Today’s Scrip-Bit 4 May 2021 Matthew 19:26.

04 May 2021 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 19:26. ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.’ 

Come on down Tuesday and let’s get going for Jesus! No time to waste or linger, for time is in short supply! All roads this morning are leading to the cross of Jesus, those two pieces of old wood upon which He fashioned the greatest miracle and gift of all time; salvation for sinners like you and I! 

So let’s give Him much thanks and praise for that indomitable feat, that selfless act of great courage, His awesome LOVE and outstanding obedience! If we only had one iota… sorry, that should be, if we had only shown one iota of the courage, LOVE and obedience that Jesus showed, our world would definitely not be in the mess that it currently is in. 

Yes friends, it’s not that we believers don’t have the parts to change the world, but rather, we have not used them sufficiently for that purpose. Consequently, the evil enemy has stepped into the breach that we left wide open, took advantage of our lackadaisical attitude and set up his dominion, and now has a stranglehold on our society. That means we must work even harder than ought to be necessary, to remake our world into a Christian stronghold. 

And, based on the authoritative words of Jesus, that’s not an impossible feat my fellow believers. Remember what He told the disciples after mentioning that it was easier for a camel to go a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God? (Matt. 19:24) ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.’ (Matt. 19:26) That needs to be in the forefront of our thinking friends: ALL things are possible with God! When we sincerely believe that, then we can truly go on to move mountains in His omnipotent name! 

So, it’s up to us, the die-hard followers of Christ, to get a move on and begin changing the terribly negative situation in our world. Jesus is depending on us to do it. It won’t be easy, but if we put our best foot forward, we will make a sizeable impact, because right now, with all the strife and sickness that’s in our world, people are desperately seeking solace and sustenance like never before. That means, now is our time to shine, our time to roll out all the wonderful things that Jesus has bestowed on us to help our fellow human beings. 

And before we give up and claim that the task is too great, let’s hearken back to these encouraging words of the prophet Isaiah. ‘Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.’ (Is. 40:28) Yes friends our mighty God doesn’t faint or get weary, and neither can we understand how He moves, because as He says later on in Isaiah, that His thoughts and ways are much higher than ours. (Is. 55:8-9) 

So please stop using our finite minds to judge what the Creator of the universe can or cannot do. Instead, let’s believe that nothing is impossible to Him, and live our lives on that solid premise of faith! Remember these momentous words of Isaiah. ‘He giveth power to the faint (weak); and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’ (Is. 40:29-31) 

Oh my people, what encouraging words in this time of pandemic and strife; words that we so desperately need to hear, understand and believe, if we are going to make a serious difference in the current world! Yes friends, now, in this time of much fainting and weariness, it therefore behooves us to not fall into those categories, but instead to turn to our great God and let Him renew our strength, so that we can rise up with wings like eagles, and walk and run as necessary, but certainly not faint! 

That’s the only way we will ever take back what the enemy has stolen from us and remake the world into what Jesus desires it to be! Oh yeah, I know that we won’t fully accomplish our task until Jesus comes back, but in the meantime, we have to do our best, do what we can, so that souls are not lost to the enemy, but won for Christ. That’s our job as His ambassadors, as His earthly representatives; to show the world what wonderful opportunities He provides for those who believe in and follow Him. The end results being salvation and eternal life! 

Consequently, my fellow believers, this is not a time to give up, but to rise up, for we were made for such a time as this, when we can stand strong and show the world what Jesus is really all about, and the immense, the eternal value that He offers to fallen human beings! 

Now, let’s go home declaring (ah Lord eh!) our Tuesday Mantra, telling the whole world who and whose we are, to whom we so safely and strongly belong! 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 the world. Amen!’  

And the obvious consequence to that declaration, (yeah!!!) is for us to now go out and generously share the awesome LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so they too can receive the amazing benefits He bestows on His followers. Much LOVE!

…when times get tough…the tough…that’s Christians…rise up and show their mettle… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 August 2020 Isaiah 41:13.

18 Aug 2020 Leave a comment

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

Isaiah 41:13.     For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 
 

Aye mih people, the last couple of days been pretty rough on the ole fella. Yeh, the joint pains and them just been disgusting, and the pain pills and them not helping all that much either! And the sad part is that I don’t remember doing anything to exacerbate them to that extent. But on further ‘ponderation,’ I’m beginning to think that that’s the very reason for the preponderance of my recent pain: I haven’t done anything, meaning like exercise. 

It certainly seems like whether you do, or don’t do, the same painful effects follow. Our bodies are certainly wonderfully made yes! (smile) But enough of my complaining, I should realize by now that the process of aging includes the preponderance of pain! Wow! What a brilliant deduction! (smile) 

But here’s another brilliant deduction, this time from someone from whom we haven’t heard for a long time; one of the foundation stones of our Bit. We talking about Gramps Schuller (Dr. Robert H. Schuller) And from His Hour of Power Devotional he enlightens us on ‘God’s Peace.’ 

‘We take God’s promises in vain. No wonder our trembling world is so frightened!’ And isn’t that the living truth! That was written way back in at least 2004. Can you imagine what He would say if he was alive to see how frightened and panicked we are today over the pandemic and racial protests situations? 

But listen to how he continues: ‘Let’s have an honest understanding. God is not the inventor of fear. He is not responsible for our worry, fear, and anxiety. It’s our own fault. If we took God’s promises seriously, we would mount up with wings like eagles, run and not be weary, walk and never faint.’ (Is. 40:31) 

Now that lines up very nicely with Bruh Paul’s revelation to Timothy. ‘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) So what does that mean eh? Simple; when we feel fear, especially the kind that just seems to trap us in an immovable position, like a deer in the headlights, then that situation is not of God but of our enemy, the devil. 

And Gramps Schuller uses the example of a man who goes to bed fearing he won’t be able to fall asleep, and that will lead to lack of energy on his job, which will further lead to mind problems; he’ll crack up. And there goes his career! ‘So his imagination works overtime and before he knows it, he has fabricated a terrifying ghost that haunts his mind, and robs him of the joy of living!’ 

And don’t we do that sort of thing all the time my brethren? We certainly do! We imagine all sorts of problems that could crop up, but in reality will not, and then we give ourselves unnecessary headaches over them! And I like Gramps Schuller’s remedy for such situations. ‘What he needs is spiritual therapy!’ Mama Yo! Now isn’t that the gospel truth? It certainly is! 

‘Let him read some of God’s wonderful promises of peace and LOVE and power and in quietness of mind he will rest in a natural sleep.’ Yes friends, that is exactly what we all need in these difficult and uncertain times, when the twin aspects of fear and panic are constantly hovering over our society like a storm, even a death cloud. 

Gramps Schuller recommends this solution. ‘Quietly, gently, tenderly, let the promise of God fall softly and sweetly into your tense, tight mind.’ Then he quotes salient parts of these wonderful scriptures. I will give us the full scriptures though. ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” (Is. 26:3) “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) 

The last quote of Gramps Schuller was simply “I am the Lord your God.’ However there are so many passages of scripture with those words attached to them, that I am not sure which one he meant; possibly all of them. (smile) I will quote this one though that seems appropriate to our current topics of fear and peace. 

Hear what our great and wonderful, merciful and gracious God says through the prophet Isaiah. ‘For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.’ (Is.41:13-14) 

Oh precious saints of Christ, what more must out God do to receive our sincere trust, faith and surrender eh? He’s given us so many wonderful promises in His holy Word, it’s now our duty to accept them and hold on to them and use them in a positive manner. But hear how Gramps Schuller ends this devotion nuh. ‘Reach for your Bible, friend, and underline the positive promises of God and trust them. Indescribable peace is bound to follow!’ 

And that I can personally testify to! So can many of you. But the problem persists: we don’t read our Bibles enough, and don’t hold on as securely to the promises found there as we ought to! We let the devil and the world infiltrate our thoughts with their fear and other nonsense too much, that’s why our minds are so uncertain and fearful when troubles come. 

And my people, right now troubles are coming a mile a minute, so we need that peace, steadfastness, and trust, so we can stand strong in the Lord! That means much more of reading and studying the Word, and accepting it and living it! That’s the only way we’ll ever find peace in these trying times. 

Now let’s go home declaring (yeahh!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know who and whose we are. In strong voice, with sincere and fearless hearts: ‘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 the world. Amen!’ 

So let’s go out and do just that nuh; be the salt of the earth, rise on wings like eagles, be the light of the world! Much LOVE!

…if perfect LOVE has no fear…and we have fear…that means we’re not LOVING perfectly… 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 3 March 2020 Matthew 28:18.

03 Mar 2020 Leave a comment

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

Matthew 28:18.    And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
 

It was a very good day, but an extremely rough night! Chuh! We accompanied the newly wedded couple into the country yesterday afternoon, the backwoods of Hanover Parish, up in the mountains…and we talking real mountain here. Hn! After driving up the rough, hill incline for a couple miles, we finally had to park and walk almost a quarter mile further up the hill to get to our cousins’ property right at the top. 

And it was only a rough, uneven, stony path, always climbing upward. When you got to a bend, you’d think ‘Well this is it.’ But there was always another stretch around that bend. But the duchess/first lady and the ole fella handled it quite nicely. Just took our time and did our thing. Along the way there were all sorts of flora on either side with some big palms trees gracing the hillside, as well as a few houses. 

At one time I told them that I was smelling mannish-water, the Jamaican soup made from goat entrails. What I was smelling though was what they used to make the mannish water; a live ram goat close by in the bushes. I had to laugh because it smelled so authentic. And when we were coming back down I also smelled it. (smile) 

And was the sight at the top ever so lovely; mountains and sea all around, as well as all kinds of fruit trees on the property itself; mango, soursop, sugar apple, caimete, cocoa, pimento, gungo peas etc. Yes, I know that technically speaking those last three aren’t fruits, but the name suits our purposes here. (smile) 

The amusing part is that while going up the rain kept drizzling, and when we got to the top a decent shower came down and we had to shelter in a li’l lean to, as the house on the property had been burned down some years ago. Coming back down was harder than going up, because of the slant of the hill and the uneven, stony ground, but we made it…Praise the Lord! 

And on the way back to Mo Bay, we stopped at the restaurant along the seacoast, Paiche’s, that we’d stopped at last week. And while they had their fish stuff, I had some curry shrimps with fry plantain, fry breadfruit and festival. All in all it was a very interesting day, didn’t get back home until around nine p.m. 

But brother…the night was a different story! Went to be around eleven, got up around two to go to the bathroom, and thereafter it was just horrors! My right hip just kept aching, couldn’t find a comfortable position no which way I tried, but I refused to get up out of the bed. Like a petulant child I just lay there and turned and tossed from side to side. I must have dozed off sometime, because I remember having at least one dream. (smile) 

Oh, somewhere in there I got up and took some Tylenol, but that did not help matters any. And around six thirty, I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and finally got up. Steups! I guess though, as Job said, we have to take the bad with the good, that earthly life won’t be a heavenly trip, though I don’t see why not, since we’d all like it to be. (smile) 

And though the Boss has a different take on the proceedings, He does encourage us with His awesome words and promises. ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) Wow! What reassuring words my brethren! 

That means that though my hip is lending me beans, I can keep my peace through my faith in Him, since I know that He has already overcome hell, death and the grave and has all authority on earth and in heaven, meaning NOTHING can keep me from my destiny with Him! 

Please note Jesus words when He appeared to His people and gave them the Great Commission: ‘All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 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.’ (Matt.28:18-19) You can’t make such a monumental statement without sure authority and power! 

And I like how the scholars put it: ‘The triumphant, living Lord sends forth His ambassadors to proclaim His gospel throughout all the world. The Great Commission is not just an order but a pronouncement of victory (mundus regium Christi) by the risen Saviour through His disciples. All power or authority (Gr. exousia) is now in the hands of Christ, in heaven and on the earth. On the basis of that authority and power the Christian disciple is to carry out the Great Commission of the church.’ 

Yes friends, we have been commanded to go and teach, and also given the power to do so! So what are waiting for eh? And just to show that the Good Book is not just a wishy-washy, hurriedly put together manuscript, but a purposeful and well thought out tome, listen to this foretelling of Jesus’ power and authority way back in Daniel, as he recounts his vision of the four beasts. 

‘I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people (peoples), nations and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.’ (Dan.7:13-14) 

Yuh see friends, the Lord had a plan from long ago, which He implemented when the time was right, and there’s still more to be implemented. Listen as the scholars explain those verses. ‘7:13. The Son of man who came to the Ancient of days is the Son of God approaching God the Father. Evidently Jesus took the title ‘Son of Man,’ which was His favourite way of referring to Himself in the Gospels from this passage.’ 

‘7:14. The commencement of Christ’s everlasting dominion will take place at His second coming (cf. Matt. 24:30; 25:31; Rev. 11:15).’ So it’s all set in place my fellow believers! Our wise and wonderful God didn’t leave anything to chance, so there’s no need for us to fear. So with all of that in mind, let’s go home declaring (yeah!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know who and whose we are. 

In 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 the world. Amen!’ 

Mama Mia! What a wonderful Saviour we have my people! Let’s go out and tell the world about Him nuh! Let’s not be selfish and keep Him all to ourselves! Much LOVE!

…are you using Jesus’ power to do His work…or just aimlessly wasting it…