02 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: all the love in your heart, assurances, be not afraid, benefits of following Jesus, Christ, Christ experience, Christ is always with us, clouds, confidence, Cousin Sol, depart from your eyes, desolation, dew, different levels of maturity, discretion, elementary school, embrace Jesus, encouraging, everlasting, everlasting truth, fail tests, failures, faith, favour, fear, focused, focused on Jesus, followers of Jesus, following Christ is ongoing, for His name's sake, forgiveness, glory hallelujah, God's LOVING-kindness, goodness, grace, healing, helping, high school, hope, immature, interesting, Jesus Christ, Jesus will embrace you, journey with Christ, joy, keep on having hope, kindergarten, knowledge, life to thy soul, lifelong journey, like Jesus Christ, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, loving, maturation, mature, maturity, mercy, most awesome expereinces, motivation, never ending experience, not stumble, not to give up, paths of righteousness, personal experience, promises, refuse to accept Jesus, repeat tests, right with Jesus, sleep shall be sweet, something new to learn, sound wisdom, strength, successes, terror, testify, Thank you Jesus, the Lord shall be thy confidence, the path that Jesus trod, through to eternity, trouble, trust, truth, turn to Jesus, unconditional LOVE, understanding, university, walk safely, wisdom, works in progress
Proverbs 3:23. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
Well hello there mih lovelies! (smile) What have you all got to say for yourselves this blessed Thursday morning in early April 2014 eh? Whatever it is, I do hope it abounds with LOVE, joy hope, faith, mercy, grace and forgiveness, as Jesus desires of His followers.
Now, as I was coming downstairs a short while ago, I began wondering what subject we could preamble with, as we perambulated through life today. (smile) And the Lord, in His wisdom and LOVING-kindness, put this idea in my mind.
You know how we like to talk about things being works in progress? Well how many of us realize that we too are works in progress eh? We are works in progress on the lifelong journey to be like Jesus Christ.
The interesting thing though is that we are all at different stages of completion… Oh, I believe completion might be the wrong word there, because as long as we are alive, we can never be completed in Christ. I guess the better word might be maturity, or even maturation.
Yes my fellow believers, we’re all at different stages or levels of maturity in Christ. It’s just like school. Some of us are in Kindergarten, or Elementary School level, while others have graduated from High School, and moved on to University. It all depends on when we began our journey with Christ and how much effort we’ve put into it.
Again, it’s just like school. Sometimes we fail tests and have to repeat them, or we just don’t put in enough effort, haven’t applied ourselves sufficiently and have to repeat the whole year in the same class.
But the important thing my fellow believers, is that no matter how old or young, mature or immature we are in Christ, there is always something new for us to learn and experience each and every day. That’s because following Christ is an ongoing, never ending experience, right through to eternity!
And the real beauty of the whole Christ experience Friends, is that Christ is ALWAYS with us! Regardless of our failures and successes, Jesus is ALWAYS there, healing, helping, LOVING, encouraging us not to give up, to keep on having hope, courage, faith, strength and trust in Him.
Oh Friends, what a wonderful Lord and Saviour we have in Jesus Christ!
The unfortunate part though is that those who refuse to accept Him and work with Him to come maturity, are missing the most awesome experience(s) this life has to offer!
And I testify to this from personal experience my brethren, because everyday something happens to keep me focused on Jesus. Be it good or bad, whatever it is, it always brings me right back to Jesus. And as I keep saying, it’s not always easy following Jesus, but it surely is always interesting!
So if you want to have the most interesting life available on this great planet earth, then TURN TO JESUS, embrace Him with all the LOVE your heart can produce, and He will in turn, embrace you with His everlasting, unconditional LOVE, and lead you in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
And all God’s children shouted a joyful; ‘Thank You Jesus! We LOVE You, and praise Your Holy Name! Amen!’
Now my brethren, hear these wise words of Cousin Sol on the subject: ‘The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths (deeps) are broken up and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace (favour) to thy neck. (Prov.3:19-22)
Words of everlasting truth, my brethren! And our Bit, smoothly and strongly continues Cousin Sol’s wisdom. ‘Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.’
And all God’s people joyfully shouted: ‘Glory Hallelujah! Praise the Lord for His overwhelming and undeserving goodness to the children of men!’ That’s for sure mih people!
And that’s not all. Cousin Sol continues to lay down the wonderful benefits of following Jesus. ‘When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. 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.’ (Prov.3:24-26)
Oh Friends, oh Friends, what blessed and sincere promises and assurances! But they only accrue to us when we sincerely and faithfully try to tread the path that Jesus trod, and we truly aspire to emulate Him. We will never come up to His excellence, but it’s all in the motivation Friends, it all depends on what truly is in our hearts.
So please, let’s try and make our hearts, minds and souls right with Jesus TODAY, so that we can begin to enjoy more of His wonderful blessings. That’s wisdom at its zenith! Much LOVE!
…to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…
P.S. Oh mih people, sorry for the Bit being so late, but Internet Explorer and /or Outlook decided they were going to make changes they thought were better, but which screwed up my writing process. And unfortunately when I tried to fix it, I screwed it up even more and had to go to a different server.
So the whole process took much longer than necessary. Yuh see what I’ve said above is true. Everyday with Jesus brings some new challenge. But with His help I got through it with only a few deleted expletives. (smile) Much LOVE!
01 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: anxious, appreciate, April fool's, be of good courage, believe in something, beloved son, blessed, blessings, bodies, Bruh David, burdened hearts, certainty, courage, encouragement, evil, faith, faithful, faithful followers, faithfulness, fall for anything, footsteps of Jesus, forgiveness, free medicine, glory, God's marvellous universe, God's own time and way, good morning, gospel truth, hand of grace, heavenly Father, heavenly wisdom, Holy Name, hope in the Lord, in the lurch, indisputable truth, Jesus Christ, joy, laughter, learn to laugh at trouble, less fortunate, lift our heads heavenwards, lighten up, loosen up, Lord and Saviour, Lord preserveth, lose enenrgy and focus, LOVE, Love the Lord, mercies, mercy, minds, muddy the waters, negativity, new day, peace, positives, problems, put your trust, reverence, rewards, righteous, save, Scrip-Bit family, share, solve the problem, strength, strengthen your heart, testify to, Thank you Father, thanks and praise, the Lord destroys the wicked, the Lord is gracious, the Lord is near to all who call on him, the Lord is righteous, The Lord preserves those who love Him, the right foot, to handle whatever comes against us, troubled times, troubled world, true believer, truth, ungodly world, unvarnished, very depths of our souls, win-win situation, wisdom, working on our behalf
Psalm 145:20. The Lord preserveth all them that LOVE him: but all the wicked he will destroy.
Well a hearty good morning to all you Scrip-Bit family members this first glorious morning in April! Wow!
And I’m not trying to make April fools of us all. (smile) But we have indeed been blessed to see another marvellous day in God’s great universe! Now isn’t that something special? It surely is!
Therefore, let’s give our heavenly Father some thanks and praise for that nuh. Let’s lift our heads, hearts, hands and eyes heavenward and sincerely say: ‘Heavenly Father, thank You for this new day! We know that You are going to shower us with new mercies and blessings, more than we can ever ask for or imagine.
Please help us to appreciate them and share them with others less fortunate, because that’s what You desire of us. And in that way, we can walk in the big footsteps of Your BELOVED Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! We pray this in His Holy Name, and give you all the glory! Amen!’
Yes Friends, when we start out on the right foot, giving the Father His deserved thanks and praise, our path for the day usually runs a little smoother. Or if not, then we have the parts, the strength, faith and courage to handle whatever comes against us.
Now here’s a fitting corollary to all of that, a quote from Ed Howe – couldn’t figure out which one, because there are so many. Anyway, I believe I’ve shared this quote some time ago, but it’s one of those things that we need to be constantly reminded of in this crazed and troubled world.
And Ed says: ‘If you don’t learn to laugh at trouble, you won’t have anything to laugh at when you grow old.’
And that’s as true a saying as you can get Friends! For laughter is not only a free medicine, it’s also the best one we can employ in ALL our circumstances. That doesn’t mean we don’t take life, or the things in it seriously, but that we don’t get too overwhelmed by our problems.
The truth is, when we get too worked up over our problems, we lose the energy and focus necessary to handle them. So let’s lighten up, loosen up nuh! Life might be rough, but if you’re a true believer in Jesus, then you’ll know, with everlasting certainty, that in God’s own time and way, He will help you solve the problem(s). Not always how or when you want, but surely better than you could have done on your own.
And as our Bit proclaims with such wisdom and certainty: ‘The Lord preserveth all them that LOVE him: but all the wicked he will destroy.’
And that’s the unvarnished, indisputable truth, my brethren! So please believe it; let it sink right down into the very depths of our souls, to give us the strength and encouragement we so badly need in these troubled times.
For as Bruh David says just before our Bit, in this psalm; the Lord is gracious: ‘The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy (gracious) in all his works. The Lord is nigh (near) unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear (reverence) him: he will also hear their cry, and will save them.’ (Ps.145:17-19)
And that’s more unvarnished, indisputable truth my fellow believers, as many of you can attest and testify to!
That’s the great thing about our wonderful God; He never leaves his faithful followers in the lurch! Thank You Lord for that faithfulness! Though, as we’ve said earlier, He might not solve the problems how and when we want them, His awesome and powerful hand of grace, mercy and forgiveness is always there working on our behalf!
What more can we ask eh? Nothing really, my people!
And since we already know the Lord’s faithfulness, it now behoves us to believe it, and then return that faithfulness, so that we can engender a win-win situation and relationship with our mighty Creator.
Oh my brethren, believe me, there’s nothing better than having a win-win relationship with Almighty God! Mama Mia! It sure is beautiful!
Now, please note that I haven’t even bothered touching on the situation of the wicked, because that will just muddy the waters, invite negativity, stuff that we can well do without. Suffice it to say, the Lord will destroy the wicked in His own way and time.
Let’s concentrate on the positives here, and do as Bruh David so sincerely declares in Psalm 31; titled ‘In thee O Lord, do I put my trust.’
And what better personage is there to put our trust in, eh people? NONE WHATSOEVER!
Now hear Bruh David’s outstanding proclamation: ‘O LOVE the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth (fully repays) the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.’ (Ps.31:23-24)
There’s no more to say Friends! So please, let’s accept that heavenly wisdom, that gospel truth, so that we can bring some much needed peace, LOVE and joy to our anxious and burdened hearts, souls, bodies and minds, and above all, to our evil, ungodly and troubled world. Much LOVE!
…unless we sincerely believe in something…preferably Jesus Christ…then we’ll fall easily for anything…
31 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Adam, advice, arrogant, aura of love, blessed, charles stanley, confidence, corrupt, death, destroying ourselves, earthly choir, encore, enthusiasm, eternal life, evil powers, faith, Father's bad books, fool, forgiveness, gone astray, guilty of sin, holy spirit, humble servants, invincible, it is good, Jesus Christ, jesus christ our lord, jobs, keeping families together, lake of fire, lead and guide, leave all the consequences to Him, lies, lord god almighty, LOVE, loving Jesus, loving kindness, meet the enemy in battle, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, monumental sins, most wonderful experience, not a just man on earth, obey God, Oh Lord God Almighty, physical death, prideful, problems, propitiation for sins, ps and qs, punish, put our problems in God's capapble hands, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, rude, second death, sense of purpose, sinful by nature, sins not, spiritual armour, spiritual death, standing 'O', strength, surrender our all, thanks and praise, the foolishness of men, the gift of God, the wages of sin is death, there is no god, trust, ungodly world, useful purpose, weary souls, wisdom, wonder, worthwhile inroads
Ecclesiastes 7:20. For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
Oh what a glorious Monday morn, mih people! Please rise and greet it with enthusiasm and wonder, the same way our great God did when He made it and us!
Remember what God said when He made the universe? ‘It is good!’ So why should we dispute His statement eh? Therefore, let us put all our problems behind us, or rather in God’s capable and powerful hands.
And as Uncle Charles, (Charles Stanley) is wont to say: ‘just obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.’ Wonderful advice mih breddren!
And to do that, this Monday morning we have to get up with a good attitude, prepared to meet the new workweek head on with strength, faith and a sense of purpose. But since we know that’s not always easy, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with all the gusto we can muster, to jump start our spirit motors.
As one sweet, harmonious, earthly choir my brethren, let’s show the heavenly hosts that we can warble just as sweetly as them. (smile)
‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together.
We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies.
But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle.
Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’
Ohhhh! That was most excellent my people! All heaven, including Jesus and the Father, gave us a standing O, and shouted for an encore! Mamma Mia!
That means we’re ready to go out into the ungodly world and battle the evil powers into submission, with Jesus going, both before and behind us.
Now that doesn’t mean we have to be rude, prideful and/or arrogant, but rather mind our p’s and q’s very carefully, because of our Bit. ‘For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.’
Yes Friends, we’re already sinful by nature, we cannot afford to further put ourselves in the Father’s bad books. Now yesterday we looked at some scriptures which supported our Bit, today we’ll look at some more.
And here’s how Bruh David puts it in both Psalm 14 and 53, titled the foolishness of men. And oh, that’s surely plentiful my fellow believers!
Excuse the pause there Friends, I was trying to see which Psalm to use. They do convey the same message, but with slightly different words in some parts. And after seeking the Lord’s guidance, I chose Psalm 14, because it’s simpler, and more straightforward. Psalm 53 has more flowery language. (smile)
‘The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside (astray), they are all together become filthy (corrupt): there is none that doeth good, no, not one.’ (Ps.14:1-3)
Yes my fellow believers, we’re all guilty of sin. But the sad part is that sin is no longer such a big deal, a big negative to do in our society! Ah Lord eh! How very foolish and unwise is that attitude, my people!
And why do you think our world is in such a bad and sorry shape eh? It’s because of our monumental sins! The Father doesn’t even have to do much to punish us, because in our very sinful state, we are continually destroying ourselves and all the good things and people around us.
As Cousin Sol so wisely asks in Proverbs: ‘Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?’ (Prov.20:9)
NOBODY! Not a single human being can truthfully say that my Friends!
So what are we going to do about it eh? Remember Bruh Paul’s famous statement to the Romans? ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through (in) Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Rom.6:23)
Oh mih fellow believers, what an awesome God we serve! For right in that one monumental statement, we have both the problem and its solution! And all God’s people gave a joyful shout of: ‘Glory be to our most wonderful heavenly Father!’
Yes mih people, JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY SOLUTION, THE PROPITIATION, THE ONE AND ONLY REMEDY FOR OUR SINS!
It’s of the utmost importance that we know, believe and remember that fact, because it is one of, if not the most crucial and critical facts on this planet earth, that’s why I put it in bold capitals. If we don’t take it to heart NOW, then we’ll find ourselves in a rather untenable and horrific position later on.
The scholars have wisely acknowledged this: ‘6:23. The penalty of sin is death, both spiritual and physical. The moment Adam sinned, he died spiritually, in that sense, everyone is born dead in sin (Eph.2:1). Physical death, described as the separation of the body and spirit (James 2:26), is the ultimate result of sin (cf. Gen 3).
People who die in their sin (in an unsaved state) will have to face a “second death” portrayed as a “lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15) Application: The only escape from this second death is to receive the gift of eternal life in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. (First Ref. Gen.3:14-24); Primary Ref. Rom.6; cf. Rom.8:3).’
And that, my people, is the greatest piece of wisdom any human being can ever attain unto! Much LOVE!
…LOVING Jesus…and being LOVED by Him…is the most wonderful experience man can ever aspire to…
30 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Abraham Mazlow, abundant sins, Adam and Eve, Advocate, all have sinned, almighty god, beautiful, Beelzebub, believers, box office draw, Bruh Paul, buck up, carried away captive, Christians, Christians should not sin, come short of God's glory, come to their senses, confess sins, dealt wickedly, death, despicable, destroy the natural process, disobedient, divine authority, does good, done amiss, escape serious injury, eternal death, eternal life, exercising our own wills, face to face with death, faith, fellowship, fellowship with God, forbidden fruit, forgive, Garden of Eden, God's house, God's purpose, gospel truth, grim reaper, hideous results, impulse to live, jehovah god, Jesus Christ, land of their captivity, life is wonderful, life threatening accident, LOVE, mortal lives, mortality, negatives in our world, not a just man on earth, overwhelmed, pray, precious, promise ourselves, rampant, relationship with god, repent, righteous, Sabbath, sacred, Scrip-Bit family, share our faith, sin, sin of commission, sin of omission, sinful nature, sins not, sown in our souls, standing steadfast and strong, start enjoying life, stupidity, supplications, technological society, the seeds of sin, trespassing, ultimate in wisdom, virtually impossible, wandering sheep, wily deceiver
Ecclesiastes 7:20. For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
So how is the Scrip-Bit family this Sunday morning eh? I hope we’re all standing strong and steadfast in faith, and giving God all the glory, as we should.
And as always, we expect those who celebrate the Sabbath on a Sunday are going to get to God’s house, at sometime today, to fellowship with other believers. That’s one of the best ways to share our faith and keep it strong.
Now I want to share an interesting quote from one Abraham Mazlow (1908-1970), an American psychologist, considered the Father of Modern Management Psychology. He states: ‘This confrontation with death… makes everything look so precious, so sacred, so beautiful, that I felt more strongly than ever the impulse to live it, and to let myself be overwhelmed by it.’
Wow! How true that is my Friends! For I’m sure you’ve noticed that whenever we become really sick, unto possible death, or have been in a life threatening accident, or narrowly escape serious injury from whatever circumstances, how we suddenly become very concerned about our lives?
And it doesn’t even have to be us who has the close call with the grim reaper, but just someone we know, and it forces us to consider our own mortality. Then we suddenly wake up and realize how wonderful life is, and begin to, or promise ourselves to enjoy it more fully.
Ah mih people, why wait till we come face to face with death before we truly appreciate life eh? Life is indeed beautiful, and despite the many negatives in our world, none of us really want to go over to the other side just yet. (smile)
So regardless of our circumstances, let us buck up and start enjoying this mortal life today nuh! This life that Almighty God has so generously breathed into our bodies. That was His original purpose for doing so yuh know. And if we don’t enjoy and appreciate it, means we’re being disobedient to His wish.
Now here is another interesting proposition, namely our Bit: ‘For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.’
And that, most of us realize is indeed gospel truth! Our sinful nature began when our forefathers Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, against God’s very specific command not to do so. Hn!
And since then, that sinful nature has just become more sinful and despicable with each passing day. Until now, in this wealthy, modern technological society, sin is the number one box office draw, being totally rampant in its many forms and fashions.
And though some of us might try to do good, try to be righteous, unfortunately the seeds of sin have been so deeply sown in our souls, and have sprouted up in so many different ways to make that virtually impossible. No wonder Bruh Paul could write to the Romans: ‘For all have sinned, and come (fall) short of the glory of God.’ (Rom.3:23)
And to help us understand that, here are some thoughts from the scholars. ‘3:23. A personal sin may be one of commission (doing something that is prohibited) or a sin of omission (failing to do what is required of us). It may also express itself in either an act or attitude.
Illustration: Sin is portrayed in Scripture as falling short of God’s glory (v.23), going astray like a wandering sheep (Is.53:6), transgressing or overstepping the law (Ps.51:1; Luke 15:29), and trespassing, which means exercising our own wills in the realm of divine authority (Eph.2:10).
Sin brings hideous results, affecting not only our relationship with God, but also our relationship with others. If not checked, sin will destroy the natural process of every person.
Application: Christians should not sin, but if they do, they should remember their Advocate (Jesus Christ), and confess their sins in order to restore fellowship with God (1 John 1:9-2:2). (First Ref. Gen.3:6; Primary Ref. Rom 3; cf. Ps. 51:5).’
Yes Friends, I surely hope that gives us a better appreciation of what sin is, and what it can do. Please check out those reference verses too. If we’re not careful, sin can, and will totally destroy us, as well as those associated with us.
That’s why we keep stressing not to let the ole crook, the wily deceiver Beelzebub to get even a fingernail hold in our lives. We have enough sinful nature already, no need to encourage him and make it even worse.
And we’ll close with some verses from Cousin Sol’s prayer when he dedicated the temple. ‘If they, (Israel) sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;
Yet if they bethink themselves (come to their senses) in the land whither they are carried away captive, and turn and pray unto thee (repent) in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
If they return to thee with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:
Then hear thou them from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.’ (2 Chr. 6:36-39) That speech can also be found in 1 Kings 8:46-50, with a few variations.
However my people, in this oh so sinful world of ours, what we desperately need to do is what Cousin Sol advised; sincerely repent and turn back to Jehovah God so that He can forgive us of our abundant sins. That Friends, is the ultimate in wisdom! Much LOVE!
…so what’s it going to be eh…forgiveness and eternal life…or stupidity and eternal death…
28 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abominable, Alpha and Omega, anger, basic attitudes, Beginning and the End, blatantly, bless the Lord, Book of Revelation, buy wine and milk without money, chant, come buy and eat without money, come to the waters, corruption, cowardly, disobedience, don't abuse the weekend, don't despair, envy, eternal separation from God, evil doings, exorbitant price, faith, false glitz and glory, fearful, fellowship, fire and brimstone, foregoing God's free gift of grace, forsaking God, freedom from toil and labour, Friday chant, friends, glorious kingdom, God's favour, God's Word, Good Book, greed, he that overcomes, holy spirit, idolaters, ignominous end, incompetence, inflationary world, Isaiah 55:1. Ho, jealousy, Jesus Christ, jesus name, judgement day, justice, liars, LOVE, loving kindness, maganimous and magnificent God, marvellous and miraculous services, mercy, murderers, no money, oh my soul, our great God, pain, pain Jesus' heart, peace, proper focus, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, resentment, riotous living, sacrificing His life, sanctify, serious attention, sexually immoral, shall inherit all things, sins, sorcerers, stumble and fall, TGIF! Thank God is Friday, the evil one, the hammer falls, the norm, the second death, the sin level, the way the world works, truth, unbelieving, ungodly world, vacillate like the tide, wake up, wanting more and more, water of life, week of work, whoever is thirsty, whoremongers, wickedness, wide and winding road, without price, work everything out for our good
Isaiah 55:1. 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.
Oh Friends, I’ve gotten the message! Yes, you already know that today is Friday, because I can hear your joyful shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday yes! And thank God that work soon done for another two big days! Bless the Lord, oh my soul, for that short bit of freedom from weary toil and labour!’
Ah mih people, I know how hard some of us work to make a few dollars which never seem to be enough in this ever inflationary world. But please don’t despair, for our great God will be with us, if we be with Him, and work everything out for our good.
Now that also means not abusing the weekend with strictly riotous living, but also engaging in some fellowship, rest and relaxation to rejuvenate our souls and continue the cycle come Monday morning.
Oh, oh! I know that right now many of you don’t even want to hear about Monday, but it’s the reality of our situation, and the sooner we face up to it, the sooner we’ll have peace on the subject. Otherwise we’ll continue to unwisely vacillate, be washed one way, and then the other, like the tide on the beach’s edge.
So to help us keep everything in proper focus, let’s chant our Friday Chant, as loudly and gloriously as we were just singing ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday!
As one sincere and harmonious body now: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.
Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’
Yes Friends, please keep that in mind as you go through the weekend, so that you don’t overdo it, then stumble and fall. And to further help us with all that we’re dealing with, we have this wonderful Bit that we’ve been studying for the last couple days.
‘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.’
Oh mih breddren, every time I read that verse of scripture, it just reminds me of how magnificent and magnanimous a God we serve and worship! Wow! There’s NO other being in the universe either able or willing to provide such a marvellous and miraculous service to those in need!
But as we’ve been saying, a lot, in fact too many people are forsaking God, foregoing His free gift of grace in all areas of their lives. Why? Only God alone knows for sure! Instead of wisely seeking God’s everlasting favour and LOVING-kindness, they are foolishly turning in droves to the idols and crooks and deceivers of this world.
Yes my brethren, too many of us are still stupidly running behind the material things of this world, spending hard earned money for that which isn’t really important, and labouring to accomplish goals that don’t truly satisfy our spirits.
It’s clearly discernible from our basic attitudes, where we already have a whole lot of stuff, but we keep on wanting more and more, even though the increase doesn’t do us any real justice, but that’s the way the world works, so we do the same thing.
But please remember Friends, we’re only supposed to be IN the world, NOT a part of it.
Jesus even prayed to the Father on the subject on our behalf. ‘I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil (one). They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them (set them apart for Your purposes) through thy truth: thy word is truth.’ (John 17:15-17)
Oh my people, what will it take for us to truly wake up and realize that we’re going down the wide and winding road that leads to eternal separation from Jehovah God eh? Look at the sad state of our world nuh!
No institution, even Christ’s church is running smoothly. All of them are filled with wickedness, greed, envy, jealousy, resentment, anger, incompetence and corruption!
And the sad part is that it’s all done so blatantly these days. Very few of us take the trouble to hide our evil doings, because it has now become more or less the norm around our evil and ungodly world.
How Jesus’ heart must pain Him when he sees what we’ve come to! I’m sure He must often regret ever sacrificing His holy, sinless life to pay for our disgusting, abominable sins because we don’t seem to truly appreciate it, the way we’ve upped the sin level of our world.
But Friends, please pay close and serious attention to these immortal and true words found in the Book of Revelation. ‘And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst (who thirsts) of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful (cowardly), and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers (sexually immoral), and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.’ (Rev.21:6-8)
Oh mih people, that’s a very serious warning! One which we should all take to heart if we believe that the Good Book is indeed God’s Word, in truth and in deed.
If we do, then we need to shape up immediately, else when the hammer falls on judgement day, we’ll be looking at eternal death. And believe me, all the false glitz and glory of this present world are definitely not worth such an ignominious end! Much LOVE!
…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…or he will eventually pay…a rather exorbitant price for his disobedience…eternal separation from Almighty God…
27 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abundance, almighty god, blessings, buy and eat, call upon God, come and drink for free, come unto me, comfort, Controller, courage, Creator, drunks, dwell with humanity, eternal life, excellent job, faithful believers, faithfully, faithfulness, for our benefit, free gift, glorified, God is the greatest, God works on our behalf, God's purpose, God's thoughts higher than mans, God's ways higher than man's, gospel, grace, highway 401, Holy Ghost, holy spirit, hunger and thirst after righteousness, in Jesus' name, indulge in sin, indwelling of the holy spirit, Jesus Christ, keep on doing it diligently, knowledge, let the wicked forske his ways, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, magnanimous, mercy, milk, mind-boggling offer, motivate the believer, omnipotent, pardon, peace, Pothole Season, potholes, provider, put it into serious practice, return unto the Lord, righteousness., rivers of living water, roads in bad shape, salutations, salvation, seek the Lord, sgnificant cracks in the roads, source of new life, Spirit of God, spiritual experiences, spring, take all this to heart, teetotallers, unconditional LOVE, understanding, walking in Jesus' footsteps, whoever is thirsty, wicked world, wine, winter weather, wisdom, without money, without price, workmanship
Isaiah 55:1. 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.’
Oh my Friends, salutations and blessings, and courage and comfort, with wisdom and peace to all you who desire to walk faithfully in the tough but energizing footsteps of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, this chilly Thursday morning at the end of March 2014! May He, in His wisdom and great faithfulness, grant us all that we need to go out and do an excellent job in His Holy Name! Amen!
Now today I want to share something from a comic strip called Rhymes with Orange, posted in the newspaper a couple of days ago. This particular scene shows two police officers, one white, one black, sitting in a patrol car, with the white one telling the black one: ‘Look for the cars driving straight… They’re the drunks. It’s the teetotallers swerving all over the road.’ And at the bottom of the strip, there’s a sign that says: ‘POTHOLE SEASON.’
And although all that is meant as a joke, right now it could be taken quite seriously in Toronto and its environs, because I’ve never seen our roads in such bad shape. This winter’s been real hard on them. The potholes are usually prevalent, but this year there are also significant cracks extending for long distances on all the roads.
I recently drove down the major highway 401 that runs north of Toronto, it’s one of the busiest in the world, and right by the airport, the cracks and potholes were so bad that it didn’t make sense to try and avoid them. In some places you’d think you were driving in some impoverished third world country.
And on my street, the cracks go almost all the way down, on both sides of the yellow, dividing line. I also noticed yesterday like they attempted to patch up some of the more serious cracks and holes, but that only makes the ride bumpier. Chuh!
And despite the calendar saying it’s now spring, don’t fool yuh fat nuh, the winter weather is still here, though the weather people have promised us a short break this week.
Anyway my people, all of that is small potatoes – until you have to take your vehicle to the mechanic (smile) – and we can handle whatever comes against us because our God is the GREATEST; not only omnipotent, but also magnanimous to a fault, and He always works on our behalf, for our benefit!
How awesome my people! We have a powerful and magnificent God who is always with us, working for our good. And it is all shown right here in our Bit: ‘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.’
Now how can we ever refuse such a mind-boggling offer from our Creator, Controller and Provider eh?
But unfortunately many people are doing exactly that. Only because they don’t really understand what this life is all about, whom Almighty God truly is, and how He operates.
However Friends, that’s where we come in. It’s our job, as faithful believers, to get out into our extremely violent and wicked world and tell them about Jesus; of His unconditional LOVE, and free gift of grace that leads to salvation and eternal life.
We need to get the unbelievers -and many supposed believers too – to a place where they can truly appreciate these verses: ‘Seek ye 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.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Is.55:6-9)
Yes my brethren, only when mankind fully understands, appreciates and believes those words, will he be able to sincerely seek refuge in our most wonderful Deity, Jehovah God!
And all of what Isaiah says is no lie my people, because we’ve seen Jesus saying the same thing. And we’ll quote another of Jesus’ immortal sayings on people hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
‘In the last day, that great day of the feast, (feast of the tabernacles) 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.’ (John 7:37-38)
Oh fellow believers, that’s the third time that Jesus has spoken of giving living water to those who believe in Him. Now what does He mean by that eh? The next verse clears that up.
‘(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe in him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)’ (John 7:39)
Yes mih breddren, it’s the Holy Spirit which indwells ALL believers, that Jesus is referring to! And we’ll close with some interesting comments from the scholars, re the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
‘7:39. One of God’s purposes since the beginning has been to dwell with humanity and enjoy fellowship with us. He does it in this dispensation through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1) occurs automatically when a person is saved; (2) is not an “experience,” but produces spiritual experiences; (3) remains permanently; (4) is the basis of all the other ministries of the Holy Spirit; and (5) is the source of new life in the believer:
Illustration: When Paul met 12 disciples of John who did not know of the Holy Spirit, he knew they needed to be saved. So he preached the gospel to them (Acts 19:1-5).
Application: The Holy Spirit’s indwelling should motivate the believer to be careful not to harm his body nor indulge his body in sin. (1 Cor.6:19-20). (First Ref. Ex.35:31; Primary Ref. John 7:37-39; cf. 1 Cor.12:13.)’
Oh Friends, please, please let’s take all this to heart and either put into serious practice, or if we have already done that, then let’s just keep on diligently doing it nuh! In Jesus’ name, I pray. Much LOVE!
…and he hath filled him (Bezaleel)…with the spirit of God…in wisdom…in understanding…and in knowledge…and in all manner of workmanship… (Ex.35:31)
25 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: adventuresome, afflictions, alive and kicking, anger, apathy, assured, awesome wisdom, bad, bless God's Holy Name, blessed, buy and eat, call upon the Lord, christ's character, come to the waters, covenant, delight in abundance, diligent, dr robert h schuller, dread, engourage, everlasting, exhilarating, faith, faithful promises, faithfulness, false dead pretenders, fear, filled, forgiveness, free gift of salvation, free offer, frutiful and faithful plans of god, Gentiles, good, goodness, gospel truth, hearsay, Hour of Power, humbly praise, immortal words, into forever, invitation, Isaiah, Israel, Jeremiah 29:11, Jesus Christ, joy, leading and guiding, life with Jehovah god, light of Jesus Christ, long-winded, LOVE, magnanimous, mercy, negative emotions, negative things, no money, omnipotent god, one and only true God, our benefit, our Lord and Saviour, pain, paths of righteousness, personal experience, planet earth, promises, reaction to circumstances, reaction to problems, reflection, refresh your minds and souls, refreshing, refreshing attitude, righteousness., Romans 8:28, salvation, scriptures, seek the Lord, self-pity, semblance of peace, Sermon on the Mount, soul, spend money, spiritually hungry and thirsty, stand strong, steadfast, strife, take them in stride, tests, thirsty, to all and sundry, unfortunate situations, universal offer, unsatisfactory labour, ups and downs, walking with God, wisdom, wisdom from heaven, wise advice, with God's help, without money, without price, wonderful adventure
Isaiah 55:1. 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.
Oh Friends, through the great and tender mercy of our wonderful and omnipotent God, we’ve been blessed to see another beautiful day upon His exotic creation, Planet Earth!
And all God’s children declared a loud and grateful: ‘Thank You Lord for bringing us through another dark, dreary and scary night into the bright, awesome and most refreshing and secure light of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! We humbly praise You and bless Your Holy Name! Amen.’
Yes mih people, when you’re walking with God, or at least faithfully trying to do so, your life becomes a wonderful adventure, filled with ups and downs, goodness and mercy, LOVE and forgiveness, good and bad, tests and afflictions!
But please know that it all works out to our benefit in the end, according to God’s fruitful and faithful plans for our lives, as entrenched in the promises of Jeremiah 29:11, and Romans 8:28. Please read those scriptures and refresh your minds and souls, so that you can stand strong and steadfast on them.
And to further encourage us, here is some very wise advice from Gramps Schuller – Dr. Robert H. Schuller – from his Hour of Power Devotional. ‘Learn to live by this refreshing attitude: “It’s not what happens to me that matters most; it’s how I react to what happens to me.”
And that my Friends, is the gospel, gospel truth! What happens to us is indeed important, especially when it involves stuff like pain, anger, strife and other negative things. But even more important is how we react to those circumstances.
We can take them in our stride, obviously with God’s help, and maintain some semblance of peace and/or joy in our spirits. Or we can just give in to self-pity, apathy, dread, fear, and all the other negative emotions that tend to bombard us when unfortunate situations occur.
And today we have a rather appropriate Bit that addresses that problem. ‘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.’
Oh mih breddren, what a magnanimous and universal offer from our most marvellous God! That’s a free offer of mercy to ALL and SUNDRY!
There’s NO other supposed deity who has ever, or can ever offer such a wonderful gift to their believers, because they are not true deities, but false, dead pretenders, while the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the ONE AND ONLY TRUE GOD, IS ALIVE AND KICKING! And kicking mightily too… right into forever!
Now here are some interesting comments from the scholars on our Bit and subsequent verses: ’55:1-7. 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 (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.’
Oh Friends, it’s so sad when people deliberately choose not to follow Jehovah God, for they know not what they are missing! Doing life with Jehovah God is a most exhilarating, refreshing and adventuresome experience… and this not hearsay, but personal experience!
That’s because you never know what He’ll be up to next, but you do know, you’re completely assured that whatever happens, He’s walking with you, leading and guiding you along paths of righteousness, working you into a reflection of Christ’s character, all for His Name’s Sake. Wow!
And though the road may be rocky and rough, there’s faith in your heart, based on His faithful promises, that eventually things will be fine.
And I like how Isaiah continues after our Bit: ‘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).’ (Is.55:2)
Ah mih people, what a wonderful invitation! And there’s a lot more to say, but since I’m endeavouring to keep the Bit short and sweet we’ll end shortly with some immortal words from Jesus.
And please don’t ever think that I don’t try to keep it short, but sometimes that’s how the Spirit leads me, or there just isn’t enough to spread over two days, plus the fact that I’m just naturally long-winded. (smile)
Anyway, here are Jesus’ immortal words on the subject, which come from the Sermon on the Mount, one of the Beatitudes. ‘Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.’ (Matt.5:6)
Oh my fellow believers, another faithful promise for us to stand on! So please let’s stand on it, today and everyday, and thus be filled with righteousness, every day of our lives!
That’s awesome wisdom – wisdom that can only come from heaven! Much LOVE!
…to seek…to seek… and yet to find God…in His everlasting mercy and forgiveness…
20 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a limited mindset, act positively, affirmation, affliction, anger, asaph, barrier breaker, beautifully, belief, believe it to see it, blasphemed, bountifully, break free, capacity for forgiveness, compassion, Controller, Creator of the universe, destiny, destroyed them not, disobedience, do battle in Jesus' name, don't be foolish, ear to hear, enlarge my vision, evil society, experience god's favour, extreme weather patterns, forgiveness, furnace of affliction, give the Lord a shout of praise, God is deserving of praise, God's fulfilling his purpose, God's glory, good to be alive, goodness, gospel truth, grateful, heed the warning, I am also the last, I am the first, idols, in every area of my life, iniquity, Isaiah, Israel, jehovah god, Joel Osteen, John Hagee, learning the lesson, LOVE, loving kindness, man-made gods, marvels, mercy, miracles, negativity, Nth degree, omnipotent god, pay a substanial price, potential, praise, prayer, prayer of affirmation, profaned, Psalm 78, raise the level of belief in Jesus Christ, rebellion, reminder of god's goodness to Israel, righteousness., seeds of greatness, sinful, sinfulness, sing God's praises, talent, tested, Today is my day, uncontainable, ungodly, untold strife, vice-like grip, walking in God's holy will, warning, wicked, wicked world, wisdom, worship, wrath
Psalm 78:38. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
Oh Friends, neighbours, fellow believers and unbelievers, it sure is good to be alive! Especially when you wake up feeling bright and fresh and ready to do battle in Jesus’ name!
Wow! As Uncle John, John Hagee would say: ‘Give the Lord a shout of praise in the house of the Lord!’
And our God sure is deserving of much praise my people, for all the goodness and mercy He has bestowed, is currently bestowing and has faithfully promised to bestow in the future on those who sincerely LOVE and worship Him.
And I don’t know about anybody else nuh Friends, but I can only sing His praises and give Him much thanks for working so bountifully and beautifully in my life!
Today though, I want to share a prayer of affirmation I recently got from Bubba Joel, Joel Osteen. Those of you who deal with him, would probably have gotten it too, but it’s surely worthwhile sharing.
So please say, sincerely affirm with me that: ‘TODAY IS MY DAY! God has destined me to be a barrier breaker! He created me to be uncontainable. I have talent and potential given to me by the Creator of the universe. There are seeds of greatness inside of me.
Today, I choose to break free from a limited mindset and enlarge my vision. Today, God is taking me places that I’ve never dreamed of before. Today, God is fulfilling His purpose and destiny in my life. Today, I will experience His favour like never before in every area of my life.’
And all that is gospel truth my people! We just need to believe it, and then act positively on that belief!
Please note my brethren that almost everything in this life is about BELIEF! As they say, if you don’t believe it, you most likely won’t see it.
So mih breddren, let’s all raise the level of our belief in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ this Thursday morning nuh, so that we can see Him work His wonderful marvels and miracles in our lives.
And in keeping with the marvellous wonder and LOVING-kindness of our omnipotent God, let’s turn to our Bit, which shows His exceedingly great capacity for forgiveness.
‘But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.’
Oh my people, we had better be exceedingly grateful that the Lord has so far withheld the magnitude of His anger on this sinful, ungodly, wicked and evil society in which we now dwell.
But, unfortunately, we haven’t been learning the lesson, and we’re now seeing flashes of that anger in things like the extreme and inconsistent weather patterns that have been recently plaguing us, as well as the untold strife and negativity that has our world in its powerful, vice-like grip.
And please, please don’t be foolish and think that God doesn’t have a hand in it all, because HE IS the Creator and the ultimate Controller of EVERYTHING in the universe!
And just like Psalm 78, from the pen of Asaph, is a reminder of God’s goodness to Israel, please let this Bit be a reminder to us of God’s unfailing goodness and mercy when we were diligently and sincerely walking in His holy will.
Oh my brethren, do we truly want to feel the full wrath of our God? Definitely not! But we will eventually, if we continue in our wilful disobedience and rebellion, just like Israel did on several occasions when they turned away from worshipping Jehovah God and instead bowed down to man-made gods and idols.
And we’ll close with a serious warning from the Lord our God, given to Israel when He rebuked them through the testimony of Isaiah. ‘For my name’s sake will I defer (delay) mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain (restrain) for thee, that I cut thee not off (destroy thee not).
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with (as) silver; I have chosen (tested) thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted (profaned)? and I will not give my glory to another. Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.’ (Is.48:9-12)
Oh Friends, I desperately plead with us to heed that warning, because it also applies to us in our sinfulness today! Yes, our God will refrain from destroying us – but only for a time – NOT FOREVER! He couldn’t do that and still be true to His holy and just self.
Please note too, that He’s chosen the fire of affliction to test us through, and He has made it very clear that HE WILL NOT allow His holy name to be profaned, sullied, polluted and/or blasphemed. And above all, HE WILL NOT GIVE HIS GLORY to any other supposed god!
Please, let’s keep these things at the forefront of our minds today, and everyday, as we go out into the wicked world that surrounds us, and diligently endeavour to decrease that wickedness and increase righteousness, so that we will not have to endure God’s wrath.
That my people, is wisdom to the Nth degree! Much LOVE!
…he who who has an ear to hear…let him be wise and hear…else he will pay a substantial price for his disobedience…
19 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a man after God's heart, alive and kicking, atonement for sins, believe, believers in Jesus Christ, blessed the Lord, brimming with energy, Bruh David, Bruh Paul, disbelief, enthusiasm, eternal life, everything belongs to God, evil world, exalted, excited, exhortation, faithfulness, for ever and ever, fragance of God's knowledge, genuine faith, God will always make a way for us, God will never give us more than we can handle, God's power, God's wisdom, good news, greatest blessings, greatness, grumpy, head above all, heavenly Father, honour and glory, immeasurable, in god's hand is power and might, in the blink of an eye, Jesus, Jesus' gospel, joy, kingdom of god, leap of faith, Lord and Saviour, Lord god of Israel, LOVE, loving kindness, majesty, marvels and miracles, modern technology, my spirit came alive, noised abroad, not ready to face the day, only wise God, praise God's glorious name, Praise the Lord, prayer, reconciliation, rejuvenation, riches and honour come from God, salvation, see god work wonders, selfless sacrifice, Spread God's Word, tests, Thanks be to God, thanksgiving, the glory, the Great Commission, the kingdom, the Lord's faithfulness, the power, the Son of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, thine is the kingdom, time in prayer, tired, to all and sundry, triumph in Christ, victory, willing to do God's bidding, wine and roses, wisdom, wonder of wonders, word of caution
Matthew 6:13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (the evil one): For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, the ole fella’s excited this morning! Why? I really don’t know, because there’s nothing to be really excited about except being alive and kicking!
The story though, is that I woke up sort of early this morning, feeling tired and not ready to face the day, so I went back to bed. I got up an hour or so later, still somewhat tired and grumpy – and don’t you dare say that’s normal (smile) – but I could not afford to give in to my tired feelings and go back to bed, for the Bit would be even later than it already was going to be.
But wonder of wonders, after spending some time in prayer with our heavenly Father, my spirit just came alive, and now I’m brimming with energy, enthusiasm, joy and LOVE, ready to face the evil world that we dwell in!
Now that rejuvenation could only have come through the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. As I keep telling us, our God’s not foolish, His wisdom is immeasurable. He knew that I had to write the Bit, and couldn’t do a decent job if I was feeling low down and grumpy, so He rejuvenated my spirit!
And as Bruh Paul told the Corinthians: ‘Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to (leads us in) triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour (fragrance) of his knowledge by us in every place.’ (2 Cor.2:14)
Oh Friends, our God is such a wonderful Deity! Please don’t ever doubt it! He never leaves us in the lurch, especially when we cry out to Him in genuine faith. But the problem though my brethren is that we first have to BELIEVE; to BELIEVE that He is a helper of those who truly seek Him.
And that’s where a lot of us falter… we don’t truly BELIEVE.
Now do you think I could have been writing the Bit going on 8 years now on only my strength? No way Jose!
And you all know how I laughed in disbelief when the Lord first broached the idea, pleading my lack of knowledge etc. etc. But the Lord persisted, and I finally agreed to do His bidding.
And my people, over the years, as I have tried my best, I’ve seen the Lord’s faithfulness in helping me to do His bidding. And now, now I’ve reached a point where I have NO DOUBTS whatsoever as to the Lord’s faithfulness and LOVING-kindness to those who are willing to do His bidding!
But we first have to make that leap of faith. And I challenge us to wisely make that leap of faith today, RIGHT NOW, if you sincerely want to see God work wonders in your life!
Now one word of caution; don’t get the idea that it will be all wine and roses when the Lord begins to work in your life. Hn! On the contrary, it might get more difficult as He tests us to see if we truly want to be a part of His kingdom.
But please remember that He will NEVER give us more than we can bear, and WILL ALWAYS make a way for us to handle the situation, even when there seems to be no way. I can vouch for that.
And all this ties in quite nicely with our Bit, immortal words of Jesus on prayer: ‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (the evil one): For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.’
Yes Friends, only if the kingdom, the power and the glory are truly the Lord’s, can He work marvels and miracles in our lives! So to see and experience one side of the equation, you must sincerely believe the other!
And nobody’s said it better than Bruh David, when he exhorted his people in thanksgiving and prayer. ‘Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.’ (1 Chr.29:10-14)
Oh mih people, mih people, could Bruh David excite a body and spirit with prayer or what! I guess that’s why the Lord called him a man after his own heart.
So even before Jesus, the Son of God declared it, Bruh David recognized that the universe, the power and the glory were all God’s, and penitently noised it abroad. So too my fellow believers, ought we to noise the kingdom of God abroad to all and sundry.
And fortunately it’s never been easier to do than in these times of modern technology, where information can be transferred and transmitted to those in faraway places in the blink of an eye. Yes my brethren, we are the first generation that’s physically able to comply with Jesus’ Great Commission and spread the Word to ‘ALL NATIONS.’ (Matt.28:19-20)
So please, let’s get ourselves together and joyfully spread the good news of Jesus’ wonderful gospel nuh; of His selfless sacrifice, His atonement for our sins, His enabling of reconciliation with the Father, and the wonderful promises of salvation and eternal life! Wow! Those are indeed the GREATEST BLESSINGS that the world has ever known!
And we’ll close with some appropriate words from Bruh Paul to Timothy: ‘Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the ONLY WISE GOD, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ (1 Tim.1:17)
And all God’s people gave a mighty shout of joy, which resounded across both heaven and earth. ‘Praise the Lord God Almighty! For His is indeed the kingdom, the power and the glory!’
Much, much LOVE, my fellow believers in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
…unless you truly believe in God’s power…you won’t ever see it working in your life…
18 Mar 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a word to the wise, abominable sins, almighty god, anxiety, apathy, arsenal of God, atonement of sins, Beelzebub's hold, calypso, celebration, Christ's Church, christianity, coming together, correlation, corruption, day of judgement, decline in moral standards, deliver the godly from temptation, deliver us from evil, demonizing, demoralizing, disatrous times, divide and conquer, dominating the world, economic decline, evil powers, expansion of god's kingdom, eyes of faith, faith, far-reaching, fear, fight against the enemy, furthering God's kingdom, God's people, God's truth, godliness, godly principles, godly wisdom, grateful, guaranteed solution, holy spirit, into all truth, invasive, irreverent, Jesus Christ, joy, joyous, keep them from evil, lackadaisical attitude towards God, leading and guiding, Lent, libation, light a bonfire under our rear ends, live a godly life, look to heaven and jesus, LOVE, majesty, man-made solutions, moaning and groaning, move heaven and earth, necessary tools, norms, not of the world, on the radio in Lent, oppression, petty selfish purposes, poverty, power and glory, powers of evil, problems, purpose, rejuvenate, removal of god, renew, return to worshipping Jehovah God, revitalize, selfless sacrifice, sense, sense of unity and purpose, serious action, sickness, social values, spread the news of Christ's gospel, St. Paddy's Day, standing idly by, stirred up, strife, strong foundation that's jesus, stupidity, take them out of the world, temptation, tentacles, the cross at Calvary, the Good Book, the naked eye, the Rock, thine is the kingdom, things of heaven, things of the world, troubles of this wicked and ungodly world, ungodly regime, walk with god, war, Western society, wicked, wisdom, wisdom and power, worship
Matthew 6:13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (the evil one): For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Oh Friends, the ole fella’s tired this Tuesday morning… And it’s not because of too much libation celebrating St. Paddy’s Day, as a good Irishman ought to! (smile) It’s just from not enough rest.
Yuh know, it’s interesting that when I was growing up in T&T, you didn’t hear a Calypso on the radio during Lent, except on St. Patrick’s Day. I guess they were considered an inferior art or music form, too irreverent and not worthy to be played during the supposedly holy and serious season of Lent.
And some of them were indeed irreverent, but nowhere near the amount of irreverent junk that’s being played on the radio these days, both in and out of Lent.
It’s strange how the norms and social values of a society change as time goes by, and particularly as the godliness in that society declines, as has happened in Western society over the last thirty or so years.
There is a definite correlation between the decline in moral standards and the removal of God from a society. How very sad my people… When we need God the most, as in the disastrous times we’re now experiencing, that’s when we’re seeing Him the least. What a pity!
And it’s rather unfortunate and despairing that we’ve tried so many man-made solutions to try and solve our many problems of war, strife, corruption, oppression, suppression, economic decline, poverty, sickness etc. etc, but the one solution guaranteed to bring out us of our troubles, a return to seriously worshipping Jehovah God, we steadfastly refuse to try. Steups!
Instead we’re still foolishly trying to further remove Him from the already small, minimal and lowly position He now holds in our constantly faltering and steadfastly failing Western society.
Ah mih people, I don’t know what to say. The powers of evil have us so wrapped up in their wicked, far-reaching, invasive tentacles that it seems impossible to get out from under their ungodly regime.
But that’s only to the naked eye my brethren! To the eyes of faith, the ones of the soul, which look to heaven and Jesus, Beelzebub’s hold CAN, AND WILL BE BROKEN!
But to do that, we need a much greater sense of unity and purpose amongst believers. Instead of fighting amongst and against each other, demoralizing and demonizing each other, we ought to be coming together in some form and fashion to fight against the enemy and the evil powers that are currently dominating the world.
And unfortunately, until we get enough faith, sense and wisdom to do that, those evil world powers will continue to divide, conquer and dominate the troubled world we live in.
And if you’ll notice, my fellow believers, the evil powers, though not in concert on everything, are surely so in their great desire to rid our society of the power and the glory of Almighty God!
Likewise, believers in Jesus Christ don’t need to be in agreement on everything, except the renewal, as well as the expansion of God’s power and glory, majesty and worship down here on earth, just as it exists in heaven above.
That’s what Jesus prayed for when He taught the disciples, and consequently us, how to pray. In the immortal words of our Bit: ‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (the evil one): For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.’
And that’s exactly what we ought to be doing my brethren; increasing, furthering God’s most worthy and everlasting kingdom down here on planet earth, rather than standing idly by, moaning and groaning, more concerned about acquiring the destructible and destructive things of the world, than the indestructible, everlasting things of heaven.
And it’s not like Jesus left us stranded, completely open to the whims and deeds of the evil one. He particularly prayed for us before He returned to heaven.
‘And now come I to thee (Father); and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray NOT that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil (the evil one). (John 17:13-15)
And Peter admirably follows that up with these words of absolute truth. ‘The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement to be punished.’ (2 Pet.2:9)
Oh my people, we have all the tools necessary to renew, revitalize and rejuvenate the purpose and kingdom of Almighty God here on earth, so why aren’t we doing it eh? God alone knows for sure!
And there’s no greater tool in the arsenal of God that we possess than that of His Holy Spirit which indwells every believer! And it was given to us for the definite and stated purpose of leading and guiding us unto all truth, to give us wisdom and power to live a godly life amidst the troubles of this wicked and ungodly world.
So I ask again, why aren’t we using it eh mih people? Why are we simply hanging around in fear, anxiety and apathy, complaining about how the evil rulers are taking away our godly rights and justice?
Oh Friends, they are not taking them away, we are allowing them to water down our faith, through lack of unity and a general lackadaisical attitude towards God and our faith!
Please note how all the other religions, despite their fallacy, are more serious and zealous in proclaiming their faith than we are about ours: Christianity; the ONE TRUE ONE, based and built on the ROCK, the strong foundation that’s Jesus Christ, His holy and selfless sacrifice on the cross at Calvary, to pay for our abominable sins.
Oh Friends, doesn’t that mean a whole lot to us, in fact everything? Well it ought to! We should be so joyous, so stirred up, so grateful for Jesus’ atonement, that we would gladly move heaven and earth to spread the glorious news of His gospel and wonderful kingdom!
Please my brethren, I’m pleading with us today, to start doing that RIGHT NOW! It’s high time we lit a huge bonfire under our rear ends to get up and get a true fight going for Jesus and His godly principles! Oh my fellow believers, that’s the only thing that makes any sense in this foolish and senseless world.
When we walk with God, He walks with us. But it has to be a heartfelt, continual walk; not a sometimes on, sometimes off thing, where we only cry out to Him for our own petty, selfish purposes, and then forget about Him afterwards. That’s stupidity at it’s zenith my people! And God’s people ought always to be seeking godly wisdom.
The Good Book claims that a word to the wise is sufficient. Please, please, let’s prove today, without a shadow of doubt, that God’s people are indeed wise. Much LOVE!
…unless God’s truth is refined…and turned into serious action…not merely talk…Christ’s church will not dominate the earth as it ought to…
Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries
