A few Reasons why the Holy Spirit is of the utmost importance in a Believer’s Life!

21 Oct 2024 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 5:6.        Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Another Monday; another beautiful, sunshiny summer-like day in my neighbourhood! As the Good Book says: ‘Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for his mercy endureth forever… Oh that men would praise the Lord  for his goodness (LOVING-kindness), and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.’ (Ps. 107:1, 8-9) 

Yes friends, that’s exactly what our good and LOVING God does for us! When our souls are dissatisfied and frustrated, hungry and lost, He comes and fills us up with His Spirit. The prophet Isaiah wrote it thus a long time ago: ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight in fatness (abundance). (Is. 55:1-2) 

Oh my people, as the scholars explain there: ‘God’s free gift of salvation is offered to all who will receive it. Those who are spiritually hungry and thirsty may come and eat and drink without money (freely).’ Now who else offers such freedom spiritual hunger and thirst eh? No one! As Mary, Jesus’ mother says in her song, the Magnificat: ‘He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.’ (Luke 1:53) 

That reminds us of Jesus’ own words from the Beatitudes, in particular this one: ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.’ (Matt. 5:6) And the Lord, in His awesome power, made a big showing of just how He can fill hungry souls with His Spirit on that most memorable day of Pentecost when He filled the hundred and twenty souls sitting in the upper room waiting for something to happen. 

The Bible tells us: ‘And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a mighty rushing wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven (divided) tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.’ (Acts 2:2-4) Oh my fellow believers, when our God desires to put on a show, no one can best Him! And from that day henceforth, every believer has been filled with the Holy Spirit as soon as they believe. 

Unlike that first filling though, the Lord doesn’t make a big show of it, but does it quietly, without you even knowing, until sometime later you experience this new and different feeling, of a still small voice, talking to your spirit, trying to lead and guide you in the way Jesus desires. And one of the things that Jesus often spoke about was spiritual hunger and invite us to come to Him to satisfy it. 

Listen to Him with the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob. ‘Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be a well of water (fountain) springing up into eternal life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.’ (John 4:13-15) She thought that Jesus was talking about real water, but the living water referred to the Holy Spirit, which Jesus again spoke about later on. 

The Good Library tells us: ‘In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly (heart) shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.’ (John 7:37-39) And we saw that happen above on the day of Pentecost after Jesus’s resurrection. 

But the Holy Spirit is so important that there are several things we are commanded not do to it. First off is to not grieve the Holy Spirit. Bruh Paul instructs us: ‘And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.’ (Eph. 4:30) That’s don’t make the Holy Spirit unhappy by not listening to Him and doing ungodly stuff. Then later on He says: ‘And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess (dissipation); but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.’ (Eph. 5:18-19) 

It’s thus necessary to keep the Holy Spirit alive and kicking in our lives. And being filled by it means  being “continually filled” with it. It’s a repeated experience, not like the first indwelling which came once and for all time. And the scholars put it quite nicely. ‘God desires that the minds of Christians be controlled by the Holy Spirit so that they will walk in the Spirit, speak on behalf of God, and understand the things of God. Because people are indwelt by the Holy Spirit at salvation, they do not need to get more of the Holy Spirit, but the filling of the Holy Spirit occurs when the Holy Spirit gets more of the believer.’ 

And that’s the gospel truth my fellow saints! What we need is to be more obedient and open to the workings of the Holy Spirit as the Lord desires of us. Now, that’s just a brief recounting of the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and we hope it perks us up on this first day of our new work week. So, let’s go to the throne of grace through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking divine aid to handle our problems. 

Altogether:  ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. Heavenly Father, You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Yes, we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. So, we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading for wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

Oh Father, please ease the pain of the many suffering from negative situations, show them Your awesome grace and mercy. And faithfully keep Your promise to prosper us if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’ 

But please remember that nothing positive will happen until we begin sincerely seeking God, and turning from our evil ways. Much LOVE!

…unless the Holy Spirit is truly guiding our lives…we’ll never reach our full potential…

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

Today’s Scrip-Bit   30 June 2022 Isaiah 55:6.

30 Jun 2022 Leave a comment

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

Isaiah 55:6.      Seek thou the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.

Ah friends, our God is a great and good God, no doubt about that, but sometimes I don’t appreciate his sense of humour nuh. Remember, yesterday I wrote that it was cloudy in my area, but no sign of rain? Well, would you believe that when I went upstairs after writing the Bit, the rain was falling. 

Ah Lord eh! And it fell for a while too, though not a big downpour, but a steady drizzle. I can imagine how my Scrip-Bit family members in the area must have chuckled as they read it while the rain was falling. But I guess as the wise folks say, the best laid plans of mice and men usually go astray. 

Or as Cousin Sol declares in Proverbs: ‘A man’s heart deviseth (plans) his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.’ (Prov. 16:9) And so He does, because He is sovereign over everything in His universe. And who shall say Him nay eh? Not a single soul! And as Cousin Sol reinforces in a later chapter of Proverbs. ‘There are many devices (plans) in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.’ (Prov. 19:21) 

So, although sometimes I might not appreciate His humour, I have no choice but to grin and bear it and gracefully and gratefully say: ‘Thank You Lord!’ But the truly great thing about God is that though we don’t like His moves, we can go to Him in proper reverence and explain our situation, and instead of turning us away in anger, He will comfort us in our disappointment. No other supposed god does anything like that. That’s why He, the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the GREATEST! 

And consequently why the prophet Isaiah could shout to the people of Israel: ‘Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.’ (Is. 40:1) He was looking beyond Judah’s imminent captivity in Babylon to the day of salvation that was in their future. He was letting them know that though their sins ran red with blood, and they would pay for them, comfort is always available through trust in the Lord. 

Yes friends, even in our sorriest times, we can always find comfort through trust in our heavenly Father. It won’t always change our circumstances, but we will feel a peace that passes all understanding, one that will allow us to handle the circumstances in a positive manner. And no other supposed god makes a free offer of mercy to all and sundry like our God does. I like how He says through Isaiah. ‘Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness (abundance). Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make a covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. 

Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. Seek thou the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is. 55:1-7) 

Oh my people, yuh see how long God has been making His free offer of salvation to all who will receive it. And He’s still doing it today, a couple thousands of years after sending His One Son Jesus to fulfill the covenant to the Gentiles. However, just like Israel back then didn’t listen, so we are not listening to the heart-felt call of the Lord God Almighty. 

The scholars explain it thus: ‘Those who are spiritually hungry and thirsty may come to eat and drink without money (or freely). He promises an everlasting covenant to the Gentiles like the one He established with Israel. His invitation to all men is clearly stated by the appeal, Seek ye the Lord and call ye upon him.’ 

Yes mih bredrin, I don’t know what else we expect the Lord to do for us nuh, so that we will willingly come to Him for help and refuge. Is our inherent sin nature so powerful that it completely blinds us to the irreparable damage it’s doing to our hearts, souls, bodies and minds? Does Satan have so great a hold on us, the chains he’s wrapped us in, so tight, and the darkness he’s enveloped around us, so thick that we can’t break free, that we can’t see or desire anything besides his evil doings? 

Almighty God has bent over backwards to help us, to give us another option besides the evil one, including sacrificing His Son Jesus Christ. However, it seems like many of us still blindly and foolishly prefer the company and doings of his satanic majesty. But please remember there will come a time when we will ALL be called to order, even his satanic majesty himself. As the Good Book tells us: ‘And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement.’ (Heb. 9:27) 

Please remember that after death, or Jesus’ Second Coming, it will be too late to make any changes to our beliefs or anything else, so I implore us to make whatever changes are necessary, RIGHT NOW, since we have no idea when any of those things will occur, only our heavenly Father knows the day and time of all things. And He’s not sharing. (smile) 

But for those of us who already believe and are doing our best to work for the good of Christ’s kingdom, let’s go home declaring (steups!!!) what we call our Thursday Blessings, blessings bestowed on us by our Creator to enable us to do His earthly work. So as one confident voice. ‘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 every day! Amen!’ 

Now, let’s go out and unselfishly put those blessings to work like Christ desires of us nuh. Much LOVE!

…only two options are open to man…heaven or hell…it’s our choice…let’s make the wise one before it’s too late… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​