Today’s Scrip-Bit   30 January 2023 John 14:6.

30 Jan 2023 Leave a comment

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

John 14:6.        I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me.

Oh friends, is it ever great to wake up to some sparkling sunshine, though with a touch of cloud cover! (smile) And are we ever thankful that the weather forecasters were wrong, and so far, we have not gotten the big deluge of snow they had forecasted. Yes, there was a fair amount of wet snow making the place wet and slippery, but there wasn’t that much of the heavy, staying kind. So, this Monday morning’s commute, didn’t have the snow creating havoc as it tends to do. 

And seeing that we are now on the penultimate day of this first month of 2023, I believe it’s as good a time as any to review our new year resolutions and see how we’ve done so far with them…or rather it. And why simply it, you ask? Because remember we only had one resolution for this year, that’s to follow Jesus more closely, to truly try and live for Him, to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world as He desires of us. To put His Great Commission into greater effect, spread His word, His holy gospel to all the world, make disciples of all nations, so that more people would come to know and LOVE Him like we do. 

That’s a big  part our earthly purpose my brethren. And all I want us to do today, is to take a few moments and review our lives this past month based on the terms we’ve laid out above. I think it’s best for us to check on our progress early on to ensure that we are truly moving in the right direction, rather than waiting till later and sadly finding that we haven’t been living up to our resolution. By checking our progress now, we give ourselves sufficient time to correct it, if necessary. 

Oh my fellow believers, please have no doubt that this year of 2023 will be a most important one in both the world and our individual lives. It will be a watershed year, a time to make many new and difficult decisions regarding many aspects of our lives. The buzzword right now is the ‘new normal.’ Our world is at a crossroads, it has changed a lot recently, and is still changing, and this year will see the culmination of many of those changes. And we have to be ready to make the right choices and decisions so that our lives will run smoothly. 

So, it’s obvious that if we don’t have Jesus, our Lord, Saviour, Guide and Leader, truly as the Number One Priority in our lives, we are very liable to make many wrong decisions as the situations in our lives change. That means we have to concentrate a whole lot on Jesus. First of all to sincerely accept that He is indeed as He says: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me.’ (John 14:6) And not only that, but also as He so truthfully proclaimed: ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’ (John 8:12) 

And my people, it’s absolutely essential that we live in the light of Jesus more than ever this defining year of 2023, when the shadow of darkness, the powers of the evil one are being built up and solidified with each passing day and doing their best to keep us dominated and chained up in the darkness of their sinful, ungodly way of life. Yes, as Peter so seriously and sincerely warns us: ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.’ (1 Pet. 5:8) 

And that’s the indisputable truth! Satan’s efforts to ensnare the brethren have been greatly increased, he has upped the ante for our spiritual capture. That’s why it’s also important to do as Peter says: ‘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) Now that’s also the gospel truth. Our God does care deeply for us, else why did He send His sinless and only Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross to pay for our sins eh? 

Bruh Paul explains it in his letter to the Roman church: ‘But God commendeth his LOVE (demonstrated his own LOVE) toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) Wow, my fellow believers! Why would our God do such a selfless and compassionate thing if He didn’t truly care for us, His most precious creation eh? And if those reasons above don’t give us sufficient reason to believe that we desperately need Jesus in our lives, then let’s add these other most relevant reasons. 

Firstly, that He is the Prince of Peace! The ONLY ONE who can cause us to have satisfying peace and calm in the midst of the storms of life. Just think what He can do for our souls, if He can calm the mighty seas and winds by simply saying: ‘Peace be still:’ (Mark 4:39) Then Jesus is also our High Priest and advocate in heaven, working tirelessly on our behalf, constantly lobbying the Father to turn things around for us.  Hebrews tells us: ‘Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made (he had to be made) like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.’ (Heb. 2:17)  

And John talks of Christ’s advocacy in his epistle. ‘My little children, these things I write unto you, that ye sin not (may not sin). And if any man sin, we have an advocate (an intercessor) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation (redemption, atonement) for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.’ (1 John 2:1-2) Glory be my people! Jesus is indeed our everything! And now that the basic facts are before us, hopefully they will motivate us to get up and do our best to live passionately for Jesus in this pivotal year of our lives. 

Now, for those of us who sincerely believe, let’s go to the throne of grace with prayer for divine help, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. As one voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has 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 wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.  

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. 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 as always, if we expect to receive positive results from heaven, we must also make positive changes here on earth. Much LOVE!

…JESUS…our Be All…and our End All…We need no one else…

P.S. Please excuse the lateness of the Bit, but life happened to me, as it does to all of us! (smile) Much LOVE!

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ       

Today’s Scrip-Bit   23 January 2023 Psalm 145:20.

23 Jan 2023 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 145:20.       The Lord preseveth all them that LOVE him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

Well, a fine Monday morning to all you my Scrip-Bit friends and family! I do hope that all is well with you on this the first day of the new work week, and you’re bright eyed and bushy tailed, excited to get out into the evil and ungodly world and do your thing for Christ; be full of salt and shine like a blazing fire, so much so that those who come into contact with you, simply cannot refuse your witness! 

Wow! Yes that’s the way we ought to be my fellow believers, especially in these rather disturbing and turbulent times, where Christ’s church and His LOVE Revolution are falling behind the eight ball. But we’re not here today to cast aspersions, or render judgement, rather to offer encouragement and enlightenment. 

And I had to chuckle a short while ago when I came to write the Bit and had no inkling what to write about. So in my mind I asked, ‘What should I write about today Lord?’ And in a few seconds the answer came: ‘Go back to Psalm 145!’ So, since He’s the Boss and I’m just an obedient servant, then we will go back to Psalm 145, Bruh David’s Psalm of Praise to God’s Unsearchable Greatness. And beginning in verse 14, where we had stopped the last time, we read with great encouragement. 

‘The Lord upholdeth  all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee (look expectantly to you); and thou givest them their meat  (food) in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy (gracious) in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear (reverence) him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord preseveth all them that LOVE him: but all the wicked will he destroy.’ (Ps. 145: 14-20) 

Yes my fellow saints that’s the greatness and everlasting faithfulness of our Lord God Jehovah! He NEVER turns away those who sincerely put their trust in Him in all sincerity and truth. And He’s great and loyal enough to stand up for all who cry out to Him, to come to their rescue! Now that’s the wonderful, merciful, gracious and LOVING God we serve! There’s no other like Him in all creation! 

And I like how the scholars spell out the specifics for us. They say: ‘After the characteristic call to praise (vs. 1-2), David offers four key reasons to praise the Lord in the section called the cause for praise vs: 3-20): the Lord is great (vs. 3), He is gracious and merciful (vs. 8-9), He sustains all who fall (vs. 14), and He is righteous in His ways and kind are His deeds (vs. 17)’  And what’s the welcome conclusion of all that? A renewal of the call to praise in (vs.21), which we haven’t look at as yet. 

So let’s do that right now nuh. In conclusion, Bruh David solemnly proclaims: ‘My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. Amen!’ (Ps. 145: 21) Oh my people, if we could only do those two things – praise the Lord and bless His holy name – a li’l more often that we do, life would improve so much, that we wouldn’t even recognize it. (smile) 

And that’s a major problem we have amongst believers today. For whatever reason, too many of us refuse to praise the Lord and bless His holy name, refuse to pay Him the homage He so rightly deserves for all the wonderful things He’s done, is doing, and has promised to do for us. Please remember that second to last verse: ‘The Lord preserveth all them that LOVE Him; but all the wicked will He destroy.’ 

And believe me that’s no idle promise as so many of us believe today in this era of false gospel and false teachers. Our God never makes promises He doesn’t intend to keep, which you can discover by looking through the Old Testament. So please, let’s not get caught up in all the lovey-dovey and feel-good stuff that some are preaching and wake up and understand that if we don’t truly LOVE God and act accordingly, we will end up amongst the wicked and be sentenced to eternal separation from Him, the worst sentence we can ever get. End of Sermon! 

Now, let’s go to Him, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, asking for divine guidance and protection. As one strong and confident voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has 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 wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. 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, if we desire to see positive, God-given changes in our lives and our world, then we have to do our part; that’s turn from our evil ways and adopt His righteous ones. As simple as that my fellow saints. Much LOVE!

…sincere LOVE for God…ought to be our number One priority…that’s what Jesus said…and He doesn’t lie… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ     

Today’s Scrip-Bit   9 January 2023 Psalm 139:17.

09 Jan 2023 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 139:17.       How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

And finally, we come to the first full work week of this new year. Isn’t that just grand? Many of us won’t think so, because we’ve had a few consecutively short work weeks in the recent past. And before that, it was already tough for us to handle the five-day variety, I just wonder what’s going to happen to us now, that we’re going back to the same old, same old. (smile) But I have faith in us, for our awesome God made us to be resilient to the max! 

How did Bruh David describe our exotic creation in Psalm 139? ‘For thou hast possessed my reins (formed my inward parts): thou hast covered (weaved) me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well (very well). My substance (frame, bones) was not hid from thee when I was made in secret, and curiously (skillfully) wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect (unformed); and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them, (the plans for my life were written before I was even made). How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.’ (Ps. 139:13-18) 

Now friends, that’s how important we are to our heavenly Father and Creator! He took His time and perfectly planned out our entire course before He even began to make us! That means we are very precious, special and important to our God. Why would He send His sinless Son Jesus Christ to die for us eh, if we weren’t important to Him eh? Jesus said: ‘For God so LOVED the world…’ (John 3:16) That’s why! 

And Bruh David also addressed the matter of our importance to God in Psalm 40, when he writes: ‘Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order (counted) unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.’ (Ps. 40:5) It just goes to show that we were not simply an afterthought of God, but a greatly desired and well-planned creation. 

Thus, He’s so good, so merciful and gracious unto us. We’re made in His image, living through the breath of His life, and destined to be with Him till eternity! If that doesn’t shout importance, LOVE, and togetherness, then I don’t know what does! The problem though is that our minds are too puny and finite to understand God’s great LOVE for us. As Bruh Paul declares in his epistle to the church at Rome: ‘O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways are past finding out!’ (Rom. 11:33) 

That’s gospel truth my faithful brethren! And the prophet Isaiah said it long before Bruh Paul, when he wrote of our Creator: ‘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) That’s putting it mildly my people!  

And the scholars explain: ‘God’s sovereignty and omniscience are extolled by the statement that His thoughts (i.e. purposes or intentions) and ways (directions) are higher than ours. While God may certainly be known by men, He is still incomprehensible in the totality of His person and purpose.’ Simply stated: we can never fully understand or know our Creator! But that’s why He gave us those things called hope and faith, trust and surrender. So that despite our inability to fully know and understand His purposes and intentions, we can rest assured that His intentions to us are always for good. 

Like Jeremiah puts it: ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil (calamity), to give you an expected end (a future and a hope).’ (Jer. 29:11) Now seeing all the good that the Lord has done for us, in spite of our rebellion, disobedience and blasphemy against Him, why is it so difficult to believe that He truly cares for us and wants only our best eh? And why do we fight against this reassuring scripture eh? ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ (Rom. 8:28) 

Our problem is that we are so selfish, greedy and entitled that we don’t want to have any unfortunate circumstances happen to us, we’re just interested in living for today. We don’t care about it all ending up right, we want it right, right now! But that’s not the way the world or our God operates. And if we don’t hurry up and get smart and accept those facts, then crapaud smoke we pipe! We’re going to pay an awfully high price for not believing and trusting Almighty God. 

But for those of us who have already woken up from our slumber, let’s go to our Creator through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, offering thanks and praise, then asking for forgiveness and help. As one voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has 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 wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. 

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 the ball is in our court; time to keep our promises and turn from our evil ways. Much LOVE!

…humans are the most important of God’s creations…His awesome LOVING-kindness to us…though undeserved…shows that in spades… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ   

Today’s Scrip-Bit   2 January 2023   1 Corinthians 15:57.

02 Jan 2023 Leave a comment

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

1 Corinthians 15:57.       But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

           So it’s another holiday Monday for many working folks because the official New Year’s Day fell on the Sunday! What a way there’s been lots of time to celebrate this Christmas and New Year’s seasons. Let’s hope though that we don’t get too accustomed to these long weekends and completely forget the work ethic that we already don’t have much of. (smile) 

           Ah friends this new year of 2023 must be one of exceeding diligence if we truly want to make some headway against the evil enemy and his iniquity cohorts. Their army is vast and they are serious about taking over and ruling the world. And their methods of warfare are lowdown and inhumane…and that’s putting it nicely. 

           Therefore, if we hope to make any positive changes, we have to be serious, disciplined, work hard and requite evil with good, because the enemy won’t give us an easy break. We’ll have to fight for every bit of ground we conquer. But the good news is that we have Jesus in our corner, and if we use His Holy Spirit to lead and guide us then our victory will be assured, because ‘In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom. 8:37) 

            Please note though, that victory will only come through our following the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit, for we cannot defeat the enemy in our own strength. As Bruh Paul wrote in his first missive to the church at Corinth: ‘The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 15:56-57) Yes friends, only when we are working with and through Jesus is victory possible. 

            So Bruh Paul continues with the practical application: ‘Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain (futile) in the Lord.’ (1 Cor. 15:58) And we can only do that if we follow Peter’s advice: ‘But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To hm be glory both now and for ever.’ (2 Pet. 3:18) 

           Oh my fellow believers, we can’t ever work properly and consistently with Jesus until we know what He’s truly about, which necessitates spending time in His Word, and in prayer, then putting those things we learn into practical use. And that’s one of Bruh Paul’s strengths; after giving you the theory, he usually gives you the practical application, like he did with the Ephesians, when he explained some of the practical aspects of living the new life in Christ. 

            Listen up as he exhorts them and us. ‘This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity (futility) of their mind.’ (Eph. 4:17) And the scholars explain that ‘since each Christian is divinely enabled with some spiritual gift, he must walk not as other Gentiles walk, lest his much-needed contribution to the church’s growth be sorely missed. Unbelieving Gentiles live in the vanity (futility) of their mind, without proper purpose, causing all their efforts to obtain happiness to end in failure.’ 

           And Bruh Paul delves further into the theory. (smile) ‘Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through (because of) the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness (hardening) of their heart.’ (Eph. 4:18) Now the scholars tell us that ‘The blindness of their heart refers to the hardness of their will. Gentiles’ obstinacy against the divine will has caused them to be separated from God’s life.’ 

            And all of us know this to be true! When your heart stubbornly refuses to do God’s will, then you become separated from Him. As Bruh Paul further explains: ‘Who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness (licentiousness), to work all uncleanness with greediness.’ (Eph.4:19) That means those unbelievers have become so calloused, have gone so deep in sin that they are insensitive to moral right and wrong. 

            And unfortunately, that can apply to many of us, though as Bruh Paul maintains: ‘But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.’ (Eph. 4:20-21) Yes my fellow saints, we have not learned Christ or Christian teaching like that. Our Christian doctrine has instructed us NOT to live like the unbelievers portrayed in verses 17-19 above.  And that’s the basic theory of living the new life in Christ. 

           Tomorrow, God willing, we’ll tackle the practical aspects of that theory. Trying to do that today with our short attention span will just get us all confused and also make the Bit too long. (smile) Now let’s go to our ever faithful and merciful God, in confidence, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn sincerely seeking His grace and mercy. 

           As one voice: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

            Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has 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 wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.  

           And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. 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 to receive a positive answer, the solution is obvious: humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek God’s face. Much LOVE!

           … it’s all about living for Christ…in a Christ-like manner…

           Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ         

Today’s Scrip-Bit   14 November 2022 Romans 10:17.

14 Nov 2022 Leave a comment

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

Romans 10:17.       So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Christ).

Oh friends, another Monday morning has rolled around, much to our despair. (smile) And, unfortunately, that means we have to get our act together and face the working world to fight the good fight of faith as a faithful soldier in Jesus’ army. As a believer in Christ, as a Christian, that’s what we’ve signed up for. Now, for some of us, it might be harder than for others, depending on God’s will for our lives, but we can all be assured that whatever the Lord asks of us, He will give us the wherewithal to do it. 

And Jesus’ promise at the end of the Great Commission, warms the cockles of my heart on the matter. Yes my brethren, our commission, our basic job is to go out and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, teaching them all that Christ has taught us, ‘and, lo, I am with you always, unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28-19-20) Wow! What a marvelous Leader is our Jesus! He’s faithfully promised to be with us wherever we are in the world, once we’re spreading His gospel, His Holy Word. 

That brings us to Bruh Paul’s take on the subject as he wrote to the church at Rome, where he proudly proclaims: ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.’ (Rom. 1:16) Oh my people, do we feel as strongly as Bruh Paul about the gospel of Christ? I certainly hope so, otherwise we are not true believers, true Christians. That’s because the power of God is so powerful, so dynamic, like dynamite, from which the English word “power” is derived. 

The scholars tell us that if ‘Bruh Paul was writing today he would probably speak of atomic power. The gospel is so powerful that it takes people all the way into heaven. Everyone that believeth: The basis of salvation is God’s gracious provision – His free gift of grace. (Rom. 3:23-26) But the only means by which the sinner can appropriate this gift is faith. (Rom. 10:9-17) The gospel is the essential content of that faith. This is why Paul is so burdened to preach Christ to the world.’  And as faithful believers, we should also be carrying that bright burning torch for the gospel of Jesus. 

That takes us to the words of Bruh David in Psalm 40 -Praise for answered prayer – where he imparts in all faithfulness. ‘Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to usward: they cannot be reckoned up (recounted) in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire: mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. 

Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book (scroll) it is written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness (proclaimed the good news of righteousness) in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained (restrained) my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy LOVING-kindness and thy truth from the great congregation.’ (Ps. 40:4-10) 

Oh my people, Bruh David also knew the power of God’s Word and faithfully broadcast it to all and sundry, to the great congregation. And he did not hide it in his heart, keep it selfishly for himself alone, like so many of us modern-day believers do, either through fear or just plain laziness. But please, let’s remember these oh so important and fateful words of Bruh Paul to the Romans. 

‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Christ).’ (Rom. 10:13-17) 

Yes friends, it’s ever so important that the gospel of Christ be communicated worldwide. And that’s our job, our responsibility. The Lord gave us salvation, but expects us to pass it on to each other. And we obviously are not doing such a bang-up job, otherwise our world would not be in the terrible mess it’s currently in. But let’s remember that there is always hope where Christ is involved, for with and through Him anything is possible, but we have to set the stage. And the first step in setting the stage is always prayer. And there’s no better time for prayer than RIGHT NOW! 

So, let’s begin there nuh, by offering up our Monday Morning Battle Hymn asking for help to change. Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has 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 wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.  

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. 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 as Cousin Sol, writing as the Preacher, so wisely advises: ‘When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer (delay) not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.’ (Eccl. 5:4) Now that should give us pause for thought, and hopefully have us doing as we ought. Much LOVE!

…if you believe God’s Word…then it’s your bounden duty to spread it… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ      

Today’s Scrip-Bit   24 October 2022 Romans 8:37.

24 Oct 2022 Leave a comment

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

Romans 8:37.       Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that LOVED us. 

Oh gee, it’s Monday! Chuh! Another day of repetitive and non-uplifting work… But wait, please note that it’s also another day of enjoying God’s awesome mercies and compassions, that are created brand new for us each and every morning! And believe me, with those powerful, encouraging and confidence building tools of God in our tool kit, we can handle anything that comes against us, have a positive, godly attitude regardless of the situations in which we find ourselves. 

Remember Jehovah’s promise through the prophet Isaiah a long time ago. ‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of (from) me, saith the Lord.’ (Is. 54:17) Now that’s a mighty promise, and since we are the Lord’s servants, then it’s still applicable to us today. And those are the kinds of encouraging and uplifting scriptures that we need to write indelibly in our hearts and minds so that we can recall them when the times get rough and our spirit and confidence are lacking. 

Then there are these magnificent verses from Bruh Paul explaining to the church at Rome, the marvellous unbreakable bond we have with Almighty God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He confidently writes: ‘Who shall separate us from the LOVE of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that LOVED us.’ (Rom. 8:35-37) 

Oh my faithful brethren, what uplifting and confidence building verses! Yes! In all these things we are indeed more than conquerors. Though the enemy tries to overcome us they just can’t because they don’t have the power nor the authority for Christ has already won the victory over hell, death and the grave, leaving Satan a toothless lion with only a loud growl, but no real bite since he can’t inflict any damage with just gums. (smile) Oh, by the way, verse 36 above comes directly from Psalm 44:22. 

And I like this simple explanation on ‘we are more than conquerors,’ offered by an article on the gotquestions.org website. It reads: ‘To be more than conquerors means we face the trials of life with the certainty that we are not alone. We have a mighty Father who fights for us. We approach the darkest valleys with confidence, knowing that nothing can happen to us that is not permitted by our LOVING Father for our good (Psalm 23:4; Romans 8:28). 

We have His promise of eternal life (John 3:16;Titus 1:2; 1 John 5:11) and the presence of Almighty God every moment of every day until we see Him face to face (Psalm 139:7-12; Deuteronomy 31:8; Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20). No sin of ours and no attempt of the enemy can steal the LOVING care of God from our lives, and that makes us more than conquerors through Christ who LOVES us.’ 

So true my people, so true! And don’t forget to check out those scriptures referenced above, because they too are also powerful and encouraging verses that keep us strong and confident in the Lord. But Bruh Paul’s not done. He continues his missive to the Romans, delving even deeper into the subject, leaving us in absolutely no doubt on the matter. He says: ‘For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the LOVE of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Rom. 8:38-39) 

Glory be my people! Bruh Paul leaves no stone unturned. In the first few verses he addresses the earthly things and trials that can beset us, then in the last two, he deals with the spiritual aspect of the situation. And isn’t it joyful and faith-building to know that NOTHING whatsoever can separate us from God’s LOVE? Indeed it is! 

And the scholars offer their two cents worth on the subject by saying that ‘We cannot be separated from God’s LOVE, because it is set forth in a person who is God Himself, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. God’s desire to redeem believers cannot be frustrated, because He is infinitely greater than any potential enemy. His plan will be realized because it is His purpose. (Rom. 8:28).’ And all of that’s gospel truth friends, so for our sake, our peace of mind and salvation, we had better believe it! 

And just for added protection (smile) let’s add this other uplifting promise from our omnipotent God, this one when the Lord called Jeremiah to be His spokesperson. He told him in no uncertain terms. ‘And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.’ (Jer. 1:19) More food for spiritual strength my people! (smile) And can we ever use all the help possible. And when yuh talking about help, well brethren, there’s only one place to go: to the throne room of heaven with confident, sincere prayer. So let’s do that right now nuh, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. 

Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has 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 wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. 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 after asking for divine favour through prayer, it’s then wise to keep whatever promises you’ve made, for as Cousin Sol says as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes: ‘When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer (delay) not to pay it: for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.’ (Eccl. 5:4-5) No wonder Cousin Sol is considered the wisest man who ever lived. (smile) Much food for thought today friends, please don’t let it go to waste. Much LOVE!

…if you sincerely believe in God…then God won’t let you down… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ            

Today’s Scrip-Bit   17 October 2022 Proverbs 14:34.

17 Oct 2022 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 14:34.       Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is the reproach (shame, disgrace) to any people.

‘Monday, oh Monday, why do you keep jerking my chain eh? Every week is the same thing;  when I’m just getting accustomed to the paltry two day weekend off, you suddenly show up and want me to go back to work. Doesn’t that seem somewhat unfair – a lousy two days off after consecutively working five?’ 

And what does Monday reply? ‘Tough my brother! But them’s the breaks! I didn’t devise the system; I’m just doing what I’ve been programmed to do, and the sooner you learn to do what you are told to do, the better off you will be.’ Hn! And Monday is certainly right. He didn’t invent the system we currently live under, and the sooner we learn to live by God’s Word the better off we will be. Let’s put it this way nuh, we couldn’t be any worse off than we are now, living by the dictates of mankind and the evil prince of darkness. 

But if we don’t like the path of destruction we’re currently running on, then the only other option, and the wisest of them both, is to turn back to Almighty God, to heed His wonderful Word, so that in the end, we can have eternal life with Jesus, rather than the hellfire and damnation promised to Satan and his evil cohorts. And these words of wisdom from Cousin Sol in Proverbs tell it exactly like it is. ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is the reproach (shame, disgrace) to any people.’ (Prov. 14:34) 

Or as the scholars put it: ‘’National righteousness and national sin have opposite effects: exaltation versus reproach.’ And that’s the indisputable truth my fellow believers. We’ve seen it all down through history, especially in the story of the Jews; when they were righteous, following God’s edicts, they were prosperous and exalted, but when they foolishly and pridefully turned away from God’s standards, they surely felt the shame and disgrace through war, some natural disaster like famine and drought or captivity. I don’t know if any other city in the world has ever been besieged, captured or burnt to the ground as often as Jerusalem. 

And it’s obvious that right now our Western society is on that same foolish and prideful path of reproach, for we’re anything but righteous, and are certainly experiencing worldwide calamity. For if the truth be told, we’ll be forever known as one of the most prosperous and knowledgeable societies that ever existed, but also as one of the most evil, wicked and ungodly ones. 

And right now we’re on the brink of disaster, of destroying ourselves, with all the talk of nuclear warfare that’s currently being bandied about. As President Biden of the U.S, said recently, not since the Russian and U.S. standoff, during the Cuban crisis, in the early 1960’s has there been this much nuclear armament production and nuclear war threats. The sad part is we all know that the first nuclear device detonation will probably mean the end of mankind, even the earth, for all the nuclear powers will be quick to protect themselves by firing their own weapons. 

Look at the catastrophic destruction those two nuclear bombs dropped on Japan during the Second World War caused nuh, and since then the power of nuclear weapons has increased several fold. So just imagine nuclear bombs going off all over the world. What a cataclysmic situation! And don’t think that only a few nations have weapons of mass destruction, many nations do, some that we don’t even know about, but who will certainly show up on that day of Armageddon.

Now, if you didn’t believe Cousin Sol’s words earlier on, then listen to how he says it this time nuh. ‘By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.’ (Prov. 11:11) Yes friends, it’s left to us, the upright, the righteous in Christ, to try and protect our world from the disastrous evil and ungodliness that currently has it in a death-like stranglehold. But time is also of the essence, for who knows what will happen tomorrow. That means we have to gather in Christ-like unity and turn things around as quickly as possible. 

And it’s not so much a matter of knowing what to do, because as Christians, we all know what is expected of us, it’s just that we haven’t done it, thus the world has gotten away from us, and embraced the suffocating darkness of evil and ungodliness. But it’s not too late, with the omnipotent help of Jesus, and our sincere efforts, we can still turn things around and prevent the total disaster awaiting us on the current path we’re unwisely treading. However, it all begins with prayer, supplication and thanksgiving to the Creator of the universe. And there’s no better time to do it than right now! 

So, altogether, let’s offer up our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to Almighty God, seeking His marvellous grace and mercy on our uncertain lives and disaster-filled world. ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has 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 wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems. 

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. 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!’ 

Ah my fellow saints, we’ve prayed and asked for forgiveness, but if we truly want to see the Lord’s grace and mercy, it now behooves us to do the next part, turn from our evil ways. Much LOVE!

…God gave us free will…so that we could willingly enter His fold…but it seems to have backfired… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ       

Today’s Scrip-Bit   5 September 2022 Proverbs 25:27.

05 Sep 2022 Leave a comment

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

Proverbs 25:27.       It is not good to eat much honey: so for man to search (seek) their own glory is not glory.

HAPPY LABOUR DAY!

Ah friends, like it’s true, the ole fella’s getting old and forgetful.(smile) Would you believe that I did not even realize that this was the Labour Day long weekend until sometime late yesterday. Brother! After one time, it’s really two yes! In my younger years I knew about Labour Day long before it ever happened, because I usually spent it in the Big Apple – New York City, taking in the sights and sounds of that rollicking time featuring all things West Indian. 

But then, I lost interest in the festival, like I’ve also lost interest in Caribana, possibly because I can’t handle the amount of walking involved in both festivals, and in my humble opinion they have both become watered-down caricatures of what they used to be. And I know it doesn’t really matter what I think, because both festivals are still going strong, and still make lots of money for some people. (smile) 

That just goes to show how insignificant we are in the greater scheme of things. Some of us believe we are so important that the world can’t go on without us, but that’s pure foolishness. The world moves on despite our presence or lack thereof. A handful of people will miss and mourn us, but the majority won’t know we’re gone, or even care. So, it’s time for us to get over ourselves and not think of ourselves as highly as we do. 

And Bruh Paul said it loud and clear in his letter to the church at Rome. ‘For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the means of faith.’ (Rom. 12:3) 

And what does all of that mean? Every one of us has been given a specific gift or gifts, ‘granted some spiritual capability to serve God and contribute to the church’s growth.’ Two people may be given the same gift, but not in the same measure, so one may be able to perform a task better than the other. But the measure is all up to Jesus. 

The scholars explain further: ‘The righteousness of God will cause the believer to conduct himself in humility in the local church (vs. 3-8). Paul meets two dangers that the individual faced in the exercise of his spiritual gifts. He might overestimate himself and try to exercise a gift God never gave him. Or he might underestimate himself and fail to exercise the gift God has given to him. Paul shows that God has given each believer specific gifts to enable him to do what God wants him to do. No one is excluded.’ 

Unfortunately though, we all know people, including ourselves, (smile) who try to use gifts they don’t have or not utilize the ones they do have. That’s one of the major challenges in today’s church because everybody wants to be a leader, and nothing is basically wrong in wanting to be a leader, but please opt to be a leader in a field in which you’re qualified nuh, not in one you know nothing or very little about, as so many of us do. A good Bruh Paulean sentence that! (smile) 

And if you don’t believe Bruh Paul’s words, then please check out these earlier ones on the subject by Cousin Sol in Proverbs. ‘It is not good to eat much honey: so for man to search (seek) their own glory is not glory.’ (Prov. 25:27) But sadly, personal glory seeking occupies too much of our time today. Everything is all about us; me, myself and I. 

And there are also some other marvellously wise words of Cousin Sol, which we all know and quite liberally quote, but don’t action them half as much as we ought to. Listen to them: ‘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 (make straight) 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.’ (Prov. 3:5-8)

 Oh my people, those are words that fit every situation in our lives. But we seem to only pay lip service to them, that’s why our lives are not as peaceful, joyful and LOVING as they ought to and could be. Yes, if we have true fellowship and intimacy with God, then He will indeed direct us along the straight and narrow way! But if we foolishly depend on our own worldly wisdom, then there’s a very good chance we’ll end up on the wide and winding path that leads to destruction. 

So, it’s obviously in our best interest to get wise and seek true intimacy with God, for that’s the only way to solve the dilemmas, the negative predicaments that constantly come against us. And we seek true intimacy with God starting with prayer. Therefore, on this Labour Day Monday of 2022, when our world is in a serious state of turmoil and upheaval, of hatred and anger, let’s take our problems to God through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn. 

Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has 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 wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.  

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. 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, it’s up to us to show God that we are serious, so let’s go out into the world and be sincere, fateful and with right motives in our hearts. Much LOVE!

…without sincere humility…one cannot be a true believer in Christ…  

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​          

Today’s Scrip-Bit   22 August 2022   Psalm 119:18.

22 Aug 2022 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 119:18.        Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Monday has come around the bend once again my people, like it’s been doing for eons, and will continue doing until Jesus comes back and changes things…that is if He sees fit to change the arrangement of the days of the week. (smile) And if He doesn’t, then we’ll simply be enjoying Mondays till the end of His kingdom…or maybe all through eternity, who knows. That means the sooner we get used to Mondays and preparing properly for a new work week, the sooner any anxiety Monday causes us will disappear. 

Yes, if we know what to expect, then we ought to be prepared for it. And we know that Monday will come around every seven days, so why are so many of us always in a dither on a Monday morning eh? Because we lack self-discipline and self-control. Monday should be a piece of cake, just like any other day…or rather, Monday should be our best prepared day, since we have the whole weekend to prepare for it. But hard-headed and prideful human beings that we are, we stubbornly refuse to make suitable plans for the opening day of the work week, and thus end up rushing around on Monday mornings like chickens with our heads cut off. 

And I know some of you will refute what I’m saying by quoting Jesus, when He said to the people: ‘Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat (food), and the body more than raiment (clothes)? (Matt. 6:25) Then He went on to discourse how the Father looks after Mother Nature; the birds and the bees etc. and we are more important than they are, so He will look after us too. (Matt. 6:26-32) 

But what we forget to quote is verse 33, which says: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ And to do that, we need to not only truly believe in Christ Jesus, but to have considerable self-control and self-discipline in our efforts in His name! Jesus was one of the most disciplined and controlled persons who ever lived. He had to be, else His whole ministry and purpose for coming to earth would have fallen apart. 

Don’t think for one moment that He wanted to endure all the suffering He endured and be crucified on that horrible wooden cross, but that was His avowed purpose, and He faced up to it like a man. And if we are to be His true disciples, then we also need to have strong self-control and self-discipline and face up to our purpose mano-a- mano. (smile) No organization or individual can ever grow properly without those two things. And have you noticed how the enemy and his evil cronies are very focused and disciplined? Just look around and you will see it. 

Unfortunately, our Christian organizations and people don’t seem to be as well focused and disciplined, otherwise we would not be as far behind the eight ball as we currently are, and the evil doers would not have such a chokehold on our world. Oh my people, both physical and spiritual discipline are necessary if we are to be victorious in Christ’s mission, but spiritual discipline is the more important element. As Bruh Paul told Timothy. ‘For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.’ (1 Tim. 4:8) 

Yes friends, physical discipline offers some help down here on earth, but the spiritual kind is useful both here on earth as well as in the life to come. So please, I’m pleading with us to get serious about spiritual discipline, for without it, we’re completely lost. And how do we get it? By constantly meditating on God’s Word, being steadfast in prayer and fellowship with other believers. As the Good Book says: ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’ (Ps. 119:105) But we first have to get into the word and then stay in the word! 

Unfortunately though, that’s where too many of us supposed believers are falling down, we don’t stay in the word, we’re somewhat wishy-washy when it comes consistent Bible reading and studying. And until we improve that consistency, things will never get better. Now here’s a good verse to pray at the beginning of our prayer time. Ask the Father to ‘Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. I am a stranger in the earth; hide not thy commandments from me.’ (Ps. 119:18-19) Our wonderful God will never refuse such a request, and He will reveal truths to us as we read and meditate on His word. 

Oh my people, it’s all about keeping God first place in our lives, being serious about it and being willing to build the discipline and self-control it needs to make Christ come to life in a dark, evil and ungodly world. And there are enough believers in this world, that if we get really serious about fighting for Jesus, we can take back our world from the enemy. But we must operate as a strong, confident, purposeful body, and with the number of divisions and dissension amongst believers right now, that seems like an impossible task. 

But please remember that ALL things are possible with our God, and if He sees us making the effort, He will add whatever is necessary for us to succeed. But it all depends on us. So, let’s begin with first things first nuh, (smile) that’s prayer. As one voice, let’s take our Monday Morning Battle Hymn to the throne of grace. ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has 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 wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.  

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. 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 friends, if we expect to see positive results to our prayer, it’s up to us to keep our promises and turn from our evil ways. It’s as simple as that. Much LOVE!

…don’t expect the Lord to heal and save us…if we’re not sincere… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8​     

Today’s Scrip-Bit   18 April 2022 Psalm 107:15.

18 Apr 2022 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 107:15.      Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness (LOVING-kindness), and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 

And then it was Monday…Easter Monday! Jesus Christ has risen, He’s taken over the reins of our lives, the reins that Satan used to guide us in the sinful activities of our earlier life! But now, through His awesome resurrection, Jesus has broken the chains of sin that held us captive. Like He read on that fateful Sabbath day from the word of Isaiah (61:1), in the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth: 

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captive, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised (oppressed.) To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ (Luke 4:18-19) Yes friends, Christ was that bearer of Isaiah’s prophecy of Good Tidings of salvation for the people of Zion! As He said to them after reading the Word: ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears (hearing).’ (Luke 4:21) 

Oh my people, in this Easter Season when Christ rose triumphant from the grave, the fulfillment of so many scriptures took place. As the psalmist so readily and truthfully declares (chuh!!!) in Psalm 107 – God’s wonderful works to the children of men. ‘Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness, and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder (broke their chains in pieces).’ (Ps. 107:13-14) 

And that’s exactly what Jesus accomplished through His magnificent resurrection! Breaking chains; setting captives free, healing the blind and broken-hearted, bringing sinners out of darkness into the marvellous light of his wonderful gospel of peace, LOVE, grace, mercy, salvation, reconciliation to the Father and the ever-faithful promise of eternal life! 

Remember how Jesus said it to Nicodemus when he came to Jesus looking for answers. ‘For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.’ (John 3:16-17) 

Yes my fellow believers, in all the hurrah and whatever, we’ve forgotten God’s purpose for sending His only Son to earth in human form…to save us! And all we need to do is simply believe – believe in Him…that He is indeed the Son of God, and thus has the power to save us, to set us free from the darkness of this evil world. Everything else is simply topping on the cone! (smile) 

And that’s why we sinners, set free by the LOVE, grace and mercy of God ought to do like the psalmist continues in Psalm 107: ‘Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness (LOVING-kindness), and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass (bronze), and cut the bars of iron in sunder (broken them in pieces).’ (Ps. 107:15-16) 

Ah my brethren, how much more shall Jesus do before we truly LOVE and sincerely accept Him as our Lord and Saviour? He came to earth as a man, died on the cross to pay for our abominable sins, triumphantly rose from the dead, setting us free from the deadly and murderous grip of Satan, thus giving us a chance, an option to get away from the overwhelming and stifling darkness and gloom of this topsy-turvy world and be successfully reunited with our Creator! What more can He do eh? I really don’t know nuh. 

But there just seems to be something about sin, it’s short lived and consequential pleasures, that keep calling, keep driving us back to the gloom and darkness of Satan’s evil empire. However, for all our sakes, please, please, let’s remember that  ‘the wages of sin is death – eternal separation from Almighty God; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Rom. 6:23) So, without Jesus living in our hearts, souls and lives, through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, we don’t have a chance of escaping hellfire and damnation! 

It’s as simple as that my people! Believe and survive…or don’t believe and die! That’s it in a nutshell. Jesus can’t do any more than He’s already done. It’s all up to us now, and believe me, that decision to follow Jesus or not, is the most important one we’ll ever make. So please carefully consider all that’s been said and done before you decide, because once it’s all over there’s no changing of minds, no going back. 

And maybe this favourite saying of Uncle Charles (Charles Stanley) re the principle of seed time and harvest, might help us to make the right decision. He wisely says: ‘We reap what we sow…more than we sow and later than we sow.’ Simply meaning that ‘future consequences are inevitably shaped by present actions.’ So, whatever we hope to achieve in the future, we must set those wheels in motion right now. In other words, we can’t hope to plant peas and reap corn or something different than peas. Likewise, we can’t hope to dwell in conspicuous sin in this earthly life and then reap eternal life in heaven with Jesus. It just won’t happen. 

In wisdom then, let’s see about our eternal destiny right now nuh, by going to God in prayer, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn and asking for His divine help to solve our many difficult problems. Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Easter Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems. 

Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has 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 wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.  

And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. 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’s go and do what we’ve promised. It’s the only way friends; the only way to Jesus’ heart! Much LOVE!

…to know what to do…and not do it…is sin…and sin brings death… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8    

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