02 Mar 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a feeling of love, a light unto my path, a positive outlook, A prayer for change, a ruined life, a wasted day, after thee O god, blessings, broad highway, Christians, cleanse, commandments, compassionate heart, confession, courage, covenant, creativity, curse, depressing, destruction, disconsolate mood, divine favour, dr robert h schuller, dreary, entrance of thy words, forty days, freedom, give light, glowing sunshine, God's LOVE, God's Word, godly, good stuff, holy, hope, Hour of Power Devotional, introspective, Jesus, joy moves in, judgement, laughing, Lent, magnanimous god, magnificent, mental dial, mercies, moment of prayer, moods, morning mist, negative feelings, negative word, parted clouds, promotion, redemption, repentance, responsible, reverend, richly blessed, righteous lives, rise and shine, self-control, self-discipline, self-pity, selfishly indulge, so panteth my soul, spiritual improvement, springtime, stand fast for ever, success, temptation, testimonies, the hart panteth after the water brooks, the sun breaks through, the works of his hands are verity, Thursday Blessings, thy word is a lamp unto my feet, truth, understanding to the simple, unproductive thoughts, unprofitable, wasting God's goodness, winter, worldly stuff
Psalm 119:105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Oh my precious people, it’s Thursday, rise and shine and greet the brand new day filled with new mercies and blessings, courtesy of our magnificent and magnanimous God!
Oh, I know some of you have been up a long while ago, but have you invoked the new blessings and mercies provided especially for today? I do hope you have, otherwise you’re missing out on a whole lot of good stuff, and wasting God’s goodness.
Anyway, it’s the second day of Lent, that time when Christians become especially introspective, giving up worldly stuff, concentrating on confession and repentance, seeking to cleanse their souls, bodies and minds. It’s a time about spiritual improvement and upliftment that coincides with Jesus’ forty days of temptation in the wilderness.
Now here is ‘A Prayer for Change,’ from Gramps Schuller’s (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) Hour of Power Devotional, which I believe can be of much benefit to us today.
Please pray with me. ‘O God, when a life has been so richly blessed as mine has been, it’s not right for me not to be laughing! I confess that I am responsible for my moods. I have no right to selfishly indulge in negative feelings of self-pity. It’s time for me to change my mental dial, Lord.
You are helping me. This will be the moment when the sun breaks through the parted clouds, and springtime returns after winter. Thank you, Lord!
The dreary, depressing, disconsolate mood disappears like the morning mist in the glowing sunshine of your LOVE. And joy moves in! And hope begins to build up within me! And a beautiful feeling of LOVE starts to surround me!
Thank you, God, for the great things you are doing within me now in this moment of prayer. Amen.’
Yes friends, with God’s amazing help, we can all change for the better! But as Gramps Schuller states early on in the prayer, we need to change our mental dial to bring about that improvement. Remember it all begins in the mind, with our thoughts. And if our mind and our thoughts aren’t right, then our lives will never be right.
And this is what the Lenten season is all about, changing our mental dial; looking deep inside, with God’s help obviously, to weed out the unprofitable and unproductive thoughts and replace them with God-centred ones that enrich our lives.
And to help us do that, we desperately need to delve into the truth of God’s Word, so that it becomes as the psalmist says in our Bit: ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’
Ah mih people, until and unless, we allow God’s Word to lead and guide us in this earthly life, we’ll most likely go astray and end up on the broad highway that leads to destruction. And believe me, that’s not a very nice place to be.
Yes it looks good, and there’s lots of freedom, but the end of it all is just a ruined life. So let’s look now at some scripture that corroborates our Bit and encourages us to get into the Word like never before.
This first piece, like our Bit, comes from Psalm 119. ‘Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.’ (Ps.119:129-131)
Oh friends, is that the way we feel about God’s Word? Do we long for it? Do we pant for it? And do we keep it? Now if we are serious believers, then we should be doing all those things.
As the Sons of Korah put it in Psalm 42 – An intense longing for God: ‘As the hart panteth after (the deer longs for) the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.’ (Ps.42:1)
Yes my brethren, that’s how we ought to feel about our God: long for Him in our souls like the thirsty deer longs for a drink of cold, sweet water! And believe me friends, when we find Him, a joy comes into our souls just like when the deer drinks that thirst quenching water.
And this last bit of scripture reinforces all that we’ve said so far. ‘The works of his hands are verity (truth) and judgement; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.’ (Ps.111:7-9)
And those are all facts, not alternative ones (smile) but facts of gospel truth! So please let’s take them to heart nuh, so that we can live godly and righteous lives.
And finally, it’s time to declare our Thursday Blessings. Remember a blessing is not a blessing until it’s been spoken over someone.
So with sincere enthusiasm and belief let’s declare them: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance!
I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life!
I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and everyday! Amen!’
Now let’s go out and bless others! Much LOVE!
…a day that’s not filled with God…is indeed a wasted day…
07 Feb 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a good soldier, actions glorify God, adore, bear up, before all nations, believers, beloved of God, bride, bridegroom, constant strain, contented, despair, doubt, drawback, ever-faithful promises, experience it personally, fail, faith, falter, foolish, friend of Jesus, friends, God is always good, God is always in control, God is victorious, God is watching, God's promise, good tidings, grace, grateful, hanging in, hardship, Holy Name, I will joy in the God of my salvation, I will not fear, I will rejoice in the Lord, Isaiah, Jesus, jewels, joy, joyful in my god, judge our sincerity, lack of sleep, LOVE, loving-kindness, magnanimous god, medical problems, medication, mercy, mind-blowing, motives of our hearts, ornaments, praise, reassuring words, rejoice, righteousness, rough times, salvation, share, side effects, sincerity, spirits lifted high, suffering, tear to our eyes, tears of joy, Thank You Lord, the garments of salvation, The Israelites, the robe of righteousness, the source of their joy, to spring forth, truth, Tuesday Mantra, words of our mouths
Habakkuk 3:18. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Well my people, it’s another brand new day, filled with grace and mercy from our magnanimous God!
And all God’s people declared a loud and grateful: ‘Thank You Lord for your undeserving grace and mercy towards us! We LOVE You and adore and praise Your Holy Name!’
Yes friends, we’d be very foolish if we did not sincerely mean those words, because the Lord looks at the motives of our hearts, not the words of our mouths to judge our sincerity.
To tell the truth friends, the ole fella is not in the greatest shape this morning; tired from too much running around and lack of sleep, with my back aching. I even had to go and dig out my old back brace.
Chuh! It’s so annoying when you’re given medication to solve one problem but it also causes another. It doesn’t seem as if there is any medication around these days without numerous side effects.
But I’m hanging in, fighting like a good soldier, (smile) holding on tightly to ‘God’s Promise’ in this prayer. I don’t remember where I got it from, and most likely have shared it with you before, but it’s powerful and assuring enough to be shared again and again.
Please pray with me: ‘I will not fear; God is always with me. I will not doubt; God is always in control. I will not despair; God is always good. I will not falter; God is always watching. I will not fail; God is always victorious! Amen!’
Yes mih breddren, let’s hang on to those reassuring words of faith and add them to the awesome words of our Bit, so that our spirits can be lifted high, and our deeds and actions glorify our wonderful God.
‘Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.’
Oh my fellow believers, our LOVING heavenly Father has provided us with such amazing, such beautiful stuff, that seldom should a doubt come to our hearts, or a tear to our eyes. And even when tears do come, they should mostly be tears of joy for His LOVING-kindness towards us.
Oh, we all go through hardship and suffering, but in those times we desperately need to hang on to the ever-faithful promises, like in the prayer above, of our mighty God!
Unfortunately though, a lot of us talk it but don’t feel it when the times get rough. That’s because we don’t sincerely believe them in our hearts. I can tell you from personal experience that if we do believe God’s promises, we’ll bear the rough times a lot easier than if we don’t.
As some of you know, I’m going through a pretty rough time right now with several medical problems, whose outcomes are still up in the air, and it’s only by hanging on to the promises of God that I’m able to bear up successfully under the constant strain.
It’s the Lord’s mercy and grace that are carrying me to the numerous doctors and tests which seem to take up a lot of my time. No, it’s not easy, but if we sincerely ask the Lord for help, He will give it to us. The only drawback to all this, is that you must experience it personally to truly believe it. (smile)
But enough about me, let’s get to some scripture that enhances our Bit. Listen to Isaiah as he delivers to the Israelites, the Good tidings of salvation to Zion.
After assuring them of the Lord’s good intentions towards them (v.1-9), he heartily declares: ‘I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.’ (Is.61:10-11)
What an awesome promise my people! Only our omnipotent and ever-faithful God can make such outstanding promises and then fulfill them.
And He certainly has begun to fulfill that one with the amazing coming of Jesus, and all the mind-blowing benefits that He brought to the table. So how can we not rejoice and be glad in the salvation of our awesome God eh?
If we are sincere believers, then we ought also to be joyful and grateful followers. The one, by just its very nature, demands the other. Now let’s go home raising even higher, the bar of our joy and contentment by declaring our Tuesday Mantra.
‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’
Yes friends, let’s believe that deep down in our hearts and souls, because it’s the awesome truth, then let’s go out and share the bountiful and undying LOVE of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ with the rest of the world as He instructed us to do. Much LOVE!
…true believers are happy, contented people…who desire greatly… to share the source of their joy…Jesus…with others…
06 Feb 2017
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a righteous standard, Adonai, aura of love, blossom, Christians, confidence, doom and gloom, ease, enthusiasm, eternal life, evil, faith, fear, fellowship, food, friends, fruit in the vines, fun, God's deliverance, God's great earth, goodness, habakkuk, holy spirit, humble servants, I will joy in the God of my salvation, I will rejoice in the Lord, invincible, Jesus Christ, joy, labour of the olive, lead and guide, leisure, lies, LOVE, LOVE to hate, luxuries, magnanimous god, make my feet like hinds feet, mantle, mercy, motors running, neck of the woods, no meat, obedience, Old Testament, oxymoron, praise, preservation in the wilderness, rejoice, rejuvenation of spirit, relaxation, renewed vitality, rest, righteousness., salvation, sincerity, slave labour, spiritual armour, steadfast faith, thanksgiving, the enemy's ranks, the Exodus, the gig tree, the Promised Land, trust, truth, ungodly world, wisdom, Yahweh
Habakkuk 3:18. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
And then it was Monday, that day we all LOVE to hate! Now isn’t that akin to an oxymoron? We can’t have hate and LOVE working together. It’s either one or the other. It’s like fear and faith; two different sides of the same coin.
Anyway, very few people like Mondays, because they have to get up and go to work, and the chilly weather in my neck of the woods doesn’t enhance the situation any. But get up and go to work we have to, if we want to survive, so let’s get rid of that mantle of doom and gloom and get ourselves together to enjoy another wonderful day on God’s great earth. All the slave labour in the world can’t take that away from us! (smile)
And to help us get our motors running, let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn with sincerity and all the exuberance we can muster. As one now: ‘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!’
Ah mih people, we certainly didn’t muster much exuberance there! You could see that our choirmaster, Jesus, wasn’t very happy with that performance. But thankfully, He’s an understanding and forgiving Being and won’t hold it against us. Instead, He will go out of His way to shower us with goodness and mercy, so that we can go out and do a good job in His awesome name. That’s the kind of Lord and Saviour we have.
That brings us to our Bit of praise and thanksgiving. ‘Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.’
Oh friends, that should not be an option for Christians, it must be a righteous standard for all believers! For there’s absolutely no reason not to rejoice in the awesome, the magnificent and magnanimous God we serve and worship, who also provided us with salvation and eternal life through the sacrificial death, triumphant resurrection and glorious ascension of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
Now the Old Testament followers didn’t have all the good news of Christ’s gospel that we possess today, but the prophets of God kept them attuned to God’s word. Our Bit comes at the end of a prayer of Habakkuk, which according to the scholars ‘contains two poems (vs.3-7 and 8-15) recounting God’s deliverance of His people in the days of the Exodus. The poems emphasize His preservation in the wilderness and His triumphal leading into the Promised Land.’
And listen to this verse before our Bit. ‘Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat (food); the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.’ (Hab.3:17-18)
Oh friends, yuh see the kind of faith those old timers displayed – at least some of the time. (smile) We can’t even exhibit a decent faith with all the luxuries we have. Hn! That’s possibly because we have too many luxuries and have become accustomed to too much ease and leisure. Yuh think many, or any of us would declare such a statement today, if we fell into such disaster? I doubt it.
We can’t, or won’t even produce a strong enough faith to resist the enemy now, when we have Jesus and all the good stuff that goes with Him, imagine if we didn’t have Him. Ah Lord eh!
Now let’s end as Habakkuk did. ‘The Lord God (Yahweh, Adonai) is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds (deer’s) feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. ’ (Hab.3:19)
And per the scholars: ‘3:16-19. The instructions in the postscript indicate that this psalm (Bruh David’s Prayer of deliverance – 2 Sam.22; Ps.18 [edited]) was used as a part of the temple liturgy. It is a great psalm expressing obedience and praise to God, and trust in Him.’
All I can add to that my fellow believers is that we go out today, dressed in our spiritual armour, be obedient to our omnipotent God, trust Him and praise Him with all sincerity and truth, for that is the wisdom of the ages. Much LOVE!
…the reason we exist…is to be in fellowship with God… (from the Daily Bread Devotional)
06 Dec 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: be content, be nor dismayed, be strong, beloved children of Almighty God, caring, challenging weekend, Christians, conduct, covetousness, David, encouraging words, ever-present help of God, faith, faith building, fear not, flying colours, friends, grace, grace and mercy of God, he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, Herculean task, hurry, Jesus, magnanimous god, majestic, mercy, Moses, neither forsake thee, of a good courage, praise his holy name, Praise the Lord, promise, share His love, Solomon, the beloved of God, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the Godhead of the Holy Trinity, the Good Book, the Holy Trinity, the Lord goes before thee, The Lord is my helper, the Lord thy God is with thee, trust, trust my friend, Tuesday Mantra, understanding God, weak, what a privilege, whining, wishy-washy, worry
Deuteronomy 31:8. And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Ah friends and neighbours, at last there is some decent heat in the ole homestead! Praise the Lord!
It has indeed been a challenging weekend without proper heat. A couple of heat space savers can never replace a central system. But through the good grace and mercy of our wonderful God we made it through. Praise His Holy Name!
You know you always hear about certain situations and imagine what they feel like, but not until you personally go through them do you really appreciate the good side of the equation. Hn! Now I know what it’s like to be without proper heat for a cold weekend. (smile)
But we’ll simply chalk that up to faith building, because that’s exactly what it was; an exercise to see how we’d react under less than perfect conditions. But again, with the ever-present help of our magnanimous, caring and understanding God we came through it all with flying colours! Please give Him the wonderful praise He so rightfully deserves!
And on this chilly Tuesday morning, to further boost our spirits and our faith, let’s declare our Tuesday Mantra with sincere enthusiasm and strong belief, otherwise, we’re simply wasting our time.
In unison now: ‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world. Amen!’
Yes my people, that’s indeed who we are; beautiful and beloved children of Almighty God! Wow! What a privilege! And to make our situation even better, we are also friends of our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! It certainly couldn’t get any better than that my faithful, believing brethren!
But we’re wrong, it does get better. Listen to our Bit nuh. ‘And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.’
Ah mih people, what a majestic and magnanimous God we serve! He had Moses make that statement to Joshua when he assumed leadership of the Israelites many moons ago, but the excellent thing is that that awesome promise still exists today, and still applies to each and every one of us who proclaims true belief and faith in the Godhead of the Holy Trinity.
No other supposed deity makes such a promise…and faithfully keeps it too. That’s why I find it mind-boggling when others say they don’t believe in the ONE true and LIVING God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Now hear the refreshing and encouraging words of Moses to the people of Israel, before he spoke our Bit to Joshua. ‘Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.’ (Deut.31:6)
Oh friends and faithful believers that ought to resonate deeply within our souls, because it is the gospel truth! And it’s a promise that’s been used, been given several times throughout the Good Book. Let’s look at a few of them, beginning with the Lord’s words to Joshua after Moses died and he took on the Herculean task of leading the Israelites.
‘There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.’ (Josh.1:5) And it’s a promise the Lord faithfully kept.
But in the very next verses, the Lord point out Joshua’s responsibility. ‘Be strong and of a good courage… Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest do all the law which my servant Moses commanded thee… Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.’ (Josh.1:6, 7, 9).
Yes precious people of God, three times in four verses the Lord commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous, and it’s the very same message that He’s sending out to each of us today. We need to believe His promises and stand strong and faithful upon them.
Now hear Bruh David’s words to Cousin Sol re the building of the temple. ‘And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.’ (1 Chr.28:20)
The same thing applies to us today my brethren: The Lord will be with us all the way in our service to glorify His name. He will not fail nor forsake us, so we have no reason to be afraid and dismayed.
And we’ll end with more encouraging words, this time from Hebrews, re Service well-pleasing to God. ‘Let your conversation (conduct) be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall (can) do unto me.’ (Heb.13:5-6)
Ah mih fellow believers, from the beginning of the Good Book, right through to the end, we’ve been admonished to be strong and courageous because our omnipotent God will never fail not forsake us.
Please let’s take it all to heart and go out and fight the good fight nuh, knowing that the Creator of the universe is always with us. It’s the only way to successfully handle this earthly pilgrimage. Much LOVE!
…weak, whining and wishy washy Christians…cannot do God’s work successfully…
26 Aug 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abominable mistake, abundantly pardon, balance, burned to ashes, Christians, condemned, convicted, day and night, deterioration of society, disobedience, do our own thing, encouraging, fell from grace, fellowship, forsake his ways, forsook God, free, freedom, freedom revoked, Friday chant, fun, fun and games, furthering God's glorious kingdom, generous help, God is number one, God's chosen people, God's fold, God's free offer of mercy, God's Word, godly people, godly times, grace, gratifying, have mercy, idols, in Jesus' name, Isaiah, Israel, jehovah god, Jesus, Joshua, life, LOVE Revolution, lustful desires, magnanimous god, meditate, mercy, number one priority, obedience, our own efforts, pagan gods, perform as Jesus desires, pleasures, pray, prosperity, prosperous, punishment, reassuring scripture, refreshed, relaxation, renewed, repent of our sins, repentance, repented, rest, reurn unto the Lord, righteous return, running the show, seek him with all thy heart, seek the Lord thy God, sense of balance, sinful, sins, slave labour, soul body and mind, success, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the freedom paper, the Holy Spirit, the unrighteous man, the weekend, the wicked, thick skulls, this book of the law, thou shalt find him, ungodly way, week of work, welcomed back, welcoming arms, wisdom
Deuteronomy 4:29. But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Oh friends, the freedom paper for the weekend has been signed… Thank God! And it’s only a matter of a few hours and we’ll be free; free to do our own thing. But please remember that come Monday morning, that freedom will be revoked, the freedom paper burned to ashes, and we’ll return to being slave labour. Hn, hn!
I guess that’s what motivates us to pack as much pleasure as we can into the two days of freedom. And it’s all well and good to shout ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday, and the weekend is here! Thank God for Fridays and the weekend!’
But we also need to remember that life is not all fun and games, not strictly the fulfilling of lustful desires and pleasures, there needs to be mixed into it some serious and godly times to balance it all out. And to help us better understand that, let’s chant our Friday Chant which gives us some decent direction.
Altogether 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, a sense of balance is what we need on the weekends if we’re to do ourselves any good. If we don’t have that, then come Monday, we’ll just be tired and miserable and won’t be able to go out and perform properly, perform as Jesus desires. And you know that is our Number ONE priority. So let’s get smart and godly and use our two days off as we ought to nuh. (smile)
Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.’
Ah mih people, what an encouraging and reassuring piece of scripture! If we repent of our sins and seek the Lord our God with all our heart and soul, we WILL find Him!
Now how gratifying is that eh, especially in these times of hardship and uncertainty? Very gratifying friends, because we know that whenever we sincerely turn to God, He will be there for us, regardless of the circumstance(s) or our behaviour. Here’s how the prophet Isaiah put it in his declaration of God’s free offer of mercy to all.
‘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.’ (Is.55:6-7)
What a magnanimous God we serve and worship my people! And my fellow believers, it’s not only talk, for we’ve seen how often God’s chosen people, Israel, fell from grace because they forsook God and turned to worshipping idols and other pagan gods.
Yet when the enormity and foolishness of their behaviour, when the punishment for their disobedience finally sunk in to their thick skulls, they repented and were welcomed back into God’s fold.
Now why can’t our society realize that eh my brethren and change our wicked, sinful, disobedient ways and sincerely repent and return to worshipping Almighty God, the ONE who made us and is still running the show?
I guess many of us don’t even realize that we’re living wrong, since they don’t know Jesus. But enough of us do know Him and realize that a lot of the negative stuff that’s happening to us nowadays has a correlation to the sinful and ungodly way we’re living.
Instead of running away from God, as so many of us are currently doing, we should be running back to Him, right back into His wonderful, safe and welcoming arms! It’s more of Jehovah God we need, not less!
Remember how God drilled it into Joshua’s head after the death of Moses, and He made him leader of the Israelites? ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of (be constantly in) thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ (Josh.1:8)
And if we look back to our prosperous times, barely a generation ago, we’ll discover that we were a much more godly people. However, as we began moving away from God, our prosperity also began deserting us.
Remember friends, it’s only through obedience to God’s word that a society can truly become prosperous and remain that way for any length of time. Obviously we have forgotten that, or simply choose to believe that it’s through our own efforts that we become prosperous. What an abominable mistake!
Anyway, my fellow Christians, we are the ONLY ones who appear concerned with the deterioration of our society, and are therefore the ONLY ones who can cause us to be convicted, not condemned, by the Holy Spirit, and thus bring about repentance and a righteous return to worshipping the ONE TRUE and LIVING God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
That’s the wisdom we so desperately need today, as our world is falling apart. So please, let’s pray, as individuals, as well as collectively, the church, and then, with God’s help, do our best to make the LOVE Revolution of Jesus a successful one. Much LOVE!
…only when God is NUMBER ONE….can a society be truly prosperous…
06 Jul 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a glorious future, accomplished, assistant, beyond comprehension, beyond expectation, blesses, blessing, brilliant light of Jesus, but by my spirit, cnadlestick, coming in, coming of the Messiah, empowers, encouraging, escape, evil night, expectations, flying colours, glad to be alive, glory hallelujah, glory to God, God's great earth, godforsaken, going out, Guide, halfway home, He that keepeth Israel, hide, holy spirit, I'm not turning back, imbued, impossible, invade, Israel, Jesus, Joshua, magnanimous god, magnificent God, marvellous, Messiah, move mountains, my eyes are fixed straight ahead, my hands are on the plough, neither slumber nor sleep, no way Jose, nor by power, not by might, olive trees, omnipotence, omnipotent god, One Year Book of Bible promises, penetrate every fibre, Pentecost, permeate, praise the performance, praises, preserve thy soul, Protector, ramifications, reassuring words, reward, run, Ruth Harms Calkin, saith the Lord, shade upon thy right hand, strength, the breath of life, the dark, the Lord is thy keeper, the moon by night, the Spirit of God, the straight and narrow path, the sun shall not smite thee, the Task, unite, victory, vision, walk on water, Wednesday Wail, wherewithal, wisdom, You electrify me, Zechariah, Zerubbabel
Zechariah 4:6b. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.
And then it was another bright and sunshiny day on God’s great earth!
And all His people joyfully declared: ‘Glory to God for bringing us safely through the dark and evil night into the glorious and brilliant light of His Son and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!’
Yes friends, our wonderful God is always working on our behalf! What does the scripture say? ‘Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper (protector): the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve (keep) thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve (keep) thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth,and even for ever more’ (Ps.121:4-8)
Ah mih people what encouraging and reassuring words! They tell us all about the sustaining power of our omnipotent God!
Now hear this other aspect of our marvellous and magnanimous God. It comes in the form of a poem ‘The Task,’ from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin.
And it says: ‘Lord, You give me a task So utterly impossible So totally beyond comprehension – The very thought of it Startles me. I want to run hide escape Anything, Lord. Then You electrify me You invade and permeate me
You penetrate every fiber of me Until the task is accomplished By Your own magnificent power. Then You praise the performance Your creativity achieved And You reward me beyond expectation – As though I had done it All by myself, My Father.’
Wow mih breddren! Isn’t that a most magnificent God? He gives you a task that seems utterly impossible, then gives you the wherewithal to perform it with flying colours, then turns around and praises and blesses you, as though you had done it all on your own, when, without His omnipotence, you couldn’t even have accomplished the initial step!
Oh my people, I feel that way everyday when I come to write the Bit, for basically it’s not my idea, but the Lord’s, and through His Holy Spirit, He guides and enables me to write it. Yuh think I could have been writing the Bit for nine years now in my own strength and wisdom? No way Jose! It’s the Lord who empowers me each and every day!
And the scripture verse on which that poem is based is also our Bit for today. ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.’ Yes friends, it’s not through might nor power, but through His Holy Spirit that the Lord accomplishes His tasks through us!
Now that piece of scripture comes from a vision of the prophet Zechariah about a magnificent, golden candlestick and two olive trees. And the angel in the vision asked Zechariah if he knew its significance?
And when Zechariah said no, the angel informed him. ‘Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.’ (Zech.4:6) That’s the full verse there.
And the scholars offer us this explanation. ‘4:1-14. The fifth vision, the golden candlestick and the two olive trees: The work of God (the rebuilding of the temple) would be accomplished through God’s leaders, Joshua and Zerubbabel, who would be enabled to perform their tasks by the Spirit of God.
The vision indicates that future Israel will be a blessing to all the nations of the world through an abundant supply of the Spirit of God as the result of the coming of the Messiah, who will unite the offices of priest and king in Himself.’
And did it all come to pass as prophesied my people? It surely did! For since the coming of Jesus, beginning at Pentecost, all believers have been imbued with the Holy Spirit as their guide and assistant. In the olden days the Spirit would come upon someone when the Lord needed them to do something special, but didn’t dwell within them as He does in us now…
And all God’s children declared a loud, sincere and heartfelt, ‘Glory to God for His wonderful goodness to the children of men!’ And He certainly deserves oodles of glory my breddren!
Now we won’t get into the ramifications of our Bit today, we’ll leave that for tomorrow, the Lord willing. Let’s go home instead by declaring our Wednesday Wail with sincerity, truth, faith and hope, some of the things that keep us going on the right path, the straight and narrow one, in this evil, godforsaken world.
Wailing now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home.
My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’
Oh friends, I do hope those words were sincerely and truthfully felt and meant, because only then can we enthusiastically go out with great expectations of victory, and do the important work Christ has entrusted us with. Have a godly and blessed day my people! Much LOVE!
…when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…your life changes for the better…you can walk on water and move mountains…
07 May 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a fool's wisdom, actions, agenda, apple cart, asaph, atonement, backbone, backsliding, be in the world, belly, blessings, bondage, character, Christians, comfortable, compromise, confession, covenant, cowardly, deliver us, deliverance, do not fear, faith, for thy name's sake, give in, God is always with us, good living, goodwill, habits, hallmark, help us, jeopardize our good thing, Jeremiah, kind, long-suffering, LOVE, loving, lustful dealings, magnanimous god, material prosperity, mercies, merciful, mercy, not of the world, O God of our salvation, O Lord our God, obedience, our redeemer, patient, pressure, purge away our sins, rebellion, remove God from our lives, repentance, righteousness, rights and privileges, rub mih belly, safety, save us, scared, scratch yuh back, seek first the kingdom of God, sleep in, stress, testimonies, the BIBLE, the glory of thy name, the hope of Irael, the weakest generation of Christians, thoughts, Trini, true believers, trust, truth, what a wonderful God we serve and worship, wickedness, wisdom, words, worry
Psalm 79:9. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away (provide atonement for) our sins, for thy name’s sake.
So now it’s Saturday morning friends, meaning that our magnanimous God has granted us another meaningful day on His great earth, to do His glorious work and enjoy His unending mercies and blessings! Oh what a wonderful God we serve and worship my people!
Now some of us are lucky, or preferably, blessed to be able to sleep in, but many others have to get up and get busy around the house, as well as go out and buy food and other necessities for the upcoming week. But fellow believers, whatever our agenda for today, please remember that our wonderful, kind, LOVING and merciful God is ALWAYS with us, ensuring our safety and goodwill.
If we don’t sincerely believe that, then every time the enemy comes against us, even in minor situations, we’ll worry unnecessarily. And if Jesus said it once, He said it a million times – DO NOT FEAR!
And the other day I heard a preacher declare that that sentence was possibly the most used in the entire Bible. I forget how many times they said it was used. But from the beginning of time the Lord has been telling His people not to be afraid.
But despite it all, we Christians are still a scared and cowardly bunch. We let the enemy beat us down too easily, and we don’t seem to have the belly and backbone needed to stand up strong and steadfast again the evil one. Steups!
This has got to be the weakest generation of Christians that our world has ever seen! I guess that’s because we’ve become too comfortable with the good living, and the material prosperity of the world, and we don’t want to upset our precariously balanced apple cart, to jeopardize the good thing we have going in the world.
So we sheepishly give in and/or compromise with the evil world, and consequently loose most of the rights and privileges that our forefathers died to have ensured and enshrined. Remember Jesus said we ought to be IN the world but not OF the world. Too many of us have fallen, and are still falling by the wayside with that directive.
And we also conveniently forget that He declared that if we first seek the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, then all the stuff that we need will be granted to us. (Matt.6:32) But we don’t seem to have the true faith and trust in our Redeemer that that directive implies, so we try to do it, work for it all ourselves, and then die from the stress and pressure. That’s certainly not wisdom my brethren.
Now here is an interesting but true Trini quote a Trini friend just sent me. ‘Rub meh belly, ah go scratch yuh back.’ Used to reassure someone that there is a need to look out for each other: I’ll help with your issues and you help with mine: Let’s help each other to achieve success. It can even be used as a gentle, but loving scolding — come on and pull your weight because I should not be doing most of the work to build our relationship. Have a great day.
Watch your thoughts: They become words. Watch your words: They become actions Watch your actions: They become habits Watch your habits: They become your character.’ True and faithful words my people! I certainly hope we can successfully apply them to our lives.
And now, turning to our Bit, we hear the psalmist Asaph plead with the God of his fathers. ‘Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away (provide atonement for) our sins, for thy name’s sake.’
Ah friends, Asaph was not the only man of God who pleaded fervently with God for deliverance. Let’s listen to a couple of others who did the same, beginning with Bruh David, from Psalm 25 – A prayer for guidance and protection. ‘All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name’s sake, O Lord pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.’ (Ps.25:10-11) That was Bruh David pleading on a personal note.
Now hear the psalmist pleading in Psalm 106 on behalf of Israel sins against God’s LOVE. ‘Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise the Lord.’ (Ps.106:43-48)
Oh my fellow believers, the Israelites were surely hard-headed and stubborn, but at least they knew whom to run to when they had gone their own way and things backfired on them. Today, more than ever we need to cry out to our Creator for mercy, grace and forgiveness for our continuing rebellion against Him. But that’s the furthest thing from the minds of the majority of our society.
Unfortunately, we are still so tied up in the bondage of material wants and lustful dealings that we are dying, trying to remove God from our lives, instead of reinstating Him on the throne of the world. Ah friends, as I said yesterday, that’s a fool’s wisdom and no good can ever come from it!
And we’ll end with the words of the prophet Jeremiah, pleading for his people, as the Lord communicates the message of the famine to him. ‘O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many, we have sinned against thee.
O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? Why shouldest thou be as a man astonished, as a mighty man that cannot save? Yet thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.’ (Jer.14:7-9)
And later on in that same chapter, he declares: ‘We acknowledge, O Lord our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee. Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.’ (Jer.14:20-21)
Yeh, I like the reasoning; we can callously and stubbornly break our covenant with Almighty God, but He must not break His with us. Hn! Sadly though friends, it just doesn’t work like that. Our God is patient and long-suffering, but even His patience runs out, especially in the face of boldfaced and continuous rebellion.
My people, we cannot continue rebelling against God and expect Him to still show us grace and mercy. Until sincere repentance and confession become a big part of our society, like the Israelites, our fortunes will continue to decrease. Let’s think seriously on that today nuh. Much LOVE!
…continuous obedience to God’s Word…is the hallmark of true believers…
01 May 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: ambassadors, Amorites, as for me and my house, be my guide, blatant refusal, blessings, bounden duty, Christian living, comfort, covers all the bases, different strokes, difficult times, disicples, do His will, encompassing, encouragement, evil, examples speak more forcibly than words, fear the Lord, feel discouraged, fellowship, first day of May, glamour, glitz, grateful, guidance, happiness, heartfelt thanks, Israelites, Jesus Christ, Joshua, lean on God for support, listen with conern, living God, LOVE, magnanimous god, material possessions, my every deed, my every word, New World Order, one and only God, peaceful moments, praise, praise the Lord for His goodness, prayer, put away the gods, reassure, rejuvenation of spirit, seek God, serve him, sincerity, sinful trap, steadfastness of purpose, strength to keep going, Sunday, talk the talk, thanksgiving, the Euphrates river, the gospel of Jesus, the Great Commission, the Lord's Day, the Most High God jehovah, the other side of the flood, time for church, troubles, truth, ungodliness, ungodly world, uplift, we will serve the Lord, wisdom, worship
Joshua 24:14. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood (The Euphrates River), and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
Oh my beautiful believers in Jesus Christ, it’s the first day of May, as well as the Lord’s Day, better known as Sunday!
That means it’s time for church; time for praise and worship, for thanksgiving and fellowship, for rejuvenation of spirit, encouragement and steadfastness of purpose, plus all the other good things that our magnanimous God pours out on those who LOVE Him, diligently seek Him and obediently do His will!
Now I’m not going to harangue or lecture us about going to church today. That shouldn’t be at all necessary, for if you’re a true believer, then you’ll know that’s your bounden duty, so I’ll just leave that up to you and your heavenly Father. (smile)
What I’ve been guided to do though, is to share a prayer which I shared a long time back, so many of you would not have heard it, but it’s one of my favourite prayers. From the first time I found it in my mother’s Bible after she died, something about it just touched me, and I’ve prayed it almost every day after that.
It’s a special prayer prepared by the Life Study Fellowship, Noroton, Connecticut. It’s titled ‘Lord, Please Accept My Heartfelt Thanks!’ And the sub-title is ‘Praise the Lord for His Goodness.’ – Psalm 107:8’
Now please pray with me: ‘Dear Lord, You are so good to me! And I thank You sincerely for the many blessings You send me! I’m very glad to have You in my life day in and day out – whatever I do and wherever I go! You are the One who always does what is best for my happiness!
How grateful I am to be able to turn to You for guidance and comfort when troubles come my way! If any situation arises that makes me feel discouraged, You let me know I can lean on You for support! And because of Your LOVE for me, somehow I seem to find the strength to keep going – even through the most difficult times!
I’m grateful too, for peaceful moments like these when I’m all alone with You in prayer! Talking with You never fails to reassure and uplift me! Nothing I say to You goes unheard. You listen with great concern to everything I confide in You! For You truly care about me!
As I look to 2016 (or whatever year) I pray that You will continue to watch over me – and grant me even more of Your wonderful blessings! And may I serve You well in my every word, my every deed! Be my Guide hour by hour; I pray! Amen.’
Oh friends, I do hope that prayer touched you all! I guess what I like about it is that it covers all the bases, it’s so all encompassing, plus everything it says is true and relevant. Some of you may not like it, but that’s okay; it’s your choice. As they say, different strokes for different folks! (smile) Anyway, that’s my contribution for today.
Now let’s turn to our new Bit, a part of Joshua’s farewell address to the Israelites. He had just finished reminding them about all the good things the Lord had done for them, giving them houses they didn’t build, vineyards they didn’t plant etc.
‘Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood (The Euphrates River), and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.’
Ah mih people, that verse is even more appropriate and relevant in this New World Order than it was thousands of years ago when Joshua spoke those fateful words. That’s because the worshipping of other gods, plus basic ungodliness is so rampant in our current society.
Unfortunately, the ONE and ONLY TRUE and LIVING God; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not held in respect nor reverence by a rather large part of the world. Many people know of and about Him, but yet they steadfastly refuse to honour and obey Him. How sad that is my people, for our world could be truly such a beautiful place if more of us sincerely worshipped and revered the Most High God Jehovah.
Now why the blatant refusal to accept the God of heaven eh? I believe there are two main reasons. First of all, the pull of the material, lustful and sinful world is rather strong. We feast our eyes on all the supposed glitz and glamour and possessions available, and our hearts clamour for them, and the evil one just makes it so easy for us to fall into his sinful trap.
And the second reason is that we believers, supposed ambassadors and disciples of Jesus, who have been assigned the Great Commission (Matt.28:19-20) to teach and baptize and spread the wonderful gospel of Jesus all over the world, are not doing as good a job as we should. The hypocritical examples of our lives are turning people away from Jesus instead of drawing them closer to Him.
So there we have it; Lucifer and his evil cronies are doing a good job on selling sin, while the followers of Jesus are not doing a good job of selling righteousness. No rocket science involved at all friends.
So what are we doing, or going to do to change this rather unpalatable situation eh my believing breddren? All I can say is that we need to pull up our britches and do a better job of spreading the good news of Jesus, and backing it up with perfect, well not quite perfect, but much better examples of true Christian living.
Remember friends, examples speak more forcibly than words, and we can talk all the talk in the world, if we don’t walk that talk, then it’s useless, just wasted talk. And we’ll close with these precious and fateful words of Joshua, declared after our Bit.
‘And if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood (The Euphrates River), or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ (Josh.24:15)
Yes friends, that’s the big and serious decision we all have to make. And like Joshua, I surely hope that we will all decide, with our families, to serve the Lord God Jehovah, for that is indeed the wisdom of the ages! Much LOVE!
…until more believers get truly serious about the Great Commission…both talking and living it…the good news of Jesus will be sadly lacking in this ungodly world…
27 Mar 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a rude awakening, a sinful nature, as in Adam all die, Beelzebub, belief, come to faith, condemnation, Corinthians, crucified, damnation, dance, destiny, disobedience, drunk or sober mind your business, Easter Sunday, eternal life, eternity, expectant faith, fall of man, first fruits, forgiveness, glorify God, glory hallelujah, grace, Granny's advice, gratitude, He is risen, hear the voice, heartfelt thanks, hungry hope, in Christ all shall live, joyful celebration, judgement day, let our hair down, LOVE, Lucifer, magnanimous god, magnify, Mary Magdalene, mercy, momentous, omni-presence, omnipotent, omniscient, options, praise, reassuring, reconciled to God, resurrection, sacrifice, sense of purpose, sing, sinless soul, sins forgiven, the Garden of Eden, the giver of life, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity, the Life, the Light, the Son of God, the third day rise again, the Truth, the Way, toehold, trust, why seek the living among the dead, words of warning, worship
1 Corinthians 15:22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
HAPPY EASTER!
Oh friends, oh friends, is Easter Sunday! Glory Hallelujah! It’s a time to sing and dance, praise, worship, magnify and glorify our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! For since the beginning of time there has never been a day like this one! A day of such joyful celebration and giving of heartfelt thanks and gratitude!
And here too, since the original fall of man, are the three most important words ever spoken: ‘HE IS RISEN!’
Yes my fellow believers, Christ is risen indeed! All praise and glory be to our God, the Father of grace and mercy and forgiveness and LOVE, who so skillfully and wisely orchestrated and engineered the events that led up to this magnificent day some two thousand years ago, and by which, through hungry hope and expectant faith we still live these many years hence!
And so we ought to, because it’s the greatest miracle that has ever been done; a man, the Son of God, being raised from the dead to eternal life! Mama Yo! No wonder we describe our heavenly Father as being omnipotent, omniscient and omni-present, for only such a mighty, all-seeing and all-knowing Deity could conceive of such a brilliant plan, and then successfully bring it to fruition!
Yeh friends, I don’t know about you all nuh, but I am certainly ecstatic to be alive and able to celebrate this Easter Day! You know Christmas is big and wonderful and exciting and all that, but it’s Easter that makes the big difference in the disposition of our souls.
Without Jesus’ death and resurrection we would have been forced to spend eternity separated from the Father, in the sordid, evil company of Beelzebub. Now who in their right mind would ever want to spend any time at all with him eh, much less all of eternity? Steups!
Sadly though, some foolish and evil men are consciously making that choice. However, with Jesus’ selfless sacrifice, offering His life on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven, we now have the wonderful option of spending eternity in heaven with the Holy Trinity!
Now what can be more reassuring, exciting and momentous than that eh mih breddren? NOTHING AT ALL!
Unfortunately, the unwise ones who are choosing Beelzebub over Jesus, will have a rude awakening come the Judgement day, when they are cast into the lake of fire with their leader for all eternity.
And the trouble is that no one but the Father knows the day and time of that monumental event, so it’s necessary, in fact essential that we come to faith, place our sincere trust and belief in Jesus asap, and for sure before we depart this earthly life, for once our hearts are still, so too our options are dead, finito!
That’s why I keep encouraging us to sincerely turn to Jesus Christ and follow Him, for He is indeed the WAY, the LIGHT, the LIFE and the TRUTH of this world! No one comes to Jehovah God but through Him!
Oh my people, Christ died on Good Friday and all our sins died with Him. He rose on Easter Sunday clean as a whistle, having defeated hell, death and the grave!
Wow! That means all of mankind has a new chance to be reconciled to their Creator, through Jesus. And how are we assured of that? Listen to Bruh Paul’s words on the subject to the Corinthians.
‘But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept (have fallen asleep, have died). For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.’ (1 Cor.15:20-22)
Ah friends, through Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, we were all committed to a life of sin, born with a sinful nature, but through the LOVE and grace and forgiveness of our magnificent and magnanimous God, Jesus Christ paid the enormous price for our sins.
Since the price of sin is death, it meant that only a sinless soul could reprieve us from a death sentence. And since Jesus was the only sinless soul besides the Father in existence, the awful but extremely liberating task fell to Him. And like the stalwart giant that He is, He carried out His task with a steadfast sense of purpose. Oh precious people, if we could only be so steadfast and purposeful in following Him eh!
And I purposely chose not to get into all the descriptions of the Easter Morn in the Good Book because we all know the story of how Jesus’ followers came to the tomb and found the stone rolled back and the tomb empty, and the two angels who asked them why they were seeking the living amongst the dead and reminded them of His warning: ‘The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ (Luke 24:7)
Also how Mary Magdalene in her sorrow mistook Jesus for the gardener and almost died from an overdose of joy when she realized it was her Lord and Master. (John 20:11-18)
Simply regurgitating it didn’t appeal to me, and this is where the Holy Spirit led me, and I do hope you all enjoy this slightly different offering. (smile)
And I want to end this Easter morning with some rather appropriate words of warning from Jesus, re the Son’s relationship with the Father. ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgement also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (condemnation).’ (John 5:25-29)
Oh my fellow believers, please, please, today let’s pay special attention to those warning words of Jesus nuh, for our very destiny depends on our actions down here on earth. And as we go out and celebrate this wonderful Easter season, please let’s also remember Granny’s wise advice. ‘Drunk or sober, please mind your business.’
For it is in these times of great joy and celebration that we tend to let our hair down a little too much and allow Lucifer to get a toehold in our souls. Let’s be wise not do that this weekend nuh. Much LOVE!
…death could not conquer Him…the grave could not hold Him…for as the Son of man…He was the giver of life…eternal life…
22 Jan 2016
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a soft spot in my heart, a word of warning, an intimate relationship with God, backbreaking work, be in vain, by grace ye are saved, caring, christ jesus, Christian, compassionate, Creator, dead in sins, divine response, energy, enthusiasm, Ephesians, eternity, faith, fellowship, for God so loved the world, Friday chant, fun, generous, generous help, glory to God, God hath quickened us, God's goodness, grace, have everlasting life, he gave his only begotten son, in heavenly places, LOVE, magnanimous god, massa, morally dead in sins, motivating factors, nefarious purposes, new life, party, raised us up, relaxation, rest, sacrificed, sin, sit together, spending time with god, spiritual life, surrender, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, that whosoever believes in him, the best use of our time, the weekend, to the ends of the earth, ultimate purpose, undeserving children of men, week of work, will not perish
John 3:16. For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
And as the world turns my people, it has finally turned to Friday…
And that simple remark brings forth all kinds of joyful shouting: ‘Oh TGIF! Thank the Lord it’s Friday! The weekend’s here! Mama Yo! The good times are here at last! Party fuh so mih breddren! Thank You yes Lord that Friday has rolled around at last! No more of the evil massa and his backbreaking work for a couple days. Thank You again Lord!’
Yes Friends, it’s certainly interesting what comments a Friday can elicit from the work force. And some of them are truly genuine, though many still use it as an excuse to just party.
But we know that’s not the main reason for the brief respite from labour, so let’s chant our Friday Chant which gives us a better perspective on the situation.
In unison and harmony 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.’
Yeh mih people, the weekend is also a time for rest and relaxation and fellowship with other believers, so that we can go back out revitalized and do God’s work with energy and enthusiasm. In this sinful and godless world though, we sadly use it for all sorts of other nefarious purposes.
But a word of warning friends; please remember that the Lord is watching, and in due course, He will do whatever He thinks is necessary to correct the situation.
Now let’s turn to our Bit, that most awesome, auspicious and momentous piece of scripture which shows how much our magnificent God truly cared, and still cares for us, despite our lacklustre approach to Him.
‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’
Oh my brethren, after hearing such caring and compassionate words, how can we not have a soft spot in our heart for our wonderful Creator eh? I really don’t know nuh. I guess it depends on whether you believe them or not.
But as for me and mine, we will believe them and follow the Lord to the ends of the earth! Such a magnanimous and generous God deserves to be followed any and everywhere!
Now listen to this scripture that enhances that picture. It comes from Bruh Paul’s missive to the Ephesians and it deals with two huge motivating factors in the Christian’s life; grace and faith.
‘But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great LOVE wherewith he LOVED us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us (made us alive) together with Christ, (by grace ye are (have been) saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:’ (Eph.2:4-6)
Oh Friends, what a wonderful Deity we serve and worship! Which other supposed deity has ever sacrificed their only Son on behalf of their followers eh? NONE, my people, NONE whatsoever!
And not only that, in our sinfulness He has also raised us up to sit in heavenly places with Him and His resurrected Son. Oh glory to God for His undeserved goodness to the undeserving children of men!
And here are some useful explanations from the scholars. ‘2:4-6. But begins to disclose God’s response to man’s sin of verses 1-3. This divine response is expressed in three main verbs:
(1) God…hath quickened us. Because they were morally dead in sins, the Lord gave them spiritual life;
(2) and hath raised us up together, that is God has not allowed those Christians to remain in the grave of their old life with its sinful ways and habits, but He brought them into a new life and demonstration of it; and
(3) God made us sit together in heavenly places, that is, He has brought us into His presence and into an intimate relationship with Himself.’
And if that isn’t stuff to sing and shout about, to be everlastingly thankful and grateful for, then I don’t know what is nuh mih breddren!
And why you ask, did God do all of that for a bunch of ungrateful sinners? The Good Book answers that question. ‘That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through (in) Christ Jesus.’ (Eph.2:7) Wow! What a truly magnanimous Deity!
The scholars explain that verse thus: ‘2:7. That …he might show (or, demonstrate): This denotes the ultimate purpose for all that God did for the Ephesians in verses 4-6. It is that throughout eternity He might make us understand more and more His goodness to us.’
And friends, if he did it for the Ephesians, He also wants to do it for us. However, we have to surrender ourselves to Him, so that He can work in our lives. We can’t fight against Him, otherwise His efforts will all be in vain.
So please, let’s be wise and spend some time today pondering our relationship with our Maker nuh. There can be no wiser use of our time than that. Much LOVE!
…spending time with God…is the BEST use of our time…
Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries
SCRIP-BITS 