Today’s Scrip-Bit   15 December 2023 Mark 10:45.

15 Dec 2023 Leave a comment

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

Mark 10:45.       For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto (be served), but to minister (serve), and to give his life a ransom for many.

At long last Friday is here and the joyful shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ have been heard all around our chaotic and disaster filled world! It doesn’t matter that there’s war and rumours of war prevailing in numerous places, the start of the weekend is ever so important, especially as we prepare to celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And doesn’t it seem somewhat ironic that He is called the Prince of Peace, but so many of His supposed followers are actively engaged in war and untold evil deeds? 

And I’m sure it hurts Jesus’ heart to see that those for whom He left His heavenly splendour and took on the fleshly human body and came to earth to save are now such warmongers. The sacrifice of His sinless body and soul obviously didn’t mean all that much to mankind, for brother is still fighting brother, while the inhumanity of man to man is still making countless millions mourn. When are we going to learn eh my brethren, that the constant fighting, anger, hatred, bitterness, resentment and atrocious deeds that are currently so prevalent in our world, are not helping any of us, just making us more satanic and less godly? 

Right now, it’s much easier to count the places where some sort of peace prevails, than those where upheaval and chaos are running riot. Doesn’t that say something awful about us when the attributes of his satanic majesty, instead of those of Almighty God are much more prevalent in our world? It certainly does! It tells us that our sinful, warmongering nature has finally come to the forefront, while the compassion, grace and mercy of God have taken a sad backseat in our society. And many of us who still claim to be such devoted Christians are among the biggest haters, warmongers, evildoers and hypocrites in the world! 

How then can Jesus’ church sincerely flourish under such ungodly situations eh? It’s certainly a difficult task to execute, but definitely not impossible. It just means that those of us who are sincere in our beliefs will have to make a greater effort to keep Christ’s church on an even keel, growing even under the worst of circumstances. And that’s made even more difficult because of the numerous divisions and dissensions among Christ’s people. And the sad part is that so many of those divisions and dissensions have come about over petty human jealousies, greed and everybody wanting to be the leader. 

But friends, there’s ONLY ONE LEADER in Christ’s church, that’s Christ Himself! The rest of us are merely stewards, glorified servants of Christ, but we do exactly what He’s told us not to do, that’s exalt ourselves. Remember Christ’s words when His disciples were arguing who would be the greatest amongst them. Jesus specifically warned: ‘Ye know that they which are accounted to rule (are considered rulers) over the Gentiles exercise lordship (lord it) over them; and their great ones exercise authority over them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be (desires to be) great among you, shall be your minister (servant): And whosoever of you will be the chiefest (desires to be the first), shall be the servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto (be served), but to minister (serve), and to give his life a ransom for many.’ (Mark 10:41-45) 

But to this day, we all still rush to be the first, to be seen as leaders, although our servanthood doesn’t qualify us for leadership. Unlike us friends, Jesus didn’t just talk the talk, but He also walked the walk. Remember His conversation with the disciples when He washed their feet, a job that was usually done by the lowliest person in the household, so much so that at first Peter refused to let Him wash his. But Jesus stopped him in his tracks by saying. ‘If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.’ (John 13:8) As simple as that; if you won’t allow me to stoop and wash your feet, then you have no part in my organization. 

And after Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, He explained His philosophy on the subject. He first asked: ‘Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master (Teacher) and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master (Teacher), have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord (master); neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.’ (John 13:12-17) 

Oh my fellow believers, it couldn’t get any more straightforward than that! But, unfortunately, how many of us in today’s church are truly willing to serve, even in the upper echelons, much less in some low capacity eh? Too many of us supposed believers just want to enjoy the perks of the church without contributing in any way to them. But that’s not what Jesus taught or exemplified. This commentary tells it like it is: ‘He (Jesus) was a servant because He dedicated his life to setting people free. He set them free by healing them, delivering them, and by teaching them. His life was a ransom; He lived in such a way that when He encountered people they would be set free in some way. Even though Jesus was God in human form, He humbled Himself to serve His disciples. This act of service showed His humility and LOVE for His followers.’ 

And these words of Bruh Paul written to the Philippians highlight the servanthood of Christ. ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (think like Jesus did); Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men (emptied Himself of His godly privileges): And being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil. 2:5-8) 

Now that’s the picture of a true servant! And I know that in this evil and ungodly world it’s difficult to model Jesus’ servanthood, but with the help of God, it’s not impossible. So, please, through our Friday Chant, let’s go to the throne of grace right now, to find the help we need to be a good example like Christ. As one voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough…  because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And having said all of that, our first priority now should be to truthfully and sincerely become and behave like faithful believers and set a good example to the world! Much LOVE!

…the world can only see Jesus nowadays…through the lives of His followers…   

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ   

Today’s Scrip-Bit   24 November 2023   2 Timothy 3:1.

24 Nov 2023 Leave a comment

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

2 Timothy 3:1.        This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

And after only one measly day of Thanksgiving in the U.S, the world has followed it back to its favourite pastime; making money! Yes, today is Black Friday, the day of the biggest sales events of the year in the U.S. and neighboring countries like Canada, have no recourse but to follow the foolishness, which is mostly like a magicians setup, illusory; consisting of good  hand and eye coordination, wands and staffs making you feel like something is going on, when in reality it’s all an illusion. 

It’s the same with many of these supposed big Black Friday sales, they promise the world but only offer a few items truly on sale. The desire of the whole operation is to get you into the store and wave their magic wands at you, confuse you into buying stuff you either don’t need, or you can’t afford. And it’s sad that every year the same things happen; people fall for it, rushing and pushing to get into the stores, which usually leads to some sort of unnecessary violence. 

But the store owners don’t care, they are just interested in the congested traffic and the money been spent in their businesses. Then tomorrow they’ll holler about their big profits, laughing all the way to the bank, celebrating another successful exercise in psychological illusion on the masses. 

Ah Lord eh! When are we ever going to learn? We seldom ever get something for nothing, or less than it costs the sellers. The business people are there to make money, not to give it away There’s always a catch to their sales pitch, a price to be paid, be it up front or later. But we keep on falling for the sales pitches, especially in these times of high inflation and low monetary rewards in the comparatively few jobs available. 

And it’s interesting how prices keep on rising, along with profits, but the wages of the workers remain stagnant, and if the purveyors of the criminal economic actions, could, they would even try to lower the wages of their employees. No wonder the ongoing truth in the sad statement; man’s inhumanity to man, makes millions mourn. And, unfortunately, it seems like we have reached the stage of world evil and ungodliness that Bruh Paul warned Timothy about in his second letter. 

‘This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous (money lovers), boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection, trucebreakers (irreconcilable), false accusers (slanderers), incontinent (without self-control), fierce (brutal), despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady (reckless), highminded (haughty),lovers of pleasures more than (rather) than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.’ (2 Tim. 3:1-5) 

And isn’t that a most accurate picture of our current world? Sad to say, it most certainly is!  Our world has gone crazy, with no kind of discipline, everyone just looking out for themselves, doing what they want with no regard to how their actions affect other around them. And don’t talk about ungodliness, for I don’t know if there’s ever been such an ungodly time as this. 

We’ve even reached the stage of attempting to push God out of our society, which only shows how proud, haughty and foolish we’ve become, because the Creator of the universe will NEVER allow himself to be pushed out of His own creation! But we haven’t learned from Satan’s quick demise when as the Archangel Lucifer he tried to overthrow God, but was summarily kicked out of heaven to dwell in the fires of hell. Satan has learned his lesson, but he’s trying to get us to do his dirty work for him, and unfortunately too many of us are listening to him and doing it. 

But friends, wisdom dictates that if you want to live the abundant life, you can’t walk with the chickens or fly with the low flying birds, you must soar with the eagles. And that’s what the Lord is expecting of each one of us who calls himself a child of the Most High God! And yes, it’s not easy to soar with the eagles when the crows and chickens keep nipping at your feet, but we do have an avenue to help us get away from them, that’s the throne of grace. So please, let’s go there right now nuh, through our Friday Chant to get the help we need to keep soaring with the eagles. 

As one voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough…   because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. 

And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And the first item on our to do list my people, is to set a good and godly example to those around us, otherwise there will be no divine help forthcoming. Much LOVE!

…as true believers in Christ…we need to stop falling for the evil wiles of Satan… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ