28 Sep 2019
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a sound mind, Anselm's quotes, appreciate His loving-kindness, aspire to inspire us, be of good cheer, big dreams, courage, disgruntled, do it afraid, fear not, feast one's eyes, for a better tomorrow, full potential, Genesis, God is in control, have life abundantly, how do I love thee, hunker down, i have overcome the world, it is your Father's good pleasure, Joyce Meyer, let me count the ways, lifts our spirits, light of the world, little flock, live in fear, LOVE, more powerful, no passion, nothing is impossible, on something beautiful, panicky alarm, peace, playing small, power, put our best foot forward, reminds us of God's greatness, Revelation, salt of the earth, seem impossible, settling for a life, stretch us, supernatural help, the absence of fear, the spirit of fear, tired, to give you the kingdom, tribulation, triump over it, with all the facts, with God, you are capable of living
Luke 12:32. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Saturday, oh Saturday, how do I LOVE thee! Let me count the ways: I don’t have to wake up panicky to an alarm and rush out to take children to a babysitter and school, then to a job that I dislike, while sitting in traffic and getting there tired and disgruntled. I don’t have to spend 8 hours working with people who are mostly jerks. I suppose they think I’m one too, but that’s okay.
I don’t have to clean the house, do laundry or take the children out, if I don’t want to. And if the children aren’t happy with that state of affairs, then I can drop them off at their grandparents who will just LOVE to entertain them for the day, since they seldom see them during the week. Then I can spend the whole day on the couch eating junk food, or in bed with my hubby! And yuh tell me I won’t LOVE you Saturday! No way Jose! (smile)
And since it’s Saturday, let’s see what quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he sincerely aspires to inspire us to a better tomorrow. And I particularly like this one: ‘Always have something beautiful in sight, even if it’s just a daisy in a jelly glass.’
Why? Because it’s just about admiring beautiful things; things that the Lord made just for us to admire, like the beauty of nature and all therein. There’s nothing better than to be able to feast one’s eyes on something beautiful, whatever it may be, because it just lifts our spirits and reminds us of God’s greatness and helps us to truly appreciate His LOVING-kindness towards mankind!
And these next two seem to go together: ‘There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.’… ‘Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.’
Yeh friends, our God didn’t make us to live small, unimportant lives, but to live big ones, with big dreams that will stretch us, dreams that will seem impossible, that will then leads us to partner with Him, to whom nothing is impossible, to make them come true. Remember Jesus came to earth to die, not only to pay for our sins, but also for us to have life, and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
And abundant life doesn’t mean living below our capabilities, but trying to reach for the stars, with His help of course! And believe me, too many of us believers are not stretching ourselves to our full potential, merely settling for mediocrity, for merely what life offers, instead of reaching out for what God meant us to have and to be!
But please remember, we’re also supposed to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world! And you can’t make a marked difference unless your salt is indeed salty and spread out, and your light is shining big and bright! (smile) And dreams will always conquer facts, because facts are static and unchangeable, but dreams can be big, wide, far-reaching, changeable, and with the help of the creator of the universe, possible!
That brings us to this next quote: ‘There are things that always seem impossible until they are done.’ And is that ever so true my brethren! How many times in our own lives have we figured or claimed that something is impossible, then we simply hunker down, put our best foot forward, ask for some supernatural help…and voila! There it’s done and no longer impossible!
And I guess here we should note Jesus’ immortal words after making the statement about a camel passing through the eye of a needle to his disciples. (Matt.19:23-25) Obviously they were amazed, as we too are, even now. ‘But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God ALL things are possible.’ (Matt.19:26)
Please friends, please, let’s never forget that: any and everything is indeed possible with our great God, and if it falls within His will for our lives, He will make it possible for us! That’s why we can’t live small, cloistered, non-dreaming lives, but have to reach up and out for what He’s planned for us.
That brings us to this last quote: ‘Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.’ Yes my people, in this life there will always be some kind of fear in our lives, so talking about its absence is not reality at all. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t have courage, because as Sister Joyce (Joyce Meyer) likes to say, ‘courage is doing it afraid.’ And that’s oh so true!
In this crazy, divisive, evil, wicked, strife-filled, war-torn world, fear is the number one emotion in so many of our lives. And there is cause for some fear even when walking in our own neighbourhoods, but remember that some of the most repeated words in the Good Book are these two simple ones: ‘FEAR NOT!’
From Genesis to Revelation they are used to encourage us not to be afraid, because God knows that fear is a meaningful emotion in human lives, but when we walk compliantly with Him, there is no need to be afraid, because He is in control of EVERYTHING! Thus Jesus’ affirmation to the people when He told them to seek first the kingdom of God: ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’
It’s simple friends, if we make God our Number ONE priority, we need not fear anything in this whole wide world! And if that didn’t touch you, then listen to Jesus again: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) And if you can’t truly believe and trust Jesus’ words, what’s the point of calling yourself a believer eh?
And we’ll close with this scripture that all of us know, but not enough actually take to heart. Hear these electrifying words of Bruh Paul to Timothy: ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.’ (2 Tim.1:7) Therefore my brethren, I implore us, let’s not only remember those powerful and true words, but as of today, let’s action them in our hearts, souls, bodies and minds nuh, for they will certainly stand us in very good stead in this life! Much LOVE!
…believers ought not to be live in fear…but in courage…
09 Aug 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a brand new day, a faithful ambassador brings health, allowing us to see it, be not afraid, be of good cheer, be wise, blessings, cast into hell, Christians, courage, creativity, curse, death, displeasing God, don't fear, don't let fear destroy you, easter morning, enjoy the day, every secret, fear, fear not, fearful times, fearing for his life, forgiven, forgotten, give the Lord thanks, go into Galilee, God is the revealer, indisputable truth, It is I, Jesus is the resurrection, Jesus' resurrection, Jesus' return, John Hagee, judgemental behaviour, jurisdiction, kill the body, lightning, little flock, more firepopwer, negative word, new mercies, omnipotent rule, one lawgiver, powers, precious possession, principalities, righteousness, rule our lives, seek the kingdom of God, self-control, self-discipline, share them, spiritual maturity, spoon feed, take courage, the Life, the name of Jesus, the past, the power of Jesus name, the power of Jesus' blood, the power of the cross, the power of the Word, the U.S. President, the unknown, Thor, thunder, thunderclap, Thursday Blessings, to give you the kingdom, under Jesus' umbrella, upheaval, wait, watch, wisdom, your Father's good pleasure, Zeus
Luke 12:32. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Oh mih people, it’s a brand new day with new mercies and blessings, so let’s be wise and enjoy it and give the Lord thanks for allowing us to see it nuh!
And I’d certainly like to know what it is between me and lighting yes! Remember a couple of days ago I told you about going out on my front porch to see the rain and how two flashes of lightning immediately drove me back inside?
Well yesterday afternoon I was sitting on my porch reading, waiting for my young daughter to come and pick me up and take me out. The rain was merely drizzling, when out of the blue, a fiery bolt of Zeus’ lightning suddenly lit up the dark and dreary-looking sky. Then soon thereafter, Thor unleashed a thunderous thunderclap of thundering thunder! (smile) Hn! Yuh know where I ended up? Back inside, of course!
Ah Lord eh! A body can’t even sit down quietly on his porch without being threatened eh, without fearing for his life! (smile) And quite appropriately, today we’re going to talk about fear, starting with some wise insights on the subject from Uncle John (John Hagee).
And the first thing he says is ‘Don’t let fear destroy you.’ But sadly we live in such fearful times, when both the physical world and mankind seem to be in serious upheaval that fear is rampant, even among Christians. However, according to Uncle John, the two words that Jesus used most were ‘Fear not!’ And He did indeed tell us quite often not to be afraid, but so many of us lack spiritual maturity that we let fear rule our lives.
Now hear are some things Uncle John said we should not be afraid of in particular and good reasons why not. The first is: ‘Don’t fear death – For Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Don’t fear the past – Because it’s forgotten and forgiven. Do not fear the unknown – Because God is the revealer of every secret. Do not fear powers and principalities – Because you have the power of the cross.
You have the power of Jesus’ Name. You have the power of His Word. You have the power of His blood. You have more firepower than the U.S President… (smile) And it comes to you just with the mention of the name of Jesus!’
Glory be mih people! Yuh see all the reasons why we should not be afraid. Jesus is the omnipotent ruler of this world, and if we’re supposed to be living under His umbrella, His jurisdiction, then we should have little or no cause to be afraid of anything!
And we’ll continue by highlighting a few scriptures where Jesus told His people not to be afraid, beginning with our Bit. ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’
Yes friends, that’s the indisputable truth! Why else would He have sent his most precious possession, His Son, to die for a bunch of ingrates like us eh? But we can’t just sit on our fannies and do nothing. We have to genuinely seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, as well as watch and wait for Jesus’ return.
And earlier on, while telling them whom to fear and whom not to fear, Jesus declared. ‘And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.’ (Luke 12:4-5) Oh my, my!
And as the scholars explain: ‘12:4. The body’s death is not the end of a person’s life. 12:5. God is the One with this power (to cast into hell) (James 4:12).’ And since I LOVE you all so much, and want you to know the scriptures, and know you won’t look it up for yourselves, I’ll spoon-feed you with that verse. (smile)
It occurs when James is talking about us having consideration for our brother. ‘There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?’ (James 4:12) And that’s a very good question with all the unsubstantiated judgemental behaviour that’s going on these days.
But turning back to Jesus. Listen to Him on Easter morning, having triumphantly risen from the dead. To those who first saw Him, He said: ‘Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.’ (Matt.28:10) What an occasion was Jesus’ resurrection eh friends! The most momentous occasion the world has seen so far!
And we have time for just one more of Jesus’ ‘be not afraid.’ This one to His disciples on the boat on the stormy sea, and He comes walking towards them on the water. When they saw Him, were they ever afraid and cried out in fear that it was a spirit. ‘But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer (take courage); it is I, be not afraid.’ (Matt.14:27) Ah mih breddren, what else can I say eh? You heard it all from Jesus Himself!
Now let’s go home loudly and proudly and sincerely declaring our Thursday Blessings, a mark of Jesus’ bountiful benediction to His followers. 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!’
The next step is to go out now and share those wonderful blessings with the less fortunate, because that’s why Jesus so generously endowed us with them. Much LOVE!
…the only fear mankind should have…is that of displeasing Almighty God…
20 Jan 2018
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a muscle, a sound mind, adding value, admonition, Anselm, astound ourselves, average results, be not afraid, be not dismayed, be strong, buckled down, business people, busyness, capable of, celebrity culture, conquered, conquering fear, deliverance, earn a living, Egyptians, exercise, faith, fear, fear thou not, fearful spirit, fearlessness, fears, first-world economy, forgiveness, formal education, foundation, friend, get a job, give you the kingdom, good pleasure, gospel truth, grace, grateful, greedy desire, help thee, hold your peace, I am thy God, I am with thee, I will strengthen thee, insane world, Joshua, little flock, LOVE, make a living, make you a fortune, mercy, minimum wage, Moses, not challenged, of a good courage, Ontario, our full capability, our welfare, power, profit margins, quality of work, right hand, righteousness, run ragged, secreted in our hearts, self-education, separate us from God, set our minds, slept in, stand still the salvation of the Lord, standard of education, strive, succes, thankful, the enemy, the Red Sea, the spirit of fear, threatening retribution, Timothy, Tin Horton's, up in arms, uphold thee, value, walk arm in arm with God, \
2 Timothy 1:7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.
And then it was Saturday…somewhat late in the day though, and many of you won’t notice, because like the ole fella you also slept in some. (smile) But what’s life eh, if once in a while you can’t sleep in and not be run ragged by the busyness of this insane world? The Lord’s LOVE, mercy, grace and forgiveness will still be there when we get up.
Oh how wonderful is the God we serve and worship my brethren! He is always thinking about our welfare, so we need to be very thankful and grateful as we walk arm in arm with Him. And remember too, that NO ONE can separate us from Him, but us. And such a move on our part would be rather foolish. Nuff said.
Let’s see what our friend Anselm has to say on this bleak and gloomy Saturday morning. First off, he tells us that ‘Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.’
I have serious doubts about that yes, because in this society there are oodles of people right now with lots of formal education, who can’t even get a job, much less earn a living. And if and when they do get one, the wage is definitely not in line with their standard of education. It’s surprising that in this supposed first-world economy, the number of university grads who are making minimum wage.
And in my province of Ontario, at the beginning of the year, the government raised the minimum wage from eleven something to fourteen something, and as expected all the business people are up in arms, threatening all sorts of retribution.
Some Tim Horton’s franchises have already cut back paid breaks, tips and stuff, taking away what little the employees already had, in their greedy desire to keep their profit margins high. So who knows, self-education might just be the answer.
And I like this next quote. ‘If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.’ That’s oh so true my fellow believers. I’m sure most of us have had that experience at some time(s) in our lives.
Times when we actually buckled down and did stuff we had to do, and was surprised at the quality and quantity of work we accomplished because we had set our minds to it. Many of us never reach our full capability, because we’re either not challenged to, or we just settle for average results.
That leads us to this quote. ‘Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.’ And there’s much truth in that advice, especially in these modern times, where a lot of supposed successful people add li’l or no value to the society. Check out the celebrity culture that currently rules the world.
How many of them add anything worthwhile to the society eh? Not many. That’s a big reason why the world is in such a mess. So friends, in our lives, please let’s concentrate on adding value to our lives and our society. Value usually means success in the real world, but not necessarily the other way around.
And finally Anselm tells us that ‘Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it, the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me.’ There is indeed substance to that remark, because the more we practice not being afraid, the more we will learn to conquer fear.
But the basic foundation for conquering fear comes from our association with Jesus Christ. That’s who gives us the strength and wisdom to conquer fear. Oh friends, throughout the Good Book there are numerous warnings about fear. And one of the most powerful is that found in our Bit; Bruh Paul’s admonition to Timothy. ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.’
And that’s gospel truth friends! Our wonderful God has not given us a fearful spirit, we allow the enemy to put fear into our hearts. And all I want to do today is highlight a few scriptures where God warned us not to be afraid. And one of my favourites is the one He commanded Joshua, when He made him leader of the Israelites after Moses’ death.
‘Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’ (Josh.1:9) Ah mih people, the Lord could not have been more explicit.
Then in Isaiah, re the final restoration of Israel, He warns His people the same way. ‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be thou not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.’ (Is.41:10)
Now hear one of the first ‘fear not’ instructions; that from Moses when the Israelites were preparing to leave Egypt. ‘And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation (deliverance) of the Lord, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace (be quiet).’ (Ex.14:13-14)
And so said, so was it done. The Lord drowned the Egyptians in the closing of the Red sea. And we’ll end with these words of Jesus as He talked about care and anxiety and seeking God’s kingdom above all else. ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’ (Luke 12:32)
And it is indeed the Lord’s desire to give us the kingdom, if we seek Him above all else. So friends, there is no need to fear man nor beast once we are walking hand in hand with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Please, let’s therefore rid ourselves of all the unwanted and unnecessary fear that is secreted in our hearts, by giving it to God. That’s wisdom of untold proportions! Much LOVE!
…fear can only be conquered by faith…
21 Sep 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a compassionate heart, a message, a sound mind, armour, be not afraid, calamity, Christian, comfort me, complain, Controller, covenant relationship, creativity, Creator, curse, death, devastating consequences, disappointments, disasters, discouraged, disobedience, earthquakes, faith, fear, fear not, for what we still have, generously sharing, give thanks, glorify God, God will work everything out for good, going forward, haunt us, hope, hurricanes, I will fear no evil, little flock, LOVE, magnify, man-made idols, negative word, no other gods before me, not mourn over what we've lost, obedient to God's Word, overcome, pagan gods, power, prosper, remove God, repent, securely planted, stand strong, strayed away, succeed, surrendering to God, talent, terror, the Good Book, the spirit of fear, the valley of the sahdow of death, the wages of sin, the wicked, the word of jesus, Thusrday Blessings, thy confidence, thy rod and thy staff, to give you the kingdom, trust, turn back to God, whimper, Yahweh, your Father's good pleasure
Luke 12:32. Fear not little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Ah friends, though the disasters and their devastating effects continue to haunt us, we must ALWAYS remember to give thanks for what we still have, most importantly life, and not mourn too much over what we have lost.
It’s not easy going forward after the calamitous results of hurricanes and earthquakes, I can testify to that personally after experiencing hurricane Flora in 1963 in Tobago. But we have to move forward; that’s the only way that’s open to us.
And we can ONLY truly move forward my people by truly surrendering to Almighty God, our Creator and Controller, by putting our sincere faith and trust in Him, and being obedient to His word. Who knows if that is the message He’s trying to relay to us through all these disasters eh?
The wise thing to do would be to repent and turn back to Him, since we have strayed away from His fold and embraced pagan gods and man-made idols. And remember, from the very beginning, He commanded us in no uncertain manner: ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’ (Ex.20:3)
So although there have been numerous arguments as to what the words ‘before me,’ actually mean, the long and short of the story is simply as the scholars put it: ‘Thus the first commandment teaches that no deity, real or imagined, is to rival the one true God, who is the only One who matters. It demands an exclusive covenant relationship with Yahweh (cf.Ps.81:9-10).
And we all know that we have not kept that covenant relationship, and the Good Book further tells us that ‘the wages of sin is death.’ (Rom.6:23) So that means all kinds of consequences are possible, up to and including both physical and spiritual death, for our blatant disobedience and intense desire to remove Him from all aspects of our society.
Now the good thing about being in true covenant with Almighty God is that in times of trouble and disaster we need not be afraid. Oh we must be concerned, but bone-chilling fear is not necessary since the Lord has made several faithful promises to believers, including that He will eventually work everything out for our good.
So, tough times and calamity are to be expected, but with the word of Jesus securely planted in our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, we can stand strong and overcome whatever comes against us.
Listen to Jesus’ words in our Bit, as He talks to His audience about care and anxiety. He tells them to first seek God’s kingdom and not the things of the world, because when they do, God will give them all that they need. Then He reassures them: ‘Fear not little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’
Now would Jesus lie to us? Certainly not! But we have to first believe in Him, and obey His commandments, and that is exactly what we are not doing in this ungodly society. Fear is no part of the Christian’s armour or ammunition. Our weapon is FAITH!
Listen to Bruh Paul to his protégé Timothy. ‘For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.’ (2 Tim.1:7) So once Jesus lives in us, we should not be overwhelmed by fear.
And all of us know and often claim this famous verse of Bruh David’s words from Psalm 23: ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.’ (Ps.23:4)
So why are we so quick to whimper and complain and fall apart when troubles befall us eh? Is it that we don’t truly believe? Who knows?
But here are a few more comforting words, this time from Cousin Sol. ‘Be not afraid of sudden fear (terror), neither of the desolation of (trouble from) the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken (caught).’ (Prov.3:25-26)
The problem is friends, that we have to learn to deal with disappointments without being discouraged, without thinking we’re failures, but to have faith and hope and get up and start all over again.
And why shouldn’t we be able to do that when our magnanimous God has been so beneficent towards us in our Thursday Blessings. Let’s declare them now, so that our spirits can be uplifted and we can magnify and glorify our great and wonderful God.
As one 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 let’s continue by generously sharing these blessings with others, as Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!
…oh…how blessed are believers in Christ…especially when they generously share their blessings…
05 Nov 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fearful heart, alive and kicking, Anselm, aspires, awesome God, be counted, be not dismayed, bitter waters, Christ, Christians, comfort me, cynical thoughts, deliverance, destroy both body and soul, dwell in the house of the Lord, Egyptians, evil, faithful, fear not, fear thou not, fearlessly, feckless, fickle, focus on today, for His name's sake, foundation, friends, God's LOVE, good pleasure, goodness, green pastures, I am thy God, I am with thee, I shall not want, I will fear no evil, I will help thee, I will uphold thee, in the presence of mine enemies, information, information intake, inspires, invade our minds and spirits, Isaiah, Israelites, Jesus, kill the body, lies, little flock, LOVE, make each day count, make hay while the sun shines, Marah, mercy, miracle, misinformation, more value than sparrows, Moses, negative, paths of righteousness, personal growth, Pharaoh, positive, positive news, prevarication, promises, recompense, Red Sea, restores my soul, righteousness, salvation, save you, Scrip-Bit family, see the salvation of the Lord, social media, spend more time with God, stand still, steadfast, still waters, television, The Lord is my shepherd, the right hand, the valley of the shadow of death, thy rod and thy staff, Top o' the morn, trusting, truth, vengeance, Zion
Isaiah 41:10. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Well top o’ the morn to you my Scrip-Bit family! Hope this missive finds you alive and kicking on this lazy, hazy Saturday. (smile) Life is short so we might as well enjoy it. We know not when our time will be up, so here is the first of two quotes from our friend Anselm, who always aspires to inspire us to greater heights.
And first off he tells us: ‘Make each day count. We don’t have all the time in the world. So focus on today and do the things you really want to do.’ That’s exactly what I was saying above. It is imperative that we make hay while the sun shines!
And the second quote is also inspiring. ‘Reprogram your information intake. Program out negative and cynical thoughts from the media and society. Reduce your information intake. Then program in positive news and entertainment, more of your own thoughts and useful information such as personal growth tapes and books. Be selective and keep it positive.’
Ah friends, a lot of us certainly need to do that in this age of so much information and misinformation! Our world is going crazy with the wealth of information that’s now available. The problem though is that too much of it is negative and we can’t easily tell what is truth from prevarication to out and out lies. Therefore our minds are filled with lots of unnecessary and unproductive stuff, that’s why Anselm’s advice is so worthwhile.
We desperately need to clean up our minds; purge what’s not useful and negative, and then replace it with only useful, positive, godly stuff. Give the television and social media a break; spend more time with God, your family and yourself. That way we won’t be bombarded with all the nonsense that’s out there, seeking to invade our minds and spirits.
And last but not least, seek to raise our faith and trust in the God of our fathers. Believe what our Bit says: ‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.’
Oh my people, why are so many of us supposed Christians still walking in deep fear of the world around us, when we have such awesome promises from our awesome God eh? We know He’s faithful to keep those promises and that He will work out everything for our good in the end, so why are we still so fickle and feckless?
As Job says, we have to learn to take the good with the bad. (Job 2:10) We can’t be fearful of every little hiccup in our lives. And this morning I want to bombard us with some ‘Fear nots’ in the hope that it will encourage us to stand steadfast and strong in the power of God’s Word.
Listen to Moses on the occasion of the biggest miracle of the time, when the departing Israelites were caught between the army of Pharaoh and the deep Red Sea. ‘And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation (deliverance) of the Lord, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever.’ (Ex.14:13)
And as promised, Moses stretched out his hand over the Red Sea which parted and allowed the Israelites to cross over on dry land, but when the Egyptians followed, the two halves came together again and drowned Pharaoh’s army. Now one would think that after such a mighty miracle, the Israelites would have been trusting and steadfast forever. Hn! But in the wilderness, three days later, at the bitter waters of Marah they were complaining, wanting to return to Egypt.
Now hear Isaiah, as he talks about Israel being restored to Zion. ‘Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.’ (Is.35:4)
And now, listen to these words of Bruh David that we all know and claim to LOVE and believe. ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the day so my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.’ (Ps.23)
Yeh mih people, if we believe all that Bruh David says there, then we should not be afraid of the vicissitudes of life. Then there’s Jesus to his disciples: ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul….Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.’ (Matt.10:28,31)
Yes friends, ONLY the Lord can destroy body and soul, and we are much too valuable in His sight, for Him to destroy us, that’s why He sent Jesus to save us.
And we’ll close with a simple, but powerful statement of Jesus. ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’ (Luke 12:32)
How much more do we need eh my brethren, before we can truly stand strong and steadfast on the solid foundation of God’s eternal LOVE and ever-faithful promises eh? Steups! God alone knows yes! Much LOVE!
…it’s high time for those of us who call ourselves Christians… to FEARLESSLY stand up and be counted….
SCRIP-BITS 