Today’s Scrip-Bit 26 November 2018 Hebrews 12:1.

26 Nov 2018 Leave a comment

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

Hebrews 12:1.   ​Wherefore seeing (since) we also are compassed about with (surrounded by) so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset (ensnare) us, and let us run with patience (endurance) the race that is set before us.
 

Well a Happy Cyber Monday to all you my wonderful friends and Scrip-Bit family out there in God’s great universe! It is a joy coming to you today in the name of the Lord, but not this early though. (smile) You can thank the medics again for that, because I have an early appointment for a vision test in the city. I’m tempted to cancel it, but the Lord’s telling me that wouldn’t be wise since it’s all for my benefit and no one else’s. 

So, ergo, I’m up and about His business this early in the morning. But when and where is it going to end eh? I’m talking about the mad rush for sales that are not really sales, only eye candy to draw you into these business places to spend what you don’t have on what you don’t need. Last Friday was called Black Friday; the day to do the rushing at the physical stores. Today has been aptly named, Cyber Monday; the day for online shopping! 

But how much shop can we shop eh people? I know I can’t afford to shop at all! (smile) And what do I really need that’s out there, that’s theoretically much cheaper than at other times eh? NOTHING! I have more stuff than I can already use. Right now I’m in the giving away mode rather than the acquiring one.

But the economic czars are not happy unless their cash machines are continually going, ‘kaching, kaching!’ And they will selfishly and greedily throw out all kinds of enticements to make it happen. But please don’t be taken in by their lures my friends. It’s just the devil’s work at hand in a different guise. 

Anyway, it’s Monday, and plenty of us are sad and miserable, so let’s invoke the grace and mercy of our great God Jehovah by declaring our Monday Morning Battle Hymn in strong voice with sincere hearts. 

As one now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. 

We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. 

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. 

Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ 

Yeh friends, that’s a powerful call to our omnipotent Creator! And I’m sure we’re all feeling a li’l lighter and brighter in our spirits now because He has allowed His Holy Spirit to work in us the way we asked. So now, let’s get on our horses and ride nuh, ride the good race for Jesus! 

As Bruh Paul says in our Bit: ‘​Wherefore seeing (since) we also are compassed about with (surrounded by) so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset (ensnare) us, and let us run with patience (endurance) the race that is set before us.’ 

Yes my believing brethren, we’re all in a race, and the heroes of faith, plus the basic and simple witnesses who have gone before us are looking down on us with great expectation that we should finish it like the champions we’re meant to be. It’s not an easy race to run, but we’ve been gifted with all that we need to successfully run it. 

And yuh see, we even different from Bruh Paul; he was running the race, but we’re riding the race, (smile) because we have much improved means of getting around than Bruh Paul had in his day. We can also get the message out further and faster than he could. So although our mode of living and spreading the good news gospel might be slightly different, our big job is still to live it as exemplarily as we can, and spread it as far and wide and forcibly as we have opportunity to. 

And the catalyst and example we have for doing all that is none other than our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Listen to Bruh Paul again: ‘Looking unto Jesus the author (originator) and finisher (perfector) of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of the God.’ (Heb.12:2) 

Yay mih breddren! Jesus set the course of faith and finished it with excellence, despising any shame and other negative stuff that was involved in it. And thus the Lord had Him sit at His right hand after enduring the cross on our behalf without any complaints. Likewise, we are expected to finish our earthly race without too much complaining, looking forward to the great rewards that have been laid up in heaven for those who finish the race successfully. 

Jesus is standing at the door to heaven to greet us with a big hug and a bright and exhilarating: ‘Welcome and well done, thou good and faithful servant!’ Just imagine that wonderful greeting in your mind’s eye nuh, and it will help you to keep on keeping on! Much LOVE!

…riding for Jesus…Wow…it’s the most exhilarating and exciting activity on earth…

 

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 25 September 2018 Psalm 34:4.

25 Sep 2018 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 34:4.    ​I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

 

Oh mercy, mercy me! Another medical journey into that confused, misguided and badly governed city of Toronto! Hence the early publication of the Bit. But it’s all to my benefit, so cheers! Let’s have a shot of caffeine to celebrate the occasion. (smile) 

Oh, this great adventure in sickness is drawing to a close…at least I think so, so hopefully it won’t be much longer before I stop having all these medical appointments. At least they will be much fewer and further between. That’s my prophetic declaration! (smile) 

But here is something from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin, that we all could use this fall morning. It’s titled ‘Fear Not.’ Please pray with me. ‘Again and again, dear Lord I read Your words, “Fear not.” Surely You would not say it so often If there were any reason to fear. Nor would You command it so explicitly If You could not keep me from fearing. 

God, You have given me a Fear Not For every puzzling circumstance For every possible emergency For every trial and testing Real or imagined. Yet I confess wasted hours – Even days, dear Lord When fear clutches and clobbers me Until I am physically and emotionally spent. Lord, when David cried to You, You delivered him from all his fears. On this gray-sky morning I kneel before You with David’s cry. O my Father, I cannot believe You would be less kind to me Than you were to David.’ 

And NO, God will NEVER turn away or be less kind to one of His very own children! That’s His ever-faithful promise! So we can be assured that whatever fear that’s troubling us, if we take it to God in prayer, we will receive relief and succour from it. 

But isn’t it somewhat troubling that despite all the assurances and commands of our heavenly Father, re not to fear, we’re still such a fearful people? ‘Fear not!’ was one of the most used phrases by Jesus in His earthly sojourn. And when He said, ‘O ye of little faith,’ meant that we were also fearful, because faith dispels fear. 

And the Bible promise for that poem is also our Bit for today; the immortal words of Bruh David from Psalm 34: ‘I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.’ Yeh friends, simple, but ever so life changing words! And those from a great man of God! 

That means, although we should not be always afraid, when those times arise, we should NEVER be afraid to call on our helpful and ever-faithful God for help. Note, Bruh David said, he called out in desperation, and the Lord heard and helped him. And He WILL do the same for each and every one who calls out to Him in all sincerity and truth! 

And this is how Bruh David continues after our Bit: ‘They looked unto him, and were lightened (radiant): and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want (lack) to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want (lack) any good thing.’ (Ps.34:4-10) 

And all God’s children declared a loud, proud and ever grateful: ‘Praise the Lord for his everlasting goodness to the children of men!’ Yes friends, we know it’s the truth, even though we don’t always follow it! 

And that ‘fear’ we’re talking about is not ‘fear’ in the sense of being physically afraid of God, though we should have a touch of that because of the awesome things He can do, but it’s a sense of reverence, of acknowledgement of His strength and power and goodness and LOVE towards us. 

And the scholars offer this interesting comment on ‘Psalm 34. The historical background of this acrostic psalm (Hebrew poem of which the lines begin with the successive letters of the alphabet) is related in 1 Samuel 21:10-15. (Bruh David flees to Gath from Saul’s many attempts to kill him.) It bears all the marks of the testimony of one who narrowly escaped death, just as the passage in Samuel describes. As such, it contains the praise and testimony of the one who was redeemed  (vs.1-10) and the seasoned instruction that can stem from such deliverance (vs.11-22).’ 

Now let’s hear some of that seasoned instruction: ‘Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and LOVETH many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile (deceit). Depart from evil, and do good: seek peace and pursue it.’ (Ps.34:11-14) 

That’s wise advice indeed from someone who experienced it! So let’s remember that today nuh, as we go home now declaring our Tuesday Mantra, letting the world know who and whose we are. In strong voice with sincere hearts: ‘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 the world.  Amen!’ 

And if we’re truly sincere, we’ll go out and share it all with others, as Jesus desires of us. Much LOVE!

…between fear and faith…there’s Jesus…Glory be…

 

 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 9 July 2018 Lamentations 3:22-23.

09 Jul 2018 Leave a comment

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

Lamentations 3:22-23.   It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Ah friends, sorry the Bit is this late, but I had an early morning doctor’s appointment in the city which means everything had to be rearranged. Chuh!  If I say I’m not tired with doctor’s appointments now, I’d be lying. But they are for my benefit, so I just have to grin and bear them. And yesterday I planned to add a P.S. note about it, but I forgot. The old mind’s going. (smile) But as they say, better late than never. 

So here it is now, hot off the press. And by now most of you are at work, so your day is well advanced and you have already engaged the enemy in spiritual warfare. You might even be still suffering from the Monday blues, so it’s definitely not too late to sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, our blues antidote. It’s also nice to have a li’l pick me up in the middle of the day. (smile) 

So as one great voice now, let’s sing: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. 

We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. 

But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. 

Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’ 

Ah mih breddren, what a relief to feel the adrenaline course through our veins, to feel the Spirit of Christ just rise up to the forefront once more, and we become indefatigable (not tired) and invincible once again. Glory to our great God! 

Now yesterday we were talking about one of God’s many attributes, His compassion, and there is so much in the scriptures about it, that we’ll continue on that most worthwhile and awesome topic.  As our Bit so magnanimously states: ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.’ 

Yeh friends, without God’s compassion we’d be done like dinner long time, roasting in Hades with that fool Lucifer! (smile) But thanks to our God’s magnanimous compassion, we’re not. And what I especially like about His compassion, His mercy, is that they are brand new every day! 

Wow! Our God doesn’t give us any stale stuff. It’s like the fresh manna He gave the Israelites every day in the wilderness. Now how can we not appreciate and be grateful for that kind of treatment eh? Under those rather enviable circumstances, I don’t understand our strong desire to get rid of God from our society.  

But some of us are just wiser than others, so let’s turn to the scriptures now and check out some more of it that deals with God’s compassion. Yesterday we saw the most important aspect of it, where while we yet His enemies, the Father sent Christ to die for us. (Rom.5:6-9) Yuh can’t beat that friends! 

Now listen to Micah proclaim to the world, our God’s compassionate attribute. ‘Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by (over) the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy (LOVING-kindness). He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their (our) sins into the depths of the sea.’ (Mic.7:18-19)  

Oh my people, my people, what will it take for us to take the scriptures, the Word of God seriously eh? We’re behaving just like the Israelites did after the Lord brought them out of bondage in Egypt. The psalmist Asaph puts it nicely. Even after the Lord smote their stoutest men for their disobedience: ‘For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. 

Therefore their days did he consume in vanity (futility), and their years in trouble (sudden terror). When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early (sought diligently) after God. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. 

Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right (steadfast) with him, neither were they steadfast (faithful) in his covenant. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all their wrath. For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.’ (Ps.78:32-39). 

Yeh friends, that’s the same way we are taking advantage of God’s compassion and mercy, making believe that we have right hearts and pure motives. But please remember He does not judge by outward appearances, so no matter how much we flatter Him with the words of our mouths, He will look at out hearts to see if they are sincere or not, and at some stage give us our just desserts. 

A word of warning to the wise is supposedly sufficient. Let’s hope that we all accept that warning today. Much LOVE!

…although God’s compassion is boundless…it’s not wise…to try to play Him for a fool…