Today’s Scrip-Bit 13 June 2013 1 Corinthians 13:4

13 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 13:4:    Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (LOVE) envieth not; charity (LOVE) vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
 
Oh Friends, how good, right and pleasant it is for the followers of Jesus to live in unity with each other, continually singing the praises of our God, Creator, Provider and heavenly Father, the way the birds do all day long!
 
And they certainly were in fine and full voice when I arose this morning. Unfortunately though, instead of unity and harmony, we have more divisions and divisiveness in the body of Jesus Christ, the church.
 
Ah Lord eh mih breddren! How that must hurt and wound Jesus’ heart to see His people, the ones He so selflessly sacrificed His holy and sinless life for, not getting along, especially over petty, immaterial stuff.
 
We talk a lot about LOVE, but please read, note, mark, inwardly digest, remember and put into action these most memorable words of Bruh Paul to the Corinthians in the LOVE chapter of the Good Book.
 
‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (LOVE), I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling (clanging) cymbal.
 
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith; so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (LOVE), I am NOTHING.
 
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity (LOVE), it profiteth me NOTHING.’ (1 Cor.13:1-3)
 
And why is all that the gospel truth Friends? Because of our Bit. ‘Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (LOVE) envieth not; charity (LOVE) vaunteth not (does not brag on) itself, is not puffed up (arrogant).’ 
 
Yes my people, LOVE is the number one ingredient of life!
 
Why? It’s simple: ‘(LOVE) Doth not behave itself unseemly (rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil (keeps no accounts of evil); Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
 
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity (LOVE) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail (cease); whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away (cease).’ (1 Cor.13:5-8) 
 

Yes Friends, LOVE NEVER FAILS! 
 
But everything else does at some time or another, be they the ability to prophecy, to speak in tongues, or be a fount of great knowledge. All of those will eventually pass away, but NOT LOVE, NEVER LOVE!
 
That’s why we talk about LOVE makes the world go round, because without it, our world is just one angry, evil, hateful warlike place.
 
And that’s another reason why we so desperately need the LOVE Revolution to pick up steam and bring not only unbelievers to Christ, but also His supposed people together unto themselves and unto Him, so that we can truly say that charity, LOVE isn’t failing, because right now in our troubled, confused and angry world, IT IS FAILING. 
 
I ask us again Friends, how do we think Jesus feels when He looks down from heaven and sees us arguing and bickering amongst ourselves over foolishness, instead of truly taking His Word, His LOVE, and His Unity across the whole wide world to all mankind?
 
If the followers of Jesus would just stop fighting amongst themselves the world’s LOVE quotient would increase by at least 25 percent, because there is so much distrust and dissension amongst the body of Christ, in and around His church.
 
Oh my fellow believers, can’t we see that we’re doing Jesus a great disservice by not living the LOVE we talk so airily and carelessly about? It draws the name HYPOCRITE writ large on our backs, when we can’t get along in simple, everyday life, despite our petty differences.
 
And the basic foundation of our faith, of Christianity, is the getting along, the harmony and unity of one body, which, though it consists of several parts, none is more important than the other, but they all work together to bring about the success of the whole.
 
But sadly, as the world, with the prince of darkness at its helm, moves forward, Christ’s people are being lured by the enemy into more separation and division.
 
Oh my people, please see that the enemy’s focus, his ploy, is the age-old ruse of divide and conquer! It’s much easier to conquer us when we’re divided into small, warring groups, than when we live in harmony as ONE, in a great big, united body, with a powerful leader like Jesus at our helm.
 
Unfortunately though, we designate ourselves first by denomination; Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal, Seven Day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses, etc. instead of by our basic faith, Christians in the body of Christ, better known as Christianity. That alone causes untold dissension.
 
Oh my brethren, I don’t have all the answers to our problems, but this I know, that until and unless we all come together in one big, melting pot, as Christianity is meant to be, and stop fighting amongst ourselves for earthly supremacy, we’ll continue to fight a losing battle. The enemy will just sit by patiently and pick us off one by one, like a sniper on a rooftop, with his enemy nicely spread out in panic before him.
 
Oh Friends, Jesus told us that the two most important things in this life were to LOVE God and to LOVE ourselves. Is this how we LOVE ourselves; in resentment, anger and enmity? That’s surely a poor reflection on Jesus’ command. 
 
And it follows logically, as John says; how can we LOVE God, whom we’ve never seen, if we can’t LOVE our fellow man, whom we have seen eh? (1 John 4:20) That’s an impossible task!
 
So today, all I can do is reiterate the need for the greatest revolution that has ever swept the earth, the LOVE Revolution, based on the sacrifice of Christ’s life given for us, without which, many of us will never see God’s face at the end of our earthly journey.
 
So please consider ourselves warned: no LOVE here on earth, means no seeing God in heaven! As Jesus so wisely warned too: ‘So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.’ (Matt.20:16)
 
And that’s unadulterated wisdom and truth that all of us should seriously consider, if we truly want to see God in the latter days. Much LOVE!
 
…he who hath ears to hear…let him hear NOW…else the price he’ll eventually pay…will be astronomical…that of eternal death…
 
    
 
 
 
 
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 May 2013 Matthew 22:36

29 May 2013 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 22:36.     Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
 
Oh Friends, it looks like today will be another rainy one in my area. In fact there hasn’t been much relief from the showers of blessing since they began yesterday morning. But if that’s our biggest problem, then we surely can handle it.
 
However some water from heaven is the least of our problems right now. And I’m saying that because yesterday morning I got a zeppo, a message that says it’s time for Christians to rise up, rise up in the LOVE REVOLUTION! It’s time for Christianity to take over, to rule the world!
 
Yes Friends that’s the very serious intention and purpose of our great and wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! And He’s saying, loud and clear, it’s time for us to get a move on.
 
But unfortunately, we His followers can only successfully do His bidding if we unite and live in peace and LOVE with each other and our God. All the divisions, dissensions and foolish fighting amongst ourselves is hurting the Saviour’s cause.
 
Remember what Jesus said when the hypocritical Pharisee asked Him our Bit. ‘Master, 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. 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)
 
Yes my people, it’s so simple. There are only two laws we have to worry about; LOVING God and our neighbour, which includes LOVING ourselves, since we can’t truly LOVE anyone else until we have some decent regard for ourselves. And from those two simple commands flow all the other good stuff. It’s the way a true believer ought to live!
 
So please my Friends, neighbours, enemies, whoever you are, all mankind, please for the LOVE of God, let’s get together and stop all the foolish wars of jealousy and greed, stop the senseless hate and violence that only deteriorates to and breeds murder and mayhem, with NO LOVE, NO JOY, NO PEACE.
 
Oh my people, is that the way we truly want to live? Is that the dream our God, our Creator, the great and LOVING Artist put in our hearts? And the answer is a resounding NO!
 
So please let’s do what is right nuh, it’s so simple and easy. When we LOVE and obey God, we prosper. When we don’t, then we suffer the severe consequences, like we’re doing right now. Is simple common sense mih breddren. Oh sorry… I forgot that common sense is no longer in style, it’s not the current vogue of mankind.
 
Nowadays we’re only interested in the foolish and senseless things of Mammon. But remember what happens to those who revere Mammon and his sinful ways. The Good Book says they will surely suffer, pay an exceedingly high price for their disobedience.
 
And I won’t even bother to quote any scripture to that nuh, since on almost every page of the Good Book, and sometimes several times on one page, it reminds us to be obedient, because disobedience only causes havoc, destruction and unnecessary suffering. The world will give us enough suffering. We don’t need to create anymore for ourselves.
 
I’ll quote one scripture here though, and it’s a big one, one that we all know, but few of us really follow. And we’re talking about when Samuel accosted Saul, after he disobeyed God’s directive to totally destroy the Amelakites. (1 Sam.15:1-21)
 
‘And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (divination), and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.’ (1 Sam.15:23)
 
Yes Friends, Saul lost everything because he had not obeyed. And that’s exactly what is happening to us today, we’re losing everything; our joy, peace and prosperity because we haven’t obeyed the dictates of Almighty God. And we’re committing an even greater sin by trying to remove, to totally eradicate Him from our society. Ah Lord eh!
 
Oh mih people, there are so many examples of great societies that floundered and eventually fell because of their disobedience, why do we think ours will fare differently eh? Not very likely!
 
So let’s wake up and smell the roses nuh! Let’s reignite our passion for God, unite and live in PEACE, LOVE, UNDERSTANDING, TRUTH and JUSTICE, for once in our long and foolish existence nuh, for that’s wisdom at it’s finest! 
 
Oh Friends, I sincerely pray this in Jesus’ Name; in the blood that flowed from His bruised and battered body on that fateful day on Calvary’s Cross, when He selflessly gave His holy and sinless life in exchange for our unholy, sinful souls.
 
And for that, we thank Him more than words can ever say. But when He reads our hearts, He’ll surely see and know how much we truly LOVE Him.
 
And all God’s people declared a long, loud and glorious, ‘Praise the Lord! Amen! And again we say, Amen! Praise the Lord!’
 
Much, much LOVE, my beautiful fellow believers!
 
…to not truly live for and obey God…especially in these troubled times….only makes us look real foolish…and Jesus’ sacrificial death…a sad and sorrowful waste…
 
       
 
 
      

Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 February 2013 Psalm 72:7

09 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 72:7.     In his days shall the righteous flourish: and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
 
Oh Friends, the snowstorm has come, and hopefully gone in my area. I don’t know how much fell, but I know that my driveway is covered to between my calves and my knees. Meanwhile the fellow who was supposed to come and plough it hasn’t shown up or even called, despite the fact that I called him about it yesterday. Sorry for that delay, roughly 40 minutes. But you’ll find out why as the story progresses. Now yesterday, I had no cause to go out during the day, but in the evening I had some matters to attend to, and though the snow was piled high in my driveway and lane I figured my ole limo could handle it. But lo and behold, I first got stuck in my driveway, then in the lane. Couldn’t move back nor forth, with just a lot of slipping and sliding and burning rubber. Steups! It’s a good thing my younger, stronger, non-Christian neighbour was outside shovelling his driveway and he helped me. Please note the non-Christian belief, but the very Christian action. For about an hour we were out there trying to get ‘Grey Matter’ (the car’s name) to move sensibly. Finally we managed to get it out of the lane and up the driveway, with its nose in the garage door and it’s tail in a snow bank by the side of the house. The important thing was to get it out of the lane before they came to plough it, otherwise that would have caused even more problems. Obviously I was frustrated by having to cancel all my plans, but I quieted my Spirit by telling it that the Lord was seeing the bigger picture, and there was a good reason He didn’t want me out on the road at that time. And that’s how it stayed until about an hour ago, when a tow truck from the C.A.A (Canadian Automobile Assoc.) came and helped me pull it off the bank. By this time they had cleaned the lane – after 10 p.m. last night- so it was easy to drive it into the garage. In any case, I doubt I would have been able to get on to the main road because of the nasty habit the ploughs have of just ploughing without regard for anything and thus blocking up entrances. The snow at the entrance to the lane was much higher than that in the lane. And now my poor neighbour, who shovelled his driveway will have problems getting out because they blocked up his driveway when they ploughed the lane. Ah Lord eh! This whole sorry episode just has me singing: ‘Oh Tobago, land of Crusoe. I am coming home to you. My poor ole spirit and body, can’t take this nonsense any more.’ (smile) And would you believe, to get back into the house after the tow truck left, I had to shovel a path from the garage to the back door, which took me about fifteen minutes, the snow was so deep. But as they say, after one time is really two yes, for a few years ago, I’d be out there happily shovelling the snow, bad back and all, with my car trunk open and the tunes blasting out, while I danced and shovelled, shovelled and danced. People would pass by and watch me quite amused. But unfortunately I can’t do that any longer. And it’s so hard to get reliable people to come and clear the snow. The latest scam going around is to pay a lump sum of money for snow clearance from say December to March, but when the snow flies, nobody shows up to clear it. My guy wanted a lump sum too, but I decided to err on the side of caution; when you clean, you get paid. I guess he’s so busy, he just couldn’t be bothered with my small money. But of one thing I’m sure; the Lord will see me through all these difficulties, one way or the other, cause He’s promised to work out all things for the good of those who LOVE and serve Him faithfully. (Rom.8:28) And I’m trying my level best to do just that. And our Bit, which I just found (Praise the Lord!), where I’d left my Bible open when I went outside to see about the car, assures of God’s care and concern. ‘In his days shall the righteous flourish: and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth (the moon is no more).’ Yeh mih people, as long as the moon continues to shine, the righteous in the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will continue to flourish, cause that’s the kind of ever-LOVING, kind-hearted God we serve and worship. This Psalm, 72, titled; The reign of the righteous king, is only one of two attributed to Cousin Sol. The other is Psalm 127 – The need of relying on God. But according to the scholars Psalm 72 is so idealistic that the things it declares cannot be attained by a sinful human being. ‘Its aspirations become messianic in nature and point to Christ who alone can fulfill this ideal kingship.’ Yes Friends, only Christ can satisfy all its high ideals. No wonder our Bit has such strength and staying power! And we’ll close with an appropriate word from Isaiah, re the days of the Lord. ‘And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks (pruning knives): nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.’ (Is.2:4) And all God’s people joyfully declared: ‘Glory Hallelujah! Blessed is the name of the Lord our God!’ Yes Friends, many of us might not live to see that treasured day of no war, but it will come eventually as promised. So let’s go out and do our best to help it along nuh, by sincerely LOVING our God, LIVING our Faith, and SPREADING His Word. That’s what Jesus expects of us. Much LOVE!…when you truly LOVE Jesus…your only desire is to please Him…
 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 December 2012 Hebrews 12:2

27 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

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

Hebrews 12:2.    Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
 
Oh Friends, a merry after Boxing Day morning to you! No doubt many of you went out and got involved in the crazy day of sales that Boxing Day has now become. Even with the bad weather, oodles of people still went out bargain hunting. Ah Lord eh! We’ve become such a price conscious society, cheapskates really, where we want everything cheap and will go miles to look for a bargain. It’s obvious that we’ve forgotten that sage advice of Confucius: ‘cheap thing no good, and good thing no cheap.’ That’s why we’ve outsourced so much of our jobs to areas of cheap labour and inefficient production and thus get the resultant cheap, shoddy goods in return. As the old computer adage states: garbage in – garbage out. And that’s certainly true of the manufacturing sector these days. But it’s obvious that we cannot stop the juggernaut of cheap production from ploughing ahead, neither stop mankind from running around looking for cheap stuff at this stage, since we’ve already been totally indoctrinated by the commercialism of the era. Anyway, there’s some good news for the snow lovers and some bad ones for the snow haters. Another winter storm raised its ugly, destructive head yesterday in the U.S. Midwest, unfortunately rampaging through several states doing lots of damage and taking some lives. It’s now set to head north to Canada. In fact, it’s already here, for as I write, several inches of snow covers the ground. And I don’t think this will melt later today. So please be very careful if you have to venture outside today. And by the way, you Canada bashers, please pay attention to where this storm began, as well as the last one, in the U.S, not in Canada. So please stop saying that the cold, bad weather comes from Canada, cause it’s a fallacy. And now that we’ve straitened out that misinformation, (smile) let’s turn to our Bit, because I have a lot of scripture for us to read and inwardly digest. ‘Looking unto Jesus the author (originator) and finisher (perfector) of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ And those words are ever so true my brethren! For Jesus is the one who both began and then perfected our faith by going through all the suffering and challenges it took to do so. And I really don’t know if I’d call it ‘joy that was set before him.’ But nonetheless, He took the assigned task out of a combination of obedience to, and LOVE for the Father and us, and accomplished it in perfect stride, without skipping a beat. This is painstakingly pointed out by Jesus to the two followers He met on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection. ‘Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?’ (Luke 24:25-26) Yes Friends, we ought to pay much more attention than we currently do to the prophecies of the Old Testament, if we truly want to understand the happenings surrounding Jesus’ earthly life. The scholars explain those verses thus: ‘Ought (Gr.dei) bespeaks a divine necessity; what the prophets had foretold (see Is.53; Ps.16; 22) must and did come to pass. The disciples had been ready to see in Jesus a glorious deliverer, but Jesus’ rebuke (v.25) relates to their unwillingness to take seriously the many Old Testament texts that speak not only of the Messiah’s glory, but also of His suffering.’ Oh my people, it’s not only in the New Testament that we’ve been advised to look to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for protection and sustenance, but long before Jesus came, Isaiah, in declaring that salvation will only come from the Lord, proclaimed these words. ‘Look (turn) unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear (take an oath).’ (Is.45:22-23) So looking to Jesus should have been nothing new or strange to His disciples, and neither should it be for us. Now turning to the second part of our Bit: ‘endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ Listen to these marvellous words Bruh Paul wrote to the Philippians describing that situation. ‘And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of (those) things in heaven, and (those) things in earth, and (those) things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil.2:8-11) That says it all right there Friends! Jesus humbled Himself in human form, disregarding the shame, disgrace and physical punishment it took to do the Father’s will. But He did it all to the Father’s glory and honour. Therefore, afterwards the Father exalted Him to sit at His right hand. And my people, it works the same way with us; when we do Jesus’ bidding down here on earth, without too much whining and complaining, we’ll also be welcomed to sit with Jesus in heavenly places. And I can assure you that those places will be much nicer than any that Lucifer will provide in Hades, if you reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of all. And we’ll end with this bold prophecy of Bruh David from Psalm 110; the Lord gives dominion to the King. ‘The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.’ (Ps.110:1) And so said, so was it done – in the august body of Jesus! Oh Friends, I strongly suggest that you read Psalm 110 in its entirety, so you can see that Bruh David knew what he was talking about. Now may the good Lord bless and keep us safely in this Christmas season, where we celebrate the birth of His wonderful Son, Jesus. And may He make His countenance to shine upon us and give us that awesome peace, He sent the Prince of Peace into the world to disseminate. Till we meet again, either here on earth, or heaven’s golden shores, please walk with God. Much LOVE!…it’s time for all Christians to step up to the plate…and truly LOVE our God…truly LIVE our Faith…and truly SPREAD His Holy Word…
 

Next Newer Entries