15 Feb 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: be joyful always, blessings, curses, death, disobedience, divorce, eternal separation from God, famines, fellowship, fun, further God's kingdom, God's natural blessings, homelessness, iniquities, introspection, Jesus has defeated Lucifer, joy, Lent, magnanimity, mercy, negative stuff, pay a price, poverty, rebellion, refreshed soul, relaxation, removing God from society, rest, serve, sickness, sins, spend time with God, TGIF! Thank God it's Friday!, the Lord is our strength, wages of sin, worship, wretched truth
Jeremiah 5:25. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
Oh Friends, it’s Friday! And suddenly I’m inundated by silence? No ‘TGIF’s! No ‘Thank God is Friday!’ Why is that eh? Is it because it’s the first Friday in Lent that we’ve lost our enthusiasm for the weekend? That shouldn’t be so my Friends. We should be happy and rejoicing every Friday, whether it’s Lent or not. That’s because the rejoicing is for the end of the labouring week. We finally have time to rest and relax, and spend even more time with our heavenly Father, than we do during the work-week. And anytime we get the chance to spend more time with the Father, oh mih people, that’s a serious cause for rejoicing! So let’s not stop being joyful, whatever the circumstances, for remember the joy of the Lord is our strength, (Neh.8:10) and if we allow the ‘thiefing’ Lucifer to steal it from us, then half of our life is lost. Remember Lucifer can’t take it unless we allow him to. In fact he can take nothing whatsoever from us unless we let it go, for he has no power over us, since Jesus has already won the war and defeated death, the grave and hell, Lucifer’s domains. So having all of that in mind, let’s enthusiastically chant our Friday Chant to get us in the right frame of mind for this first weekend in Lent. Like one big choir 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 let’s keep that fire burning all weekend please Friends! Get introspective, but with a good demeanour, not the sour, draggy, despondent, woe is me attitude so many of us believe is called for during Lent. Now let’s turn to our Bit: ‘Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.’ Oh my people, my people, those words are even truer today than they were when Jeremiah spoke then about Judah. And why are the good things withholden from us? It says right there in the Good Book: ‘But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone (departed).’ (Jer.5:23) And isn’t that more wretched truth again! In the last generation we have removed God so far from our lives that a great portion of the society has no idea of whom He is or what He stands for. And the sad part is that despite all the turmoil in our lives, we insist on further removing God from the small space He now occupies, instead of running to Him with open arms and repenting of our folly. As the scholars’ say of Judah’s rebellion: ‘Theirs was a stubborn willfulness that could only be termed utter folly (v 21). Accordingly, their lives are marked by deceit. Therefore, they have deprived themselves of God’s natural blessings. (cf.Deut.28:15-68)’ And that chapter of Deuteronomy is where the first 14 verses deal with blessings, and the remaining 54 deal with the curses that will ensue for disobedience. Oh Friends, that should be a telling tale to us today, because foolishly and proudly we have also deprived ourselves of God’s natural blessings through our constant rebellion and disobedience. Listen to the basic blessings of which we have deprived ourselves: ‘Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season; he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’ (Jer.5:24) Please note the many horrible natural and man-made disasters that have been striking our tragic world in unusual numbers over the last few years. Also the widespread famine, poverty, homelessness and sickness that’s uncharacteristically overtaken our world at the very height of its powers. No other generation on the face of the earth has ever been as advanced as ours, yet our world is suffering in the same areas of our prowess, much more than some of the lesser advanced generations ever suffered. We just have to look at the enormous strides we’ve made in agriculture, wealth, construction and medicine, to shake our heads and sadly wonder why in all those areas we’re still suffering immensely, when there’s no real need for it. And why is that, you wonder my brethren? Jeremiah gives us some insight into the problems by telling us how Judah turned from the Lord. ‘They say, if a man put away (divorces) his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall (would) not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lain with (violated). In the ways thou hast sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s (harlot’s) forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.’ (Jer.3:1-3) Ah Friends, that should speak severely to our consciences, because we have behaved, and are still behaving just like Judah did. But please remember the disastrous punishment they received; their cities devastated, and their people taken away captive to other lands. The Lord might not use the same punishment for us, but we WILL be punished if we continue in our rebellion and disobedience! And if you look around, you’ll see a whole lot of unusual negative stuff already happening in our society. So please let’s start paying serious attention to what’s happening around us, for the Lord is no respecter of persons or societies, and if we’re continually disobedient we’ll eventually pay. But the good news though is that with our wonderful and magnanimous God, while there’s life, there’s always hope. And that hope can be found in Jeremiah 3:4. ‘Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth?’ Yes Friends, if we cry unto the Lord in sincere repentance and change our wicked ways, and once again begin worshipping and serving Him in word and deed, then He’s merciful and magnanimous enough to forgive us. It’s our ONLY HOPE my people. And it’s the wisest bit of wisdom we can ever attain in this evil, ungodly world. So let’s get to it nuh! Much LOVE!…he who has ears to hear…let him hear…otherwise he’ll surely suffer the wages of sin…death…eternal separation from Almighty God…
12 Feb 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: afraid, belly and backbone, bounden duty, Carnival Tuesday, Christian walk, Christianity means action, Church of Christ, civic responsibility, evil doings, forgiveness, goodness of heart, help the needy, hypocrisy, Lord of the Sabbath, LOVE, mamby pamby, mercy, opposition, Pharisees, pretty costumes, Sabbath Day, soft, soldiers, spinless, stand up for right, time bomb, walk the talk
Luke 6:9. Then Jesus said unto them, I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
Aye Friends, getting old is a helluva thing yes! Yesterday morning after writing the Bit, out of the goodness of my heart, and my civic responsibility, (smile) I decided to at least clear the snow from my porch and the walkway. But would you believe that after about ten minutes out there, having only cleaned the porch and the steps leading down to the walkway, I began coughing? What really annoyed me is that I had been cough free for the previous two days. Well that coughing situation put paid to all my heartfelt goodness and civic responsibility, especially when the snow on the walkway was almost a foot high. If they wanted to charge or fine me for not clearing the walkway, then so be it, but I surely wasn’t going to continue doing anything that made me cough! What knocked me for a further six, was that later in the evening, after a short nap, I got up and felt this terrible pain in my right arm and shoulder. I had to laugh, because I had been fine all day. But them’s the breaks! (smile) Now that got me to thinking that if I was in T & T, taking in the wonderful sights and sounds of Carnival, I wouldn’t be having any stupid aches and pains and coughs. I wouldn’t be able to jump and prance, like I used to, but the old bones would have been warm, flexible and relaxed in the hot sun. Chuh! Anyway, today, Tuesday, is the day for the real Big Mas, where all the pretty costumes and their wearers come out to parade and play. Let’s hope and pray that everything goes off okay for all the pre-Lenten celebrations around the world, and no serious disasters or evil doings mar the festivities. And we’ll continue with our Bit from yesterday: ‘Then Jesus said unto them, I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?’ Ah Friends, what a potential time bomb of a question back in those overly strict and religious times! Now yesterday in the background leading up to the Bit, we saw where Jesus reminded the Pharisees of Bruh David and his men eating the holy bread in the temple meant only for the priests, when they were hungry and on the run from Saul. (1Sam.21:1-6) After that ‘He said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.’ (Luke 6:5) Obviously the Pharisees weren’t thrilled by that remark either, but they let it ride. Listen to the scholars comment on that verse. ‘Having already asserted His prerogative, like God Himself, to forgive sins (Luke 5:20), Jesus now assumes the right to interpret the Old Testament in a way far different from that of the religious leaders of His time.’ So true my people! And that’s the background to this later Sabbath when Jesus enters the synagogue and teaches, as He is won’t to. On this particular day though, a man with a withered right hand is present among the listeners, and as usual the hypocrite scribes and Pharisees are watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath, to get something to accuse Him of. And though Jesus knew their thoughts, He nonetheless tells the man with the withered hand: ‘Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.’ (Luke 6:8) Now my brethren, you must admire Jesus’ for that; putting His belly and backbone into play, fully knowing the confusion His actions would cause. But knowing that He was in the right, He did what He had to do. Oh my fellow believers, how often do we stand up like Jesus for what is right eh, in spite of the opposition we know will come against us? I’m afraid I’ll have to say not too often, or rather not often enough, otherwise the church of Christ and His dictates wouldn’t be as maligned, unimportant and shunted aside as badly as it now is. Remember as followers of Christ we weren’t called to live an easy, problem free life, but to battle the evildoers and their actions, to be soldiers in this wicked, godless world. And soldiers only win battles when they stand strong in their convictions and fight with plenty belly and backbone for what they believe is right. And sadly my brethren, I believe that’s one area in which we’re falling down today. Christ’s followers have become soft and mamby pamby. We lead the good, relatively soft, easy life and don’t want to, or are afraid to put it in jeopardy by stirring up things, even when we see stuff happening that’s not right. Granted we all can’t be strong like Jesus, but if we’re truthful, we will all acknowledge that we can surely do better than we’re currently doing. So Friends, I’m asking us for the umpteenth time, if we really do LOVE Jesus and want to follow Him and make His church a worthwhile institution in this evil world, let’s pick up the slack in our Christian walk nuh. We need to be much better examples of His LOVE, mercy and forgiveness than we are. We need to bring the level of our actions up to the level of our talk, and even higher, because we can’t belabour people about Christ and His goodness when they are sick, hungry, naked and homeless. Remember Christianity is an action movement, and like Jesus we need to help the needy satisfy their physical wants and needs before we start preaching to them. You can see that’s how Jesus operated, and if we do likewise, we’ll certainly draw many more unbelievers to Him, which is one of our main purposes here on earth. And if some of us don’t want to hear that truth, then too bad yes! We’re no better than the hypocrite Pharisees! Sorry if I went off on a tangent there, but it aches my heart to see the way we supposed Christians, followers of Jesus Christ are behaving so spineless and afraid, so without true LOVE and compassion in a hurting world, where everybody’s looking, fearfully searching for something to hold on to, a something that can only be found in Jesus, a something that we have but are not sharing the way we should. Please Friends, let’s be serious about our bounden duty here on earth and fearlessly do it nuh, with the ever-faithful promises of Jesus and His certain assurance that we have to stand strong on. Only then can we consider ourselves true Christians, true followers of Jesus. Much LOVE!…to simply talk about Jesus…and not do the necessary actions…called for by that talk…is pure hypocrisy…
24 Jan 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: be glad, fever's broken, forgiveness, God of justice, God of strength, God's glorious majesty, I'm geting better, loving kindness, mercy, righteous God, Selah, sing for joy, song of the day, stubborn hold
Psalm 67:4. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon the earth. Selah.
Oh Friends, the song of the day is, ‘I’m getting better. I’m getting better. Thank the Lord, I’m getting better!’ And the ole fella is actually beginning to feel more human than zombie. The cold and cough seem to be under control, though the fever is still trying to resist. But I believe we have finally broken its stubborn hold because twice yesterday I had to get up and change my T-shirt because it was soaking wet with sweat. I guess that’s what the ancients would call the fever breaking. Let’s hope that’s what it was. I’m still not up to snuff though, for I slept out most of yesterday, as has been the modus operandi this past week. But the good news is that I ate solid food for the first time and actually enjoyed it, causing me to regain a couple of the pounds that I’d lost, but I’ll take that trade-off anytime. I also managed to watch two periods of hockey. Still haven’t read the papers though, but there’s one situation that made me laugh. Now there are always oranges and tangerines in the house, but I usually pass on them simply because I’m too lazy to peel them. However in these past few days, have I ever been peeling oranges and tangerines, because they were the only things that really tasted palatable. As they say, if the Lord doesn’t get you one way, He’ll get you the other. But please note that our God is not an unjust or vengeful God, as our Bit so wisely proclaims. ‘O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon the earth. Selah.’ Yes Friends, our God is a God of righteousness and justice, but also a Deity who tempers His decisions with LOVING-kindness, mercy and forgiveness. As such, there is none other like Him! That’s why in a number of Psalms, that theme is firmly proclaimed. For example, in Psalm 93, the Lord is clothed with majesty, the psalmist declares without a doubt: ‘The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty, the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is established, that it cannot be moved (shaken). Thy throne is established from old: thou art from everlasting.’ (Ps.93:1-2) Meanwhile in Psalm 96, a call to praise God, the psalmist wisely advises us to: ‘Give (ascribe) unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give (ascribe) unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear (tremble) before him, all the earth. Say among the heathen (gentiles) that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be (is firmly) established that it shall not be moved (shaken): he shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof (all that is in it). Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the Lord: for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.’ (Ps.96:7-13) Oh Friends, truer words have never been spoken! But unfortunately we are not doing any of those things today. Instead, our world is casting disparaging aspersions on the name of the ONE TRUE God, removing Him bit by bit from our society, and replacing Him with worship to man-made idols and other foolish men. Now I ask you, if man and his idols were so powerful and wise, would our world be in the catastrophic situation we’re currently in? Certainly not! But man has become so proud, so arrogant and full of himself that he now believes he no longer needs the help of an invisible God. Ponder this for a moment nuh Friends. How much of our everyday tasks can we actually accomplish by ourselves eh? Not much really. And oftimes we can’t even do it with the help of other men, but desperately need an invisible God, someone stronger and more powerful than us. That’s why I don’t understand how we can remove Jehovah God from our society when there’s so much evidence that under His guidance we prosper, and when we move away from Him we suffer immensely. But I guess we’re fooled and bedazzled by Lucifer’s ‘baubles, bangles and bright shining things.’ How often must we be reminded eh my people that all that glitters is not gold? NONE of Lucifer’s stuff is real. They’re just glossed over, just a facade to hide the ugly, lying, deceitful, evil intentions behind his attempt to get back at God for kicking him out of heaven. If he wasn’t so foolish in the first place to want to overthrow God, he’d still be sitting pretty in heaven. But he wasn’t all that wise and is now banished to walk the earth until the Lord chooses to do away with him for good in the lake of fire. Oh my people, is that where we want to end up? I doubt it very much. So please, I’m pleading with us, let’s get ourselves together and covenant once again with our Creator, so that we can avoid the ugly fate that’s eventually going to befall Lucifer and his evil minions. That’s truly wisdom at its zenith. Much LOVE!…he that hath ears to hear…let him hear…or else he’ll eventually feel…the justice of Almighty God…
13 Jan 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: atoning death, faith, forgivenss, gift of God, God's incomparable LOVE, grace, iniquities, intercession, Jesus, jesus and the samaritan woman, justification, living water, meaningful lives, mercy, peace, righteousness., salvation, sin, suffering servant, trust
John 4:10. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it was that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Well a good Sunday morning to all you beautiful believers out there in the Scrip-Bit family! And also to you who are joining us for the first time. I sincerely hope that it won’t be for the last too, because what we’re trying to do here is lift people’s spirits, encourage them to live strong, powerful, meaningful lives here on this evil, ungodly earth, by focussing on the Word of God, His incomparable LOVE and peace, mercy and forgiveness, kindness and compassion! Wow Friends, what a cornucopia of blessings! And believe me, you can’t get all that wonderful stuff from any other source but Almighty God, through belief and trust in His marvellous Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Now yesterday I left us hanging re the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, because it would have run on way too long for our way too short attention spans, especially when it has do with the Creator of our universe. So let’s bring on our Bit, so that we can get rolling. ‘Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it was that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.’ Ah Friends, what a convoluted, confusing statement! No wonder the poor woman didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about. And yesterday I ended by asking if we knew what Jesus meant re ‘the gift of God’ and ‘living water’? Well let’s look first at ‘the gift of God’ by turning to Isaiah, when he talks about God’s suffering servant. ‘Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise (crush) him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail (distress) of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil (plunder) with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.’ (Is.53:10-12) Some powerful scripture that my people! But here is what it means per the scholars: ‘It pleased the lord to bruise (from daka’, “to crush) him refers to the same condition in verse 5 (wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities). Put him to grief reads “pierce” Him in the Dead Sea Scroll copy of the text. His seed refers to those who will come to believe in Him. An offering for sin (asham, ‘guilt offering’) involves the trespass offering described in Numbers 5:5-10. The phrase he shall prolong his days indicates that the Servant’s ministry will not end with His violent death, and certainly implies His resurrection. The pleasure of the Lord refers to God’s ultimate purposes which will be accomplished by the atoning death and resurrection of the Servant. The chapter ends with the glorification and exaltation of the Servant of the Lord. His intercession refers to His high priestly ministry, by which He makes intercession on the basis of His own substitutionary death.’ What a mouthful! But I do hope we understand it better than before. Yes Friends, way back in the Old Testament, centuries before Jesus was born, the Lord divulged His future plans to Isaiah, so that His people had something to hold on to, some assurance that all would be well eventually. If they trusted and had faith in Him, He would work everything out for their good in His own time. And that prophecy was fulfilled many years later by none other than Jesus, whom we know and LOVE and worship as our Lord, Master, Saviour, Prince of Peace, Mighty Counsellor, etc. etc. Now let’s turn to a passage in the New Testament re ‘the gift of God,’ from Bruh Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, re sin coming into the world through Adam and Eve and salvation through Christ. ‘But not as the offense, so also is the free gift (the free gift is not like the false step). For if through the offense of one (Adam) many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.’ (Rom.5:15) Oh Friends, what that basically means is that just like sin came into the world through Adam and was imputed to, covered all his descendants, just so Christ’s death and the salvation He brought is imputed to all believers, through the gift of God’s merciful and undeserving grace. Yes my brethren, that ‘gift of God’ is His wonderful grace, freely given to whomsoever chooses to believe in His Son Jesus Christ. Now isn’t that a most wonderful and superlative gift? It sure is! So please, let’s ponder some on grace today nuh. In fact let’s hunger for it, rise up and accept it in wisdom, faith and truth as we are supposed to. Only then will we realize the full extent of God’s LOVING-kindness and mercy. Much LOVE!…GRACE…the gift of God…with benefits unimaginable…free for the asking…and also free for the taking…
01 Jan 2013
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: 2013, closer walk with God, commandments, faithful promises, forgiveness, forsaken God, gospel truth, Happy New Year, heady times, heartfelt greetings, LOVE, loving kindness, mercy, never give up, New Year resolutions, New Year's Day, prosperity, Spirit of God, transgressions, victory, wisdom, words of wisdom, worldly things, worldy idols
2 Chronicles 24:20. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.
Aye Friends, it’s New Year’s Day 2013! Wow! That calls for enthusiastic, heartfelt greetings. Happy New Year to all my Scrip-Bit Family! And please remember that 2013 will be an even better year for us than 2012 was. The Lord’s promised this, and we all know that He faithfully keeps all of His promises. I guess you also realized that the Bit would be late today, because like many of you, I did a bit of partying last night, celebrated New Year’s all around the world, right up to Calgary at 2 a.m. my time. The party was small, just family, but rousing and interesting. Made me believe the wisdom of staying home, cause when I got tired in the wee hours, I just went upstairs to my bed. And I admit that it was a bit difficult getting up this morning. When the Lord woke me up around 5 a.m. I pleaded, ‘No Lord, please, not yet!’ (smile) And in His wisdom and wonderful LOVING-kindness, He granted me another hour’s rest. Yuh see why I LOVE Him so! No doubt many of you are in the same boat, not in a rush to read my words of wisdom this first day of 2013, (smile) as I wasn’t in a rush to write them. But like the mail, the Bit must go out! Better late than never. Now turning to the problem of resolutions… yes, it has become a problem, because we rush to make them at the beginning of the year, often with good intentions, but a short while thereafter, we either forget them or intentionally discard them. That’s mainly because they are mostly worldly things. However Friends, you know there’s only one resolution we really need to make at the beginning of each year; and that’s just to promise that we’ll walk closer with Jesus. Now that encompasses everything! If we simply concentrate on walking closer with Christ, then everything else will fall into their rightful places. That’s why Jesus was so emphatic and adamant with those memorable words: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt.6:33) And that, my brethren, is the only strategy we really need to follow in this current, evil, ungodly age! That brings us to our first Bit of this New Year, one I consider rather appropriate for these undoubtedly wicked times. ‘And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.’ And that’s the gospel, gospel truth my people! If you’re honest with yourselves, you’ll realize that many of the woes and disasters that have recently befallen our individual societies, and our world in general, is because like the foolish, fickle Israelites of old, who were supposed to know better, we too have turned away from Jehovah God and taken to worshipping Lucifer and his evil, worldly desires. A few days ago, while doing my daily Bible reading, I came upon our Bit, and it struck me as being so relevant to our times that I wanted to rush and use it, but I was guided to hold it until today, a more significant occasion, where people were liable to pay more attention to it. And in one of His small, but nonetheless mysterious and miraculous movements, the Lord caused me to hear a song last night that fits in very appropriately with it. The title of the song is simply ‘Superior’ by an artist called Gentleman. And the chorus goes like this: ‘I know Jah LOVING is superior. Your devil complex inferior. Worshipping material. Bowing to your silver and gold.’ Oh my brethren, that is such an apt description of our current world, that I couldn’t let it go by unnoticed! Unfortunately though, I don’t know what to say or do to change that evil, unwise behaviour, since all my best words and actions seem to fall on deaf ears, so powerful is the current lure of Beelzebub and his worldly lust. But what makes us the champions that we truly are, my fellow believers, is that we don’t EVER give up. The victory has already been won; it’s just for us to keep on fighting tooth and nail to ensure that it stays that way. Oh my people, this year of 2013 gives us the great opportunity to make a brand new start, to seriously consider all the options available to us, and to wisely choose to follow Jesus, cause he’s the ONLY way to salvation and eternal life! I won’t badger us with much scripture today, because I know that even in the best of times we seem reluctant to read it, so you can imagine the resistance this New Year’s day, with all the celebrations going on. However, I will badger us to use logic and common sense, to just look around and see what’s really happening in our world, and remember, if you’re old enough, the bye gone days when our world leaned more towards righteousness and Jehovah God than the evil of Lucifer, and consequently it was also much more prosperous, merciful, LOVING, and forgiving. And if you’re too young to remember those heady times, then please read your Bible, ask your parents or older associates, and check out the history of your own country and the world over the last fifty years, and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. Anyway, enough for today. Please, let’s all give much thanks and praise to our heavenly Father for bringing us safely through another fateful year, and allowing us to see this new one, where we’ll all seriously endeavour to walk closer with Him. That’s my special wish and prayer for us this wonderful upcoming year of 2013! And all God’s people said a loud, grateful and enthusiastic ‘Praise the Lord! Amen.’ Yes Friends, 2013 will be a most memorable and victorious year, not only for believers, but also for our entire world. Please believe it, see it with your eyes of faith, so that with God’s help, we can bring it to reality. Much LOVE!…just a closer walk with thee…this year of 2013…blessed Jesus is my plea…walking ever closer to thee…let it be…dear Lord…please let it be…
29 Dec 2012
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: blessings, Creator, ends of the earth, exaltation, forgiveness, god the father, God's omnipotence, great god, holiness, Jesus Christ, living truth, loving kindness, man-made idols, mercy, miracles of God, mysteries of God, praise, priorities, respect, reverence, strong Provider, wonders, worship
Psalm 135:5. For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.
Ah Friends, welcome to another day in the life! One filled with plenty blessings, mercy and forgiveness from our heavenly Father, Creator and strong Provider. For His undeniable LOVING-kindness to us undeserving children of men, we ought therefore to be very thankful, and in return show Him the utmost honour, reverence, respect and worship He so richly deserves. But on the other hand, being the true ingrates that we are, too many of us expect to experience and bask in that LOVING-kindness, but refuse to give Him the glory that’s rightfully His. That’s a very unwise move though Friends, because the Lord is greater than the useless idols to which so many of us bow down. Our Bit puts it quite succinctly and truthfully: ‘For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.’ And that’s the living truth Friends! How do we know that? Listen to the next two verses. ‘Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in the earth, in the seas, and all deep places. He causeth the vapours (water vapour) to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.’ (Ps.135:6-7) Yes my brethren, the entire universe is the work of His hands and His imagination. Like a potter creating pottery from scratch, He created the universe, doing whatever He pleased with His creation. So how then can any of these other supposed gods be stronger and greater than Him eh? NO WAY! And today we’re going to get into some scriptures that justify our contention…sorry, it’s not a contention, but a definite fact. We’re going to begin with Moses, a man who certainly experienced God’s greatness in his life; what with forcing Pharaoh to set the Israelites free, then parting the Red Sea for them to cross over on dry land, while swallowing up the Egyptian army, then leading a bunch of miserable, ungrateful people, their animals and their belongings through the wilderness to the Promised Land of Canaan, promised many years before to their father Abraham. Moses could therefore rightly state in his song: ‘Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods (mighty ones)? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?’ (Ex.15:11) And the definitive answer to all those questions my Friends is, ABSOLUTELY NOBODY! None of the other supposed deities can hold a match to the candle of our God; the ONE TRUE GOD; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! And later on, when Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought Moses’ wife and two sons to meet him in the wilderness and heard about the wonders the Lord had done on behalf of His people Israel, he too was forced to concede: ‘Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt (behaved) proudly he was above them.’ (Ex.18:11) Even Cousin Sol, when he was planning to build God’s temple, he was so overwhelmed by the magnitude of his task and the awesome power of God, that he declared in wonder: ”And the house which I build is (will be) great: for great is our God above all gods.’ (2 Chr.2:5) And my people, those men not only heard about the great God of Israel, but more importantly they experienced His greatness personally. So there is absolutely no reason to doubt them. And I daresay the lives of many of us modern day believers are also filled with the mystical, miraculous works of God. So why then do we still doubt Him eh? I guess because we’re just naturally fickle and fainthearted, wanting everything easy and now for now. But sorry Friends, that’s not how our God operates. We need to do His will first, and in His time, He will reward us. Remember, He’s the Creator, and He runs the show, not us, the created. And now, turning to Psalm 95, listen to the psalmist declare the Lord’s omnipotence. ‘Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise (shout joyfully) unto him, with psalms (songs). For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand (possession) are the deep places of the earth: the strength (heights) of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.’ (Ps.95:2-5) Meanwhile, in Psalm 96, the writer confidently proclaims: ‘Declare his glory among the heathen (Gentiles), his wonders among all people. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.’ (Ps.96:2-6) And in Psalm 97, we read: ‘For thou Lord, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.’ (Ps.97:9) And last but not least, hear Bruh Paul’s proclamation on the subject. ‘For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we (live) by him.’ (1 Cor.8:5-6) And that my brethren is the gospel truth! So today, please, let’s rethink our priorities, and give praise and thanks where praise and thanks are due – to Almighty God! That’s true wisdom. Much LOVE!…no other supposed deity…has the power of the Lord God Jehovah…for they are mere idols…creations of man…
08 Dec 2012
by randyobrien50
in Inspirational Living
Tags: abundance, bountiful, Comforter, confidence, distress, good times, grace, gracious Lord, grateful hearts, hearts, heavy burdens, inclement weather, joy, LOVE, loving kindness, merciful, mercy, minds, praise, prosperity, provider, rest, righteousness., sincerity, sing unto the Lord, souls, thanks, trust, truth
Psalm 116:7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.
Ah Friends, it’s another grey, cloudy, rainy morning in my neck of the woods. But despite the inclement weather, life is good, and for that we are all very grateful. Therefore, let’s raise a mighty shout of joy to heaven, praising and thanking the Lord God Jehovah for His goodness, LOVING-kindness and mercy towards the undeserving children of men. And all God’s people declared in loud voice, with grateful hearts: ‘Almighty God, we praise You, and bless Your Holy Name, for all you’ve done and are planning to do for us!’ And we find a poignant example of praise for God’s goodness in Psalm 116, Praise for deliverance from death. ‘I LOVE the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me (hath 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 (laid) hold upon 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.’ (Ps.116:1-6) Yes Friends, the Lord of hosts is our refuge, our hiding place, our rock, our shield, our provider, our comforter! In times of want and trouble, He is the first One we ought to call upon. Now don’t forget to give Him thanks and praise in the good times too. So in other words, believers ought to be doing as Bruh Paul advised the Ephesians: ‘Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;’ (Eph.5:20) And not only that, but also as He told the Philippians: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.’ (Phil.4:4) Oh my people, whatever life brings us, lemons or honey, we ought to rejoice and give thanks to our great God! It’s as simple as that. Note I didn’t say easy, but with God’s help and some practice, it’s certainly doable. That’s why the psalmist in our Bit today, could say with great confidence and joy: ‘Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.’ That Friends, is the wonderful modus operandi of our God; dealing bountifully with those who cry out to Him in all sincerity and truth! But far too many of us are too proud, stubborn, rebellious and independent to ask for help, as Jeremiah shows, when talking about the destruction of Judah. ‘Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.’ (Jer.6:16) Oh what stupidity we embrace my brethren when we refuse to walk in the traditional ways of true righteousness! Doing our own thing only leads to disaster and destruction. But our God LOVES us so much, that even when we blatantly ignore Him and choose to go our own way, He still doesn’t give up on us. Listen to Jesus with this great invitation: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek (gentle) and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt.11:28-30) Oh Friends, there’s no better invitation than that to be found anywhere in this whole wide world. For who doesn’t want rest for their weary soul in this evil, ungodly, tiresome, fraudulent, busy world? And Jesus is willing to bear our heavy burdens, like He bore the cross all the way to Calvary, and our sins all the way to eternity. So why are we so reluctant, or should I say adamant in not putting our trust in Him eh, especially when we see the sorry state of our world, because we have placed our trust in unworthy, unfaithful man? Fellow believers, it’s time to put our utmost and entire trust in Jesus, since He is the only one who can help us escape from the deep mire in which we’re now wallowing. In Psalm 119, the psalmist wisely asked the Lord to ‘Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.’ (Ps.119:17-18) Those are the kinds of things we ought to be asking for Friends; the ability to live righteously and abide in His Word, discernment and focus through His Holy Spirit, so that we can understand and enjoy all the wonderful things that He’s provided for us in His law. When we do those things, then like the second half of our Bit, we’ll be able to say in all truth, that the Lord has dealt bountifully with us. And like Bruh David, we can also confidently declare: ‘I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.’ (Ps.13:6) Yes my people, when we diligently and sincerely seek the Lord and try to do His will, then He deals bountifully with us, even more bountifully than we can ask or imagine! So what’s holding us back eh? Let’s come to the Lord today in all diligence and sincerity, surrender our lives to Him, rest under His strong, protective wings, that we may find the peace and joy He’s faithfully promised, and last but not least, enjoy the prosperity and abundance that comes to those who open their hearts, minds and souls to Him. That’s wisdom at its zenith, my brethren! Much LOVE!…to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…
15 Nov 2012
by randyobrien50
in Inspirational Living
Tags: antidotes, compassion, corruption, covetousness, deceit, easy yoke, forgivness, fraud, grace, greed, hypocrisy, Jesus, light burden, material possessions, mercy, money, repentance, sorrows, straight and narrow way, ungodly activities
1 Timothy 6:10. For the LOVE of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Oh Friends, a beautiful Thursday morning is dawning out there! Praise the Lord! But according to the old nursery rhyme which we seem to be following this week, (smile) Thursday’s child has a far way to go. Unfortunately there is some truth to that, and not only for children born on a Thursday, but for all of us, regardless on what day of the week we were born. Our earthly journey can indeed be long in number of years, but thankfully, believers in Jesus have the wherewithal to withstand whatever comes against them in this life. And though Bruh Paul’s truthful declaration: ‘For all have sinned, and come (fallen) short of the glory of God;’ (Rom.3:23) involves us in ungodly activities, we, as followers of Jesus, also have the antidotes for that kind of behaviour. True repentance of sin that brings God’s generous forgiveness, with His mercy, grace and compassion, all help to lighten our heavy earthly loads. Not forgetting Jesus’ invitation for all who are heavy laden to come to Him and take His yoke, which is easy, and His burden which is light. (Matt.11:28-30) And to cap it all off, we also have the Holy Spirit that dwells within each believer, to give us wise and safe guidance and counsel along the straight and narrow way that we’re supposed to walk. Oh Friends, that’s why believers are called blessed! What with the new gifts our heavenly Father pours out on us each and every day, there’s no way for anybody to experience a better life on this earth than a true Christian. Unfortunately though, too many of us have repudiated the notion of God, or simply don’t believe in Him, and have chosen instead to go our own way, following the wide and winding path of this evil world. Consequently, we’ve lost all sight of and faith in God, foolishly turning to worldly idols like that spoken of in our Bit. ‘For the LOVE of money is the root of all (kinds of) evil; which while some coveted after (in their greediness), they have erred (strayed) from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.’ Oh my people, truer words have never been spoken! We just have to look at the mad rush nowadays to get money, either to hoard it, or to purchase material possessions. Money now seems to be the very lifeblood of our society and our world, and is thus causing a lot of evil stuff, a lot of grief and heartache. Fraud and corruption are possibly the biggest crimes going now, especially with the Internet spreading its dreaded tentacles far and wide. Almost everyday I get some e-mail about somebody wanting me to help them move oodles of money from somewhere to somewhere else, and if I, like a fool accept those grandiose promises from people I don’t know, I will only end up losing what little I have. But obviously some people are accepting them, otherwise they wouldn’t be persisting with the schemes. That just goes to show how greedy some of us are. Corruption is also rampant all over our world, from the highest position, right down to the lowest. Why? Because regardless of how much we have, we all still crave money, and/or the things that can be bought with it. But I’m here to remind us Friends, that money, or whatever it can buy is not the most important thing in our world. Serving and worshipping Almighty God with all our hearts, minds, bodies and souls is the NUMBER 1 commandment! Not running down money and earthly possessions. And until we begin seriously following that first commandment, our lives and our world will continue to be an ungodly mess. Sadly, money has been the source of negative actions from long ago, and today we’ll look at a perfect example found in the Good Book. During the early days of the church, the brethren lived a somewhat communal lifestyle, with everybody pooling their resources and sharing it as was necessary. However in Acts 5, we have the story of a husband and wife team, Ananias and Sapphira, who sold a plot of land but kept back a part of the money, lying that what they offered, was what they had sold it for. But the Lord revealed Ananias’ deceit to Peter, who then reprimanded him. ‘Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power (control)? why has thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost (breathed his last): and great fear came on all them that heard these things.’ (Acts 5:3-5) Then some three hours later, the wife, Sapphira shows up, and not knowing that her husband had died, also lied to Peter about the money. ‘Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt (test) the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway (instantly) at his feet, and yielded up the ghost (breathed her last): and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.’ (Acts 5:9-11) Oh Friends, maybe that is what we need to happen today to wake us up from our greedy, lying state of mind! Ananias and Sapphira were not compelled to give all they had, because it was voluntary giving, but the hypocrisy caused their downfall. Besides that, they were lying to God, through His church, to which they belonged. Luckily for us, the Lord doesn’t often strike us dead when we play the hypocrite. That’s enough for us to ponder today my people. And please, please, let’s all be wise and consider our individual feelings and behaviour towards money nuh, because both our earthly lives and salvation depend on us having the right attitude towards it. Much LOVE! …money…money…money…REMEMBER…it’s NOT #1
06 Nov 2012
by randyobrien50
in Inspirational Living
Tags: annals of history, armour of light, Christians, condemnation, Election Day, evil deeds, exaltation, God's guidance, grace, Hurricane Sandy, judgement day, LOVE Revolution, mercy, patience, repentance, salvation, servants, time of prayer, truth, walk in LOVE, wisdom, works of darkness
2 Peter 3:9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness: but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Oh Friends, it’s Tuesday November 6 2012! At last that fateful day has arrived; Presidential Election Day in the U.S of A! Ah mih people, whatever the result, it will go down as a most memorable day in the annals of history, cause this election will set America, once more on the path to glory, or it will continue on the ruinous path that it has been pursuing for the past two decades. No matter which side wins, and both sides claim to have God as their guide, America will see substantial changes. And the destruction recently unleashed by Hurricane Sandy on its most populous area, only deepens the confusion, and thus the ramifications per the election. My Scrip-Bit Friends, I urge us to pray that this election turns out to be in the best interest of the U.S. since unfortunately, as the U.S. goes, so goes the rest of the world to a great extent. Remember too Friends, that this is a time of prayer, for our world is in such disastrous shape that it’s only true, heartfelt prayer that can help us to climb out of the morass in which we’re currently mired. So let’s pray sincerely for our world and encourage as many others as possible to do the same. This is where the fomenting of our LOVE Revolution is so important my brethren. And to our U.S Friends in particular, please, I implore you; first to go out today and vote, but then before you actually cast that ballot, sincerely ask the Lord to guide you, to give you the wisdom and understanding you need to make the right decision in your voting. Remember, as James says, the Lord gives wisdom to ALL who ask in faith, without wavering. (James 1:5-8) Now let’s turn to our Bit. ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness: but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ And all I’m going to do today my people is feed us with some scriptures relating to the different parts of our Bit, which I’ve been planning to do since day one, but have been guided to other stuff. Now, re the promises of God and salvation being nigh, listen to Bruh Paul’s entreaty to the Roman church, as he advises them to walk in LOVE. ‘LOVE worketh no ill (does no harm) to his neighbour: therefore LOVE is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we (first) believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.’ (Rom.13:10-12) Yes my brethren, everyday brings us one day closer to salvation and to the judgement of the world, so we need to be both watchful and diligent in doing God’s work. Now hear the scholar’s explain some of that scripture. ‘Sleep means insensitivity to the demands of Christ on the Christian’s life. Now is our salvation nearer: The coming of Christ to deliver us from this sinful world grows nearer every day. The night is the time while Christ is out of the world, and the world has been delivered into the control of the prince of the power of the air (Eph.2:2). The day is a reference to the time when Christ will return and establish His reign of righteousness.’ And turning to long-suffering, hear Bruh David tell it like it is from Psalm 86, Teach me thy way O Lord. ‘O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies (mobs) of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.’ (Ps.86:14-15) Oh my brethren, no true believer can have any argument with those statements, for they are indeed living truth! Now listen to Isaiah on the subject. ‘And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgement (justice): blessed are all they that wait for him.’ (Is.30:18) There again Friends, that’s truth in its entirety! And I just saw this note from the scholars, which seems useful. ‘Because God is gracious and has been willing to wait for His people to return to Him, He will certainly bless those who wait for him. “Waiting” is a confident and dependent trust in God.’ And all God’s people declared a rousing ‘Hallelujah!’ And as regards His children perishing, hear Ezekiel on the matter. ‘Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezek.33:11) Yes my people, our God wants nobody to perish, that’s why He’s being so patient and long-suffering with us. But remember that all patience runs out at some time or other, and since we don’t know when the Lord’s will run out, we need to get ourselves together RIGHT NOW, and live in righteousness, so that whenever the TIME comes, we’ll be prepared. Now hear Bruh Paul to the Romans, re repentance, where he talks about judging others is to condemn ourselves. ‘And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgement of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?’ (Rom.2:3-4) That’s oh so true my people! And we’ll let Jesus have the final say, since he’s the authority on the subject. This scripture is brought up when the mother of the disciples James and John asks Jesus to elevate her boys, to let one sit on either side of Him in His kingdom. (Matt.20:20-22) Obviously Jesus could not grant that request because it was not in His power to do so. Then He ends with these memorable words. ‘And whosoever will be chief (first) among you, let him be your servant (slave): Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto (served), but to minister (serve), and to give his life a ransom for many.’ (Matt.20:27-28) Please my fellow believers in Jesus, let’s take those words to heart nuh, and then put them into action, for that’s basically Jesus’ motto right there, and only as we follow it, will His church here on earth be successful. Much LOVE!…to serve…and not to be served…should be the modus operandi of ALL CHRISTIANS…
02 Nov 2012
by randyobrien50
in Inspirational Living
Tags: darkness, expectant hope, Friday chant, intercessory prayers, Jesus, light, LOVE, man's humanity to man, mercy, opportune time for repentance, physical and emotional hurt, pray diligently, prayer of the righteous, proclaim God's praises, ravages of Sandy, TGIF!, Thank God it's Friday, wake up call, weekend
1 Peter 2:9. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
Oh Friends, it’s Friday, but unfortunately many of us in North America and the Caribbean are not as jolly as we usually are on a Friday. There are very few shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ and even the few that we’re hearing lack the usual joy and expectant hope that the weekend usually brings. And we can lay it all at the feet of super-storm Sandy, which has seriously ravaged us over the past week. Millions of people are seriously hurting, both physically and emotionally, without food and light. Some have no water, while others have too much, from the resultant flooding. Oh Friends, this is a very disastrous time in which man’s humanity to man needs to be shown, must take first place. So please, let’s concentrate on helping those in dire need now, and most importantly, let’s pray diligently for them. Remember the Lord heareth the prayer of the righteous (Prov.15:29), and also, as we saw yesterday, intercessory prayers are one of our major responsibilities. So let’s get seriously praying nuh Friends and fellow believers. This is also an excellent opportunity for all nations to come together in prayer to Almighty God. We need to use it as a wake up call, an opportune time for nations to repent and return to diligently worshipping and serving the Most High God Jehovah, Creator and Controller of us all. It’s time to return to His caring and LOVING confines, for who knows if He specifically designed Sandy as a means of drawing us closer to Him, since it’s mostly in times of dire need that many of us run to Him seeking His powerful help and fatherly mercy. Yes my brethren, it’s the opportune time to reinvigorate the LOVE Revolution we’ve been trying to forge without much success. But as everything to do with true (agape) LOVE, it must first start with believers. Why? Because God is LOVE, and we are His LOVING subjects. And as our Bit so rightly reminds us: ‘But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar (his own special) people; that ye should show forth (proclaim) the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.’ Yes Friends, as representatives of Christ here on earth, we need to be at the forefront of helping, giving, caring, sharing and LOVING, because that’s what Jesus is about. And though it’s never easy to walk in Jesus’ footsteps, as His loyal followers we have to at least attempt to do so. With that in mind, let’s boost our spirits some and remind ourselves of the true purpose of the weekend, by chanting our Friday Chant. As one 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.’ Ah my brethren, hopefully that gets us to stop for a moment and ponder our personal goals and directions in Jesus this weekend. Now let’s continue looking at some scripture that validates our Bit. Yesterday we looked at two passages from Isaiah, today we’ll continue with another from Chapter 42, re the Lord’s servant coming to glorify Him. ‘And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things (places) straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.’ (Is.42:16) Oh Friends, every time I read about God’s awesome promises, it makes me shake my head in wonder at our lukewarm acceptance of them, or our complete disbelief. No wonder our lives and our world are so messed up. Now hear this scripture from Acts, where Bruh Paul testifies of his conversion on the road to Damascus to king Agrippa. While lying flat on his back, having been blinded by a burst of heavenly light, Jesus informs him. ‘But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear (reveal) unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I now send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan into God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in me.’ (Acts 26:16-18) There we go Friends, from the very beginning, God’s purpose was definitely to take us out of the darkness of sin, by introducing us to the light found in His Son Jesus. Now why can’t we understand that and live by it eh? I really don’t know nuh. And we’ll end with some more energizing words from Bruh Paul, from his message to the Corinthians, re God’s power in the ministry. ‘For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.’ (2 Cor.4:5-6) What an awesome and caring kindness on God’s part my people! Now let’s go and do our part by seriously and diligently living for Jesus. That’s the least we can do, after all the selfless sacrifices He’s made for us. Much LOVE!…to truly know Jesus…is to LOVE Him…and greatly desire to live your life for Him…
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