The Overwhelming Importance of Having a Personal Relationship with Jesus!

12 Apr 2025 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 119:176.        I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.

And it’s another lazy-day Saturday, one that’s dry, with a mixture of cloud and sun. But once we don’t have to go out, the weather’s not important, we can just sit around and do nothing, take a break from the running around that we do during the work week, or take our time and do a few chores that we think need doing. The important thing here is that we don’t need to rush around like chickens with our heads cut off. 

I would also suggest spending some time with the Lord, since there’s no hurry to get out and go to work. (smile) And there’s no better time to turn to our wonderful heavenly Father than right now! So let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with heartfelt sincerity and truth. 

As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And, as always, if our prayer was sincere, we will soon feel the calming, soothing peace of our God flowing through us, quieting our anxieties and fears, so that we can handle whatever is coming against us with a positive attitude. And I believe that the last section of Psalm 119 is a fitting continuation to our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer. 

So please pray with me: ‘Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord: give me understanding according to thy word. Let my (prayer of) supplication come before thee: deliver me according to thy word.. My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes. My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness. let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts. I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; and thy law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgements help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.’ (Ps. 119:169-176) 

And do we ever need God’s powerful help in these ungodly and evil times, for as the psalmist so rightly declares, we have gone astray like lost sheep. And if you take a moment to ponder the existing situation in our world, you’d see that’s’ the gospel truth! It’s mind boggling the evil and ungodliness that’s happening in our world today, especially when we’re at the height of our civilization! We definitely need the Lord to fervently seek us and bring us to His fold, for it doesn’t seem as if we’re going to do it on our own. 

And  the prophet Isaiah said it long ago of his people Israel: ‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ (Is. 53:6) Yes friends, that’s why it was ever so necessary for Jesus to come to earth and die for our sins. Too many of us had strayed so far and become so rebellious, just like we are right now, that it wasn’t possible to save us one by one, (smile) we needed a complete covering for our multitude of sins, and Jesus; the sinless Lamb of God, was the only answer to our desperate situation. 

The prophet Jeremiah also had the same message for the children of Israel who were in captivity in Babylon. He said: ‘My people hath been like lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray (led them astray), they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.’ (Jer. 50:6) Now that’s no different to us today. Our leaders have led us astray from our resting place, the One True God, Jehovah! 

Our leaders have become so evil and ungodly that more people are turning away from God than are coming to Him, which doesn’t hold out a good hope for our faith. That’s why it’s ever so necessary for us to return to the Lord as individuals, to have a personal, intimate relationship with Him, because every lost sheep is important. Remember what Jesus said: ‘For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.’ (Matt. 18:11) 

Then He emphasized it with the parable of the lost sheep. ‘How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which was gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth much more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones shall perish.’ (Matt. 18:12-14) 

Yes friends, the Lord doesn’t want any of His creation, especially the new believers going astray because of poor leadership. And Peter wraps it up so beautifully in His first epistle, when he writes: ‘For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow in his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile (deceit) found in his mouth: 

Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again (in return); when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes (wounds) ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop (Overseer) of your souls.’ (1 Pet. 2:21-25) 

It could not be said any better than that my fellow saints. For we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s standard, (Rom. 3:23) but now we have the opportunity to renew our relationship with Almighty God, through Jesus Christ our Shepherd and Caretaker of our souls. Please, I implore us to not let this opportunity pass us by, for it will be to our detriment in the long run! Much LOVE!

…passing up the opportunity to have a personal relationship with Jesus…is nothing less than committing spiritual suicide…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 July 2018 Matthew 18:11.

26 Jul 2018 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 18:11.   For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

And so friends, with God’s help, we’ve come to Thursday and are about to enjoy another awesome day in the life! Wow! Christians are so blessed eh, I can’t imagine what we’d do, or be like, without Almighty God in our lives! Let’s give Him some much deserved praise and thanks nuh people, for being such a wonderful Father, for giving us blessings, mercy, grace and forgiveness that we don’t truly deserve. 

Please pray with me: ‘Oh Father in heaven, we sincerely thank You for allowing us to see another day on planet earth. Life might sometimes be rough, causing our faith to waiver, and neither are we always obedient to Your will, but You made us and You still LOVE us despite our imperfections and disobedience. We thank You and praise your holy name for ALL that You are doing in our lives. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen!  

Yeh friends, without God in our lives, we’d be lost and gone astray like so many people out there, headed for eternal damnation and separation from Him. And as I keep reminding us, separation from Almighty God is the very worst thing that can happen to a human being, that’s why it’s ever so necessary to get involved with Jesus RIGHT NOW, for He is the ONLY way that we can connect with the Father. 

And as sincere disciples of Christ, His ears, hands, mouth and feet here on earth, we are expected to help bring those who are lost to Him. As He says in our Bit: ‘For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.’ Awright mih breddren, Jesus came to save such as you and I, who had gone astray, who had developed strong connections with the evil one, which was definitely not in our best interest. 

And Jesus continues: ‘How think ye? If a man have a hundred sheep, and if one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?’ (Matt.18:12) Oh precious people, do you realize what that means? That if the only lost soul in the world was you or I, Jesus would still have done what He did; come to earth to die and save us! What a wonderful Lord and Saviour we have! 

And that’s not all, because Jesus continues: ‘And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.’ (Matt.18:13) Wow mih breddren wow! Yuh see how important that lost sheep, that lost you and I are to Jesus? He rejoices over the lost that’s been found more than the many others who had not gone astray. 

No wonder Jesus declared: ‘I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just (upright) persons, which need no repentance.’ (Luke 15:7) Jesus also spoke the parables of the lost coin and the lost, prodigal son, showing just how important the lost is to His kingdom. (Luke 15:8-32) And He wraps it up in Matthew with this: ‘Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.’ (Matt.18:14) 

Oh people, oh people, yuh see it all stems from the Father! He doesn’t want to lose even one of His greatest creations to the fool Lucifer, that’s why He sent Jesus to save us. We are His very heartstrings! Whatever happens to us affects Him. But now that Jesus has gone back to heaven and is sitting at the Father’s right hand, interceding for us, it has now becomes our responsibility to look for those who are lost and help them become saved. 

The question is, are we shouldering that responsibility responsibly? And the answer is, I don’t think so. Too many people are turning away from God these days for us to be doing a responsible job. In fact, if we give them a chance, they’d toss God completely out of midst. What a foolish thing to even consider, much less do. 

But that’s how much sway Lucifer has over the world these days. And it’s up to you and I, as true believers to try and mitigate that evil hold, by living lives of good example and spreading God’s Word far and wide. We have the awesome capabilities to do that now, so there’s no excuse for the Word not to be broadcast all over the world. 

So let’s seriously ponder, think on, consider, our actions along those lines nuh, and do our best to come up higher, for we can ALL come up higher and thus bring more of the many lost to Christ. And He’s already given us all the tools to do that through the bestowing of our Thursday Blessings. Now let’s go home declaring them for all and sundry to hear, that they might receive inspiration to want those same blessings. 

In full voice with sincere hearts: ‘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 since we were not granted such an abundance of blessings to hoard for ourselves, but to share with the less fortunate, let’s go out and do that now nuh, so the lost will have some good reason to come to Jesus. Much LOVE!

…sharing…caring…LOVING…that’s true Christianity in action…