It’s High Time Christians Stop Being So Lethargic and Wake Up to Their Responsibilities, and the Imminent Second Coming of Jesus!

24 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

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

Romand 13:11.         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.

And after Monday comes Tuesday… just like the Lord designed it. Yes mih bredrin, it’s a brand new day, and we’re still alive and kicking so let’s give our wonderful Lord and Saviour much thanks for the breath of life that’s still flowing through our finite, fragile, mortal bodies, not forgetting the hope of salvation and eternal life that He so selflessly died to provide for us. And all God’s people sent up a sincere prayer of ‘Thank You Jesus! You are the Greatest! And we LOVE and worship you with all of our hearts, souls, bodies and minds! Amen!’

Ah friends, it’s so good when we give God thanks for His wonderful attention and blessings to us underserving children of men. And it’s something I don’t think we do often enough, because we don’t truly understand/or appreciate how good God has been to us, when He had no reason whatsoever to be. Instead, He had, and still has, every reason to destroy us completely for our prideful and rebellious attitude towards Him.

But as the Bible tells us He LOVED us so dearly and is so longsuffering or patient with us, and didn’t want any of His most wonderful creation to perish, but that all should come to repentance, (2 Pet. 3:9) that He broke His own heart and sent His ONE Son, yes His ONLY Son to earth to die for our rebelliousness, so that all who believed in Him could have everlasting life and not perish in the fires of hell, where we were all destined for, before Christ’s death ransomed us. (John 3:16)

So, when we talk about being indebted to our heavenly Father, it’s no joke or simple matter, because it’s a debt we can never repay. But the good thing about our God is that He doesn’t require repayment, all He needs is for us to sincerely accept His Son Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and thus gain salvation and eternal life. And why is that? Because it’s Jesus who, in obedience to the Father’s will, paid our sin debt in full with the selfless sacrifice of His sinless life.

That’s why the Word says: ‘Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of (those) things in heaven, and (those) things in earth, and those (things) under the earth; And that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil. 2: 9-11)

Now that’s how the Father rewards those who do His will. Are we in line for rewards…are we doing His will to the best of our ability? I doubt it. Otherwise, neither Christ’s body, the church, nor the world would be in such a terrible state, with dissensions, divisions, hate, greed, strife and all the negative aspects front and centre, rather than in the background.

And it’s no wonder that Satan is ruling the roost, because we supposed Christians, supposed believers in Christ Jesus, are not doing what He desires of His followers, namely to be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world, and thus show others how living with and for Him is the best life possible. In other words, we’re not doing as Jesus says: ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt. 5:16)

And that’s the sad truth! We believers are not stepping up to the plate sufficiently and hitting the many home runs that we need to turn things around in this evil and ungodly world. Remember that doing nothing to improve matters, is the same as encouraging them to be bad. So, sitting on the sidelines and seeing evil and ungodliness being perpetrated all over the world when you’re in a position to make some small improvement, makes you just as guilty as the perpetrators of the evil and ungodliness.

Consequently, a whole lot of us supposed Christians are guilty of plenty evil and ungodliness, for there’s always some small way that we can mitigate those negative circumstances, if it’s even in our own families or neighbourhoods. Oh friends, any evil or ungodliness mitigated is a win for Christ! Most of us can’t be big movers and shakers of the world, but we can certainly do stuff right in our backyards to improve the situation. It’s just that too many of us who call ourselves Christians, are either afraid of what others might say and/ or do, or too lazy and comfortable in our material wellbeing, and thus we refuse to get up off of our fat fannies and do something worthwhile for Christ!

But under those circumstances, here are two scriptures that we should consider well. The first comes from Bruh Paul to his protégé Timothy, regarding fear. ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound (disciplined) mind.’ (2 Tim. 1:7) And the second in Jesus words, is like unto it: ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ (Matt. 10:28)

Now, that means you should not fear mankind, because they can only kill your body and not your soul. But the One to be truly afraid of is Almighty God, who can kill both body and soul in the roaring fires of hell! And it’s a sad fact that many, if not most of us are more afraid of man than of God. How foolish! But I guess we are more concerned about our bodies than our souls. However, let’s remember there are consequences for every misdeed, and sometimes those consequences can be mind boggling and also life-altering.

Anyway, let’s hope what we’ve spoken of today will jumpstart our consciences, will wake us from our stupor, for as Bruh Paul says to the Roman church: ‘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. 13:11-12) And as this commentary explains: ‘That means there’s no place for spiritual lethargy in the Christian life. Believers must live in urgent expectation and wide-awake preparedness for what is coming because “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20)

So, nuff said. Let’s go home now declaring (chuh!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock stock and barrel! As one strong and sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

And with those words, we’ve now become duty bound to go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…it’s time for believers to heed the wake up call…for who knows what will happen tomorrow…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit   15 September 2022 Matthew 12:25.

15 Sep 2022 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 12:25.       Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.

Oh friends, these last few days of September summer have been ever so glorious, beautiful sunshine with warm, shirtsleeve temps. You know we have a habit of cursing September, believing that as soon as Labour Day passes the cold spell sets in. But it hasn’t been that way this year at all. The temperature has dropped some during the night hours, but still at comfortable levels that I can leave my bedroom window open. 

Anyway, since we don’t know how much longer this good spell of weather will last, please, let’s enjoy it, make the most of it, give much thanks, especially when others are experiencing either violent floods or terrible drought. And for those unfortunate ones living in those areas, if we cannot offer physical or monetary aid, then we ought to at least offer up prayers for their welfare in their time of calamity. Remember the Good Book tells us that ‘The effectual (effective) prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ (James 5:16) And since we consider ourselves saints of God, children of God, then we must be righteous, and our prayers very effective. 

Ah mih people, with the surprising increase in communication technology, our world has now become more like a global village than ever. That means we have to take more notice of each other, our pains and our tears, and do much more to help one another. The small-minded, insular attitudes we have, or had when there wasn’t as much easy communication, now has to change. We need to adopt a bigger, or global vision, especially for Christ’s church, which is supposed to be one of the biggest movers and shakers all over God’s world. 

But unfortunately, we are not living up to that designation. We are still mostly concerned about, and concentrating on our own li’l insular space. But Christ desires a worldwide ministry, one of togetherness and unity, not the divided and dissension filled church that now passes for His ministry. Remember Jesus words: ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.’ (Matt. 12:25) 

And since Jesus only spoke truth, it’s obvious that if His church is now more divided and dysfunctional than ever, it either won’t stand for long, or will not be very useful in doing His work of spreading the gospel to all ends of the earth and bringing the lost and enslaved to His welcoming kingdom. I don’t believe that there’s ever been a time like right now, when Christ’s church needs to get together more than ever. 

Unfortunately though, every day we see more drifting apart, with new denominations and sub-denominations, cults and other cliques being formed. That obviously is not good for Christ’s ministry, since it means that supposed believers cannot agree on the important aspects of their faith. But please, please, let’s remember Bruh Paul’s words to the Ephesians when he wrote to them about the unity of all believers, both Jewish and Gentile. 

‘But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes (since) were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he (himself) is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition (division) between us. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances: for to make (create) in himself of twain (the two) one new man, so making peace. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain (put to death) the enmity thereby.’ (Eph. 2:13-16) 

And the long and short of all that my brethren is that Jesus by His death on the cross, unified the Jewish and Gentile believers under one banner, the Christian Church, removing the enmity, or the middle partition that the Mosaic law the Jews wrongly felt gave them superiority over the Gentiles. So, if the enmity between Jews and Gentiles has now been dispelled, and unity achieved in one common church of Christ, then why are Gentiles splitting up like crazy eh? 

Oh my fellow believers, we all know that division and/or dissension never accomplish a common purpose, which Christ’s church is supposed to have, so it’s time to stop the childish, selfish, power-seeking behaviour that’s rampant in the church right now. Time to stop the bleeding my brethren, because that same divisiveness and infighting is driving many possible believers away from Christ instead of toward Him. The simple fact of the matter is that nothing survives if it keeps on dividing and becoming smaller and less important. 

And with the myriad of problems currently engulfing our world, the one constant body throughout it all ought to be Christ’s church! That’s why He founded it! It ought to be a place of help and refuge for the lost and dispossessed, where food and succour can be found regardless of race, colour and creed. A place to provide peace and salvation when the physical wants of the body have been satisfied. But is that what the church is about these days? I don’t think so nuh…or at least not to the extent that it ought to be. 

And it’s because we are falling down in our basic responsibilities that people are not turning to Christ and His church as much as they should. There’s not enough confidence in what we’re doing, in the examples we’re setting, to draw people to Christ. And the only way that will ever change is when we believers start uniting instead of dividing, and truly start living for one and only one purpose, the glory and manifestation of Christ Jesus. And for those of us who are sincerely trying to do that, the Lord has bestowed upon us tools to accomplish His purpose. We call them our Thursday Blessings, and we activate them by declaring (oh no!!!) them out loud. 

So as one strong, sincere and confident voice. ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And now that we have activated those blessings, let’s go out and use them to bring others to Christ nuh, like we ought to. Much LOVE!

…united, we stand…divided, we fall…it’s as simple as that… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 May 2016 Matthew 5:16.

29 May 2016 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 5:16.    Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Well my people, a new week has begun! Yes it’s Sunday, the Lord’s Day, the day for worshipping and praising and fellowshipping and rejuvenating our spirits at God’s sanctuary, or wherever two or three of God’s children choose to gather! 

That’s the beauty of our faith; we don’t have to meet in a physical building, although that’s nice, but we can meet anywhere at all, under any conditions, and still invoke the Spirit of Christ to lead us in praise and worship. 

Neither do we have to always meet in great numbers, although that too would be desirable, but we can have church with only two or three believers. I remember doing that some years ago. On a particularly cold winter’s morn, just the priest, Rev. Anne, the lay reader and I showed up for the 8.30 service. So they called me up to the altar, and we had church. 

And you know there’s something about having church with only a few people that I like. I don’t know if it’s because there seems to be more intimacy with God and with each other. As the saying goes, there’s more room for God in an empty church. (smile) 

Anyway, enough of my rambling, let’s move along, because we have plenty stuff to share this last Sunday morning in May of 2016. And we are going to begin with this prayerful poem of Gramps Schuller (Robert H. Schuller) from his Hour of Power Devotional. It’s called ‘Fill Me!’ And it was so fine, I had to play it one more time. (smile) 

Please pray with me. ‘O Lord, like the thirsty deer which goes to drink from the mountain spring; like the growing flower which turns hungrily to the satisfying sun; like the empty pitcher which is carried to the fountain to be filled; so I come, O God, knowing that in this time of prayer my soul will be filled with your LOVE and your truth. Thank you! Amen.’ 

Yes Friends, we definitely need our souls to be filled with God’s LOVE and truth so that we can sincerely and successfully perform what Jesus asks of us in our Bit. ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ 

Remember yesterday we spoke about being the salt of the earth and the light of the world; our condition and our mission? Well that salt and light ought to morph into good works which will glorify, exalt, and raise the esteem of our heavenly Father. The unbeliever will see our faithful service and thus come to embrace the living Christ as their Lord and Saviour too. 

Now Jesus, as is His wont, is putting it nicely to us here my fellow believers, but He didn’t have to, because that’s our bounden duty, it’s our main purpose here on earth, why we were created in the first place; to have fellowship with God, to glorify and exalt Him with our truly Christian conduct and consequently lead others to Him. 

And I hope that we sincerely pondered our individual situations on the subject as I asked, and then prayed to God for help to rectify and/or improve our personal testimonies of being salt and light in a dark, bland and evil world. 

Oh my people, it’s ever so important that we let our lights shine brilliantly wherever we are so that Jesus’ LOVE Revolution can grow, and we can spread the good news of His gospel to the entire world as He commanded in the Great Commission. 

‘Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always(s), even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt.28:19-20) 

Yes friends, all of that is included in being salt and light on God’s great earth! 

Now hear how Peter puts it when he talks about living as servants of God. ‘Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 

Having your conversation (conduct) honest (honourable) among the Gentiles: that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 

Submit yourselves to every ordinance (institution) of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors; as unto them sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 

For so is the will of God that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness (evil), but as the servants of God. Honour all men, LOVE the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.’ (1 Pet.2:11-17) 

Yes my brethren, that’s basically how we as Christians, followers of Christ, ought to live! Submit to authority, have a kind heart to everyone, especially to fellow believers, and above all, honour, reverence, fear, glorify and exalt Almighty God, our Creator and Provider! 

Now, as we all know, it’s not easy living sincerely and successfully for Christ in this evil world, filled with numerous lusts and temptations, but if we walk and talk and be led by the Holy Spirit of God that dwells within us, we can make a positive difference in the world. 

And yuh know friends, that’s all Jesus really desires of us; to make a positive difference in our earthly sojourn, no matter how small and seemingly negligible it might be. We can’t all be worldly movers and shakers, but we can ALL be effective believers and doers of the Word in our small spheres of influence. So let’s do it nuh. Much LOVE!

…even the smallest good deed in Christ’s name…will be well rewarded by our heavenly Father…