20 Jul 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: be not afraid, belief, blasphemy, blessed, children of God, children of light, Christ, circumstances, darkness, doubting, downfall, encourage, exhort, experience, eyes of faith, fear, fearful, giving thanks, glorifying God, Glory Halleujah, hardhearted, holy spirit, influence, invigorates, it is mete and right so to do, Jesus, Jews, Lazarus, light, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, loving kindness, Martha, messianic uprising, miracles, nemesis, only believe, Pharisees, physical evidence, political union, positions of power, praise and thanksgiving, rejoicing, resurrection, Sadducees, singing songs, Son of man, stoning, strategy, strenghtens our faith, Sunday, the glory of God, the Good Book, the Lord's Day, theological, trials, tribulations, understanding, unstable, unswerving belief, walk in light, warms the cockles of God's heart, wisdom, worship
Mark 5:36b. Be not afraid, only believe.
Oh Friends, it’s Sunday; the Lord’s Day, so let’s be up and rejoicing nuh, giving thanks that we’ve been blessed to see it! And hopefully too, we are all getting ready to go out and worship Him in the sanctuary with other believers, singing songs of praise and thanksgiving for all His LOVING- kindness to us, because it is mete and right to do so.
And glorifying God not only warms the cockles of His heart, but it also invigorates us, strengthens our faith, as we exhort and encourage each other to keep on keeping on despite the trials and tribulations in our individual circumstances.
And I’m going to keep the preamble short because I want to get in a lot of scripture, so that I can finish the messages on this Bit today. But there’s no guarantee on that, since who knows where the Holy Spirit will lead me. (smile)
But as Jesus says: ‘Be not afraid, only believe.’
Anyway, we left off yesterday where Martha, Lazarus’ sister declared her unswerving belief that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. (John 11:27) Now later on, when they had taken Jesus to Lazarus’ tomb, and He told them to roll away the stone from the tomb’s entrance, Martha was aghast and ’saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I know that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.’ (John 11:39-42)
Yes my brethren, Jesus was doing all that stuff so that the people could believe. Why? Because mankind is so unstable, doubting and fearful that we tend to believe more readily when we actually see physical evidence of what is being proposed to us. Unlike our physical sight, our eyes of faith don’t come automatically, they have to be developed through experience and understanding.
And we see that Jesus’ strategy worked, because after He called forth Lazarus from the opened tomb, and he came out alive and kicking, the Good Book declares: ‘Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.’ (John 11:45)
Glory Hallelujah, my people! But as we just said, man’s fear is usually his downfall. For as the Good Book continues: ‘But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.
Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we (shall we do)? For this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone (alone like this), all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.’ (John 11:46-48)
Ah Friends, the Jewish rulers were sore afraid that if Jesus was left to His own devices, the people would believe that He was indeed the Messiah, and the Romans would come in to halt the LOVE Revolution that He’d set in motion, and they would lose their positions of power and influence.
Now here is some interesting info from the scholars. ’11:45-48. The Pharisees had tried to kill Jesus on several occasions, always by the orthodox Jewish method of stoning. The Sadducees were willing to accomplish it through their political union with the Roman power. Thus prophecy was fulfilled (Ps.22:1-18).
Of course the Sadducees were particularly agitated by Lazarus’ resurrection, since they did not believe in the resurrection. However, their main concern with Jesus was that He might cause a messianic uprising (v.48). Unlike the Pharisees, their interests were political, not theological: blasphemy or healing on the Sabbath did not particularly disturb them.’
So both power-broking groups of Jews had a lot to lose if Jesus was allowed to freely continue His ministry. Ah Friends, belief is truly the nemesis of fear yes; for fear cringes in the presence of belief, as we can see from the behaviour of the ruling Jewish classes.
And we’ll close with one more passage of scripture from Jesus, a rather significant passage, this when He was teaching a group of Greeks who had come up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast.
At one stage He told them about the Son of man being lifted up: ‘This he said, signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?
Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knowest not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children (sons) of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.’ (John 12:33-36)
I don’t give Jesus wrong at all for getting away from them nuh, because listen to the next verse. ‘But though he had done so many miracles (signs) before them, yet they believed not on him. (John 12:37)
Oh Friends, what is wrong with us eh, why are we so hardhearted and refuse to believe despite all that Jesus has done and is still doing for us?
Anyway, my brethren, let us not be like those people of old nuh, we have many more facts and figures than they had, so please let us believe. For it is the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!
…just like light covers and consumes darkness…so too does belief strangle and kill fear…it’s therefore wise to walk in light and belief…
13 Jul 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fool despises instruction, a God of mercy, authority, comfort, compassion, counsel, Cousin Sol, cross at Calvary, deliver his soul from hell, despise, dictates of God, disdains instruction, disobedience, disobedient children, disobedient parents, disobey, emotional, encouraging, eternal life, exhorting, faith, faithfulness, fellowship of spirit, forgiveness, give thanks for god's goodness, glory hallelujah, hear counsel, heavenly Father, hogwash, holy relationship, instruction, latter days, laud, LOVE, loving kindness, magnify, mental, mercy, mortal standards, my heart shall rejoice, obeying the Word of God, penalties, physical punishment, pomp, poverty, praise God's holy name, precedence, price to pay, proper balance, Proverbs, prudent, punish, rearing children, receive instruction, reconciled, rejoice, reproof, sacrificed his only son Jesus, salvation, sanctuary, self-control, sensible, shame, sinners, speak right things, splendour, take for granted, the breath of life, the Lord's Day, the right way, the wrong way, thine heart be wise, undeserving children of men, what a wonderful God we serve and worship, words of knowledge, worship God, wrath
Proverbs 15:5. A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth (keeps, accepts) reproof is prudent (sensible).
Oh mih Friends, one more day has just been added to our illustrious lives! Glory Hallelujah! What a wonderful God we serve and worship! A God of mercy, of LOVING-kindness, of forgiveness, of compassion, of comfort, and above all, of LOVE!
Wow! How could we not LOVE Him in return and bless and praise His Holy name and thank Him for the myriad of blessings He showers down on us each and every day eh, even if we don’t deserve them?
And all God’s people declared a loud and thankful: ‘All praise and glory be to God the Father, who in His never-ending stream of LOVING-kindness, sacrificed his only Son Jesus Christ on the rugged cross at Calvary so that we abominable sinners could be reconciled to Him, brought back into a holy and glorious relationship with Him, featuring salvation and eternal life!’
Yes my people, it is of the utmost importance that EVERYDAY we recognize and appreciate and give thanks for God’s goodness to us, the undeserving children of sinful men! A lot of us just take it for granted. But that is oh so wrong my brethren.
Remember too, that one of the reasons God created us from the dust of the earth, then blew the breath of life into our nostrils is so that we could laud and magnify Him, worship Him in all faithfulness, with pomp and splendour!
And since today is Sunday, the day that most of us recognize as the Lord’s Day – no divisive arguments over that now – it’s only fitting that we should gather at His sanctuary and fellowship with other believers, exhorting and encouraging each other in our faith, while giving the Lord the thanks and praise He so richly deserves!
And having said all of that, let’s turn to our Bit which encapsulates it all. ‘A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth (keeps, accepts) reproof is prudent (sensible)’
And since those words are truth-bearing my brethren, it means that the majority of us on this planet earth are fools, because we very much despise and disobey our heavenly Father’s instructions, laid out for us in His Word. There’s no getting around that, if our Bit is true. And it certainly is, even by our mortal standards, as we saw from the several Proverbs we quoted yesterday, and will see from some more that we’ll quote today.
Yes Friends, we consider disobeying our earthly parents to be unwise, but hypocritically, we set up a different standard for our disobeying God. But disobedience is disobedience: in reality it’s the same; not abiding by the rules and regulations of a higher authority.
And Cousin Sol in his Proverbs, so wisely warns us that: ‘Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth (disdains, ignores) instruction: but he that regardeth (accepts) reproof shall be honoured.’ (Prov.13:18) And that my people goes for both the children of earthly men, and the children of our heavenly God!
When our children disobey us, we punish them; likewise, when we disobey God, we shouldn’t be surprised if He punishes us, because He states it quite clearly in His word. And if you don’t believe me, then just read Leviticus 26, where blessings for obedience are listed from verses 3-13, but penalties for disobedience run from verses 14-46. What does that intimate eh Friends? That there’s a very heavy price to pay for disobedience!
And in that vein, Cousin Sol tells us:’ A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again. Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end (days).’ (Prov.19:19-20)
And we come back to why there are so many disobedient children; because there are too many disobedient parents. Parents who are not rearing their children in the dictates of God, with a proper balance of LOVE and discipline! Oh my people, if we don’t teach them, the right way, someone else will teach them the wrong one, as is happening so much nowadays.
Hear these wise words from Cousin Sol. ‘Apply thine heart unto instruction; and thine ears to the words of knowledge. Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. My son, if thine heart be wise, my (own) heart shall rejoice, even mine. Yes, my reins (my innermost being) shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.’ (Prov.23:12-16)
Now Friends, that doesn’t mean we have to beat our children senseless or abuse them, but by the same token if we don’t apply some measure of physical correction they’ll just turn out as they are today; spoiled rotten, undisciplined, ungrateful, believing that the world owes them a living, and all because the goody two shoes folks in their false wisdom declared that physical punishment tends to child abuse.
Hogwash! Most of us who received some sort of physical punishment for disobedience have turned out pretty good. Like everything else, if it’s overdone, it’s bad; just like mental and emotional punishment, or no punishment at all, can be abusive.
The only way our innermost beings can rejoice over our children’s behaviour, my brethren, is if we teach them discipline in the proper manner – just like God is trying to teach us, so that His heart can rejoice. (smile)
Anyway Friends, enough for today, let’s ponder all that we’ve read and heard, but in the end, let’s ensure that we are all following the Word of God, which is the only true wisdom that exists. Much LOVE!
…our world will only improve when discipline and self-control…based on God’s Word…take precedence over all else…
17 Jun 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a horse of a different colour, a righteous life, almighty god, Ananias, Ananias And Sapphira, anger, apostles, as far as the east is from the west, awesome power of the Holy Spirit, bless your Holy Name, blessings, condition for our existence, crash and reboot, Creator of the universe, do your holy will, dragging up the past, evil and ungodly earth, faltering, fateful day, father in heaven, fear, filled with the power of Jesus, forgiveness, glorify God, glorious morn, God has removed our sin, grow more in christ-like character, Holy Ghost, holy spirit, hypocrisy, I told you so, lead and guide us, let bygones be bygones, lie to the Holy Ghost, LOVE, loving kindness, mercies, on its good side, Peter, Praise the Lord, praise to Almighty God, prayer of thanksgiving, precious gift from God, Sapphira, Satan, Sholem Asch, Spread God's Word, struck dead, test the Spirit of the Lord, thanks for life and health, thanksgiving for god's mercy, the blood of Jesus, the cross of Calvary, the Holy Spirit, the power to forget, the power to remember, the Spirit of Christ, the wherewithal to live a godly life, truth, Tuesday, understanding the power of the Holy spirit, undeserving children of men, unholy doings, useful lesson, walk upright and safe, wisdom, wise, yielded up the ghost, you should have listened
Acts 5:3. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Tuesday! Glorious Tuesday! A most precious gift from the Most High God, Creator of the universe and all therein!
And Friends, the sleep that that same wonderful Deity provided was so sweet, that I didn’t open my tired eyes until minutes to six on this glorious morn. (smile) But hopefully, that extra sleep will stop me from faltering too early in the day.
Anyway, let’s begin with a prayer of thanksgiving nuh. Please pray with me: ‘Oh Father in heaven, we bless your Holy Name, and sincerely thank You for all the new mercies and blessings you are about to bestow, to shower down on us this fateful day.
We thank You for life and health, and humbly ask that You lead and guide us successfully today, through the amazing and awesome power of your Holy Spirit.
Please help us to grow more in Christ-like character today, so that we can do your Holy Will and thus glorify your Name. We pray this on the blood of your Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ, which was shed for us on the cross of Calvary. Amen!’
Yes my people, we can’t sensibly and successfully go through our day without some sort of acknowledgement of and praise to Almighty God! For He is the One who provides for us, and also enables us to walk upright and safe on this evil and ungodly earth.
Now here’s a bit of wisdom attributed to Sholem Asch (1880-1957), a Polish-born, American Jewish writer, who seems to have bridged both the Old and New Worlds, but fit into neither. Don’t think I’ve ever shared this before, but it just seemed so timely today.
And Sholem tells us that it’s ‘Not the power to remember, but the power to forget is a necessary condition for our existence.’
And is there ever lot’s of truth and wisdom in that statement my brethren! For if we keep dragging up the past, our relationships will never prosper. We all make mistakes, but once acknowledged, they should be let go, set free, and all the ‘I told you so’s’ and ‘you should have listened,’ ought not to be continually dredged up.
Remember that there’s no bigger forgiveness in the entire universe than that which our heavenly Father has bestowed on us, and He doesn’t drag up our earlier sins every time we commit another one.
How does Bruh David put it in Psalm 103, Thanksgiving for God’s mercy? ‘As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.’ (Ps.103:12)
And all God’s people gave a loud and grateful shout of: ‘Praise the Lord God for His LOVING-kindness to the undeserving children of men!’
Therefore Friends, today, let’s learn to allow bygones to be bygones nuh, and just forgive others the way our gracious Father has forgiven us.
However my people, we cannot do that successfully unless we’re filled with the power of Jesus and His Holy Spirit, because it is they who give us the wherewithal to live a godly and righteous life.
And that brings us to our Bit: ‘But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?’
Yeh Friends, the story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira is a very instructional one in the understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit. We saw yesterday how Ananias presented only a portion of the proceeds of the sale of his possession to the apostles, as though that was the overall price. And for that hypocrisy, the Holy Ghost struck him dead right there on the spot.
Mama Mia! What awesome power that Spirit of Christ possesses my brethren! That’s why we would be exceedingly wise to stay on its good side. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the story.
Hear how the Good Book tells it: ‘And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife (Sapphira), not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yes, for so much. (Remember she was privy to the deception)
Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt (test) the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
Then fell she down straightway (instantly) at his feet, and yielded up the ghost (breathed her last): and the young men came in, and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon the church, and upon as many as heard these things.’ (Acts 5:7-11)
Oh Friends, oh Friends, I surely hope that we learn a useful lesson from that story, for although it’s not the norm nowadays, it still remains a very great possibility, showing just how powerful God’s Holy Spirit is.
And so I caution us to day, to be very careful in how we deal with and handle the Holy Spirit of Christ that dwells within us, and is desirous to lead and guide us on a straight and upright path.
Please do not knowingly provoke Him to anger through unholy doings, for we never know how He will react when provoked, when ignored and dismissed as irrelevant and out of date, unimportant and simply an old wife’s tale.
Please allow the story of Ananias And Sapphira to guide our doings today. For that’s indeed wisdom from the high heavens! Much LOVE!
…to lie to ourselves and our fellow man…that’s one thing…but to lie to Almighty God…hn…now that’s certainly a horse of an entirely different colour…
P.S. Long time I haven’t heard that old saying; a horse of a different colour. (smile) But they just seem to pop up when the time warrants. And then the oh so efficient Outlook platform froze on me. Steups! So I had to crash it and reboot. Ah Lord eh! The trials and tribulations we have to go through to spread God’s Word eh! (smile) Much LOVE!
18 May 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a hefty price, Abraham Isaac and Jacob, apostasy, assurances, authoritarian religious regimes, awesome power of the Holy Spirit, be grateful, be of good cheer, be on our p's and qu's, belief, believe, blessings, Christian, Christian faith, conquered sin, darkness, death, don't give up, don't worry about what you'll say, Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, evil, evil powers, faith, fate, flock to god's house, for my name's sake, free society, freedoms, give thanks, Glory be, goodness, gospel truth, heartfelt prayers, hypocrisy, hypocritical, immovable, injustice, jehovah god, Jesus Christ, joyful fruition, justice, keep pressing on, largesse of faith, let down our guard, light of the world, lodge appeal, Lord and Saviour, LOVE, loving kindness, lurking, Muslim society in sudan, oppression, overcome the world, patience, patient, patriarchal societies, peace, penal code, persecute you, persevering, possess your souls, pray, principles of jesus, promises of God's Son, remain faithful, revenge, sexual relations, South Sudan, spiritual armour, spiritual war, stand strong, steadfast, Sudanese woman, suppression, testimony, the evil one, the grave, the Holy Ghost, tribulation, trust, trust in Jesus Christ, unfair fate, ungodly world, wisdom, worship
Luke 21:19. In your patience possess ye your souls.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, on this Sunday morning in the middle of May, in a season we call spring time, when nature is refreshed and rejuvenated with new life and colour, please, oh please, let’s be eternally grateful and give loads of thanks for the fairly free society in which we live!
Once upon a time it was mostly a community based on the Christian faith, but in recent times it has morphed into one of many different, diverse faiths and cultures. However, we are still free to worship and believe in whom or what we choose. Unfortunately though, this is not the case for millions of our Christian brothers and sisters in many places around the world, who live under heinous authoritarian religious regimes.
Today I want to highlight the unfortunate plight of one such sister. The newspapers recently reported the awful situation of a 26 year old, eighth months pregnant Sudanese woman, who married a Christian man, and for that she was sentenced to death. Steups! And as always, it’s the women and children who suffer the most.
As the hypocritical patriarchal Muslim society in Sudan would have it, it’s okay for a Muslim man to marry outside of his faith, and the children must by law adopt the father’s religion. Chuh! However that largesse of faith does not apply to Muslim women. This unfortunate young woman was convicted of ‘apostasy’ because she refused to renounce her Christian faith. Glory Be!
She is paying though a rather hefty price for that refusal since the Sudanese penal code declares that Muslims converting to any other faith is a crime punishable by death. But it doesn’t seem that the young woman was ever Muslim, for although her father, a Muslim, married and Ethiopian Orthodox Christian and the law states that such children must adopt the father’s faith, her mother raised her as a Christian after the father left them.
Now she languishes in some sordid jail with her 18 month old son and her unborn child, awaiting her unfair fate. To make matters even more ridiculous and hypocritical, it seems that the court also ordered the young woman to receive a hundred (100) lashes. Why? For having what they considered sexual relations with her husband, a Christian from the new country of South Sudan, which is mostly Christian.
Ah Friends, I don’t even want to consider the hypocrisy, because it just makes me so angry that I tend to forget the LOVING-kindness principles of Jesus and desire revenge, or I should say justice (smile) in my heart. Oh I know that we Christians can be very hypocritical too, but hopefully not to that extent.
Let’s hope that an appeal is successfully lodged on the young woman’s behalf in the not too distant future. And to help right that wrongful situation, let’s all offer up some heartfelt prayers for her and the millions of other Christians around the world, who are suffering oppression, suppression and loads of injustice, simply because of their sensible and right thinking belief, faith, and trust in Jesus Christ, and the One and Only True and Living Deity, Jehovah God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
My fellow believers, please believe that there is indeed a very real, a very serious and a very deadly spiritual war that’s currently taking place, and we are at the forefront of it. Thus we need to be on our p’s and q’s; ever-ready to resist and fight back against the evil powers that now control this ungodly world.
What Jesus prophesied so long ago, as we saw in yesterday’s scriptures, is now coming to pass. ‘But before all these (signs), they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you (be an occasion) for a testimony.’ (Luke 21:12-13)
Furthermore ‘And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers (authorities), take ye no thought (do not worry about) how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say. For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.’ (Luke 12:11-12)
It’s not going to be easy my people, but if we stand strong, steadfast and immovable on the promises of our wonderful Saviour, then we will eventually be victorious. Listen to this awesome promise of God’s Son. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33)
And that’s the gospel truth Friends! Jesus has indeed overcome the world. He’s conquered sin, death and the grave with His Easter Resurrection. So let’s take comfort, derive lasting peace from it, and show the world that we are stronger than anything they can throw at us, because we have the awesome power of the Holy Spirit of Jesus working in, for, and through us!
Note though, that despite all our assurances, we can’t afford to let down our guard for even one moment, because the evil one is lurking around, looking for even a toehold in our spiritual armour. But we do need to be patient and persevering as Jesus advises in our Bit. ‘In your patience possess ye your souls.’
Yes Friends, if we remain faithful, don’t give up, and keep pressing on, regardless of our adversity, then we shall indeed see ALL the promises of Jesus come to joyful fruition, and His church will be victorious!
So today, my fellow believers, let’s all flock to God’s house with joyful souls nuh, to pray, worship and give thanks for our many blessings and freedoms. For that is indeed the wisdom of heaven! Much LOVE!
…the powers of evil and darkness…are no match whatsoever…for those of LOVE and goodness…found in the brilliant light of the world…our Lord and Saviour…Jesus Christ…
13 May 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living
Tags: advocates, ascended to heaven, ask and you shall receive, awesome God, belief, bless the Lord, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, cacophony, Christian, christianity, commandments, copacetic, covenant, crowns, diseases, disobedience, don't forget God's benefits, everlasting, faith, fear God, feeling lousy, flatfooted, forgiven, forgiveness, glory, glory hallelujah, God's bidding, God's LOVE, gracious, groggy, heals, holy spirit, hope in the Lord, horn of salvation, iniquities, Israel, Israel sinned, Jesus, judgement, justice, lightning, lightning flashing, living colour, lost, LOVE, loving kindness, lying beneath the covers, magnanimous, man is dust, man's days are as grass, merciful, mercy, Moses, oppressed, pay a price, positive faith, praise, Praise the Lord, rain pouring down, raised from the dead, rambling along, redeem, redemption, reverence, rewarded us per our sins, riddims of nature, righteousness., servant David, serve, sinful children, slow to anger, some semblance of sense, testimony, thanks, the children of Israel, the gods in heaven, Thor, throne in the heavens, thunder, thunder roaring, trappings of Christianity, vengeance, wallow in guilt, way of life, wisdom, witness, wonderful god, worship, youth is renewed like the eagles's
Psalm 106:48. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. (Hallelujah) Praise ye the Lord.’
Oh Friends, it seems like the gods in heaven were real angry earlier on this morning. Thor opened his window and was really pounding away on his drums with a vengeance (thunder)! I haven’t heard him that loud and ominous for a while now.
Meanwhile who ever is in charge of electricity, of light, wasn’t too thrilled with life either because they were shooting wild and dangerous bolts of lightning all over the place. And somebody left a water source open and heaven overflowed, with all the excess water falling ponderously to earth.
On earth too, things weren’t all that copacetic, because I got up when all that cacophony was happening, feeling okay, I must point out; in fact well rested. But unwisely I decided to lie down and enjoy the riddims of nature, for there’s nothing like lying under the covers when the thunder is roaring, the lightning flashing and the rain pouring down!
Obviously I fell asleep again, but when I woke up this time, about an hour later, was I ever feeling lousy. My back’s aching, I’m groggy like I haven’t slept in ages, and I’m moving around like an old, dotish man. (smile) I guess that’s what happens when the Lord awakens you to do His bidding, but you choose to ignore Him.
Yes Friends, as we keep preaching… sorry, teaching, we ignore God and His directives at our peril. But He’s such a wonderful Deity that once we sincerely ask for forgiveness, He’s only too pleased and willing to grant it. But then, just as importantly, we have to learn to accept that forgiveness and move on with our lives, like I’m doing here writing the Bit.
We shouldn’t stay and wallow in the guilt, as too many of us tend to do after we’ve been forgiven. We all know the scripture that says ask and you shall receive (Matt.7:7), and we’re very versed and experienced in the asking, (smile) but when it comes to the receiving, a lot of us stand flatfooted and lost.
But my people, like everything else in our Christian way of life, it’s all a matter of FAITH, of BELIEF! We believe that God made us and LOVES us and provides for us, and that Jesus died for us, was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven, where He now advocates on our behalf.
Now none of us have personally experienced that stuff, as the song asks, ‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord?’ And the answer is an emphatic No! We weren’t there in person, but through the witness, the testimony of others who were there, we accept and believe it through positive faith, that those things actually happened.
Likewise Friends, we have to accept ALL the trappings of Christianity by FAITH! We can’t accept some and refute or waiver on others. And if you don’t know where all of this is leading to, well neither do I. (smile) I guess it’s one of those mornings when I’m just rambling along in my aching, groggy state.
However, I have NO doubt whatsoever, that by the time I’m done, there will be some semblance of sense in the Bit. That’s because the Lord, through His Holy Spirit, will not allow me to write pure nonsense in His Name. Glory Hallelujah!
That’s why my brethren, we can speak the words of our Bit today, though written many moons ago, with the same conviction that the psalmist had when Israel sinned against God’s LOVE. ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. (Hallelujah) Praise ye the Lord.’
Our God is indeed a mighty, powerful and awesome God! But with all of that, He is ever yet merciful and magnanimous to His sinful children. Listen to the psalmist proclaim it: ‘Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy (LOVING-kindness), and with him is plenteous (abundant) redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.’ (Ps.130:7-8)
Now hear Luke corroborate those statements. ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation (Mighty Deliverer) for us in the house of his servant David.’ (Luke 1:68-69)
And in closing, let’s listen to the Lord’s servant, Bruh David, as he spells it out in spades, in living colour, from Psalm 103, Thanksgiving for God’s mercy.
‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with LOVING-kindness and tender mercies: Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things: so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord executeth righteousness and judgement for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious; slow to anger, and plenteous (abounding) in mercy (LOVING-kindness).
He will not always chide (strive): neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy (LOVING-kindness) toward them that fear him.
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear (reverence) him. For he knoweth (understands) our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more (shall not remember it). But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear (reverence) him, and his righteousness unto the children’s children;
To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all…. Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.’ (Ps.103:2-19, 22)
Ah mih people, what a wonderful God we serve and worship eh! There is NO OTHER supposed deity like Him! That’s why we ought to be exceedingly thankful and grateful and give Him plenty, plenty, plenty, praise and thanks and glory!
For if you’ll notice, WE DON’T DESERVE ANY OF THOSE WONDERFUL THINGS HE’S SO LOVINGLY PROVIDED FOR US!
So today, please, let’s get our act together, remember His commandments and do them, so that He will be even more merciful towards us. That’s wisdom from everlasting to everlasting. Much LOVE!
…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…or else he will pay a terrible price…for his disobedience…
11 May 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a breath of spring air, a mother's love, appreciation for mothers, backbone of families, balancing act, chattel, children, christ's character, christianity, commandments, condemn, courage, create and carry life, Deborah arose as a mother, emotionally stronger than men, emotions, encouragement, faithfulness, favour, females more like god than males, first world countries, foolish stigma, footstools, foresight, fortitude, friends, from the heart, fruits of the Spirit, full due, gentleness, God's Word, godliness, good guidance, goodness, heavenly choir, hindsight, honour mothers, honour thy father and mother, human frailties, inherent characteristics, Israel, joy, joyful mother, kindness, long-suffering, LOVE, loving, loving kindness, major responsibility, meaningful jobs, meekness, Mother's Day, natural ability to lift expectations, no charge, paid in full, patience, pay tribute to mothers, peace, perseverance, praise, priase the Lord, provide succour and nourishment, recognition, reproductive capacities, restraint, rightful respect, second class citizens, semblance of order, sense of dedication, sense of purpose, sexual objects, standing up for rights, strength, temperance, tender care, the ABC's of life, the glass ceiling, third world countries, tight hold of the reins, times of pregnancy, token appointment, tribute to Mothers, true paths to tread, true spirit of Christianity, uncanny sense of wisdom, unconditional LOVE, understanding, upper echelons, village life, women not pro-active enough
Judges 5:7. The inhabitants of the villages (village life) ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY !
Well Friends, once again we have come to that memorable day in springtime when we pay tribute to Mothers. And what shall we say to honour them today eh? Well, first let’s say that they are usually like a breath of clean, fresh, pure spring air, as opposed to the oppressive heat of summer and the frigid cold of winter. They just seem to have that pick me up character built into them. They are usually so refreshing when everybody else is dragging and down in the dumps. They just have the natural ability to lift expectations and emotions.
Now here is something that recently struck me. Mothers, or the female of all the species are more akin to, more like God than males, in terms of their inherent characteristics. In the sense that they have reproductive capacities, can create and carry life, and provide succour and nourishment for their young, nurturing them through their childhood, and even into their adult years. Mothers possess an uncanny sense of wisdom, even without any formal schooling.
They generally give good guidance and show their children the true paths they ought to tread. They are usually imbued with a greater sense of dedication, patience and perseverance and restraint than men. In fact the fruits of the Spirit – LOVE, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (faithfulness) are more likely to be found in mothers than in fathers. In the human family, it’s usually the mothers who teach the children the ABC’s of life, and keeps the family tightly knit and together.
In other words, she is basically responsible for bearing, birthing, raising and caring for the children and the family as a whole, oftimes while also working outside of the home. And you better believe Friends, that’s a major responsibility, one that requires a big juggling and balancing act, a feat which most men would not be able to handle. I guess that’s why the Lord made them emotionally stronger, more understanding and LOVING than men.
But unfortunately, Mothers, women on the whole, still don’t get the recognition they deserve from society. In numerous places, all over the world, they are still being treated like second class citizens, like chattel. And it’s not only in the supposed backward, third world countries that this happens, but also right here in the first world countries, women and mothers are not given their full due and rightful respect.
We see that in the fact that they earn less than men while doing the same job. They are seldom promoted to meaningful jobs in the upper echelons of the big companies. And if they do get a bligh, it’s often a token appointment that doesn’t really carry much weight or responsibility.
Oh don’t get me wrong, nowadays a few women are breaking through the glass ceiling, but still not in sufficient quantities, definitely not in proportion to their numbers involved in the work force. And they still bear the foolish stigma of being unable to be a mother, a wife and a career person at the same time. Consequently they are still being fired or passed over for promotions during times of pregnancy. Steups!
And sadly, ladies and mothers, men are not the only ones to blame for this sad state of affairs. Some of the blame has to be laid at your doorstep too; possibly for not being pro-active enough and standing up for your rights, allowing men to still treat you as footstools and sexual objects.
Anyway Mothers, today we’re not here to condemn, but to praise you for being the strength, the backbone of our families and therefore our societies. We’re here to praise you for your fortitude and courage, for the many times when all seems lost, but somehow or other you get a tight hold of the reins and restore some semblance of order, along with a sense of purpose and encouragement.
I’ve learned from a young age that the male of the species might be physically stronger – and I’m not even sure about that – but in all other respects, the female of the species wins out. Oh we know that mothers are not perfect, some of them are even downright disgusting, but we have to realize that they are only human and thus suffer from all the human frailties and weaknesses.
But overall, mothers are truly the ones who make the world go round fairly smoothly with their kindness, their LOVE, their nurturing, their encouragement, and all the other little but ever so important things they do. And our Bit points that out so nicely. ‘The inhabitants of the villages (village life) ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.’
Yeh Friends, Israel was a mess under most of the judges, until Deborah rose up as a mother and shepherded them back to some form of godliness and decent community life. You can read her story in Judges 5.
And hear these choice words from the psalmist, re God’s mercy. ‘He maketh (causes) the barren (childless) woman to keep house (dwell in a home), and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.’ (Ps.113:9)
And we see examples of that all through God’s Word; e.g. Sarah (Isaac), Hannah (Samuel), Elizabeth (John). So it’s obvious that the Lord has a soft spot in His heart for women who are unable to conceive.
Anyway my people, I hope this all makes sense. I just wanted to do something a little different, especially since I have a great appreciation for mothers, having had six of them. Yes my brethren, the Lord blessed me with six different motherly women to look out for me during certain rough periods of my life. And believe me, all six mothers were beautiful persons, treating me with such LOVE and tender care, that I don’t know how I would have made out if the Lord had not brought them into my life at those most appropriate times.
And looking back on my life now, I can definitely see the Lord’s favour working in my favour. What a great thing hindsight is eh! Oh, if foresight was only half as good!
Obviously my birth mother Molly was the first, and she did her best to give me a decent life. Thank you Molls baby! They wouldn’t know some of the stuff you went through to provide for me nuh, and I’m truly sorry I didn’t appreciate your efforts before I did. It’s amazing to think that it’s almost three years since you left us to sing in the heavenly choir, but sonny boy is trying his best not to sully your name and genuinely good character. (smile)
You know I won’t ever forget you, but sometimes I miss you, especially when I need someone to talk to, for you were truly my best Friend. I could bring any problem to you and know that you wouldn’t judge me. Ah Molls sugar, the tears are welling up in the ole fella’s eyes as I remember you and some of the interesting though often difficult times we went through. Not to worry though, the good Lord is looking after me.
And Friends, I won’t even bother to get into the problems that many mothers have, like little or no help from fathers, ungrateful and disobedient children etc. because it is all well documented. I’d just like us all to work together in the true spirit of Christianity, reflecting Christ’s character to help mothers, to help women all over the world to have better lives than many of them are currently having.
And yuh see how important Jesus’ mother was to Him, for even as He was dying on the cross, He made provision for her to live with John. (John19:25-27) So why can’t we mortal men appreciate our mothers too eh? And parents were considered so important by God, that He included them in His basic commandments for living. ‘Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.’ (Ex.20:12)
And we’ll close with a most fitting story based on an old song I believe was sung by Shirley Caesar, called No Charge. It begins with a mother being in the kitchen and her young son comes in and presents her with a list of all the chores he’s done and how much he is charging her for doing them.
The mother is obviously disappointed, but turns over the paper and writes stuff like, for carrying you for nine months – no charge… And she lists all the things she’s done for him since he was first conceived in her womb, and at the side of each there was the statement – no charge. And at the very end there was some thing like – in short…for my LOVE…THERE’S NO CHARGE…
And that my Friends is what a Mother’s LOVE is all about! It’s free, given from the heart!
And when the youngster reads his mother’s note, he cries, turns the paper over to his side and writes across it – Paid in Full.
So today my people, let’s truly honour our mothers nuh, for without them and their LOVING-kindness, our lives would have been even more difficult than they were. Much LOVE!
…the best reflection on earth…the closest image to the heart of God…that’s a Mother’s LOVE…unconditional and freely given…
P.S. Yes Friends, I know it’s long, extra long (smile) but, like a Mother’s LOVE, it comes from the heart. Much LOVE!
08 May 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a bounce of pride and joy, afraid, agape, alive and kicking, anger, anointed Jesus, bitterness, bounden duty, charity, Christians, compassion, Controller, Creator, depressed, do good to all mankind, doing good, done on a regular basis, down in the dumps, e-mail, earthly pilgrimage, egotism, empathy, empowered by the Holy Spirit, encouraging, encouraging words, envy, evil world, exude warmth, faith, fat, friends, gladness, God anointed Jesus with the Holy spirit, God was with him, greed, hate, heavenly Father, holding a door open, hope, hypocritical, I am with you always, insignificant things, into all truth and righteousness, jealousy, Jesus christ of Nazareth, Jesus went about doing good, Jesus' desires, Jesus- the sole director of our lives, joy, lazy, lead and guide, Lexicon of Love, living a decent life, loney, LOVE, LOVE Revolution, loving kindness, make Jesus proud, mercy, negative endeavours, one one cocoa fulls basket, opportunities, opportunities for good deeds, oppressed of the devil, Pharisees, pnoe call, power of the Spirit of Jesus, praise, praise our wonderful God, praying, pride, proselytize the whole world, provider, raison d'etre, rear ends, refuse to embrace them, relevant bit of scripture, resentment, righteousness., rocket science, saying good morning, set our minds to the task, shame-faced, sick, sinful, sinful fools, smiling with a stranger, special joy, sphere of influence, spring to our step, stare us in stright in the face, text, thanks, the golden rule, the Great Commission, the greatest of these is love, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, this is the day the Lord has made, Thursday, treat others the way you want to be treated, truth, understanding, uplifting movement in our lives, we will rejoice and be glad in it, wisdom, worldwide change
Acts 10:38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, it’s Thursday, it’s Thursday, the day before Friday, the day before the weekend! And we are definitely alive and kicking! So let’s praise our wonderful God and enjoy it nuh!
And all God’s children loudly and boldly proclaimed: ‘This is the day the Lord, our magnificent and magnanimous God has made! We WILL, we SHALL, we ARE going to be exceedingly glad and enjoy it!’
Wow mih breddren, Wow! What a way to begin our day – with joy, gladness, thanks and praise to our heavenly Father, our Creator, Controller and Provider!
And all God’s people declared a loud: ‘So let it be! Amen!’
Yes Friends, the ole fella seems to be in fine form this morning. The Holy Spirit is just moving and grooving in him. Hn, hn, hn! But seriously though, I do hope that He’s also having a bright and uplifting movement in all your lives, because that’s what He was designed to do; to lead and guide us into all truth and righteousness.
And when we’re walking in truth and righteousness, there’s a special spring to our step, a bounce of pride and joy that is very discernible by onlookers.
And that’s what we’re being called on today and everyday to possess and display – that special joy that comes only from having Jesus as the sole director of our lives, where we just exude warmth, compassion, LOVING-kindness, empathy, wisdom, understanding, and above all, charity, in the form of agape LOVE!
Aye mih people, what a force for worldwide change we’d become, if we truly lived out the edicts of Jesus! As our Bit so graciously says of Him, when Peter preached to the Gentiles: ‘How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.’
Oh what an uplifting, encouraging and ever so relevant Bit of Scripture my people! Why you ask? Because it’s the same thing that God has done to each and every one of us!
Our heavenly Father has anointed each and every believer with the power of the Spirit of Jesus, so that we can go along our earthly journey doing exactly what Jesus did; heal, show compassion and mercy, encourage, uplift – in other words, just do good as is necessary.
And yuh know Friends, that’s not such a difficult task as we sometimes make it out to be. We just truly have to set our minds to do it. We have already been empowered by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us; it’s just left for us to get up off of our fat, lazy, shame-faced, afraid, hypocritical rear ends and do the job that we’ve been called to do as Christians!
All we have to do is set out every day, as Jesus did, and oodles of opportunities to do good, to uplift, exhort and encourage others will come our way. We don’t even have to go looking for them, they will find us. The problem is that we have to have the discernment…
Chuh! Discernment isn’t even necessary, because opportunities for good deeds stare us straight in the face each and every day, we just refuse to embrace them.
Everyday we hear about someone being sick, depressed, lonely, or just down in the dumps for no good reason, and all it takes from us is a phone call, or an e-mail, or text, a visit, or whatever method of communication you choose, to let them know that you’re thinking of and praying for them.
Is that so hard to do mih breddren? Absolutely not! But for some unknown reason(s), many of us supposed Christians believe that doing good is big business, and requires plenty effort. That’s just not true!
Oh my people, it’s the little things that truly matter. As the Jamaicans say: one one cocoa does full basket. And that’s the awesome truth! It’s the little things, done on a regular basis that truly matter and eventually make a big difference.
We’re talking about, small, seemingly insignificant things like smiling with a stranger, saying a bright and pleasant good morning to our neighbours, co-workers and even strangers we pass on the street, holding a door open for someone.
Oh Friends, all those things might be small, but they are extremely important in Jesus’ Lexicon of LOVE!
Why? Because that’s exactly what He did during His sojourn here on earth!
If you read the Good Book, you’ll see He stopped and helped people all the time. Ofttimes He even went out of His way to do so. He offered encouraging words to all He met. The only people He spoke roughly to and embarrassed were the Pharisees and the Jewish elite for their hypocritical behaviour.
Oh my brethren, doing good is not rocket science! It’s simply living a decent life, treating others the way we would like to be treated. Yuh know, if more of us would simply adopt that golden rule and consistently live by it… oh what a truly wonderful world planet earth would be!
But no, like sinful fools, we’re foolishly adopting the hate, greed, resentment, anger, bitterness, egotism, pride, envy, jealousy, and the whole host of negative endeavours that the evil world champions! How wrong, how sad, and how ungodly my people! We’ll never get Jesus’ LOVE Revolution going with that kind of attitude.
So please my fellow believers, today, let’s take a good look at ourselves, consider what we need to do in our earthly pilgrimage to sincerely carry out Jesus’ desires, to do good to ALL of mankind. Remember, He wants, and it’s our bounden duty to proselytize the entire world! So we can’t pick and choose, just minister to whomever he brings into our sphere of influence.
That’s the only way we can ever accomplish the Great Commission: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt.28:19-20)
Let’s do it nuh Friends, let’s make Jesus proud! That should be our whole raison d’etre; our whole reason for living! Much LOVE!
…and now abideth faith, hope, LOVE, these three…but the greatest of these is LOVE…! (1 Cor.13:13)…and for good reason too…
28 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: advocates, aura of love, be holy, blessed, bounden duty, Christ's Resurrection, confidence, Easter celebration, enthusiasm, evil, fellowship, glorious kingdom, glory, glory hallelujah, godly love, heavenly Father, holiness, holy spirit, honour, human frailties, humble servants, invincible, Jesus Christ, jobs, keeping lives and families together, living standards, lord god almighty, LOVE, loving kindness, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, Moses, negative side, Oh Lord God Almighty, our calling, perfect harmony, positive spin, praise, pure, purity, reach out to others, recociliation, reconciled to God, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, righteousness., sacrificially, selflessly, separation, separation from sin, serve a useful purpose, sin, steadfast faith, thanks, the Lord your God is holy, trials, tribulations, true colours, truth, ungodly world, weaknesses, weary souls, Ye shall be holy
Leviticus 19:1-2. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.
Oh Friends, that wonderful day called Monday has rolled around once again!
And all God’s people declared a loud, hearty and grateful: ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Wow! Are we changing or what! (smile)
But unlike last Monday, when many of us had the day off to celebrate Easter Monday, today we all have to go to work, so that we can earn money to buy bread to keep our physical bodies going.
And as I said sometime aback, we don’t have much choice, provided we want to eat and have a roof over our heads, so we might as well put a positive spin on it, rather than the negative, I’m tired, etc. etc. attitude that is so common today.
Ah mih people, most of the world’s population would kill to have the blessed life that many of us live in this Western Society. So please, let’s stop complaining about the few things which we don’t have, many of which are not essential, and enjoy and celebrate the many things we do have that give us the best living standard in the entire world.
And the best way to do all of that is by giving our wonderful God a whole lot of glory, praise, thanks and honour. So this Monday morning when we’re still celebrating Christ’s amazing and life-changing Resurrection, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with great gusto, remembering what Christ so selflessly and sacrificially accomplished for us two thousand years ago.
So mih breddren, let’s sing, loud and in perfect harmony: ‘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!’
Yes mih people! That was wonderful! Jesus was pleased. It made Him feel that His sacrifice was worthwhile after all. Now we’ve got to go out and show the world our true colours in Jesus. And there’s no better way to do that than to personify the words of our Bit: ‘And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.’
Matter finish and done with Friends! Your God is holy, so if you want to truly worship Him, then you need to be holy too. No ifs, ands and buts about it!
And before we go any further, let’s hear what the scholars have to say about the Holiness of God. ’19:2. The Hebrew word translated “holiness” comes from a root meaning “to separate or cut off.”
The primary meaning of holiness implies God’s positive quality of self-affirming purity; the secondary meaning implies separation, particularly separation from sin. The holiness of God means He is absolutely pure and absolutely separate from (and above) all His creatures, and also separate from sin and evil.
Illustration: Because God is holy, all sin is offensive to Him. For this reason he had to break fellowship with His own Son when Jesus became our sin bearer (cf. Matt. 27:46) Only through the identification of Christ with our sin as our sacrifice can we be reconciled to God.
Application: When the Scriptures mention the holiness of God, they also stress the personal holiness of His people. (First Ref. Gen.1:4; Primary Ref. Lev.19:2; cf. John 14:6).’
What more can I add to that eh Friends? Not a whole lot; except to say that if we want to be God’s people, then like Jesus said in our Bit yesterday, we need to be perfect, complete, abounding in godly Love, and as today’s warns, we also need to be holy, like our heavenly Father.
Now please don’t go away with the idea that the Father needs us to be perfect, because He knows that we can never be, since He didn’t make us that way. But in spite of our human frailties and weaknesses, He does expect us to try and be excellent advocates and examples of His LOVE and Holiness, personified through Jesus.
And if we are sincere about wanting to follow Jesus, then He will help us to do so. Therefore, with all of that in mind, please, let’s get really serious about Jesus nuh!
And Friends, there’s no better time than right now to do so, in the midst of this Easter Season, when all the world’s eyes and minds are on Jesus and His great work of reconciliation. It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to reach out to others and cause them to want to come to Him.
It’s also our calling and bounden duty as believers. So please let’s do as we ought nuh. Heavenly wisdom requires it. Much LOVE!
…to sincerely work for Jesus…we must be willing to sacrifice some…and to bear some trials and tribulations…like He did…
25 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a journey of hope and love, a saved world, accepting the challenge with a strong faith, advocating, all knees shall bow, all lips declare, almighty god, ascension, Beelzebub, bequeath our children, blessings, cast off forever, compassion, downward spiral, evil, evil powers, examine our ways, exhorting, expectant faith, eyes of faith, faith, fellow believers, forefront of our society, friends, gift, glory, God does not delight in afflicting His people, God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, grateful, grief, heavenly wisdom, honour, hope, hungry hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, just and righteous Deity, justified, Lamentations, legacy, lift up our hearts, LOVE, loving kindness, magnanimous Creator, magnificent and magnanimous God, materially, mercies, mire, new day, new every morning, omnipotent god, one true God, only son, pangs of misery, prosper, punishment for sins, put into action, quicksand, raise up the name of jesus, reignite God's image in our hearts, rekindle God's fire in our souls, resurrection, righteous, sacrificial death, Saint of the Little Flower, selfless, sentiments, sinful nature, sinful people, slaves, Son Jesus, spiritually, St. Therese, stooges, sucking away our lifeblood, take us to task, thankful, thanks and praise, the way to salvation, triumphant victory over death and the grave, turn again to God, uncoditional love, ungodly, walk in the steadfastness of god's grace and love, walk of faith, what a wonderful God we serve and worship, wisdom
Lamentations 3:32. But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, glory be! Yes, it’s another new day in paradise! Another marvellous and wondrous gift from our magnanimous Creator!
Oh my people, it just stirs me up so much when I consider the wonderful God we serve and worship!
Wow! Which other supposed deity gives His people new mercies and blessings every single morning eh? Who shows such undeserved compassion each and every day eh? NONE but our omnipotent God, my brethren!
That’s why we ought to give Him enormous thanks and continually praise His Holy Name. Remember, He doesn’t have to do what He’s done and doing for us, neither do our puny efforts deserve His LOVING-kindness. But it’s His unsurpassed unconditional LOVE that causes Him to bless us so richly, in spite of our sinful nature and behaviour.
And please remember too, that while we were yet stooges and slaves of Beelzebub, He sent His ONLY Son Jesus to die for us, so that we could be made justified, righteous, and all the other wonderful things that Jesus’ selfless, sacrificial death, resurrection and ascension accomplished.
So there are indeed numerous reasons for us to be thankful and grateful! Therefore, instead of trying to belittle Jesus’ importance, or take God out of our society, as we are allowing the evil powers that be to do, we ought to be jumping and shouting, beseeching and pleading, picketing and protesting, advocating and exhorting, to raise up the name of Jesus, just like the Father did after His triumphant victory over death and the grave!
We ought to be encouraging ALL knees to bow, and ALL lips to solemnly and sincerely declare that Jesus is indeed the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
Oh Friends, we ought to be filled with such a hungry hope and expectant faith, that we can clearly see, totally envision through our eyes of faith, a saved world; a world where Almighty God and Jesus Christ are once again at the forefront of our society!
Oh my people, my fellow believers, that’s the ONLY WAY our society will once again prosper, both spiritually and materially. If we don’t feel that way, don’t envision it happening, then we’ll just continue the downward spiral in which we’re now totally engaged.
Oh my brethren, the quicksand in the evil and ungodly mire of the world is slowly sucking away our lifeblood, unfortunately causing us to drift further and further away from the ONE TRUE GOD, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and if we don’t soon put a stop to it, then our children, and their children too, will be the ones to suffer the real pangs of misery and defeat, since we’ll already be dead and gone.
Now is that the legacy we want to bequeath to our children, whom most of us LOVE like the Lord LOVES us? I sincerely doubt it.
However Friends, it’s also necessary to remember that though we are currently a very sinful people, and that sometimes the Lord will take us to task for our sins, He will not cast us off forever. (Lam.3:31)
And all God’s people loudly declared: ‘All glory, praise, thanks and honour be to our magnificent and magnanimous God!’
Yes Friends, those are indeed wonderful sentiments, but we need to not only mouth them, but even more importantly put them into action!
And as our Bit so wisely and rightly states: ‘But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.’
Ah mih breddren, it gives our God no joy, no pleasure to punish us, but as a just and righteous Deity, He has to keep things right. Now listen to the words of Jeremiah, as he laments the state of his people Israel, which very much approximates to our current state.
‘For he doth not afflict willingly (with delight), nor grieve the children of men. To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth. To turn aside the right of (justice due) a man before the face of the most High. To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.
Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil (woe) and good (well being)? Wherefore doth (how then can) a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
Let us search and try (examine) our ways, and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.’ (Lam.3:33-41)
Oh Friends and fellow believers, that bit of scripture both highlights our current situation, and also points the way to our salvation!
Please, let’s accept the challenge with a strong faith, and ask God to ‘reignite His image in our hearts, and rekindle His fire in our souls,’ so that we can turn this evil and ungodly world around, and once again walk in the steadfastness of His abounding grace and undying LOVE!
Now that my people, is truly heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!
’…the walk of faith is ultimately…a journey of HOPE and LOVE…’
P.S. Those words in inverted commas above, have been taken from a devotional booklet on healing, based on the writings and actions of St. Therese, the Saint of the Little Flower.
Please, please, my people, let’s use them to truly reignite the flame and fire of God’s LOVE within us nuh, and thus bring some much needed change to our badly drifting and listing world! Much LOVE!
22 Apr 2014
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a man of understanding, a wise man will hear, act in an appropriate manner, action, adore, Amen, an ornament of grace, awesome God, beauty of the universe, beginning of knowledge, benefits, better late than never, black up, blood of jesus, boggles my imagination, book of proverbs, Buccoo, Buccoo reef, christianity, controlling principle of wisdom, Cousin Sol, crown of glory, Easter celebration, Easter Season, Easter Tuesday, eternal life, everlasting truth, exalt wisdom, favour, fear, fellowship, foolish disobedience, fools despise wisdom, forgiveness, foundation of our faith, friends and neighbours, get understanding, get wisdom, Goat races, God's might and power, good communication with God, gospel truth, grace, healthy fear, heavenly wisdom, inebriated, instruction, it's all good, jehovah god, Jesus Christ, joy, joy in our hearts, lack of wisdom, LOVE, loving kindness, magnify, majesty, mercy, most important aspect of Christianity, Nylon Pool, partying, peace, put it inot practice, reject Jesus Christ, resurrection, reverence, reverential awe, salvation, saved-through the blood of Jesus, serve, sins, straight and narrow path, submission to god, the fear of God, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the Good Book, the living God, the most meaningful things in this life, Tobago, transgressions, truth, understanding, understanding is better than silver, undeserving favour, venerate, walk with a spring in our steps, wisdom, wisdom is better than gold, wisdom is the principal thing, wise counsels, worship
Proverbs 16:16. How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!
Oh Friends and neighbours, it’s Easter Tuesday, time to get ready for the races!
What races, you say? Steups! How yuh mean what races eh? The goat and crab races down Buccoo in Tobago of course! Down by the famous Buccoo Reef and Nylon Pool!
That’s a celebration that’s been going on for as long as I can remember. Can’t remember much of the last one I went to long ago though, for I was so inebriated, so black up with fire-water it wasn’t funny. Hn, hn! All I can vaguely remember is a friend’s sister and I partying down the place in one of the many house parties they use to have back then. Ah Lord eh!
But the celebration seems to have grown so much now, that when I was in Tobago earlier this year, I discovered that they had built a stadium just for those races. Only in T&T you say! (smile)
Anyway my people, it’s oh so necessary that we keep the peace, LOVE, joy and fellowship of this Easter Season going on for as long as possible – at least till Jesus returns – for as we’ve been saying, it’s the most important aspect of Christianity – the foundation on which our faith is built!
It is where we derive all our benefits from – benefits like resurrection, salvation and eternal life. It is only the spilled blood of Jesus, which paid for our abominable transgressions that made it all possible. So please let’s remember that, keep it at the forefront of our minds, and consequently walk with a spring in our steps, and a joy in our hearts that declares: ‘Saved – through the blood of Jesus Christ!’
And that’s why our Bit is so important in the overall scheme of things my brethren. It points out to us the most meaningful things in this life – wisdom and understanding! ‘How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!’
And that’s an everlasting truth my fellow believers, because those are the things which keep us wisely, sincerely and securely joined to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Creator and Controller of this great universe and all therein! Now just think how foolish it would be if we didn’t have good communication with our great God and Maker eh!
That’s why Cousin Sol informs us right at the very beginning of Proverbs: ‘A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto (acquire) wise counsels.’ (Prov.1:5)
And as the scholars so rightly explain: ‘1:5. The wise as well as the untaught can learn from this book.’
And that’s gospel truth Friends! Whatever the state of your learning, your academic standing, you can always learn even more from the Book of Proverbs and the Good Book as a whole!
Then a few lines later, Cousin Sol solemnly warns us: ‘The fear (reverential awe) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ (Prov.1:7)
And how very true that is my brethren! The fools of this world utterly despise wisdom and instruction! That’s why they reject Jesus Christ and Jehovah God and will eventually perish for their lack of wisdom and foolish disobedience.
And the scholars explain that verse thus: ‘1:7. The fear of the Lord means submission to the Lord and His revelation. When one is afraid of something, he either runs from it or submits to it. The latter idea is in view here. It is a healthy fear, like the fear of electricity or the fear of one’s parents, which causes one to act in an appropriate manner.
The beginning does not mean that “the fear of the Lord” is left behind in the course of acquiring wisdom, but that it is the controlling principle of wisdom.’
Yes Friends, we’ll certainly be wise to look upon the greatness, the majesty of Jehovah God with reverential awe, for He is ever so much mightier and wiser than us, but His LOVE and magnanimity towards His faithful children know no bounds!
Wow! What an awesome God we serve and worship my people! It always boggles my imagination when I sit and contemplate His might and power, His mercy, grace, forgiveness, LOVING-kindness and the beauty of this universe He created!
Therefore, how can I not LOVE, adore and magnify Him eh? It’s just impossible my brethren, especially after having experienced so much of His undeserving favour throughout my earthly life.
And we’ll conclude today’s message with these wonderful, wise and uplifting verses from Proverbs Chapter 4. Cousin Sol declares in living colour, the importance of wisdom and understanding.
‘Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to (place on) thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.’ (Prov.4:7-9)
Oh my fellow believers, all I can say to that is a loud, positive and glorious ‘AMEN!’
Now let’s go out and put it all into practice and action today my brethren, because that is what will keep us on the straight and narrow path, in close communication with Almighty God! And doing that, is certainly heavenly wisdom! Much LOVE!
…oh how good and pleasant it is…to learn about the living God…then reverence and venerate Him with all our life-blood…
P.S. Please excuse the tardiness of the Bit. I guess I celebrated too much last night, thus got up late this morning. Then there were a couple of things I had to do, which took up more time than I bargained for. But as a friend of mine likes to say: ‘It’s all good!’ And it’s also better late than never. Brother, it really short today too! (smile) Much LOVE!
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