21 Sep 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: apostles, barriers, Bishop of Rome, blessings, church, corner stone, faithfulness, flesh and blood, foreigners, forgiveness, foundation stone, gates of hell, Gentiles, holy temple, Jesus Christ, Jews, kingdom of heaven, LOVE, loving kindness, manna, mercies, Old Testamnet, petra, petros, prophets, Son of the living God, spiritual insight, strangers, the Lord's doing, the Rock, veil of the temple, water and the word
Matthew 16:18. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter (a stone) and upon this rock (large rock) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Oh Friends, it’s one more morning, one more day! And though it looks like it might be a rainy day in my area, it certainly won’t stop the outpouring of new mercies, blessings, manna and forgiveness from heaven above. Don’t you just LOVE the faithfulness and LOVING-kindness of our wonderful God? Nothing stops His daily benevolence to His children, although we most often don’t deserve it.
And all God’s people declared a loud and joyful shout of, “Praise the Lord God Jehovah for His unceasing goodness to the children of sinful men!’ And that’s certainly how it ought to be my brethren!
Anyway, I want to clear up something that I said yesterday, which was, and is liable to cause some confusion. In the last scripture I spoke of getting some wise words ‘from the Rock – Petros, Peter.’ Thankfully one of my readers pointed out the problem, that some people would take it to mean that Peter was the ‘Rock’ on which Christ intended to build His church.
And this would be totally plausible after reading our Bit. ‘And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter (a stone) and upon this rock (large rock) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’
Now let’s get some background on it. This scripture came up after Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was. And the ever bright and feisty Simon chirped up: ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona (son of Jonah): for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt.16:16-17)
Jesus was saying there that Simon had achieved that conclusion through spiritual insight. Then He launched into our Bit.
I believe the problem comes from the translation of the Greek words used in the original; ‘Petros and Petra.’ The first, ‘Petros’ which we translate as Peter, apparently means a small stone, while ‘Petra,’ means a large rock. The distinction has obviously gotten lost in the English translation. And though Jesus’ next words tend to convey the ‘Rock’ meaning, we’ll see differently afterwards.
After our Bit, Jesus tells Peter: ‘And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ (Matt.16:19)
But Jesus says the same words to all the apostles later on when talking about lost sheep. ‘Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ (Matt.18:18)
Now hear the scholars take on the subject. ’16:18. The Greek word used for rock (petra) is played against the name Peter (Gr. Petros). Some use this passage to teach that Peter was the foundation stone of the church, that he had a primacy among the apostles, and that he became Bishop of Rome. The verse will scarcely bear the first of these propositions, and certainly none of the others.
Peter may be meant by the rock, but he is not the exclusive foundation. For the twelvefold foundation of the apostles of the church, see Ephesians 2:20 and Revelation 21:14. This seems borne out by the fact that the same words are spoken to all the disciples in Matthew 18:18 as are spoken to Simon Peter in 16:19. Therefore the rock or foundation of the church is the confession (ultimately, the doctrine) of the apostles, which became normative for the true church.’
Oh Friends, I surely hope that clears up any confusion my words may have caused yesterday. And to make life easier for us all, (smile) I’ll quote two of the other appropriate scriptures the scholars referenced, beginning with the one from Revelation. Here John is talking about the New Jerusalem which an angel spiritually carried him away to see. ‘And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in (on) them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.’ (Rev.21:14)
Obviously Peter was not the only foundation stone of the church, though he played a large part in its creation and continuation. Now turning to the Ephesians scripture. Bruh Paul is here telling them about the unity of all believers.
‘Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed (being joined) together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord.’ (Eph.2:19-21)
Yes my brethren, Jesus came and tore down all the barriers between Jews and Gentiles, ripped down the veil of the old temple and laid the foundation of His church on the work of the apostles and prophets, with Him being the corner stone.
As Jesus said when relating the parable of the wicked husbandmen: ‘Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner (cornerstone): this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?’ (Matt.21:42)
There Jesus is quoting the words of the psalmist, (Ps.118:22-23) words that were written long before He came to earth in human form, thus again proving the importance of the Old Testament as a foreshadowing of the New.
Ah mih people, I do hope that today’s message will bring some clear or even clearer insight into the rock situation with Peter. He was important in the foundation of Christ’s church, but not the rock, or even the chief stone. Much LOVE!
…the Church’s ONE foundation…is Jesus Christ her Lord…She is His new creation…by water and the Word…
19 Sep 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a day in the life, abhor evil, Apollos, bear witness, beautiful reflections, beheaded, bind, bitter fights, bland, blessings, bridegroom, calm, caring, cheerfulness, Christ, Christian faith, Christian's conduct, christianity, cleave, cling to good, co-workers, Corinthians, decrease, different colour thread, diligence, disjointed, dissimulation, divided, encouragement, endowed, exhortation, faith, fellow believers, forgiveness, fountainhead, fragrance, friend, fulfilled, genuine, gifts, giving, God's Holy Will, God's plan, grace, hearts, help of God, hope and pray, hypocrisy, hypocritical actions, imprisoned, increase, indisputable fact, jean paul richter, joy, labourers, liberally, light of the world, local church, LOVE, members, mercies, mercy, minds, ministry, mish-mash world, Most High God, ONE body in Christ, opportunities from heaven, Paul, peace, planted, prophecy, prophesy, purposes, rainbow, reflections, rejoice, religion, ruling, salt of the earth, same old, scriptures, segue, short attention span, souls, source, spiritual challenges, spiritual undercurrent, spirituality, storm, strong cord, sweet smelling flower, take root, teaching, Togetherness, truth, uneventful, unfeigned, ungodly earth, watered, weak, wise words, wonderful god
John 3:27. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
Oh mih Friends, it’s another day in the life! And I know that many of us live the same bland, same old, uneventful lives from day to day, but if we truly believe in Almighty God, then though the events might seem the same – home, work, home – the spiritual undercurrent and happenings will definitely be different. Everyday we’ll be faced with different spiritual challenges.
And getting logical, (smile) how can each day be truly be the same eh, when we’re getting new mercies, blessings, forgiveness and opportunities from heaven above? Our God is so wonderful that He threads the needle of each day with a different colour thread, so that our lives will all seem to be beautiful reflections of His rainbow. (smile)
And to add some encouragement to all of that, because that’s what we try to do here at the Bit, here is this interesting quote. I might have shared it before, but if I did, it’s certainly worthy of sharing again. It comes from the German writer, Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825).
It says: ‘Flowers never emit so sweet and strong a fragrance as before a storm. When a storm approaches thee, be as fragrant as a sweet smelling flower.’
Ah mih people, those are certainly wise and encouraging words, but not always easy to live by in this mish-mash world. But whoever said that living on this ungodly earth was meant to be easy eh? We’ll all endure times of storm and times of peace and calm, we just have to hope and pray that the latter will greatly outweigh the former.
And regardless of what comes against us, we can only face it as a sweet smelling flower with the help of Jehovah God!
And with that indisputable fact, we’ll segue smoothly into our new Bit. ‘John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.’
Now Friends, that is the truth of all truths! And we’ll prove it with some scriptures in a minute. But first let’s get some background on the subject.
John gave that answer to his disciples when they came and told him: ‘Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.’ (John 3:26)
Then after our Bit, John continued: ‘Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.’ (John 3:28-30)
John’s ministry and that of Jesus ran concurrently for a short period. And as Jesus’ was increasing, John’s was decreasing. This however didn’t bother John, because He knew that was God’s plan. John’s ministry didn’t really end until he was imprisoned and then beheaded.
And with that bit of background, let’s check out some supporting scriptures, beginning with Bruh Paul’s exhortation to the church at Rome, re the service of LOVE to all.
‘So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one (individually) members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity (liberality); he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.’ (Rom.12:5-8)
Yes mih breddren, we have all been endowed with different gifts for different purposes, but they all come from the same source, the same eternal fountainhead; the Most High God, He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! And we are all supposed to use those gifts, whatever they may be, in doing God’s holy will; being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, not hiding our lights or abusing and abandoning God’s gifts.
And as Bruh Paul continues to the Roman church: ‘Let LOVE be without dissimulation (hypocrisy). Abhor that which is evil; cleave (cling) to that which is good.’ (Rom.12:9)
Now that, my people, is the greatest thing a believer can ever do!
And as the scholars advise: ‘The Christian’s conduct in the local church toward fellow believers is to be a volitional caring for others, (exercised through one’s will), LOVING faithfully in spite of the response received. The LOVE is to be genuine and unfeigned.’
Unfortunately though, that doesn’t happen in our churches today as much as it ought to. Some of the bitterest fights and most hypocritical actions are currently consuming our churches, that’s why the body of Christ is so divided, disjointed and much weaker than it should be.
And since I’m so concerned about our short attention span, (smile) we’ll end with one more scripture. Don’t want you all to blame the length of the Bit for your not reading it. Hn, hn! But we all know that’s one of our favourite complaints today for anything that takes a few minutes to comprehend.
And this last scripture is from Bruh Paul to the Corinthians, trying to make them understand that Christians ought to be co-workers, not simply individual labourers. Remember there was some confusion as to whom the Corinthians should follow, Bruh Paul or Apollos?
Well he straightaway tells them: ‘Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.’ (1 Cor.3:5-7)
And on that note of gospel truth, my Friends, we’ll close today. Let’s hope that the words we’ve read will reach deep down into our hearts, minds and souls and take root, and thus make a sincere difference to the way we treat each other, especially those of the Christian faith, for it’s all about togetherness and LOVE.
Much LOVE, my fellow believers!
…LOVE is the strong cord that’s supposed to bind Christ’s body together…
13 Sep 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: almighty god, blessings, body, condemnation, confidence, daily bread, delay, demon worship, destruction, divine approval, doomed, endurance, eternal rewards, fails to obey, faith, fellowship, Friday 13th, Friday chant, generous help, glorious kingdom, God's wrath, habakkuk, heart-warming scripture, heaven, hot to trot, in the sight of God, jolt of pain, just shall live by faith, justification by faith, justified by the law, mercies, meritorious works, mind, Mosaic Law, New Testament, obedience, Old Testament, patience, perdition, Praise the Lord, principle of believing, principle of doing, receive the promise, refreshed, relaxation, rest, reward, right perspective, root canal, salvation, saving of the soul, secure salvation, sinful man, sinful souls, soft food, soul, steadfast faith, sufficent fun, tarry, TGIF!, Thank God it's Friday, the proud soul, the weekend, the will of God, unconditional LOVE, under the curse, wisdom, works of the law
Habakkuk 2:4. Behold, his soul which is lifted up (proud) is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
Oh Friends, it’s Friday! Friday the 13th to boot! ‘So what?’ shout the believers in Jesus. ‘We don’t care because we don’t believe in that Friday the 13th nonsense. That’s just demon worship!’
Wow! Mih people hot to trot today sir! And that’s the way it should be Friends. As far as we are concerned, everyday is the same generally speaking, a special gift from Almighty God with new blessings, mercies, our daily bread and His unconditional LOVE!
We don’t need any satanic stuff to ‘confuffle’ our already ‘confuffled’ minds.’ We’re just glad that it’s Friday and we can shout out loud ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday! The weekend’s here at last. Slaving for massa done for two days! Praise the Lord!’
And I’m also praising the Lord for getting me in to see my dentist yesterday evening to begin some work on a root canal, because the tooth was just paining everlasting over the last few days. Now it’s just sore, and every time my tongue or jaw touches it, or I try to blow my nose, I feel a jolt of pain. But it’s surely much better than the constant pain I was feeling before. I guess I’m also eating soft food for the next couple days, since I can’t chew on that side.
Ah Lord eh! When is not one thing, it’s always something else! Just hope I don’t do any further damage to it, before I go back to finish the work next Thursday. But whatever happens, I know I can count on the Lord to look after me. Steups! My bottom teeth just touched the top ones and a lovely pain was immediately generated. Let’s hope this ends by tomorrow yes.
And having said all of that, let’s chant our Friday Chant with much gusto, so that we can remember and understand how to use the weekend.
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.’
And now that we have the right perspective in grasp, where we go out bright and fresh on Mondays, instead of tired and miserable, let’s turn to our Bit. ‘Behold, his soul which is lifted up (proud) is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.’
Ah mih breddren, that’s such an encouraging and heart-warming scripture! And as we’ve seen, it’s been used quite a lot in the New Testament to prove the theory of justification by faith. Now yesterday I wasn’t able to wrap up the series as I’d planned because of some scholarly explanations that I thought important. Hope they help us to better understand the scripture, because that’s why I include them.
Now let’s continue with the scriptures that we didn’t get in yesterday. And we’re going to begin with some of Bruh Paul’s wise words to the Galatians. ‘For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
But that no man is justified (declared righteous) by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, the man that doeth them shall live in (by) them.’ (Gal.3:10-12)
Oh Friends, you can count on Bruh Paul to use the Old Testament to promote the New! In the above verses he first quotes, Deuteronomy 27:26. Then in the second, our Bit from Habakkuk. And in the third, Leviticus 18:5.
Now here are some explanations from the scholars. 3:10. As many as are of the works of the law refers to all who rely upon obedience to the Mosaic Law as the means of winning divine approval (salvation). To be under the curse is to be subject to God’s wrath and condemnation. Continueth is explained by to do, which means “to obey.”
The recipient of divine wrath is every one, who, believing salvation can be obtained by meritorious works, fails to obey the law perfectly. Complete obedience to the law is impossible for sinful man (Acts 15:10; James 2:10). All then, who attempt to secure salvation by this route are doomed.
3:11. The last part of this verse means, “He who is just because of his faith shall live,” that is, forever.
3:12. This verse declares that the law is a matter of performance, not of faith; it is a principle of doing, not believing.’
That’s a fact Friends, for we all know that mere doing, though good, without faith and belief in Jesus Christ, it is of no use in terms of salvation and escape from divine wrath.
And we’ll end with these wise and encouraging verses from Hebrews. ‘Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience (endurance), that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry (delay). Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition (destruction); but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.’ (Heb.10:35-39)
Yes my people, it’s all about steadfast faith, enduring patience, unswerving belief in Jesus, and overwhelming confidence in Almighty God! Those are the basics for saving our sinful souls. And in sincerely seeking them, there’s wisdom here on earth, and eternal rewards in heaven.
Now who wouldn’t want those things eh? Only a fool! Much LOVE!
…the fool say’s there’s no God…but when life strikes him down…his first words are…Oh God…
30 Aug 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: advantages, banner, believers, blazing fire, blessings, brotherly LOVE, christ-like attribute, christianity, commandments, conundrum, Cousin Sol, dangerous times, death, despised, dilly-dallying, dire enemies, disciples, discipleship of Christ, doing a good job, drunk or sober, exciting, extinguished, feelings and actions of LOVE, fellowship, fight a good fight, flames, floods, forgiveness, Friday, Friday chant, Friends in Christ, fun, further God's kingdom, generous help, heavenly Father, humble, hunger, impossible task, increase more and more, indwelling Holy Spirit, jealousy, jesus name, joyful shouts, Labour Day, labour day weekend, let it all hang out, liars, lies, LOVE, Love cannot be bought, love cannot be destroyed, LOVE FOR EACH OTHER, Love makes the world go round, LOVE one another, LOVE Walk, loving, loving kindness, mama yo, material things of the world, mercies, mind yuh business, modicum of circumspection, napping, opportunities, oppression, party down, party-hearty attitude, perennial warning, poverty, pre-eminent position, prevention, prowling, refreshed in body and soul, relaxation, religion, rest, right perspective, rudiments of brotherly love, selfish ways, sickness, special emphasis, spiritual armour, spirituality, strong as death, suffering, summer's day, tests of true knowledge, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the evil one, the grave, the LOVE of God, titivating, trolling, true disciples of Christ, true predator, truth, very vulnerable, walk as Jesus walked, weather forecasters, weather patterns, week of work, wiles, wise words
John 13:35. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one for another.
Oh Friends, through the eternal LOVING-kindness of our heavenly Father, we’ve been granted another day on planet earth, with all its new mercies, blessings, and forgiveness! Wow!
And it plans to be either a bright, scorching hot summer’s day, or a hot rainy one, to kick off the last long summer weekend of this year, which culminates on Labour Day on Monday.
I’ve said that it could either be sunny or rainy because I’ve seen and heard forecasts for both types of weather. We definitely have to say some prayers for the poor weather forecasters yes, for their job was hard and unrewarding enough before, but now with the changing weather patterns that are devastating our world, it becomes an even more impossible task.
But Friends, be the day sunny or grey, it’s still Friday…
And that obviously brings forth joyful shouts from tired workers. ‘TGIF! Thank God is Friday again yes! We’ve been working hard all week, and with this long Labour Day weekend on tap… Mama yo! We going to party down the place like we crazy!’
Oh mih breddren, please take care, we can’t let it all hang out like that, for remember the evil one is out there prowling, just trolling for defenceless victims, like the true predator that he is. And it’s in these throw down, anything goes party times that he catches us napping and very vulnerable to his wiles and lies.
So here’s Granny’s perennial warning, that most of us don’t like because we feel it inhibits us, but which we certainly cannot afford to set aside. ‘Son, drunk or sober, please mind yuh business.’ And that’s a most essential warning for this weekend my beautiful friends in Christ!
Now to tone down the party-hearty attitude somewhat, not to kill it completely, and thus get things in their right perspective, let’s chant our Friday Chant, with extra special emphasis for this long and dangerous Labour Day weekend.
All together 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 Friends, we definitely need to handle this weekend with a modicum of circumspection and prevention! And please, let’s wear our spiritual armour all the time! Don’t leave home without it! (smile) Because that’s the only way we can fight a good fight when the enemy calls us out to do battle.
And all that we do this day my people, please, pretty please, let’s do it with feelings and actions of LOVE nuh. For as Jesus tells us in our Bit: ‘By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have LOVE one for another.’
And I know that we all desperately want to be true disciples of Christ… but we aren’t ever going to be, if we’re not dealing in that wonderful emotion termed LOVE, the exciting, titivating and Christ-like attribute that makes the world go round.
Awright Friends, so I’m laying it on a bit thick, (smile) but isn’t that what LOVE is supposed be all about? But anyway, enough with the dilly-dallying, let’s get to the rest of the scriptures I promised yesterday.
And we’re going to begin with John, from his first epistle, re tests of true knowledge and LOVE, where he wisely declares: ‘And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the LOVE of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk, even as he walked.’ (1 John 2:3-6)
Yes Friends, that’s the conundrum many of us face. We claim to know Jesus, but we don’t keep His commandments, or walk as He walked here on earth, humble and LOVING, so therefore we’re liars and only fooling ourselves and each other.
And Bruh Paul had this to say to the Thessalonians: ‘But as touching brotherly LOVE ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to LOVE one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;’ (1 Thess.4:9-10)
He didn’t need to teach them the rudiments of brotherly LOVE, because Christ Himself, through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit plus hearing of the Word had taught them that. And furthermore they were doing a good job of showing it towards the believers throughout all Macedonia.
What Bruh Paul expected of them was that they continually increased in the showing of that brotherly LOVE!
AND MY PEOPLE, THE VERY SAME THING IS EXPECTED OF US TODAY!
Please note I put it in capitals and also highlighted it, because it’s very important that we understand the pre-eminent position that walking in LOVE plays in our discipleship of Christ, especially in these very trying and dangerous times.
And since we have many more advantages and opportunities than the Thessalonians had, why can’t we, or aren’t we doing a better job than them of showing brotherly LOVE eh? Why are so many millions of people still suffering sickness, poverty, hunger and oppression all over God’s great earth eh? Possibly because we’re still too caught up in the selfish ways and material things of the world.
But if that’s so, then Friends, we’re not doing what Jesus expects of us, we’re not showing that we’re His true disciples. In fact we’re being more His dire enemies, because we’re turning others away from Him by our selfish, worldly ways.
And we’ll end with some of Cousin Sol’s wise words from his Song. And though in this particular instance, it pertains more to romantic than brotherly LOVE, it truly shows the power of ALL and ANY kind of real LOVE. Listen up now my brethren.
‘Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for LOVE is strong as death; jealousy is cruel (hard, severe) as the grave: the coals (flames) thereof are coals (flames) of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
Many waters cannot quench LOVE, neither can the floods drown it: if a man should give all the substance (wealth) of his house for LOVE, it would be utterly contemned (despised).’ (Song 8:6-7)
Now this is what the scholars have to say about those two verses: ‘These verses are clearly the climax of the story. The maiden describes in the most vivid terms the unquenchable nature of true LOVE: it cannot be destroyed by death or the grave; it burns like a blazing fire that cannot be extinguished; and it cannot be bought.’
And that my fellow believers in Christ is everlasting truth! True LOVE cannot be bought or extinguished!
Let’s ponder on that today nuh, and see if we can’t improve on our own LOVE-walk, because then, and only then, will we be true disciples of Jesus Christ. Much LOVE!
…and his banner over me was…LOVE… (Song 2:4b)
13 Aug 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: anniversary of my mother's death, benefits, blessings, bygone days, cheerfulness, Christ-like life, comes from the heart, courage, crying, crying shame, cup of salvation, dealt bountifully, death, deliver my soul, delivered my soul, distress, evil world, faith, faults, forgetfulness, forgiveness, frailties, good name, gospel truth, gravestone, greed, guilt, holier than thou, lack of commitment, land of the living, laughing, laziness, life of honour, live for God, live our faith, LOVE, Love our God, loving kindness, magnificent God, mea culpa, mercies, my deliverer, my fortress, my salvation, my stronghold, passion, passionate words, pay my vows, persecution, Praise the Lord, prayer of St. Francis, promises, psalm 116, righteousness., rought times, selfishness, shame, sorrows of death, spread His Word, supplications, take advantage, The Lord is my rock, the Lord's gracious, trust, urging of the Spirit, wisdom, zeal
Psalm 116:1. I LOVE the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
Oh Friends, oh Friends, the ole fella shame! Why? Because the end of this month marks the second anniversary of my mother Molly’s death, and yesterday was the first time I went to look for her in her new resting place.
And though I have lots of excuses – like the weather, the distance, the traffic, work, and general busyness, I believe the most prominent reasons were truly laziness, forgetfulness and a lack of sufficient commitment.
What a crying shame! Yes, I certainly agree. But yesterday with the urging of the Spirit, I decided it was definitely the day I would do my long postponed sonly duty. And as the Lord would have it, everything worked out perfectly. I had a couple of errands to run in Toronto, and since I was finished by midday, I just headed north on the Don Valley and on to the 404.
And strangely enough, in death, as well as in life, the only real guilt I feel over my mother is not visiting her as often as I believe I should have. But not to worry Friends, though the ole girl obviously wasn’t thrilled by my long absence, she understood that the son she bore so long ago was merely human and thus liable to possess many faults and frailties, and she readily forgave me. Praise the Lord!
But that’s the kind of person she was. And in my opinion, sometimes too willing to forgive, as we’ve had arguments over the years, when people close to her did her wrong, and she didn’t make a big fuss over it.
Anyway, we had a good visit, as I stood over her gravestone in the cool of the cloudy afternoon, surrounded by the well-manicured lawns of the cemetery.
And on an aside, the difference between cemeteries here and those in the West Indies have always fascinated me. In the West Indies you wouldn’t be caught dead (smile) in a graveyard just chatting or admiring the scenery, because we have a certain amount of fear or dread attached to it back there and they’re not as well kept.
But here the cemeteries are some of the most beautiful and well kept places on God’s earth, and it’s very easy and comfortable to even just walk through them.
But getting back to my visit. Mols and I chatted about the current happenings in my family’s life, and we also reminisced about bygone days, when it was just the two of us against the world. And believe me, there were some rough times.
And as luck would have it, I met a lady at the Calypso show last weekend who remembered me from one of those tough times, when we lived downstairs of her aunt out in Bacolet. But the wonderful thing about Mols is that I never heard her complain. It was always my well-being that drove her wagon train.
Yuh know, I thought I’d cry when I went to visit her, but funnily enough, the opposite happened, we did a lot of laughing. That should not have surprised me though, because from my earliest recollections she was always a cheerful person.
We visited for somewhere between twenty minutes and half an hour, during which time we prayed the prayer of St. Francis, as we always did when she was alive. Then she blessed me, and I sincerely promised not to let so much time go by before I visited her again.
I also promised to try and walk in such a way as to not besmirch her good name, basically fulfilling the words engraved on her tombstone. ‘To truly follow Christ, One must walk, talk, live and LOVE good – as she did.’
And that’s the gospel truth Friends! Though she was not one of those holier than thou persons, she did live as Christ-like a life as most of us will ever do.
So okay Mols baby, Sonny boy has done his mea culpa’s, and his conscience has been assuaged, cleansed, (smile) time to turn to our Bit now. ‘I LOVE the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.’
And that my brethren is the usual and normal reaction of most human beings; to LOVE and cherish those who help them. But sadly in this evil world, there are many whose selfishness and greed propel them to take advantage of those who treat them good. Steups! That just reminds me of one such situation my mother encountered when we lived out in Bacolet.
Anyway, the psalmist continues: ‘Because he hath inclined his ear unto (listened to) me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed (surrounded) me, and the pains (distress) of hell gat hold upon (took hold of) me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped (saved) me. Return unto thy rest; O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.’ (Ps.116:2-9)
Yes my people, that is indeed the nature of our magnificent God! The souls of those who continually seek Him and call upon His most worthy name will be delivered from persecution and even from death.
Bruh David recognized that fact from young and made it his habit to live for the Lord. Thus he was later able to declare in Psalm 18: ‘I will LOVE thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength (rock), in whom I will trust; my buckler (shield), and the horn (strength) of my salvation, and my high tower (stronghold).’ (Ps.18:1-2)
Oh Friends, those are extremely strong and passionate words! But if you are a believer, then they ought to be also true of you! And just supposing they are, meaning that you have received mercies and blessing from Almighty God, how can we thank and honour Him for those oftimes undeserving benefits eh?
As the psalmist confidently declares: ‘What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.’ (Ps.116:12-14)
Yes Friends, the only proper way to thank our wonderful God is to live a life that honours Him, and spread His Word and His LOVING-kindness to all we meet. And if at all possible, shout your LOVE for Him from the rooftops, so that the whole world can hear you! (smile)
Now that’s not only wisdom, but courage, faith and trust! Much LOVE!
…the challenge of our earthly existence…to truly LOVE our God…sincerely LIVE our Faith…and zealously SPREAD His Word…
P.S. It’s a bit long and a bit late, but the important thing is that it comes from the heart. Much LOVE!
06 Aug 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: affirmation day, appreciative crowd, awe, believe, believe in Jesus, biblical affirmations, blessings, bright future, calypso monarch, Calypso showcase, courage, dog eat dog world, ears have not heard, evil, eyes haven't seen, faith, faithfulness, fend off Lucifer, gospel truth, government you deserve, Harbourfront, He is faithful that promised, heart-warming, holy spirit, hope, I can do all things, if god is for us, Jekyll and Hyde, Jesus Christ, laughingstock, LOVE, loving kindness, Macoumere Fifi, magnanimous god, mercies, people perish, personal fiefdom, pilgrim's journey, planet earth, power struggles, prophetic vision, reassurance, religion, restraints, reverence, rewarder, shenanigans, spirituality, strength, theology, things God hath prepared, things of the world, through Christ who strengthens me, times of trouble, Toronto's mayor, truth, who can be against us, wisdom, without wavering, write indelibly
Philippians 4:13. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me!
Oh Friends, the ole fella actually went out yesterday afternoon. Wow! Strange things do happen at times yes! (smile) My young daughter came and picked me up in her fancy SUV and took me down to a Calypso showcase of local talent at Harbourfront, a multiple events place on the Toronto Waterfront.
Oh, it felt so good to be chauffeured for a change, and in style to boot, instead of always being the chauffeur. Some of you might be able to appreciate and understand the feeling, as you’re in the same boat. But it’s nice to be able to gaze around and see the myriad of things that you don’t, or shouldn’t see when you’re driving.
Anyway, I missed the first half of the show, but what I experienced was excellent and it had a good and appreciative crowd. The backing band, Ossie Gurley, was nice and tight, but as it should be, the reigning Calypso Monarch of Canada, Macoumere Fifi, stole the show with her rendition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a caricature of the Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, and his brother Doug, who seems to be the de facto Mayor, as he cleans up, or tries to clean up his brother’s mistakes.
They behave as though Toronto is their personal fiefdom, but sadly have become a laughingstock around the world because of their unwise shenanigans, and consequently the city has suffered a serious decrease in believability.
But as they say, you get the government you deserve, and where there’s no prophetic vision, the people perish, because they cast off all restraints and do their own thing. And that is exactly what’s happening in the good city of Toronto today. The leaders are behaving like buffoons, being more divisive and argumentative and involved in power struggles, rather than doing the jobs they were elected to do.
Anyway, we’ll pray for them and leave them in God’s hand, because only He can change the hearts and minds of those He created. And furthermore, He’s decreed that today be a day of Biblical Affirmations; pieces of scripture that we can write indelibly in our hearts and souls that will help us fend off Lucifer when he attacks us, or just generally in times of trouble.
Remember we had affirmation day a few weeks ago. Now we’ll run through some more scriptures that are useful to keep us strong and steadfast in faith. And we’ll begin with our Bit, which generally correlates all our endeavours. ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me!’
Now Friends, that is undeniable truth! That’s simply because it is the power of Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit working in us that enables us to handle all and sundry situations, regardless of what they might be. Without that power of Christ’s Spirit enabling us, we wouldn’t last very long in this evil, dog eat dog world.
And listen to these words of ultimate wisdom from Cousin Sol nuh. ‘Commit thy works (roll on the Lord thy works), and thy thoughts shall be established.’ (Prov.16:3) Now there’s no doubting the substantial truth in that verse my brethren.
And what about this reassuring verse from Jeremiah eh? ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you an expected end (a future and a hope).’ (Jer.29:11)
Oh Friends, from that we ought to draw immense assurance, because the Lord has spelled out His plans for us, plans which are full of hope and a bright future.
Next up is this powerful verse from Hebrews. ‘Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)’ (Heb.10:23) Ah mih breddren, how can that not calm our souls re the Lord’s faithfulness eh!
And we also need to hear this other verse from Hebrews, which deals with our faith and faithfulness. ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.’ (Heb.11:6)
And that my people, is the gospel truth of all gospel truths! For if we don’t have faith and believe that God is who He says He is and does what He says, then we’ll be shut out of the Lord’s mercies, blessings and LOVING-kindness.
Now hear these words of Bruh Paul to the Corinthians, based on Is.64:4 and 65:17. ‘But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that LOVE Him.’ (1 Cor.2:9)
Wow! Oh my fellow believers yuh hear that? We can’t begin to understand or even imagine what our mighty, magnanimous and LOVING God has prepared for those who LOVE and serve Him with reverence and awe!
And we’ll end with this most appropriate scripture from Romans: ‘What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?’ (Rom.8:31)
And the answer to that question my Friends is a loud, defiant and definite ‘NOBODY!’
Now my people, let’s ponder those scriptures and write them in our hearts, so that in the day and time of need, we can raise them up and find the strength, wisdom, faith, assurance and courage to stand tall and walk proudly on this our pilgrim’s journey here on planet earth.
For that my brethren is the absolute wisdom of and for these perilous times! Much LOVE!
…to believe in Jesus…is certainly more assuring and heart-warming…than believing in the things of the world…
17 Jul 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: authority of the Scriptures, beautiful exteriors, become unfruitful, body of Christ, bountiful blessings, cares of the world, Christian behaviour, Christian habits, christianity, common sense, covet the things of the world, darkness, deceitfulness, dressed up garbage, elevate level of Christianity, enemy of God, enmity with God, everlasting light, evil desire, Excellence in Jesus, fall of the race, flesh overrules, forgiveness, friend of the world, friendship with the world, gain the whole world, hot and humid, human existence, julie mango, light, LIGHT that's Jesus, lose your soul, LOVE, loving kindness, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, lusts, mercies, motto, no substance, personal desires, physical desire, pride of life, raise our standards, rewards, Satan, self-interest, sin, Son of man, summer, sweltering day, temptations, testimony, the things of God, the things of heaven, the will of God, the Word of god, weaknesses, wisdom, working for Jesus, worthless
Matthew 13:22. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Oh Friends, it’s going to be another hot, sweltering day in my area! Summer seems to be finally hitting us with a big stick! Last night I went for a walk around midnight, and it was still so hot and humid that even the insects refused to come out and play. (smile)
The best part though, was when I came back, I sat down on my porch and devoured a cold, delicious Julie mango. My, my, my, was it ever tasty! Now usually I don’t like them cold, but that was just what the doctor ordered for that particular time.
Anyway, here’s an interesting, but also very important question for us. Are we ready to receive the bountiful blessings, mercies and forgiveness that’s about to descend on us today from heaven?
We better had be ready, be on the lookout for them, otherwise we’ll miss them, and our day will not be as wonderful and joyful as it could have been. The darkness that’s now giving way to light in the physical world will also be lifted from our souls and be filled with the everlasting LIGHT that’s Jesus, so we can go about His business here on earth.
That brings us to our Bit: ‘He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care (cares) of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.’
Ah mih people, that is so true of many of us today, it’s not funny. We hear the Word, even know the Word, but the lusts of our flesh overrules it way too often. So much so that we become unfruitful, we’re not working successfully for Jesus, our lives and actions are not a testimony to His LOVING-kindness, mercy and forgiveness.
But Friends, it’s very important that our lives bear testimony to Jesus, for as He asks, after foretelling His passion: ‘For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels: and then he shall reward every man according to his works.’ (Matt.16:26-27)
Oh my brethren, do we want to gain the world and things it has to offer, all of which will eventually be destroyed, and lose our soul in the process? I doubt it very much. Though the things of the world seem bright and flashy and golden and beckon us with great promises, they’re mostly dressed up garbage, stuff adorned with beautiful exteriors, but inside they’re worthless, they have no real substance.
But if we want to save our souls, we need to raise our standards, elevate our level of Christianity, both as individuals and as the body of Christ, the church. Remember yesterday we said that as the individual members go, so does the body, the church. And the only way to change that is by rising up, first as individuals, then as the church, and pursuing true Christian behaviour and habits.
Our motto should be: ‘Excellence in Jesus’ Name!’
But we can’t do that if we’re concentrating too much on the things of the world. For as James so rightly says: ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of (with) the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will (wants to) be a friend of the world is (makes himself) the enemy of God.’ (James 4:4)
And that’s gospel Friends! We definitely can’t be a LOVER of God and of the world at the same time. We therefore have to choose one to follow, and in my humble opinion, following God is the wisest choice.
For as John so wisely advises us: ‘LOVE not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man LOVE the world, the LOVE of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever!’ (1 John 2:15-17)
Ah mih breddren, truer words were never spoken!
Now we’ll end with some info from the scholars on those verses. ‘World for John signifies the evil desire and sin so much a part of human existence. Though all people are tempted differently, according to their individual weaknesses, temptations follow patterns. They appeal to three fundamental areas of life: (1) the lust of the flesh (physical desires); (2) the lust of the eyes (personal desires); and (3) the pride of life (self-interest).
Illustration: When Satan caused the fall of the race, he appealed to each of these areas of weakness (Gen.3:6). He also appealed to them when he tempted Christ (Matt.4:1-11), who defied Satan’s temptations by relying on the authority of the Scriptures.
Application: The Christian today should also depend on the Scriptures to defeat temptation. (First Ref. Gen.3:1-6; Primary Ref. 1 John 2:15-17; cf. Rom.5:12)’
So my people, as I regularly ask us to do, with all that important info at hand, let’s take a few moments to ponder how it all affects us personally nuh. Then let’s sincerely ask the Father to help us make whatever changes are necessary, so that we can come ever closer in line to the plan He has for our lives.
That’s both wisdom and common sense at their zenith! Much LOVE!
…when we covet the things of the world…it turns our hearts away from the things of heaven… and thus of God…
19 Jun 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: bertolt brecht, blessings, christian belief, conviction, eagerness, enhance, expectant hope, faith, hebrews 11 1, Higher Power, hope, joy, joy in jesus, learning, Lucifer's lies, manna, mature, mercies, patience, perseverance, personal experience, positive realziation, promises, quality of life, rejoice and be glad, rest assured, see for yourself, spirituality, strengthen, the evidence of things not seen, the substance of things hoped for
Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Oh Friends, another day is in the offing! I know that many of them seem mundane, same old, same old, but that’s just another one of Lucifer’s lies, to make us lose our joy in Jesus by seeing a brand new day.
So don’t listen to his lies, for every day is brand, spanking new, with different stuff involved, and as we all know, each is chocked full with mercies and blessings, manna for God’s people. So how can it not be fresh and exciting eh?
Therefore my brethren, let’s all rejoice and be glad in it, keep our spirits up, because our wonderful God has lots of new stuff planned for us today! Rely on, rest assured in His promises that He will never leave nor forsake you; that whatever He brings you to, He will bring you through, and that He will work out all things for your good eventually.
Wow! What a plethora of promises! And all God’s people shouted a loud, appreciative, heartfelt, ‘Praise the Lord! Amen!’
And I want to tease and test us here with a quote from one of my old devotionals, attributed to Bertolt Brecht, (1898-1956) the famous German poet and playwright, which says: ‘Never believe in faith, see for yourself! What you yourself don’t learn, you don’t know.’
Now at first reading that seems totally at odds with our Christian belief, which places great emphasis on faith. But when you look at it from another perspective, the learning aspect makes sense, because the quote isn’t panning faith, but instead extolling learning.
And the fact is, that our faith can only grow, if and when we learn about Christ and His requirements. No wonder we mature more perfectly in Christ when we learn the lessons of life for ourselves. People can tell us useful and important stuff, as well as we can learn from their examples, but the greatest learning tool, the greatest teacher was, is, and always will be personal experience!
And why is that eh? Simply because we oftimes don’t believe until we see, feel and/or experience stuff personally. That’s just the nature of the human animal.
And as a quote at the end of the devotional so wisely declares: ‘Learning strengthens my faith – in my Higher Power, in others, and in myself. I can use that greater faith to enhance and strengthen the quality of my life.’
And that’s gospel Friends! In this life we should never stop learning, for the more we learn, the more adept and mature we become as regards life. That is what keeps us healthy, wealthy and wise! (smile)
Now that brings us to our Bit; one of the famous and well known verses in the Good Book. ‘Now faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (conviction) of things not seen.’
Ah mih people, what a perfect play on words! But before we get into what they actually mean, let’s note that the major words in there are ‘hoped for.’ So faith is first of all based on hope. If we don’t have hope, we cannot have faith.
Now let’s see what Bruh Paul says about hope in his letter to the church at Rome. ‘For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then we do with patience (perseverance) (eagerly) wait for it.’ (Rom.8:24-25)
Yes Friends, that tells us that faith is definitely based on, and involves things that we cannot see, because if we can see them, why hope for them eh? But we can also note that once we have faith or trust in something or someone, and are hoping for stuff based on that faith or trust, once that hope comes to pass, then our faith is built, raised to another level, and it gets a little stronger with the positive realization of each expectation of hope.
By the same token, if we don’t see the realizations of our hope, if they turn out negatively, then our faith dies a little each time. So the long and short of the story is that if we don’t have faith, then we can’t look forward to anything with eager patience.
But Glory Hallelujah, when we do have faith, when we acquire it, for it must be acquired, then we become more assured, more confident, absolutely believing that having faith was the right thing to do!
Now to pull all of this together, let’s hear some comments from the scholars’. ‘Verse 1 (our Bit), is not so much a definition of what faith is, as it is a description of what faith does (cf. 11:6). Two truths concerning its activity are stated here.
First, faith provides substance (Gr. hypostasis). Though broad in its usage, this Greek word normally has the meaning of “assurance” in the New Testament (cf. 3:14; 2 Cor.9:4; 11:17) and this seems to be the best sense here.
Second, faith provides evidence (Gr. elegchos). It is evidence in the sense of proof that results in convictions. The difference between assurance and evidence would be minimal were it not for the phrase qualifying each: of things hoped for and of things not seen.
The first involves future hope; the second involves present realities that are unseen. The first includes the hope of the resurrection, the return of Christ, and the glorification of the saints. The second involves unseen realities, such as the forgiveness of sin through Christ’s sacrifice and the present intercession of Christ in heaven. Hope is faith relating to the future; conviction is faith relating to the present.’
Ah mih people, I do hope (smile) that it’s not all too confusing, and that you glean some useful understanding about faith and hope, how they interact and all that they stand for, because it’s very important to our Christian beliefs.
But as we said at the beginning, we need to keep learning, for that’s the only way we’ll mature. So please keep on reading the Good Book, keep on learning, keep on hoping and having faith in Jesus Christ, for all your realizations will turn out positively. Much LOVE!
…the good things about faith and hope are…they apply both to the present and the future…as well as tangible and intangible stuff…
06 Jun 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: awesome grace, believe on Jesus, blessings, don't waver, engage the enemy in battle, freedom Friday, God is ever-faithful, God's assurances, going to hell in a hand-basket, good things, gospel, He's faithful that promised, heart-felt thanks, hold fast to faith, Hope in Jesus, important principles, leave in the lurch, let God be your guide, mangnanimous, mercies, merciful God, mission statement, obedience, options, overwhelming message, personal experience, sweet morning praise, temptation, thanks and praise, thanksgiving, the work of god, walk faithfully
Hebrews 10:23: Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
And then it was Thursday. Just one more day to go till freedom Friday, my brethren! So please hang in there, put on your spiritual armour that will allow you to fearlessly engage the enemy in battle, and let the Lord God Jehovah be your guide.
Now I don’t know what’s happening with the birds, but I don’t hear them singing their sweet morning praise. Maybe they sensed the cold, rainy weather that’s supposed to be on tap for the next few days and opted to stay somewhere safe and warm.
But that should in no way affect our thanks and praise, which we’re supposed to give under any and all circumstances. So let’s give a li’l thanks and praise nuh mih people.
‘Oh heavenly Father, we come before You this morning in praise and thanksgiving, for all the blessings and mercies that you’ve given us in the past. We humbly acknowledge all the good things you’re going to do for us today, and all the other todays that we may live.
We ask you to guide and strengthen us that we may walk faithfully with you, and thus be worthy to be called your children, your people. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.’
And now that we’ve floated some sincere, heart-felt thanks and praise up to heaven, let’s look at our Bit. ‘Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)’
Unfortunately for some of you, it’s the same Bit as the last two days, but it contains two very important principles that we should all know and write indelibly in our souls: First, we should hold on strong to our faith, our hope in Jesus Christ, and secondly that our God is ever-faithful, and will keep each and everyone of His promises.
And for this last day on this Bit – I see smiles and hear cheers from some people – I want to bring to our attention some scriptures that reassure us of God’s faithfulness. And there’s no better place to begin than with Bruh Paul’s excellent advice to the Corinthians in his first missive to them.
‘Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ (1 Cor.10:12-13)
Yes Friends, there’s absolutely no doubt about that! The Lord won’t necessarily keep temptation away from us, but He’ll NEVER allow us to bear more than we can handle!
And I’m not talking from hearsay, but from personal experience. And this is even long before I ever got caught up in the gospel as I am now. Looking back on some of the challenges I faced, I can now see God’s hand at work, leading, guiding and strengthening me, and eventually bringing me out safely, despite my less than stellar obedience.
But that’s just the kind of merciful and magnanimous God He is!
Then we have more assurances from Bruh Paul, this time in his letter to the Philippians. ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Phil.1:6)
There again Friends, the Lord will continue to shower His awesome grace on believers right up to the very day Jesus returns! He will not start something in you and not finish it. So once we’re being as obedient and sincere as we can, there’s no reason to fear that our God will unceremoniously leave us in the lurch.
And in 2 Thessalonians, Bruh Paul once again utters assurances of God’s faithfulness. ‘But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from evil (the evil one). And we have confidence in the Lord touching (concerning) you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.’ (2 Thess.3:3-4)
And we’ll end with some words from Jesus, as we LOVE to do whenever possible. This happens while He’s teaching at Capernaum, after He admonishes the people re their seeking Him because He fed them earlier on, not because they wanted to hear the Word. (John 6:1-27)
‘Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.’ (John 6:28-29)
Oh my fellow believers in Christ, that wraps it all up in a nutshell, in one simple statement! Everything you’re seeing is the work of God, and it’s happening because God wants us to believe in His messenger, Jesus Christ.
Yes Friends, that’s the simplest but most overwhelming message of the Good Book: believe on Jesus, whom God sent to enlighten and to save us!
Unfortunately though, too many of us are not doing that. Consequently, our world and our lives are in a troubled mess, proverbially going to hell in a hand-basket.
And the ONLY way to turn that around is for us to bring our lives and our world back to that simple mission statement; believing in Jesus. For that my brethren, is the ultimate in wisdom and simple common sense!
Let’s therefore seriously begin doing that as of today nuh my people. You won’t believe the wonderful changes it will make, both in our individual lives and that of our troubled and misguided world. Much LOVE!
…belief in Jesus Christ is optional…but it is the ONLY sensible option…
20 Mar 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: Agur, ants, blessings, book of proverbs, christianity, clever inventions, conies, discouraged, disheartened, dissensions, divisions, embrace Jesus, eternal death, eyes of faith, faithful children, first day of spring, four small but wise things, gospel truth, great expertise, heavenly Father, locusts, loving kindness, mercies, merry-go-round, most holy name, never give up, northern climes, potential enemies, praise, prepare for predictable circumstances, sage, self-starter, separation from Almighty God, sincere voice, sluggard, spiders, strength of purpose, thanks, united body, vision, weak and feeble, webs
Proverbs 30:24. There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.
And the merry-go-round that’s life, has turned one more time my Friends, to this cold, dreary looking day called Wednesday. Now officially it’s supposed to be the first day of spring in the northern climes. Hn! But outside looks nor feels anything like spring, with the snow covered ground and the bone chilling temps, made worse by a whipping wind. But please remember my fellow believers that regardless of how the day physically appears or looks in your particular area, just see it through your eyes of faith as being beautiful, because it really is. It’s still filled with wonderful, brand new mercies and blessings as decreed by our heavenly Father. And all His faithful children acknowledged His LOVING-kindness by declaring in a loud, sincere voice: ‘Oh Father God, You are so wonderful and generous to us, the sinful, undeserving children of men. That’s why we worship and serve and LOVE You so much, and will continue to do so till eternity! We praise You, give You thanks, and bless Your Most Holy Name! Amen.’ Now Friends, we have a very interesting Bit today – not that we don’t have them every day – but something about this one just seems special. It’s taken from the contribution of the sage Agur to the Book of Proverbs. According to the scholars, ‘Nothing is known of Agur, but he was likely one of the international sages of Solomon’s day (cf. 1 Kin.4:30-31).’ Anyway, he does write some very interesting and truthful stuff, showing great insight into nature and man’s life here on earth. And in our Bit today, he solemnly declares: ‘There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.’ And what he says is gospel truth my brethren! Now let’s look at the first of these small but wise things. ‘The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat (food) in the summer.’ (Prov.30:25) And we all know that’s very true, because we’ve all seen the ants working diligently, doing whatever they need to do to provide a good life for themselves. As Cousin Sol says in Proverbs chapter 6: ‘Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide (leader), overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat (food) in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.’ (Prov.6:6-8) And that’s the absolute truth people! As children growing up in the West Indies, we’d often watch an army of ants, fascinated by their scurrying around, busily doing their own thing, wondering how they were so diligent and focussed. But that’s built into their very nature by the Creator. And as to how that fits in with human life, listen to the scholars: ‘The sluggard is the habitually lazy person. He is admonished to learn two important lessons from the ant. (1) The ant has no guide, overseer, or ruler (v7), meaning that the ant does not have a taskmaster standing over it to make it work; it is a self-starter. (2) The ant is wise enough to prepare for predictable circumstances.’ Oh Friends, those lessons are even more important and valuable to us today! What with the great proliferation of laziness and idleness, especially amongst our young. Now let’s turn to the second small thing which Agur finds exceedingly wise: ‘The conies (rock badger or hyrax) are but a feeble folk, yet make their houses in the rocks.’ (Prov.30:26) Oh my brethren, how many of us of feeble strength and intellect can build our spiritual houses in the rocks, away from evil marauders eh? Not too many. But these small animals find a way to live in hills and rocks, away from the prying eyes of potential enemies. We need to be able to do the same thing my people. But that can only happen when we sincerely and securely embrace Jesus and all the good things He has to offer. Until then, we’ll be weak and feeble, driven to and fro by any kind of dogma, like a rudderless ship on a stormy sea. And the third thing which Agur talks about is; ‘The Locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands (in ranks).’ (Prov.30:27) Now isn’t that very strange, but rather interesting? Insects that have no leader, but yet go forth by their millions in proper ranks and formation! And their strength as a united body is enormous, for they rape and pillage the land like nothing else can. After locusts pass over an area, it looks like a moonscape, barren and desolate. Now if we humans, especially those in Christ’s church could only come together in such large numbers, with such vision and strength of purpose, then we’d have a much better chance of defeating the evildoers than we are now with comparatively puny numbers and petty divisions and dissensions. And last but not least of these strong and wise things of nature is; ‘The Spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.’ (Prov.30:28) Now the spider is certainly a work of true skill, cunning and strength! It builds its web all over, from the poorest hovel to the most pristine palace. It’s no respecter of places. And it cunningly catches its prey, its food in the sticky membranes of the web. We tear down these webs, but they soon build them back again. That’s tenacity people. Do we have that attribute? Not as much as we ought to. Too many of us get disheartened and discouraged at the first sign of danger or problems and quickly consider giving us. But please remember that giving up does not exist in Jesus’ vocabulary or that of His followers. Christ never gave up though the going was exceedingly rough. And can you imagine if He had given up as soon as the going got rough? Where would we be now eh? Left out in the cold, on the outside looking in, or rather facing a hellish time in the depths of hell with Lucifer, facing eternal death and separation from Almighty God. But with the Father’s generous help, Jesus stuck it out, so that we could have a chance to dwell in heaven, rather than hell for all eternity. And there ends the lesson for today my brethren. There’s a lot for the supposed smart and thinking humans to learn from the small, lowly, but very instinctive parts of nature, if we’ll only take the time to study them. Yuh see how the ancients did it and ended up wiser. But today with all our clever inventions and great expertise, we think we’re too high and mighty to learn anything from the smaller, lowlier creations of God. How wrong we are! So please, today, let’s take a few moments to ponder the attributes of those four lowly creatures, insignificant in our sight, but very pesty and pesky in our lives, and see how our individual lives and actions line up with them. Then let’s consciously make the decision and effort to do better. That’s wisdom in spades! Much LOVE!…though we look down disparagingly on the lesser creatures of nature…they do have a lot to teach us…supposedly first class beings…
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