trial, ungodly way of life, working for Jesus
John 10:11. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Ah friends, sorry for the Bit’s lateness, but I went to bed late, got up late, and had a few things to do before I began writing. But the good news is, here I am at last! Glory! Glory! (smile)
Oh isn’t it just great to be alive? To be able to laugh and sing, run and jump, (not me… just yet), and even cry once in a while? It surely is, especially when we are living with and working for our wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Oh praise His holy name my faithful brethren; exalt the name that’s above EVERY other name, to whom ALL knees MUST eventually bow!
Yeh, that’s our Messiah, our Prince of Peace, our heavenly Advocate, Our Burden Bearer, Our Comforter, in fact our Be All and End All, our EVERYTHING! Wow! Are we ever so blessed to have a Leader of such awesome proportions! Let’s give Him the thanks and praise He deserves…and all day long at that!
Yeh, the ole fella’s in a joyful, exclamatory mood this morning! And why not eh? I just got some most excellent news; news that my heart problems have improved…Glory to God! And I’m now medically fit to travel…Oh mih brethren, that’s the best news ever!
It’s been almost three years that I’ve been parked up here without the ability to get on an iron bird. But yuh know what, as I keep saying our God is ever so faithful, because many a day I’ve lain in my bed and looked through my window at the iron birds coming and going to and from the nearby airport, wondering when I’d be able to get on one.
And the Good Lord has always quieted my heart by promising that one day, in the not too distant future, He will lift the medical limitations and free me from this onerous bondage… And now He has done just as He has promised! Bless His holy name! So in light of that extraordinary faithfulness, why wouldn’t I just offer up my whole heart and soul, thanks and praise to Him eh? No reason whatsoever my people!
But enough of my excitement…let’s get on with the Bit. It’s Saturday, that means we need to look at some of the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week. And we do have a whole slew of then this week, all dealing with change. And we will begin with this one: ‘If you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less.’
I’m not so sure about that nuh, because the human animal is so eccentric and confusing, and dislikes change so much, that a lot of us will probably prefer to be irrelevant rather than to change. That leads us to this quote: ‘The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.’
Now that I definitely disagree with! In my many years and much trial and testing on God’s earth, I’ve usually found that the price of change is usually much higher than the price of standing stationary. In particular the effort that one has to put out to make whatever change is necessary. That’s why so many people just stay the same way in the same place.
That’s why this next quote is the living truth! ‘Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.’ Now that’s exactly why so many of us resist change, even change that’s obviously in our best interest! Change just doesn’t come easy. And this one mirrors the truth of the last. ‘The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.’ And so it has my brethren… though not always for the better!
That brings us to the last quote: ‘I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.’ And isn’t that that the undeniable truth people? Unless our world changes, and drastically too, and also towards Jesus, until we stop trying to drive God out of our society and instead, embrace Him with all our hearts, souls, bodies and minds, our world will just continue sinking inexorably, relentlessly into the muck and mire of Lucifer’s evil empire.
And that is not what our Saviour came to earth and suffered so much for. That’s definitely not why He suffered such pain and humiliation and eventually gave up His sinless life on that wooden cross at Calvary. If He wanted us to become part and parcel of Lucifer’s evil empire, He would have just remained in His cozy corner in heaven enjoying all the exotic delights provided by His Father. But He sacrificially gave all of that up to come and save our sinful souls.
Remember friends, Lucifer is the master of thievery, lies and deception, an evil genius in leading mankind astray. Just look at how he deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden, and he’s still doing it to us to this day. However Jesus declared, and proved it too: ‘The thief cometh not, but (except) for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.’ (John 10:10-11)
And there is absolutely no doubt that that’s what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary; give His sinless, holy life on behalf of our abominable sinful souls, so that the Father could justifiably forgive us and reconcile us to Himself. So why are we still foolishly running behind Lucifer and his evil, lustful, carnal, ungodly way of life eh? A way of life that will only lead to eternal separation from our heavenly Father; the worst fate that can ever befall a human soul!
I don’t know the answer to that nuh friends, but I am surely trying my best to stay away from that end result…and I sincerely hope that you are trying to do the same, because that’s the ultimate in wisdom! Much LOVE!
…as for me and mine…we will definitely follow Jesus…
Previous Older Entries
SCRIP-BITS 