The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Understanding that Jehovah God should ALWAYS be their Number One Focus!

01 Aug 2026 Leave a comment

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   1 August 2026   Matthew 22:37.

Matthew 22:37.        Thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

And what a gorgeous summer’s day is this first Saturday in August; well suited to the Caribana, sorry, the Caribbean Carnival Parade taking place right now down on the lakeshore of Toronto, with the bright costumed revellers jumping down the street to the sweet, invigorating sounds of West Indian music. Ah mih people, I remember the days when I use to be front and centre down on University Avenue, and later Lakeshore Boulevard behaving like leggo beast.

It’s interesting though that this is the 59th version of Caribana – and you can call it want you want, it will go down as Caribana in the annals of history. It seems like I missed the first five, but was very present at the next thirty, and probably haven’t seen one in the last twenty, because of my reduced physical condition, and the watering down of the celebration in my opinion.

But I do attend one function of the celebration each year; that’s the Pan Alive, or Steelband Competition on the Friday night, and although I wasn’t feeling up to scratch, nonetheless dragged myself out to it last night. And it wasn’t bad, although not up to the standard of some earlier years, when you had more big and serious bands, participating, without the small bands being used as filler. But most of them sounded good, although the surprise of the evening was the guest band from Bethel, Tobago, the RBC Redemption Sound Setters, who played after the competition was over, that’s after midnight, when they rudely shut off the lights in Lamport Stadium in the middle of the band’s performance.

Only in Toronto you say! And that happened because of bad organization. The show was billed to start at 7 p.m. but did not get going until after 8; a regular occurrence. Then they had too much stuff before the bands began to play, necessitating the show to go till after midnight. And sadly it happens every year; poor planning and execution. But this is the first time I’ve seen them turn off the lights.

Thankfully though, one spotlight remained on the band and they gave the small remaining crowd full value for their money. Everybody was surprised at how good they were and how different their pans sounded to ours up here. I myself was surprised, although I had visited their pan yard a few years ago when I was in Tobago and heard them playing well. And if they were still playing after midnight, that tells you I did not get home until the wee hours of the morning, thus I am somewhat late on this lazy-day Saturday. (smile)

By the way, my side, Pan Fantasy did not win the competition this year…you can’t do so every year, else it won’t be a competition, (smile). And although I don’t agree, the Judges and many of the audience agreed that PanMasters Steel Orchestra won  the competition with a rousing rendition of the song ‘Feeling the Feeling ‘ from the amazing repertoire of the now departed, but still dearly LOVED Tobago born Calypsonian Shadow.

Anyway, enough talk, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer in all sincerity and truth. As one strong 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 I know that when the Lord checks the state of our hearts, He will find them sincere and true, thus He won’t hesitate to fill us with the peace and calm that we’ve asked for, because the cockles of His heart were warmed by our seeking sincere intimacy with Him. And that’s all the Lord really desires of us yes; sincere intimacy with Him. And He says it several times in His Word, as in this instance through the prophet Jeremiah. ‘Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto (listen to) you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ (Jer. 29:12-13)

Yes friends, that’s what the Lord desires of us; seeking him with all of our hearts! And it’s like when the arrogant Pharisee lawyer said to Jesus: ‘Master (Teacher),which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, 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.’ (Matt. 22:36-38) And if Jesus says it, then we know it’s the gospel truth!

That just goes to show how important seeking and LOVING our wonderful God is. The problem though, seems to be that we don’t take those words as seriously as we ought to, and therefore don’t seek the Lord or LOVE Him as much as we should. And I believe our failure to do that shows up in the evil and ungodliness of our world, and the unfulfilled lives that so many of us are living, even supposed believers. Too many of us either take our faith for granted, or don’t pay sufficient attention to the things we ought to do to grow in spiritual maturity and LOVE for God.

And that’s all we are really about down here yuh know; living for God by being obedient to His will for our lives, while growing in godliness and sincere LOVE for Him. And it’s not rocket science, but it does require some sacrifice and self-discipline. But that’s where too many of us seem to draw the line; we’re not prepared to sacrifice ourselves or our possessions, neither are we willing to give up our right to behave as we so desire. But then how can we call ourselves, Christians or true followers of Christ eh, when that’s exactly what He requires of His people?

And under those circumstances, I believe it’s important that we close with Jesus’ basic requirement for His followers. He says: ‘If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ (Luke 9:23) Yes my brethren, that’s what we signed up for when we decided to be a Christian. So let’s not forget it and do otherwise, thus bringing shame and disgrace on the name of Lord Jesus Christ! Much LOVE!

…God LOVES us… and all He asks…is that we LOVE Him back…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 21 June 2018 Romans 5:8.

21 Jun 2018 Leave a comment

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

Romans 5:8.   But God commendeth his (demonstrates his own) LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8.       

Ah friends, this is just an aberration; what the mind doctors might call deviant or abnormal behaviour. Yes, it is true that I am writing the Bit at minutes to seven, but through no desire of my own. I just happened to go out yesterday evening, got home around 10, decided to take a nap and then get up and do some stuff. But that appears to have only been wishful thinking. (smile) 

Oh, I did get up a couple of times, but just to go to the bathroom, and right back to bed. However around 6 this morning, the ole bod began complaining, and I couldn’t find a comfortable position in the bed, hence my early arising. This going to bed early business is really and truly for the birds yes. (smile) 

Anyway, it does seem that a bright and sunny day is in the offing, with Jesus’ brilliant light hovering above it all. And today I want to remind us of the Daily Bread devotional quote which says: ‘God’s LOVE for us is as expansive as the open arms of Christ on the cross.’ 

And isn’t that the awesome truth my people! Our Creator LOVES us so much that His arms are always open to welcome us. That’s what Christ’s open arms on the cross means. He is saying: ‘Come to me; I am here waiting for you; waiting to accept you just as you are; no questions asked…just come and receive my LOVE, my grace, my mercy and my forgiveness…they are just yours for the asking and the taking…!’

Yes people, it’s all there waiting for us, we just have to go and receive it; the undeserved salvation of God. Please note that right there on the cross, when one of the criminals that were crucified with Him pleaded ‘Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.’ (Luke 23:42-43) 

Wow! The thief on his figurative deathbed, asked for forgiveness and received it instantaneously! What an awesome God we serve my brethren! Such a magnanimous God that the Good Book declares: ‘But God commendeth his (demonstrates his own) LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ 

Mama Yo! What depth of LOVE that shows my brethren! I can’t even find words to describe it. One would think that we would have to stop being sinners first before any god would show LOVE and compassion towards us. But no! Our great God shows His awesome LOVE first, while we’re still abhorrent beings. One could not get more LOVING or magnanimous than that! 

That’s why I can’t understand why we are so reluctant to accept God’s free offer of divine salvation and eternal life, but are rather very intent on removing Him from our society. I guess we don’t like His rules and regulations, they are too nice, well behaved and strict. 

We seem to prefer the wild, leggo beast behaviour that Lucifer advertises. But friends, that will only lead us to the place where Lucifer lives, Hades, Hell, or whatever you want to call that dark, deep dungeon that he inhabits. I don’t know about you nuh, but I definitely don’t want to go there. I want to go to heaven; where it’s always bright and sunshiny and Jesus is there in His awesome fullness. 

Mama Mia! What a day and time that will be, when the gates of heaven open and take in all those who desire to be there! Ah friends, please remember what Bruh Paul so clearly stated: ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Rom.6:23) 

Yes, what we deserve for our sinful behaviour and willful disobedience to Almighty God is DEATH, written in big capitals. However because of God’s great and everlasting LOVE for us, He devised a way for us to be saved from the horrible death that awaited, and still awaits us as unrepentant sinners. 

Listen to Jesus tell it: ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world though him might be saved.’ (John 3:16-17) 

Oh mih people, what heartwarming and reassuring words! Wow! God LOVED us so much that He sacrificed His ONE Son to save us! Doesn’t that say a whole lot about the God we worship and serve, about His LOVING-kindness to the undeserving children of men? It certainly does! 

And it couldn’t be put any simpler or plainer than that. Yet there are many who refuse to believe and accept God’s free gift of salvation, through sincere belief in His Son Jesus Christ. But friends, believe me, that’s a fool’s wisdom! 

Our bodies will deteriorate and eventually return to the dust from which it was made, what happens to our spirits then eh? They don’t die, but live on forever, in one of two places, hell or heaven, and heaven is by far the much nicer place. 

But you can only get entrance to that beautiful eternal retreat if you repudiate Lucifer and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. So what shall it be eh? It’s a decision we all have to make, and as far as I am concerned it’s a rather easy one. Let’s hope that you make the right one today. 

Now, for those of us who sincerely believe, let’s go home declaring the bountiful Thursday Blessings that the Lord has so generously bestowed on us. In strong acclamation: ‘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 having said all of that, now let’s go out and share those blessings with others, as Jesus intends for us to do. Much LOVE!

…as for me and mine…we will serve the Lord God Jehovah…