28 Dec 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abide under the shadow of the Almighty, But God commendeth his love toward us, casting all your care upon him, crapaud smoke we pipe, divide and conquer, follow His words, forgive us, God is always there for us, grace and mercy, He is my refuge, He that dwelleth in the secret place, heal our land, hear our prayer, helter-skelter and yon, humble yourselves, I will say of the Lord, in him will I trust, Jehovah Rapha, like a herd of sheep, mass confusion, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, my fortress, my god, natural disasters, our free will, outside the safety zone, pandemic of Covid 19, plan of salvation, play right into the enemy's hands, safety in numbers, scatter in fear, standing in faith, temptations, the cares of the world, the God who heals, the Lord looks on the heart, the protection of God's covering, the secure umbrella of Almighty God, touch a tender chord, turn from our evil ways, under the mighty hand of god, walk in His light, we cn do better on our own, while we were yet sinners christ died for us, wise guidance
Romans 5:8. But God commendeth (demonstrated) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Ah yes, Monday it is – the last Monday in this crazy and unprecedented year of 2020! And believe me, the craziness and ‘unprecedentation’ (smile) won’t be over for a while yet, mainly because mankind is such a foolish, unpredictable animal that refuses to get together under one big, safe and secure umbrella, that of Almighty God!
And this quote from the website preachology.com explains: ‘The Umbrella of God – what is that exactly? The symbolism of the umbrella is the protection of God’s covering. When we as Christians turn our lives over to God, He in turn promises to guide and protect. As we know an umbrella shields us from the rain pouring down upon us. If we were to picture God holding a giant umbrella over his people, what would happen if one or more decided to walk outside that umbrella?
Of course, that is obvious; they would no longer have the protection of that shield (umbrella) and they would be drenched with the rains falling. God is always there for us. It is always us that walks away from him. He promises if we will follow his words, and walk in his light, we will have his protection. Often in the faith we can find ourselves walking outside this umbrella without thinking. The cares of the world and burdens of life can at times overwhelm even the most honest of Christians.
We find ourselves trying to put the problems of life upon ourselves and not giving them to God, and walking in a freedom that boggles the mind of any non-Christian. Often temptations will surround this umbrella and like any, they will attempt to lure all they can away from this protection. Outside that safety zone, they are vulnerable to any attack of the enemy. It is much like a herd of sheep and the wolf that hunts them. The wolf will attempt to frighten the sheep, creating a chaos in the herd – causing them to separate and run away from the protection of the Shepherd.
Having done this the wolf can search for the weakest one, outside that umbrella of protection, and make his kill. As long as the sheep stay near to the Shepherd, he can protect them. When the sheep begin doing their own thing, that ability to protect is lessened. Much like our Pastors – their words of guidance can only help, if we apply those words to our lives – amen.’
And therein lies our problem friends! We wander away from our Good Shepherd, in the mistaken thought that through our free will, we can do better on our own. Or like now, the big bad wolf has frightened us with all the adversity that currently surrounds us and just like the flock of sheep we scatter in fear, helter-skelter and yon. But unfortunately, that doesn’t help us, it just makes matters worse, since by that action we play right into the enemy’s hands. Yuh know the ole army tactic of divide and conquer? That only makes us more liable to capture, for remember there is always more safety in numbers.
Oh my people, when are going to learn eh, that in times of adversity, or any time at all really, but especially in the rough going, we don’t run from God, but to Him? As Peter so wisely advises in his first epistle: ‘Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.’ (1 Pet. 5:6-7) And if that isn’t the gospel truth, then I don’t know what is nuh!
Just look at the season we’re celebrating right now nuh; Christmas! That’s when the Lord sent His only Son to earth as a baby boy to begin His wonderful plan of salvation for us disgusting sinners! Why yuh think He went to so much trouble to save us eh? Because He blooming well LOVED us! Why can’t we accept and believe that eh? Are our skulls so thick with egotism and pride and all the other negative stuff of the world, that we can’t believe our Creator LOVES us?
Chuh man! The Good Book says it loud and clear: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) How many of us are willing to do something good for those who wrong us before they atone in some form and fashion eh? Not too many! But God in His great LOVE for us, put Himself out by sacrificing His Son for us while we were still deep in sin. Now doesn’t that touch a tender chord in your heart? It ought to.
And hear what the psalmist had to say about all that nuh in Psalm 91 – God is a refuge and a fortress. ‘He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’ (Ps. 91:1) Now you couldn’t get any safer than that that friends! And the psalmist continues: ‘I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.’ Ps. 91:2)
And believe me people, until we come to that very serious realization that our ONLY hope is in God Almighty, the evil wolves of Beelzebub will keep threatening, making us afraid, scattering and devouring us. So let’s do what we ought to be doing all along nuh, casting our cares on the Lord, turning to Him in prayer, what we call our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
And please remember, the Lord doesn’t just listen to our words, but looks at our hearts. So if we’re not sincere…then crapaud smoke we pipe! Much LOVE!
…only under God’s umbrella…are you truly safe…
21 Dec 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a different kind of Christmas, ask and it shall be given to you, be obedient to His word, believe in His Son, big egos, born of a virgin mother, But God commendeth his love toward us, cause for concern, Christ died for us, Christmas, Covid-19 virus, ease their suffering, eternal life, filled with pride, forgive us and heal our land, God - first and foremost, gracee and mercy, hard hearts, Humpty Dumpty, if ye love me, Jehovah Rapha, keep my commandments, knock and it shall be opened, left out in the darkness, lusts, magnanimous as our God, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, pay our sin debt in full, pseudo-Christianity, refuse to bow, repentance, salvation, seek and ye shall find, serious consequences, the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, the God who heals, the LOVE of God, the motives of our hearts, to the name that's above every other, turn from our evil ways, while we were yet sinners, wise guidance
Romans 5:8. But God commendeth (demonstrated) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
‘Good golly Miss Molly! It’s Monday!’ Yes friends, the Monday before Christmas, four more days to the Big One! Are you ready for it? Have you done all your Christmas shopping? Hn, hn! It will certainly be a different kind of Christmas this pandemic year of 2020; not as much physical gathering, nor even eating and drinking and exchanging of gifts, as lots of people can’t afford the stuff they are accustomed buying. But that doesn’t mean the season can’t be festive, if we remember the real reason for the season in the first place -the birth of Christ.
Now that was the first step in God’s long promised, great gift of reconciling us to Himself and providing salvation and eternal life through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. But to die as a man, Christ first had to be born, born of that virgin mother, in that li’l town called Bethlehem, before He could eventually make His way to the cross in Jerusalem and pay our sin debt in full.
Wow! No other supposed deity is as magnanimous as our God! All those other supposed gods want us to sacrifice our lives to them, but the wonderful God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sacrificed His Son for us woeful sinners to show His amazing unconditional LOVE! As the Good Book says: ‘But God commendeth (demonstrated) his (own) LOVE toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) All praise and glory to His holy name!
And all He asks of us is to believe in His Son and be obedient to His word. But because of the free will God gave us, too many of us are filled with pride and lust and big egos and hard hearts, and thus refuse to bow down to the name that’s above every other name. Now though our God is gracious and merciful and all those other wonderful things, He’s also a stickler for justice and righteousness and obedience, and the non-doing of those things usually cause serious consequences in our lives. And when plenty of us refuse to toe the line, like right now, that means there are plenty of serious consequence in our world, like right now.
Jesus also said: ‘If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments.’ (John 14:15) And though we claim to LOVE Him, we definitely aren’t keeping His commandments the way He desires, otherwise our world would not be in such a terrible mess. Even this big do we make about Christmas, a lot of it is false and/or pseudo-Christianity, because our attention is more wrapped up in the gifts and food and shopping, the commercial aspect of the situation, not truly in the birth of Christ and what it really meant, and still means for mankind.
The celebration has taken on too much of a worldly and commercial overtone these days, meaning, that like so much else in this world, the things of God have taken a step or two back, and no longer predominate in our society. And that should give us serious cause for concern my people, for when a society has lost its way, when Almighty God is not first and foremost in the equation, then that society, like Humpty Dumpty, is slated for a fall, and ofttimes a rather big fall at that, from which it never recovers its previous prosperity.
And right now, I believe we are at that stage, at the brink of the precipice, because God is no longer Number One in our society. Oh yes, we talk the talk, but remember He looks at our hearts, and currently the motives therein are not God-centred. So what’s the position eh? It’s dark and dreary…unless we come to our senses and return to the ways of God; ways that our forefathers embraced more faithfully than we have done.
Friends, the only thing that can save us now is a revolution; a LOVE Revolution, for there is way more hate and negativity in our world right now than there is LOVE! And remember God is LOVE! So the less LOVE we have, the less of God we will also have. But we are people of faith, great faith, and anything we put our minds to, we can do, provided we have God involved. So if we require a LOVE Revolution to save our world, then we need to go to God to help us. As Jesus specified: ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.’ (Matt. 7:7)
And the way we go to God is in prayer; that’s His desire. So as one sincere voice, let’s take all our problems to Him now nuh, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world.
We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face.
That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control. And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them.
Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
Now let me remind us again, that the Lord looks at the motives of our hearts before He answers our prayers, so if they weren’t right just now, and we’re not prepared to turn back to Him in true repentance, then we’ll be left out in the darkness, with no forthcoming light, a rather sad situation indeed. Much LOVE!
…to have a successful society…the LOVE of God…must predominate…
14 Dec 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: keep my commandments and live, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, my law as the apple of thine eye
Proverbs 7:2. Keep my commandments and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
Oh my people, what a world we living in today eh! Nobody is satisfied with anything. Whatever conversations you listen to, or take part in, they always seem to be filled with lots of kvetching and dissatisfactions, with vast differences of opinions on either side of the equation. And don’t talk about conspiracy theories, they abound in every sphere of life; from the pandemic, to the U.S presidential elections, to the vaccines and what they going to do or not do, to climate change, if it’s real or not, and the li’l clique of wealthy and powerful people who want to control the world. Now why would they want to do that eh, when they already control it? (smile)
Yes friends, it’s indeed a topsy-turvy world, filled with so much misinformation, disinformation, lies and fake news that you have a very hard time disseminating the wheat from the chaff and the sheep from the goats. Race and religion have again come to the forefront of our woes and when mixed with worldwide poverty, homelessness and a disastrous economic situation, they only fuel the fire some seven times hotter. I don’t think that any of us would say that our world is not in a state of turmoil, and a very precarious one at that, where even the smallest flame, set in the wrong place, can cause an incendiary situation of enormous and catastrophic proportions.
Now if that ever occurs, who knows what the sad and devastating outcome will be eh? One thing’s for sure; it won’t be beneficial to most of the world. But enough of the negative supposition, let’s see what we can do to bring some positivity to the table nuh. And for that I strongly suggest we turn to the only area where real truth, unchangeable and indisputable truth can be found; that’s the Bible, the Lord’s Word, which like Him, doesn’t change, and hasn’t changed for thousands of years, and will continue to reign supreme for all eternity.
And as I was scanning through the Good Book earlier on, looking for a subject or topic that would grab our attention, I happened to, or was led to these words of Cousin Sol in the Book of Proverbs, re the wiles of a harlot. He starts out with this awesome warning: ‘My son, keep my words, and lay up (treasure) my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman (near kin). That they may keep thee from the strange (immoral) woman, from the stranger (seductress) which flattereth with her words.’ (Prov. 7:1-5)
What strong, but very wise sentiments my brethren. And Cousin Sol knows whereof he speaks, for he continues: ‘For at the window of my house I looked through my casement (lattice), And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths (the sons), a young man void (devoid) of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and subtile of heart (crafty).
(She is loud and stubborn (rebellious); her feet abide not in her house: Now she is without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait (lurking) at every corner.) So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent (defiant or shameless) face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows (the time is right, a religious holiday). Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt (coloured coverings of Egyptian linen). I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come let us take our fill of LOVE until the morning: let us solace (delight) ourselves with LOVES. For the goodman (my husband) is not at home, he is gone on a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed (new or full moon).’ (Prov. 7:7-20)
Oh my people, my people, that’s exactly how this evil world behaves; catches us with sweet, endearing words and promises of delight and ecstasy in the dark of night, when we are unaware, not conscious or mature enough in the Word. And as Cousin Sol further details: ‘With her much fair (enticing) speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced (seduced) him. He goeth after her straightway (immediately), as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks (a dog or lamb to its chains); Till a dart (an arrow) strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to a snare, and knoweth not that it is for (would take) his life. (Prov. 7:21-23)
That’s oh so reminiscent of the devil’s work mih people, and sadly we keep falling for it. But as Peter says, we desperately need to: ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.’ (1 Pet. 1:8) And Cousin Sol ends that chapter with these words of immortal wisdom. ‘Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline (turn away) to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.’ (Prov. 7:24-27)
And isn’t that the gospel truth precious saints of Christ! No wonder James proclaims: ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh (near) to God, and he will draw nigh to you.’ (James 4:8a) Best advice we can ever get friends! So let’s take it nuh and right now draw near to God through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
Altogether now in strong, sincere voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
So please, please, let’s heed Cousin Sol’s important warning nuh, and if we know what’s good for us, stay away from the wiles of the many harlots out there; the devil and his evil cronies. Much LOVE!
…be very careful of a sweet smile…and an enticing word…
07 Dec 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a good understanding, against the rich and mighty, awe-filled reverence towards God, awesome grace and mercy, divine retribution, fight for the poor and downtrodden, gives us thought for pause, god moves in mysterious ways, have all they that do his commandments, he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, I will greatly praise the Lord, I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, in a quandary, in this wicked perverse world, Jehovah Rapha, keeps us on the right track, make me to understand, merciful forgiving God, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, my help cometh from the Lord, my well has run dry, no coherent subject to comment on, praise him among the multitude, sincere repentance, so shall I talk of thy wondrous works, teach me O Lord, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the God who heals, the Lord is thy keeper, the Lord shall preserve thy going out and coming in, the way of thy precepts, the way of thy statutes, those that condemn his soul, turn from our evil ways, which made heaven and earth
Psalm 121:2. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth.
Oh friends, the ole fella’s in a bit of a quandary this morning; he doesn’t know what to talk about, he has no coherent subject to comment on, like my well has run dry. (smile) These things do happen to the best of us at times. However, as I was leafing through the Good Book, the Psalms in particular, I came upon some verses that seemed to be just made for today. They’re all from different psalms, but something about them just touched me and I got the great idea to put them forward for our understanding and knowledge today. And I hope that all of them, or even just one touches our hearts this Monday morning and gives us thought for pause and ‘ponderation.’ (smile)
So here goes. The first verse comes from Psalm 109 – A prayer for the punishment of the wicked – from the pen of Bruh David. After wishing divine retribution on his enemies, he boldly declares (yeahh!): ‘I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn (are judging) his soul.’ (Ps. 109:30-31)
My question is, are we praising the Lord greatly amongst the multitude of the heathen, among the numerous evildoers in our world? And do we believe that the Lord will fight for the poor and downtrodden against the rich and mighty? If our hearts are right, the answer to both questions ought to be a loud and proud: ‘YES!’
The next verse comes from Psalm 111, where the psalmist proclaims with certainty: ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.’ (Ps. 111:10) Now that’s the very essence of life my people!
And to show it’s oh so true, Job made that declaration in Job 28:28, and Cousin Sol makes the same declaration, not once, but three times; in Prov. 1:7, Prov. 9:10, and Eccl. 12:13. So there must be a whole lot of truth to it. That leads to the question, do we fear the Lord? Do we possess that awe-filled reverence toward the Lord God Almighty; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Hopefully we will all shout out another loud and proud: ‘YES!’
And then we move on to that great Psalm 119, where the author desires of the Lord: ‘Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works….Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.’ (Ps. 119:27, 33-34)
Wow mih bredrin! Those are the kinds of things we ask of the Lord when we have wisdom, when we reverence Him with our whole hearts, soul and being, because those are the things that keep us on the right track in this wicked and perverse world. And yuh know what’s next, (smile) the question of whether we desire those right-living things of the Lord? And I hear another loud and proud shout of: ‘YES, WE DO!’
Glory be mih people! That’s why we can conclude with these awesome words of the psalmist, as he talks of God’s sustaining power in Psalm 121: ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills (mountains), from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth.’ (Ps. 121:1-2) Yes friends, our help comes from nowhere or No One else but the Lord God Jehovah!
And as the psalmist continues: ‘He will not suffer thy foot to be moved (slip): he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper (protector): the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve (keep) thee from all evil. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.’ (Ps. 121:1-8) And do we believe all of that? ‘YES!’
Good! Then in awe-filled reverence and wisdom, let’s look to the Lord for the help that we desperately need today nuh. Let’s cry out to Him for succour and sustenance through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, for we desperately need His assistance. So altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world.
We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance, and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
Now please remember, the state of our hearts, if they are filled with true repentance, will decide the Lord’s answer. And who would have ‘thunked’ it eh – I didn’t have anything to say. (smile) Our God surely does move in mysterious ways. That’s why He’s such a great and wonderful God! Much LOVE!
…only when we look up…will help come from above…
23 Nov 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: chip being put in our bodies, Covid-19 records, ease their suffering, for your purposes, forgive us, God's Word, heal our land, hear our prayer, humble ourselves, if ye love me, Jehovah Rapha, keep my commandments, keep them from the evil one, leave behind a setta garbage, lose sight of the real truth, mass confusion, misinformation, misunderstanding, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, natural disasters, our God doesn't change, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, racial protests, red stages of pandemic, religious strife, repentance in our hearts, sanctify them, set them apart, sincerely seek your face, the truth shall set you free, through your truth, thy word is truth, turn from our evil ways, ultimate truth, unfounded theories, vaccine will change our DNA, virgin whiteness, winter wonderland, ye are my disciples, ye shall know the truth
John 17:17. Sanctify them (set them apart for your purposes) through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Welcome to the winter wonderland! Ah friends, that white stuff made its first grand entrance into my area for this pandemic year of 2020! And every time you see the vast amount of angelic and virgin whiteness covering everything, you can’t help but think how beautiful it looks! That is until mankind dirties it. (smile) Yes, you know we spoil everything we touch. Just look at the mess we left on the moon; everywhere we go we leave behind a setta garbage.
And though the snow has stopped falling, with the temperature dropping overnight and freezing up stuff, it’s going to be a rough commute this Monday morning. So if you have to be out there in those unpleasant conditions, please be very careful, especially for the crazies. However, I do believe that the traffic will be somewhat less than normal because of the red stages of pandemic lockdown in the Greater Toronto and surrounding area, where the incidence of the Covid -19 has recently been heightened, setting new records almost every day.
And sadly, there is so much misunderstanding, misinformation and unfounded theories on the virus that our society is terribly conflicted about it. That means, even when we do get a vaccine that will ease the pressure, many people will refuse to take it for any number of reasons, including these two that are currently making the rounds; a chip is being put in our bodies to control us, or whatever is in the vaccine will change our DNA, and thus our lives.
Hn! How strange it is, that the more advanced our society becomes, the more we seem to question, disbelieve and come up with all kinds of ridiculous theories and truths, and eventually lose sight of the real truth: God’s Word. Like if there can be more than one truth eh? The truth is always the truth, it doesn’t change.
And how do we know that God’s Word is the ultimate truth eh? In the first place, Jesus, amongst other things said that He was the truth. ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’ (John 14:6) Then in that same chapter, when Jesus talks about the promise of the Holy Spirit, He tells the disciples: ‘If ye LOVE me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him: for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.’ (John 14:15-17)
Yes friends, the Holy Spirit, another part of our Godhead, the Holy Trinity is also truth, and He dwells in ALL believers. And later on, when Jesus prays for the disciples, He says: ‘I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil (one). They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them (set them apart for your purposes) through thy truth: thy word is truth.’ (John 17:15-17) So you see, however you take it, truth stems from our Godhead!
And furthermore, as Jesus said to the Jews who believed in Him. ‘If ye continue (abide) in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ (John 8:31-32) What more can I say eh mih people…to know truth you have to know Jesus, abide in Him and He in you, and then that glorious, that everlasting truth, the truth which changes not, like our God doesn’t change, will set you free, and bring peace, joy and eternal life to your spirit which is made in the magnificent image of our mighty God!
Wow! Isn’t that wonderful? It surely is! So now, let’s come to that same Godhead in sincere prayer, just like He desires us to, and through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, place all our wants, desires and needs, cast all of our cares upon Him, because He cares for us.
Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
So what’s the next move now eh? To stand by our vow of repentance and abide in His word and truth, that He can heal us and our land! Much LOVE!
…only when one knows God…can one know truth…
16 Nov 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a dream scenario, a merciful forgiving gracious God, answer our prayers, apostasy, cast all your care on Him, christianity, Covid-19, darlings of nature, denying the power, disagreement, disunity, divisiveness, drought, ever learning, false accusers, famine, forgive us, from such turn away, having a form of godliness, he cares for you, heady, heal our land, high-minded, humble ourselves, in the last days, lead captive silly women, LOVE, lovers of pleasures, mighty winds, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, myriad of problems, never able to come to, not lovers of God, pandemic, perilous times shall come, rejection of religion, religion without power, slashing rain, the knowledge of the truth, the only place where real truth exists, the word of the Lord, this know also, traitors, trucebreakers, without natural affection
2 Timothy 3:1. This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
Oh my people, let’s hope that the mighty winds and slashing rains we received up here yesterday are over and done with today yes, because those sometime darlings of nature did a fair amount of damage in the province on Sunday. A lot of people are still without power, and there’s wind-blown debris scattered all over. Hopefully not too much damage was done to homes and other buildings.
But the wind was something else yesterday oui! I could hear it raging like a wild animal outside my window, driving the now naked trees into being an unwilling partner in a forceful dance. And it would be nice if our myriad of problems could behave like that; spring up, do their damage and then settle down again. But unfortunately that’s not the case, that’s only a dream scenario. Our problems, individual and societal don’t ever seem to dissipate that easily. They appear to persist forever, despite our efforts to curtail them.
But how can we do that eh, when we have so much divisiveness, disunity and disagreement on the causes of the problems and the best way to solve them. It’s so difficult to get two people to agree on anything nowadays, much less to get a whole nation or society. The problem is we have too many choices and too many false teachers are spreading too much false doctrine. That brings us to these fateful words of Bruh Paul to Timothy re the coming apostasy – rejection of religion, in this instance, Christianity.
‘This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be LOVERS of their own selves, covetous (money LOVERS), boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers (irreconcilable), false accusers (slanderers), incontinent (without self-control), fierce (brutal), despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady (reckless), high-minded (haughty), LOVERS of pleasures, more (rather) than LOVERS of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.’ (2 Tim. 3:1-5)
Ah friends, you’d think that Bruh Paul was living down the street, because all that he said so long ago is coming true right now. Those descriptions above fit our current world to a T. So if our world is so ungodly and divisive, how can we ever live in peace and harmony eh?
And just a couple of notes from the scholars on the verses above. ‘3:1-4.The last days began with the birth of Christ, and will culminate in Christ’s return to the earth to set up His kingdom. The prediction of perilous times indicates that apostasy will characterize the final days of the church age.’ And are we ever seeing droves of people turn away from God in these times. ‘3:5-9. A form of godliness is mere religion without power or spiritual life. Paul commands Timothy to turn away from these false teachers.’
And so too should we my faithful brethren, because as Bruh Paul continues: ‘For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.’ (2 Tim. 3:6-7) And believe me, these false teachers are not only leading silly women astray, but also many silly men, for too many of us today are very susceptible to the false doctrines of false teachers. We like too much feel good religion.
And the scholars explain: ‘Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth condemns not intense study but some esoteric quest for truth apart from God’s Word.’ Again, we find a whole lot of people today searching for truth in so many different places – esoteric, exotic and what have you – but all of them lacking any real substance of truth. Oh my people, let’s wake up nuh and come to the realization that in the Word of the Lord, is the ONLY place where the real truth exists, and thus Almighty God is the ONLY One who can help us to solve our problems.
So with that in mind, let’s go to Him now nuh, and through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, lay all those problems before Him. As Peter so rightly says, let’s cast all our care upon Him, for He cares for us. (1 Pet. 5:7) So altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world.
We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
And having said all of that, the only wise and sensible thing to do now is to sincerely turn from our evil ways, so that the Lord can heal our land. Don’t think we can fool Him with empty words nuh, because He’s not going to set anything in motion until He checks out our hearts and find that they are sincere and true! Much LOVE!
…ONLY God…through Christ Jesus…can settle, strengthen and establish us…
09 Nov 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: a little folding of the hands to sleep, a little slumber, a process, all grown over with thorns, as one that traveleth, come short in obedience, compliance to your word, Covid-19, entitlement, forgive us, God gives you the power to be successful, heal our land, hear and answer our prayers, how long wilt thou sleep, I looked upon it, I received instruction, if you don't sow you can't reap, Jehovah Rapha, laziness, mass confusion, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, natural disasters, nettles had covered the face thereof, O sluggard, out of thy sleep, overseer, prepare for predictable circumstances, privilege, resting on our laurels, self-starting ants, sincere repentance, sleeping late, so shall thy poverty come, standards falling, standing in faith, storing up warmth in my soul, summer days, taskmaster, the field of the slothful, the God who heals, the man void of understanding, the stone wall was broken down, the true road to success, the vineyard, thy want as an armed man, we have all sinned, when wilt thou arise, wisdom to the nth degree, wise guidance and direction, work ethic, yet a little sleep
Proverbs 6:9. How long wilt thou sleep (lie down), O sluggard (lazy one)? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Summer days are here again friends, summer days are here again! Yes, this past week has been sunny and fairly warm, especially yesterday, when I was out on my front porch getting a tan in the afternoon, enjoying the hot, bright rays of the sun, providing, storing up warmth in my soul for the upcoming winter, doing like the wise, self-starting ants. (smile) Who, like Cousin Sol says, doesn’t have a ruler or overseer or taskmaster, but nonetheless wisely gathers food in the summer harvests for the cold, famine like, winter days. (Prov. 6:6-8)
And according to the weather forecasters, we might even have a few more decent days this week. Thank the Lord yes! For how often do you have such summery weather in November eh? Not very often nuh. So let’s enjoy it while it lasts, because after that… Hn! After that comes the cold. (smile) And having spoken about the wisdom of the ants, Cousin Sol goes on to ask a most insightful question of us: ‘How long wilt thou sleep (lie down), O sluggard (lazy one)? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?’ (Prov. 6:9)
Now that’s a question which is very appropriate for our easy come, easy go society, where privilege and entitlement play such a great part, where so many of us are unproductive, not contributing anything worthwhile to our world. As the saying goes, if you don’t sow, you can’t reap. But then again, what you reap depends on what you sow. And if so many of us are sowing laziness and unproductivity, then what do we expect to reap eh, just more of the same? And Cousin Sol answers his question thus:‘Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep (to rest): So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth (as a prowler), and thy want (need) as an armed man.’ (Prov. 6:10-11)
Oh my people poverty and misfortune don’t always fall upon us all at once, but more often it’s a process, when we’re not wise enough to prepare for predictable circumstances or eventualities. Consequently, constant laziness will eventually bring dire poverty. And the sad part is that we don’t usually notice it, it creeps up on us gradually, until one day it suddenly hits us full in the face like an armed robber whom we didn’t expect to encounter.
And that is exactly what’s happening too much in our world today. Too many of us are resting on our laurels and as a result our standards are falling, our work ethic is slowly disappearing. And you know what eventually happens when the standards and work ethic of a society, of a nation decrease – that nation is on the way down!
And these words of Cousin Sol later on in Proverbs provide an appropriate picture of such unfortunate circumstances. ‘I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding. And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof (its surface), and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.’ (Prov. 24:30-32)
And what instruction do you think he received from that sorry state of affairs eh? The same thing he discovered earlier: ‘‘Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep (to rest): So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth (as a prowler), and thy want (need) as an armed man.’ (Prov. 24:33-34)
Thus, as the scholars explain: 24:3-34. The slothful is too lazy to keep thorns and nettles out of his vineyard or to keep his stone wall repaired. His laziness is further exhibited in sleeping late when he should be working. Therefore his poverty shall come as one that traveleth; that is, a bandit or a vagabond. Small surrenders lead to great disasters.’
And isn’t that the gospel truth my brethren! Small, seemingly unimportant things, do add up to large disasters. And right now our society is suffering from a lot of small happenings over time, that have finally become major matters, which we can’t seem to deal with successfully. So what is the answer eh, beside being productive and diligent? Turn to the One who created us, and is mightier than us. That’s wisdom to the nth degree! That’s the true road to success! So let’s do that right now nuh, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
All together now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
Yes precious people, our ONLY true hope is in our God, through our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus! Please, I implore us to sincerely turn back to Him in true repentance, so that He can keep His promises and heal us and our land! Much LOVE!
…remember God…for it is He…who gives you the power to be successful… (Deut. 8:18)
02 Nov 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: all flesh is grass, all scripture, awesome grace and mercy, blasphemers, boasters, carried about with divers doctrines, Christ is the only true refuge, compliance to your word, covetous, disobedient to parents, false doctrines, for correction, for reproof, forgive us, given by inspiration of God, God has no pleasure in fools, grow in spiritual maturity, heady, heal our land, high-minded, humble servants, I am the Lord thy God, I change not, in the last days, inclement weather, instruction in righteousness, it is a good thing, Jehovah Rapha, Jesus - a steady rock and refuge, Jesus Christ, Jesus is not temperamental, LOVE, lovers of pleasure, lovers of their own sleves, made a vow to God, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, negative situations, not lovers of God, our foundation is built on sinking sand, perilous times shall come, profitable for doctrine, proud, religious strife, repentance, sinned and come short of obedience, the coming apostasy, the flower fades, the grass withers, the heart be established with grace, the same yesterday today and forever, the unchangeability of our God, the word of God shall stand forever, traitors, uncertain like the weather, uncertain times, unholy, unthankful, wet snow, what a crazy world we live in
Hebrews 13:8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.
Well friends, we saw the first signs of inclement winter weather yesterday evening. Thankfully though, in my area, it was just some wet snow; the kind that falls and quickly dissipates. But a warning nonetheless of what’s in store in the not too distant future. (smile) But would you believe too, that the weather people are forecasting temperatures in the mid-teens for later this week? What a crazy world we living in eh Dr. Jack!
It’s a good thing that our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ is not as temperamental and uncertain like the weather nowadays, otherwise we would be in even worse shape than we currently are. Thankfully the Good Book describes our Lord and Saviour thus: ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.’ (Heb. 13:8) That means we have a steady rock and refuge to look to in times of need.
Our world is constantly changing…and so are we, but not our God. Malachi says it boldly and plainly on His behalf: ‘For I am the Lord thy God, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.’ (Mal. 3:6) Yeh mih people, if our God wasn’t steady and long-suffering, we would have been fish food long time! (smile)
And to cement the unchangeability of our God, and our everchanging hearts, hear the prophet Isaiah as he talks about the voice crying in the wilderness: ‘The voice said, Cry (out). And he said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness (loveliness) thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit (breath) of the Lord bloweth on it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.’ (Is. 40:6-8)
I don’t think we need any more scripture to tell us of our frail and short earthly lives, or the everlasting standard that our God maintains. But because we are so frail and fickle, we tend to fall into all sorts of stuff, moving from one to the next without much rhyme or reason, unsure of what we want or intend to do. In other words, we don’t stick to any one thing for long; because our foundation is built on sinking sand.
That’s why the author of Hebrews, after telling us that Christ is steadfast, continues with this important warning. ‘Be not carried about with divers (various) and strange doctrines (teachings). For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats (food), which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.’ (Heb. 8:9) And are there ever a whole host of various, strange and false doctrines that abound in these turbulent times my brethren!
No wonder Bruh Paul could warn Timothy of the coming apostasy (abandonment of the faith). ‘Thus know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be LOVERS of their own selves, covetous (money LOVERS), boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…’ (2 Tim. 3:1-2) And isn’t that the indisputable truth in these last days of the church age. All those things above are rampant in our current society.
And Bruh Paul also adds to the list of ungodliness of our time. ‘Traitors, heady (reckless), high-minded (haughty), LOVERS of pleasures, more (rather) than LOVERS of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.’ (2 Tim. 3:4-5) Yes friends, there are a whole lot of false teachers out there, who tout a form of godliness, mere religion, but without power or spiritual life. We definitely don’t want to get mixed up with that kind. We need to stay pure and true to the gospel of Christ.
Bruh Paul said to Timothy. ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (tell us how to live): That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished (equipped) unto all good works.’ (2 Tim. 3:16-17) Yes precious people of God, the Word of God was inspired by His Holy Spirit, meant for mankind to read, study and obey, to help us grow in spiritual maturity, and be useful in whatever situation we find ourselves. We need nothing else but the Word of God in this world to live a godly life! (smile)
So with all the false and evil stuff that’s currently bothering us, let’s go home now taking all of our problems to God in sincere prayer, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. All together now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world.
We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face.
That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control. And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them.
Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
And now, please remember that we just made a vow to God change our evil ways and sincerely seek His face, so let’s pay that vow nuh, because God has no pleasure in fools, who don’t pay their vows. Much LOVE!
…in uncertain times…Christ is the only true refuge…
26 Oct 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: acknowledge God in all thy ways, awesome grace and mercy, be as a tree planted by the waters, blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, cease ye from man, come short in obedience, cursed be the man, depart from evil, desperately wicked, for we have all sinned, happy is he, he returneth to his earth, he shall be like the heath in the desert, heal our land, her leaf shall be green, his breath goeth forth, his thoughts perish, holding on tightly to Jesus, honour the Lord with thy substance, I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, in a salt land not inhabited, in that very day, in the year of drough, in these troubled times, in whom there is no help, inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, Jehovah Rapha, lean not unto thine own understanding, maketh flesh his arm, mass confusion, merciful forgiving God, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, neither shall cease from yielding fruit, nor in the son of man, pandemic of Covid 19, put not your trust in princes, salvation, shall not be careful, shall not fear when heat comes, shall not see when good cometh, show this evil world, sincere repentance, spreadeth out her roots by the river, that hath the God of Jacob for his help, that trusteth in man, the confusion that's currently reigning, the God who heals, the heart is deceitful, the storms of life, the valley of the shadow of death, this fallen wolrd, to give every man according to his ways, trust can only be earned through faithfulness, trust in the Lord, trust to tell us the truth, wherein is he to be accounted of, whose breath is in his nostrils, whose heart departeth from the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord his God, whose hope the Lord is, with all thine heart
Psalm 146:5. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:
‘Come Monday, everything will be all right. Come Monday, I’ll be holding you tight.’ Ah friends, just hoping that this Monday morning in this crazy year of 2020, we’ll be holding on tightly to Jesus and nobody else, because, as we can see from the confusion that’s currently reigning, there’s no one else that we can trust to tell us the truth in these troubled times.
That’s why the psalmist wisely warned us so long ago. ‘Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man (a human being), in whom there is no help (salvation). His breath goeth forth (his spirit departs, he dies), he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.’ (Ps. 146:3-4) Yeh friends, once the prince, or the human being dies, all his thoughts perish with him, and he is no longer of any real use to you, can’t offer any advice or do anything for you.
As Isiah concurs with the palmist. ‘Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of?’ (Is. 2:22) Good question my brethren. And Jeremiah puts it this way: ‘Thus saith the Lord; cursed be the man that trusteth in man (man’s strength), and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath (a shrub) in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.’ (Jer. 17:5-6)
Yuh see what trusting mankind brings? And I think that should be enough scripture for now to show us that trusting in mankind is definitely not wisdom. However, listen as the psalmist continues: ‘Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:’ (Ps. 146:5)
Brother, oh brother! What wisdom! And Jeremiah corroborates it when he proclaims the blessedness of trusting the Lord. ‘Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see (fear) when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful (anxious) in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.’ (Jer. 17:7-8)
Ah mih people, who else can make those kinds of true and faithful promises eh? Nobody but the Lord God Jehovah; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! That’s why He’s the ONLY person we should put our total trust in, because He’s the ONLY One with the power, might and whatever else it takes to bring us successfully through the valley of the shadow of death and the storms of life that constantly buffet and harry us!
And that’s the gospel truth, for hear what Jeremiah says about the human condition. ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (incurably sick): who can know it?’ (Jer. 17:9) Only God alone! For He says: ‘I the Lord search the heart, I try (test) the reins (mind, the most secret parts), even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (his deeds).’ (Jer. 17:10)
Yes my brethren, I hope those scriptures were sufficient to have us thinking in a wise and godly manner, re putting too much trust in mankind. But just in case it wasn’t, here is some lagniappe from Cousin Sol. (smile) ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct (guide) thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones. Honour the Lord with thy substance (possessions), and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses (vats) shall burst out with new wine.’ (Prov. 3:5-10)
I rest my case friends. We’ll let the Holy Spirit work those scriptures into your spirit now. I’ve done all I can. Oh sorry, there’s one more thing I can do, (smile) that’s lead us in prayer, our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, taking all our problems to God in prayer, as He desires us to do. So altogether now in strong voice, in humble confidence:
‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
And please remember the Lord is searching our hearts to see if we’re since about that repentance, and it’s not just talk. So we have to make good our vows. Much LOVE!
…trust can only be earned through faithfulness…and in this fallen world…ONLY the Lord God Jehovah is truly faithful…
19 Oct 2020
by randyobrien50
in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living
Tags: abundantly pardon, action our words, as the heavens are higher than the earth, as the universe unfurls, bring light to the darkness, call ye upon him, Christ bashes some sense in our heads, Christ comes back, come short in obedience, common sense dictates, confirmation of our sincerity, continual turmoil, death, ease their suffering, evil, hardhearted, have mercy upon him, humble servants, Jehovah Rapha, joy, lays down the law, let the wicked forsake his way, LOVE, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, my thoughts are higher than your thoughts, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways, my ways higher than your ways, need your divine help, our Father who art in heaven, pandemic of Covid 19, peace, praise Your Holy Name, return unto the Lord, roll along with the tumbling tunbleweed, seek ye the Lord, sin, sincere repentance, standing in faith, stubborn, the days of man, the fool say in his heart, the Garden of Eden, the God who heals, the mass confusion, the only one, the power to solve our many problems, the unrighteous man his thoughts, there is no god, Togetherness, tumultuous times, until we implode, violence, we have all sinned, wherever the unseen wind blows us, while he is near, while he may be found, whomsoever will may come, wise guidance and direction
Isaiah 55:6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.
And the days pass, one after the other, just like they were programmed to do since the beginning of time. Likewise, the days of man, with God fulfilling them as He promised. (Ex. 23:26) And from the day that our forefathers fell for the deception of the enemy, and were kicked out of Paradise, the Garden of Eden, there has been sin, death, evil, violence and every ungodly thing that the devil and fallen man could devise corrupting the world. And I guess it will remain like that until Christ comes back and lays down the law; sets up His eternal kingdom, because mankind doesn’t seem to truly want, desire or like the things of God, like LOVE, joy, peace and togetherness.
So it’s no wonder our world has been in continual turmoil down through the ages, and right now is experiencing one of the most tumultuous times ever. And just to show that we’re not as brilliant or wise as we believe, we can’t seem to get a handle on any of the problems we’re currently facing, because we can’t even agree that there’s a problem. And those who do agree that we have problems, can’t agree on how best to fix them either. Thus, it looks like we’ll just roll along with the tumbling tumbleweed, wherever the unseen wind blows us, until we implode, or Christ comes back and bashes some sense in our heads.
But thankfully, on this Monday morning, as the universe unfurls like it ought to, I am here, on Jesus’ behalf, to try and put a li’l sense in our heads, so that we at least don’t get any worse than we currently are. We’ll bring a li’l light to the darkness that’s covering way too much of our wonderful world. And we’ll try to do that by expounding the Word of God, through His prophet Isaiah, as He generously offers free mercy to all and sundry. ‘Whomsoever will may come.’ That’s it in a nutshell.
Now hear the words the Lord put in Isaiah’s mouth, way back then, words that are still applicable to us today, since our world has not changed, possibly gotten worse, if anything. ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.’ (Is. 55:6) Now isn’t that marvellous advice my brethren, especially in these rough and tough times? It surely is, especially since we can’t seem to solve our many problems in our own strength. And common sense dictates that if you can’t solve a problem, then you go to a higher power for help.
And the highest power we can ever go to is Almighty God. And He spells it out for us in no uncertain terms. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Is. 55:8-9) Now if that isn’t putting us in our place then I don’t know what it is nuh! (smile) And the scholars tell us that ‘While God may certainly be known by men, He is still incomprehensible in the totality of His person and purposes.’
Yeh friends, though our God is close to us, our minds are too puny to even contemplate His true greatness. And despite His awesomeness, He’s most magnanimous and merciful. Hear how Isaiah puts it. ‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ (Is. 55:7)
Oh mih people, what a wonderful promise from our Creator! And we all know that He faithfully keeps all His promises, so why are we so reluctant to turn back to Him and receive forgiveness and mercy, grace andLOVE, reconciliation, righteousness, justification and sanctification, all earned on the strength of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary eh? It just doesn’t make sense. As I keep saying, when the Israelites messed up and suffered for it, they were quick to run back to God and receive forgiveness.
Why won’t we eh? Why are we so stubborn and hardhearted, revelling in our disobedience, as we pay an exorbitant price for it? I really don’t know nuh. I guess my mind is just not big and wise enough to fathom such mighty things. (smile) Anyhow, for those of us who are willing to stand by the promise of God, let’s seek His face right now nuh, let’s call upon Him through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, so that we can find Him and receive forgiveness and all the other wonderful things He has to offer.
As one now, in confident humility: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
The next move is for us to action those words, and begin showing sincere repentance in our hearts, for that’s where the Lord is looking for confirmation of our sincerity.Much LOVE!
…the fool says in his heart…there is no God…how foolish…
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SCRIP-BITS 
Today’s Scrip-Bit 7 December 2020 Psalm 121:2.
07 Dec 2020 Leave a comment
by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: a good understanding, against the rich and mighty, awe-filled reverence towards God, awesome grace and mercy, divine retribution, fight for the poor and downtrodden, gives us thought for pause, god moves in mysterious ways, have all they that do his commandments, he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, I will greatly praise the Lord, I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, in a quandary, in this wicked perverse world, Jehovah Rapha, keeps us on the right track, make me to understand, merciful forgiving God, Monday Morning Battle Hymn, my help cometh from the Lord, my well has run dry, no coherent subject to comment on, praise him among the multitude, sincere repentance, so shall I talk of thy wondrous works, teach me O Lord, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the God who heals, the Lord is thy keeper, the Lord shall preserve thy going out and coming in, the way of thy precepts, the way of thy statutes, those that condemn his soul, turn from our evil ways, which made heaven and earth
Psalm 121:2. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth.
Oh friends, the ole fella’s in a bit of a quandary this morning; he doesn’t know what to talk about, he has no coherent subject to comment on, like my well has run dry. (smile) These things do happen to the best of us at times. However, as I was leafing through the Good Book, the Psalms in particular, I came upon some verses that seemed to be just made for today. They’re all from different psalms, but something about them just touched me and I got the great idea to put them forward for our understanding and knowledge today. And I hope that all of them, or even just one touches our hearts this Monday morning and gives us thought for pause and ‘ponderation.’ (smile)
So here goes. The first verse comes from Psalm 109 – A prayer for the punishment of the wicked – from the pen of Bruh David. After wishing divine retribution on his enemies, he boldly declares (yeahh!): ‘I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn (are judging) his soul.’ (Ps. 109:30-31)
My question is, are we praising the Lord greatly amongst the multitude of the heathen, among the numerous evildoers in our world? And do we believe that the Lord will fight for the poor and downtrodden against the rich and mighty? If our hearts are right, the answer to both questions ought to be a loud and proud: ‘YES!’
The next verse comes from Psalm 111, where the psalmist proclaims with certainty: ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.’ (Ps. 111:10) Now that’s the very essence of life my people!
And to show it’s oh so true, Job made that declaration in Job 28:28, and Cousin Sol makes the same declaration, not once, but three times; in Prov. 1:7, Prov. 9:10, and Eccl. 12:13. So there must be a whole lot of truth to it. That leads to the question, do we fear the Lord? Do we possess that awe-filled reverence toward the Lord God Almighty; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Hopefully we will all shout out another loud and proud: ‘YES!’
And then we move on to that great Psalm 119, where the author desires of the Lord: ‘Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works….Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.’ (Ps. 119:27, 33-34)
Wow mih bredrin! Those are the kinds of things we ask of the Lord when we have wisdom, when we reverence Him with our whole hearts, soul and being, because those are the things that keep us on the right track in this wicked and perverse world. And yuh know what’s next, (smile) the question of whether we desire those right-living things of the Lord? And I hear another loud and proud shout of: ‘YES, WE DO!’
Glory be mih people! That’s why we can conclude with these awesome words of the psalmist, as he talks of God’s sustaining power in Psalm 121: ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills (mountains), from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth.’ (Ps. 121:1-2) Yes friends, our help comes from nowhere or No One else but the Lord God Jehovah!
And as the psalmist continues: ‘He will not suffer thy foot to be moved (slip): he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper (protector): the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve (keep) thee from all evil. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.’ (Ps. 121:1-8) And do we believe all of that? ‘YES!’
Good! Then in awe-filled reverence and wisdom, let’s look to the Lord for the help that we desperately need today nuh. Let’s cry out to Him for succour and sustenance through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, for we desperately need His assistance. So altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You that this Monday morning we’re alive and standing in faith despite the mass confusion that’s currently prevailing in our world.
We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems; the pandemic of Covid -19, the racial, political, and religious strife that’s ignited worldwide, plus the natural disasters like storms, famine, drought, plagues, climate change, wildfires, earthquakes and erupting volcanoes that suddenly seem to be blossoming more and more as time goes by.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously come short in obedience and compliance to Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, and You have faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us, ordinary folks, as well as our leaders, employers and medical personnel, wise guidance, and direction to bring our problems under control.
And for those who are currently suffering from the many negative situations, we pray that You will ease their suffering and heal them. Father, please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again we say: Amen!’
Now please remember, the state of our hearts, if they are filled with true repentance, will decide the Lord’s answer. And who would have ‘thunked’ it eh – I didn’t have anything to say. (smile) Our God surely does move in mysterious ways. That’s why He’s such a great and wonderful God! Much LOVE!
…only when we look up…will help come from above…